Hong Kong: Subsidies help reduce electricity bills

Secretary for the Environment KS Wong today said the Governments electricity charges subsidies ease citizens financial burden.

At a media session after attending a radio programme this morning, Mr Wong said: We have the Electricity Charges Subsidy Scheme by the Financial Secretary. Also, we have been implementing the Electricity Charges Relief Scheme since 2019.

The latter one involves providing on average $50 to each household every month.

Benefitting from these measures, one-seventh of Hong Kongs households need not pay any electricity tariffs on a monthly or bi-monthly basis at the moment, he noted.

Separately, when asked about this years review on electricity charge, he stressed that the Government will handle the issue in a very prudent manner to balance environmental performance and peoples affordability.

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RTHK: G20 leaders draft statement on global warning

Leaders of the Group of 20 rich countries will step up their efforts to limit global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.

The latest draft on the need for climate action reflects tough negotiations among diplomats as the leaders gather for a two day summit in Rome, with the aim of strengthening commitments to limit carbon emissions.

"We remain committed to the (2015) Paris Agreement goal to hold the global average temperature increase well below 2C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels," the draft says.

The statement also says the leaders recognised "the key relevance" of achieving net zero carbon emissions by the middle of this century, which is a goal that some of the world's largest polluters have still not committed to. (Reuters)

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RTHK: World leaders gather at G20 to discuss Iran

The leaders of the United States, Germany, France and Britain gathered on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Rome on Saturday to discuss the way forward in talks with Iran over its nuclear programme.

Iran's talks with six world powers aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear deal are slated to resume at the end of November, the Islamic Republic's top nuclear negotiator said on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron, who were all attending the G20 summit, were meeting separately to discuss Iran.

Asked as he went into the meeting when he wanted Iran talks to resume, Biden simply said: "They're scheduled to resume".

A senior US administration official told reporters that the meeting on Iran was Merkel's initiative and would give the leaders an opportunity to go over the topic ahead of a critical period coming up.

"This is going to be a serious opportunity to check signals as we head into a really vital period" on this issue, the official said.

In April, Iran and six powers began to discuss ways to salvage the 2015 pact, which unravelled after then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018, prompting Iran to breach various limits on uranium enrichment set by the pact. (Reuters)

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RTHK: Three killed as Sudanese march against coup

Sudanese security forces on Saturday killed three protesters during mass anti-coup rallies, medics said, despite warnings from global powers who had urged the military to exercise restraint.

"Two demonstrators were killed in the city of Omdurman by the putschist military council," the independent Central Committee of Sudan's Doctors said in a tweet, adding that one was shot in the head and the other in the stomach.

It later said security forces had shot dead a third protester, also in Omdurman, Khartoum's sister city.

Forces "have fired live rounds at protesters in Omdurman" and areas in the capital, the medics said.

More than 100 people have been wounded in the violence or have suffered breathing difficulties due to tear gas, the committee added.

The latest killings bring the death toll since the outbreak of anti-coup protests on Monday to 12.

Sudan's interior ministry slammed reports of killings on Saturday as "inaccurate" and denied forces had used live rounds.

"Groups of protesters... attacked the police, as well as vital sites, which prompted the police to fire tear gas," the ministry said in a statement.

Saturday's demonstrations came almost a week after the military on Monday detained Sudan's civilian leadership, dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency, leading to a chorus of international condemnation  and warnings against using force.

"No, no to military rule", and "We are free revolutionaries and we will continue the road" of democratic transition, protesters carrying Sudanese flags chanted in Khartoum.

Despite bloodshed throughout the week, organisers on Saturday aimed to stage a "million-strong" march against the military's power grab, similar to mass protests that led to the toppling of autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019. (AFP)

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US submarine incidence example of the superpowers reckless military presence

17:52, October 29, 2021 By Qing Ming ( People's Daily Online

Illustration/People's Daily Online

Roughly a month ago, the USS Connecticut, a nuclear-powered attack submarine operated by the US Navy, smashed itself into an unknown object in the South China Sea, sending shock waves throughout the region and beyond. Days after the collision, two anonymous officials disclosed that a seamount was suspected as the object that the Connecticut collided with, and that the wounded ship, which had limped back to Guam, awaited further assessment. But no additional information on exactly when, where, and how the accident occurred and what damage it might have caused has resurfaced ever since.

[Related Reading: US submarine collision raises red flag on maritime security ]

The episode has strained the nerves of the international community and has generated a sense of deja vu at home and abroad, because the US has been no stranger to similar incidents, with many of its submarine disasters dating back to as early as the 1960s .

On April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher, then one of the worlds most advanced nuclear-powered submarines, sank during its diving tests southeast of Cape Cod, killing all 129 personnel on board. Only five years later, another nuclear-powered subthe USS Scorpionfailed to surface, together with all 99 crew members on board. In December 1977, the USS S-4, then a first-class submarine operating in the American fleet, collided with a US Coast Guard cutter before sinking and claiming the lives of 38 personnel.

American-style recklessness seems to not only be an intrinsic quality that the US Navy has inherited in its history of submarine operations, so is its apparent lack of transparency.

After more than a half-century since the sinking of the USS Thresher, which remains the deadliest submarine accident in human history, its root cause still remained shrouded in mystery. It was only in 2019 when relevant documents were ordered to be declassified after a prolonged lawsuit, which finally permitted the public to learn about the true fate of the sunken vessel, the tragedy having been a product of a failed seawater pipe in the submarine.

Now came the USS Connecticut accident, in which the US media would rather accuse other nations of making an undue fuss about a nuclear sub accident at their doorsteps rather than pressing the US Navy to clarify further details on the collision in a timely and responsible manner. On October 27, the Business Insider published an article entitled China is fixated on a mysterious US submarine incident in the South China Sea and keeps accusing the US of a cover-up, in which the news website cited a Pentagon statement, a document that amounted to nothing else but a blank sheet of paper purporting to show useful information, calling it evidence of the countrys so-called transparency.

But if there is evidence of anything, then the evidence is on the surface and below the vast ocean where the US has kept its far-reaching and menacing military presence, with the thing being its relentless efforts in stirring up tension and unrest. For years, if not decades, the US has carried on its despicable mission of trespassing and scouting around in the South China Sea. In 2021 alone, US aircraft carriers have entered the region as many as nine times, with its swarms of reconnaissance aircraft buzzing above the water 24/7.

The consequences are discernible: apart from heightened tensions that are being unilaterally provoked by the US, the superpower has also inflicted upon itself a self-fulfilling paranoia and, with it, has successfully given rise to a vicious circle of a heightened arms race (including Australias most recent shopping frenzy for nuclear subs).

Apart from other types of weapons, which the US has never hesitated to deploy or sell even though they sometimes directly lead to civilian deaths (which the US often refers to as collateral damage), nuclear-powered submarines have a distinctive dark side.

A nuclear-powered submarine by definition is a submarine fueled by nuclear reactors. It is sometimes hyperbolically dubbed as an atomic bomb waiting to explode or a moving Chernobyland for good reasons. Although a reactor accident within a submarine isnt tantamount to a nuclear explosion, it can potentially release a large amount of radioactivity into the ocean, resulting in horrendous environmental hazards.

Now, with the freshly signed AUKUS, a trilateral deal in which the US and UK will help Australia to acquire submarines powered with highly enriched uranium, the occurrence of nuclear sub-related accidents, the environmental hazards such accidents may bring about, together with their adverse impacts on the global drive for non-proliferation will undeniably be multiplied.

Imagine just one nuclear submarine dashing around in the ocean. And then imagine similar nuclear subs but in droves, in fleets, belonging to a mix of nations. Even when all is calm, they can still self-destruct in a collision with an unknown object, while in more troubled waters, they may actually be considered more or less equivalent to a moving peril.

Another byproduct of the omnipresence of US nuclear submarines is that they sway other countries trust (if there is any) in the superpowers sincere desires to denuclearize Iran and DPRK. Much like Americas abandonment of the hard-won Iran nuclear deal wont persuade nations elsewhere to stop developing nuclear technologies of their own, neither will Americas decision to sell and deploy nuclear submarines help nations ease their nerves and defensive reflexes.

By leading nuclear submarines into the South China Sea and covering up accidents of any kind, the US is jeopardizing global efforts to transform the region into one of its Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones, opening up the Pandoras box of a post-Cold War arms race, while endangering the worlds non-proliferation mission. The entire Asia-Pacific region also risks being reduced into one of Americas geopolitical toolboxes, from which it continues to profit lucratively by means of selling weapons that now include nuclear-powered attack submarines.

This week, during his trip to Europe to attend the G20 summit and a UN climate summit, American President Joe Biden may choose to embrace any of the three knottiest issues that have appeared during his long career, all of which require a whole lot of explanation: 1) explain to his French counterparts why the US stabbed France in the back and stole its allys submarine deal; 2) explain to Iran and all relevant parties why America should be trusted after its flip-flopping on the Iran nuclear deal; and, 3) convince the world that the US is consistent in its climate policies and that it can be relied upon to lead the global emissions reduction cause. With the latest episodes involving US nuclear subs, which will undoubtedly cast a shadow over Bidens trip, and given Americas consistently terrible record in safeguarding global norms and international security, any concerns that arise about the trustworthiness of the worlds only superpower wont be a surprising outcome.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Hongyu)
China, Africa to build new prospects of cooperation

09:33, October 30, 2021 By Wan Yu, Jing Yue ( People's Daily

The first train carrying over 10,000 metric tons of cargos departs on Guineas Dapilon-Santou railway, July 22, 2021. Led by two locomotives, the train has 100 freight cars. (Photo by China Railway Construction Corporation)

China and Africa enjoy a profound friendship and deep mutual trust. They are good friends, good partners and good brothers.

China has remained Africas largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years. The bilateral trade between the two sides reached $139.1 billion in the first seven months of this year, up 40.5 percent year on year and hitting a historical high.

Chinas industry-wide foreign direct investment in Africa reached $2.07 billion during the January-July period, outperforming the pre-pandemic level in the same period two years ago.

Since the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit, China and Africa have jointly implemented a large batch of projects that benefitted both Chinese and Africans and offered strong support for the economic recovery of Africa. China-Africa cooperation stands as a model of South-South cooperation, and a fine example of international cooperation with Africa.

Currently, the FOCAC African Products Online Promotion Season is being held. The three-month event aims at building new platforms for China-Africa cross-border e-commerce, as well as promoting China-Africa cooperation on digital economy and the diversification of trade forms. Thanks to the event, many high-quality African products, including oranges from South Africa, gems from Tanzania, and dried mangoes from Uganda, are being introduced online by livestreamers to Chinese consumers. China-Africa e-commerce cooperation is injecting impetus into Africas economic recovery.

Months ago, dried chili peppers planted and processed by Rwandas young entrepreneur Dieudonne Twahirwa entered the Chinese market after being quarantined, becoming the first African dried chili peppers to be exported to China. Twahirwa is currently planning to introduce breeding machines, planters and dryers from China, so as to produce chili pepper products of higher quality and make a name for African chili peppers in China.

Wu Peng, Director-General of the Department of African Affairs of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that its a win-win cooperation to promote African commodities on Chinese e-commerce platforms, which demonstrates the spirit of mutual benefit of the China-Africa pragmatic cooperation. China and Africa enjoy a huge potential in upgrading their economic and trade cooperation, Wu added.

Martin Mpana, Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps and Cameroonian Ambassador to China noted that promoting China-Africa e-commerce cooperation is one of the effective approaches to the revitalization of African economy. He said Africa should make full use of the online promotion season to build the business capability of young Africans and African entrepreneurs.

Elmuthna Fahel with Sudanese newspaper Alintibaha, whos also an expert on international issues, said Africa and China are seeing an unprecedented growth in the demand for bilateral cooperation on economy and trade, which has enhanced the two sides confidence in their cooperation. The cooperation with China is indispensable for African countries including Sudan, he remarked, hoping that the cooperation between the two sides can go deeper in digital economy, marine economy and green economy.

Many African countries have received Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, including Lesotho, which obtained the doses donated by the Chinese government at the end of August this year. So far, China has offered and is offering COVID-19 vaccines for over 40 African countries and the African Union Commission, and is continuing supporting Africa to build the latters own capacity of vaccine production.

The construction of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters office donated by China has officially commenced, and a relevant pair assistance mechanism between China and Africa is in the making.

Upholding the vision of building a global community of health for all, China adopts an open and cooperative attitude on the development, production and distribution of vaccines. It is actively promoting localized production of vaccines in countries that are well conditioned. On April 21 this year, an agreement signed by Chinese and Egyptian enterprises, allowing Egypt to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines locally.

Facing the challenges brought by COVID-19, many Chinese enterprises engaged in construction projects in Africa are still sticking to their work, bringing a light of hope to Africas economic recovery. In June, Guineas first modern railway since the 1970s, the Dapilon-Santou railway invested by a Chinese enterprise, officially started operation. In the following month, the first batch of units of the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydroelectirc Project in Zambia was commissioned. In August, a new terminal of Zambias Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, which was built by a Chinese company, was put into use.

At present, there are still many Chinese engineering technicians working in Africa, and 1,100 cooperation projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) remain operational throughout the continent. They are a strong support for Africas resumption of work and production. So far, 46 countries in Africa and the African Union Commission have inked agreements with China to jointly advance the construction of the BRI.

Adhering to the principle of common development and promoting the stable development of pragmatic cooperation, China and Africa are implementing cooperation projects with higher standards to benefit the people. These projects will fuel Africas integrated construction and industrialization, and help the continent achieve independent and sustainable development.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
U.S. must honor its promise and act cautiously on Taiwan question

10:19, October 30, 2021 By Zhong Sheng ( People's Daily

The U.S. needs to know that the Taiwan question is purely an internal matter for China, one which brooks no external interference. No one should underestimate the resolve, the will, and the ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Recently, certain U.S. politicians have continuously hyped Taiwans participation in the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations and, in total disregard of facts, falsely accused China of threatening regional peace and stability.

Relevant remarks and acts of the U.S. have seriously violated the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, breached its own promises, and betrayed the basic norms governing international relations.

By doing so, the U.S. side is sending gravely wrong signals to the Taiwan independence forces and pushing the China-U.S. relations toward confrontation.

While claiming that they uphold the one-China policy, certain U.S. politicians have tried to disguise their unreasonable challenge to the policy as a matter of values and a practical issue by distorting concepts and confusing the public.

Although these politicians have racked their brains to choose the words, they couldnt change and conceal the nature of the problem and their true motives.

Taiwans Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority has long been ridiculously clamoring for Taiwans so-called representation in international organizations and international space, which is, in essence, seeking Taiwan independence.

By backing up Taiwan in this regard, the U.S. side has sent gravely wrong signals to the Taiwan independence forces.

The participation of the Taiwan region in activities of international organizations must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle.

Resolution 2758 adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has solved once and for all the issue of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC)s representation in the UN in political, legal, and procedural terms. The system, agencies, and the Secretariat of the UN should abide by the one-China principle and UNGA Resolution 2758 when dealing with Taiwan-related affairs.

A total of 180 countries in the world, including the U.S., have established diplomatic relations with China based on the one-China principle. As a global consensus and one of the universally recognized basic norms governing international relations, the one-China principle allows no unilateral challenge or distortion by the U.S.

Fifty years ago, the attempt of the U.S. to create one China, one Taiwan or two Chinas at the UN failed. Today, the country is peddling the so-called Taiwans participation in the UN system again, trying to turn back the wheels of history. However, standing on the opposite side of the vast majority of countries globally, the U.S. is bound to face another failure.

The Taiwan question, which concerns Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity and other core interests, is the most critical and sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations. The one-China principle is the political foundation of China-U.S. relations.

The U.S. side has been clear about Chinas firm stand on the Taiwan question and has made promises on the issue. In the three China-U.S. joint communiques, the U.S. unequivocally recognizes the Government of the PRC as the sole legal government of China, acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China and agrees that within this context, the people of the U.S. will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.

The U.S. government has repeatedly affirmed the position that it doesnt believe that Taiwan should be a member in any organization for which statehood is a requirement. Recently, U.S. officials have also made clear that the U.S. side has no intention of changing the one-China policy and the current situation of the Taiwan Strait.

However, the reality is that the U.S. side frequently stirs up troubles in the Taiwan Strait. From intensifying official exchanges and military contacts with Taiwan and inciting certain countries to make provocations on the Taiwan question to frequently hyping the idea of Taiwans participation in the UN system, the U.S. has reneged on its promises.

China has made firm and necessary responses to the U.S. sides wrongful remarks on the Taiwan question and relevant deeds.

At present, the policy adopted by the U.S. toward China has plunged China-U.S. relations into deep trouble. To lead the relations between the two countries back to the right track, the U.S. must make the right choices and adopt reasonable and practical China policy.

The Taiwan question is at the very core of China-U.S. relations. Should the U.S. side continue playing the Taiwan card, it would not only make barriers for the ease of tension between the two countries, but also inevitably pose seismic risks to China-U.S. relations, seriously undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and gravely harm the interests of the U.S. itself.

The trend of the world is surging forward. Those who follow the trend will prosper, and those who go against it will perish. To achieve complete national reunification is a trend of history and a common aspiration of all Chinese.

We firmly oppose the Taiwan independence and external intervention and will resolutely safeguard our national sovereignty and territorial integrity. We sternly warn the U.S. that it must keep its promises on the Taiwan question, proceed with caution, practically adhere to the one-China principle and the three joint communiques, and abide by UNGA Resolution 2758.

Besides, it must stop making irresponsible and erroneous remarks, stop helping Taiwan expand the so-called international space, avoid sending erroneous signals to Taiwan independence forces, and safeguard the political foundation of China-U.S. relations through concrete actions.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by Peoples Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
Chinese, Indonesia FMs voice serious concerns over AUKUS nuclear submarine deal

Xinhua) 10:51, October 30, 2021

ROME, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indonesia counterpart Retno Marsudi met here Friday, vowing to enhance bilateral ties and voicing serious concerns over the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.

Wang, who is visiting Italy and is to participate in the Group of 20 (G20) meetings, hailed the China-Indonesia relations, saying bilateral ties are developing smoothly under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state.

Such a relationship is featured by deepened mutual trust, improved economic and trade cooperation amid challenges and enhanced investment cooperation in various fields, and the efforts of the two sides in jointly fighting the COVID-19 pandemic have proved fruitful, Wang said.

China is willing to continue strategic communication, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, work together with Indonesia to prevail against the pandemic, so as to further bilateral ties, Wang said.

Retno said she's pleased with the fruitful and pragmatic cooperation with China. Indonesia appreciates China's cooperation on COVID-19 vaccine, which supported her country's anti-pandemic endeavor.

Indonesia is willing to work with China and push forward cooperation in various fields so as to benefit the two peoples, she said.

The two sides exchanged views on G20 cooperation.

Wang said that China supports Indonesia in hosting the G20 Summit next year and is willing to work with Indonesia and other parties to help the summit to pay more attention to the legitimate demands of emerging markets and developing countries.

Retno said that Indonesia is willing to work together with China to promote the G20 to better safeguard the common interests of the emerging markets and developing countries, to pay more attention to the legitimate concerns of small and medium-sized countries, and to cope with global challenges in a more effective manner.

The two sides also discussed cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), agreeing to speed up preparation for the summit marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations next month.

Describing China-ASEAN ties as the most dynamic and effective relations with a promising prospect, Wang called on the two sides to implement the outcomes of the just-closed China-ASEAN leaders' meeting and take the 30th anniversary of the dialogue relations as an opportunity to summarize successful experiences while looking into the future in a bid to promote the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership.

The two sides also voiced serious concerns over the risk of nuclear proliferation caused by the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) agreement for cooperation on Australian acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
Chinese envoy calls for efforts to maintain political stability in Mali

Xinhua) 11:07, October 30, 2021

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Friday called for national and international efforts to maintain the political stability in Mali.

For a long time, Mali has faced multiple challenges. To tackle them requires both the efforts of all parties in Mali and the support of the international community. The top priority now is to maintain the political stability of Mali and create conditions for the Malian people to cope with the challenges, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

China supports the Malian government in advancing the political transition and restoring constitutional order in an orderly manner, and welcomes actions by Mali to strengthen unity through dialogue and enhance the inclusiveness of the government. At the same time, Mali's political transition timetable must be in line with Mali's reality, he told the Security Council.

China supports the continued mediation efforts by the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, and encourages regional organizations to strengthen communication with the Malian authorities to build mutual trust, he said.

China is concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Mali. It is necessary to promote the implementation of the peace agreement and strive to achieve more results on issues such as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration; the redeployment of military forces; and the development zone for the northern regions.

"Efforts must start from the political, economic, judicial, and social aspects to help Mali restore state authority throughout the country, reduce poverty, and remove the root causes of conflict," said Zhang.

The international community and partner countries should continue to support Mali in fighting terrorism, maintaining stability, and protecting civilians. Relevant countries should enhance their communication and coordination with Mali in the reorganization and drawdown of military deployment in Mali so as to avoid any security vacuum that could have a negative effect, he said.

Since the beginning of this year, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali has faced a significant increase in security risks and has been frequently attacked by terrorist forces. It is necessary to identify the weak links in the security and safety of peacekeepers and address the most challenging problems in this respect. Active steps and targeted measures should be taken to enhance situation awareness, protection of campsites, emergency response and rescue capabilities and to address the threat posed by improvised explosive devices, said Zhang.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
Theory of China COVID-19 origin a "rumor": former Japanese PM

Xinhua) 11:17, October 30, 2021

TOKYO, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda recently expressed his opposition to the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in China, Sankei News reported.

In a speech on Wednesday, Fukuda said that the China origin of COVID-19 was "a rumor."

He expressed his understanding about the Chinese side in terms of addressing the rumor.

He also insisted on holding a Japan-China summit, saying that "it is necessary to build a new relationship of trust" regarding bilateral relations with China.

The former prime minister questioned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's pledge to increase defense costs by more than two percent of gross domestic product.

"If the surrounding countries are enemies, no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to protect (Japan). It is necessary not to create enemies," Fukuda said.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
Beijing reports 2 confirmed COVID-19 cases

Xinhua) 13:38, October 30, 2021

BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Beijing reported two locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases from 3 p.m. Thursday to 2 p.m. Friday.

The two cases were reported in Changping District, Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of Beijing's center for disease control and prevention, told a press briefing on Friday.

Bejing has so far reported a total of 27 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and two local asymptomatic carriers in the latest outbreak, Pang said.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
Chinese, South Korean FMs satisfied with stable, healthy bilateral ties

Xinhua) 13:45, October 30, 2021

ROME, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on Friday expressed satisfaction with the stable and healthy development of bilateral relations.

The two foreign ministers met here ahead of the G20 (Group of 20) summit scheduled to take place both online and offline on Saturday and Sunday.

During their meeting, they agreed to work together to hold next year's commemoration activities for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea in a good manner and consolidate political mutual trust.

They pledged to provide guidance for the Committee for Future Development of China-South Korea Relations, so as to help it enhance communication and propose forward-looking, up-to-date, and operable policy recommendations for the development of the bilateral ties.

The two sides vowed to use the China-South Korea Year of Cultural Exchanges as an opportunity to promote the two peoples' affection towards each other and strengthen the foundation of friendship between the two countries.

They also expressed support to each other in their respective hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics.

Besides, the two foreign ministers exchanged views on the most recent development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

While noting some new changes have recently taken place in the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Wang said China supports the improvement and development of inter-Korean relations, and welcomes the resumption of dialogue between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States in due course.

China has always maintained that the two Koreas, as owners of the Korean Peninsula, should play a more proactive role, Wang said.

China supports all efforts and recommendations that are conducive to the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue, and will continue to play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability both on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, he added.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
Chinese, Albanian FMs meet on ties, cooperation

Xinhua) 15:34, October 30, 2021

TIRANA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to deepen understanding and mutual support with Albania, inject new impetus into bilateral relations, and explore new ways for bilateral cooperation, visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Friday.

During his talks with Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka, Wang said he paid a special visit to express China's gratitude to Albania, which along with Algeria, jointly proposed a draft resolution 50 years ago that was adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly as Resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority. The resolution solved once and for all, in political, legal and procedural terms, the issue of China's representation in the UN.

This marked the return of China, which accounts for a quarter of the world's population, to the international family and made the UN truly become the most universal, representative and authoritative international organization, Wang said, adding that since then, the one-China principle has become the broad consensus of the international community and the universally observed basic norms governing international relations.

As a country that values friendship and tradition, China always remembers the righteous acts of Albania and is willing to continue carrying forward the traditional friendship between the two countries in the new historical period, he said.

Wang also noted that China has over the past 50 years always respected Albania's sovereignty and the country's choice of the development path that suits its national conditions.

For her part, Xhacka warmly congratulated China on the 50th anniversary of the restoration of its lawful seat in the UN. She said Albania always adheres to the one-China principle, respects China's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and abides by the basic norms of international relations of non-interference in internal affairs.

Noting China is an important and special partner for Albania, Xhacka thanked China for its long-term selfless help to Albania's economic and social development, and for its strong support for Albania's earthquake relief and fight against the pandemic.

Bilateral relations have maintained a good momentum of development and China has become Albania's third-largest trading partner, she said, adding that her country is willing to make joint efforts with China to strengthen high-level exchanges and boost cooperation for further development of bilateral ties.

The two ministers also exchanged views on Belt and Road cooperation as well as China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) cooperation.

Noting that the Belt and Road Initiative has become an important platform for international cooperation, Wang said China appreciates Albania's active participation in the joint building of the Belt and Road and the China-CEEC cooperation, and China is willing to work with Albania to advance cooperation to better benefit the people of both sides. Xhacka said her country stands ready to work with China to tap cooperation potential and promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation to achieve new results.

The two sides agreed to deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields such as fighting against the pandemic, people-to-people exchange, education and tourism.

China has been fulfilling its commitment to make COVID-19 vaccines a global public good, Wang said, adding that China has provided more than 1.6 billion doses of vaccines to the world, while over 120 countries have approved the use of Chinese vaccines.

China is willing to take the signing of the memorandum of cooperation between the two countries' CDCs as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation in vaccine and drug research and development, he said.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern. Wang congratulated Albania on its election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council from 2022 to 2023, and said China is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Albania in the Security Council, promote peace and security, and safeguard fairness and justice.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
UN human rights experts slam U.S. for expulsion of Haitian migrants

Xinhua) 16:00, October 30, 2021

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- United Nations human rights experts this week accused the United States of "racialized exclusion" following its recent deportation of Haitian migrants amid a surge of Haitians along its southern border.

"In expediting the collective expulsion of Haitian migrants, the United States is subjecting a group of predominantly Black migrants to impermissible risks of refoulement and human rights abuse without any individualized evaluation," the experts said in a statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Monday.

The experts condemned the United States for "ongoing systematic mass deportation" of Haitian migrants and refugees, and cautioned that such collective expulsions violate international law.

"International law prohibits arbitrary or collective expulsions. States cannot label all migrants of a certain nationality per se threats to national security, and all migrants, no matter their nationality, race or migration status, must be guaranteed the protections called for under international law," the statement added.

During the past weeks, tens of thousands of Haitian migrants crossed the Rio Grande river between the city of Ciudad Acuna and Del Rio, a border city in Texas, trying to seek jobs and asylum in the United States. The number of migrants surged this year following the devastating earthquake in Haiti in August, the still raging COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the political turmoil after the Haitian president's assassination.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
U.S. racial profiling among scientists dents innovation, confidence: white paper

Xinhua) 16:01, October 30, 2021

NEW YORK, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. racial profiling among scientists of Chinese descent in the last few years is impeding scientific progress and denting scientists' confidence in the United States, according to a white paper by the University of Arizona and the non-profit organization Committee of 100.

The white paper published Thursday presents the finding of a survey on 1,949 faculty members, postdocs and graduate students at top U.S. colleges and universities in the summer of 2021.

Scientists of Chinese descent and of Asian descent reported far greater racial profiling from the U.S. government, difficulty in obtaining research funds, professional challenges and setbacks, and fear and anxiety that they were surveilled by the U.S. government, compared to non-Asian scientists, said the white paper.

As many as 42.2 percent of scientists of Chinese descent felt racially profiled by the U.S. government, while only 8.6 percent of scientists of non-Chinese descent felt so, said the white paper.

Meanwhile, 38.4 percent of scientists of Chinese descent experienced more difficulty in obtaining funding for research projects in the United States as a result of their race, ethnicity or country of origin, compared to only 14.2 percent of scientists of non-Chinese descent, the white paper showed.

"What is clear from this research is that U.S. scientists and researchers of Chinese descent and non-Chinese descent experience the world and their work very differently because of racism, stereotypes, xenophobia, and government policies," said Jenny J. Lee, professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education, College of Education, at the University of Arizona.

Scientists of Chinese descent have indicated that they have purposely not pursued federal funding for projects for fear of increased scrutiny, compared to scientists of non-Chinese descent, according to the survey.

"The United States is the global leader in scientific research, yet suspicions of scientists of Chinese descent in the United States have made progress and exchanges more difficult," said Zhengyu Huang, president of the Committee of 100.

"Scientists of Chinese descent have also started to consider working in less hostile climates outside the United States, which could affect talent retention. The enrollment of new international graduate students from China has already been declining," said the white paper.

Scientific and educational exchanges are enormously beneficial to both the United States and China, said David Ho, founding scientific director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and professor of medicine at Columbia University.

Any unwarranted restriction or deterrent to open collaborations impedes scientific progress and technological development on both sides of the Pacific, said Ho, who is also a member of the Committee of 100.

"We need to move beyond the stereotypes of the perpetual foreigner and halt the xenophobia being directed at Chinese Americans and the entire Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders community," Huang added.

(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)
U.S. President Joe Biden launched his whirlwind European diplomatic tour on a conciliatory note, saying Friday that the rollout of a security deal between the United States, Britain and Australia that cut out longtime ally France was "clumsy."

"What happened was, to use an English phrase -- what we did was clumsy," Biden said. "It was not done with a lot of grace," he acknowledged, next to French President Emanuel Macron in Rome ahead of the G20 summit. The two spoke to reporters following their meeting which was notably held at Villa Bonaparte, the French Embassy to the Vatican, instead of a neutral venue.

The Indo-Pacific AUKUS security deal provides Australia with U.S. nuclear-powered submarines. But buying U.S. subs meant Canberra cancelled the $65 billion deal it previously made with Paris for traditional submarines.

The diplomatic fallout was swift: Paris temporarily recalled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra, saying they were not consulted in advance of the AUKUS deal. "I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not coming through," Biden said Friday. "Honest to God, I did not know that you had not been."

This modest concession matters, said Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the U.S. and the Americas program at Chatham House. "It's pretty clear that both Biden and Macron have a lot to lose and wish this relationship to work," she said. "So, they are finding ways to signal that, including in this case an acknowledgment that stops short of an apology."

Biden earlier committed to supporting France in their counterterrorism effort in the Sahel, where instability triggers waves of African migrants to aim for Europe. "Clearly the U.S. made a tough call on how to deal with France in the run-up to this decision and, ultimately, the AUKUS partnership stands and France is outside of it," Vinjamuri said.
The top U.S. diplomat to Taiwan said Friday the United States has a commitment to help the self-ruled island provide for its self-defense as tensions intensify between Taiwan and mainland China.

In her first news conference since taking her post in July, the de facto U.S. ambassador to Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk, said the U.S. continues to have a shared and abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and throughout the region. She also said the U.S. is "deeply concerned by the ongoing efforts by China to undermine that stability." She said, "Our commitment to Taiwan is rock solid."

The U.S. support for Taiwan comes as tensions between China and the island are now at the highest in decades, with Beijing stepping up its military harassment by flying fighter jets toward Taiwan.
From left, corrections officers Victor Lomeli and Derrick Sassenhagen work in booking at the Comal County Jail on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. MIKALA COMPTON | Herald-Zeitung
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The Constitution contains a powerful set of ideals and a wise system of governance, based on a deep reading of classical and medieval history as well as Renaissance philosophy. However, none of this matters if no system of force is in place to keep and defend the Constitution.

Ultimately, this what the 2nd Amendment is about: A distributed capacity for violence guaranteed to private citizens so that they may serve as a check and balance on the power of the state.

Americas Founding Fathers understood an uncomfortable truth: Behind every law is the implicit threat of force, and behind every vote is the implicit threat of rebellion. Such a bargain is what holds a free society together. And no society with a wide power imbalance remains free for very long.

This truth was predicated upon the Founders classical education and their deep understanding of the power dynamics underpinning the systems of governance during the Roman Republic and Ancient Athens. The Roman Republic in particular influenced their views. Why? Because it provided not simply a template for government, but a historical warning about what can happen to a republic if precautions are not taken to ensure its survival.

Thus the Constitution intentionally contained concepts like separation of powers and a system of checks and balances. These concepts were predicated upon a core truth, as eloquently stated by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence: Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

If you picture political power as a pyramid, the intention of the Founders was clear: The individual was paramount, having natural rights, and the individual would then delegate a portion of his or her political power to the state - hence, the state governed with the individuals consent. .....
Press Release

October 30, 2021 De Lima: Questionable tax returns of the Pharmally execs not surprising Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima maintained that the questionable tax returns of the personalities from Pharmally Corp. further attests that Mr. Duterte reduced the Office of the President to defending scammers and tax evaders. De Lima, the staunchest critic of Duterte regime's murderous and crooked policies, made the statement after the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee presented documents obtained from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) showing possible tax liabilities by the companies and personalities involved in the anomalous pandemic purchases of government. "That Michael Yang, Christopher Lloyd Lao, Pharmally officers Linconn Ong and the Dargani siblings, and Pharmally itself, have questionable tax records is no longer surprising. What can we expect from the people and the company involved in the greatest scam of the century so far?" she asked. Reportedly, key officials of Pharmally, its network of suppliers, along with ex-Presidential economic adviser Michael Yang, and former chief of Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) Lloyd Christopher Lao were flagged for failing to file proper income tax returns (ITRs) to the government throughout several years. A presentation by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon showed that most of the Pharmally officers' income tax returns were not filed, unreadable, or even incomplete. It may be recalled that Duterte earlier ordered Cabinet members to secure his clearance first before they could attend Senate inquiries, a statement which came amid the Senate investigation of the Pharmally scandal. The lady Senator from Bicol said that paying the proper taxes is the last thing people can expect from crooks. "Al Capone did not pay taxes, and that is how he got caught, not for syndicated racketeering, but for tax evasion. As we can also see in the Pharmally scam, tax evasion and racketeering go hand in hand," she said. "These are the people Duterte lawyers for every week. He has reduced the Office of the President to defending scammers, racketeers, and tax evaders. It is as if he is so at home in their company, he has forgotten his mandate as the chief law enforcement official of the land. The Attorney-Outlaw indeed," she added.
Press Release

October 30, 2021 Lacson Cautions Govt vs Complacency Amid Declining Covid Cases More at: https://pinglacson.net/article/lacson-cautions-govt-vs-complacency-amid-declining-covid-cases Until the number of Covid cases drops to zero, the government cannot claim success in its efforts to address the threat, Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson stressed Saturday. Lacson said the drop in Covid cases in past weeks should not lull authorities into a false sense of security. "Masasabi nating tagumpay na tayo kung zero tayo sa cases. As long as may isa o dalawa, e libo pa tayo, di pwede sabihin (We can claim success only if we have zero cases. As long as there are new cases, even one or two, we cannot do so. And we are still having new cases by the thousands)," he said in an interview on DWIZ radio. He noted that in other countries and territories, authorities call for meetings among government officials if there is even one new case. In the Philippines, Lacson lamented there are still lapses being committed by the government and issues that have to be addressed - including lack of trust by the public for some vaccine brands. Also, he stressed the need to curb corruption especially in the Department of Health, so it can maximize limited resources to procure and administer the needed vaccines. Currently, he noted the DOH has yet to crush the syndicates behind the overpricing of medical supplies including ambulances procured using Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) funds. Lacson, who is running for President under Partido Reporma, also pointed out the need to devolve the DOH's funds to local health units instead of devolving only the functions and keeping the funds in the central office. "Devolution tayo devolve lang function pero naiwan ang pera sa taas (We talk of devolution but only the functions are devolved; the funds are still in the central office)," he said.
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According to a video published by the Danish Ministry of Defense, the Navy of Denmark has deployed its HDMS Esbern Snare (F342) Absalon-class frigate to conduct anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Guinea.

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Danish Navy HDMS Esbern Snare (F342) Absalon-class frigate. (Picture source via Twitter account Defence Images UK

Citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, as a nation with strong seafaring traditions, the Danish maritime sector is the world's 6th largest and holds a key position as a value creator and growth engine to the Danish economy and society.

Especially in the Gulf of Guinea and the Horn of Africa, piracy continues to be a major challenge to both those living in the affected areas as well as those sailing the seas around them. Denmark, therefore, contributes significantly to the international efforts to combat piracy and maritime crime with a focus on these regions.

The Gulf of Guinea, in particular inside and around Nigerian waters, is one of the international waters affected the hardest by piracy and armed robbery at sea. In the first half of 2018, over 40% of all reported pirate attacks in the world occurred in the Gulf of Guinea, with attacks in Nigerian waters amounting to 29% of the global total. In addition, other forms of maritime crime such as the trafficking of drugs, weapons and people as well as illegal fishing and fuel theft pose significant threats to the regions stability and the livelihood of its citizens.

The overall objective of Denmarks efforts to combat piracy and maritime crime is to reduce the threat stemming from these issues in order to protect Danish interests and seafarers as well as international shipping. This requires a comprehensive approach that not only engages with problems at sea but also addresses root causes on land. Therefore, Denmark makes use of a broad range of tools, both military and civilian, in a concerted and integrated way.

HDMS Esbern Snare (F342) is an Absalon-class frigate and is, along with her sister ship, the HDMS Absalon, amongst the largest combat vessel currently commissioned in the Royal Danish Navy. The ship was launched in April 2005 and commissioned in 2007.

The Absalon-class frigate has been designed by a joint team from The Royal Danish Navy (RDN), the Danish Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) and a group of contractors, primarily Odense Maritime Technology (OMT) to the Royal Danish Navy's requirements for a multi-mission frigate-like ship with an emphasis on flexibility.

The Absalon-class frigate is built with an internal multipurpose deck and a stern vehicle ramp. The ships can serve as command platforms for a staff of 75 persons (naval or joint staff) with a containerized command and control center, transport, and base of operations for a company-sized landing force of some 200 men with vehicles. Alternatively, the flex deck can be used for mine-laying operations with a capacity of some 300 mines, or be fitted out for mine-clearing operations and launch and recover mine detecting and clearing equipment via a retractable gantry crane, adjacent to the stern vehicle ramp, which also is used for launching and recovering the fast landing craft. Furthermore, the flex deck can support a containerized hospital or simply transport a number of ISO standard containers or some 55 vehicles, including up to seven MBTs t(Main Battle Tanks). The ships can carry two LCPs (Landing Craft Personnel Storebro SB90E), two rigid hull inflatable boats, and two EH101 helicopters.

The HDMS Esbern Snare has a length of 137.6 m, a beam of 19.5 m, a draft of 6.3 m, and a displacement of 6,300 tones. The ship is powered by two MTU 8000 M70 diesel engines driving two shafts. She can reach a top speed of 24 knots (44 km/h) with a maximum cruising range of 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h). She has a crew of 169 people.

The HDMS Esbern Snare is armed with one 5 inches (127 mm) 54 Mark 45 mod 4 naval gun, seven 12.7 mm heavy machine guns, VLS (Vertical Launching System) with up to 36 cells RIM-162 ESSM/RIM-7 Sea Sparrow (Mk 56/Mk 48 VLS), eight Harpoon Block II SSM (Surface-to-Surface missile), two Oerlikon Millennium 35 mm Naval Revolver Gun Systems CIWS, MU90 Impact ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) torpedoes and four Stinger Point-defense SAM (Surface to Air Missile).
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David Hinson, a professor of architecture in Auburn Universitys School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, was honored on Oct. 16 as the 2021 Alabama American Institute of Architects, or AIA, Gold Medal of Honor Award winner at the Alabama AIA Excellence in Design Awards Gala.

The College of Architecture, Design and Construction, or CADC, professor was honored for a nearly 40-year career in architecture practice and academia. Hinson, a member of the architecture faculty since 1997, served as head of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, or APLA, for more than 10 years, is an alumnus of Auburns architecture program and is an AIA Fellow.

Community service and advocacy have underpinned Hinsons extensive career as an architect and teacher. Since his early days in Philadelphia, Hinson has worked to mobilize the talents and energy of his professional peers and students to effect meaningful community change, and he has used leadership roles in almost every significant organization of the profession to champion these values.

It is a wonderful honor to be recognized by my friends and colleagues in the architecture community this way, said Hinson, who earned architecture and environmental design degrees at Auburn before getting his masters at the University of Pennsylvania. The state is fortunate to have many architects whove made a lasting impact on the profession, and its humbling to be considered among that group.

I feel especially fortunate to be teaching and practicing in a state with such a strong tradition of support for architectural education. It is a privilege to be able to work alongside so many peers and colleagues who share a passion for the profession of architecture and a commitment to its future.

The Alabama AIA Gold Medal of Honor Award recognizes consistent visionary leadership and service to the profession of architecture in the state of Alabama over a lifetime. It is the highest award bestowed upon an architect member of the AIA in Alabama whose leadership, service and contributions have directly benefitted AIA, their community and/or the design and construction industries.

Helene Drieling, an AIA Fellow and former national president of the AIA, wrote in support of Hinsons nomination that, Davids remarkable dedication to his students as the promising future of society, as well as his extraordinary efforts to initiate cross-collateral projects for the benefit of the greater profession are, when considered collectively, attributed of the highest order for a scholar and practitioner of our discipline.

In addition, the recipient is measured by the regard of their peers and the community.

It is evident that the qualities that identify David as a regarded recipient of this award extend to his interactions within APLA, said Vini Nathan, the McWhorter Endowed Chair and dean of CADC. Under the influence of Davids belief in advocacy and community support, his students develop into strong leaders. APLA students, faculty and programs benefit greatly from his influence and experience.

Hinson serves as coordinator of the architecture programs fourth-year design studios and is coordinator of APLAs international exchange programs. His research interests include affordable housing, energy performance, building technologies, resilient design in residential architecture and collaboration and leadership in interdisciplinary teams.
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Illinois Tech Associate Professor of Physics Bryce Littlejohn and his colleagues on the MicroBooNE project used artificial intelligence and deep machine learning to analyze years' worth of images of neutrinos they had collected. If an abundance of neutrinos with "showery" features, like the one shown here, had appeared in the images, it might have indicated the existence of a previously undiscovered sterile neutrino. So far, however, extra events like these were not observed. CREDIT MicroBooNE collaboration

Illinois Institute of Technology Associate Professor of Physics Bryce Littlejohn is part of an international team of scientists that has dealt a blow to a popular theory of the existence of a fourth "sterile" neutrino.

The groundbreaking research results were announced at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory today.

Neutrinos, which come in three known "flavors," are smaller than atoms and are one of the most plentiful fundamental building blocks in the universe. Scientists have spent decades searching for an explanation for unexpected indications that neutrinos swap flavors between where they are produced and where they are detected. A popular theory explaining this result posits the existence of an undiscovered fourth "sterile" neutrino that is even more ghostly in nature than the three known flavors. Today's findings from experiments conducted by MicroBooNE, a powerful neutrino detector built at Fermilab to better understand neutrino interactions, deal a major blow this theory.

MicroBooNE is like "a giant digital camera that takes millimeter-scale, precision digital pictures of neutrinos interacting inside of the camera," Littlejohn says. It uses special light sensors and more than 8,000 attached wires to capture neutrino interactions. Littlejohn, who has worked on this project since 2012, organized the installation of the detector's electronic systems used to operate those wires and read out data from the detector. As the oscillations group convener, he is also in charge of the analysis group that produced the new reported results. More than 200 researchers from 36 institutions in five countries were involved in helping MicroBooNE achieve its recent discovery.

Littlejohn's Illinois Tech research group has been using artificial intelligence and deep machine learning to process MicroBooNE's images to create charts that detail the trajectories and identities of neutrino interaction products. These images and tools enable collaborators to distinguish electrons from photons in MicroBooNE images, a crucial piece of information that was missing in previous experiments.

"If previous experiments were right about seeing hints of sterile neutrinos, we should have been able to see something new and crazy, but we did not see anything new and crazy so far," Littlejohn says. "That new neutrino either can't be out there or it looks different than people were expecting."

Although the data did not reveal evidence of a fourth neutrino, it still doesn't explain the anomalies that have appeared in previous neutrino physics experiments. MicroBooNE researchers will do follow-up analyses with more data that will test different types of new physics that go beyond the Standard Model while new higher-precision SBND and ICARUS detectors come online at Fermilab in the next year to further enhance MicroBooNE's search.

"We know new physics has to be out there somewhere. Otherwise, for example, we wouldn't have seen all of these pieces of evidence pointing to dark matter existing," Littlejohn says. "There's got to be some connection between the dark matter we see in the universe and strange new particle types that we can make at high-energy physics laboratories here on Earth."

Along with Littlejohn, Illinois Tech postdoctoral fellow Ryan Dorrill and undergraduate Whitmaur Castiglioni worked on the project. Illinois Tech alumni Rui An and Ivan Lepetic also worked with the research team while they were Ph.D. students. An developed algorithms for processing the exquisite 3D images that come out of MicroBooNE. One of the exciting things about this project is that its scientists, including An, used cutting-edge machine learning tools to perform deep, effective analysis on the images that wouldn't be possible with the naked eye or conventional computer science tools, Littlejohn says. As a particle physicist, Littlejohn says that he loves using the experimentation process to find out what's real and what's not real about the universe.

"The long period of work that we've had to get to this result has been very rewarding, because we have found out something totally new, and we weren't sure what the answer was going to be when we started," he says.

Learn more about Littlejohn's role in the MicroBooNE project, here.

For more information on MicroBooNE's results, click here for Fermilab's press release.

MicroBooNE is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. National Science Foundation, Swiss National Science Foundation, U.K. Science and Technology Facilities Council, U.K. Royal Society, and European Union's Horizon 2020.

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is America's premier national laboratory for particle physics research. A U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, Fermilab is located near Chicago, Illinois, and operated under contract by the Fermi Research Alliance LLC. Visit Fermilab's website at https://www.fnal.gov and follow us on Twitter @Fermilab.

The DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.



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By Azernews





By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan increased the volume of its non-oil exports by $525.3 million or 40.9 percent in January-September 2021, the Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication of Azerbaijan reported in its October export review.

In the first nine months of the year, the volume of Azerbaijans exports amounted to $14.6 billion, including $1.8 billion in the non-oil sector.

In the list of non-oil exports, gold ranked first with $158.2 million, followed by cotton yarn with $149.5 million and tomatoes with $128.2 million. The exports of fruits and vegetables totaled $398.9 million.

In the reported period, the non-oil goods worth $586.5 million were exported to Russia, $455 million to Turkey, $174 million to Switzerland, $120.5 million to Georgia, and $54.8 million to the U.S.

In September 2021, Azerbaijan's total exports amounted to $1.7 billion. The non-oil exports increased by 75.2 percent to $224.7 million during the reported month. The food exports increased by 34.5 percent to $46.2 million, while the non-food exports increased by 90 percent to $178.5 million.

The top three countries in terms of the non-oil products export in September were Russia with $64.2 million, Turkey with $47.7 million, and Switzerland with $19.2 million. On the list of non-oil exports in September 2021, carbamide comes first ($18.5 million), followed by gold ($18.1 million) and methanol ($15.7 million).

The export review also provided information about export orders received by Azexport.az portal. Thus, the portal received orders in the amount of $43.2 million in September 2021. In addition, in January-September 2021, Azexport.az received export orders for $367.6 million. It should be noted that from January 2017 to September 30, 2021, the portal received export orders worth $2.5 billion from 145 countries.

Additionally, the value of the non-oil exports through the Single Window Export Support Centre in October this year amounted to $23.3 million. From 2017 to November 2021, the value of goods and products exported through the Single Window Export Support Centre was $665 million.

The export review aims to familiarize entrepreneurs with export issues, expand opportunities for exporting local goods to traditional and new markets and accelerate the process of integration into international markets.
By Azernews





By Vugar Khalilov

The Azerbaijani army is holding a competition for the Best Artillery Division title, the Defence Ministry reported on October 29.

The competition is organized under the 2021 combat training plan for 2021.

As a part of the competition, the teaching materials of the divisions and the supplies of the military personnel have been reviewed.

Following the inspection of the personnels combat readiness, individual and group standards have been identified.

Units have left the places of their permanent deployment on alert to take up firing positions by moving along designated routes, the report added.

Pieces of the artillery equipment were brought to firing positions within a specified time under the regulations of the competition and combat shootings are carried out on planned and unplanned targets.

Azerbaijan periodically holds drills to improve its military personnels combat readiness.

The drills also aim to improve interaction and combat coordination between the servicemen during operations, as well as to develop commanders' military decision-making and unit management skills.
By Azernews





By Vugar Khalilov

On September 27, 2020, in response to a large-scale provocation of the Armenian armed forces along the frontline, the Azerbaijani army launched a counter-offensive operation, later called the "Iron Fist".

The 44-day war put an end to nearly 30 years of occupation, ensured the liberation of Azerbaijan's lands and the restoration of the country's territorial integrity.

Chronicle of 44-day Second Karabakh War: October 30, 2021

- President Ilham Aliyev made a post on his official Twitter account that the Azerbaijani Army liberated several villages in Jabrayil, Zangilan and Gubadli districts from the occupiers.

- President Ilham Aliyev called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

- The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry released information on the latest situation in the frontline. The battles continued mainly in the direction of Aghdara, Khojavand and Gubadli. A list of destroyed military equipment of the Armenian Armed Forces was announced.

- A number of Azerbaijani settlements were shelled in the morning. A video of the destruction of Smerch, from which the Armenian Armed Forces shelled Barda, was released.

- Another high-ranking Armenian serviceman who committed a war crime was killed.

- Gubadli was subjected to artillery fire from the territory of Armenia.

- A video of the destruction of the missile-artillery depot of the Armenian Armed Forces was released.

- A video report from the liberated Khudafarin village of Jabrayil district was released.

- A video of the destruction of two more 'Smerch' missile systems, from which Armenian troops shelled the cities of Barda and Tartar, was released.

- Armenian armed forces launched 'Smerch' missile at Alasgarli village of Tartar.

- A video of exact strikes on the Armenian troops, as well as video of the destruction of another 'Osa' anti-aircraft missile system of Armenian troops were released.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10, 2020, brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.

The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions and urged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centres, and historic Shusha city.
By Trend

The tank units of Azerbaijani Armed Forces carried out combat firing exercises according to the combat training plan for 2021, Trend reports referring to the country's Ministry of Defense.

"Tank crews improve their combat vehicle control skills and carry out firing exercises at intended targets," the ministry stated.
By Trend

Exports of cars from Turkey to Germany increased by 29.6 percent from January through August 2021, compared to the same period of 2020, to $2.75 billion, the Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend.

In August 2021, car exports from Turkey to Germany increased by 23 percent compared to the same month of 2020, to $311.2 million, the ministry said.

Turkey in total increased the export of cars by 29.3 percent in the first 8 months of this year compared to the first 8 months of last year - up to $18.7 billion.

Turkey exported cars worth $2.42 billion in August of this year, which is 56.8 percent more compared to August of last year.

In the last 12 months (from August 2020 to August 2021), Turkeys car exports reached $29.8 billion.
By Trend

Georgia has reported 4,610 new COVID-19 cases, 2,624 recoveries, and 42 deaths over the past 24 hours, Trend reports via Georgian media.

A total of 55,815 tests have been conducted over the past 24 hours throughout the country. Among them, 31,603 tests were rapid, while the remaining 24,212 were PCR tests.

Georgias total case tally reached 715,865, among them 655,129 people recovered and 10,003 died.

There are 46 people quarantined, 6,377 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized. Some 1,086 asymptomatic and mild symptom patients are placed into government-assigned facilities.

As of October 30, more than 1.9 million people got the COVID-19 vaccine, and 4,151 were vaccinated over the past 24 hours.
By Trend

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili published another letter from prison on the eve of the October 30 runoffs, Trend reports citing 1tv.ge.

Ex-president explained the reasons behind a hunger strike, saying his voice was suppressed by banning phone calls.

I can not express my position out loud as I have not been to court for a month. No legal norms are observed! he stated.

Saakashvili said people were being intimidated by his arrival, in reality, I came silently, avoided provocation, silently went to the jail and started a hunger strike. I did this because I love my people.

The jailed former president believes his life or death depends on voters participation in the runoffs.

Law enforcers arrested Mikheil Saakashvili in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on October 1. He kicked off a hunger striker day after detention.

The ex-president is charged with several criminal offences. In 2018, he was sentenced to six years in prison in absentia for abuse of power.
By Trend

Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region registering a steady increase in the number of new COVID-19 infections for the fourth consecutive week, the organization is still advising schools to remain open with "appropriate preventive and response measures in place", Trend reports citing Xinhua.

"Last year's widespread school closures, disrupting the education of millions of children and adolescents, did more harm than good, especially to children's mental and social well-being. We can't repeat the same mistakes," says Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Europe's regional director, in a press release issued here on Friday.

According to the latest figures, in the third week of October the WHO European Region accounted for 57 percent of new global cases.

While the WHO's five other global regions reported a decline in COVID-19 case numbers, more than half of the countries in the European Region registered a marked increase in infection rates with new cases soaring by 18 percent across all age groups.

According to the WHO, the increases have already triggered an immediate response from national and local governments to protect the schools across the region that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

"A total of 45 countries and territories recommended that schools remain open for in-person learning with infection prevention and control. Seven countries opted for full or partial school closures, either at a national or sub-national level, and two countries recommend distance learning," the WHO release said.

According to WHO Europe, "interrupting children's education should be a last resort."

"Science must trump politics, and the long-term interests of children must remain a priority -- especially now that a number of countries are seeing a spike in transmission. We have more efficient tools to address this spike than closing schools," Kluge said.

To date, 76 million COVID-19 cases and 1.4 million deaths have been reported in the WHO European Region.
By Trend

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a bid by states, including coal producer West Virginia, and industry groups to limit federal power to use the landmark Clean Air Act to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The court's decision to take up the case could complicate efforts by President Joe Biden's administration to issue new and more stringent regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The announcement came two days before Biden arrives in Glasgow, Scotland, for the UN COP26 climate summit, where he had planned to reassert U.S. leadership on climate change. His predecessor Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the Paris climate agreement.

The high court will hear a case brought by 20 states and various industry groups, including coal interests, to review a rulingby the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to strike down a Trump-era rule intended to constrain regulation of carbon emissions from power plants.

The appeals court had ruled against Trump's Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule which was challenged by states and groups that supported the Clean Power Plan of former President Barack Obama. That rule would have given the Environmental Protection Agency power to regulate carbon dioxide emissions mainly from coal-fired power plants.
By Trend

Travel restrictions to and from India may ease in the coming days, given the significant drop in the number of positive cases, a top Indian minister said on Wednesday.

India's Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan, who is visiting the UAE for a couple of days to attend the sixth ministerial consultation of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, said this while interacting with the media at the Indian pavilion at Expo 2020.

The Abu Dhabi Dialogue is a regional, voluntary and non-binding consultative process between Asian countries of labour origin and destination. It serves as a platform to facilitate regional cooperation on contractual labour mobility, sharing of best experiences and learning from one another's experience.

"I am hoping that in the coming days, travel restrictions will be eased as there is a significant drop in the new cases in India. We had some talks and consultations on it on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, but the formal announcement will come from the other countries involved."

"But I am hopeful and optimistic that in the coming days travel restrictions will be eased considerably so that migrants can travel," he said, adding that the dialogue is more relevant today as the pandemic affects migrants the most.

When asked about rehabilitation projects for welfare and re-integration of blue-collar workers who return to India from abroad, Muraleedharan said: "Any worker who returns to India after losing job abroad can list his or her skill capacity in the prescribed performa with the ministry. There is an employee-employer platform we have created where the employers can utilize that data and absorb people based on their abilities listed in the system."
The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) held an introductory awareness session in collaboration with Eskan Bank on the Joint Housing Finance product introduced by both banks.

The session provided joint housing attendees with information on social loans and the joint housing scheme available from Eskan Bank, the mortgage loan options available to them from NBB, as well as additional details on the benefits of the housing scheme and the added value it presents to potential home-owners and Bahraini citizens eligible for the product.

Furthermore, the session discussed the key differences between both Mazaya and Joint Housing schemes, highlighting each schemes beneficiaries and the eligibility criteria, going on to address the products multiple purchasing and construction scenarios.

NBB said it is serving beneficiaries by financing a joint mortgage guarantee with Eskan Bank, to help boost the customer experience, and provide a wide range of housing financing solutions to enable applicants to acquire the home of their dreams.

A virtual seminar was held in September to discuss the many important aspects of the scheme and shed light on the foundations and concepts of the programme.

The seminar received great attention from Eskan Bank, with both banks taking part, and was presented by Yousif Ebrahim, Senior Asset Product Specialist at NBB, alongside two members of Eskan Bank; Parween Ali, Head of Retail Banking, and Haifa Al Madani, Head of Legal.

On the awareness session, CEO (Retail Banking) Subah Abdullatif Al Zayani said: "The Joint Housing scheme was launched along with Eskan Bank to help alleviate our customers financial burdens and introduce a new housing scheme to the market that works to their benefit."

"We are pleased to have held this session alongside our partners, which served to provide our customers with critical information to aid them in their selection process and highlight the array of benefits offered as we continuously aim to meet our customers needs," he stated.

Eskan Bank Retail Banking Head Parween Ali said: "Through this awareness session organised by the NBB, we were able to introduce a number of benefits, details and vital information advantageous to our customers."

"We hope to partake in additional sessions of this nature to answer all necessary questions and provide the beneficiaries of the Ministry of Housing with the ideal housing solutions to suit their individual needs," stated Ali.
Saudi Arabias National eLearning Center (NELC) has announced a strategic collaboration with edX to provide access to quality courses and programmes through its platform FutureX to the kingdom's citizens, students and government employees.

The NELC was established as an independent entity by the kingdom's Council of Ministers, to enhance trust in the eLearning programs, leading innovation in learning digital transformation and enabling the integration among educational institutions and employers.

This first of its kind collaboration, funded by the NELC, marks a milestone for both edX and the NELC and will initially reach over 30,000 learners.

For edX, this collaboration is an important milestone in its efforts in the Middle East to support its mission to increase access to high-quality education on a global scale.

For the NELC, the collaboration bolsters the countrys transformation in education and training through eLearning led by NELC. The collaboration bolsters the countrys model for eLearning, which was recognized by independent studies conducted by Online Learning Consortium in partnership with other leading global organizations during the pandemic.

Starting now, the NELC will work with institutions, including government organizations, schools, and enterprises across Saudi Arabia to connect citizens with online learning content on edX that will help unlock new and exciting opportunities - from earning credit toward a full degree through a MicroBachelors program or MicroMasters program to learning the skills needed to succeed in todays workplace through a Professional Certificate program.

"Working with NELC is an incredible opportunity to further the founding vision of edX - education for all," said Anant Agarwal, edX CEO and founder.

Through our work together, we will provide learners in Saudi Arabia with the opportunity to transform their lives through learning. I look forward to the impact that this new NELC program will empower citizens to have as they work toward creating positive change and impact in their own lives and organizations, stated Agarwal.

NELC Director General Dr Abdullah Alwalidi said: "Working with edX as one of our strategic partners for the National eLearning Platform  FutureX, expands the opportunities for our learners and institutions to a greater access to highly quality international content, faculty and institutions."

"Through this partnership that is of strategic importance we ensure that NELP continuously supports the demands of the learning needs resulting in developing the human capabilities in the kingdom," he added.
Saudi Arabia has announced Riyadhs bid for hosting the World Expo 2030 to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), World Expos organising body, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

In a letter to the BIE, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, said: "We live in an era of change, and we face an unprecedented need for humanitys collective action."

"It is clear that the whole world, as a collective, needs to work together to foresee the future and address, with its brightest minds, the challenges and opportunities that emanate from this change," stated Prince Mohammed.

"The 2030 World Expo in Riyadh will coincide with the culmination of the Kingdoms Vision 2030," he added.

The Saudi Vision 2030 is a strategic framework to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation, and tourism and was launched by HRH Crown Prince in 2016.

In the letter, Prince Mohammed stressed that "this vision represents the kingdoms ambitions for the future; a vision that aims to leverage the boundless energy of its youth to create a sustainable tomorrow for the benefit of future generations  in which all citizens advance their dreams, surpass their hopes, and go beyond their ambitions."

He also said that "the World Expo 2030 will represent an extraordinary opportunity to share with the world our lessons from this unprecedented transformation."

The letter was delivered in Paris to Dimitri Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the BIE, by Fahd Al Rasheed, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.

Expo 2030 will take place from October 1, 2030 to April 1, 2031. The theme proposed by Saudi Arabia is "The era of change: Leading the planet to a foresighted tomorrow."

The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC), which is the overarching authority responsible for the City of Riyadh and is chaired by HRH Crown Prince, will lead the Saudi bid for the World Expo 2030.

Additional details of the proposal will be submitted to the BIE (the institution in charge of overseeing and regulating World Expos since 1931) in Paris this December.

World Exhibitions have been held since 1851 and provide the largest global platform for presenting the latest achievements and technologies, while uniting people across cultures and continents.
Scientists and environmentalists are sounding the alarm ahead of COP26, scheduled for Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November. Many countries are going from picturesque places to dusty lands, like Iran where Lake Urmia is drying up. In June, Kuwait recorded temperatures of up to 53.2 degrees. The region is warming at twice the global average.

Beirut (AsiaNews)  The Middle East is of the regions of the planet hardest hit by climate change and, at the same time, one of the least prepared to face its dramatic consequences.

Scientists and environmentalists are sounding the alarm given the serious environmental crisis the Middle East is experiencing, becoming "literally unliveable", so much so that last summer several countries morphed from picturesque vacation spots into dusty lands.

Over the years, increasingly extreme temperatures and severe periods of drought have ravaged the region, burning entire forests and enveloping cities in unbearable heat.

In June, temperatures of up to 53.2 degrees were recorded in Kuwait, but similar highs were reported in Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia with temperatures above 50 degrees. Temperatures of up to 51.5 degrees and 51 degrees respectively have also been reached in Iraq and Iran.

For many, the worst is yet to come, because extreme weather phenomena are only just beginning. The Middle East region is warming up at twice the global average and by 2050 it will have a temperature of at least 4 degrees above the target of 1.5 set to save humanity.

According to the World Bank, extreme conditions will become normal and the scorching sun could last up to four months a year.

Germanys Max Planck Institute notes that many cities could become "uninhabitable" before the end of the century, a trend made that worse by the fact that the regions many wars and sectarian divisions prevent a united response to challenges that threaten collective existence.

The topic will be at the centre of the upcoming 2021United Nations Conference on Climate Change, better known as COP26, scheduled to open tomorrow 31 October until 12 November in Glasgow, Scotland, chaired by the United Kingdom.

Looking at certain countries, Yemen is at risk of greater floods and waterborne diseases as reported by the experts of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC).

In Iraq, climate change is bound to exacerbate the already pressing challenges to the environment, security and economy. Rising temperatures, periods of prolonged drought, desertification and salinisation have brought the agricultural sector to its knees.

The decline of the main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, is destined to drain reserves, with inevitable repercussions on the economy and institutions in years to come.

In Iran much of the territory suffers from desertification and deforestation. Runoff from industrial and urban wastewater has contaminated rivers, coastal and groundwater. Wetlands and freshwater areas are drying up, like the once navigable Lake Urmia, now not far from being a dusty expanse.

Added to this are the oil and chemical spills that have damaged the flora and fauna of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. Iranian governments have not yet promoted a sustainable development policy, favouring instead short-term growth targets to mitigate effects of international sanctions.

In Turkey, temperature rises and increasingly extreme weather phenomena have been reported, characterised by droughts and heat waves. Local greenhouse gas emissions make up 1 per cent of the global total and energy policy continues to favour coal, with large subsidies.

Bad news is coming also from Israel, a relatively small country whose regional impact far exceeds its size. Efforts to reduce emissions have so far been of little use  in half a century the temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees and relative rainfall rate has decreased. Between 20 and 40 more days per year with temperatures above 30 degrees are expected.

Finally, in Jordan, one of the countries in the world where the water emergency is highest, residents will be forced to live with a maximum of 40 litres a day per capita for all needs, a figure ten times lower than the US average, something already unavailable every day in all homes.
Bishop Joel Baylon released a message on behalf of the Bishops' Conference on the occasion of Prison Awareness Day, which falls on this Sunday. More than 165,000 people are currently in Philippine prisons, one of the most overcrowded prison systems in the world.

Manila (AsiaNews)  The synodal path to which Pope Francis has called the Church for the next two years must also involve people who are incarcerated, this according to a statement released by Philippine bishops on the occasion of this years Prison Awareness Day, which falls next Sunday.

In the press release, Bishop Joel Baylon of Legazpi, president of the Commission on Prison Pastoral Care of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, says that this day provides an opportunity to reaffirm the values that lie at the root of the commitment of chaplains, men and women religious and lay people who carry out their service in prisons.

The goal is to defend life as we should, [show] respect for human dignity and human rights even for the persons deprived of liberty, providing them with the opportunity to defend themselves in court as they continue to wait for whatever sentence that they may receive and [. . .] help them trust that if and when they are given a new lease on life, they will be able to feel welcomed by society.

Currently, more than 165,000 people are held in Philippine prisons, 63.9 per cent waiting for trial, one of the most overcrowded prison systems in the world, despite the fact that tens of thousands of inmates were released during the COVID-19 emergency.

For Bishop Baylon, the Churchs commitment to serve those in prison also represents "a response to the invitation of our Holy Father Pope Francis as he calls us to walk in this synod on synodality.

This journey in the Church allows us to recognise one another, especially those who are in special situations in their lives: those who are oftentimes relegated to the peripheries of society, those who are forgotten even judged for whatever wrongs they have done to others and community. And this is specifically and especially true with these people whom we serve in prison.

May we be able to provide them the experience of solidarity and synodality as Church recognizing their dignity as human beings, defending life as we should, their lives their dreams their hopes and may the Holy Spirit sustain us in these efforts and make them truthful and meaningful.
Taiwans foreign minister is in Brussels after visiting Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Lithuania is next on his schedule. At the IPAC summit in Rome, he urged the EU to sign an investment agreement with his country. Taiwans international activism is beginning to pay dividends in the Old Continent.

Brussels (AsiaNews)  With an effective diplomatic offensive, Taiwan has managed to overshadow the European tour of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Taiwans chief diplomat, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, has been in Europe for days. After visiting Slovakia and the Czech Republic, he travelled to Brussels for meetings with EU officials and EU lawmakers.

Wus tour includes an additional stop in Lithuania, which has come under attack from China over its intensified cooperation with Taiwan. For the Communist-ruled mainland, the island is a "rebel" province and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control.

Wang arrived in Greece on Wednesday, followed by Serbia with planned stops in Albania and Italy. However, the spotlight has fallen on his Taiwanese counterpart.

Via video link from Brussels, Wu took part in a conference held in Rome organised by Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), which includes political leaders from many countries, many of whom sanctioned by China.

During the IPAC meeting, Taipeis envoy again asked the European Union to sign a bilateral investment agreement with his country.

The EU is the leading foreign investor in Taiwan, and discussions on a far-reaching trade pact began in 2015.

Taiwanese and Chinese observers note that Wu's presence in Brussels could speed up negotiations, even more so after the European Parliament put on hold the ratification of a similar agreement with China.

However, according to most analysts, the Commission and the EU Council  the decision-making bodies of the Union  are reluctant to enter into a major trade agreement with Taiwan, afraid that this would compromise relations with China.

The EU is more likely to focus on signing sectoral agreements with Taiwan, in areas such as microchips, artificial intelligence, renewable energy and self-driving vehicles.

Yet, Taiwans diplomatic activism is beginning to make inroads in the Old Continent. Small EU member states like Lithuania and Slovakia are a case in point.

Both countries have said they wanted to continue their cooperation with Taiwan, despite veiled Chinese threats of reprisal.

Peter Osusky, deputy chairman of the Slovak Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, told AsiaNews bluntly that the EU must adopt sanctions against China for its coercive policy towards Lithuania.

He also stressed that his country should leave the 16+1 group, 17+1 until Lithuania pulled out, an economic forum that brings together China and 15 states in central, eastern and southern Europe, 11 of which belong to the EU.
This defendant not only endangered our brave firefighters who responded to the arson that he set, he caused devastating damage to a longtime Maryland business, forcing it to close, said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron. Arsons are also often difficult crimes to uncover and prove in court, and I am grateful to our investigative and prosecution teams for their dedication and persistence.
Ciccones homily was a meditation on love that he said he had composed days ago, before he knew the Bidens would be attending. He said it was an honor to have them in the parish, and that Bidens position on abortion and whether to administer Communion was not an issue for him or the parish.
An attorney representing Colvin, Phillip Ensler, said he would support a bid to expunge the court records of other activists from the civil rights movement. But Colvin, who was convicted of assaulting an officer during her arrest and declared delinquent, isnt sure that such an effort would be possible since there was so much injustice for so long.
Dr. Astrov in Chekovs Uncle Vanya listens to the chopping down of trees at a country estate and asks, One hundred years from now, the people who come after us, for whom our lives are showing the way  will they think of us kindly? Will they remember us with a kind word? We must ask ourselves the same question as we approach the Glasgow summit on climate change. The U.S. must be able to attend the summit with major legislation under its belt to bring emissions down to zero by 2050. Without this, it cannot lead or hope to bring the other high emitters in the G-20 on board. This is a time of reckoning. The future lies in the hands of a chillingly few politicians who can tip the balance toward a life worth living for our children and the generations that follow, or a dark age whose depths are unfathomable. If we fail, we will hold up a mirror to nature and see nothing but ourselves  a terrifying legacy for our children and grandchildren.
The water level was forecast Friday to challenge the record-setting tides of the 2003 storm, and by night owners Michael Galway and Anthony Clarke were getting worried. The West River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, had risen over the docks and flowed into their business  up to 2 feet inside and 3 feet at the outdoor bar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the Vatican City on Saturday to meet Pope Francis ahead of the highly anticipated Group of 20 (G20) Summit.

PM Modi is accompanied by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar.

The Vatican is a city-state surrounded by Rome and is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. While briefing about the Prime Minister's engagements in Italy, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Friday said that there is no set agenda for the meeting between PM Modi and Pope.

Prime Minister arrived in Italy on Friday to participate in the two-day G20 Summit. This summit will be the eighth G20 Summit attended by the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Modi today is scheduled to have a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and a meeting with the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo. PM Modi is expected to have a meeting with Singapore PM Lee Hosein Loong as well.

In the evening, PM is scheduled to arrive at Terme di Diocleziano for a cultural program.

Later, there is a dinner planned for G20 leaders and partner countries.

Shringla on Friday had said that Prime Minister Modi will discuss the global economic situation, COVID-19 pandemic, sustainable development and climate change with G20 leaders.

On Friday, PM Modi met with top European Union leaders and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. They congratulated Prime Minister Modi for India's excellent progress on the COVID-19 vaccination.

Prime Minister also interacted with members of the Indian community-based in Italy and those who have a close association with India through spheres like academics.

PM Modi will be in the capital city of Italy till October 31.

(ANI)
If the bill is signed into law, it will require school districts to provide COVID-19 administrative days to any public school or college employee to be used for all COVID-19-related absences, such as quarantining and testing, IEA officials said. The legislation does not specify a cap on the amount of leave that could be used for this purpose.
In a statement Saturday, Roblox said: We believe we have identified an underlying internal cause of the outage with no evidence of an external intrusion. We are in the process of performing the necessary engineering and maintenance work to get Roblox back up and running as soon as possible.
According to the villages human resources director, Anthony McCaskill, the employees were laid off because none of them have the qualifications or the certificates or the credentials to do what they had to do, and the village was paying extra to employ contractors. He added that the plan was to employ contractors from now on.
The 15-year-old was near an alley in the 7900 block of South Justine Street when he was shot in the chest around 3:45 p.m. Saturday, police said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was in serious condition, according to police.
The play tells the story of a young girl named Dahlia who lives in Tijuana, near the border, waiting to head north to reunite with her mother in Chicago. It portrays the feeling of stuck-ness between borders and the separation of families that is often stigmatized, Loza said.
Companies such as Grade Bees and EduBirdie will even write your five-page reflective paper or 25-page essay, as original work, for varied prices. English-speaking writers from around the world are for hire, in some cases within days or even hours. Some sites and guides let the student know that their relationship will be closely guarded, and no, the students professor should not be able to find out, at least not under the right precautions.
As a country, we must unplug from the mistruths weve been fed. In Congress, Ive witnessed how division is heavily rooted. Theres little to no desire to bridge our differences and unity is no longer a word we use, Kinzinger said in his announcement. It has also become increasingly obvious to me that in order to break the narrative, I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide.
Suzhou embroidery is one of the most celebrated styles of Chinese silk embroidery, named for the city of Suzhou in China's Jiangsu province. With a history of more than 2,000 years, this form of handicraft has earned a prestigious reputation globally for its variety of stitches, beautiful patterns, elegant colors, and consummate craftsmanship.



Suzhou-native artist Yao Jianping is one of the few inheritors of the national-level intangible cultural heritage of Suzhou embroidery. Many of her exquisite masterpieces have been given to foreign leaders as national gifts from China and collected in important institutions, including the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and Buckingham Palace.

Meanwhile, Yao Lan, an embroidery designer and Yao Jianping's daughter, has taken an innovative and modernized approach to the craft. She said she is committed to bringing this art form more into people's daily lives so as to promote the intangible cultural heritage that it embodies for a new generation.

High-end art collections and common-life decorations

"My mother founded the 'Embroidery Art of Yao Jianping' brand in 1998, mainly to create high-end Suzhou embroidery artwork for collections," Yao Lan said, noting that through decades of effort, Yao Jianping has been dedicated to passing on the Suzhou embroidery with her own innovations and artistic ideas, creating final artworks with high artistic merit.

"I believe that besides producing high-end art exhibits that serve a small number of people, embroidery can also be used in people's everyday lives, and novel products that meet modern tastes are also needed," Yao explained after being asked why she founded her own brand "Yao Silk" in 2010.

According to Yao Lan, "Yao Silk" seeks to create original products that integrate embroidery and patterns on earrings, watches, and scarves. Part of her mission is also to carry out aesthetic education and training so that more people can understand, appreciate, and purchase embroidery products.

The parallel development of these two brands is of great significance to hand down this intangible cultural heritage.



Currently, Yao's team consists of nearly 100 people, including some novices.

"Apprentices can start by creating some small products. Before, in fact, even three to five years of training would not ensure enough skill for an apprentice to be able to embroider a collectible artwork, which means that during this period, they would earn almost no money."

"But now, embroidering a small flower on an earring can bring them income," she said.

New ways of promotion and crossover cooperation

Yao's team has been exploring new ways to market and promote Suzhou embroidery online. A short video presenting Yao Jianping's embroidering of goldfishes went viral, garnering hundreds of thousands of views and likes.

A short video presenting Yao Jianping's embroidering of goldfishes posted on Chinese social media platforms. [Video courtesy of Yao's team]

Yao Lan's team was surprised by the popularity of the video, partly because it didn't feature the highest degree of Yao Jianping's skills, yet people were nonetheless effusive about the results.



"We realize that it is difficult for people to truly appreciate the beauty of Suzhou embroidery just by looking at pictures. In the new era of short videos, we should employ new promotional methods to allow people to feel the charm of this kind of art," Yao Lan said.

In addition to promoting via new media platforms, Yao's team is also actively engaged in crossover cooperation. Yao cited the cooperation with Tencent Games' role-playing online game "Kings of Glory," also known as "Honor of Kings," as an example.

Yao's team was invited to design a special cloth with embroidery, known as a skin, to adorn one of the in-game characters.

"The huge number of young players on 'Kings of Glory' may or may not have heard of Suzhou embroidery. Tencent holds the cutting-edge technologies to digitize our physical embroidery works well. So, we decided to cooperate and try to promote the embroidery in this way," Yao said.

The cooperation proved to be very successful, with the skin soon selling out when it was launched in August.

"The day after, a friend of mine brought her daughter to our team's studio to explore Suzhou embroidery. My friend told me that her daughter was unwilling to learn about the embroidery before, but this time had asked to come and visit the studio herself," Yao said.

"It made me realize that, instead of inculcating the concept of intangible cultural heritage, letting young people see and feel the embroidery in their surrounding environment is a better way to spark their curiosity and learn to appreciate it on their own accord."

Yao Lan noted that compared with previous days, when they only need to serve a small number of collectors, the team is now facing greater challenges, including quality control and providing after-sales service brought about by expanded business.

"But the passing on of intangible cultural heritage requires exploration, market-oriented approach, and new ways of promotion," Yao added.
An investment promotional fair is held in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29. [Photo courtesy of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee]

An investment promotional fair was held in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29.

Co-hosted by the China Economic Cooperation Center (CECC) and the Jiaxing government, the event attracted more than 80 representatives from business associations and well-known enterprises in China of nearly 20 countries, including Russia, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey and Malaysia.

Themed "carry forward pioneering spirit, seek common development", the event aims to promote exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese and foreign enterprises in Jiaxing.

The fair demonstrated the remarkable development achievements of Jiaxing in promoting high-quality development and building a model city of common prosperity demonstration area.

Peng Yong, director of the CECC, said that it is of special significance to hold the meeting in Jiaxing, the birthplace of the Communist Party of China. And during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, China will accelerate the building of a new development paradigm, which will provide new opportunities for foreign companies to develop in China.

He said the center is committed to promoting exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign business communities, serving local economic and social development, and boosting opening-up.

Sheng Quansheng, deputy mayor of Jiaxing, extended a warm welcome to the guests attending the meeting and introduced the economic and social development of Jiaxing, as well as the city's investment environment and key platforms and industrial parks.

He said the city is a hub of logistics, a center of innovation, an engine of growth economy and a model in commercial integrity.

On the sidelines of the meeting, participants of the meeting visited some industrial parks and enterprises in the city.

They also visited the Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall in Jiaxing, where they paid their respects to the site of the 1st National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a wooden boat in Nanhu Lake, which is known as the "red boat".

The visitors said they learned a lot about the "red boat spirit", which refers to a pioneering spirit featuring firm ideals and indomitable struggle, and the spirit has inspired the CPC to grow stronger under very difficult circumstances, as well as the Party's principles and development course.

Peng Bo, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Zhejiang provincial government, appreciated the International Department of the CPC Central Committee for the great support it gave to the event, and said that holding the fair can let the participants feel the great significance Zhejiang has attached to carrying out the Party's "red boat spirit" in the pursuit for high-quality development.

The foreign business representatives attending the meeting spoke highly of the great development achievements the Chinese people have realized under the leadership of the Party, and hoped that China would inject new impetus into world economic development as it pushes for the realization of the second centenary goal  building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects.

They said that China's accelerated construction of a new development paradigm provides important development opportunities for other countries. And foreign enterprises in China look forward to further strengthening practical cooperation with local governments and enterprises in the country.
 Flash

Muhammad Juha, a 32-year-old Syrian, found himself reviving the family business of selling firewood, as the shortage of fuel and electricity aggravates in crisis-hit Syria.



At his sawmill in the Jaramana area east of the capital Damascus, Juha and a dozen workers receive the trunks of dead trees from various places around the country.

The man and his team split the wood with axes. Later, they stack, store and season the wood and pack it to sell to market.

For Juha, selling firewood is a waning family business that had almost died before the Syrian war, which, however, unexpectedly "saved" their business.

Speaking to Xinhua at his sawmill, Juha said people have returned gradually to use firewood as fuel since 2013, almost two years after the eruption of the war.

"During the crisis, when the electricity situation got worse, people started returning to using firewood for heating in winter," he said.

As the winter is around the corner, Juha seems to be so busy these days as his sawmill is jam-packed with firewood logs ready to be sold.

More and more Syrians are using firewood not only for heating but also for the production in factories.

The tradition of installing fireplaces at home is becoming all the rage in Syria, he said, as using firewood is much cheaper than other fuels.

"Firewood, which is half the price of the regular fuel, gives more warmth and is available at any time. People are turning back to firewood," he said.

These days, Juha is trying to modernize the firewood selling, making it more attractive by packing clean firewood logs in bags. Well-packed bags of firewood are ready to be put in the fireplace or the heaters without leaving soot or dirt in the house like in the past.

He added that he gets the trunks of trees that had already died only, and that business has nothing to do with illegal logging.

Juha is one of many lumberjacks, whose businesses have boomed as a result of the fuel crisis in the country.

In July, the Syrian government has increased the price of subsidized fuel by 177.7 percent. According to the official statement, the increase in the fuel price was brought by the global heightening fuel prices in addition to the Western sanctions imposed on Syria.

The Syrian government has repeatedly blamed unilateral U.S. sanctions for the deterioration in the livelihood of Syrians.
 Flash

China urges the Lithuanian government to abide by the solemn political commitment it made upon establishing diplomatic relations with China and avoid making unsalvageable wrong decisions, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Saturday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks when asked for comment on a European side's move in relation to the Taiwan question.

According to media reports, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission recently expressed concerns in a joint letter over China's criticism of Lithuania's announcement of the opening of representative offices in and from Taiwan.

Wang said the one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community and the political foundation for the development of relations between China and all countries having diplomatic ties with it.

China firmly opposes the plots of Taiwan authorities to create "two Chinas" and "one China, one Taiwan" in the world, said Wang, adding that China firmly opposes official exchanges between countries having diplomatic ties with China and Taiwan authorities.

He stressed that the European side should adopt a correct position and avoid disrupting the sound development of relations with China.
Court Issues Restraining Order Against IL Hospital Over Vaccine Mandate

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Liberty Counsel

Oct. 29, 2021



CHICAGO, Oct. 29, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, at the conclusion of an emergency hearing, a federal District Court of Illinois issued a temporary restraining order against NorthShore University HealthSystem on behalf of 14 health care workers who have been unlawfully discriminated against and denied religious exemptions from the COVID shot mandate. The court said the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on Title VII and the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act.



The court set November 16 for a preliminary injunction hearing. In the meantime, Liberty Counsel will file a brief with the court for conditional class status to extend the relief for the entire class of health care workers.



As of last Friday, NorthShore had already started purging employees with sincere religious objections to its "Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy," by removing many of those employees from the November work schedule, including those whose appeals were still pending.



NorthShore previously granted exemptions for some employees but then denied them in mid-September. Those denials were either without explanation or because the requests failed to meet some so-called "evidence-based criteria" that NorthShore never provided the employees in advance. NorthShore then only gave employees three business days to file an appeal without stating what was missing in the original application. In that appeal, NorthShore also apparently judged the validity of their religious beliefs by requiring them to include their entire vaccination history since the age of eighteen. However, NorthShore never requested employees to provide prior vaccine information in their initial exemption requests.

After denying these employees, NorthShore also changed its exemption form to include a warning that all religious objections based on "aborted fetal cell lines, stem cells, tissue or derivative materials will result in denials." NorthShore is falsely deceptive in that form by stating that the COVID-19 injections have no link to aborted fetal cell lines and refuting the religious beliefs of health care workers who object to the undeniable connection of the injections to aborted fetal cell lines.

Illinois law dictates that employees at NorthShore University HealthSystem have the fundamental right to determine what medical care to accept and refuse. In fact, Illinois has a Health Care Right of Conscience Act that provides strong protection to all residents against discrimination based on health care choices. It states: "It shall be unlawful for any person, public or private institution, or public official to discriminate against any person in any manner, including but not limited to, licensing, hiring, promotion, or any other privileges, because of such person's conscientious refusal to receive, obtain, accept or participate in any way in any particular form of health care services contrary to his or her conscience" (emphasis added).

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, "Today's ruling gave emergency relief to Liberty Counsel's 14 plaintiffs who were threatened to be terminated by NorthShore University HealthSystem for their religious beliefs. This health care facility's plans to purge employees who have sincere religious beliefs against the COVID shots has been foiled. These health care workers are heroes."

Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost.

SOURCE Liberty Counsel



CONTACT: Mat Staver, 407-875-1776, Liberty@LC.org



Related Links



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Report Description

A recent market intelligence report that is published by Data Insights Partner on the global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market makes an offering of in-depth analysis of segments and sub-segments in the regional and international Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market. The research also emphasizes on the impact of restraints, drivers, and macro indicators on the regional and global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market over the short as well as long period of time. A detailed presentation of forecast, trends, and dollar values of global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market is offered. In accordance with the report, the global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market is projected to expand by healthy CAGR over the period of forecast.

Market Insight, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunity & Trends of the Market:

Definition

Global cosmetic pencil & pen packaging market is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. This growth is expected to be primarily driven by consumer life styles and preference towards luxury cosmetic products. Moreover, growing concerns on the organic cosmetic product is expected to stimulate the sales of cosmetic pencil and pen packaging in the near future. Furthermore, increasing demand of eyeliner & lip liner products owing to the growing fasionalable and easy to apply cosmetic across the globe, also a reason which is anticipated to fuel the sales of cosmetic pencil and pen packaging during the forecast period. Increasing demand for organic, herbal beauty products generates massive opportunities to extend and develop new product line as per the consumer preference which is anticipated to create massive demand of cosmetic pencil and pen packaging. In addition, Asia Pacific region is expected to witness fast pace owing to the increasing middle class population along with the greater exposure to the western cultures.

Market Drivers

Cosmetic companies across the globe strategically focused on localization of cosmetic products, as decision makers in such companies are aware that a single global brand can not resonate the customer in high potential regional market. Following the industry leaders several tier II cosmetic companies also replicated similar strategy to achieve success in local market, consequently transforming the dynamics of global cosmetics market. Furthermore, these companies also leveraged the local market benefits, which is largely characterized by economic production and quick integration with existing supply chain.

Multinational cosmetic companies outsourced production to local and regional players ensuring technical know how and industry expertise. Local companies thus created the demand for packaging products such as cosmetic pencil and pen. Albeit, producing for large cosmetic companies, regional players are allowed to procure packaging products locally with prior approval of the brand owner

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Multinational brands through such synergies aims to widen their presence in local markets, which in turn is translating into the demand for cosmetic packaging products. Over the past three years eleven European cosmetic brands entered the high potential Asian market, largely the countries in South and South East Asia. The trend is likely to continue as several tier II companies are also planning to foray in these markets. In addition, local cosmetic brands are challenging the global brands, thus creating substantial opportunity for packaging product supplier

Market Restraints

Consolidated supplier base is major factor expected to hinder growth of Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging. With increasing demand for cosmetic products and its packaging, raw material sourcing requirements has been a major concern for most cosmetic packaging manufacturers, particularly in case of metal and plastic, which are being preferred for packaging of high valued cosmetics with premiumisation trend gaining traction. Moreover, number of suppliers for plastic & metal are comparatively less than wood suppliers for cosmetic packaging. Thus, raw materials are sourced at higher prices, posing challenges for the company to package the product at a low cost and maintain overall profitability.

Globally, the governments are imposing stringent rules and regulations to the packaging of cosmetic products in order to ensure safety of the customers. Increasing adoption of environment friendly products can impact the market negatively. Moreover, depending on the cosmetic product type, different solvents or chemicals are used to detect if the packaging leaks any chemical or water into the cosmetic product. The packaging material used for cosmetics are exposed to these chemicals, which poses a major challenge for cosmetic packaging manufacturers. For instance, EU prohibited over 1,300 chemicals used for packaging and their regulations require confirmation that the chemical, water or any raw material in the products package does not seep into the cosmetic product.

Opportunities

Premium luxury packaging of cosmetics is gaining traction in major emerging economies. Key players are focusing on expanding their product line by introducing various luxury cosmetic packaging products. Luxury packaging segment is estimated to witness an impressive Y-o-Y growth of 12.5% in 2016, supported by increasing per capita disposable income, growth of aging and beauty conscious population. Moreover, with changing consumer perception towards attractive cosmetic products due to its packaging, consumers are inclined to pay higher prices for purchasing products with aesthetic look. This is expected to fuel the demand for luxury and premium packaging during the forecast period.

Trends

3D Printing is the new trend being adopted among the cosmetic packaging players globally. Key players of the market are introducing 3D printing for cosmetic packaging in their product offerings. 3D printing gives aesthetic look to the cosmetic products, and is generally used to package fragrances and shampoos. Its added advantage is that it gives an aesthetic look to the product, which particularly attracts the youth segment of the population. It is expected to drive the Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging growth through 2024.

Airless packaging is gaining traction across cosmetic manufacturers, as airless packaging prevents excessive exposure of the product to air and also increases its shelf life. Generally, airless packaging is used for twist pencil & pen cosmetics . Also, double wall of airless packaging provides extra protection and aesthetic look. This along with low cost of packaging are key reasons that are projected to influence cosmetics manufacturers to adopt airless products.

Segment Covered:

This market intelligence report on the global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market encompasses market segments based on material type, product type, applicator type, formulation type , application type and country.

By Material Type the global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market has been divided into:

q Plastic

q Wood

q Metal

By Product Type the global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market has been divided into:

q Sharpenable Wooden Pencil

q Sharpenable Molded Pencil

q Mechanical Pencil

By Applicator Type the global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market has been divided into:

q Sponge

q Brushes

q Lead

By Formulation Type the global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market has been divided into:

q Parabens

q Sulfates

q Phthalates

By Application Type the global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market has been divided into:

q Eyeliner

o Eye Shadow

o Eye Brow

o Mascara

q Lip

o Lip Liner

o Lipstick

o Lip Gloss

q Clean Up Pencil

q Concealer Pencil

q Cheek Balm

q Sculpting Pencil

q Skin Glossing Pencil

By country/region, the global Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market has been divided into:

q North America (the U.S., Canada),

q Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and other countries),

q Europe (Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Russia, and other countries),

q Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand and other countries),

q Middle East and Africa (GCC, South Africa, Israel and Other countries).

Profiling of Market Players:

This business intelligence report offers profiling of reputed companies that are operating in the market. Companies such as:

q Schwan-STABILO Cosmetics GmbH & Co. KG

q Alkos Cosmetiques S.A

q Intercos SpA

q Swallowfield PLC

q Confalonieri Matite S.R.L.

q Columbia Cosmetics Manufacturing Inc.

q A.W. Faber-Castell Cosmetics

q LOreal

q Estee Lauder

q Shiseido

q Avon

q Beiersdorf

q Lancome

q Johnson & Johnson

q Procter & Gamble

others have been profiled into detail so as to offer a glimpse of the market leaders. Moreover, parameters such as Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market related investment & spending and developments by major players of the market are tracked in this global report.

Report Highlights:

In-depth analysis of the micro and macro indicators, market trends, and forecasts of demand is offered by this business intelligence report. Furthermore, the report offers a vivid picture of the factors that are steering and restraining the growth of this market across all geographical segments. In addition to that, IGR-Growth Matrix analysis is also provided in the report so as to share insight of the investment areas that new or existing market players can take into consideration. Various analytical tools such as DRO analysis, Porter's five forces analysis has been used in this report to present a clear picture of the market. The study focuses on the present market trends and provides market forecast from the year 2020-2028. Emerging trends that would shape the market demand in the years to come have been highlighted in this report. A competitive analysis in each of the geographical segments gives an insight into market share of the global players.

Few Recent Developments

Schwan - STABILO

In June 2016, Schwan-Stabilo Cosmetic GmbH & Co. KG announced to introduce its easy to apply cosmetic product range, which includes a liquid brow liner in pencil and pen format

Faber Castell

For Instance, In July 2016, Faber Castell Cosmetics showcased a new slim plastic pencil- the sharpenable airtight PVC-free barrel is ideal for its long lasting formulation

F.W Faber Castell developed high performance superior color cosmetic in convenient and high end packaging under its brand Gleam Dream, Brow WoW, Stroke of Genieus and Cool Cats. The product were designed with the initiative to attract daily user working women's

Salient Features:

 This study offers comprehensive yet detailed analysis of the Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market, size of the market (US$ Mn), and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR (%)) for the period of forecast: 2020-2028, taking into account 2019 as the base year

 It explains upcoming revenue opportunities across various market segments and attractive matrix of investment proposition for the said market

 This market intelligence report also offers pivotal insights about various market opportunities, restraints, drivers, competitive market strategies of leading market players, emerging market trends, and regional outlook

 Profiling of key market players in the world Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market is done by taking into account various parameters such as company strategies, distribution strategies, product portfolio, financial performance, key developments, geographical presence, and company overview

 The data of this report would allow management authorities and marketers of companies alike to take informed decision when it comes to launch of Type of models, government initiatives, marketing tactics and expansion, and technical up gradation

 The world market for Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging caters to the needs of various stakeholders pertaining to this industry, namely suppliers, manufacturers, investors, and distributors for Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market. The research also caters to the rising needs of consulting and research firms, financial analysts, and new market entrants

 Research methodologies that have been adopted for the purpose of this study have been clearly elaborated so as to facilitate better understanding of the reports

 Reports have been made based on the guidelines as mandated by General Data Protection Regulation

 Ample number of examples and case studies have been taken into consideration before coming to a conclusion

Reasons to buy:

v Identify opportunities and plan strategies by having a strong understanding of the investment opportunities in the Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market

v Identification of key factors driving investment opportunities in the Cosmetic Pencil & Pen Packaging Market

v Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data

v Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential

v Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events

v Identify key partners and business development avenues

v Respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects

v Identify key strengths and weaknesses of important market participants
Report Description

A recent market intelligence report that is published by Data Insights Partner on the global Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market makes an offering of in-depth analysis of segments and sub-segments in the regional and international Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market. The research also emphasizes on the impact of restraints, drivers, and macro indicators on the regional and global Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market over the short as well as long period of time. A detailed presentation of forecast, trends, and dollar values of global Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market is offered. In accordance with the report, the global Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market is projected to expand by healthy CAGR over the period of forecast.

Market Insight, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunity & Trends of the Market:

Definition

Molded fiber pulp packaging is one of the sustainable types of packaging that is manufactured by using recycled paper wastes. Recycled material includes waste newspapers, papers, cardboards, etc. Molded fiber pulp is also known as molded pulp or molded fiber and is largely used for protective packaging.

Molded fiber pulp packaging is recyclable and, thus considered a sustainable packaging material by Sustainable Packaging Coalition (GreenBlue), an environment based non-profit organization located in the U.S.

According to EPA, molded pulp products are categorized under Mechanical Pulp (G-Final Codified Sub-part). The manufacturers in The U.S. are bounded by the limitations such as effluent control regulations. The standards such as New source performance standards (NSPS), Pretreatment standards for existing sources (PSES) and Pretreatment standards for new sources (PSNS) has to be adopted for manufacturing molded fiber pulp products.

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According to NESHAP, molded pulp products are categorized under secondary fiber mills, also referred as MACT (III). It focusses on controlling the total hazardous air pollutants (HAP) emissions. Some of the important regulation involves mills to collect and incinerate process emissions, avoiding use of harmful bleaching chemicals etc.

Market Drivers

Eco-friendly and biodegradable molded pulp packaging is gaining wide acceptance and recognition. Molded fiber is a classic packaging material made from recycled paperboard and newsprint. It is a collective term for the process of producing strong, protective, and biodegradable packaging from 100% recycled materials. Moreover, the molded pulp fiber manufacturing process has no wastage, as all the residue and water are reused and recycled. The environment friendly and green molded fiber packaging meets customers needs and expectations in terms of both packaging excellence and ecological development and responsibility. Packaging with molded fiber gains wide attention as it promotes environmental concern and green packaging. Moreover, it acts as a competitive advantage for the companies by differentiating their products from the competitors.

 Kielding,Inc. is the manufacturer of quality custom molded fiber packaging, which is made from 100% recycled paper and offers superior packaging performance and ecological responsibility.

Molded pulp is a versatile material that continues to experience significant growth and opportunity in terms of protection and packaging. Historically, expanded polystyrene (EPS) packaging has been considered versatile packaging for protection of products in distribution. However, molded fiber has seen widespread use as it is environment friendly packaging with excellent vibration dampening and cushioning properties. It offers reliable protection of products against damage caused by impacts during transportation and storage. Molded fiber has better grip, shock absorbing and elasticity properties. Molded fiber packaging has been used for a wide range of products from packaging of wine bottles and cosmetics to cushions for computers, protective package for candles, and inserts for mobile phones.

 Philips Consumer Lifestyle has previously used retail cartons for packaging of large protective PET blisters. The change to smaller PET blisters combined with protective molded fiber packaging has led to sustainability, branding, and reduced costs.

Market Restraints

Molded fiber is made up of 100% recycled paper and is a sustainable product that is fully biodegradable and cost-efficient. However, there are certain disadvantages of the material. Molded pulp may not be cost effective and environmental friendly when transported to distant places. Moreover, it may lead to emissions during transportation due to its weight. There are also threat of substitutes such as EPS, plastics in the industry. EPS also has several ecological benefits, as it is made up of 98% air. Usage of molded fiber significantly increases raw material and power requirements as compared to EPS. Moreover, EPS is better as a shock absorbing material and similar applications. EPS is lightweight and versatile and offers savings in design and development cost, product assembly and distribution costs. Hence, it holds a considerable share of the packaging market and is the suitable threat to the molded pulp packaging market. Moreover, plastic is also inexpensive, lightweight and durable material which can readily be molded and can be used as a packaging material in large number of applications.

The choice of fiber and the properties of different fibers used in molded pulp packaging directly influence the characteristics of the final product produced. Packaging structures made up of different fiber types result in products with different characteristics, properties and specifications. The raw materials such as paper or newsprint which contains the large percentage of short fibers and has been recycled many times produce the final product which is short lived, weak, rigid and has low tensile strength. Contrastingly, long fiber based raw materials develop greater strength, provide superior product flexibility and ensure high loading ability for heavy item packages. Moreover, molded pulp packaging is not well suited for the packaging of certain applications such as furniture, televisions, cold chain shippers etc. which require the unique cushioning abilities of expanded polystyrene.

Opportunities

Asia Pacific offers significant opportunities in the molded fiber packaging market. This is attributed to rapid urbanization, growing population, and increasing consumer influence. The region accounts for over 60% of the global egg production; China is the largest egg producer in the world. Moreover, other regions such as Vietnam and Malaysia present high growth opportunities in the molded pulp packaging market due to advancements in technology, manufacturing, and packaging tools in these regions.

u Hartmann has a strong foothold in Europe and North America. It aims to crack other emerging markets such as Asia Pacific through collaboration with distribution partners, agents, suppliers, and other packaging companies

Companies across the globe are focusing on environment friendly and sustainable packaging. Cosmetics companies have begun using molded fiber packaging which ensures sustainability, protection of the products, and also provides strong visual shelf presence.

u Proctor & Gamble partnered a molded fiber supplier to develop a biodegradable package for its Gillette Fusion ProGlide using molded pulp packaging, which is 20% lighter and allows it to cut the percentage of plastic by more than 50%.

u Aveda Corporation has entered into partnership with UFP Technologies, Inc., an innovative designer and custom converter of foam, plastics, and natural fiber products, to develop packaging of its Aveda Uruku lipstick using molded pulp packaging. The packaging is in clamshell form surrounded by a sleeve that holds everything in place.

Trends

Companies are realizing the protective, ecological, and sustainable benefits of molded pulp packaging. They are giving weightage to the green statement together with the other benefits such as cost effective and recycled packaging

 Pangea Organics has shown innovation in the packaging of the soap products by adding plant seeds in the slurry of molded pulp. Soap is packaged in a clamshell made completely of processed pulp. Once the package is used, it can be decomposed and buried to grow the plant.

 Newton Running Shoes created a shoebox made of molded pulp in which the outline of the shoebox curves around the shape of the shoe. This design not only creates strength in the package, but also saves material by not adding extra tissue paper to fill the empty space in the standard packaging of a rectangular shoebox.

In May 2016, Huhtamaki Group acquired Delta Print and Packaging Limited, a producer of folded carton packaging, to improve its food & drink packaging segment and enter the folding carton packaging business in Europe

In February 2016, ESCO Technologies Inc. acquired Plastique Group Limited as part of its subsidiary, Thermoform Engineered Quality LLC (TEQ). The latter develops highly technical thermoformed plastic and precision molded pulp fiber packaging products. This improved its global footprint and expanded its customer base

In January 2016, ESCO Technologies Inc. acquired Fremont Plastics, Inc., a manufacturer of sterile-ready and non-sterile thin gauge thermoformed medical plastic packaging products, to extend its medical custom thermoform segment

Segment Covered:

This market intelligence report on the global Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market encompasses market segments based on molded pulp type, product type, end user and country.

By Molded Pulp Type the global Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market has been divided into:

q Thick Wall

q Transfer Molded

q Thermoformed Fiber

q Processed Pulp

By Product Type the global Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market has been divided into:

q Tray

q Clamshell & Container

q Boxes

q End Caps

q Others (Cups, Bowls)

By End User the global Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market has been divided into:

q Consumer Durables & Electronics Goods (CDEG) Packaging

Tube Light & Bulbs

Mobile Phones

Others (DVD's, Modems, TV)

q Food & Beverage (F&B) Packaging

Egg Packaging

Wine Packaging

Fruit Packaging

Others (Vegetables, Frozen food)

q Cosmetic & Beauty (CBP) products Packaging

q Healthcare product Packaging

q Automotive parts Packaging

q Transportation & Logistics

q Others (candles, flower packaging)

By country/region, the global Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market has been divided into:

q North America (the U.S., Canada),

q Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and other countries),

q Europe (Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Russia, and other countries),

q Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand and other countries),

q Middle East and Africa (GCC, South Africa, Israel and Other countries).

Profiling of Market Players:

This business intelligence report offers profiling of reputed companies that are operating in the market. Companies such as:

q UFP Technologies

q ESCO Technologies Inc

q Huhtamaki Oyj

q Brodrene Hartmann

q Henry Molded Products, Inc

q ProtoPak Engineering Corporation

q EnviroPAK Corporation

q Pacific Pulp Molding, LLC

q Keiding, Inc

q FiberCel Packaging, LLC

q Pactiv LLC (Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd.)

q Brodrene Hartmann

q OrCon Industries Corporation, among others.

others have been profiled into detail so as to offer a glimpse of the market leaders. Moreover, parameters such as Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market related investment & spending and developments by major players of the market are tracked in this global report.

Report Highlights:

In-depth analysis of the micro and macro indicators, market trends, and forecasts of demand is offered by this business intelligence report. Furthermore, the report offers a vivid picture of the factors that are steering and restraining the growth of this market across all geographical segments. In addition to that, IGR-Growth Matrix analysis is also provided in the report so as to share insight of the investment areas that new or existing market players can take into consideration. Various analytical tools such as DRO analysis, Porter's five forces analysis has been used in this report to present a clear picture of the market. The study focuses on the present market trends and provides market forecast from the year 2020-2028. Emerging trends that would shape the market demand in the years to come have been highlighted in this report. A competitive analysis in each of the geographical segments gives an insight into market share of the global players.

Few Recent Developments

Pactiv LLC

In 2015, Pactiv LLC invested US$ 24 Mn to enhance its operations center in North Carolina, which enabled the company to expand its customer base and improve service accessibility.

Brodrene Hartmann

In January 2016, the company shut down its factory in Germany with plans to transfer production to other facilities in Europe with a view to strengthen its position in the highly competitive market of Europe.

Salient Features:

 This study offers comprehensive yet detailed analysis of the Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market, size of the market (US$ Mn), and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR (%)) for the period of forecast: 2020-2028, taking into account 2019 as the base year

 It explains upcoming revenue opportunities across various market segments and attractive matrix of investment proposition for the said market

 This market intelligence report also offers pivotal insights about various market opportunities, restraints, drivers, competitive market strategies of leading market players, emerging market trends, and regional outlook

 Profiling of key market players in the world Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market is done by taking into account various parameters such as company strategies, distribution strategies, product portfolio, financial performance, key developments, geographical presence, and company overview

 The data of this report would allow management authorities and marketers of companies alike to take informed decision when it comes to launch of Type of models, government initiatives, marketing tactics and expansion, and technical up gradation

 The world market for Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging caters to the needs of various stakeholders pertaining to this industry, namely suppliers, manufacturers, investors, and distributors for Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market. The research also caters to the rising needs of consulting and research firms, financial analysts, and new market entrants

 Research methodologies that have been adopted for the purpose of this study have been clearly elaborated so as to facilitate better understanding of the reports

 Reports have been made based on the guidelines as mandated by General Data Protection Regulation

 Ample number of examples and case studies have been taken into consideration before coming to a conclusion

Reasons to buy:

v Identify opportunities and plan strategies by having a strong understanding of the investment opportunities in the Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market

v Identification of key factors driving investment opportunities in the Molded Fiber Pulp Packaging Market

v Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data

v Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential

v Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events

v Identify key partners and business development avenues

v Respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects

v Identify key strengths and weaknesses of important market participants
Report Description

A recent market intelligence report that is published by Data Insights Partner on the global Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market makes an offering of in-depth analysis of segments and sub-segments in the regional and international Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market. The research also emphasizes on the impact of restraints, drivers, and macro indicators on the regional and global Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market over the short as well as long period of time. A detailed presentation of forecast, trends, and dollar values of global Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market is offered. In accordance with the report, the global Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market is projected to expand by healthy CAGR over the period of forecast.

Market Insight, Drivers, Restraints& Opportunity of the Market:

The false representation in pharmaceutical product in relation to its identity or source is called counterfeiting and the steps taken for prevention are termed anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging. In order to maintain the integrity of the original manufacturers packaging throughout the supply chain, brand owners are adopting security solutions called anti-counterfeiting pharmaceutical packaging. Anti-counterfeit packaging applies directly on the product, its container, packaging, or labeling. It provides an assurance that the packaging code applied by the original manufacturer is unchanged and the product is free from counterfeiting.

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A large portion of all pharmaceutical formulations available in the market are counterfeit. The current market size of counterfeit drugs is more than US$ 82 bn. This poses a threat to the global pharmaceutical market. The counterfeited pharmaceutical products affect both, i.e. patients as well as pharma companies with their brand reputation. More than 30% of total pharmaceutical products in developing markets are counterfeited and approximately 16% drugs sold across several sales channel in developed markets are fake. The rampant counterfeiting of drugs has pushed pharma producers to opt for secure solutions. Anti-counterfeiting packaging is one of the measures that pharma majors are relying on. Pharmaceutical companies have been incorporating anti-counterfeit solutions with their product packages; of these, hologram, barcode, and water is common and considered as a conventional option for the same. However, with advancement in technology, pharmaceutical manufacturers are also integrating new and innovative options with conventional solutions such as integrating authentication overt features with covert elements, forensics, and track & trace elements. These measures have translated into fruitful results for pharmaceutical companies and tier II pharma companies also prefer similar approaches. These effective measures considered by pharma companies resulted in the sudden increase in demand for anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging across the globe.

Manufacturers of pharma products certainly play an important role in maintaining the product authenticity and checking counterfeiting. However, over the past couple of years, the industry has witnessed substantial contribution from other supply chain stakeholders. Manufacturers largely advocating the role of repackagers, wholesaler and distribution and including these nodes of supply chain under accountability perspective.

Repackaging pharmaceuticals companies suffice a wider need of drugs and hence can not be eroded from the industry. The FDA, akin to pharma manufacturers, also regulate pharma repackagers which purvey dealing with lot & batch numbers and expiration date information of pharmaceutical drugs. Furthermore, repackagers of pharma products must adhere to the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) guideline by the FDA an are also categorized under state licensing controls and inspections, particularly in the US.

With the increase in reported cases of illicit drug channeling into the mainstream market, it became critical to integrate repackagers, wholesalers, and distributors with the anti-counterfeiting technology. For instance, if a pharma product has been packaged with tamper proof packaging, repackagers need to repack the package with new tamper proof packaging. This has created an additional demand for anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging solutions in the market, apart from traditional buyers, i.e. pharma producers. Moreover, the trend is prominent for developed markets but has not picked up in high potential but relatively less matured markets such as China and India. Demand for anti-counterfeit packaging technology is likely to rise significantly from other stakeholders of the pharmaceutical supply chain across the globe.

Anti-counterfeit features primarily enable the authentication of an item, either by industry investigators or by the wide public. A security device alone does not reduce the risk of counterfeit, but it is designed to make them easier to detect. Anti-counterfeit product offerings are available in a wide range in terms of price and complexity; however, a system-wide implementation may not be feasible for a developing country. The cost involved in implementing the anti-counterfeiting technology is high. Due to the high cost of implementation of anti counterfeit technology, manufacturer ignore the safety and security of product and decide on cost saving. It is unlikely that any one solution would be appropriate for all applications, as the cost may not be affordable in developing markets. The high cost of RFID may hamper companies from implementing anti-counterfeiting measures.

Segment Covered:

This market intelligence report on the global Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market encompasses market segments based on usage features, technology and country.

By Usage Features the global Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market has been divided into:

v Covert Features

v Overt Features

v Forensic Markers

v Tamper Evidence

v Track & Trace Technologies

u Serialization

u Identification System

By Technology the global Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market has been divided into:

v RFID

u Active Tags

u Passive Tags

u Semi Active Tags

v Security Inks & Coatings

v Security Printing & Graphics

v Hologram

v Mass Encoding

u Barcode Application

u Digital Mass Serialization

u Digital Mass Encryption

v Others(Electromagnetic, surveillance technologies)

By country/region, the global Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market has been divided into:

North America (the U.S., Canada),

Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and other countries),

Europe (Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Russia, and other countries),

Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand and other countries),

Middle East and Africa (GCC, South Africa, Israel and Other countries).

Profiling of Market Players:

This business intelligence report offers profiling of reputed companies that are operating in the market. Companies such as:

3M Track and Trace Solutions

Avery Dennison Corporation

Alien Technology

Authentix, Inc.

CFC International, Inc.

Digimarc Corporation

Impinj, Inc.

Sicpa Holding

ATL Security Label Systems

Applied DNA Sciences

Others

others have been profiled into detail so as to offer a glimpse of the market leaders. Moreover, parameters such as Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market related investment & spending and developments by major players of the market are tracked in this global report.

Report Highlights:

In-depth analysis of the micro and macro indicators, market trends, and forecasts of demand is offered by this business intelligence report. Furthermore, the report offers a vivid picture of the factors that are steering and restraining the growth of this market across all geographical segments. In addition to that, IGR-Growth Matrix analysis is also provided in the report so as to share insight of the investment areas that new or existing market players can take into consideration. Various analytical tools such as DRO analysis, Porter's five forces analysis has been used in this report to present a clear picture of the market. The study focuses on the present market trends and provides market forecast from the year 2020-2028. Emerging trends that would shape the market demand in the years to come have been highlighted in this report. A competitive analysis in each of the geographical segments gives an insight into market share of the global players.

Salient Features:

 This study offers comprehensive yet detailed analysis of the Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market, size of the market (US$ Mn ), and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR (%)) for the period of forecast: 2020-2028, taking into account 2019 as the base year

 It explains upcoming revenue opportunities across various market segments and attractive matrix of investment proposition for the said market

 This market intelligence report also offers pivotal insights about various market opportunities, restraints, drivers, competitive market strategies of leading market players, emerging market trends, and regional outlook

 Profiling of key market players in the world Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market is done by taking into account various parameters such as company strategies, distribution strategies, product portfolio, financial performance, key developments, geographical presence, and company overview

 The data of this report would allow management authorities and marketers of companies alike to take informed decision when it comes to launch of Type of models, government initiatives, marketing tactics and expansion, and technical up gradation

 The world market for Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging caters to the needs of various stakeholders pertaining to this industry, namely suppliers, manufacturers, investors, and distributors for Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market. The research also caters to the rising needs of consulting and research firms, financial analysts, and new market entrants

 Research methodologies that have been adopted for the purpose of this study have been clearly elaborated so as to facilitate better understanding of the reports

 Reports have been made based on the guidelines as mandated by General Data Protection Regulation

 Ample number of examples and case studies have been taken into consideration before coming to a conclusion

Reasons to buy:

v Identify opportunities and plan strategies by having a strong understanding of the investment opportunities in the Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market

v Identification of key factors driving investment opportunities in the Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceutical Packaging Market

v Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data

v Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential

v Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events

v Identify key partners and business development avenues

v Respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects

v Identify key strengths and weaknesses of important market participants
BEIJING, Oct. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --A In early October, the International Monetary Fund, in its World Economic Outlook, trimmed its 2021 global growth forecast to 5.9 percent and warned of high uncertainty in economic recovery. Against such a backdrop, the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies gathered in Italy's Rome on Saturday trying to make the multilateral platform work again a just as it did when they held two summits a year in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 global financial meltdown. China, the important growth engine of the global economy, highlighted cooperation, inclusiveness and green development at the 16th Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit. Cooperation against pandemic As the COVID-19 still ravages the world, global vaccine cooperation was prioritized by Chinese President Xi Jinping when delivering his speech via video at the first session of the summit. He proposed a six-point Global Vaccine Cooperation Action Initiative with a focus on vaccine R&D cooperation, fair distribution of vaccines, waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, smooth trade in vaccines, mutual recognition of vaccines and financial support for global vaccine cooperation. Inequality in vaccine distribution is prominent, with low-income countries receiving less than 0.5 percent of the global total and less than 5 percent of Africa's population is fully vaccinated, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO has set two targets to deal with the pandemic: to vaccinate at least 40 percent of the world's population by the end of this year and increase it to 70 percent by mid-2022. "China is ready to work with all parties to increase the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries and make positive contributions to building a global vaccine defense line," Xi said. China has provided over 1.6 billion doses of vaccines for over 100 countries and international organizations to date. In total, China will provide over 2 billion doses for the world in the whole year, he added, noting that China is conducting joint vaccine production with 16 countries. Building open world economy In promoting the economic recovery, the president stressed that the G20 should prioritize development in macro policy coordination, calling for making global development more equitable, effective and inclusive to ensure that no country will be left behind. "Advanced economies should fulfill their pledges on official development assistance and provide more resources for developing countries," Xi said. He also welcomed the active participation of more countries in the Global Development Initiative. Not long ago, he proposed the Global Development Initiative at the United Nations and called on the international community to strengthen cooperation in areas of poverty alleviation, food security, COVID-19 response and vaccines, development financing, climate change and green development, industrialization, digital economy and connectivity. The initiative is highly compatible with the G20's goal and priority of promoting global development, Xi said. Adherence to green development Meanwhile, addressing climate change is high on the global agenda as the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will open on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland. In this context, Xi urged developed countries to lead by example on emissions reduction, saying that countries should fully accommodate the special difficulties and concerns of developing countries, deliver on their commitments of climate financing, and provide technology, capacity-building and other support for developing countries. "This is critically important for the success of the upcoming COP26," he said. Xi has, on many occasions, highlighted China's view on global climate governance and expressed China's firm support for the Paris Agreement, facilitating major progress at the global level. In 2015, Xi delivered a keynote speech at the Paris Conference on Climate Change, making a historic contribution to the conclusion of the Paris Agreement on global climate action after 2020. Earlier this month, he emphasized efforts to achieve China's carbon peak and neutrality targets when addressing the leaders' summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The G20 summit this year was held both online and offline under the Italian Presidency, focusing on the most pressing global challenges, with issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and economic recovery topping the agenda. Created in 1999, the G20 comprising 19 countries plus the European Union, is the main forum for international cooperation on financial and economic issues. The group accounts for almost two-thirds of the world's population, over 80 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product and 75 percent of global trade. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-10-30/China-puts-forward-proposals-on-boosting-global-development-14MDU37P5gk/index.html Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9wZBX8jYRU
All species affected by white-nose syndrome in Connecticut, except the big brown bat, are listed as endangered in the state, according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The decline of the northern long-eared bat has been so severe it was listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as federally threatened. The Indiana bat, federally listed since 1967, was on the brink of recovery, but the fungal disease has sent the species into serious decline.
Convicted twice by French courts for inciting racial hatred, Zemmour believes that France is being swamped by Muslims and that an unpatriotic media constantly spits on French history and culture. Solicited by Macron himself for his views on immigration during the shift of French political culture to the right, Zemmour has been lately buoyed by his appearances on Frances version of Fox News. Even if he doesnt become president, he has already played the crucial role British firebrand Nigel Farage performed in U.K. politics: consolidating voters behind white nationalism and forcing established parties to cater to them.
God bless Nancy DiNardo if thats all shes got to worry about,' Proto said Friday. While she has legislators who are being arrested by the federal government for stealing from the taxpayers  she thinks the important issue of the day is whether or not the press was at a political dinner. Is she really that lost or is she just more reflective of the entire Democratic Party in the state of Connecticut who clearly have lost their way and have no clue whats going on in the state of Connecticut?'
He knows his voting record, and his positions on the issues are way out of sync with where a majority of Virginians are, said Herring, an attorney who served on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and in the state Senate before being elected attorney general. And so he has dodged and tried to shape shift because he knows if his real positions are known, he will lose the election and lose it badly.
Democrats in Virginia are scrambling to stave off disaster in the states governors race  the most competitive major election since Trump left the White House. The surprisingly tight contest has exposed the depth of the partys dependence on Trump as a message and motivator. Without him top of mind for many, and with headwinds from Washington, Democratic officials privately fear they may lose their first statewide election in Virginia in more than a decade on Tuesday.
A news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said that 48-year-old Stephen Price and 33-year-old Dominique Waller of Freehold, New Jersey, conspired to traffic drugs for sale in the Hampton Roads area from at least 2015 to 2017.
I made clear on my feed in other tweets that homophobia was wrong and certainly not something I believe in or support. I was engaging in a clear back and forth dialogue with my many followers about not exposing children to any kind of sexualization in Comic Books. Including heterosexuals, and I even mentioned Christian characters not being appropriate as well, Nelson wrote. Any fair and complete reading of my entire Twitter thread on October 11th, shows that to be the absolute truth.
He said the project has been reviewed by Hamptons wetlands board, which found it would have no impact on tidal wetlands. He said the projects living shoreline would add some 3,000 square feet of new wetlands to the area.
New Kent County, in partnership with Charles City County, King William County, the town of West Point, Rappahannock Community College and local employers, will renovate a portion of the Historic School (the former New Kent High School) at 11825 New Kent Highway, to create a welding facility for the greater region, according to the state. The Governors Office stated that the $300,000 project will address the critical and growing need for welders in the area and help revitalize the talent pipeline of welders which was depleted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and others pay their last respects to the mortal remains of Kannada film actor Puneeth Rajkumar at the Kanteerava Stadium, in Bengaluru. (PTI)

Bengaluru: Thousands of grieving fans continue to flock the city's Kanteerava stadium on Saturday to pay their final respects to Kannada film star Puneeth Rajkumar, whose last rites is likely to be performed by this evening.

Considered as the Kannada cinema's reigning star, Puneeth, youngest of the five children of thespian and matinee idol Dr Rajkumar, passed away at the age of 46, after suffering a cardiac arrest on Friday.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Rajkumar, the family has donated Puneeth's eyes.

Mortal remains of the actor, wrapped in the national tri-colour, have been kept at the Kanteerava Stadium, to enable fans and well-wishers to pay homage all day on Saturday. A steady stream of people from across the state have been pouring into the arena since last evening.

Several film and political personalities also paid their respects to the departed soul.

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot accompanied by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and other ministers of the state cabinet, Telugu actor Nandamuri Balakrishna, ace choreographer Prabhu Deva, were among those who paid their respects today.

"The feeling is like losing a son of our house," a tearful elderly woman fan said here.

"Our Appu (as Puneeth is fondly called by fans) might have physically gone, but he will remain with us through his acting and the impact he has left on us because of his good and friendly nature," said a young fan.

The state government has announced that Puneeth's last rites will be conducted with state honours at Dr Rajkumar Punyabhoomi in Kanteerava Studio, next to his father and mother.

According to sources, Puneeth Rajkumar's daughter is abroad and is expected to reach the city by evening, following which last rites will be held, as per the family's wishes.

The mortal remains will be taken in a procession from Kanteerava stadium at about 3 pm to Kanteerava studio, where the last rites will be performed.

The late actor is survived by wife Ashwini Revanth and daughters Drithi and Vanditha.

Speaking to reporters Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the last rites will be performed after Puneeth Rajkumar's daughter arrives from the US, and called on the people to maintain peace and see off their "favourite actor" in a dignified way.

"There is a sea of people descending to pay last respects to Puneeth Rajkumar and the government has made arrangements for it at Kanteerava Stadium. As we want the further process also to go on smoothly, police and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials are at work. Necessary works are on at Kanteerava Studio for last rites, where only family members and dignitaries will be allowed," he said.

Necessary arrangements have been made for quick immigration clearance and others procedures, as soon as Puneeth's daughter reaches Delhi from the US. Bommai further said depending on her arrival, the timing of the final rites will be decided, and route by which the mortal remains will be taken to final resting place is being worked out.

"My only appeal is, yes, Appu's death has caused us a lot of pain, but it is our duty to send him off peacefully and with utmost respect, so everyone should cooperate. Without getting emotional everyone should behave responsibly. People have cooperated in a good way so far, continuing in the same way will be our true tribute to Dr Rajkumar and Appu," he added.

The CM's request for peace comes in the backdrop of the large-scale violence that took place in the city, following the death of Puneeth's father Dr Rajkumar in 2006.
The panel expressed unhappiness over the poor investigation carried out by the police as the official denied his statements made before the NHRC and SIT. (DC file image)

HYDERABAD: The three-member panel probing the alleged encounter in the Disha case cross-examined Kocherla Ravi, sub inspector of Shamshabad SOT on Friday. The panel expressed unhappiness over the poor investigation carried out by the police as the official denied his statements made before the NHRC and SIT (Special Investigation Team).

He was questioned why and how the police fired at the accused and why did they shoot to kill the accused in the rape and murder case, when they could have caught them alive if escaped.

The official said that he was on his knees while shooting and could see the accused men moving about 20-30 meters away in the morning of December 6, 2019. He told the panel that as per Shadnagar ACPs direction, they fired at the four men four rounds, which was the first time he was firing a weapon on field.

Apart from opening fire at the accused, did any member of the police party take any step to apprehend the accused? asked the panel, to which the official replied, When the accused were running away, the ACP instructed the police party to catch them. By that time, firing started and all the handlers lay on the ground. All the other members also lay down.

He also told the panel that other officials who shot at the four men, Shaik Lal Madhar and Sirajuddin, fired from the same line.

When questioned about discrepancies in the statements recorded by the NHRC about the sketches, he said, They had given me about 10 sketches to make markings. Even though I had stated that the maps were confusing, they told me that since the firing occurred for about 10 minutes, I should mark the positions at various times. They suggested me the positions of the persons at various times and mark them.
Hundreds of doctors from the family health centres to district health centres across the state would be part of the protest.

Thiruvananthapuram: The government doctors in Kerala will launch a relay standing agitation in front of the Secretariat here, as a mark of protest against the anomalies in the recent pay revision, which has allegedly cut down their allowances and some benefits.

Despite their relentless fight against the COVID-19 for the last several months, the grievances of the doctor community were ignored by the government and their deserved allowances were cut, the Kerala Government Medical Officers' Association (KGMOA) said here on Saturday.

As the state health sector has been facing acute shortage of human resource, the medicos have to face several challenges from mental pressure to overtime duty schedules to contribute their best in the COVID and post-COVID treatment, it noted.

Not only were the doctors and health workers denied the risk allowance, but also there was no proportionate increase when the pay revision came and many of their allowances were withdrawn, KGMO president Dr G S Vijayakrishnan alleged.

Though the doctors had staged several token agitations earlier, the government ignored all such strikes and the standing agitation was part of plans to intensify their protests, he said.

KGMO former president S Prameela Devi would inaugurate the agitation in front of the Secretariat on November 1.

Hundreds of doctors from the family health centres to district health centres across the state would be part of the protest, he said adding that the medicos would go on mass casual leave on November 16 if the authorities ignored this stir also.
TS officials reiterated the demand that the Centre should first divert the Mahanadi waters to the Godavari and the surplus waters available in the Mahanadi should only be diverted to the Cauvery basin. (DC file photo)

HYDERABAD: The state government raised several concerns and doubts on the proposed Godavari-Cauvery river linking project mooted by the Centre.

The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) on Friday held a meeting with irrigation officials of seven states including Telangana to discuss the Godavari-Cauvery linking project through video-conferencing. The meeting was attended by officials from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Official sources said Telangana officials wanted the Central Water Commission (CWC) to conduct a detailed study on the availability of water in the Godavari after meeting drinking water and irrigation needs before going ahead with the Godavari-Cauvery linking project.

TS officials reiterated the demand that the Centre should first divert the Mahanadi waters to the Godavari and the surplus waters available in the Mahanadi should only be diverted to the Cauvery basin.

They stated that the Telangana government planned several irrigation projects on the Godavari to utilise the assured waters as well as surplus waters in the Godavari and same was the case with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. They questioned where was the availability of surplus waters in the Godavari under these circumstances which could be diverted to Cauvery basin.

Telangana officials also raised doubts over NWDA proposal to divert 243 tmc ft of unutilised water of Indravati by Chhattisgarh to the Godavari. They brought to their notice that Chhattisgarh also planned several projects to utilise its complete share of 243 tmc ft water and asked where was surplus waters which would flow into the Godavari in future.

The Centre convened the meeting to seek the support of all partner states to construct the GodavariCauvery link project with an estimated cost of Rs 80,000 crore. It prepared a detailed project report (DPR) to lift 250 tmc ft of Godavari waters for the project and sent the DPR to all stakeholder states to seek their opinion and suggestions last year.

The DPR proposes to construct the link project at Icchampally in Karimnagar district. Officials said Telangana needed 250 tmc ft water in the Godavari to meet the states needs which was not available at Icchampally.

The Telangana government is concerned that its existing and future projects on the Godavari would face water shortage if the Godavari-Cauvery link project is taken up without addressing all these issues.
VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday directed director general of police Goutam Sawang to grant permission by 5:00 p.m. on Saturday to allow farmers under the banner of Amaravathi Parirakshana Samithi to take out a maha padayatra from Thullur in Guntur district to Tirumala in Chittoor district from November 1 to December 17.

This directive of the single judge bench headed by Justice Cheekati Manavendranath Roy came following a petition seeking direction to the DGP permitting the padayatra in protest against APs move to set up three capitals. The DGP had earlier refused permission for the yatra stating law and order issues and poll code in force due to conduct of local body polls.

The court observed that the DGPs rejection of permission is unsustainable under law, as right to protest in a peaceful manner to air a grievance is a fundamental right.

The court said, It is the duty of police to take necessary precautionary measures during the maha padayatra for maintaining law and order and preventing any untoward incident. As the route map and names of participants in padayatra have been furnished, police can take adequate steps to provide protection to the peaceful procession.

The court directed participants going in the procession not to use any offensive language against any person and behave decently without resorting to any violence or illegal acts.
Chennai: Reversing a previous AIADMK government's decision, the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Saturday said the state's Formation Day will now be celebrated on July 18, in lines with the rechristening of its name to the present one and not on November 1.

Chief Minister M K Stalin's announcement in this connection drew the AIADMK's criticism, which alleged it was done due to "political vendetta."

K Palaniswami, as Chief Minister in 2019, had announced Tamil Nadu Day will be observed on November 1 following requests from various quarters then.

On Saturday, chief minister Stalin said that on November 1, 1956, Linguistic Reorganisation of States was done in the country following which parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala "went away" from the then Madras State.

Subsequently, the previous government had announced November 1 from 2019 as Tamil Nadu Day, he recalled.

However, various sections including political parties, Tamil scholars, activists and associations have been insisting that November 1 would only signify the "border struggle" and that it would not be appropriate to celebrate the day as Tamil Nadu Day, he said in a statement.

They had suggested that July 18-- when Tamil Nadu got its present name following an Assembly legislation heralded by Dravidian veteran and late chief minister CN Annadurai, should be the day to be celebrated as the state's formation day, he added.

"After carefully considering the pleas of various organisations, a Government Order will soon be issued to celebrate July 18, when mother Tamil Nadu was named as Tamil Nadu by Anna," as the state's formation day, the CM added.

Further, as a special gesture, 110 people involved in the "border struggle" will be honoured with Rs one lakh each on November 1, he said.

The opposition AIADMK lashed out at the government's decision to change the state's formation day celebrations.

Just because Palaniswami had announced that November 1 will be celebrated as Tamil Nadu Day, "I condemn portraying history according to your convenience (due to) political vendetta," party spokesperson Kovai Sathyan said in a tweet, tagging Stalin and top party leaders O Panneerselvam and Palaniswami
VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh police have given conditional permission to Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi for taking out a Maha Padayatra in protest against state government's move to set up three capitals in AP.

The farmers long march will commence from Thullur in Guntur district on Monday and conclude at Tirumala in Chittoor district.

In his order on Sunday permitting the padayatra, Director General of Police Goutam Sawang imposed 20 conditions. These include farmers walking to their destination only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., adherence to Covid norms, non-use of DJs groups, no meetings or speeches anywhere en route, only vehicles carrying the idol of Lord Venkateswara, apart from ambulance, refreshments and bio-toilets, will be allowed, there will be no inconvenience caused to the public and, importantly, only 157 persons listed by the petitioner in High Court, will be allowed to participate in the Maha Padayatra.

Further, Model Code of Conduct will need to be followed in case State Election Commission imposes it en route, firecrackers are strictly prohibited, there will be no littering, and norms must be strictly adhered to at the Tirumala holy temple.

The DGP cautioned that if any above conditions are contravened, the same will be intimated to the High Court and permission given for the yatra cancelled.

Goutam Sawang directed SPs of Guntur Urban and Rural, Prakasam, Nellore and Tirupati Urban to take necessary steps for providing protection to farmers marching in the Maha Padayatra within their respective jurisdictions.
It is a frightening but fascinating syndrome: how authoritarianism gradually asphyxiates the institutional and ideological checks in a democracy. The process is not suddenly dramatic like a midnight coup, but creeping, insidious and incremental yet sure footed. Each step in this journey that goes unchallenged prepares the ground for the next step, further reinforcing the trend. Here is a 10-point tool-kit for how an authoritarian democracy now operates in India.

Firstly, in a democracy, authoritarianism swears by democracy. Its leaders call Parliament the temple of democracy and bow before it. The real intent is never made clear, or expressly stated. It is camouflaged, to throw opponents off-guard, as a planned subterfuge. Lip service to democracy becomes the enabler for the subterranean attack on it.

Secondly, authoritarianism strides to power wearing the regalia of high purpose. Its leaders claim a monopoly on patriotism. They proclaim themselves to be the torch bearers of the defence of the motherland. Those not in their camp ipso facto become lesser nationalists; their credentials are ab initio suspect. It follows then that their democratic rights are less sacrosanct, and can be questioned or trampled upon. National security becomes the bogey to devalue all other interrogations.

Thirdly, the regime claims a monopoly over Hinduism. The troopers of the regime project that their religion is in danger and needs to be protected against attack by outsiders, from within their own faith and from others. Armed vigilante groups are created to protect the faith and attack the minorities. This consists largely of lumpen elements whose evangelical zeal is in inverse proportion to knowledge of their religion. Such vigilante groups are largely beyond the purview of the law. The conjured need to defend the faith finesses any fidelity to democratic principles.

Fourthly, the mindset of the believers is intolerant to any dissent. Those who resist enforced conformity are bestowed urban Naxals, Pakis, left-liberals, pseudo-secular, Khan Market gang, Lutyens lobby, and other such derisive labels. The normal discourse of democracy is thus replaced by a monologue between those who dictate and those who conform. All other voices must be drowned out, dismissed, viciously attacked by troll armies, or, worse, silenced. Women, in particular, face the brunt of this intolerance. Patriarchal, orthodox, and usually upper-caste supporters of the State want to dictate to them about what they should wear, eat, drink, who they should meet or marry, and how they should behave to conform to the chaste Hindu nari idea of their illiterate mentors.

Fifthly, the State takes a deliberately ambiguous approach to the undemocratic behaviour of its stormtroopers. This consists of both explicit encouragement and expedient denial. Such an approach enables political dividends, while allowing ostensible distance from outrageously lawless actions. In reality, the occasional mild-mannered rebuke is of little use in reigning in such elements, while the conspicuous silence or covert encouragement only serves to further strengthen undemocratic behaviour.

Sixthly, the State subverts the autonomy of government institutions, and in particular the enforcement agencies. The police, the IT department, the ED, the CBI, the NCB, et al., become accessories to the condonation of democratic breaches, or the perpetuator of the States agenda. In a carefully and constantly monitored operation, acolytes or ideological clones are vetted and handpicked for positions of bureaucratic authority. They are judged for toeing the governments line, not their impartiality. Special attention is paid to see how the independence of the judiciary can be compromised.

Seventhly, a concerted campaign is launched to co-opt the media. Private media houses are mostly owned by corporates, and corporates are vulnerable to pressure and blackmail by the predatory prowess of the State. Wherever possible then, the State seeks to operate  and project  an echo chamber of its own agenda. Independent journalists, or those impartially critical, who have the temerity to resist the State, are hounded out. Those media houses that do not fall in line are raided and harassed.

Eighthly, the regime shows an extreme suspicion for civil society. NGOs that profess independence and refuse to be co-opted are looked upon as agents of foreign powers, subversive to the interests of the country. Hurdles are put in the operation of NGOs through regulatory processes; any independent opinion voiced by civil society groups is dismissed out of hand. Organisations like Amnesty International are seen as prime movers of an international conspiracy to undermine the State.

Ninthly, authoritarianism thrives on the perception of a vindictive State that will resort to any extreme to silence critics. Stand-up comedians are arrested without cause; draconian laws, like the UAPA, are blatantly misused to arrest without bail; multiple FIRs are filed to harass opponents; the sedition act is invoked with guiltless ease; income tax notices or ED investigations are freely used against opponents of the State. Any institution that refuses to bend, like the film industry, is intimidated on flimsy cases and tarred wholesale; the fear of violence by non-state actors representing the State looms large; exhibitions are attacked, films picketed, and ad campaigns such as Fab Indias Jashn-e-Riwaaj forced to withdraw because of the fear of violence. And an elaborate system of surveillance is set up, illegally even, as the use of Pegasus seems to indicate.

Tenthly, and lastly, a carefully choreographed personality cult is built around the supreme leader. Those who interrogate him are enemies of the State. He does not give press conferences. He speaks only in a monologue. His picture is everywhere, often even on apolitical government releases. An aura of imperiousness surrounds him. For the faithful, he is the State, above all questioning and democratic accountability.

The current regime has a brute majority in the Lok Sabha and a managed one in the Rajya Sabha. The executive, which is supposed to be apolitical and work impartially has long since genuflected to the powers that be. The subordinate judiciary appears often to have forgotten its mandated duty to defend the rule of law. But still, the judiciary  especially the higher courts and the Supreme Court  remains our only hope. It must protect democracy from the organised stranglehold of an authoritarian State.
Get this, guys, theres a dinosaur in the room. No, make that two. Both once had the licence to kill, but today its time to surrender the licence and quietly retire -- as the spent and exhausted Daniel Craig demonstrated in his last outing playing Bond James Bond! I opened my post-pandemic movie innings at a friendly neighbourhood multiplex with schoolgirlish enthusiasm. I am not a Craig fan, but have an OCD situation with all Bond movies -- gotta watch! No matter how faltu. Like the latest one titled No Time To Die. Arrey... jeeney do, yaar! But the very pricey ticket was worth the ticket money after all -- the luxurious leatherette seats reclined all the way back  just in case the audience of five felt like a quick snooze between the action scenes. During the intermission, in a glittering ladies loo, I ran into a bright and beautiful millennial who giggled and confessed that this was her virgin Bond film. What? Yup. She hadnt watched a single 007 blockbuster, nor heard of Daniel Craig. Hmmmmm It immediately got my wicked mind working. Did the name Sean Connery ring a bell? She stared at her own image in the large mirrors above the wash basins, wrinkled her nose and pouted, Who?. Thats when I threw in my yorker (like the one Shahid Afridi bowled during the dramatic India-Pakistan T20 match in Dubai): Have you heard of Rajiv Gandhi? She answered brightly, Come on ya, of course I watched that movie, na? With my grandparents and all  same dude, right? Errrr, yes, same dude!

When I finished gobbling up the stale and overpriced popcorn outside the theatre (Covid protocol strikes again), and unenthusiastically made my way to the leatherette recliner (more suited to a massage parlour), I could only see Rajiv Gandhi on the screen, though it was the craggy Craig going dutifully through the motions and mouthing the same, old, tired dialogues. The entire effort was depressingly thakela if not downright marela. Why were the Bond makers flogging a dead beast, I wondered, as Craig wearily headed off to some remote island to save the world yet again!

I think Sonia Gandhi should arrange for a special screening of No Time To Die for key members of her party  I mean a few people besides Priyanka and Rahul, who in her mind ARE the party. She could invite Amarinder Singh as a special guest, and watch the movie closely for messages and clues. This is how a franchise self-destructs, folks. And what is the Congress Party if not a franchise without any takers? There are far too many parallels in the dud Bond film for Madam Gandhi not to see the obvious. Bond has been demoted and replaced by a woman as superagent 007  hello, gender inclusivity! (And hello, Priyanka!). The bad guy wears a mask (Rami Malek, who chews up the movie) and talks in a slow, deliberate manner like a Robert Vadra on anti-anxiety pills. M is too bored to even bother with whos blowing up which country -- a hopelessly cast Ralph Fiennes attempts authority but fails. Bring back Judi Dench at once! Lets think generously, and try not to visualise Ralph in starched handwoven sarees, speaking English-Italian. Q (Ben Whishaw) is the darling of the script, as he goofily tracks a lethal vial of some vile substance and behaves like an overenthusiastic schoolboy at a Science Expo (hes a cutie, just like our Rahul Baba). Oh, I forgot the luscious ladies -- the one in Cuba (Ana de Armas) is deadly, the other one (Lea Sedoux) is a sourpuss who constantly weeps. Kamya Punjabi can choose which one suits her talents more.

There are several ironic references to age and ageing throughout the script, which underline the most important takeaway of Bonds positioning -- relevance. Bond looks dated and caricatural as he goes through the motions robotically, with not a muscle moving on his expressionless face. The other muscles are mercifully not on display, given that the man is in retirement and allowed a belly sag. Maaf karo, Bond going soft! Satyanaash! Shown brushing his teeth like the rest of us? Its worse -- Bond gets mushy, too. And weeps for a woman! Pyaar-vyaar happens! Please! We want ruthless and mean -- whos this wimp hugging a child and shedding sentimental tears? We want Bond bedding gorgeous ladies in exotic locales, enjoying martinis in cool bars, killing hazaar baddies without getting a crease on his bespoke tux. Who is this other man pining for his lady love? We no like! This is the lesson Sonia needs to think about as she attempts to play nice. Honey, nice doesnt work! Not in politics.

Just as the whole Bond mystique is khallas, so is the Congress myth. The new era is here! Nobody cares for nostalgia and loyalty. Bond getting gooey as he says goodbye to Sourpuss and Little Miss Blue Eyes made me want to puke. Get over it, man. Isnt it enough you saved the world yet again? Just shut up and die, for Gods sake. See! Todays janata is like this only. When an era is over, it is over! Khatam! The finale of the movie heralds a new age of digital everything. Q is the geek who actually saves the world, sitting safely thousands of miles away and fiddling with the data.

The Congress Party needs a Q. Remember, the BJP has successfully harvested many Qs and is ready for the Digital War in 2024 -- an election that will be fought by algorithms and not ideology. Bio weapons, the film stated, are the new missiles. Bonds rather limp sign-off holds a lesson for all. When Bond chooses the love of a woman over duty to his country, and prefers fatherhood to random seductions, you definitely know it is all over. The baton needs to be passed. Its so for the Congress Party as well. Get out of the dinosaur syndrome -- theres still time! The familiar franchise needs new investors, boss. Its that or extinction. Any takers???
A US diplomat said the US aims to strengthen its ties with Taiwan, the self-ruled island that has been a key source of friction in the tense US-China relationship and would try to offset Beijing's "malign" influence.

Sandra Oudkirk, the new head of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy, said in her first public press conference that the United States remains profoundly committed to Taiwan and is actively working on new areas of collaboration such as cybersecurity and supply chains.

US backs Taiwan amid all-time high tensions against China

The United States' backing for Taiwan comes at a time when tensions between China and the island are at an all-time high, with Beijing increasing its military harassment of Taiwan by flying fighter planes toward the island. China has not ruled out using force to reunite with Taiwan, which broke away from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war, The Washington Post reported.

In 1979, the United States moved diplomatic recognition of China from the reigning Nationalist Party government in Taipei to the Communist Party in Beijing, although the two countries have maintained a strong unofficial connection.

After Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen acknowledged Thursday that US forces were present on the island, Oudkirk declined to comment on any security efforts or provide any specifics regarding the presence of US troops on the island.

Taiwan has benefited from US weaponry purchases to improve its capacity to protect itself, and the US often navigates the seas around the island in what it refers to as "freedom of operation" maneuvers.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged other UN members to defend Taipei's independence in international organizations dealing with transportation, health, climate change, culture, and education. The World Health Organization, for example, does not recognize Taiwan.

Read Also: Haiti Fuel Shortages Put Hospitalized Women, Children in Danger as Gangs Tighten Grip

Taiwan resists China's aggression

Per Big News Network, although the two sides have been ruled independently for more than seven decades, Beijing claims complete sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy with almost 24 million people located off the southern coast of mainland China.

Taipei, on the other hand, has resisted Chinese aggression by strengthening strategic connections with democracies, especially the United States, which Beijing has always opposed.

China has repeatedly warned that "Taiwan's independence" will result in war. On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping swore to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and warned to crush any moves by the island to gain official independence.

The decision by Taiwan's propaganda mouthpiece to acknowledge that US soldiers were stationed on the island had "crossed the bottom line" and may "trigger war." It comes after Chinese fighter planes breached Taiwanese airspace for the first time in the previous month, heightening tensions between Taipei and Beijing.

Around 150 intrusions by Chinese fighter planes, nuclear-capable bombers, and other military aircraft in the first four days of October. Taiwan and mainland China have been governed independently since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 when the Nationalists fled to Taiwan, as per Sky News.

Related Article: Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen Revealed US Troops Present on the Island Amid Fears That China Could Attack Any Day



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Republican officials were quick to express their disagreement with Democrats after the latter revealed that they were discussing possible $450,000 payments per person for illegal immigrants who were affected by former U.S. President Donald Trump's 2018 policy.

GOP members criticized United States President Joe Biden's administration for the decision, calling it "insanity", "unacceptable", and a "slap in the face." There are several agencies involved in the talks, including the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services.

Widespread Republican Criticism

The agencies are considering the payments as compensation for immigrant families as the American Civil Liberties filed lawsuits alleging families who were separated experienced long-term trauma. Trump's zero-tolerance policy in 2018 was responsible for immigrant children being taken from their parents for months.

The lawsuits are demanding an average compensation of $3.4 million per family affected by Trump's policy. However, the Biden administration is looking to pay $450,000 per person affected by the policy of the previous administration, the New York Post reported.

Dozens of Republican lawmakers are coming together to send a letter addressed to three of U.S. President Biden's Cabinet secretaries. The document will address the plans of paying immigrant families $450,000 for each person.

GOP members are demanding the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Attorney General Merrick Garland to answer questions regarding the issue. The letter has been signed by 45 Republicans, including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, GOP Caucus Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, and Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw with North Carolina Rep. Greg Murphy leading.

Read Also: Joe Biden Holds Lengthy Meeting with Pope Francis in Attempt to Repair US-France Ties

The letter outlines the Republicans' "severe concerns" regarding the reports that the agencies were discussing paying a massive sum for illegal immigrants. "The rationale for this egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars is to compensate these persons for 'lasting psychological trauma. Do, however, note that these persons crossed into our country in a knowingly illegal manner, fully aware of the consequences of violating our rule of law," the letter said, Fox News reported.

$450,000 for Illegal Immigrants

Trump's 2018 policy was rescinded by a California federal judge in June of that year, reuniting families separated under the Republican's presidency. About 5,500 children were affected by the policy and were taken from their parents for months. However, officials estimate that there are still roughly 1,000 children who have not been reunited with their families.

On a Twitter post, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said she nearly fell out of her chair when she read the news about the discussions. She said she hoped that report was made in mistake because it would have been an "outrage" if it were true.

Additionally, Donald Trump Jr. expressed his shock about the news, arguing that Americans in their home country have been struggling amid the pandemic and are finding it difficult to get enough money to pay for necessities and illegal immigrants cross the border against the law and get $450,000 in compensation.

On the other hand, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the reports, arguing that while Biden opted to pay immigrants, he did not choose to financially support Black Americans earlier this year, Newsweek reported.



Related Article: Biden To Meet With G20 Leaders To Address Issues With Global Supply Chain, Power Crisis

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Prince Edward is currently 14th in line to the throne, with minimal possibilities of becoming monarch, but it appears he was previously offered the chance to rule somewhere else in the world.

Prince Edward is the Queen's youngest child and his chances of becoming king are quite small. However, in the 1990s, he was strangely offered the position of king of a newly established country. It occurred in 1994, following the disintegration of the Soviet Union when a slew of new countries emerged in Eastern Europe.

Prince Edward almost became King of Estonia

One of these was Estonia, where the Independent Royalist Party of Estonia won eight seats in parliament in the country's first elections following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The party, which was mostly perceived as a protest organization, wanted Estonia to become a monarchy like Sweden or Norway, MIRROR reported.

According to the Sunday Telegraph at the time, the party's head approached the royals and asked whether Edward would be willing to become their king, adding they would be honored if he did.

A letter states that Prince Edward was "perfect" and the party admired him "enormously." Buckingham Palace, predictably, said it was a nice notion but a somewhat improbable one.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams suggested the incident should not be taken too seriously, according to Berkshire Live. Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn are two of Prince Edward's children with his wife Sophie.

Lady Louise and James, 13, are known to be close to their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and spent a lot of time with the Duke of Edinburgh before his death. Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams, according to Berkshire Live, suggested the incident should not be taken too seriously.

Read Also: Prince Harry Reportedly Panics Over Queen Elizabeth's Health, Urges Lilibet To Meet the Monarch to Make Amends

Queen Elizabeth to rest for two more weeks

Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn are Edward's two children with his wife Sophie. Lady Louise and James, 13, are known to be close to their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and spent a lot of time with the Duke of Edinburgh before his death.

Meanwhile, doctors have ordered Queen Elizabeth II to rest for at least another two weeks while she recovers from a recent health crisis that landed her in the hospital, according to Buckingham Palace. The 95-year-old British queen was advised to "continue to rest" due to an unidentified health problem, which the palace has only stated is unrelated to COVID-19.

The queen's health scare first surfaced last week, when she "reluctantly" postponed a trip to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Northern Ireland's founding. The palace later confirmed that she spent that night in London's King Edward VII's Hospital for "preliminary investigations," but provided no additional details on what had prompted the alarm.

Per Page Six, a royal insider said that the monarch was in good spirits and that more rest was "a sensible precaution." Following the death of her father in 1952, Her Majesty has remained on the throne for 69 years, making her the world's longest-reigning queen.

Related Article: Prince Charles Taking Over Queen Elizabeth's Duties After Health Scare as Royal Family Dismantle Claims of Internal Feuds

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The fourth richest person in the world Bill Gates has released a book about climate change. The said book talks about preventing a climate disaster, and it is available to download for free.

Bill Gates' Climate Change Book Overview

In the blog post of Bill Gates, he explained in detail the reasons why he wrote the book, and he also emphasized its importance to the world. The said book is titled "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster." According to Gates, one of the main reasons he wrote the book is because several young people are expressing their passion to solving climate change issues.

With that said, the billionaire philanthropist is offering the book for free. However, only college and university students throughout the world can download the book without spending any amount of money.

If youre a student, anywhere in the world, you can download my book for free today.  Bill Gates (@BillGates) October 22, 2021

In addition to the move of the students, Gates furthered that young people are holding their governments accountable for the climate change matter, and they also insist their commitments to eliminate carbon emission. Through this commitment, the Microsoft founder felt the urge to create a book that contains plans for preventing climate disasters.

"How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need is about all the steps we need to take to keep the planet livable for humans. We need to revolutionize our entire physical economy, including the way we move things around the planet, produce electricity, make things, grow food, and heat and cool our buildings," Gates explained in detail.

Moreover, he shared that preventing climate disaster will require a lot of technology and policy innovations, in which young people will play a special role since they have fresh ideas as well as the power to pursue many people.

Optimistically, Gates expressed his belief that people could still prevent climate disasters, even if getting to zero emissions is the hardest thing to accomplish.

"I'm optimistic about what science and technology can accomplish, and even more important, I'm optimistic about what people can accomplish. If all of us-and especially today's young people-apply their ingenuity to this problem, we can avoid a climate disaster," Gates expounded.

Read Also: Adobe AI Tool Can Make Your Photos Move! Full Details of Project In-Between, How Does It Work?

How to Download Bill Gates' Book 'How to Avoid a Climate Disaster'

For background information, Gates has been advocating fighting climate change. He established the climate investment firm Breakthrough Energy in 2015 to support several green technologies, per Money Control.

Meanwhile, for those wondering how they can download the "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster" book, Gates made the eBook download accessible to all. Keep in mind that the said book will only be available to download this week.

Head to this site. After proceeding to the said site, scroll down and wait for a message prompt to appear, which read "Are you a college student? Read my new book for free!" Click the blue bar that reads "Get your free eBook today." Once clicked, the page will be directed to an article about the book. On the article page, students must fill out the "Email address" and "School name bar," and click the "I am currently a student" box. Lastly, press the blue bar below the checked box.

Related Article: TikTok: Bill Gates 'Smiles Through the Pain' After Viral Chris Rock Video
The Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are finally available for purchase after the long wait of what seems like an eternity of leaks, teases, and two reveals.

However, Google appears to be running low on stock, as the firm is now offering waitlists to be notified when the phone becomes available again.

Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

Google Pixel 6 Pro

The Pixel 6 Pro has a significant step forward for Google.

This is a device that means business, with enhanced cameras, a large 120Hz dynamic display, and the all-new Tensor chip. Even better, Google Pixel 6 Pro price starts at $899.

Tensor is particularly interesting since it opens up a world of possibilities in terms of computational photography, on-device speech recognition and translation, and other useful functions.

Google Pixel 6

The affordability of the Google Pixel 6 price at $599 price is yet another way the Pixel 6 stands out, although different carriers may charge differently.

Pixel 6 machine learning functions are powered by the first new Tensor chips; overall performance is a step up from the Snapdragon 888.

The Pixel 6's main camera has a 50MP sensor, while the ultrawide angle camera has a 12MP sensor and a 114-degree field of view.

Read Also: Google Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5: What Are the Changes? Design, Specs, and More- An Advanced Review

Google's Restock and Waitlist

The tech industry is suffering from stock shortages.

Google's newly announced Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones are the newest casualties and the most awaited Google Pixel 6 Restock are being watched by its customers all over the world at different retailers.

According to Tom's Guide, certain models and colors are already experiencing shipping delays that will last until December 3.

While the Google Pixel 6 Pro is experiencing the most difficulties with the tech giant has sold out of all variants and has launched a waiting list, the standard Pixel 6 phone is also experiencing delays.

There's a big banner advertising the waitlist right at the top of the Google Store page for the Pixel 6 Pro.

Google announced that some Pixel 6 Pro variants may be out of stock or have significant delivery periods due to high demand and encouraged customers to sign up to be notified when they're back in stock or look for them at other approved retailers.

In addition, there is also a clickable button on the banner to join the waitlist and to browse other merchants where you can try to buy the phone instead.

Google Pixel 6 Update

As reported by The Verge, fortunately, the Google Store inventory does not appear to be completely emptied. Numerous customers saw unlocked devices of all three colors of Pixel 6 arrive in stock.

Google has been repeatedly questioned about the scarcity of the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 6, the restock, and the long waiting list.

The banner on the Google Store's Pro page is still correct. The company said in a statement that several Pro models are out of stock.

However, customers can check out approved partners nationally while supplies last while Google endeavors to make more available.

All of this is to imply that if you truly want a Google Pixel 6 Pro, it appears like you can acquire one from the Google Store.

If you're having trouble finding something in Google's store, check to see if it's available elsewhere; if not, you can always join Google's waitlists.

Related Article: Google Pixel 6 vs. iPhone 13: Specs, Performance, and Which Is Better?
The re-engineered 2022 Toyota Tundra is an undeniably capable and powerful truck with all the bells and whistles that should pique the interest of anyone looking for a half-ton pickup.

There's a lot to like about the new 2022 Tundra, from convenience features like hands-free trailer back up, to the whole suite of Toyota Safety Sense technologies. There's the basic advantages, like a new hybrid powertrain, and the new multi-link rear coil suspension due to this new platform.

2022 Toyota Tundra Engine

The 2022 Toyota Tundra engine has an option of twin-turbocharged V6 engines to kick off this out-of-the-box thinking. With 389 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque, the base iForce V6 is outstanding in its own right.

Those seeking more power can choose the iForce Max hybrid powertrain, which combines the V6 with a 36-kW electric motor for a total output of 437 hp and 583 lb-ft, as reported by the Engineer News-Record.

All of this adds up to a towing capacity of 12,000 pounds. The Tundra can tow payloads of up to 1,940 pounds.

A full-length chassis built of high-strength steel reinforced with boxed construction contributes to this potential.

In addition, the rear suspension has been overhauled with a new multi-link system with coil springs and outboard-mounted shocks, which improves ride quality and handling.

As an option, an adaptive suspension that adapts to changing road conditions is offered.

A rear air suspension system, which can level the truck under heavy trailering and cargo scenarios, is another useful addition.

Read Also: Is Your Favorite Car Actually Safe to Drive? Use This Tool to Check Your Car's Safety Rating!

2022 Toyota Tundra Interior

According to Wards Auto, the exterior design is straightforward, with muscular sheet metal giving accent to the wheel arches and flanks. The headlights and taillights blend in nicely and don't draw too much attention to themselves.

However, it isn't the most aggressively styled truck, but it should appeal to people who enjoy a mean-looking vehicle.

Inside the cabin of the 2022 Toyota Tundra interior, the car manufacturer made more significant modifications, whether it's the double cab layout found in the SR, SR5, and Limited trims, or the larger Crewmax found on all trims, along with 1794, Platinum, and TRD Pro.

Featuring huge, robust buttons and aesthetic elements, the inside is centered on work. Everything appears to be in order. So, because dash has physical buttons with clear functions, it is unlikely to become dated anytime soon, which is a positive thing.

It's the first Toyota car to have the new Toyota Audio Multimedia software, which looks great on either the optional 14-inch (36-cm) touchscreen or the basic 8-inch (20-cm) display.

Hey Toyota

Moreover, the 2022 Toyota Tundra is the first Toyota car to have the new Toyota Audio Multimedia software, which looks great on either the optional 14-inch (36-cm) touchscreen or the basic 8-inch (20-cm) display.

This new software, which was previously only available on the Lexus NX, is a significant upgrade for Toyota, allowing "Hey, Toyota" voice activation of some features such as navigation and audio player, but not heating and cooling or phone control when using the wired or wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay connections.

Notwithstanding its limitations in terms of voice, the new system provides quick responses and a clear, user-friendly map. It's a great touch how the map fades at the top of the screen to simulate the horizon.

Related Article: Tesla Recall Issued Over Crash Risk: Which Models Are Affected, How to Know If Your Car Needs to Get Checked?
By Jun Ji-hye







The Seoul Metropolitan Government will air its tour promotion program, featuring K-pop girl group aespa's Karina and actor David Lee McInnis, to 19 countries, beginning Saturday.







K-pop girl group aespa's Karina is featured in the Seoul Metropolitan Government's tour promotion program, "Travel Diary Soul: Seoul." Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

The city said the four-video series, produced jointly with global television network History Channel, will be aired to 39.5 million households in 19 countries including Japan and Southeast Asian nations until mid-December.







Karina is the leader of aespa that has generated growing popularity around the world since its single "Next Level" was released in May.







McInnis is an American actor based in Seoul who has been featured in various Korean TV dramas such as "Descendants of the Sun" and "Mr. Sunshine."







The two become travel guides in the video series, titled "Travel Diary Soul: Seoul."







Karina introduces trendy places in Seoul, such as Seongsu-dong and streets near Hongik University as well as the Gyeongui Line Forest Park, a 6.3-meter-wide linear park in the capital.







For his part, McInnis introduces Seoul's heritage sites, showing the Bugak Skyway Octagonal Pavilion located at an elevation of 342 meters, which allows visitors to appreciate not only the beauty of nature but also a panoramic view of the entire city, and the historic Fortress Wall of Seoul, as well as pottery-making in Mullae-dong.







The videos can be watched through the History Channel as well as over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Hulu and Apple TV.







"There have been growing signs for the resumption of overseas travel. Through the videos, we are aiming to deliver expectations for trips to Seoul among global audiences," said Yoon Jong-jang, a senior city official.






A North Korean propaganda outlet described South Korea's "half-successful" launch of its first domestically developed space rocket as "a definite failure," saying the South has a long way to go before proving its space-faring capabilities.







Quoting what it claimed were "comments from South Korean and foreign experts," the Echo of Unification, an anti-Seoul propaganda outlet, reported that the ultimate goal of the rocket launch was to send a dummy satellite into the orbit, which Nuri, or the Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV) II, failed to do in last week's launch.







The KSLV II was successfully launched from the country's southwest coast Oct. 21, flying to a target altitude of 700 kilometers.







But it failed to put its 1.5-ton dummy satellite into orbit.







If successful, it would have made South Korea the seventh country to have developed an SLV capable of carrying a more than 1-ton satellite. South Korea plans to conduct another launch next year.







It is the first time a North Korean media outlet has run a report on the Nuri rocket launch.







The outlet reported that "the technological skills of Nuri are still 10 to 20 years behind," and that the South has "a long way to go before it proves its launching ability and competitiveness," quoting another expert. (Yonhap)


South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed above 2,100 for the third straight day on Saturday. Yonhap



South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed above 2,100 for the third straight day Friday, amid concerns of a possible spike as the government is about to relax antivirus measures for a return to normalcy.



The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 2,104 new coronavirus cases, including 2,089 local ones, raising the total caseload to 362,639.



The virus curve had appeared to be flattening over the past few weeks, dipping to 1,190 for Monday from an upward trend that peaked at 3,272, Sept. 25, amid the fourth wave of the pandemic that began in July. But the tally climbed back this week and surpassed 2,000 for Thursday.



The death toll rose by 13 to 2,830 for a fatality rate of 0.78 percent.



The recent spike adds to concerns over yet another virus resurgence, as the country is set for a transition to "Living with COVID-19" through a package of relaxed antivirus measures set to take effect starting Monday.



The plan is aimed at lifting most of the virus restrictions by the end of January next year, backed by a rising vaccination rate currently standing at over 73 percent.






South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, left, and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi / Korea Times file



The top diplomats of South Korea and China met in Rome and discussed ways to revive the peace process on the Korean Peninsula and boost cultural ties, Seoul's foreign ministry said Saturday.



Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong sat down with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for about 30 minutes Friday evening (local time). The two are on a visit to Italy, accompanying the leaders of their nations for the two-day Group of 20 (G-20) summit.



Among agenda items in the Chung-Wang talks was Seoul's proposal to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War as a gateway to full-fledged denuclearization talks, according to the ministry.



Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly last month, President Moon Jae-in proposed again that the two Koreas and the U.S., with the possible addition of China, issue the declaration. Moon and his aides say it can be an effective way to build confidence and invigorate the peace process.



"The two ministers exchanged candid, in-depth opinions on how to cooperate for an early resumption of the Korean peace process, including the end-of-war declaration," the ministry said in a statement.






President Moon Jae-in / Yonhap

President Moon Jae-in will attend a Group of 20 summit Saturday with other global leaders expected to focus on tackling the climate crisis and helping the world end the COVID-19 pandemic.



The pandemic and climate crisis are expected to dominate the summit, as COVID-19 is still undermining a fragile global economic recovery with related disruptions of supply chains.



During the summit, Moon is also expected to discuss how to share COVID-19 vaccines with low-income nations to fight the pandemic.



Attention has been focused on whether Moon will hold a bilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the summit, but Cheong Wa Dae said nothing has been decided on yet.




South Korea was set to bid farewell to late former President Roh Tae-woo on Saturday. Joint Press Corps-Yonhap



South Korea was set to bid farewell to the late former President Roh Tae-woo, Saturday, marking the end of a five-day "state funeral" for a leader who drew both criticism and praise for his role in staging a coup and then embracing democracy.



Roh, who died Tuesday at age 88, will be given a funeral ceremony at the Peace Plaza at Olympic Park in eastern Seoul at 11 a.m.



His body will be brought from Seoul National University Hospital, where he died of a chronic ailment after fighting off prostate cancer, cerebellar atrophy and asthma, and following the ceremony will be cremated before being laid to rest.



The government has yet to announce where Roh will be buried, although his family has reportedly been looking at a site on Unification Hill in the border town of Paju, 30 kilometers north of Seoul. The tourist and natural attraction was conceived under Roh as part of his administration's efforts to promote peace with North Korea.



Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, the head of the state funeral committee, is scheduled to deliver a eulogy at the ceremony.



The choice of Olympic Park as the venue has symbolic meaning because it was there that the 1988 Summer Olympics were held successfully during Roh's term.



President Moon Jae-in will be absent from the proceedings as he is currently on a visit to Europe.



A presidential spokesperson earlier said he prayed for the deceased and delivered words of condolence to the bereaved family, while noting that Roh had "not a few historical faults" but also achievements.



Roh, who served as South Korea's last general-turned-president from 1988-93, leaves behind a mixed legacy.



He has been heavily criticized for helping his predecessor Chun Doo-hwan seize power through a 1979 military coup and ruthlessly crack down on a pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju the following year.



He has also been praised for restoring the direct presidential vote, through which he was elected, and establishing ties with socialist states in the post-Cold War period, including the then Soviet Union and China.



In a letter left in his will, Roh asked for forgiveness from victims of the crackdown in Gwangju, which, according to conservative official data, left more than 200 dead and 1,800 others wounded.



The government's decision to hold a state funeral was met with protest from critics who claimed the deceased did not deserve the honor. State funerals are paid for by the government.



By law, Roh is not eligible for burial at a national cemetery because he was convicted of crimes, including corruption and mutiny, and served time in prison before being pardoned in 1997.



The deceased is survived by his wife, former first lady Kim Ok-suk, and a daughter and son. (Yonhap)


President Moon Jae-in, right, shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, Oct. 30. Yonhap



President Joe Biden welcomed Pope Francis' expression of a willingness to visit North Korea as good news when he met with President Moon Jae-in in Rome, Saturday, according to an aide to the South Korean President.



Biden made the remarks after Moon told him that he asked the pope to visit North Korea to bring peace on the Korean Peninsula and Pope Francis positively reacted to the request by saying he was willing to go to the North if he receives an invitation, presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee said.



The U.S. president welcomed the exchange between Moon and the pope as good news and praised his South Korean counterpart for making progress in bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula, Park said.



Moon and Biden held a casual meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, Park said, adding that the informal meeting took place shortly before the world leaders posed for a group photo.



Both Moon and Biden held a separate meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Friday.




Tapgol Park: during the day, a respite for the living, but at night, a haunt for the restless / Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection



By Robert Neff



Jongno is a very popular and vibrant area in downtown Seoul. In fact, Timeout magazine recently named one part of it the third "coolest neighbourhood" in the world and described it as "historic, eccentric and very unpretentious." However, up until the mid-1990s, it had a much seedier atmosphere  especially at night  and was reputed to be haunted.



The dark alleyways  once used by commoners to avoid encountering gentry on the main street  seemed likely haunts for the restless spirits of executed prisoners, victims of accidental deaths and those who chose to end their own lives. "Han," which has been described as a feeling of deep sorrow, regret and hatred, seemingly permeates the darkness, especially on rainy nights.



Prior to the pandemic, Tapgol Park (also known as Pagoda Park) was a popular spot for the senior citizens (especially elderly men) of Seoul to gather during the day and regale one another with tales from the past while playing games, drinking coffee and sipping an occasional cup of soju. During the hours of sunlight it is a most idyllic sanctuary but one with a fairly dark past.



The March 1 Independence Movement of 1919 began around the park. The movement was brutally put down by the Japanese authorities and many people lost their lives. Shortly afterwards, a Japanese restaurant was established nearby  towards Insa-dong  and was extremely popular with Japanese residents and Korean collaborators.





A busy street in Seoul during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation / Robert Neff Collection
Samsung Electronics is finalizing a $17-billion plan for a new plant in the United States, in addition to the one already in operation in Austin, Texas, as seen in this undated photo. Korea Times file



Expanded gov't support crucial for companies to survive in changing international order



By Yi Whan-woo



Manufacturing businesses seem to be trying to become as self-sufficient as possible, from the sourcing of raw materials to the rolling off of finished goods, as global supply chains continue to face ongoing disruptions.



Globalized supply chains utilized by the companies have been exposed to multiple risks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S.'s moves to decouple China from them, the energy crisis in China, and trade being weaponized amid diplomatic conflicts.



Among the affected Korean industries are the semiconductor, large battery and automobile industries. To minimize risks, they have been reshaping their overseas businesses, such as by making major investments to obtain raw materials directly, and by setting up or expanding new production lines.



"A singular focus on operating margins and asset efficiency has resulted in sometimes brittle, lean, and offshored supply chains," the U.S. think tank, the Brookings Institution, said in a report titled, "How to build more secure, resilient, next-gen U.S. supply chains."



The report noted that leading multinationals have long recognized that managing supply chain risks was necessary to sustain competitiveness.



"Assuming a longer-term perspective may make investing in resilience a better value proposition, although a variety of issues  could serve as barriers to such a perspective," it added.



In the semiconductor industry, Samsung Electronics plans to invest 171 trillion won ($146.5 billion) in the logic chip and foundry businesses by 2030.



The investment follows its rivals' moves to increase production capacity to meet the soaring demand for semiconductors.



The Korean tech giant is finalizing a $17 billion investsment plan for a new foundry plant in the U.S, while constructing a new chip fabrication plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, by the second half of 2022.



The Pyeongtaek plant will produce seventh generation 14-nanometer DRAM chips and 5-nanometer logic semiconductors using extreme ultraviolet lithography technology.



SK hynix, Korea's second-largest chipmaker after Samsung Electronics, is looking to double its foundry capacity through domestic facility expansion, and mergers and acquisitions.



The strategy includes investment in the 8-inch foundry business to tackle global chip shortages, while helping the overseas expansion of domestic fabless companies.



SK hynix also plans to build four additional chip fabrication factories in a semiconductor cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The construction of its first new fab is expected to start in 2024, and mass production from that facility could be possible as early as 2025.



In the U.S., SK hynix plans to spend 1 trillion won on a research and development center in Silicon Valley.





LG Energy Solution workers examine newly-manufactured batteries at the firm's Ochang plant in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province in this undated photo. Korea Times file



In the battery sector, LG Energy Solution (LGES) plans to invest more than $4.5 billion in its U.S. battery production business over the next four years.



It signed a six-year deal with Canada's lithium exploration and development company, Sigma Lithium Corp., for the supply of lithium to better cope with the soaring demand in the white metal used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.



LGES's offtake agreement for obtaining battery-grade lithium, concentrated on a "take or pay" basis, will increase from 60,000 tons per year in 2023, to 100,000 tons per year from 2024 to 2027.



It also acquired a 4.8 percent stake in China's Greatpower Nickel and Cobalt Materials for 35 billion won, securing a stable supply of nickel, a key battery material.



Rising cost of materials



Greatpower Nickel and Cobalt Materials has been building a plant in China for nickel sulfate, with construction slated for completion in 2023.



The two sides signed a six-year contract, with LGES to purchase about 20,000 metric tons of nickel beginning from 2023  enough to supply batteries to about 370,000 electric vehicles that can each travel more than 500 kilometers on a single charge.



SK Innovation (SKI) signed an agreement to buy cobalt from Switzerland-based trading firm Glencore, as part of its efforts to obtain a stable supply of this key EV component.



The contract runs from 2020 through to 2025, with total purchases of about 30,000 metric tons of cobalt, enough to supply batteries for 3 million EVs.



In China, the battery arm of SK Group agreed to a joint venture with EVE Energy and BTR for the direct production of material for cathodes, a key EV battery component.



SKI will invest 25 percent in the joint venture, while EVE Energy and BTR will hold 24 percent and 51 percent stakes in the proposed entity, respectively.



The joint venture plant will have an annual output of 50,000 tons of material  sufficient to produce cathodes that can help deliver 33 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity, capable of running about 470,000 EVs.



Samsung SDI signed a memorandum of understanding with the Australian smelting company, QPM, with the Australian side to supply 6,000 tons of nickel per year to the Korean company for three to five years to come.





A concept electric vehicle to be manufactured at Hyundai Motor's EV plant in Indonesia / Korea Times file
A fence is splattered with raindrops near the venue for the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Friday. The U.N. COP26 conference starts Sunday. AP-Yonhap





China's carbon trading market needs some fine-tuning to help the nation achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, industry experts said ahead of the COP26 summit where global leaders are expected to discuss policies to avert the disastrous consequences of climate change.



Adjustments such as tightening quotas allocated to power plants and widening trading scope to include more emissions sectors could greatly help the "national carbon emission exchange" play a bigger role in using market forces to guide decarburization in the most cost-effective way, analysts said.



"The current design of the national ETS [emissions trading scheme], especially the intensity-based target and lax benchmarks, is hampering its effectiveness," said Yan Qin, lead carbon analyst at data provider Refinitiv. "This could be for the purpose of a soft start, but the current design has caused low liquidity and low prices in the ETS due to oversupply."



China's national ETS kicked off July 16 and is overseen by the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange. The trading scheme currently only applies to power generators [plants] and includes about 2,200 electricity companies which together are responsible for over 4 billion tons a year of carbon dioxide emissions, roughly over 40 percent of the country's total emissions.



"The ETS design needs to be transformed to a system with an absolute cap and also a tighter benchmark for the producers," said Qin. Auctioning should also be gradually introduced so that producers face true carbon costs, incentivizing them to switch to low-carbon generation, she said.



There is also an urgent need to tighten the generous quota allocations for power producers, according to analysts. The generously allocated allowances meant very few quotas needed to be bought and sold in the first year, and to be effective in reducing emissions, the cost of carbon needs to be higher than the cost of mitigating emissions.



"Most of the over 2,000 enterprises have rather abundant allowances for the first compliance period from 2019-2020 and the oversupply is really weighing on market liquidity and carbon price," said Qin, noting that the low price is having little impact on promoting emission reduction measures, which is what the ETS is supposed to do.



China's ETS could play an important role in the country's carbon-neutrality drive by potentially reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent to 60 percent of current levels by 2060, according to a report released in August by the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC) and global asset management company Schroders. But that could be realized only under the right settings, when the cost of carbon on China's ETS rises to at least $34 per ton, according to the report.



The price of carbon allowances in the ETS is estimated to rise to 71 yuan ($11.1) per ton by 2025 and 93 yuan per ton by 2030, according to a report last December by the China Carbon Forum and global consultancy firm ICF.






National League for Democracy (NLD) party spokesman U Win Htein arrives for the opening ceremony of the second session of the Union Peace Conference in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, 24 May 2017, in this photo reissued Oct. 29. EPA-Yonhap



A court in Myanmar found a close colleague of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi guilty of treason Friday and sentenced him to 20 years in prison, according to a member of their political party and local media reports.



The sentence given to 79-year-old U Win Htein appeared to be the most severe so far for any of the top members of Suu Kyi's government and party who were detained after the military seized power Feb. 1. Suu Kyi is being tried on several criminal charges that her supporters say were fabricated to discredit her.



Win Htein is a longtime confidante of Suu Kyi and a patron of her National League for Democracy party. He publicly called for civil disobedience to oppose the military's takeover and was arrested Feb. 4. Suu Kyi's party had won a landslide victory in the November 2020 general election.



The army's takeover was met with widespread peaceful protests but the resistance hardened after security forces used deadly force to put down the demonstrations, and there is now an incipient insurgency in many parts of the country.



Kyaw Thiha, a member of the party's Central Committee and one of its elected members of parliament, said he learned from a court source about the sentence and the judge's order that Win Htein be sent immediately to a prison in the central city of Mandalay.



Myanmar media, which are mostly operating online without permission under military rule, also reported the court's action. A text message from the Information Ministry to journalists confirmed that Win Htein had received a 20-year prison sentence but gave no other details.



Win Htein was apparently arrested for remarks he made just after the takeover.



''The curse of the coup is rooted in our country and this is the reason why our country still remains poor. I feel sad and upset for our fellow citizens and for their future,'' Win Htein, who had been a political prisoner under a former military government, said Feb. 2.



''All the voters who gave their backing to us in the 2020 general election should follow Aung San Suu Kyi's instructions to carry out civil disobedience,'' he said, referring to a note posted on Facebook attributed to her. There has been some dispute about whether Suu Kyi was its actual author.



Win Htein was able to inform the Myanmar-language service of Britain's BBC radio about his arrest before his contact with the outside was cut off.



''They don't like what I've been talking about. They are afraid of what I'm saying,'' he told the BBC in a phone call.



Win Htein was charged under Section 124(A) of the Penal Code, a statute that falls under the general heading of treason, though it is sometimes referred to as sedition.



The law, which had a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment, was changed shortly after his arrest by the newly installed military government.



It had originally criminalized attempts to ''bring into hatred or contempt, or excite or attempt to excite disaffection towards the government,'' but was amended to also cover ''Defense Services or Defense Services Personnel,'' and the penalty was increased to seven to 20 years' imprisonment. (AP)


This combination of 2020-2021 photos shows a burning tree in Sequoia National Forest, California; Nathan Fabre, whose home and boat were destroyed by Hurricane Ida in Lafitte, Louisiana; and the cracked, dry bottom of the Cerro Lagoon during an extended drought in Limpio, Paraguay. Climate change is fueling heat waves, flooding, drought and more destructive tropical cyclones. AP-Yonhap



More than one world leader says humanity's future, even survival, hangs in the balance when international officials meet in Scotland to try to accelerate efforts to curb climate change. Temperatures, tempers and hyperbole have all ratcheted up ahead of the U.N. summit.



And the risk of failure looms large for all participants at the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, which begins Sunday and runs until Nov. 12.



Six years ago, nearly 200 countries agreed to individual plans to fight global warming in the historic 2015 Paris climate agreement. Now leaders will converge in Glasgow for two weeks starting Sunday to take the next step dictated by that pact: Do more and do it faster.



But except for a slight drop because of the pandemic, carbon pollution from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is increasing, not falling.



Between now and 2030, the world will spew up to 28 billion metric tons (31 billion U.S. tons) of greenhouse gases beyond the amount that would keep the planet at or below the most stringent limit set in Paris, the United Nations calculated this week.



''Everything is at stake if the leaders do not take climate action,'' Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate said. ''We cannot eat coal. We cannot drink oil, and we cannot breathe so-called natural gas.''



Her words were echoed by a man tasked with steering one of the world's richest economic blocs through the climate transition.



''We are fighting for the survival of humanity,'' European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said. ''Climate change and the threatening ecocide are the biggest threats humanity faces.''



Climate change is fueling heat waves, flooding, drought and nastier tropical cyclones. Extreme weather also costs the globe about $320 billion a year in economic losses, according to risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide. And people die.



''The unhealthy choices that are killing our planet are killing our people as well,'' said Dr. Maria Neira, director of public health and environment at the World Health Organization.



Humanity and the Earth won't quite go off a cliff because of global warming, scientists say. But what happens in Glasgow will either steer the world away from the most catastrophic scenarios or send it careening down a dirt road with tight curves and peril at every turn. It's a situation where even tenths of a degree translate into added risk.



''(The world is) still careening towards climate catastrophe,'' U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday, even after some countries' recent emission pledges. ''There is a serious risk that Glasgow will not deliver.''



For months, U.N. officials have touted concrete goals for these negotiations to succeed:

- Countries must promise to reduce carbon emissions 45% by 2030 compared with 2010.

- Rich countries should contribute $100 billion a year in aid to poor countries.

- Half of that amount must be aimed at adapting to climate change's worst effects.






Fall break is a step in the right direction, but more is needed


Product Manager, Product Data Platform, Apple Online Store, WW Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) , California , United States Marketing Summary

Posted: Oct 28, 2021 Weekly Hours: 40 Role Number: 200299790 Do you love to create groundbreaking ideas? Do you enjoy collaborating with coworkers and making lasting connections with others? As part of our Apple Online Store team, you'll help craft a seamless, high-quality digital retail experience for our customers. Join our team, and you'll help Apple make sure our customer's shopping experience is like no other. We are seeking a talented, customer centric, results-driven Product Manager to join the Apple Online Store. This role is focused on the evolution of the core product data management platform and applications used to support and enable Retail. As the Product Manager for the Digital Product Data Platform, you will be responsible for defining a critical part of the roadmap, in partnership with, Product, Publishing, Engineering and other cross-functional groups. Our ideal candidate has in-depth experience working within large-scale product information or content management systems, defining application features and implementing production workflows from initial demand, requirement definition, interface design through final delivery. Key Qualifications 5+ years of software Product Management experience working on enterprise application platforms and software products

Proven ability as an individual contributor to establish rapport, credibility and influence others to attain results across a large, matrixed organization

Strong analytical skills with ability to use data and metrics to back up assumptions

Track record for defining requirements, feature sets and assessing key risk areas/opportunities

Experience planning, managing, and delivering small, medium and large projects

Outstanding written, verbal and presentation skills

Proven ability to launch successful customer focused experiences with tangible results.

Demonstrated ability to build an effective product roadmap breaking down complex initiatives into meaningful milestones.

Be the internal champion for smart, sustainable applications and processes.

Exhibit high degree of ownership and accountability.

Strong leadership skills with a proactive participative style. Description This position requires the Product Manager to have a deep understanding of how metadata, taxonomies, attributes and structured product information enables and improves customer features and experiences. A strong technical understanding of eCommerce, Product Catalog Management Systems, graph databases, taxonomies and ontologies. Own product data lifecycle understanding and issue investigation for data integrity, governance and support of launches. Demonstrated success in business process improvement/re-engineering. Strong quantitative and qualitative business and data analysis skills. Detailed understanding of hierarchies, hierarchy management and strategic processes is preferred. High situational fluency. Education & Experience BS/BA degree required, MS/MA preferred. Additional Requirements Internet-based application development, software development, testing approaches and project lifecycle experience

Software engineering or user-interface design experience

Experience with Scrum or Agile development

Ability to see how technology can solve various business problems Produce excellent documentation including stories, acceptance criteria, root cause analysis, process and workflow diagrams and ERDs. Lean methodology or Six Sigma Certification








3D Perception/Computer Vision Algorithm Engineer Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) , California , United States Machine Learning and AI Summary

Posted: Oct 28, 2021 Role Number: 200307270 The Video Computer Vision organization is working on exciting technologies for future Apple products. Our focus is on ML based solution around real time image and video. We have contributed to the FaceID and FaceKit project in the past and more recently the new LIDAR iPad sensor. We are looking for the right Engineer to help us take our efforts to the next level. In this role, you will work together with similar minds in a unique development team where your skills and expertise will be put into the Apple products. This role is highly multi-functional and you will work very closely with various highly skilled software development / ML teams developing groundbreaking algorithms. Key Qualifications Solid foundation in computer vision; key areas of interest include object detection, tracking and recognition; multiple view geometry, 3D computer vision and SfM/SLAM; activity recognition

Deep understanding of machine learning technology and experience on turning machine learning technologies into practical, state-of-the-art systems

Solid C/C++ and system building skills

Passion on cutting edge computer vision/machine learning technologies and product delivery

Self motivated

Excellent problem solving skills

Excellent communication skills Description Video engineering group is looking for a computer vision algorithm engineer. In this position, you will work together with similar minds in a unique research and development team where your skills and expertise will be put into future Apple products. In this role, you will create new models and algorithms, and actively engage with the academic community. Education & Experience PhD in computer vision, robotics or machine learning; alternatively a comparable industry career, with significant experience on delivering products using state-of-the-art computer vision, machine learning and robotics technologies.


Lors du Conseil des Ministres du 29 octobre 2021,les autorites ont decide doffrir une One Off-Grant de Rs 10,000.00 aux operateurs de bus qui vehiculent les touristes dans le pays.

Cabinet has agreed to the National Land Transport Authority varying the Public Service Vehicle Licence held by contract bus operators involved in the conveyance of tourists up to 30 June 2022 in order to allow them to carry employees, in view of the prevailing COVID-19 situation.

Cabinet has also agreed to the provision of a one-off allowance of Rs 10,000.00 to every contract bus operator (Individual) involved in the conveyance of tourists.
Jocelyn, his business partner of 25 years, has become close to the family over the years. Sharon tells me that Jocelyn occasionally spends the night at their house when there is an upcoming business meeting in our area, since she lives quite a distance away. They all seem to enjoy one anothers company.
Despite this, the J&J booster is somewhat easier to qualify for than the Pfizer and Moderna boosters, which are authorized primarily for individuals who were eligible under the initial vaccine rollout back in December and January, such as seniors, those that are at high risk of catching COVID-19 or those at high risk of severe COVID-19 illness. To get the J&J booster, shot seekers only need to be 18 or older and at least two months out from the date they got their first J&J vaccine.
We have learned that law enforcement officials have arrested a suspect who followed the victim home from the casino that night. Parx Casino has been cooperating fully with local and state law enforcement agencies in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey and will continue to do so. Our sincere condolences go out to the family and friends of the victim at this incredibly difficult time.
The stigma and discrimination tied to being diagnosed with diseases such as HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B already present an uncomfortable tradeoff when it comes to partner notification. Pennsylvanians who comply with that process are willing to give up some privacy  in order to keep other people healthy and alive.
: futurist (), : Military

 : 

: BBS  (Sat Oct 30 00:30:51 2021, )



LGBTQ



Scientists Uncover First Known Cases of California Condors Born Through

Asexual Reproduction

Conservation scientists for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance made the

surprising discovery while genotyping genetic material from two deceased

California condors



By Kelli Bender

October 29, 2021 05:38 PM



Two California are currently the superstars of the science world.



According to a release from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA), a

group of their conservation scientists recently reported an 'extraordinary

discovery"  shared in the Journal of Heredity, the official journal of the

American Genetic Association  that "could have rippling effects for

wildlife genetics and conservation science."



The conservation scientists stumbled upon this discovery during a routine

analysis of biological samples from two deceased California condors that

were part of the SDZWA's managed breeding program to determine each bird's

parentage. The tests on the samples confirmed that both of the condors were

genetically related to the female condors (known as dams) that laid and

hatched their eggs.



But the test also uncovered "that neither bird was genetically related to a

male  meaning both chicks were biologically fatherless; and accounted for

the first two instances of asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, to be

confirmed in the California condor species," per SDZWA. This is not the only

surprising first that the scientists' routine analysis unearthed.



According to SDZWA, the female birds that laid the unfertilized eggs that

hatched were "continuously housed with fertile male partners. So, this

parthenogenesis discovery is not only the first to be documented in condors

but is also the first discovered through the use of molecular genetic

testing and the first in any avian species where the female bird had access

to a mate."



"This is truly an amazing discovery," Oliver Ryder, Ph.D., the director of

conservation genetics at SDZWA, who is co-author of the Journal of Heredity

study, said in a statement. "We were not exactly looking for evidence of

parthenogenesis, it just hit us in the face. We only confirmed it because of

the normal genetic studies we do to prove parentage. Our results showed

that both eggs possessed the expected male ZZ sex chromosomes, but all

markers were only inherited from their dams, verifying our findings."



Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction in which an embryo that is

not fertilized by sperm continues to develop, containing only the mother's

genetic materials, SDZWA shared. The resulting offspring are called

parthenotes.



Parthenogenesis has been observed in other animals, including those living

in captivity, but is relatively rare in birds. When it does occur, it

usually happens when females have no access to males. For the California

condor parthenotes, each of their dams had access to fertile males and had a

history of producing offspring with mates, including after the newly-

discovered parthenotes hatched.



Scientists confirmed this astounding discovery thanks to the extensive

historical genetic records available to the SZDWA as part of their

collaboration with the California Condor Recovery Program. Unfortunately,

both of the condor parthenotes died before the SDZWA's realization that the

birds were the result of asexual reproduction.



SDZWA plans to continue its genotyping efforts in hopes of uncovering more

missed parthenogenetic cases in California condors and perhaps other species

as well.



"These findings now raise questions about whether this might occur

undetected in other species," Ryder added.



http://people.com/pets/scientists-uncover-first-known-cases-of-california-condor-asexual-reproduction/



--

 :WWW  mitbbs.com [FROM: 97.]





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Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-29 18:27:33|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a press conference after the 11th summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 5, 2016. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- In Chinese culture, a bridge is endowed with rich connotations, like connection and cooperation. In 2016, China used the arch image in the logo of the Group of 20 (G20) Hangzhou Summit to show its vision towards the multilateral platform.

Welcoming world leaders to the event that year, Chinese President Xi Jinping likened the G20 to a bridge of friendship and cooperation. He said that the G20 platform has brought the member nations closer to help enhance mutual trust and deepen cooperation for win-win outcomes.

A citizen walks past a board with the logo of G20 summit in Binjiang District of Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, Aug. 25, 2016. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

Xi noted that as long as the G20 members support each other through thick and thin, they will be able to overcome the rough waves of the world economy and embark on a brand new voyage for future growth.

While the Chinese president also used other symbols and analogies to describe the role of G20, what the bridge stands for is more relevant when a pandemic of this scale is gripping the world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech via video link to the Leaders' Side Event on Safeguarding the Planet of the G20 Riyadh Summit on Nov. 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Addressing the G20 Riyadh Summit via video link last year, Xi called for building a "global firewall" against COVID-19 and pledged to make vaccines a global public good that is accessible and affordable to people around the world.

The G20 summit this year is slated for Saturday and Sunday, and the Chinese president will attend the event via video link.

Photo taken on Oct. 28, 2021 shows La Nuvola Convention Center, main venue of the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit, in Rome, Italy. (Xinhua/Jin Mamengni)

The global economy and public health is expected to be a key focus during this year's event. The world will keep a close watch on what consensus this group of the world's 20 major economies and emerging markets will build to fight the pandemic and help sustain the global economy. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 00:26:26|Editor: huaxia

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Michael Badessa, a 18-year-old fisherman, fishes at Hawassa Lake in the Hawassa city, capital of Ethiopia's Sidama regional state, Oct. 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Aman Qassim, 30, has been fishing in Hawassa lake in southern Ethiopia for the last 10 years, earning meagre income to support his wife and two kids.

Located in the Hawassa city, capital of Ethiopia's Sidama regional state, the lake has been a draw for both locals and visitors for decades.

Qassim has had to compete with the ever-expanding number of fellow fishermen, who net the same fish resources as him.

"Even though the income I earn is small, it has helped me support my family over the years," Qassim told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Many of those who fished for more than a decade or so have now changed their lives and their family livelihoods, turning their grass thatched houses into iron thatched houses," he added.

Apart from the growing competition, Qassim also had to deal with natural life-threatening challenges whenever he threw his fishing net in the Hawassa lake waters.

"Fishing is both a difficult and easy task. While you are in the water you could encounter winds that can cause difficult waves, which has caused the small fishermen boats to capsize and the fishermen to lose their lives," Qassim said.

With both natural and manmade challenges making it increasingly difficult to support his family, Qassim has also ventured into strictly fry land businesses.

"Additionally, I also do small-scale shop-keeping at home," he said.

In recent years, Qassim has started servicing the fish needs of a rapidly expanding Hawassa city population which has been boosted by the expansion of the manufacturing sector in the city including the Chinese-built flagship Hawassa Industrial Park.

Built by China Civil Engineering Corporation, the Hawassa Industrial Park, located in Hawassa city, some 275 km south of Addis Ababa, was initially completed in a record time of nine months back in July 2016.

With rising visitor numbers have come increasing number of people who engage in fishing forcing Qassim to compete vigorously for the same fish resources to attract the rising customer pool.

Hawassa lake also has its fair share of boys and teenagers who conduct fishing, selling various types of fish catch to both local and visiting customers.

One such person is Michael Badessa, 18, who has been fishing since the age of six and selling his catch to various types of customers.

"Everybody buys fish here; regular ordinary customers, tourists and businesspeople," Badessa told Xinhua.

For Badessa, fishing is a family business, as he undertakes fishing together with one of his brothers.

The fish-eating culture in Ethiopia, a landlocked nation of more than 110 million plus population is small, with most of the lakes in the east African country located in remote rural outposts, with Hawassa lake being an exception.

The areas around Hawassa lake are not restricted to just fishermen and makeshift fish cooks, but also regularly teems with customers consuming Hawassa city residents favorite food, raw fish.

One such customer is Bamilak Asamirew, a native of Hawassa city who usually comes with her boyfriend to the lake twice a week to consume fish soup and raw fish.

"I am drinking fish soup firstly ... I like the taste of it," Asamirew said.

Asamirew sometimes takes packed fish to her home, in addition to the fish products she consumes at the spot.

"The fish soup I'm currently drinking costs 10 Ethiopian Birr (0.22 U.S. dollars), while usually in total I can spend 150 Birr (3.2 U.S. dollars) when I come here," she said.

While many first visitors to Hawassa lake avoid eating uncooked fish products, for Asamirew it's what makes her city and its cuisine unique, adding another layer of fondness she feels for it.

"We got used to eating raw fish starting from our childhood. Now, it feels very much like an addiction to me," Asamirew said.

When stomach sensitive family members and guests come from various parts of Ethiopia and beyond, Asamirew treats her guests to a mutually agreeable lake sight-seeing. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 00:27:37|Editor: huaxia

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People gather at the site of an explosion in southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on Oct. 29, 2021. Two people were killed and eight others wounded as an explosion hit Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Friday night, local media reported. (Str/Xinhua)

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and eight others wounded in an explosion seemingly caused by gas leakage at a gas station in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Friday night, local media reported.

The incident happened at a gas station in a densely populated downtown area where several vehicles were being refueled, the reports said.

The killed and injured people were shifted to a nearby hospital, the reports added.

Police and rescue teams rushed to the site following the explosion, and rescue work was underway.

Fire also erupted in the gas station after the blast, and fire tenders were trying to douse it. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 10:07:52|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The recent U.S. statements about Taiwan will turn out to be "a fool's errand" from the perspective of U.S. strategic interests and international legal principles, U.S. experts have said.

"It bears remembering that the U.S. position on Taiwan and its one-China policy at a legal and tactical level is itself laced with self-serving duplicity," Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies, told Xinhua.

"Washington won't go so far though as to champion Taipei's candidature in international bodies where statehood is a prerequisite because that would run up against its own legal position on the one-China (policy)," he added.

Gupta noted that the U.S. effort to expand the island's engagement with the UN system is "a fool's errand" because almost all the other 190 or so states accept that Taiwan is a part of China.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, noted that "Taiwan is, by far, the most sensitive issue in U.S.-China relations."

"Ratcheting up tensions is frightfully easy. Ratcheting down tensions is the artful challenge. What would be the most helpful is for both the U.S. and China to dial down the kinds of activities that inflame the other side in a quiet, non-obvious, parallel manner," Kuhn told Xinhua.

"China will not, China cannot, change its position on Taiwan," Kuhn said.

Sarwar Kashmeri, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Association, said he is concerned about the growing verbal bellicosity of both the United States and China on the Taiwan issue. Yet he stressed that he believes "both sides want to avoid a military clash." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 13:06:24|Editor: huaxia

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A staff member dresses the Manneken-Pis in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 27, 2021. The Manneken-Pis was dressed to show support for the upcoming 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

In the face of the grave impacts, COP26 participants should take the global gathering as an opportunity to bring hope, rather than despair, to the effort of fighting the war that human beings cannot afford to lose. No one is safe until all are safe.

by Xinhua writers Gu Zhenqiu, Jin Jing

GLASGOW, Britain, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- With the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) set to open on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, the high-profile international gathering is widely expected to be a crucial opportunity for reaching new consensus on further curbing carbon emissions.

The two-week event, which was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, comes amid a lack of progress among some parties to narrow a worrisome financial gap to tackle climate change. For instance, a long-standing pledge by developed countries to channel 100 billion U.S. dollars a year to developing ones has not been honored so far, undermining trust and engagement at forthcoming climate negotiations.

The stalled progress has raised concerns about COP26's chance of success and sparked warnings that the conference may end in empty talks.

Photo taken on Oct. 13, 2021 shows a view of Fox Glacier on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island. In the past decades, the glacier retreated significantly due to global climate change. (Xinhua/Lu Huaiqian)

At present, few can deny that climate change is a challenge facing all of humanity, and that it is imperative to successfully tackle the problem for the future of the planet. This extensive global consensus has been built for decades following melting glaciers and polar ice, record-breaking heat waves, droughts and rising sea levels, which are threatening the lives of billions of people and potentially wrecking economies across the world.

In the face of the grave impacts, COP26 participants should take the global gathering as an opportunity to bring hope, rather than despair, to the effort of fighting the war that human beings cannot afford to lose. Just as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in October, "COP26 must be a turning point" of climate actions.

To achieve that, all parties at COP26 should first of all translate climate goals into specific policies, and complete negotiations on the implementation details of the Paris Agreement to ensure that global climate governance continues on the right track.

Adopted in 2015, the agreement aims to limit the global temperature rise in this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to even further pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.





A boy is seen in a traditional balsa wood fishing raft in Lake Baringo, Baringo County, Kenya, Oct. 22, 2021. (Photo by Sheikh Maina/Xinhua)

Second, the Glasgow conference should deliver a breakthrough in climate adaptation. Together with emissions reductions and financing for climate actions in developing countries, climate adaptation is one of the three key elements of the political package that Guterres has urged to be delivered at COP26.

As climate disruption is affecting more and more lives and livelihoods worldwide every year, especially among the most vulnerable, building resilience and adaptation must be a priority for all.

Third, the success of COP26 lies on all parties' commitment to true multilateralism and genuine respect for specific national conditions of each and every developing country, on the basis of which the Paris Agreement was reached in the first place.

To be specific, those developed countries with a few hundred years of industrialization and ecological debt should take the lead in climate actions, and stop pinning responsibilities on conscientious developing nations, such as China.

As the world's largest developing country with a population of more than 1.4 billion that has not completed industrialization or urbanization, China has nevertheless honored its ambitious pledges to tackle climate change despite the difficulty.

Photo taken on Oct. 27, 2021 shows a press conference on a white paper titled "Responding to Climate Change: China's Policies and Actions," released by the State Council Information Office, in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

For years, China has voluntarily adopted nationally determined contributions and supporting policy measures, and actively taken part in global climate governance.

Though facing other innumerable social and economic priorities, China has announced that it will strive to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, which means that the country has to realize an unprecedented reduction in carbon emissions and move from peak carbon to carbon neutrality faster than any nation in history.

China has laid out a concrete road map towards greener development and means what it says. Therefore, any worry that it might fail to achieve its goal is unfounded, and any attempt to smear China's resolve to mitigate climate change and its progress in this regard will prove futile.

No one is safe until all are safe. As the window of opportunity to prevent the worst climate impacts is rapidly closing, it is time for the international community, developed countries in particular, to show their joint determination to address this mighty challenge facing mankind. Taking collective, effective and prompt actions at the Glasgow conference is key for future success. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 13:41:48|Editor: huaxia

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Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian man during a protest at the al-Yusufiye cemetery near the Lion's Gate entrance to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem, Oct. 29, 2021. The protest was against local authorities' deeds of demolishing several graves to establish a park. (Photo by Muammar Awad/Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 15:17:51|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- China, a major contributor to tackling climate change and an active participant in climate talks, has been a source of strong impetus for global climate governance.

"China has contributed to the conclusion and quick implementation of the Paris Agreement; with its own vision and action it has charted the course for a new form of global climate governance," stated a white paper released Wednesday, elaborating on China's policies, actions and progress in mitigating climate change.

Deeming climate change "a task of great urgency" that needs to be addressed, the document said China has contributed to global unity on climate governance through its leaders' climate diplomacy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has on many occasions highlighted China's view on global climate governance and expressed China's firm support for the Paris Agreement, facilitating major progress at the global level.

In 2015, Xi delivered a keynote speech at the Paris Conference on Climate Change, making a historic contribution to the conclusion of the Paris Agreement on global climate action after 2020.

In September 2016, he deposited in person the legal instrument of China's ratification of the Paris Agreement. This came as a vigorous push for the quick implementation of the agreement, showing China's ambition and resolution in tackling climate change.

Xi announced that China will scale up its nationally determined contributions at the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2020, demonstrating China's resolve in applying its new development philosophy and its clear attitude to make further contributions to global efforts against climate change.

At the Climate Ambition Summit in December 2020, President Xi announced China's further commitments for 2030.

China will lower its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by over 65 percent from the 2005 level, increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 25 percent, increase the forest stock volume by 6 billion cubic meters from the 2005 level, and bring its total installed capacity of wind and solar power to over 1.2 billion kilowatts.

The country will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad, announced Xi at the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2021, manifesting China's sense of responsibility as a major country.

Earlier this month, Xi emphasized efforts to achieve China's carbon peak and neutrality targets when addressing the leaders' summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

China will continue to readjust its industrial structure and energy mix, vigorously develop renewable energy, and make faster progress in planning and developing large wind-power and photovoltaic bases in sandy and rocky areas, and deserts, he noted.

The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), scheduled from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland, is the first of its kind since the Paris Agreement came into force.

China looks forward to working with all parties to make progress at COP26 and promote full implementation of the Paris Agreement goals, said Ye Min, vice minister of ecology and environment. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 20:22:11|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Oct. 29, 2021 shows a jadeware excavated at Liangjiatan relics site, at Hanshan Museum in Hanshan County, east China's Anhui Province. Beijing unveiled the medals for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games on Oct. 26. Named "Tongxin", meaning "Together as one", the medals feature five concentric rings, and their backside design was inspired by the "Bi" jadeware discovered at the Lingjiatan relics site in Anhui Province. Dating back to about 5,300 years to 5,800 years ago, Lingjiatan is known for the discovery of more than 1,000 pieces of jadeware, offering a vivid demonstration of ancient Chinese culture. The archaeological excavation of the Lingjiatan relics site is still ongoing. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 21:29:22|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Libya's 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) launched on Saturday a new round of UN-sponsored talks in Egypt's capital Cairo to discuss plans for the pullout of foreign forces.

The two-day meeting was attended by UN special envoy for Libya Jan Kubis, and representatives from neighboring countries, Egypt's official Ahram Online news website reported.

After the meeting held in Geneva on Oct. 8, the JMC signed a comprehensive Action Plan for the gradual, balanced, and sequenced withdrawal of mercenaries, foreign fighters and foreign forces from Libyan territory.

The work of the 5+5 JMC, or the security track, is one of the three intra-Libyan tracks that the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) is working on, along with the economic and political tracks.

These tracks were endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2510 (2020), which called on both parties to reach an agreement for a permanent ceasefire.

Libya has been locked in a civil war since the ouster and killing of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The situation escalated in 2014, splitting power between two rival governments: the UN-backed Government of National Accord based in the capital Tripoli and a Tobruk-based one allied with military commander Khalifa Haftar.

In February, Libya's warring factions agreed to form an interim government, under the auspices of the UN, to run the country until the general elections are held on Dec. 24. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 00:11:23|Editor: huaxia

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LAGOS, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- At least three persons lost their lives and one other was injured in a road accident in central Nigeria's Kwara state, the road police said on Saturday.

The accident occurred on a highway at the Otte community in the Asa local government area of the state as a result of a speed violation, said Jonathan Owoade, sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC) in Kwara, at a press briefing in Ilorin, the state capital on Saturday.

"Three persons lost their lives in the fatal crash which occurred in the early hours of this morning (Saturday) at Otte on the Ilorin-Ogbomoso Expressway," said Owoade.

He said the accident involved two vehicles and four people, and only one of the victims survived with fractured and head injuries.

He warned motorists against violating road safety guidelines and other road users, particularly commuters, to always caution commercial vehicle drivers against over-speeding.

Deadly road accidents are frequently reported in Nigeria, often caused by overloading, poor road conditions, and reckless driving. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 00:16:38|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will host a high-level ministerial conference next week on the role of regional economic communities in promoting the youth, peace and security agenda in the East and the Horn of Africa, organizers said on Saturday.

The Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) said the five-day conference which begins on Nov. 1 in Nairobi to promote the youth peace and security agenda will be done through advocating for more inclusive policies and meaningful engagement of young people in peacebuilding and conflict prevention mechanisms.

"The participants will review the implementation of international and regional legal and policy frameworks for youth in peace and security for different countries in the Horn of Africa," COMESA said in a statement.

The conference is jointly organized by the African Union working with COMESA, the Kenyan government and civil society organizations namely Save the Children, Life and Peace Institute and the Horn of Africa Youth Network.

The bloc said the event will take the opportunity to popularize frameworks that promote the role of youth in peace and security.

The COMESA said a communique will be issued at the end of the conference to inform policy changes following review of the international and regional legal and policy frameworks in the region. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 22:04:14|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Attired in tattered clothes, a girl who lived in a makeshift camp in Sarai Shamali area in the northern edge of Afghan capital Kabul said Saturday her family was in urgent need of food and clothing.

"I need naan (traditional Afghan leaf bread) and warm clothes for winter," whispered the Afghan girl who seemed around 10 years old.

The girl, who refused to give her name, said her father couldn't find a job to earn livelihood and they were largely relying on humanitarian assistance provided by aid agencies or individuals.

Since the withdrawal of the U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan and the collapse of the U.S.-backed administration in mid August, economic situation of the war-torn country has been deteriorating even further.

Mohammad Akram, a displaced person who escaped the war from Kunduz province four months ago, has accused what he described the U.S. "double standard policy" of the current chaotic situation in Afghanistan.

"Washington's hypocrisy has destroyed Afghanistan in all fields and the outcome is poverty, instability and uncertainty," Akram said.

The displaced man said that the legacy of American presence is nothing but extreme poverty, displacement and unemployment.

Pointing to the makeshift camp, the annoyed man claimed that some children had lost their lives due to cold weather and many more are sick and have no facilities to visit doctors or buy warm clothes.

According to a joint report of UNICEF and WFP released earlier this month, 14 million people of Afghanistan's some 35 million population are facing food shortage.

The report also revealed that about 3.2 million Afghan children under five years age are expected to suffer from malnutrition by the end of the year.

Since the pull-out of U.S.-led forces, Afghanistan in fact has been isolated due to the U.S. policy as there's a lack of international flights between Kabul and the rest of the world and no Afghan bank currently works normally.

To survive the extreme poverty, many Afghans are selling their home appliances on streets to get necessities like food.

"The United States during its 20 years old presence had nothing significant to reduce poverty or to help Afghans stand on their feet. She did for herself and with her pull-out destroyed what it had here," another displaced man Haron said.

"During their military presence, the Americans killed our people by bomb and after troops withdrawal they are killing us by imposing sanctions and freezing our assets in American banks," Haron alleged.

Almost all Afghans, particularly the children, are the victims of the U.S. sanctions, lamented the bearded Haron. He claimed the sanctions are withholding central bank assets which belong to the people of Afghanistan and not to any particular group or individual. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 22:15:11|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Acting Prime Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban government Mullah Hassan Akhund met with visiting Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov on Saturday, according to the General Directorate for Administrative Affairs of the President Office.

During the meeting the two sides discussed bilateral relations, humanitarian assistance, economic and transit cooperation and the international engagement with Afghanistan, it said in a statement.

The two sides also discussed issues related to a number of Afghan-Turkmen joint projects, fiber optic and railway projects as well as construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline Project in Afghanistan's terrain, according to the statement.

The key regional project is expected to transit gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, with Afghanistan getting about 500 million U.S. dollars a year as royalty and thousands of Afghans are expected to find work from the project.

According to the statement, Meredov said that Turkmenistan was ready to provide humanitarian aid to Afghans and help them in implementation of economic projects.

"Implementation of the joint projects would be helpful for the people of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan and would enhance the regional cooperation," he was quoted in the statement as saying.

The long-lasting war and insecurity had caused delay in inauguration of TAPI project which was expected to be completed in 2020. The Afghan and Turkmen sides have resumed talks on the topic with prevailing security. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 04:17:42|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Kingdom threatened on Friday to launch dispute settlement proceedings, and checks on EU fishing activity in its territorial waters, if France implements sanctions against Britain on Nov. 2.

A British government spokesperson made the announcement after the country's Brexit Minister David Frost met with European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in London. As well as the fishing dispute between Britain and France, the pair held talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The spokesperson explained that Frost had laid out Britain's concerns about the "unjustified measures" announced by France earlier this week. These include fears that the measures will disrupt British fisheries and other trade, threaten energy supplies, and block further cooperation between Britain and the EU.

Post-Brexit access to British waters has prompted tension between Britain and France. France seized a British trawler and gave a warning to another boat on Thursday morning, following threats of retaliatory measures against Britain's fishing industry and other trade.

Although Britain-EU talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol have been constructive for the second week running, substantial differences remain between the two parties, the spokesperson said, adding: "The EU's proposals represent a welcome step forward but do not free up goods movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the extent necessary for a durable solution."

The two parties will meet again in Brussels next week.

Britain and the EU view changing the protocol as a long-term solution to post-Brexit trade disruption in Northern Ireland. Britain outlined its proposals in a government paper in July, which observers interpreted as a renegotiation of the protocol.

In response, the EU published its own package to facilitate the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, including cutting customs formalities, simplified certification, and an 80 percent reduction of checks on retail goods for Northern Ireland's consumers.

It said it would guarantee an uninterrupted supply of medicine to the people of Northern Ireland, by changing EU rules.

However, the two sides remain poles apart on the more challenging issue of the oversight role of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 07:23:42|Editor: huaxia

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Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (R) meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tirana, Albania, on Oct. 29, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

TIRANA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said here on Friday that his country is looking forward to strengthening cooperation with China in all fields to inject new vitality into bilateral relations.

During his meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Rama said that the friendship between Albania and China has a unique history and far-reaching influence.

He said that Albania played an active role in China's restoration of its lawful seat in the United Nations 50 years ago, and it is still very proud of it.

Albania admires China's development achievements and appreciates China's increasingly important role in international affairs, he added.

The Albanian prime minister said that his country will firmly adhere to the one-China policy and look forward to strengthening cooperation with China in all fields.

For his part, Wang said that the traditional friendship between China and Albania is not only a historical memory worth cherishing, but also a deep foundation for the smooth development of bilateral relations.

He said that China will always remember Albania's support and continue to draw experience and wisdom from the historical development while insisting that all countries, large and small, are equal and should have mutual understanding and respect.

No matter what difficulties and obstacles China encounters, Wang said, China will firmly safeguard its national dignity and its legitimate rights and interests, firmly defend international fairness and justice, and oppose all power politics and bullying practices.

He said China is willing to work with Albania to take care of each other's core interests, enhance political mutual trust, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields such as economic and trade investment, infrastructure, people-to-people and cultural exchanges to open a new chapter in China-Albania relations in the new historical period.

Wang said China supports the "double-engine" driving effect of cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries as well as China-Europe cooperation to help CEE countries achieve greater development.

Rama said that Albania supports cooperation between China and CEE countries and is willing to work together to transform the cooperation potential into tangible results, adding Albania welcomes more Chinese companies to invest in the country. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 15:40:21|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- China urges the Lithuanian government to abide by the solemn political commitment it made upon establishing diplomatic relations with China and avoid making unsalvageable wrong decisions, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Saturday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks when asked for comment on a European side's move in relation to the Taiwan question.

According to media reports, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission recently expressed concerns in a joint letter over China's criticism of Lithuania's announcement of the opening of representative offices in and from Taiwan.

Wang said the one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community and the political foundation for the development of relations between China and all countries having diplomatic ties with it.

China firmly opposes the plots of Taiwan authorities to create "two Chinas" and "one China, one Taiwan" in the world, said Wang, adding that China firmly opposes official exchanges between countries having diplomatic ties with China and Taiwan authorities.

He stressed that the European side should adopt a correct position and avoid disrupting the sound development of relations with China. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 15:29:36|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. racial profiling among scientists of Chinese descent in the last few years is impeding scientific progress and denting scientists' confidence in the United States, according to a white paper by the University of Arizona and the non-profit organization Committee of 100.

The white paper published Thursday presents the finding of a survey on 1,949 faculty members, postdocs and graduate students at top U.S. colleges and universities in the summer of 2021.

Scientists of Chinese descent and of Asian descent reported far greater racial profiling from the U.S. government, difficulty in obtaining research funds, professional challenges and setbacks, and fear and anxiety that they were surveilled by the U.S. government, compared to non-Asian scientists, said the white paper.

As many as 42.2 percent of scientists of Chinese descent felt racially profiled by the U.S. government, while only 8.6 percent of scientists of non-Chinese descent felt so, said the white paper.

Meanwhile, 38.4 percent of scientists of Chinese descent experienced more difficulty in obtaining funding for research projects in the United States as a result of their race, ethnicity or country of origin, compared to only 14.2 percent of scientists of non-Chinese descent, the white paper showed.

"What is clear from this research is that U.S. scientists and researchers of Chinese descent and non-Chinese descent experience the world and their work very differently because of racism, stereotypes, xenophobia, and government policies," said Jenny J. Lee, professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education, College of Education, at the University of Arizona.

Scientists of Chinese descent have indicated that they have purposely not pursued federal funding for projects for fear of increased scrutiny, compared to scientists of non-Chinese descent, according to the survey.

"The United States is the global leader in scientific research, yet suspicions of scientists of Chinese descent in the United States have made progress and exchanges more difficult," said Zhengyu Huang, president of the Committee of 100.

"Scientists of Chinese descent have also started to consider working in less hostile climates outside the United States, which could affect talent retention. The enrollment of new international graduate students from China has already been declining," said the white paper.

Scientific and educational exchanges are enormously beneficial to both the United States and China, said David Ho, founding scientific director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and professor of medicine at Columbia University.

Any unwarranted restriction or deterrent to open collaborations impedes scientific progress and technological development on both sides of the Pacific, said Ho, who is also a member of the Committee of 100.

"We need to move beyond the stereotypes of the perpetual foreigner and halt the xenophobia being directed at Chinese Americans and the entire Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders community," Huang added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 15:35:45|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Neoliberalism has hollowed out the United States, undermined its government, deepened its inequality and social tensions since 1975, playing a primary role in the U.S. decline, said an opinion piece by the South China Morning Post recently.

The end of the U.S. war in Afghanistan has invoked memories of its defeat in Vietnam, but much has changed since 1975, the article said.

Neoliberalism, an economic system of free-market capitalism, has corrupted the political, military, and social aspects that made the United States a superpower, it said.

"Much has changed for the U.S. since 1975, with the passage of time showing the devastating effects of unfettered neoliberalism," said the article.

Since 1975, the most visible difference is the decline in U.S. manufacturing, a generator of middle-class wealth, with the U.S. share of the global economy having fallen from 28 percent to 15.9 percent, and the debt-to-GDP ratio rising from 32 percent to 125 percent, according to the article.

Introduced in the 1970s, neoliberalism is predicated on allocating capital where returns are the greatest, all in the name of resource efficiency, whether domestic or international, the article noted.

Beginning with U.S. President Ronald Reagan's naive proclamation that "government is the problem," the prolific free-market doctrine, along with all the money in politics, has done much to undermine the role of government, it said.

Via lobbying and the revolving-door practice of public officials moving in and out of the private sector, any obstacles to greater profit maximization have been reduced over time, it said.

"Because of neoliberalism's successful assault on Washington, what's left, in the words of Lewis Lapham, is a dysfunctional plutocracy, leading to a Republican Party of Donald Trump, a Democratic Party with no identity and a larger absence of bipartisanship for the national interest," said the article.

"With the corrosive effects of money in politics, the ruling elites have increasingly suppressed the effect of wealth trickling down to the masses. This inequity is increasingly visible; as Professor Richard Alston's 2017 U.S. poverty report found, 40 million Americans were already living in poverty, with almost 18.5 million in deep poverty. Such statistics prove that trickle-down economics does not work," it said.

"As partisan politics mixes with rising inequality, social tensions have manifested in the rise of politics on race, class, and now identity. The Capitol riot, Black Lives Matter protests and the rise of Antifa are the consequence of this toxic mixture," said the opinion piece.

One of the most extreme examples of neoliberalism's perversion in the U.S. is the mass addiction to painkillers, referred to as the opioid crisis, it added.

Though U.S. gross domestic product continues to rise, if the intersecting factors above are left unchecked, growth will eventually decline, the article stressed.

"While many commentators speak of a Thucydides trap between the U.S. and China, the more pressing issue is America's self-destruction that's happening in slow motion," it said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 15:41:43|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- United Nations human rights experts this week accused the United States of "racialized exclusion" following its recent deportation of Haitian migrants amid a surge of Haitians along its southern border.

"In expediting the collective expulsion of Haitian migrants, the United States is subjecting a group of predominantly Black migrants to impermissible risks of refoulement and human rights abuse without any individualized evaluation," the experts said in a statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Monday.

The experts condemned the United States for "ongoing systematic mass deportation" of Haitian migrants and refugees, and cautioned that such collective expulsions violate international law.

"International law prohibits arbitrary or collective expulsions. States cannot label all migrants of a certain nationality per se threats to national security, and all migrants, no matter their nationality, race or migration status, must be guaranteed the protections called for under international law," the statement added.

During the past weeks, tens of thousands of Haitian migrants crossed the Rio Grande river between the city of Ciudad Acuna and Del Rio, a border city in Texas, trying to seek jobs and asylum in the United States. The number of migrants surged this year following the devastating earthquake in Haiti in August, the still raging COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the political turmoil after the Haitian president's assassination. Enditem


AN opportunity to study and work abroad, is one that is never missed or compromised as pastures are considered greener out there, but for an ex-Milton High School pupil, returning home was on top of his list.

Now a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr Tongai Chitsamatanga is back in Bulawayo to practice at the just opened Cure International Hospital, becoming the first pediatric orthopedic surgeon to return to Zimbabwe after specialising abroad.

A pediatric orthopedic surgeon diagnoses, treats and manages children with bone disorders. The common disorders include club foot, bow legs and toe walking. Children with broken bones are also treated.

Sunday News caught up with Dr Chitsamatanga (41) on Thursday last week just as he was preparing to go into surgery and got the chance to trace his journey which began in the Midlands Province.

I am an orthopedic surgeon. I specialised more in pediatric orthopedics. I was born and bred in Gweru then moved to Bulawayo where I was between 1995 and 1998 as I did my studies at Milton High School. After that I went toHarare to Medical School where I graduated in 2004 at the College of Health Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe.

I did my internship of two years at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals then proceeded to work at Mutambara Mission Hospital for six years. I returned to Parirenyatwa to train in general orthopedics at the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa graduating in 2017, he said.

After his general orthopedics training he went to the United Kingdom in 2019 for a trauma and limb reconstruction fellowship.

Initially I was at the Oxford University National Health Service (NHS) Trust where I did six months of adult limb reconstruction and another six months of adult trauma. I then moved to the University of Derby and Burton NHS where I did a year of pediatric orthopedics training, he said.

His homecoming has been described as historic as many of his colleagues seldom return to practice back home citing lack of resources and further opportunities among other things but Dr Chitsamatanga has defied the odds.

My home coming has been historic from the Zimbabwean perspective in that there has been no pediatric orthopedic surgeon and so before I even went to do the fellowship in pediatric orthopedics, I had shown interest in helping children that had bone problems but of course the challenge was that of resources, most of the children were coming from families where their caregivers were not able to afford their treatment.

Going to train in that field and coming back has been something that has been welcomed by most colleagues and patients that I had dealt with before, he said.

Dr Chitsamatanga said there are various reasons why people decide to go outside the country, why some decide to stay and others to return.

So, some people go for a few years and end up staying longer for various reasons. It then takes a certain kind of person to say, beyond the convenience that I am finding outside, there are certain things that you also have to decide by yourself to say how am I going to effect change in peoples lives, is it more satisfying to be helping out people who are not of my country than those that are my countrymen. So, I think its for various reasons that people stay outside or come back, he said.

Asked about the opening of Cure Hospital in Bulawayo where patients are treated for free, he said it was a milestone in the history of health care.

When I left for the UK, Cure Zimbabwe was just an idea and then coming back two and a half years later and the hospital is there and functional, for me it brings great joy.

As I said earlier, I have interacted with some of the patients before and my hands were tied because we did not have the resources.

Then being in the UK and hearing that there is now some movement on the ground, that the Government was partnering with other stakeholders and coming together to make this dream, which was a dream of mine, come to fruition was something that brought great joy. Coming back and seeing the actual product has been amazing, job satisfaction wise, I must say I am much more satisfied than I was when I was out there, he said.

He said the resources were there abroad but he wanted to come back home and help.

He said moving forward, his hope is that more specialists and sub-specialists return to Zimbabwe to work.

What I have realised is that you have to be on the ground to push the agenda of your particular specialty. As long as you are outside the country it is difficult to influence change, it is difficult to get the equipment that you need, you just have to take the step of coming back home, then advocate for other things.

In the past two weeks there have been a number of young colleagues that have qualified, I know of a pediatric cardiologist, one who has just returned and is based at Mpilo Central Hospital, a pediatric nephrologist based in Harare that also just returned and there is news of one of cardiothoracic surgeons, the first in the country and one of five in Sub Saharan Africa so all those people need to be supported, said Dr Chitsamatanga.

He also sang praises for the Second Republic that has opened its wings to dialogue and development.

What I have seen with the Second Republic, they are open and as long as you articulate your vision, I believe that we will have more institutions like this (Cure Hospital) because there is no better satisfaction than being in a place in your own country which is well resourced and you are able to treat patients without worrying whether they can afford or not, where you provide equal opportunity for different patients of different back grounds.

We must advocate for our specialties and also be available with our service then the funding follows you, he added.

Cure Hospital executive director Mr Jonathan Simpson said they were excited about Dr Chitsamatangas return.

We are excited to have a surgeon with qualifications such as these no matter what nationality they are. The fact that Dr Chitsamatanga is a Zimbabwean makes it so much better. I hope his example will inspire other Zimbabwean medical specialists to find ways of coming home, and I would encourage the ministry to consider what other medical faculties can also enter Public Private Partnerships, he said.

He added: We see him as being the first of hopefully many specialists two want to return back to their country not only to bring their services but also their hearts back to Zimbabwe to put back to the nation skills that have been lacking for a long time.

We hope he advocates and brings more people to come back home. I would like to encourage them to come and see how we are working and replicate this in other fields of medicine because we are focusing on orthopedics but there are many different fields that need to be brought to the country. Chronicle
To me, theres nothing new that came out of the testimony and nothing new in the information that would lead me to believe that their testimony would be appropriate under the circumstances, said Edwards.
The FDNY said the blaze was started by a power strip. The Buildings Department was investigating the possibility of an illegal conversion to create more apartments in the building. A neighbor told the Daily News that the childs father survived and his mother lives in the Dominican Republic.
Fire and EMS unions have fought the mandate since its inception, claiming the weekly COVID tests for unvaccinated employees were keeping everyone safe. The Mayor should have hammered out a vaccination compromise with union leaders instead of threatening to take away workers pay, they said.
The tot darted in front of the vehicle as she ran to catch up with her mother, who was walking about eight feet in front of her, cops said.
There were no injuries to the passengers or crew members on board and the train was delayed for one hour and 53 minutes, Olivia Irvin, a spokesperson for Amtrak, said. She confirmed that Auto Train No. 53 was involved in the accident.
Im relieved that I will finally get my hard-earned savings back after a year of suffering, Warren said in a statement. What happened to me was wrong. The officers and prosecutors treated me like a criminal when all I was trying to do was improve my business and my life, he added, noting the unfortunate timing of the incident.
The Christian plaintiffs oppose medical cooperation in abortion as a matter of religious conviction. All of the available vaccines employ aborted fetus cell lines in their testing, development or production, according to court papers, but religious leaders have disagreed over the issue and the Vatican issued a statement last year saying the vaccines were morally acceptable.
But Civil 20, which represents some 560 organizations from more than 100 countries in a network making recommendations to the G-20, was less enthusiastic. The 15% rate is a little more than those (rates) wed consider fiscal paradises, Civil 20 official Riccardo Moro told reporters following the summit.
Details about his death havent been officially announced, but the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Serra reported that Rubicondi died of cutaneous melanoma, a type of cancer that develops in the pigment-producing cells of the skin. Its the most serious type of skin cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Most of the structures on the main street, which has shop stalls and all kinds of businesses, have been destroyed. There is nothing left to salvage, said a statement signed by Salai Za Uk Ling, the deputy executive director of the Chin Human Rights Organization.
The usual suspects are in the throes of a new round breathless condemnations of Israel  and fresh calls for BDS  in the wake of its designation of six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organizations, on the grounds that they raise money for the unapologetically criminal Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. That move warrants real scrutiny. It should begin with a deep dive into publicly available evidence of ties, and Israels release of what informed its determination.
This was not the way to charge a former governor with a crime, even a misdemeanor. But it all went wrong for Albany Sheriff Craig Apple, who says he saw a packet presented to Albany City Court detailing a complaint of forcible touching of Brittany Commisso by Andrew Cuomo yield a criminal summons mere minutes after it was filed, making impossible his intended consultation with other parties. The actual groping offense, says the sheriff, happened on Dec. 7 in the Executive Mansion, but it was a secondary violation  and a grievous unforced error  for the charges to trickle out before Albany DA David Soares had been told, nevermind the alleged victim, nevermind the counsel of the accused.
Boudin has been very vocal both on social media and behind the scenes arguing that his father should be released from prison. After all, he never intended harm. He wasnt armed. He was just the getaway driver. I appreciate the desire for a son to spend time with his father as he gets older. Trust me, I can relate. But when you are part of a plot to rob an armored car with automatic weapons, it can really only end one way, and irrespective of social media whitewash, you certainly mean harm. To think of Gilbert as an activist is to insult those who have dedicated their lives to working for change and the fact that Boudin cannot seem to tell the difference should give the people of San Francisco pause.
But by then Yang had already moved on to a book about the need for a universal basic income that he bootstrapped into a run for the Democratic presidential nomination, where he did just well enough to earn invaluable TV time on debate nights. He then cashed in his national name recognition with a mayoral run here, supported by several Bloomberg administration veterans and shooting to the top of the Democratic polls on the basis of his affability before the races focus turned from a gauzy pandemic recovery narrative to fears about rising violent crime and he faded in the homestretch.
If the mere thought of leaving your house on Oct. 31 gives you chills, theres no need to fear. There are plenty of Halloween films new and old to help you celebrate the years creepiest holiday from the comfort of your own couch.
King was seemingly referring to the Democratic parties struggles to get President Bidens agenda through Congress while they hold majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate. As the Twitter-sphere quickly reminded the 74-year-old horror writer, the House and the Senate are both part of the Legislative branch.
Yes, Verdis music is enticing. But its the title character, embodied with glowing dignity by Lopez, that wins over audience after audience. Shes not perfect  in fact, in Opera Orlandos adaptation shes a criminal  but she is noble, she is kind, she loves with all her heart, and shes willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the good of another. Shes the person we all wish we could be.
The police are on very shaky ground, he said. There is no reason to think she is inciting anyone or that she will be starting a riot. She has a right to wear the costume. She has a right to make her views known. That is protected by the First Amendment.
The whole purpose of a university and academic freedom is to allow scholars free rein to conduct research, said Reichman, a professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay. The ultimate logic of this is that you can be an expert in the United States, except in the state where youre actually working and being paid by the state.
Sladeks other opponent, Abraham Lopez, a relative newcomer to the city, sounds ambivalent about the whole thing, saying at a recent debate, I am not applying to defend any county land deals or any other preservation initiatives beyond the confines of the city of Oviedo. Perhaps he thinks so provincially because hes not that familiar with Florida. Lopez needs to learn that what occurs outside a citys boundaries can have a profound effect on the city itself.
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - A total of 450 riders from 25 countries will participate in the "Tunisia Desert Challenge" rally-raid from 5 - 13 November, the organizers announced here Saturday
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
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These are the most popular articles of the week.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
After Delhi Police started removing the barricades from the Ghazipur border, farmers protesting at the site for nearly a year against the three contentious farm laws have expressed apprehension that they also might be removed. The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has issued a statement appealing to the farmers to reach the site as soon as possible to strengthen the agitation.

"There is no confusion about the status quo on the border. Protests will continue. There is no change in the strategy of farmers," the BKU said in the statement

"It was the police which had put the barricades after the January 26 incident. Delhi Police is correcting its mistake after farmers gave an affidavit in the Supreme Court that they have not blocked the roads. Farmers in large numbers are present at Ghazipur border."

The BKU appealed to farmers to reach the site as soon as possible and strengthen the agitation. They said there is a conspiracy against the stir and they will fight it.

They are using social media to convey the message.

In an appeal to the farmers, the BKU said: "Reach the Ghazipur border and strengthen the agitation. Every day there is a conspiracy against the movement, we have to be ready against every conspiracy."

BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik said: "Our protest will continue with more vigour. We are appealing to the farmers to reach in large numbers."

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) in a statement said: "Our stand is vindicated. It was the police which had blocked the roads, not us. We had left the space for traffic movement, but the police put up the barricades."

On Friday, police officials were seen removing iron nails that were installed on NH9 at Ghazipur, where hundreds of protesters, mainly belonging to the BKU, have been occupying a road stretch since November 2020.
On the first day of his visit to Rome ahead of the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Indian diaspora in the Italian capital city.

On Friday, the Prime Minister met and interacted with several Indologists and Sanskrit experts from Italian universities.

"The Prime Minister noted their interest in Indian culture, literature and practice of yoga and Ayurveda and lauded the role played by them in strengthening the ties between India and Italy," a release from the Ministry of External Affairs said at New Delhi.

Modi also met and interacted with various organisations, including the representatives of Italian Congregation for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The Prime Minister appreciated their contribution in several social activities, including spreading the message of Bhagavad Gita in Italy, the release said.

He also interacted with the community members and the representatives of Italian Hindu Union-Sanatana Dharma Samgha and lauded the role played by them in propagating Indian culture in Italy.

In a separate meeting, the Prime Minister met representatives of Sikh community and institutions involved in the commemoration of Indian soldiers, who had fought in Italy during World War I and World War II.

"The Prime Minister paid tributes to the valour shown by Indian soldiers in these wars," the release added.

Modi is in Rome for the 16th G20 Summit two days, after which he will head to Glasgow for the UN COP26.
Pope Francis received Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a private audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Saturday, the first such meeting between an Indian Prime Minister and the head of the in more than two decades.

"Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India," Modi tweeted soon after the meeting with the Pope.

The Prime Minister's meeting with the Pope came amid his a three-day trip to Italy to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit. Several other world leaders who too have reached Italy for the Summit have been meeting the Pope one after another since Friday.

"The meeting was scheduled for 20-30 minutes (but) went on for an hour," an official said.

Modi was accompanied by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar.

This was the first meeting between an Indian Prime Minister and the Pope in more than two decades after 1999 when then Prime Minister, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited the Vatican and met the then Pope, John Paul II.

Modi becomes the fifth Indian Prime Minister to meet the Pope at the Vatican after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, I.K. Gujral, and Vajpayee.

"During today's meeting, the two leaders discussed the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences for people across the world. They also discussed the challenge posed by climate change. The Prime Minister briefed the Pope about the ambitious initiatives taken by India in combating climate change as well as India's success in administering one billion Covid-19 vaccination doses. His Holiness appreciated India's assistance to countries in need during the pandemic," a release from the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The Prime Minister also extended an invitation to Pope Francis to visit India at an early date, which was accepted with pleasure, it added.

Modi also met Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

India, which is home to the second-largest Catholic population in Asia, and the Holy See have friendly relations dating back to the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1948.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed global efforts to combat climate change and the forthcoming COP26 at a bilateral meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit at Rome on Saturday.

The two leaders also discussed ongoing efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic through expedited vaccination efforts and ensuring supply of critical medicines, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said.

In this context, PM Modi appreciated Singapore's outreach to provide Covid assistance to India during the second wave. Prime Minister Lee congratulated the Indian Prime Minister for the rapid vaccination drive in India, the release said.

They also discussed ways to enhance people to people ties, including early normalisation of movement between both countries.

This was their first in-person meeting in the post-pandemic period.
Wide-ranging India-France Strategic Partnership and climate finance were among the issues Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed during a bilateral meeting with President of France, Emmanuel Macron at Rome, Italy, on Saturday.

Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit, the two leaders expressed satisfaction at the state of the wide-ranging India-France Strategic Partnership, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Modi also welcomed the European Union's Indo-Pacific Strategy, released in September 2021, and thanked the French President for France's leadership role in the same.

The two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate in the Indo-Pacific and to find new and innovative ways to contribute towards a free, open and rules-based order in the region.

A day ahead of the COP26 - to begin on Sunday at Glasgow in the United Kingdom - the two leaders discussed the need to focus on issues of climate finance at the crucial COP meet.

The Prime Minister also invited President Macron to visit India at the earliest opportunity, the statement added.


Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed that the Group of 20 (G20) countries should solve as soon as possible the problem of mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccines and vaccination certificates. Not all countries in need can obtain access to vaccines and other vital resources due to unfair competition, protectionism and a lack of mutual recognition of vaccines, Putin said through a video link at the first session of the 16th G20 Leaders' summit. He also called on the G20 members to develop mechanisms for a systematic and prompt update of vaccines given the fact that the coronavirus continues to mutate, Xinhua news agency reported. Putin stressed the importance of increasing international cooperation in healthcare and accentuated the role of the World Health Organization, saying that steps that would infringe upon its prerogatives are unacceptable.




An alleged threat  initially posted to Snapchat  said that on Wednesday, Oct. 27, he or she would shoot up a school, though the name of the school was concealed.
Carla Wood speaks about Kelley Johnston (shown in the photo frame with her children) and the shelter named in her memory, Kelleys Rainbow, in Albertville during a balloon release and memorial service Tuesday evening. Johnston was killed by her estranged husband despite having a restraining order against him in 2000.
The United States goes berserk at the alleged hint of Russian, Chinese or Islamic intrusion into local politics and online platforms. However, it does not hesitate for a minute to rudely intervene in Cuba

by Rosa Miriam Elizalde

The piggy bank was rattled again. In September 2021, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) gave $6,669,000 in grants for projects aimed at regime change in Cuba, a euphemism to avoid saying direct intervention by a foreign power. The United States current Democratic administration has especially favored the International Republican Institute (IRI) with a bipartisan generosity that Donald Trump never had. Other groups in Miami, Washington and Madrid that have also received generous amounts have been among those calling for an invasion of the island. These groups paint an apocalyptic panorama in Havana to secure greater funding next year.

Public funding for the anti-Castro industry in the United States seems inexhaustible. In the last year, at least 54 organizations have benefited from the State Department, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and USAID programs for Cuba. In the last 20 years, this agency has given Creative Associates International, a CIA front, more than $1.8 billion for espionage, propaganda and the recruitment of agents of change including on the island. One of its best-known projects, the so-called Cuban Twitter or ZunZuneo, resulted in a superb failure that unveiled a plot of corruption and flagrant violations of U.S. law. ZunZuneo cost the USAID director his job, but Creative Associates International continues to operate, only now undercover.

The American researcher Tracey Eaton, who for years has followed the route of these funds, commented in a recent interview that many of the financing programs for regime change in Cuba are so stealthy that we will probably never know who all the recipients are or what the total amount is, and judging by the known millions, the subsidy must reach an even greater figure. According to letters from the State Department and USAID that Eaton has received, democracy-building strategies are considered trade secrets and are exempt from disclosure under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

The United States goes berserk at the alleged hint of Russian, Chinese or Islamic intrusion into local politics and online platforms. However, it does not hesitate for a minute to rudely intervene in Cuba, as exposed by the digital daily MintPress News, which documented how private Facebook groups instigated the July 11 riots in several Cuban cities. The involvement of foreign nationals in the domestic affairs of Cuba is on a level that can scarcely be conceived of in the United States, says the publication, adding: the people who sparked the July 11 protests in Cuba are planning similar actions for October and November.

The United States is a military superpower whose plans for political subversion are a shame and a scandal, and there is no indication that Washington will now achieve what it has failed to do in 60 years. In fact, the U.S. governments obsession with Cuba is two centuries old, as Louis A. Perez, a historian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has shown in a brilliant essay entitled Cuba as an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

The subject of Cuba has rarely been a topic of reasoned disquisition. It defies facile explanation, and certainly cannot be understood solelyor even principallywithin the logic of the policy calculus that otherwise serves to inform U.S. foreign relations, mostly because it is not logical, writes the historian.

What does make sense is the permanence in time of Cuban intransigence. Ernesto Che Guevara used to repeat in his speeches in the first years of the 1959 revolution that Cuba will not be another Guatemala. In other words, its independence from the U.S. empire could not be boycotted with media bombings first, induced mobilizations and military attacks later.

The custom of overthrowing independent alternatives is so long and the arrogance by an overwhelming military and media force is so blind that the U.S. government has not been able to foresee its continuous defeats nor has it overcome the trauma of having a rebellious island almost within sight of our shores, as John Quincy Adams put it, and to top it all, without the slightest interest in being the state that we lack between the entrance to the Gulf and the exit of the vast Mississippi Valley.

The great truth of all this, as Louis A. Perez wisely comments, is that Cubans have learned from history, but Washington has not.

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

Rosa Miriam Elizalde is a Cuban journalist and founder of the site Cubadebate. She is vice president of both the Union of Cuban Journalists (UPEC) and the Latin American Federation of Journalists (FELAP). She has written and co-written several books including Jineteros en la Habana and Our Chavez. She has received the Juan Gualberto Gomez National Prize for Journalism on multiple occasions for her outstanding work. She is currently a weekly columnist for La Jornada of Mexico City.
JOTA activity down under

Nick Quigley OAM VK4CNQ has dropped WIA News a most interesting note on JOTA where the Ham Ops came from over 5 and a half hours drive away!

Nick, a fellow Vietnam Vet is heavily involved with Cockscomb Veterans Bush Retreat, a safe harbour open to all serving and Ex-military and all Emergency Services and their families. It is also open to Civilian Service Groups for meetings and conferences.

The Chinchilla Scout group go up to Cockscomb every year for a ten day camp. This year they visited Keppel island, went caving, visited Emu Park Memorial Walk and had a great time. VK4CNQ was talking to Leanne Fitzgerald the District Commissioner for Chinchilla and surrounds and heard they were not having JOTA as such because they didn't know any amateurs.

So Nick said "I'll come down".

As Nicks walking and breathing is not as good as it was in earlier times, he travelled with Robert Holmes, Cockscomb President and set up a JOTA station including as centre piece a CW ops position.

"I think everybody had a go on the key that JOTA weekend and came back next day for more and so many came by just to thank me for bringing Morse to their JOTA."

"Now I'm sure there would have to be amateurs in the region of Warwick, Miles, Goondiwindi, Pittsworth, Millmerran, Roma, Chinchilla and Dalby, and I know dealing with kids is not everyones forte, but only Amateurs make JOTA possible."



Cheers, 73's

Nick Quigley OAM

VK4CNQ

WIA News
New York (UN), 30 October 2021 (SPS) - The UN Security Council decided on Friday to extend for one year the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).



The Security Council issued its resolution 2602 on Western Sahara during a session held on Friday, extending the mission of MINURSO until 31 October 2022.



With 13 votes in favour and two abstentions (Russia and Tunisia), the Security Council adopted the resolution presented by the United States.



062/T
Bir Lehlou (Saharawi Republic) 30 October 2021 (SPS)- In reaction to the UN Security Councils resolution 2602 adopted Yesterday on Western Sahara, the Frente Polisario asserted in a Communique Today that the Saharawi people will continue and intensify their legitimate armed struggle to defend their sovereignty and right to self-determination and independence.

The Communique further expressed Frente Polisarios rejection of the inaction and deplorable silence of the Security Council, particularly some influential members, which are manifest in both the letter and spirit of its new resolution that is a major setback that will have serious consequences on peace and stability in the entire region.

It also considered that by its failure to adopt a balanced and neutral resolution the Security Council has already doomed to failure the mission of the new Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Mr Staffan de Mistura, thus seriously undermining the prospects for reactivating the peace process, perpetuating the prevailing stalemate, and leaving the door wide open for further escalation and tension in the region.

Following is the full text of the Communique SPS received:



Frente POLISARIO

Communique

[Bir Lehlou, Sahrawi Republic - 30 October 2021] On 29 October 2021, the Security Council adopted resolution 2602 (2021) whereby it extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 31 October 2022.

The Frente POLISARIO categorically rejects the inaction and deplorable silence of the Security Council, particularly some influential members, which are manifest in both the letter and spirit of its new resolution that is a major setback that will have serious consequences on peace and stability in the entire region.

The adoption of this resolution also constitutes an unfortunate return to business as usual policy because it completely ignores the ongoing state of war in the Territory since 13 November 2020 as a result of the serious violation by the occupying state of Morocco of the 1991 ceasefire and related military agreements.

The failure of the resolution to provide any practical measures to ensure the full implementation of the mandate for which MINURSO was established by Security Council Resolution 690 (1991) and to robustly confront the attempts by the occupying state of Morocco to legitimise the colonial fait accompli imposed by force in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories is tantamount to encouraging the occupying state and rewarding it for its intransigence, obstructionism, and aggressive policy.

Instead of adopting a balanced, transparent, and impartial approach to deal firmly with the new realities on the ground, the Council unfortunately has chosen usual inaction despite the fragility of the situation and its potential for serious deterioration.

Consequently, the Security Council has already doomed to failure the mission of the new Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Mr Staffan de Mistura, thus seriously undermining the prospects for reactivating the peace process, perpetuating the prevailing stalemate, and leaving the door wide open for further escalation and tension in the region.

Faced with Security Councils repeated inaction, the Sahrawi people who opted for a peaceful solution for three decades state, loud and clear, that today they are left with no choice but to continue and intensify their legitimate armed struggle to defend the sovereignty of their country and to ensure the exercise of their inalienable and non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence.

In this context, pursuant to the decision to reconsider its engagement in the UN peace process in Western Sahara dated 30 October 2019, the Frente POLISARIO plans to take practical steps regarding its participation in the so-called political process as well as the presence and operation of MINURSO military observers deployed in the Liberated Territories of the Sahrawi Republic.

The Frente POLISARIO reaffirms that the only realistic and practicable way forward to achieve a peaceful, just, and enduring solution to the decolonisation of Western Sahara is to enable the Sahrawi people to exercise freely and democratically their inalienable and non-negotiable right to self-determination and independence in accordance with the precepts of international legality and relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the African Union.

In this regard, the Frente POLISARIO recalls the UN-OAU joint good offices that culminated in the Settlement Plan, which was accepted by both parties, the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, in August 1988 and approved by the Security Council in its unanimously adopted resolutions 658 (1990) and 690 (1991) whereby the Council established the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

The Settlement Plan remains the only accepted agreement between the two parties, and therefore the Frente POLISARIO will only engage in a political process that is based on the reactivation of the Settlement Plan in accordance with resolution 690 (1991) in which the Security Council expressed its full support for the efforts of the Secretary-General for the organisation and the supervision, by the United Nations in cooperation with the Organisation of African Unity, of a referendum for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

The Frente POLISARIO further recalls that the 1991 ceasefire is an integral part of the UN-OAU Settlement Plan. Thus, it is not an end in itself but a means to create the necessary security conditions for holding a free and fair referendum to enable the people of Western Sahara to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence without military or administrative constraints.

The Frente POLISARIO therefore clearly declares that there will be no new ceasefire as long as the occupying state of Morocco persists, with complete impunity, in its attempts to forcibly impose a colonial fait accompli in the Occupied Territories of the Sahrawi Republic and to obstruct the referendum for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. (SPS)

090/500/60 (SPS)
DGAP-News: ADM ENERGY PLC / Key word(s): AGM/EGM

ADM Energy PLC: Result of Annual General Meeting



29.10.2021 / 14:45

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.







THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF EU REGULATION 596/2014 (WHICH FORMS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.



29 October 2021



ADM Energy PLC

("ADM" or the "Company")



Result of Annual General Meeting



ADM Energy PLC (AIM: ADME; BER and FSE: P4JC), a natural resources investing company, announces that at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held earlier today, all resolutions were duly passed.







Enquiries:

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About ADM Energy PLC



ADM Energy PLC (AIM: ADME; BER and FSE: P4JC) is a natural resources investing company with an existing asset base in Nigeria. ADM Energy holds a 9.2% profit interest in the oil producing Aje Field, part of OML 113, which covers an area of 835km offshore Nigeria. Aje has multiple oil, gas, and gas condensate reservoirs in the Turonian, Cenomanian and Albian sandstones with five wells drilled to date.



ADM Energy is seeking to build on its existing asset base in Nigeria and target other investment opportunities across the West African region in the oil and gas sector with attractive risk reward profiles such as proven nature of reserves, level of historic investment, established infrastructure and route to early cash flow.

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The states weekly report mirrors the daily trend that shows Florida has left the delta wave behind  at least for now. Florida now has the lowest rate of daily COVID cases per capita of any other state. Florida also has dropped in its ranking of average daily deaths per capita after soaring in the top three for several weeks late in the summer
In state court, Hunter is facing more than 30 years in prison for a 2018 home invasion robbery in Lauderhill. Police reports in that case refer to an ongoing federal investigation but make no mention of Onsight. Slade is in custody awaiting trial on a 2016 Hollywood home invasion that includes an attempted murder charge. Stickney has no pending state charges, according to the Broward Clerks Office web site.
FORT LAUDERDALE  The 62nd annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show was at full strength Saturday for the first time in two years, and it lived up to its billing as the worlds largest in-water boat show with more than 700 boats on display along with sprawling exhibitions and lots of thrills for patrons.
About a dozen parents at Wilton Manors Elementary visited the school Friday and made clear that complaints about the atmosphere at the gay-owned Rosies Bar & Grill, the site of a field trip this past week, dont reflect their views or anyone they know at their school. Also, attendees of a meeting with a state investigator reviewing complaints said they were optimistic the investigation wasnt going anywhere.
Your right to earn a living should not be contingent upon COVID shots, DeSantis said in a statement. In Florida, we believe that the decision whether or not to get a COVID shot is a choice based on individual circumstances, so we are litigating against the Biden Administration and will be passing legislation in this Special Session to protect Florida jobs and protect parents rights when it comes to masking and quarantines.
The money would be provided via the reallocation of part of $650 billion worth of special drawing rights, a foreign exchange tool used to help finance imports issued by the International Monetary Fund. The idea is for countries that dont need the help to reallocated their special drawing rights to those that do. Participants were to include African Union President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. The heads of state of South Africa and Senegal, Cyril Ramaphosa and Macky Sall, will take part via videoconference, the French presidency said.
Can BDS supporters like Jewish Voices for Peace be counted on to champion the safety of children and families in the Middle East, both Israeli and Palestinian? The answer, sadly, is unequivocally no. Recently, in communities across America, Jewish Voices for Peace urged members of Congress to vote against continued funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system, which saves countless lives threatened by terror. Over the summer, from outposts in Gaza, Hamas launched more than 4,000 rockets for the express purpose of killing innocent Israeli civilians of all backgrounds and beliefs. The lack of indignation from Jewish Voices for Peace and other BDS proponents is emblematic of their one-sided approach to the conflict. Fortunately, Congress voted 420-9 to support Iron Dome. The majority included members from both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and House Freedom Caucus. This underscores how, despite an increasingly divisive political climate, support for Israel remains wholly nonpartisan, as it should be.
Rent in South Florida has increased astronomically over the past year. By the end of the third quarter in 2021, rents for multifamily buildings in Palm Beach County increased by 28% compared to the same quarter last year. Broward County rents rose by 17%, while Miami-Dade County increased by 14%, according to data from CoStar Group, a provider of commercial real estate information.
The Daily Citizen reaches an agreement with Missouri State to be housed on campus. They have planned to reside on campus for at least three years and are not required to pay any form of rent.
Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...
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Malaysias GDC Fund Management Limited (GDC), a fund manager licensed by the Labuan Financial Services Authority has inked a tripartite strategic MoU with World Credit Savings Limited (WCS), a financial services firm licensed by the Abu Dhabi Global Market Registration Authority, and Masco Ventures (Masco), a company licensed by the LFSA to conduct money broking business specializing in digital asset.

Money broking is the business of arranging transactions between buyers and sellers in money with brokers acting as an intermediary.

The agreement lays an important cross-border partnership milestone between GDC, WCS and Masco that aims to provide trustworthy financial services and products for high-net-worth individuals and sophisticated investors within the region of Asia, by leveraging the corporations existing resources, expertise and networks.

The joint-partnership is aimed at achieving a fund size of $200 million in the initial phase.

Additionally, GDC signed an agreement with Jujuy Energia Y Mineria Sociedad Del Estado (JEMSE), an Argentine state-run mining and power company engaged in the surveying, prospecting and exploration of hydrocarbons and minerals resources.

JEMSEs operations also involves renewable energy generation, transmission and distribution.

The MoU signing was witnessed by Senator Jaziri Alkaf Abdillah Suffian at the Malaysia Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai. Also present were Dato Jessica Tan, Chairwomen of GDC; Dato Billy Goh, Deputy Chairman of GDC; Bai Mingguo, Managing Director of WCS; and Sean Teh, Chairman of Masco.

The MoU established a vital partnership between the two parties to explore potential collaborations, whereby GDC seeks to provide investment advisory and fund management services to JEMSE for the course of developing the renewable green energy and technology.

Furthermore, GDC also grabbed the golden opportunity at the World Expo 2020 Dubai to sign an MoU with BTA Wealth Management Limited, a licensed independent financial corporation focusing on wealth management established under the Dubai International Financial Centre, whereby the parties desire to establish and commence a mutual beneficial partnership to jointly launch and promote private equity fund and other investment instruments for high-net-worth investors in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific region.

With the MoU, BTA through GDC will explore opportunities in Southeast Asia markets other than its current Middle East, Africa and South Asia markets, and targets to establish a fund size of $100 million.-TradeArabia News Service
Mena Cargo, the newest dedicated full-service cargo airline to enter the Middle East and North Africa region, and the third freighter operator in Bahrain, has announced its first strategic partner: Portugal-based EuroAtlantic Airways.

It is the new division of Mena Aerospace Enterprises, the turnkey solutions provider of comprehensive airport and aviation services in Bahrain.

Recently, the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) department in the kingdom had officially awarded an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) to Mena Cargo, which sits under the MAE Aircraft Management branch of Mena Aerospace Enterprises.

With this, the group is now officially open for business, as its personnel, assets and systems have been approved to begin commercial operations.
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov attended the official ceremony of putting into operation the 200-kilometer Ashgabat-Tejen road section of the Ashgabat-Turkmenabat highway. The autobahn is meant to increase the volume of freight traffic through the territory of Turkmenistan.

Having opened the highway, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov drove a car to the city of Tejen along the 200-kilometer road section. On his way, the Turkmen leader inspected infrastructure facilities, modern security and control systems, shops and services for drivers and passengers, as well as car maintenance services.

The first Turkmen autobahn consists of six lanes. The width of the roadway is 34.5 meters. The width of the carriageway is 11.25 meters on each side, and the width of each lane is 3.75 meters, corresponding to the international technical requirements for such facilities.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021
Bangladesh will never indulge in communal politics: Law Minister Anisul Haque

Dhaka, Oct 30 (UNI) Bangladesh Law Minister Anisul Haque said the country will never indulge in communal politics and will abide by the words of the constitution that Bangabandhu gave the citizens.

"As long as the ideals of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Bangladesh are alive in Bangladesh, our communal harmony will also be alive," Haque said.

He further said the people did not accept the people who had rioted to satisfy their own and personal interests.
ECOWAS issues communique on Guinea without citing detained president

Abuja, Oct 30 (UNI/Sputnik) The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued on Saturday a statement on the mission to Guinea, without mentioning the country's President Alpha Conde detained by rebels, although the group spoke in favor of the leader's release.

In early September, a group of Guinean military led by Col. Mamady Doumbouya stormed the presidential palace and detained the president. Doumbouya declared the parliament dissolved and the constitution void. ECOWAS suspended Guinea's membership due to the military takeover and called for the release of Conde.

"The Mission commended the important decisions taken by the Transition authorities, notably the adoption of the Transition Charter, the appointment of a civilian Prime Minister, and the ongoing formation of a broad-based Government," ECOWAS said in a communique.
Rome/New Delhi, Oct 30 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday invited G20 countries to make India their partner in the economic recovery and supply chain diversification, and also said that India is ready to produce five billion vaccine doses by the end of next year, which would be available for Indians and the world.

In his intervention at the G20 Summits Session on Global Economy and Global Health, held at the Roma Convention Centre, Prime Minister Modi enunciated Indias concept of One Earth One Health, an international collaborative effort to combat Covid-19, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, briefing media.

According to Shringla, the Prime Ministers vision of One Earth One Health was well received by G20 leaders; it is something very important to the international community, and we are looking at comprehensive global solutions to dealing with inequities, adding, that Indias approach is to the global common good.
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Part VI Unveiling of the 'Unseen' by the QuranA Historic Perspective UMAN KNOWLEDGE is surrounded on all sides by a limitless expanse of the 'unseen'. What man knows of his past, present and future is like a tiny spot of light no bigger than the pulsating tail of a firefly hung in the midst of a vast ocean of utter darkness. Although he seems to have extended the horizon of his knowledge to the very edges of the universe with the help of astrophysics and higher mathematics, the factual evidence that has just started to reach him from the edge of the universe is through signals which were emitted around eighteen to twenty billion light years ago. What may have happened there since or what may be happening there now, is only a matter of conjecture. Let alone the past and the future, even the knowledge of the present lies mostly beyond the scope of human awareness. What does man truly know of the events taking place beyond his house, his street, his township and the country where he resides? All the news media put together cannot convey to him even a billionth of what is going on in the world around him. But that is not all. What does man really know of the people he seems to know among his friends and closest relatives? To penetrate across the human visage and to read what actually lies behind, is sometimes a more difficult exercise than watching the surface of a muddy pond in an attempt to see what hides beneath. In both cases, one merely sees the images reflected on the surface, the difference being that ponds cannot act, they cannot pose, they cannot wilfully create unreal impressions. Depending on the weather and the day of the year, ponds are almost monotype; humans are not. The complications of human psyche, the vagaries of human moods and conduct, varying standards of morality and personal philosophies, the aptitudes and different qualities of head and heart, the depth or the shallowness of their conduct are some of the innumerable variables which are not shared by ponds. Even what passes within humans themselves lies very often beyond the reach of their own grasp. Yet few among men learn the lesson in humility. Seldom do they realize that the ultimate source of Truth and the fountainhead of Absolute Knowledge can only be the Creator. It is He alone Who knows the secrets of His own creation. It is He alone Who is All-Seeing, All-Knowing, the Great, the Supreme. Knowledge is the most essential prerequisite of creation, be it Divine or human, great or little. Without an in-depth knowledge of what is intended to be created, no creative objective can be achieved. Hence no one knows the intricacies and complexities of creation like the Creator Himself and this is why Omniscience is a prerogative of God. A perfect all-embracing knowledge of things is termed Omniscience with reference to God to the exclusion of all others. If it is the same Omniscient, Omnipresent God who authored the Quran, then all Quranic revelations with reference to the past, the present and the future must invariably be affirmed by verified facts when they come to light. It is exactly this that the following exercise is all about. With the help of incontrovertible facts, we strongly hope to prove the case in point. We have already discussed at some length the role of the Quranic revelation in bringing to light some of the most ancient events of creation. It begins with the beginning of the time when the universe suddenly erupted from a black hole. According to the Quran it only split asunder at the command of an Almighty Creator. The Quranic coverage of the history of creation ends with the end of time when the universe will plunge once again into yet another black hole. As for the origin of life, the Quranic account is likewise amazingly comprehensive and precise. It covers all the important stages of organic and biotic evolution of 4.5 billion years of evolution's history until the time when it culminated in the creation of man. From that point onwards the Quran takes up the account of human history in relation to the development of society, religion and civilization. It also mentions the possibility of the ultimate extinction of the human species which may be replaced by a better and more highly evolved form of life. All that we have briefly mentioned above has been elaborately discussed in the relevant chapters of this book, demonstrating how Divine revelation can effectively transfer parts of the unknown into the realm of the known. Now in this chapter we shall demonstrate how the Quran unveils some of the important events of history which lay buried in an obscure past. We shall also demonstrate how it reveals many future events to which no one during the age of Quranic revelations could have had any access. We shall specifically illustrate how the Quran precisely predicts great future scientific achievements of man destined to transform the entire style of human life. E BEGIN HERE with the account of an event of great historical importance with a religious significance of common interest to Jews, Christians and Muslims. It relates to the Exodus of Mosesas and what happened to the pursuing army of Pharaoh and his hosts when Mosesas and his people had safely waded across the treacherous delta of the Nile. There are many other examples of the Judaeo-Christian history of the same period covered by the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Holy Quran. But we have carefully selected only the event of the Exodus for the present discussion because it concisely demonstrates the Divine nature of Quranic revelation. The Biblical account, though it records contemporary history, is evidently shallow and superficial by comparison. From the vantage point of a follower of the camp of Mosesas, the most that he could observe and record was the drowning of Pharaoh and his host, quashed between two mountain-like waves inundating them. What happened to Pharaoh himself before he was drowned? What passed between Pharaoh and God during his drowning moments? What was it he begged of Him, if anything at all, during his dying moments? These are things which lie absolutely beyond the reach of any human observer looking across from the dry shore. Hence, all that the Bible mentions of Pharaoh and his pursuing army is that each of them was drowned without exception. 'Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.

But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea...' 1 Evidently, according to this Biblical statement, all bodies were claimed by the sea, Pharaoh being no exception. The rout was total. As against this, the following is the statement of the Quran referring to the same event. The difference is so obvious:

And We brought the children of Israel across the sea; and Pharaoh and his hosts pursued them wrongfully and aggressively, till, when the calamity of drowning overtook him, he said, 'I believe that there is no God but He in Whom the children of Israel believe, and I am of those who submit to Him.' What! Now! While thou wast disobedient before this and wast of those who create disorder. So this day We will save thee in thy body alone that thou mayest be a Sign to those who come after thee. And surely, many of mankind are heedless of Our Signs. 2 It should be especially noted here that contrary to this Quranic statement, the Biblical account does not as much as hint at the possibility of the retrieval of Pharaoh's body: '... not so much as one of them remained.' Hence, till the time the Quran mentions the saving of Pharaoh's body with the purpose that the posterity may learn their lesson from it, no human source of history had ever referred to it. When the Quran was revealed, the tombs of the Egyptian kings lay buried deep under layer upon layer of desert sand. Little was known of the science of mummification to the people of that age, certainly not to the Arabs. No books or tradition, religious or otherwise, had ever hinted at the rescue of Pharaoh's body let alone mention its subsequent preservation. This account of the Quran is unique also in the sense that it does not merely reveal some past events which were till then unknown to the rest of the world, but it also prophesises that the future would testify to the truth of the Quranic statement. It was implausible enough to conceive that the body of Pharaoh having drowned in the conditions described by the Bible, could be retrieved. The phenomenon of such a body, even if retrieved, would present no small problem for the purpose of mummification. Yet, this is what the Quran claims. No man could have dreamt of making such a statement contrary to the available historical evidence at the time of the revelation of the Quran. All that man knew was that the body of Pharaoh had been devoured by the sea, lost forever. Even the Egyptian plunderers of the tombs had no notion whatsoever as to which, if any, of the Pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings. What made the Prophetsa of Islam make this unique statement if he were the author of the Quran? It could serve him no purpose anyway; if anything it could be counter-productive. If challenged, the Prophetsa could not have produced any evidence to support his contentions. The only purpose it would serve was to compromise the truth of the Quran. It was many centuries after the revelation of the Quran that the earth began to throw up its secrets. The mummified bodies of all the Pharaohs which can claim to be the Pharaohs of the time of Mosesas have been retrieved. Whether it was Rameses II or another Pharaoh is a question still debated, but the fact that one of the mummies recovered from the Valley of the Kings is that of the Pharaoh who confronted Moses is no longer debatable. The only conclusion therefore, one is left to draw, is that against the verdict of the entire world history it is the verdict of the Quranic revelation alone which is proved correct: So this day We will save thee in thy body alone 3 . This is the verdict of the Quran which has now become the verdict of world history. One possible meaning of this address by God to Pharaoh is that the time for saving his life was over, hence it would be only his dead body which would be saved. The other possible meaning would be that the time for the acceptance of his faith had expired, hence his soul would not be redeemed. In this case, only his body would be saved to live on like that of a zombie without a soul. To our understanding it is the latter meaning which is intended by the Quran. To support our inference further, we cite the Quranic style in which this episode is narrated. Of particular interest is the expression: We will save thee in thy body alone.3 Now Pharaoh was evidently concerned for his survival here on earth, rather than the retrieval of his corpse. If neither his spiritual nor his physical life was to be saved, what would this promise mean? Evidently Pharaoh was not praying for the rescue of his dead body. If his prayer was accepted even partially, as is evident from the Quran, then to cause him to die both physically and spiritually seems out of the question. It is tantamount to a total denial of what he begged for. His profession of faith in the God of Israel must have been made for fear of his life. Hence it was justifiably rejected as meaningless. All that is promised is that only his body would be redeemed but not his soul. But most Muslim scholars insist that his plea was totally rejected and the promise of saving the body referred only to the recovery of his corpse from the sea. That too, according to them, is no small miracle under the conditions described both in the Bible and the Quran. Even the promise of the retrieval of his corpse was in fact a great favour to the drowning Pharaoh. The Pharaohs, they argue, were an extremely proud dynasty. Even the mere assurance that his body would be preserved must have brought some comfort to his dying moments. The purpose of God, however, was not to satisfy his vanity alone. The real purpose was to provide posterity with a great sign of multiple significance from which they could possibly benefit. Whatever the outcome of this controversy whether it is established that the Pharaoh in question died from drowning, only his body being retrieved, or whether he was rescued from a state of near death while drowning, the miracle of the Quranic statement is in no way obscured. The body of that Pharaoh was indeed preserved and this fact was brought to the knowledge of posterity exactly as the Quran had predicted. Incidentally the scholars who believe that Pharaoh was already dead when his body was retrieved, also believe that it was Merneptah, the successor of Rameses II and not Rameses himself. This implies that Mosesas lived under the reign of two Pharaohs instead of one. He was born while Rameses II was already a king and was raised in his palace by one of his God-fearing wives, who they believe was the youngest. As she had no issue herself, her desire to adopt a son is understandable. If this proposition is accepted then Mosesas must have left Midian to return to Egypt after the death of Rameses II when Merneptah had already been enthroned. They quote the Bible in their support that Mosesas was informed by God during his exile in Midian that the Pharaoh in whose reign he had committed manslaughter was dead. This scenario seems to be logical and acceptable but only apparently. The death of a king does not absolve anyone of any crime he may have committed. There is no logic in that whatsoever. That is why God does not even remotely hint at the death of any Pharaoh to dispel Moses'sas fears. Instead he is told not to fear because God would protect him and his brother. This is far more sensible. Again the problem is that according to the archaeological evidence of his mummy's condition, Rameses II who died at the ripe old age of ninety years had spent the last thirty years of his life as a bedridden, senile, tottering old man probably suffering from an extreme case of arteriosclerosis. This state could be a direct consequence of his near-drowning, resulting in an insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain for an extended period. Now the exile of Mosesas to Midian and his entire stay there lasted only eight to ten years by the end of which period Rameses II could not be more than forty to fifty years old. Hence, the Biblical statement that God was only waiting for Pharaoh's death to commission Mosesas as a prophet and command him to return to Egypt is unacceptable. Incidentally according to the Quran, the Pharaoh to whom Mosesas returned did accuse him of murder but appeared to be hesitant to take action against him because of the Divine signs which Mosesas had displayed. Evidently, his escape from punishment was certainly not due to the death of one Pharaoh and the enthronement of another. Again the life of Mosesas and Aaronas after their return to Egypt is described by the Quran and the Bible as very eventful and their confrontation with Pharaoh seems so drawn out that it must have taken a decade or so to come to its final conclusion. All the signs narrated could not have been packed in the mere short space of a year or two. As against this the historians estimate that the entire reign of Merneptah from the day of his crowning to the day of his death is reported to have lasted only eight years or less. Moreover, history describes Merneptah as a warrior king who repeatedly attacked the Palestinians year after year, while both the Quran and the Bible are absolutely silent about the Pharaoh of Mosesas having carried out such expeditions into the land of Israelites. But this is not the place perhaps for a full in-depth discussion on the issue. Nor is it necessary in any way to prove which of the two Pharaohs, Rameses II or Merneptah was the one who was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. As long as their mummies remain preserved, either of the two will always testify to the truth of the Quranic prophecy. Their names are of no real consequence. he Prophecies Relating to the Immediate or Distant Future

Having dealt at some length with certain important events of Egyptian history during the age of Mosesas which had remained concealed until the revelation of the Quran, we now turn to some prophetic Quranic revelations in relation to many other events. They relate to different areas of human interest comprising social, religious and political developments as well as epoch-making scientific advancements which were to change the face of the earth. Some of these prophecies also cover significant ecological and environmental changes to be brought about by future scientific inventions and proliferation of industry. There is a long list of such prophecies contained mostly in the last few Surahs of the Holy Quran but not exclusively so. The discussion is by no means exhaustive. Some of these Quranic prophecies have been explained and enlarged upon by many traditions of the Holy Prophetsa. We have only selected some specimen prophecies belonging to different categories. The prophecies relating to the new modes of travel and their wide impact will be discussed at the end of the chapter at some greater length because of their global importance. To maintain chronological order we begin with the prophecies which were fulfilled within the lifetime of the Holy Prophetsa. A few of them relate to his return to Mecca after his forced exile. All such verses were revealed even before his migration to Medina thus simultaneously prophesying both his departure and subsequent return. The following verse belongs to a Surah (Al-Qasas) which was revealed before Hijra (the Prophet'ssa migration from Mecca to Medina). Most surely He Who had made the teaching of the Quran binding on thee will bring thee back to thy place of return. Say, 'My Lord knows best who brings the guidance, and who is in manifest error.' 4 To predict his return to Mecca before his migration to Medina is in fact a twofold prophecy. In view of the constantly worsening situation which made life progressively impossible for him and his followers in Mecca, migration may seem to some readers a mere logical conclusion. But it should not be forgotten that the element of surprise and wonder in this part of the prophecy is not about the suggestion of migration. The element of wonder is in the open defiance to the will and might of the Meccans who would not permit the predicted migration to take place. Again the ever hardening determination of the Meccans not to permit the Prophetsa to escape are the factors which highlight the unlikelihood of such a prophecy to have been made by the Prophetsa himself in his state of utter helplessness. Another Divine promise that he would most certainly return to Mecca with manifest truth was vouched to him in the following verse: And say, 'O my Lord, make my entry a good entry and then make me come forth with a good forthcoming...' 5 The third example of how his ultimate victorious return to Mecca was predicted even before the actual migration took place, is taken from the first few verses of Surah Al-Rum (Chapter 30), which by the unanimous verdict of scholars was revealed before Hijra: The Romans have been defeated, In the land nearby, and they, after their defeat, will emerge victorious. (This will happen) within a few years. And to Allah belongs the command before and after that. And that will be the day when the believers will rejoice, With the succour from Allah. He helps whomsoever He pleases; and He is the Mighty the Merciful. 6 These verses refer to a partial territorial defeat which the Romans suffered at the hands of the Persians. The verses clearly prophesied that the Persian victory would prove only short-lived and in a few years' time the defeat of the Romans will turn into victory. 'That will be the day when the believers will (also) rejoice with the succour they would receive from Allah.' The implication of this prophecy in relation to the fate of the believers was all too obvious. When shortly after this revelation the Muslims lost their homes and property to the idolaters of Mecca, like the Romans had done to the idol worshippers of Persia, the consensus among the companions was that soon after the Romans' victory, the Muslims would also regain their territoryMecca. This understanding was unanimous among all the companions of the Holy Prophetsa. The only difference was regarding the period in which the prophecy would be fulfilled. This controversy stemmed from the expression 'bid'ai Sineen' ( ). Literally, it means a period extending from three to nine years. Some companions of the Holy Prophetsa in their eagerness bet with some others that they would certainly return soon after the expiry of three years. But others reminded them that their return could be delayed by as much as nine years which is the upper limit of the term 'bid'ai Sineen' ( ). The events as they unfolded themselves, proved the latter opinion to be right. Thus, in this sense both the promises were fulfilled in letter and in spirit. First it was the Romans who regained their lost territory within the prescribed limit and then it was the turn of the Muslims to return to Mecca in glory before the end of the eighth year. Another category of the prophecies which was manifestly fulfilled during the lifetime of the Holy Prophetsa relates to the repeated attacks on the Muslims in Medina by the Meccans and their confederates from among the nomad tribes. The first of these prophecies as mentioned in the following verses clearly portrayed the events of the Battle of Badr. During this first serious encounter of the Muslims with a formidable, professionally organized army of Meccans, the invading hosts were completely routed and put to a most humiliating flight by a comparatively much smaller body of Muslim defenders. Do they say, 'We are a victorious host?' The hosts shall soon be routed and will turn their backs in flight. Aye, the Hour is their appointed time; and the Hour will be most calamitous and most bitter. 7 The devastating defeat inflicted upon the Meccan army was clearly predicted in the verses quoted above. The last of these verses highlights for them the bitterness of the Hour. The very pick of the chieftains, the sworn enemies of Islam, who were also renowned for their hatred of the Holy Prophetsa, fell one after the other and were made to bite the dust in the field of Badr. Abu-Jahl was slain by two young Muslim lads, so also Shaibah and 'Utbah met their fated hour and were put to sword within a few hours. The night fell upon the gloomy hearts of the Meccans like Doomsday. They were put to flight in utter disarray. It is this humiliating defeat which is referred to in the following verse of Surah Al-Anfal: And remember the time when Allah promised you one of the two parties that it should be yours, and you wished that one without sting should be yours, but Allah desired to establish the truth by His words and to cut off the root of the disbelievers. 8 he Battle of The Ditch

Among other encounters with the enemies of Islam which occurred precisely as they were foretold, the Battle of the Ditch ( ) is of outstanding importance. It was during this battle that some other great historic victories were also predicted at a time when the very survival of the Muslims themselves was at stake. The prediction of the Battle of the Ditch was first made in Surah Sad which was definitely revealed in Mecca and according to most scholars, during the early period of the Prophet'ssa ministry. Following is the verse: They are a host of the confederates which shall be routed here. 9 It is to this prophecy that the Holy Quran refers: And when the believers saw the confederates, they said, 'This is what Allah and His Messenger promised us; and Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth.' And it only added to their faith and submission. 10 Of all the battles fought during the lifetime of the Holy Prophetsa of Islam, the Battle of the Ditch stands out for the maximum possible dangers and extreme trials of adversity which it brought to the Muslims in Medina. There was many a time when the odds were heavy against the survival of the Muslims. The Quran describes their state as follows: When they came upon you from above you, and from below you, and when your eyes became distracted, and your hearts reached to the throats, and you thought diverse thoughts about Allah. There and then were the believers sorely tried, and they were shaken with a violent shaking. And when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts was a disease said, 'Allah and His Messenger promised us nothing but a delusion.' And when a party of them said, 'O people of Yathrib (Medina), you have possibly no stand against the enemy, therefore turn back.' And a section of them even asked leave of the Prophet, saying, 'Our houses are exposed and defenceless.' And they were in truth not exposed. They only sought to flee away. 11 This battle has earned the title The Battle of the Ditch, because when the news reached Prophet Muhammadsa that almost all the Arab tribes had colluded to invade Medina for a final conclusive encounter to finish off Islam once and for all, the building of a barrier on the open side of Medina became an absolute must. The number of Muslims in Medina at that time, by comparison to the invading hosts, was so small that it was absolutely impossible for them to prevent the enemy from entering Medina in an open battle. Hence, after consultation it was decided that the digging of a ditch was the only option. A one mile long ditch was required to be dug in extremely difficult rocky terrain. The estimate as to the number of Muslims involved in this task differ. The minimum mentioned is seven hundred and the maximum three thousand. According to our estimate it was around one thousand eight hundred at the most, because the one thing on which the authorities are agreed is that to every group of ten persons, ten yards of the ditch were allocated. As it was not longer than one mile, the number of Muslims could not have been more than one thousand seven hundred and sixty. The task was hard and exacting. An overall state of poverty and deprivation further compounded the problems of the Muslim camp. At times they had to work for days on end on empty stomachs. It was during this state of extreme adversity that the Holy Prophetsa was once informed that despite the best efforts of the sappers, a hard rock stubbornly refused to yield. The Prophetsa proceeded forthwith to visit the troubled spot. Having reached there he took up the pickaxe in his own hands and struck the rock three times before it yielded and broke into fragments. Each time he struck, sparks flew from the rock and he exclaimed out loud Allah-o-Akbar! (Allah is the Greatest). At the end the Companions inquired from him why he had shouted Allah-o-Akbar! with such a triumphant note. The Holy Prophetsa answered: 'In the sparks which flew at the first strike, I saw the Syrian palaces of the Byzantine Empire and their key was given to me. The second time I was shown the illuminated palaces of Persia at Madain and to me the key was handed. Again I was granted the key of the palaces of San'a as they appeared in the sparks when I struck the rock for the third time.' History bears witness that this is exactly what followed but the wonder lies not in their fulfilment alone. The very making of these prophecies at the time they were made is in itself a miracle.12 Seldom can history present such examples of a defending few, as powerless and vulnerable as the Muslims were while they were engaged in the digging of the trench, day in and day out, borne down with hunger and fatigue. That was the time when the adversity of the Muslim cause could sink no further. It was then that Muhammadsa spoke the historic words which history could not create, they created history. To predict such victories at a time such as this could either be the ravings of a madman or the proclamation of God from the lips of a great Prophetsa. He was the wisest of all the wise that ever lived, 'mad' he was certainly not. If ever a prophet was blessed to be a Divine oracle, it was he. His was the mouth and his were the lips which shaped destinies and pronounced decrees as God spoke to him and he spoke for God. As has been pointed out earlier the purpose of this exercise is not to present an exhaustive study of all the prophecies of the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophetsa. We are only attempting to present to the reader some specific prophecies with wider impact. Having discussed some of them which related to the lifetime of the Holy Prophetsa and the period which immediately followed, we now turn to another category of prophecies which relate to a comparatively distant future. It is difficult to decide where to begin but perhaps it would not be inappropriate to begin with the discovery of the Americas and the extension of the known world. The following are the relevant verses: And when the earth will spread out, And will cast out all that she contains and become empty; And will give ear to her Lordand this will be incumbent upon her. 13 The prophecy contained in verse 4 above was manifestly realized with the discovery of the 'New World' by the end of the fifteenth century, when on 12 October 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas. That was the beginning of the end for the native Americans. But a new seemingly endless beginning was made for the Americans to rise and dominate the rest of the old world. This is clearly implied in the prophecy contained in the next verse which speaks of the earth throwing up all its secrets and emptying itself. The same issue is taken up again and further elaborated in some other chapters as well. For instance, verses 2 and 3 of Surah Al-Zilzal read: When the earth is shaken with her violent shaking, And the earth throws up her burdens. 14 It is predicted that the earth will go through a mighty shaking and will throw up its heavy metals and man will begin to wonder what indeed is happening to it. The word athqal ( ) refers to everything which is heavy, so the throwing up by the earth of its heavy metals will not be a forced extension of its meaning. Again it can also be translated as 'the earth will throw up its hidden treasures'. The tremendous scientific advancements which we have witnessed in this age could not become possible without the discovery of new minerals which the earth has thrown up as predicted. Count them out and the wheel of scientific advancement will turn back a full circle. No modern invention of any significance can be conceived without the discovery of coal, petroleum, uranium, plutonium etc. The chronological order of the two prophecies mentioned above also has a message to deliver. The prophecy of the extension of the old world is followed immediately by the discovery of new minerals and this is exactly the sequence in which the prophecies were fulfilled.



REFERENCES The Holy Bible (1982) The New King James Version. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Exodus 14:2829 Translation of 10:9193 by Maulawi Sher Ali. Translation of 10:93 by Maulawi Sher Ali. Translation of 28:86 by Maulawi Sher Ali. Translation of 17:81 by Maulawi Sher Ali. Translation of 30:36 by the author. Translation of 54:4547 by Maulawi Sher Ali. Translation of 8:8 by Maulawi Sher Ali. Translation of 38:12 by the author. Translation of 33:23 by Maulawi Sher Ali. Translation of 33:1114 by Maulawi Sher Ali. (Note: We have added 'Medina' in brackets). Fat-hul-BariThe Commentary of Sahih Al-Bukhari by Hafiz Ahmad bin 'Ali Hajar Al-'Asqalani (773852). Kitab Al-Maghazi Babo Ghazwah Al-Khandaq Al-Ahzab. Vol.VII p.397. Translation of 84:46 by the author. Translation of 99:23 by the author.
? El presidente @PedroCastilloTe y ministros de Estado participaran en el Encuentro Presidencial y VI Gabinete Ministerial Binacional Bolivia-Peru, en La Paz.

???????? Ambos paises impulsaran, a traves del dialogo politico, la agenda bilateral, en beneficio de nuestros pueblos. pic.twitter.com/3mtiAnTvP0
During the Presidential Joint Declaration signing ceremony, the Head of State indicated that the meeting which brought together State ministers from both countries was successful.

"We have just successfully held the VI Binational Cabinet, whose results in the four areas of work will enable us to continue making progress on the strengthening and deepening of our mutual agreements and bilateral relations, placing special emphasis on improving the living conditions of the inhabitants on both sides of our borders," he expressed.

Likewise, the top official specified that citizens of Peru and Bolivia will know how to value the progress and commitments made in terms of joint management, with a sustainable environmental approach on Lake Titicaca basin, as well as the development of the Andean high plateau and the Amazonia.

Besides, it will contribute to the strengthening of trade and tourism bonds; the facilitation of the transit of people, goods, and services; education; as well as the fight against transnational crimes such as drug trafficking, illegal mining, and smuggling.

"These are permanent commitments which reflect the strong and unique ties uniting Peru and Bolivia," he affirmed after receiving the Grand Collar of the Order of the Condor of the Andes the highest recognition granted by the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

In this regard, he said the decoration bears a name familiar to both countries, which adds a special and great meaning to this recognition.

It must be noted that 10 bilateral agreements were signed in various sectors during the ceremony held at La Casa Grande del Pueblo (The Great House of the People).

Tras concluir el Encuentro Presidencial y VI Gabinete #BinacionalPeruBolivia , los presidentes @PedroCastilloTe y @LuchoXBolivia suscribieron la Declaracion de La Paz, donde reafirmaron los lazos de hermandad historica y solidaridad que rigen entre nuestros pueblos y gobiernos. pic.twitter.com/j2iNGvNdMf

Presidente @PedroCastilloTe : Nuestro ideal comun es fortalecer los lazos historicos de hermandad con Bolivia. Con este Encuentro Presidencial y VI Gabinete #BinacionalPeruBolivia , ratificamos el compromiso de seguir trabajando por el progreso y desarrollo de nuestros pueblos. pic.twitter.com/KXiw97UdHs

Presidente @PedroCastilloTe: Los resultados del VI Gabinete #BinacionalPeruBolivia nos permitiran avanzar en el fortalecimiento y profundizacion de los acuerdos mutuos y la relacion bilateral, con enfasis en mejorar las condiciones de vida de la poblacion de nuestra frontera. pic.twitter.com/1rDuj4P7mD
Presidente @PedroCastilloTe: Con el Gabinete #BinacionalPeruBolivia, reafirmamos la identidad de ambos paises. Desde nuestros gobiernos agendamos los temas mas urgentes para que la ninez y las poblaciones vulnerables sepan que estamos trabajando por su desarrollo.

???????? pic.twitter.com/dYP3Th05Ji
El jefe de Estado, @PedroCastilloTe y su homologo de Bolivia, Luis Arce, presidio la ceremonia de ofrendas florales en la plaza Murillo, en La Paz. #BinacionalPeruBolivia ???????? pic.twitter.com/bo8kNBZlOB
Previo al inicio del Encuentro Presidencial y VI Gabinete #BinacionalPeruBolivia, el presidente @PedroCastilloTe sostuvo una reunion con su homologo @LuchoXBolivia. Tambien participaron los titulares de @pcmperu, @CancilleriaPeru, @MEF_Peru y @MINCETUR.

???????? pic.twitter.com/kez87u1h2i
Instead, the authority affirmed that Toledo must remain under house arrest until the extradition case is definitively resolved.





According to an order denying motion to revoke bail and remand to custody signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson , "the Court has always considered Toledo to be a flight risk. It has attempted to mitigate that risk through conditions of release, including cash bail, electronic monitoring, and other conditions."





"To date, despite being vaccinated against COVID, Toledo has not attempted to flee. The Court thinks that Toledo's and his wife's deteriorating physical condition further mitigates against the risk of flight," the document said.





Moreover, the order indicated that "they both need ongoing medical treatment, and they are in a stable living situation in which they are able to get it. Fleeing to another country would disrupt this situation for them, especially since Toledo's first stop in another country as an international fugitive might well be jail."





"Jailing Toledo while he challenges the Court's certification to the Secretary of State or even just for the two months until 18 U.S.C.  3188 kicks in would be an unnecessary cruelty," the document added.





Last September following judicial proceedings that lasted for more than two years Judge Hixson agreed that the ex-president should be extradited to Peru, where he is accused of having received bribes during his term in office.





After that ruling, Toledo filed a habeas corpus appeal that must yet be resolved.





He also awaits the decision of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken , who is the one that must call for the extradition to proceed.





Toledo was arrested in July 2019 in California, where he has lived over recent years and spent 8 months in prison when the judge considered a risk of flight. Nonetheless, he was allowed to leave the penitentiary facilities and be placed under house arrest in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.





As is known, Toledo is being investigated by Peruvian authorities for allegedly having received up to US$35 million from Odebrecht in exchange for favoring the Brazilian company in its business in his country of origin, while he was still President of the Republic.




FILE PHOTO: General view of Pakistan and Taliban flags at the Friendship Gate crossing point in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman

By Jibran Ahmad

PESHAWAR/KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban government has sent an envoy to run the Afghan embassy in the Pakistani capital, senior Taliban sources said, as the new administration starts to take over Afghanistan's network of foreign delegations.

Mohammad Shokaib was appointed first secretary or charge d'affaires at the embassy, which has not had an ambassador in place since the previous Western-backed government withdrew its envoy in July over the alleged kidnapping of his daughter.

As Pakistan does not officially recognize the new Taliban government, Shokaib will not have the formal title of ambassador but will be in charge of the embassy.

A Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman said the appointment was mainly about ensuring consular functions, adding: "There are millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and there are visa issues as well."

Two Afghan officials were also appointed to run the consulates in the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar, close to the two major border crossings with Afghanistan.

"We understand that Pakistan has not yet recognised us as a legitimate government but we made these arrangements for public facilitations," a senior Taliban leader told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

No comment was immediately available from Taliban spokesmen in Kabul.

Two other Taliban officials in the foreign affairs and interior ministries confirmed the appointment to Reuters and said similar arrangements had been made in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

No country has given formal recognition to the Taliban, who ousted the Western-backed government in Kabul in August, and Afghanistan's embassies are largely still run by ambassadors appointed by the previous government, many of whom are outspoken critics of the Taliban.

(Additional reporting by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Nick Macfie)
By Sarah Wu

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu urged "freedom-loving countries" on Friday to work together against China, during a rare trip to Europe that is taking place amid heightened tensions between Taipei and Beijing.

Self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own and has not ruled out taking by force, does not have formal diplomatic relations with any European countries apart from Vatican City. But it is keen to deepen ties with European Union democracies.

Wu's European trip has angered Beijing, which last week warned Slovakia and the Czech Republic against undermining their bilateral relations with China by allowing a visit to those countries.

"The rise of the People's Republic of China, as led by the Chinese Communist Party, is the defining challenge for the world's democratic states. This warrants our working more closely together," Wu said in a virtual address at a summit held in Rome by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. This is an international group of parliamentarians seeking a tougher stance on China.

Taiwan is on the frontline of an ideological battle against authoritarianism, Wu said, and the world would feel the impact if China attacks the island.

"We are determined to defend ourselves," he said in his remarks broadcast online.

Taiwan's defence minister said this month that military tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years.

Fearing retaliation from Beijing, many countries are unwilling to host senior Taiwanese ministers.

Earlier this week, Wu gave a speech at a conference in Slovakia and then travelled to Prague to meet the city's Mayor Zdenek Hrib and Czech Senate speaker Milos Vystrcil, both of whom visited Taiwan last year in a move that angered China.

Wu's visit overlapped with a Taiwan trade delegation's visit to Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania, which have all donated COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan.

Lithuania and Taiwan announced earlier this year that they would open de facto embassies in each other's capitals, drawing China's ire .

(Reporting by Sarah Wu; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Watch: Indigenous people demand protection for Amazon at COP26

Around 25,000 people will descend on Glasgow this week for the Cop26 climate summit. It is the most important UN climate meeting since countries set an aspiration of limiting global temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century under the Paris Agreement in 2015.

This summit will be a crucial test of whether countries can come together to get themselves on track for meeting the 1.5C target, which is currently slipping beyond reach.

On the eve of the pivotal event, The Independent spoke to leading climate experts, politicians and activists from across the world on why now is the time to take action against the climate crisis.

Vanessa Nakate, climate activist, Uganda

Vanessa Nakate (AP)

Were already seeing death and suffering caused by the climate crisis here in Uganda. But it is going to get much, much worse.

To keep to 1.5C of global heating (the so-called safe limit), the UN says we need to halve global emissions by 2030. After almost 30 years of international climate summits, we are yet to see any significant drop in emissions.

Glasgow must be the starting point for a complete reshaping of the global economy. Otherwise, the consequences are unthinkable.

Alok Sharma, Cop26 president-designate, UK

Alok Sharma (PA)

People around the world are already living with the devastating effects of the planet getting warmer. And with every fraction of a degree, the situation gets worse.

That is why countries on the front line of climate change fought so hard for the temperature goal of well below 2C, and as close as possible to 1.5C, to be enshrined in the Paris Agreement.

We owe it to those countries to make Cop26 the moment world leaders commit to decisive action to keep a 1.5C future alive.

Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland, UK

Nicola Sturgeon (PA)

Climate change and nature loss remain the greatest challenges facing this planet, and this is our best, perhaps only, chance to address them.

Cop26 must move the world from promises to action, and mobilise the ambition, finance, resources and joint working needed to deliver on the Paris Agreement goals.

Story continues

Scotland, as a responsible global citizen, will do everything we can to play our part.

John Kerry, special presidential envoy for climate, US

John Kerry (AP)

Cop26 begins our decisive decade, when science tells us we must choose between triumph and tragedy.

Inaction invites climate disaster. But if we work together, we can seize the extraordinary opportunities ahead, dramatically cutting emissions, reinventing our economies, and ultimately saving the one planet we share.

Mitzi Jonelle Tan, climate activist, the Philippines

Mitzi Jonelle Tan took part in this years global climate strike (Getty)

I shouldnt have to say why action is vital.

At this point, if the millions of lives impacted every day across the globe by this climate crisis built off of exploitation and imperialist colonisation is still not enough reason to act, then clearly these so-called leaders arent capable of doing their job.

Ed Miliband, shadow business secretary, UK

Ed Miliband (AFP)

Cop26 is the worlds moment of truth. Are governments serious about climate action? Will our leaders fail us and future generations, or do they get it?

A green investment plan at home. Building alliances abroad. Keeping 1.5C alive in Glasgow. We cant let Cop26 be the greenwash summit. Mobilise, organise, pressure those in charge. This is the decisive decade.

Christiana Figueres, former UN climate chief, Costa Rica

Christiana Figueres is the Costa Rican diplomat credited with sealing the Paris Agreement deal in 2015 (AFP/Getty)

When we set the goals for the Paris Agreement in 2015, we were not aware that we had a deadline to meet, of halving global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. That came later, in 2018, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its special report on 1.5C.

That is why Cop26 is crucial  and it must be the start of a decisive decade of action.

Nemonte Nenquimo, Waorani leader, co-founder of Ceibo Alliance & Amazon Frontlines, Ecuador

Nemonte Nenquimo is an Indigenous activist and leader of the Waorani nation from the Amazonian region of Ecuador (Amazon Frontlines)

We need to take action. Indigenous peoples, who are on the front lines of the battle to protect nature, need direct support. We are putting our lives on the line to protect biodiversity, forests, and ecosystems. No decisions affecting Indigenous territories should be made without Indigenous peoples participation and consent.

World leaders, organisations and civil society need to back us in our struggles, and support the Indigenous movement and organisations leading solutions to this crisis. We need to unite in the struggle because the fight is not only up to indigenous peoples but for all of humanity.

Tessa Khan, environmental lawyer, UK

Tessa Khan is founder of Uplift (Uplift)

At Cop26, world leaders have to commit to ending any new oil, gas and coal production  no exceptions.

Past Cops have failed to address the elephant in the room  fossil fuels  even though the science is clear that we have to keep fossil fuels in the ground if were going to keep the Paris Agreement alive.

Dr Mya-Rose Craig, environmental activist, UK

Dr Mya-Rose Craig (Greenpeace)

I am [one of] the 167 million living in Bangladesh, the country where my maternal grandparents were born.

We are a country created 50 years ago out of oppression and death. We will fight until you listen.

At 3C of warming, Bangladesh will see tens of millions affected each year. We demand immediate and sufficient action to halt the climate catastrophe.

Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, France

Anne Hidalgo (AP)

As mayor of Paris, the city where the historic climate agreement was signed, I believe that Glasgow comes at a critical moment for states to upscale and accelerate their action plans, including in my own country, France.

We need to act now to stay the course of the Paris Agreement, which I witnessed first-hand in 2015.

Oladosu Adenike, climate activist, Nigeria

Oladosu Adenike (N/A)

How do we win the race against climate change when we keep making long-term commitments (beyond 2030) while the climate crisis is happening at an alarming rate?

It is no longer negotiable to patronise climate action. The lives of billions of people, especially those that are vulnerable like my country, matters towards every decision that will be taken. Hence, we need more action and not words alone.

Eriel Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action (ICA), Canada

Eriel Deranger (ICA)

We need to get this right: were on borrowed time. The debate is over, we need emissions-reducing agreements  not carbon trading and false solutions  and safeguards for human and Indigenous rights.

Indigenous peoples have been influencing climate action for decades and we cant afford to accept false solutions that further put our communities at risk.

Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, Kenya

Mohamed Adow (Christian Aid)

Why is it so vital we get action from world leaders at Cop26?

The reason is urgency. I come from a pastoralist community in northern Kenya, and have seen with my own eyes the ravages of rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and drought on farming communities in Africa. Those people cannot afford to see countries dragging their feet and delaying urgent climate action.

Lord Deben, chairman of the Climate Change Committee, UK

Lord Deben (left) (PA)

Climate change is a symptom of what weve done to the world. Once you understand that, you can understand how biodiversity and pollution fit in. You dont cure the symptoms, you cure the disease. All of our impacts on the environment must be factored into Cop26.

We have to fight climate change because otherwise it will destroy us. But in fighting it we build a cleaner, greener, kinder world. It is actually the way to create a better world.

Marina Silva, politician and environmentalist, Brazil

Marina Silva (AFP/Getty)

Cop26 is an opportunity to advance global responses to the climate issue, starting with more committed emission-reduction targets, as current ones point to 2.7C of warming.

A healthy, safe and sustainable environment has just been defined as a human right by the UN.

Yeb Sano, executive director, Greenpeace Southeast Asia

Yeb Sano (Greenpeace)

The climate crisis is one of historys biggest injustices, with those least responsible for the problem suffering the most.

Urgent and scaled-up actions based on what science and justice demand are crucial to avert the crisis and to bring back dignity into peoples lives. Inaction is not an option.

Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP, UK

Caroline Lucas (Getty)

Cop26 must deliver a justice reset: justice for those in the global south who didnt cause climate breakdown and must be given financial and technical support by the rich countries who did; and justice for young people and future generations, so theyre not left with the terrible consequences of a crisis that weve allowed to get worse.

Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF, UK

Tanya Steele (David Bebber)

Cop26 [is] one of the most important summits in a generation. And arguably the most important this country has ever hosted. Success is vital. We cant afford to fail.

We need to redouble our efforts to ensure a future where nature and people can coexist  seeing it take its rightful place as our greatest ally at the heart of the fight against climate change.

Luca Bergamaschi, founder and director of the ECCO think tank, Italy

Luca Bergamaschi (ECCO)

Cop26 is vital for accelerating emissions reduction and unlocking trillions of new finance for climate action and solidarity.

Italy, under the leadership of Mario Draghi, can play a key role through ending public support for new oil and gas investment, reallocating its SDRs [special drawing rights] for climate, and supporting the recapitalisation of multilateral development banks.

Dr Saleemul Huq, director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development, Bangladesh

Dr Saleemul Huq (AFP/Getty)

I have been working with some of the poorest and most climate-vulnerable communities in some of the poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries for over two decades, to help them be ready to adapt to the adverse impacts of human-induced climate change.

Over those two and a half decades, world leaders have met every year at the annual Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where they repeatedly pledged to act but then failed to do so enough to prevent loss and damage from human-induced climate change actually happening now.

Cop26 is the first Cop of this new era of loss and damage from human-induced climate change, and my expectation of leaders is that they will finally demonstrate the political will to deal with the climate emergency. However, I am not holding my breath.

The Independent has launched a petition calling on world leaders to take meaningful action on the climate crisis immediately.

We want global leaders to make the decisions necessary at the Cop26 UN climate summit to agree on securing global net zero by mid-century, and keeping the 1.5C target from Paris within reach.

To join in our fight in helping to encourage world leaders to hit our climate targets, please sign our petition below. We thank you for your support.

Watch: What is the Paris Agreement?

Read More

Cop26 Glasgow news live: Biden says forests indispensable

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Cop26 off to shaky start as queues and chaos mar first 24 hours
As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue, the Auburn YMCA-WEIU will host a Mental Health Resource Night from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3.

Sponsored by United Way of Cayuga County, the night will include remarks by Jackie Cioffa, of Auburn, an author and mental health advocate. Also in attendance will be representatives of Cayuga County Mental Health, the Cayuga County Drug-Free Coalition, Nick's Ride 4 Friends and the Auburn Enlarged City School District.

The night is free and open to the public, and no registration is required. Staff will be available to care for children 2 and older at the Y, 27 William St., Auburn. Masks will be required.

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It was a beautiful fall afternoon on Sunday, Sept. 19, when Todd Gaglianese and I did our annual fall tour of Fort Hill Cemetery. The crowd of 63 people had come to support Willard Memorial Chapel and its Community Preservation Committee.

Because it was September and schools in the county were in their third week, we had added more stops on the tour: teachers. These were people who had devoted their time and talent, and in fact their lives, to helping young people.

There were now 25 stops, and the tour took two hours.

Todd and I took turns sharing their history at each gravesite  Mrs. Rogers, Brud Holland, Professor and Mrs. Long, Martha Shosa. We like to interact with the audience, so I asked the group, How many teachers were present? The show of hands gave me the opportunity to applaud them and to remind them of the legacy they were leaving to the many students they had helped over the years.

One of the most endearing and new presentations was at the modest grave of Stuart Hemingway. The flat plaque in the ground behind the graves of Martha Shosa, the Longs and alongside his parents briefly listed his information. Born in 1942, he died on April 23, 2015, at the age of 73.

To the casual observer, an inscribed phrase The Music Doctor must have puzzled them as to its meaning. Those who knew and remembered Stuart would know. Todd shared the story of this blind musician and the lasting impression he made on everyone. He recounted the depth of his caring nature. Locally, he worked closely with special needs children, and helped them overcome the individual challenges each one faced. He taught them by example to get in touch with the music inside them as a form of music therapy," hence the moniker The Music Doctor. Friends enjoyed his joyful spirit and sense of humor, affectionately calling him a wise guy." Many would later marvel at his tenacity and courage.

I stood aside and watched the crowd as Todd talked about his friend. He was born with full sight, and at an early age; a childhood illness caused him to gradually go blind. His brave mother was determined that her son grow up to be independent and achieve anything he set his mind to. She encouraged his musical and piano ability. She sent him each summer to a camp for children with disabilities and he learned the skills he would need as a blind adult.

These skills helped him in 1960 to have the courage to move to New York City and rent a small flat on 46 W. 75th street near Central Park. Each day he would venture out and explore the city with his cane and memorize the route.

One day, he heard inviting music coming from a third floor walkup in the Brill Building. They were musicians in a jam session. He worked his way up to them and thus met young Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons in their recording studio! He made several suggestions to them, and was invited to join them. Back then, studio musicians were paid, but not given credit for their participation.

I was able to watch the moving magic of the crowds reaction. It was as if an electric shock moved through them like a powerful musical crescendo. Todd continued to recite the names of groups Stuart later on was introduced to, and worked with. He listed the records he was on.

One by one, recognition dawned on the gathering. There was an audible murmur through the crowd. I shall never forget it, and give tribute now to Stuart Hemingway.

Here is a partial list of Stuart Hemingways musical legacy:

 Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons: "Walk like a Man," "Stay & Rain"

 Gladys Knight & the Pips: "Midnight Train to Georgia"

 Jay and the Techniques: "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie"

 Piano and voice training to Leslie Gore

 The Shangri-Las: The piano track of Leader of the Pack (his most known work)

During the 1980s, he continued to work with handicapped students and adults at the Dick Charles Studios in New York City.

Laurel Auchampaugh is the Owasco historian and can be reached at the Owasco Town Hall from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoons or at historian@owascony.gov. Todd Gaglianese assisted with research and securing photos for this column.

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This year's race for the two open four-year terms on Auburn City Council presents an intriguing range of candidates, and from their actions and campaign messages, it's clear they all have in common a love for Auburn and a desire to help it thrive.

Running on the Democratic, Working Families and independent Auburn party lines are Ginny Kent, a former elected Auburn school board member making her first run for municipal office, and incumbent Terry Cuddy, who is seeking a third term. Representing the Republican, Conservative and independent Independent party lines (not to be confused with the former Independence Party), are Rob Otterstatter, a downtown restaurant owner who grew up in Auburn and recently returned to the city after living many years in Colorado and Washington, D.C., and Tim Lattimore, a three-term Cayuga County legislator who has also won and lost races for city mayor and served a term on city council.

Of all the candidates, the best is Kent. We can't think of another newcomer to a council campaign who has had a better range of relevant experience working and volunteering in the community. Kent currently works as associate development director for the Cayuga Community College Foundation. Previously, she was an integral part of the team at the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce, running its vital Leadership Cayuga program for 13 years and its grants information office. She served two terms on the Auburn Enlarged City School District Board of Education, which included stints as board vice president, and is an elected trustee on the Seymour Library board. She's served as a director of the Auburn Industrial Development Authority and as a member of the city's comprehensive plan committee. Her vast volunteer work has included helping to the start the Auburn Beautification Commission and helping the United Way of Cayuga County.

All of that experience has built an impressive knowledge base for Kent, and it's also enabled her to form productive and positive relationships with people throughout the community. Kent ran on a positive message that focused on her desire to put her skills and background to work in helping the council build on progress made in several areas and address concerns that have emerged, especially in the past two years with the COVID-19 pandemic. We also believe it's important for the council not to be comprised of all men, which could happen in this year's election because incumbent Debby McCormick is not seeking reelection. Auburn needs strong women leaders like Kent in office.

Cuddy, a teacher at Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES, has been an effective councilor in his first eight years in office. He's got a strong command of the challenges upstate cities like Auburn face, and he's always been willing to put in extra work. An example of this is his work over the past year with a group of community residents on a project to bring a significantly improved skate park to the city. He also continues to champion environmental issues, something he became known for in his initial council run in which he led community opposition to Auburn's involvement with natural gas drilling wastewater treatment.

Otterstatter is one of the most unique council candidates we've seen in terms of background and experience. After growing up in Auburn, he got into law enforcement and worked in a leadership role in a sheriff's office in Colorado. He later shifted into education, becoming an English teacher and department leader in the Washington public schools system and earning a doctorate in education leadership. Looking to return to his hometown to raise his family, he and his wife opened Octane Social House in the newly redeveloped Nolan Block downtown.

All of that background, including significant time living and traveling to places outside Auburn where he has seen a lot of what works and doesn't work in communities, would suit Otterstatter well as one of the voices on the council. A downtown business owner perspective would be a good addition, as would a person with some experience in law enforcement. He's pushed some good ideas during the campaign, including more investment in community-based policing and increased efforts to engage youth residents in an effort to encourage them to stay in the city when they're adults.

Lattimore's dedication to Auburn cannot be questioned because he continues to step up to run for office. Every other year for the past 14, he's gone back and forth between successful runs for a city district on the county Legislature and failed runs for mayor. Now that term limits are forcing him out of county government, he's decided to see if he can get back on the council, where he served from 1988 to 1991. The problem for Lattimore, though, is he continued to bring the same generic campaign lines to this race that he tried without success in his four losses to Mayor Mike Quill. One wrinkle he did bring this year was his claim that crime has gotten so bad in Auburn that he no longer feels safe, a clear exaggeration meant to scare people into voting for him.

Otterstatter also has shown a propensity for hyperbole in his efforts to criticize the Democratic majority on council. He's on shaky ground with his inferences that Auburn's long-term population loss, an issue faced by the overwhelming majority of small upstate New York cities, is the responsibility of the current council. On the other hand, acknowledging challenges and being willing to speak up when he thinks the city should be doing something different and better would be useful for this council. We've seen the Democratic majority on Auburn City Council frequently avoid any hint of questioning the decisions of city management, including with the recent move to launch a brand new 25-person ambulance department without fresh outside expert analysis. The decision to adopt a 2-percent tax increase in this year's city budget at a time when so many residents and businesses have faced financial struggles, a vote that was done in a 4-1 party line vote, also reflected a lack of independence among the four current Democrats.

We have always advocated for highly qualified, intelligent and passionate city councilors, and for a balanced council that will engage in healthy public debate with each other and with city management, before moving forward with prudent policy decisions. This year, we believe Kent and Otterstatter are the best fits for achieving those goals.

The Citizen editorial board includes publisher Michelle Bowers, executive editor Jeremy Boyer and managing editor Mike Dowd.

Watch Now: 2021 Cayuga County and Auburn candidate forums Candidates running for office in 2021 Cayuga County Legislature, Surrogate Court and Auburn City Council races took part in forums recorded an

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Registrations of locally-made passenger vehicles (PVs) in China saw a double-digit decrease year on year in September, but the registrations of new energy vehicles hit a new high and accounted for nearly one fifth of the total monthly registrations.

According to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), the insurance registrations of locally-made PVs in China totaled 1,653,581 vehicles, down by 13.4% from a year ago and up by 8% from the previous month.

Among all vehicles registered in September, 772,279 were cars, 81,906 MPVs, 778,934 SUVs and 20,462 minibuses. 1,601,298 were for non-operation usage while only 1,204 were for operation. The other 51,073 vehicles were registered for renting.

For the first nine months of this year, the insurance registrations of locally-built PVs in the biggest automobile market grew 16.2% year on year to 14,722,838 vehicles.

The combined September registrations of the top 20 brands accounted for 78% of the total monthly registrations, two percentage points fewer than the share in August. Compared to the performance of the same month last year, 11 out of the top 20 brands saw year-on-year registrations decline while 7 brands registered fewer vehicles than August.

Tesla went back to the list with a total of 52,045 vehicles registered in September, skyrocketing 378% year on year and 1757% month on month. Tesla said in its quarterly results release that China remained its main export hub, and it seems a routine for the American automaker to export most Shanghai-made vehicles in the first two months of a quarter to other countries. For the last month of a quarter, Shanghai-made vehicles are mainly for local customers. So thats why we saw a sharp registration increase from August (2,802) to September.

There were more local vehicle brands on the September top brands list than August list. Thanks to Wulings rising to the fifth, 2 out of the top 5 brands were local ones, one more than August list. Haval jumped two spots to the 10th, becoming the fifth local brand on the top 10 list.

Among all foreign brands, Honda replaced Toyota, becoming the second most registered foreign brand in September in China. Nissan, BMW, Buick, Mercedes Benz, Audi and Hyundai all dropped in ranking compared with August. Cadillac fell out of the top 20 list to the 22nd.

Fewer changes were on the top 20 brands list by year-to-date insurance registrations. Tesla returned to the list thanks to its September registrations while Chevrolet, one member on the Jan.-Aug. list, disappeared from the Jan.-Sept. list.

On the top 20 models list by September insurance registrations, the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV rose to the second, outnumbering the Lavida, which had been a long-time runner-up, and only 3,754 fewer than the most registered locally-made passenger model, the Sylphy, which accounted for more then half of Nissans monthly registrations. The other Chinese-branded model among the top 5 models was the Haval H6, whose ranking descended from the fourth on August list to fifth.

33,029 Tesla Model Y were registered in September, ranking fourth by monthly volume and exceeding that of the Model 3, whose monthly registrations were nearly 20,000 vehicles.

By Jan.-Sept. registrations, the top 9 models remained the same as the list of the first eight months. The XR-V jumped three spots to the fourteenth and the RAV4 entered into the list again.

In the NEV segment, the insurance registrations in September nearly tripled (up by 190%) from a year ago and jumped 41.78% versus the volume of August to 324,474 vehicles. Notably, NEVs took up 19.6% of the total monthly insurance registrations, 5.6 percentage points more than the share of August.

In the first nine months, a total of 1,756,106 NEVs were registered in the country, representing a ratio of 12% of the year-to-date registrations of all vehicles.

By monthly NEV registrations, Teslas ranking soared from the twentieth in August to the second, surpassing Wuling. ORA from Great Wall Motor fell from the third to the seventh. Among all local startups, Li Auto had its ranking down from the sixth in August to the fourteenth. NIO jumped three spots to the eighth while XPeng rose to the ninth. There was a new member on the monthly brand list by NEV registrations. That is Buick, which registered 3,462 NEVs in September.

BYD turned out to be the brand with the highest year-to-date NEV registrations volume, surpassing Wuling, the champion by the first eight months registrations. Volkswagen rose to the seventh, outnumbering NIO by only 382 vehicles.

Tesla occupied two of the top 3 NEV models by September registrations while BYD also had two models among the top 5, thanks to the BYD Song PLUS DM-is jumping to the fifth. But the BYD Qin PLUS DM-i was the only one with month-on-month decrease (7.28%) among the top 5 models.

Apart from a new member, there seemed no changes on the Jan.-Sept. list from Jan.-Aug. list. The new comer is the BYD Song PLUS DM-i. The Tesla Model 3 was the second most registered NEV model in the first nine months of this year, which was different from the September list.
An acknowledgement of Indigenous lands appears on the horizon for Flagstaff City Council meetings as members on Tuesday unanimously gave strong support for a statement to be read at the outset of future discussions.

The land acknowledgment comes after it was workshopped by the citys Indigenous Commission beginning in July. With city councils support, the acknowledgement is now scheduled for final approval at the Tuesday meeting.

The acknowledgement was presented to city council Tuesday by Rose Toehe, the citys coordinator for Indigenous initiatives. It reads:

The Flagstaff City Council humbly acknowledges the ancestral homelands of this areas Indigenous nations and original stewards. These lands, still inhabited by Native descendants, border mountains sacred to Indigenous peoples. We honor them, their legacies, their traditions, and their continued contributions. We celebrate their past, present, and future generations who will forever know this place as home.

Councilmember Austin Aslan, who introduced the consideration of a land acknowledgement through an agenda item request earlier this year, said it was important to share where the idea came from. He said the land acknowledgment that is read by the Southside Neighborhood Association inspired him to make the request to the council.

I want to give credit to Deb Harris and the Southside Neighborhood Association for paving the way for this, Aslan said. This is very much the least that we can do, but it is something that we can do.

Vice Mayor Becky Daggett said she was proud to be on the city council that would eventually approve and utilize the acknowledgement. She thanked Toehe for her work on the acknowledgement.

Rose, thank you so much for shepherding this through groups, organizations, and really making sure we heard from the public and that we had a consensus on a statement, Daggett said.

In addition to receiving support from the council, several public commenters showed up to Tuesdays meeting to advocate for its approval.

I would like to thank you all for acknowledging land that is sacred to more than 14 tribes in this area, Indigenous commission member Fawn Toya said. "This is an opening of many doors that need to be opened within the city.

Diversity Awareness commission member Jean Toner was present at the meeting to support moving the approval forward.

She informed the council that Flagstaffs Commission on Diversity Awareness just recently approved a recommendation that the council adopt the land acknowledgement as drafted by the Indigenous Commission.

The Commission on Diversity Awareness cannot overstate the value of the long overdue acknowledgement of Indigenous peoples' homelands and the revered place of the sacred ground both past and currently, the recommendation states.

Kiara Weathersby, a Northern Arizona University student development manager in the Office of Indigenous Student Success, said she supported the current language of the acknowledgement, but added that students have voiced a preference for the specific tribal communities and nations to be listed.

The drafting process saw thorough engagement from a diverse sample of the public, according to City Manager Greg Clifton. He said iterations of the acknowledgement have been before many eyes and there have been discussions on every word.

Councilmember Adam Shimoni said that throughout the process of drafting the land acknowledgement, his biggest concern was making sure it was inclusive.

I really feel like this is it, Shimoni said. I am excited to see us move forward with this hopefully as-is. I have heard commissioners speak to the importance of their words, and hopefully we don't start tinkering with this.

According to the meeting agenda, the purpose of the land acknowledgement is to formally acknowledge and reflect on the attempted erasure of Indigenous peoples and the historic trauma caused by colonialism.

Councilmember Miranda Sweet said the acknowledgment is long overdue. According to the Indigenous Commission, the practice will create opportunities for deeper understanding and support future collaboration with Indigenous community members.

I am utterly proud and happy to put my support behind this, Mayor Paul Deasy said.

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ATLANTA (AP)  A large spider native to East Asia has spun its thick, golden web on power lines, porches and vegetable patches all over north Georgia this year  a proliferation that has driven some unnerved homeowners indoors and prompted a flood of anxious social media posts.

In metro Atlanta, Jennifer Turpin  a self-described arachnophobe  stopped blowing leaves in her yard after inadvertently walking into a web created by the Joro spider. Stephen Carter has avoided a walking trail along the Chattahoochee River where he encountered Joro webs every dozen steps.

Farther east in Winterville, Georgia, Will Hudson's front porch became unusable amid an abundance of Joro webs 10 feet deep. Hudson estimates he's killed more than 300 of the spiders on his property.

"The webs are a real mess," said Hudson, an entomologist at the University of Georgia. "Nobody wants to come out of the door in the morning, walk down the steps and get a face full of spider web."

The Joro  Trichonephila clavata  is part of a group of spiders known as orb weavers for their highly organized, wheel-shaped webs. Common in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan, Joro females have colorful yellow, blue and red markings on their bodies. They can measure three inches across when their legs are fully extended.

It's not clear exactly how and when the first Joro spider arrived in the U.S. In Georgia, a researcher identified one about 80 miles northeast of Atlanta in 2014. They have also been found in South Carolina, and Hudson is convinced they will spread across the South.

It's also not clear why they are so abundant this year, though experts agree their numbers have exploded.

"We see natural ebbs and flows in the populations of many different species that may be linked to local conditions, particularly slight changes in rainfall," said Paula Cushing, an arachnologist at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Cushing and other experts say Joros are not a threat to humans or dogs and cats and won't bite them unless they are feeling very threatened. Hudson said a researcher collecting them with her bare hands reported the occasional pinch, but said the spiders never broke her skin.

Researchers, however, don't agree fully on what impact, if any, the spider will have on other species and the environment.

Debbie Gilbert, 67, isn't waiting to find out. She has adopted a zero-tolerance policy for the spiders around her home in Norcross, Georgia, winding their webs with a stick, bringing them down and stomping them.

"I don't advocate killing anything. I live in peace with all the spiders around here and everything else," she said. "But (Joros) just don't belong here, that's all."

Nancy Hinkle, another entomologist at the University of Georgia, said Joros help suppress mosquitoes and biting flies and are one of the few spiders that will catch and eat brown marmorated stink bugs, which are serious pests to many crops.

Most of the Joros are expected to die by late November, but they may return in equally large, or even larger, numbers next year, though scientists say even that is hard to predict with any certainty.

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The government of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Thursday met the media to respond to claims of forced labor in the region made by US politicians. According to the spokesperson for the autonomous regional government, the accusations contradict the facts in Xinjiang and ignore the good life of its people.

The Xinjiang regional government says the US has no right to interfere in China's domestic affairs. Xu Guixiang, spokesperson for Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Government, said, "The so-called Xinjiang-related issues are not ethnic, religious, or human rights issues, but are anti-violence, anti-infiltration, anti-separatism, and anti-interference issues. However, the US leader turns a blind eye to this, wilfully continuing the Trump administration's legacy."

The spokesperson said that the Xinjiang government prioritizes people-centered development with favorable labor and employment policies. Official figures show that the annual income of Xinjiang workers on contract in other provinces or cities in China is about 40,000 yuan per capita. That's about equal to the disposable income of local urban residents. In comparison, the annual income of workers on contract in Xinjiang outside their hometowns is about 30,000 yuan per capita. It's much higher than the household income of those involved in farming.

Also speaking were representatives from Xinjiang's cotton textile industry, silicon mining industry, and garment industry. One of the representatives was from one of the six enterprises on the US entity list for "violating human rights and high-tech surveillance." They said US accusations and sanctions could destroy their lives.




Bailey and Gray spoke on behalf of Claudette Colvin as she asked a court on Tuesday to remove records stemming her from arrest and conviction after she refused to move to the back of a bus in compliance with racial segregation laws in March 1955 in Montgomery. Now 82, Colvin was a 15-year-old high school student at the time.

My mindset was on freedom, she said after filing the expungement request, which has yet to be decided.

An attorney representing Colvin, Phillip Ensler, said he would support a bid to expunge the court records of other activists from the civil rights movement. But Colvin, who was convicted of assaulting an officer during her arrest and declared delinquent, isn't sure that such an effort would be possible since there was so much injustice for so long.

That would take a hundred years, maybe 200 years to go through the court system, she said. You could never finish it.

Representatives from The King Center in Atlanta and The Rosa and Raymond Parks Foundation in Detroit, where Parks lived most of her life, did not return emails seeking comment.
Chinas in some of the same situations as most countries. They want to address climate but they know its very difficult to convert, Baucus said.

He continued to say there is no doubt in his mind that China would be receptive to making larger strides to address climate change, but the United States needs to lead that charge.

Gore agreed and added that he is optimistic about the two countries making progress due to their rapidly shifting economics.

Both countries are acting largely out of economic self-interest to try and establish a leadership position in the new industries of the future  although I want to make it clear that the optimism has to be met with transparency and accountability, regardless of the country in question, Gore said. We need to be able to monitor the progress being made and hold one another accountable to our pledges.

Another question sought to clarify how Tribal communities fit into the climate change equation in terms of impacts and solutions.

Gore commended Indigenous leaders for their continued efforts in standing up to the oil and gas companies who have been developing fossil fuel pipelines through land they consider sacred, as well as vital aquifers.
Its unclear exactly how Montana-based federal contractors will navigate the dueling state and federal requirements going forward. They include large construction companies that have won federal contracts to build everything from projects at Malmstrom Air Force Base and hydroelectric dams to sections of the wall spanning part of the U.S.-Mexico border.

David Smith, the executive director of the Montana Contractors Association, said Thursday that he considered the governors guidance great news for his members, who include many construction contractors in the state.

He worries that Bidens order could push many employees at construction companies with federal contractors to quit and go work for other outfits. Many Montanans have refused to get vaccinated against COVID, and the states rate of fully vaccinated residents stands at just 51%, compared with 58% nationwide.

To have that sort of blackmail, that you cant do work for the federal government if youre not 100% vaccinated, is kind of egregious, Smith said.

His organization supported House Bill 702, the legislation that created Montanas prohibition on vaccine mandates earlier this year. He said vaccines should be encouraged, but the companies he represents dont want to have to enforce mandates for their employees.
Work is underway to launch a cultural center and museum telling the Apsaalooke story from the heart of the Crow Nation.

Little Big Horn College administrators, in collaboration with Crow historians, educators and architects, are reaching out to the rest of the tribe to guide the construction of a massive addition to the college campus. The goal of the new building will be to house exhibits and programs planned, constructed and curated by Crow tribal members for natives and non-natives.

They should join us because what they have to say is important," said Mardell Plainfeather, a Crow woman who is also member of the centers project team, on input from tribal members. "They may not think so, but it is. Even though you may not know much about the Crow culture, tell us what you want to learn. Tell us what you want to see in the cultural center.
Gordon has expressed wariness, though, about fighting federal mandates with state ones. Similar concerns Friday killed the only remaining COVID-19-related bill originating in the Senate, on a 15-13 vote.

Lawmakers worried that prohibiting discrimination based on a person's vaccination status would have unforeseen and unintended consequences for businesses.

We now have a bill in front of us that has zero impact on the president, it has zero impact on his mandates, zero impact on his overreach. But it has a huge impact on Wyoming businesses. We are about to create another protected class, said Sen. Dave Kinskey, R-Sheridan.

The bill would open the way for still more ways to sue businesses, Kinskey added, calling it a lawyer's field day.

Lawmakers aren't fully aware of how the bill could play out, said Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas.

I think we need a sledgehammer. This is a wrecking ball. A wrecking ball we don't exactly know where exactly it's going to hit, Boner said.

Supporters included Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, who said the bill is indeed about discrimination."
As disgruntled citizens grope for a solution -- any solution -- for the disarray in our status quo political system, they are grasping at structural reforms, abolishing the Electoral College, creating a multiparty system, designing new ballots and voting directly for president, to name a few.

Every time a new cause appears, the social media are full of solicitations, some of dubious origins. Money is being gathered to abolish the Electoral College. Contributors should realize that this is a futile effort and they could make better investments at casinos.

To abolish the Electoral College would require submission by two-thirds of each house of Congress and ratification by three-fourth of the states. Democrats think abolition would benefit them and Republicans think the system already benefits them. Right off the bat, we have two competitive parties opposing each other, meaning they will never overcome the majorities required for amending the Constitution.

After George Wallace carried five states for 46 electoral votes in 1968, both parties realized that a third party could bargain with the major parties on radical issues and they would end up in a bidding war. Republicans were especially concerned and espoused alternate ways for casting electoral votes to keep people like Wallace from getting leverage in the future.

Reform of the Electoral College disappeared like a cellophane cat in hell. Nothing was done and were still arguing about it 54 years later as though it were a fresh mackerel. It isnt going to happen.

George Wallace proved that a hazard of the Electoral College is its vulnerability to minority parties, not that they could repeat Wallaces successful win of electoral votes but as spoilers.

The most recent spoiler was 2000 when Green Partys Ralph Nader gave the election to George W. Bush by bleeding Albert Gore votes in the races for electors. So there is room for dangerous political dropouts in the Electoral College.

In addition to the abolition of the Electoral College, direct vote for president has been picking up steam. Because advocates know it cannot succeed in the normal status quo climate, they are supporting legislation by states to cast their electoral votes for the presidential candidate who gets the largest popular vote.

A recent Washington Post-ABC poll found that 56% of the electorate favors the direct election while only 37% favors continuing the Electoral College. But the people have no voice in the decision, so popular opinion will be dismissed out of hand.

As of April 2021, 16 jurisdictions with 195 electoral votes have ratified the compact, leaving the campaign 75 electors short of the 270 needed to activate the compact.

It should be noted that the national vote committee has enjoyed picking the low-hanging fruit. The remaining states include a number of small states, among them North Dakota, that think the Electoral College gives them disproportionate leverage in choosing presidents. Mathematical calculations prove that this is not correct, but perception is truth.

Direct popular election has merit but it also has negatives to worry about. It would encourage the formation of multiple parties, with each screening votes away from the two major parties. All sorts of candidates would get on the ballot unless access was limited to candidates with minimal strength.

In the Democratic Party, the progressives would have a candidate and, at the other end of the spectrum, the Manchin group would have a candidate, perhaps Sen. Joe Manchin himself. (He would be a minor, minor candidate.)

In the Republican Party, Rep. Liz Cheney would be a likely candidate and so would Sen. Mitt Romney.

Unless the popular vote system was restrained, it could destroy the two major parties and create havoc in the political system.

As for me, I lean to abolishing the Electoral College and approving the popular vote, not for partisan reasons but if equality of people is good enough for God, it is good enough for me.

Lloyd Omdahl is a political scientist and former North Dakota Democratic lieutenant governor.

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The latest North Dakota coronavirus news: tourism, child shots and more.

Tourism campaign

The North Dakota Department of Commerce Tourism and Marketing Division used $6.5 million of federal CARES Act coronavirus pandemic relief aid to raise awareness of the state.

Rather than a limited run of advertising in early summer, campaigns including television, billboard, transit wraps, print, digital, social and email started earlier and will run through mid-December. The regional advertising push also was expanded to include niche campaigns in specific markets and with targeted travelers.

The division hosted the annual Tourism Industry Marketing Summit this week, bringing together more than 100 tourism officials from across the state for professional development, industry meetings and a report on 2021 marketing efforts.

Summit attendees reported excellent results from the expanded marketing, including cooperative programs that offered in-state advertising and promotions, Commerce Tourism and Marketing Director Sara Otte Coleman said. Many events and attractions in the state have noted that 2021 has been a record year for attendance.

Tourism and Marketing is intensifying advertising and marketing efforts in preparation for the U.S. border reopening to Canadian recreational travelers in November.

Boo to the Flu

Sanford Childrens in Bismarck is hosting "Boo to the Flu" from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Children ages 6 months to 18 years can receive their flu vaccination and go trick-or-treating at the event. The COVID-19 vaccine also will be available for children 12 years and older. Masks are required for patients and visitors.

Appointments are required. Call 701-323-5437. For more information, go to sanfordhealth.org and use the keywords: Boo to the Flu.

Testing and vaccines

A comprehensive list of free COVID-19 testing offered by local public health units in North Dakota can be found at health.nd.gov/covidtesting.

In Bismarck, PCR and rapid antigen tests are administered Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the strip mall at 2805 Morrison Ave., Suite A. PCR tests also are administered Monday through Thursday from 10-11 a.m. at Northland Health Centers, 914 S. 12th St., Suite 101.

People who have registered for COVID-19 testing through TestReg.nd.gov can access results for tests through a state service called the Citizen Portal. Instructions can be found at https://bit.ly/3jqiudf.

People can go to https://www.ndvax.org or call 866-207-2880 to see where COVID-19 vaccine is available near them.

Both Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health and Custer Health in Mandan are offering vaccine to the general public.

To register with Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, go to https://www.ndvax.org and search for a Bismarck vaccination event. For assistance, call 701-355-1540.

Morton County residents should go to https://www.ndvax.org and search for "Custer Health" or call 701-667-3370 to register. Custer Health has a vaccination clinic at 1100 32nd Ave. SE in Units D and E, off Memorial Highway.

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When the Legislature this year directed the State Investment Board to invest a certain amount of the Legacy Fund in-state, the decision made sense.

The Legacy Funds North Dakota Growth Fund program targets a 3% allocation of the $8.4 billion Legacy Fund toward private capital, with a preference to in-state investments.

The idea was to give a boost to in-state companies, sort of a shop local mandate. The Investment Board selected 50 South Capital to manage the Growth Fund as a general partner.

50 South Capital announced its first investment this week, and to say its disappointing is an understatement.

Statewide, the publics interest in the Legacy Fund and how its used remains high. So, when it became known that 50 South made a major investment in St. Louis-based Lewis & Clark AgriFood, people were hungry for details. Thats apparently the last thing the board, 50 South Capital or Lewis & Clark wanted to provide.

They wouldnt even say how much of the publics money was invested with Lewis & Clark. The company cited confidential information as the reason for not disclosing the amount. Tribune attempts to get more information resulted in referrals that prompted more referrals.

The Legislature passed a number of bills this year outlining how the Legacy Fund earnings should be put to use. It included infrastructure bonding repayments and in-state investments. While Lewis & Clark isnt an in-state company, it touts its "long track record of investing in the state." The company said it has invested in one North Dakota company, the agriculture app Bushel. No one will comment on how the Legacy Fund's investment in Lewis & Clark AgriFood will be invested in North Dakota.

The Tribune editorial board is less concerned that the company is based in St. Louis than we are over the secrecy of how much was invested. If the company wasnt interested in being transparent, it should have turned down the money.

And state officials shouldnt have agreed to make the investment confidential. The public deserves to know how much of its money is being invested and where. The use of the Legacy Fund has been controversial at times, and putting a cloak of secrecy over it will only make it more so.

It doesnt help that the state Retirement and Investment Office has been slow to implement new Legacy Fund investment mandates because of staff vacancies.

The Legacy Fund has exceeded expectations since voters created it in 2010. It has the potential to benefit North Dakota in many ways. Because there are many differing opinions on how the money should be put to use, it is essential that the process be transparent.

The State Investment Board and 50 South Capital need to rethink how they approach investments. The public needs to know how much money is invested and the companies involved. The public is the real investor, and the board and 50 South Capital work for the public.

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Last week, AP reporter James MacPherson wrote that North Dakota Tourism was working to extend its contract with actor Josh Duhamel.

Since 2013, Duhamel has been the face and voice of ND Tourism. In exchange, he's been paid over a million dollars averaging nearly $300,000 every two years.

To be clear, Im a fan and think hes done a good job promoting our state.

But tourism is North Dakota's third-biggest industry and with visitor numbers down 21% and spending down nearly 31% in 2020, we need a fresh approach.

Its simply harder to make an impact in advertising with the same talent for nearly a decade. Even Taco Bell didnt use Duhamel year after year to promote their Nacho Fries when they hired him in 2018.

So if Duhamels contract isnt renewed, how else could ND Tourism promote North Dakota?

Here are some ideas:

1. Enlist new homegrown stars. Why not Molly Yeh, Carson Wentz, Tigirlily, or Tonia Jo Hall?

2. Embrace the movie and TV series Fargo. Maybe Frances McDormand or Chris Rock would film some ads for $300,000?

3. Enrich the website. The number of visits to the state's tourism website jumped 51% in 2020. Can we add virtual or augmented reality to keep visitors engaged?

4. Highlight the Badlands. North Dakotas biggest tourism draw is the Badlands. Why not hire world-famous Teddy Roosevelt impersonator (and ND resident) Joe Wiegand to showcase the state?

5. Hire influencers. Social media influencers can often reach wider audiences than traditional advertising.

In short, our third biggest industry shouldnt be marketed in 2022 like its 2013. ND Tourisms marketing should be as original and powerful as the state itself. While Josh Duhamel has been a great partner for the past eight years, maybe its time to find new talent in North Dakota.

Matt Fern, Bismarck

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In the empty mountain nobody is in sight,

But hear people talking delight,

Into the deep forest the sun shines,

Upon the green moss reflects sunlight.

















Purple mist arises from Incense Summit under the sunshine,

Before the mountain a waterfall like a curtain hangs by,

Straight down three thousand feet the torrent runs from high,

As if Milky Way falls from the highest sky.

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On October 25, 2021, Texas State Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth) sent a letter to school districts across the state, asking them to review a 16-page list of books that may contain some "objectionable content." "Pursuant to Government Code Section 301.020(a)(4)," he wrote, "the Texas House Committee on General Investigating may initiate inquiries concerning any 'matter the committee considers necessary for the information of the legislature or for the welfare and protection of state citizens.'"

In addition to his compiled list, Rep. Krause alsoasks the districts to identity any other books or content that may "address or contain" certain topics including:

human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexually explicit images, graphic presentations of sexual behavior that is in violation of the law, or contain material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.

In other words, government authorities are coming after books with positive portrayals of racial, sexual, and gender diversity and/or disability. Same as it ever was. In this case, the attack is being framed with the vocabulary of the "anti-CRT" hysteria, feigning concern about students feeling "guilty" about the fact that other people throughout history may have unfairly suffered because of their race, gender, or ability.

Anyway, here's the full list. You might notice some common themes. It includes several books with "Black Lives Matter" in the title, and several others critical of policing. Multiple nonfiction books and memoirs on LGBTQIA+ lives and history, as well as books on how we categorize and assess gender. They're even targeting a book about the history of the man who invented Wonder Woman (because he was a polyamorous feminist into S&M and also invented the polygraph)! Pretty much every book with "Roe v Wade" in the title is on there as well; in fact, that goes all the way back to Michael Crichton's 1969 novel A Case of Need. Hell, there are a bunch of basic teen pregnancy and burgeoning sexuality books on there, too. They've even got Alan Moore's V for Vendetta on there, and the utterly delightful new Latinx trans YA fantasy Cemetery Boys. The graphic novel version of The Handmaid's Tale. Oddly, they list a 2019 book called "The Last Man" by author Brian K. Vaughan, which is presumably supposed to be the 2002-2008 comic book series Y The Last Man but sure. Oh, and of course, They called themselves the K.K.K. : the birth of an American terrorist group needs to be banned as well  wouldn't want anybody feeling bad about being in the fucking KKK.

When I shared the news with my friend Michael Barakiva, whose queer YA novels One Man Guy and Hold My Hand are both on the list, he said, "I am truly honored and flattered to be included on this list. I'd like to thank everyone in Texas for their consideration and thoughtfulness."

Anyway I'm sure all of those Cancel Culture profiteers will be filling their Substack newsletters with furious creeds about this injustice, right? </sarcasm>

Texas lawmaker says 850 books ranging from race to sexuality could cause 'discomfort' [Corky Siemaszko / NBC News]

Texas House committee to investigate school districts' books on race and sexuality [Brian Lopez / Texas Tribune]

Image: San Jose Public Library / Flickr (CC-BY-SA 2.0)
The answer, according to researchers, was largely "no." Nicholas, the forum's moderator, said the opportunity to begin transforming Black Buffalo 31 years ago was not approached with any sense of intentionality.

"Unfortunately, because we weren't intentional, because we didn't make things a priority, and we didn't hold anyone accountable, the condition of Black Buffalo did not get better," Nicholas said.

Taylor said the idea behind the 1990 study was to take a long view of Black Buffalo.

"The idea was to gain insight into the trend lines. We wanted to see where that community was going, whether it was rising or whether it was falling along the trajectory," Taylor said.

He said the studies of sociologist William Julius Wilson on the relationship between Blacks and the post-industrial economy informed the development of the current study's theoretical framework and model.

"Wilson argued that the emerging knowledge economy was creating a new type of Black inequality, that as the economy evolved and developed, some Blacks would be pushed up, but the majority would be pulled down and locked in the low-income sector of the labor market," Taylor said.
But the Dixon campaign's strategy also makes sense.

"There are over 335,000 more enrolled Democrats than Republicans," Davis said. "She has to overcome that enrollment disadvantage. Direct mail is very targeted and can be very effective."

Both sides have raised more than $100,000 so far, which isn't considered a lot of money for a countywide race, Davis said. But they are also getting party assistance with doing door-to-door campaigning, campaign literature drops and other messaging.

Given the fragmentation of broadcast, cable and streaming media, Fiume and Davis said, it can be difficult to assess the impact of TV messaging, which is why the Dixon campaign is putting the bulk of its money on mail.

Jessica Schuster, Hardwick's campaign manager, said suppressing the Democratic vote in the comptroller's race is part of the Dixon campaign's toolkit.

"I think their idea is to kind of confuse people in the city, keep people from voting for Kevin, which keeps the race a lot closer," she said.

Dixon's campaign sent out a mailer designed to look like it came from Hardwick's people, photoshopping an image of Hardwick to make it look as if he spoke at a Trump rally and featuring the phrase, "Make Erie County Great Again."
Democrat Town Board candidate Carly Story had a four-sentence reply, but Republicans zeroed in on the last line that said she would "funnel funding away from our overstaffed police."

Her answer in full was: "This is an area of particular concern for me, and I plan to use my knowledge and skills as a social worker to educate and advocate for rehabilitative and restorative practices versus punitive punishment. As a member of the Hamburg Coalition for Equity and Inclusion, we have ongoing contact with our town police chief, the police liaison to our group. Being able to bring concerns of residents to his attention in a more informal setting has been eye-opening, and I plan to work to maintain that relationship. I also aim to advocate for funneling of funding away from our overstaffed police force to community organizations for preventative resources."

Story said the quote was cherry-picked and she wants to make sure all community resources are well funded, not just the police force.

"If we can prevent things from happening, then we don't have to ask police to respond to things outside law enforcement," she said.
If India Walton had her way, the battered two-story building at High and Peach streets would have been fixed up or replaced a long time ago.

Instead, Buffalos Democratic mayoral nominee stood in the buildings shadow on a hot October morning, gesturing at the weeds in the foundation and the jagged glass in the broken second-story windows. Since at least the early '90s, the vacant building  once the office of an anti-poverty organization  has belonged to the City of Buffalo, which made tremendous infrastructure and planning investments down the street at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Now, Walton said, the building serves as an example of how anti-poverty policy would look different under her administration: namely, that shell prioritize issues such as affordable housing and neighborhood conditions over just about any other policy objective.

We can't just pretend as if our current policies have been doing the job, Walton said. Because, clearly, they haven't.

Few would argue that poverty isnt a colossal problem in Buffalo  a problem so entrenched and ubiquitous, in fact, that its almost taken as a given. When Waltons opponent, incumbent Mayor Byron Brown, entered office in 2006, the citywide poverty rate sat at 29.9%. It has not changed appreciably since then.

But Walton and Brown differ sharply in their beliefs about the policies best suited to address it. Brown, who rarely uses the word poverty in interviews or public appearances, has bet that economic development and partnerships with nonprofit organizations will improve neighborhood conditions and generate new and better jobs for low-income residents.

Walton, a self-described democratic socialist who has made poverty the key theme of her campaign, advocates for what some progressives call regenerative economics  collective ownership, such as co-operative businesses and community land trusts, that she says will more equitably spread wealth and power.

Evaluating the relative merits of these approaches is difficult: The effectiveness of anti-poverty interventions comes down to implementation, said Laura Tach, a sociologist at Cornell University who studies social policy. City governments also have only limited influence over the big-picture, macroeconomic factors that contribute to poverty.

Political cycles are shorter than the time horizon its going to take to lower the poverty rate, Tach said. So its a difficult thing to solve, and an easy thing to critique.

2021 Election: Brown, Walton paint opposing pictures of housing in Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown sees a city on the rise. His opponent, Democratic nominee India Walton, sees an aging city mired in failed policies of the past.

Deep poverty, little progress

Almost half of Buffalos children live in poverty, according to the Census Bureau, and roughly 30% of the citys renters spend at least half their income on housing. While statistical variables make it difficult to produce a definitive ranking, Buffalo also falls among the very poorest large and mid-sized U.S. cities.

That distinction has dogged Brown, perhaps unfairly, since the earliest days of his administration. Researchers and advocates who study poverty caution that federal and state policies  such as tax credits, rent assistance and food benefits  influence poverty rates far more than municipal interventions. In 2019, the National Academies of Sciences published a landmark 600-page blueprint for reducing child poverty in the United States, modeling the strategies that would most benefit low-income households. They found that a package of federal program expansions  such as the enhanced child tax credit implemented in March  would most directly, and quickly, bring child poverty down.

That said  while poverty rates have for years remained level in upstate cities such as Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany  Rochesters poverty rate has fallen since 2015, coinciding with the launch of an aggressive campaign to raise wages, better fund basic services and provide low-income adults with intensive career mentoring.

Nationally, the poverty rate has fluctuated with the health of the economy, dropping to a record low of 10.5% in 2019.

+3 2021 election issues: Does Byron Brown deserve credit for Buffalo's population increase? Brown's supporters in Buffalo's immigrant communities say he is doing the right things to make newcomers feel welcome in the city, but India Walton says she will do even more for them.

By definition, those communities that have the most severe poverty are those that have the least ability to raise revenue to address it, said Kate Breslin, the president of the non-profit Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, which studies poverty in New York. There are things municipalities can do, but municipalities need the state, and the states need the federal government.

Even with that caveat, however, Brown has failed to deliver on anti-poverty commitments he made early in his tenure. In 2009, for instance, after releasing an 80-page report titled the Buffalo Poverty Reduction Blueprint, Brown promised to empanel a task force of experts that would develop a concrete strategy for attacking what he has called the citys alarming poverty numbers.

The task force, however, received no dedicated staff or city funds, and within months fizzled out from lack of support, said Henry Louis Taylor, Jr., the University at Buffalo academic whom Brown appointed to co-chair it. Brown told The News the city never sought to reinstate the task force because it determined that agencies could coordinate anti-poverty efforts themselves.

On Oct. 21, Taylor and the UB Center for Urban Studies published a report that found Black Buffalonians had not made progress on several critical measures, including unemployment and poverty, in more than 30 years. A more aggressive anti-poverty agenda could have moved the needle, he said, adding that none of the citys last three mayors "understood" poverty or prioritized anti-poverty programs.

Brown has pitched development and infrastructure projects in poor neighborhoods as a means of reducing poverty, as he did in a 2016 interview with Channel 4 News. Asked to respond to an earlier story about the citys high poverty rate, Brown brought the station a list of East Side development projects supported or funded over his term.

Election 2021 issues: Should Buffalo be a 'sanctuary city'? Walton, Brown disagree That disagreement comes against the backdrop of a broader national debate: Academics and others cite a lack of statistical evidence that becoming a sanctuary city increases crime; immigration skeptics cite isolated anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

Those investments, which typically draw from a combination of state, local and federal funds, total in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the governors office. Such investments improve neighborhood conditions and quality of life, Brown has said, and generate better-paying jobs for low-income residents.

Our approach has been pretty strategic: to partner with other entities, recognizing that no one entity can eradicate poverty, Brown said. It hasnt been done federally and it hasnt been done by one state or county or city. It has to be all hands on deck.

Research shows low-income residents see small employment and wage gains from some types of nearby infrastructure and economic development, said Tach, the Cornell sociologist, which has made it a popular tactic in both state and federal aid programs. But because the benefits to low-income people are minimal and pose a risk of displacement, critics often use the same research to argue against revitalization as a means of fighting poverty, she added.

In an October interview about his anti-poverty agenda, Brown also emphasized the property tax rate cuts made during his administration, which he said may have prevented even larger rent increases than many low-income households experienced. His administration sponsors summer reading and employment programs for young adults, he added, and beautifies roughly 30 blocks a year through its Clean Sweep program.

Brown also cites his investments in the Northland Workforce Training Center and Say Yes to Education. The executive directors of both organizations say Brown lobbied to bring them to Buffalo. Northland, a state workforce development initiative that trains Western New Yorkers for advanced manufacturing jobs, currently enrolls 143 students from the city of Buffalo. Say Yes, meanwhile, reports that since its launch in 2012, high school graduation rates in Buffalo Public Schools climbed by 16 percentage points before the pandemic  one of several leading indicators that might signal a future change in the poverty rate, researchers said.

The City of Buffalo provides a small fraction of the organizations annual funding. Browns deputy mayor also meets every three weeks with an advisory board of policymakers, parent groups and other Say Yes partners, said David Rust, the organizations executive director.

The mayor has served as an ambassador for this coalition, said Rust, one of two nonprofit executives who agreed to discuss the persistence of poverty in Buffalo. Representatives from the John R. Oishei Foundation, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and the Community Action Organization of Western New York all declined, citing busy schedules or an inability to comment on issues that some might consider political.

But again, these are deeply entrenched problems that have taken a long time to get to the point we're at today, and its going to take time to move the needle on some of them, Rust said.

Walton's approach

In contrast to Brown, Walton has centered her campaign around questions such as affordable housing, racial equity and labor market gaps, speaking often about the problems faced by Buffalo's poorest. In that alone, she already diverges from a long political legacy in Buffalo, Taylor said.

Fight for the poor, the working class, the vulnerable, she wrote on Twitter last week, not those who brutalize, harass, exploit, and condemn them.

In nearly 900 posts, Brown has never tweeted the words poor, poverty or low-income from his campaign Twitter account.

Its far from clear, however, whether Waltons agenda could lower the poverty rate where Browns could not. A former community activist and organizer who said she grew up poor, Walton favors a bottom-up approach to anti-poverty policy, leaning on existing community networks and programs that give low-income people the ability to buy homes and open businesses.

Walton plans, for instance, to set up a network of street teams that would walk door-to-door connecting residents with city and social services. Such a program has no direct precedent in New York State, said the Schuyler Centers Breslin, and Walton said she didnt yet know how she would fund it.

Walton has also championed community land trusts, which can give low-income people a path to secure, affordable homeownership. In a typical residential land trust, families own their homes outright, but lease the land beneath it from the trust. They only have to buy the house. The trust sets certain terms in its land leases. For instance, it can artificially keep the home price lower than market value when it's sold, or it can put income restrictions on buyers. And many land trusts also have down payment programs.

+3 2021 Election: Role of police a clear dividing line in race for Buffalo mayor The contrasting philosophies of Mayor Byron Brown and challenger India Walton on policing mirror a nationwide dialogue about the American criminal justice system.

Walton has also said she would seek to launch a universal basic income pilot with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a national alliance whose membership includes the mayors of Pittsburgh and Rochester.

Walton said she would model her pilot on a high-profile, grant-funded trial in Stockton, Calif., which for two years gave $500 per month to 125 low-income families, no strings attached. According to a study of the trial published in March, participants were twice as likely as their neighbors to find full-time jobs and reported better physical and emotional health.

Brown also proposed a basic income pilot earlier this year, but later rescinded it in favor of a proposal that would provide services such as child care and transportation to low-income people in job training programs.

I believe that there are just certain universal things that should be true: that everyone deserves housing, that everyone deserves decent food, Walton said. Everyone deserves clean water to drink and clean air to breathe. And as a society, we have enough resources to at least take care of that.

Policy experts cautioned that its difficult to judge the merits of Waltons proposals without knowing how she would implement them. Unlike Brown, who has 16 years of policies to dissect, Walton comes to the job with no political experience, and city governments have not tested her proposals at the scale she envisions.

For instance, the notion of assembling an on-the-ground infrastructure capable of connecting nearly 280,000 residents to city services sounds unrealistic on its face, Breslin said. She points out that most cities dont even maintain the sort of comprehensive service directory that canvassers would need to make referrals.

But there is a large and growing body of research that shows direct cash transfers, like those in basic income programs, can lift people out of poverty, said Sheila Smith, a researcher at the National Center for Children in Poverty. Twenty-seven U.S. cities have adopted pilots, according to Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, including Baltimore, St. Paul, Minn., and Newark, N.J.

Hundreds of U.S. cities have also embraced community land trusts: non-profit, community-based landholding organizations that seek to help low-income buyers obtain affordable homes. While land trusts operate independent of city government, many municipalities, including New York City and Seattle, have incentivized them with measures including tax exemptions and land and building donations. The building at High and Peach streets could have been one such donation, Walton said.

Walton has blamed the slow progress of the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust, where she served as executive director until 2019, on the Brown administrations choice not to offer similar supportive measures. The land trust built two new houses in total, and a plan brokered by Walton to build 50 additional affordable housing units in the Fruit Belt fell apart in mid-October.

In a televised debate on Wednesday, Brown seized on the projects collapse: She has no record of success with her ideas or philosophies, he said. In fact, she's been a failed housing executive.

But Walton said her lived experience  both at the land trust, and before that, as a nurse and young mother  give her an unrivaled understanding of the issues and policies that drag down the citys poorest people.

Dont be fooled  experience aint sitting behind some desk in somebodys city hall, she told supporters during a primary campaign speech over the summer. Experience is being out here working hard, raising children, and sometimes wondering where your next meal is going to come from.

This is the last in a series of stories looking at election issues in Buffalo ahead of the election for mayor. Read more:

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  A federal judge has ordered U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska not to be left alone with any evidence related to charges that he lied to FBI agents about illegal foreign donations to his campaign.

U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld in Los Angeles issued the ruling Thursday to try to protect confidential informants or cooperating witnesses in the case so they can potentially be used in other investigations.

Because these materials could be used to identify the confidential informants or cooperating witnesses, the court finds that the unauthorized dissemination or distribution of the materials may compromise the ability of such persons to participate effectively in future investigations in an undercover capacity and/or may expose him/her to potential safety risks," the judge said.

The judge said the order was necessary so that prosecutors can fulfill their duty to turn over evidence to Fortenberry's lawyers that may be used against him at trial. Prosecutors have said they might call current or former staffers of Fortenberry to testify in the case.

Fortenberry's attorney, John Littrell released a statement after the judge's order saying the action wasn't unusual.
Mayor Byron Brown stood outside the Delavan Grider Community Center as a steady flow of East Side residents arrived for early voting on a weekday afternoon last week.

+5 How to fix Buffalo's poverty? Mayoral candidates differ but agree City Hall can't do it alone Few would argue that poverty isnt a colossal problem in Buffalo  a problem so entrenched and ubiquitous, in fact, that its almost taken as a given. But India Walton and Byron Brown differ sharply in their beliefs about the policies best suited to address it.

Under a portable tent stacked with "Write Down Byron Brown" literature, the mayor and his team distributed pre-inked stamps emblazoned with his name and instructions for entering it on the ballot. They also handed out pamphlets and cards with exact directions for writing or stamping his name in the ballot's lower right corner, all part of the day's efforts to educate voters on the mechanics of a write-in vote.

"That's the key," Brown volunteer Kerry Saunders said as Brown looked on. "All you do is fill in the (write-in) oval and then write in the box for mayor. And right now we have a lot of people taking our stamps."

How Brown succeeds in this unusual campaign tactic will determine if he defeats India Walton for an unprecedented fifth term as mayor of New York's second-largest city. It's uncharted territory for this veteran of the city's formidable Democratic politics. That's because after losing the June Democratic party to Walton, he must not only defeat the endorsed nominee of his party in voting that ends Tuesday, but do it in a write-in effort rarely attempted on such a large scale.

From Wednesday's debate at St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, to an East Side event marking a neighborhood "Clean Sweep" event, to stops at various early voting sites, the mayor is a familiar sight. Everyone knows him. And just about everyone, it seems, has determined their vote. That's evident at the Delavan Grider Community Center, where his supporters accepted the stamp  but his opponents didn't.

"I voted for Mayor Brown," said a woman emerging from the community center, but who declined to give her name. "Look at the nice center we have. It wasn't here before he came."

Another man stepped out and pronounced it nobody's business for whom he voted. But a young woman with him stood on tip-toes to whisper "Byron Brown" into a reporter's ear.

At the Delavan Grider Community Center, a Walton supporter at the polls seemed to personify the election's deep divisions. He complained, among other things, that the mayor stepped over a line delineating a 100-foot barrier against campaigning near a polling site and began filming on his cellphone. Brown said he didn't care about engaging the Walton supporter and left.

Indeed, his unique campaign must still follow traditional paths as he touts his administration's accomplishments and lays out plans for the future. At St. Joe's, he talked about guiding the city through a pandemic without layoffs or new taxes or cuts in services. Taking on Walton in only the second debate of the campaign, he listed city support for the Say Yes program granting scholarships to graduates of city public and charter schools, 2,200 new units of affordable housing and the city's lowest tax rate in 30 years.

"This is about the city's future," he said at St. Joe's as he laid out a choice between Walton's democratic socialism and his own record of managing the city.

+4 South District stands as bastion of Brown support, but Walton targets pockets of poverty In a contest marked by passionate but divided loyalties throughout the city, Walton supporters say carrying their candidate's flag in South Buffalo is a tough assignment.

Getting in neighborhoods

Earlier in the day along Warwick Avenue on the East Side, Brown enjoyed the advantages of incumbency at the "Clean Sweep" event. The program brings together government partners to fix quality-of-life problems in low-income neighborhoods while addressing crime and providing needed social services.

Police cars blocked off both ends of Warwick, a Mayor's Impact Team truck provided a backdrop and a lectern bearing the official city seal allowed the mayor to address a small crowd while about two dozen officials and supporters stood behind him.

Brown used the occasion to address some of Walton's complaints from the debate just a few hours before. While never mentioning her name, Brown confronted her charges of ignoring the city's poor by highlighting the 32 Clean Sweep events held throughout the city this season "with resources for the most vulnerable of our residents." He said that during his time as mayor, officials have made 360 Clean Sweep visits to 4,600 homes in all nine Council districts.

After Walton complained during the debate that police officers should not deal with mental health emergencies, Brown singled out the Police Department's Capt. Amber Beyer, who heads a unit dealing with "more than 800 mental health calls since last year without a single incident."

"This is keeping people out of the criminal justice system and making a difference in the lives of people," he said.

Following more Walton criticism of city housing programs, he pointed out that Clean Sweep events often put residents in touch with city officials dealing with absentee landlord problems or to remediate lead pipes  a frequent Walton topic. Then he motioned to the head of the city block club association behind him.

"Somebody said I should work with block clubs," he said in a veiled reference to Walton at St. Joe's. "Well, we do work with block clubs."

The officials lined behind Brown at Wednesday's Clean Sweep underscored the power of his incumbency, even if many Walton supporters say "it's time for a change." Brown gathered the city's fire commissioner, the citizen services director, various police officials and a council member.

"Mayor, I can't say enough about your leadership," said Oswaldo Mestre, the city's director of citizen services, adding that Clean Sweep means "doing something different ... doing the right thing."

Masten Council Member Ulysees O. Wingo Sr., a Brown supporter, then stepped to the lectern. One of the few elected officials to take a stand in the election, Wingo outlined details of a program he said relies on data and metrics measuring performance of city services.

"Even though he is in the midst of a very contentious mayoral campaign, you can see the mayor's work does not stop," Wingo said. "He's been doing this for 15 1/2 years now. He has the experience to lead us not just to this level, but to the next level."

Across from the mayor's event along Warwick Avenue, Rashon Roberson was taking it all in. Like all voters, he has a choice between supporting the veteran mayor who had just pointed to his accomplishments and a newcomer who demands change. He remains undecided, even after the mayor's Clean Sweep presentation in front of his home.

"I might vote for him, though I would like to see a few more improvements made," Roberson said. "At least (Clean Sweep) shows he does something.

"But I might vote for India Walton, just to switch things up with a fresh face and fresh ideas."

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In a trial at 200 schools in the United Kingdom last spring, half the schools sent close contacts home, while the other half kept kids in school and gave them daily rapid tests for seven days. Both approaches saw similar rates of symptomatic infections.

Daily contact testing should be considered for implementation as a safe alternative to home isolation following school-based exposures, the study concluded.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not endorsed test-and-stay, saying it needs to study the data from districts that are trying it.

New York States Health Department put out a statement on Thursday saying that the state does not recommend test-to-stay, but that local health departments may try it if they follow certain guidelines. Individual school districts may not implement test-to-stay on their own  it must be initiated by local health departments  and the state will not provide funding for such programs, it says.

Erie Countys Health Department, through spokeswoman Kara Kane, told The News that it is aware of test-to-stay pilot programs in New York State, but until an evidence-based framework for a program like this is established, it is not something we can endorse.  ECDOH also has concerns about the accuracy of antigen tests for any test-to-stay program.
The origin of the phrase Dont change horses in midstream comes from an 1864 speech by Abraham Lincoln, in reply to a Delegation from the National Union League who were urging him to be their presidential candidate. An old Dutch farmer, remarked to a companion that it was not best to swap horses when crossing streams.

Lincolns phrase spread quickly. Harpers Weekly ran a political cartoon which showed Old Abe as a steady-looking, bearded horse with a voter sitting in the saddle. Lincolns opponent, George McClellan, was back in the bushes, surrounded with promises of peace and compromise.

People have to remember that when we first elected Byron Brown mayor, the City of Buffalo and Erie County were under control boards because of reckless management for 40 years. We were spiraling downwards without stop. I didnt believe it could be stopped. But then Brown came along and reversed course, heading us back up to where we always should have been.
Gale winds thrashed the little steamboat all night, huge waves pounding the wooden vessel until its planks loosened and water poured in.

The ships steam engine was designed to power the paddlewheels as they pulled the ship through Lake Erie on its regular Buffalo-to-Detroit route.

But through this long night, after the captain halted the westward journey and dropped three anchors, he diverted the engine to pumping out the water just to keep the boat afloat.

Eighteen passengers huddled below while Captain Jebediah Rogers stood on deck, watching the storm and searching for the glimmer of the lighthouse at the Buffalo waterfront he had left that afternoon on the last day of October 1821. All he saw was the ink blackness of night interrupted by the frothy waves crashing onto the deck. But he could hear the breakers on shore, and they grew closer. The anchors werent holding.

The night was one of terrible suspense. It was the impression of the great number of those on board that we should never see the morning, Mary Witherell Palmer, one of the passengers, later recalled. The water gained gradually, despite every exertion, and it became evident as the night wore on, that the boat must founder or run on shore.
Handout

Chris Kahunahana has been trying to make films for nearly 30 years.

Finally, his debut feature Waikiki has seen the light of day, first screened to audiences at the Hawaiian International Film Festival amid the ongoing pandemic in December of 2020. It is credited as the first narrative feature-length film written and directed by a native Hawaiian filmmaker.

In Hawaii, there is no shortage of stories to tell. Our traditions were passed down orally. So storytelling is just a part of what we do as Hawaiians, he says.

The shortage is in the funding.

Making this film was a challenge, next to impossible, Kahunahana explains. You have to have perseverance. For viewers, it probably isnt immediately obvious that the film was done run and gun style over a period of seven long years. To his credit, Kahunahana makes up for his lack of resources with sheer enthusiasm for his craft.

A scene from Chris Kahunahana's Waikiki Handout

Hawaii is one of the most expensive states to reside in, with a high cost of living coupled with a low median income. Kahunahana says theres a lot of talent within the small but mighty Hawaiian filmmaking community, but many are forced to work other jobs while balancing a film production just to stay afloat.

This is the norm for kanaka maoli filmmakers, as Native Hawaiians call themselves in their language. But Kahunahana had something to say. He gave up a glamorous life curating art shows in San Francisco and New York, running underground, independent film festivals, and owning a nightclub in Honolulu, to chase his filmmaking dream. From there, Waikiki was born.

The White Lotus and the Twisted Allure of Quality White Mess

The film is influenced by the people and places in Kahunahanas life in Hawaiiits the side that non-Hawaiians dont often get to see. Waikiki centers on Kea (Danielle Zalopany), a strong yet sympathetic native woman on the run from an abusive boyfriend and juggling multiple jobs when she accidentally rams her van into a man in Honolulu. Eventually, we see Kea reach her lowest point: houseless, broke, and in deep physical and emotional pain. For those who arent getting it: Kea is Hawaii.

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The trauma that she experiences, Hawaii as our aina [land] has experienced, Kahunahana explains. He describes the decimation of the Native Hawaiian population at the turn of the century, in which a people who numbered almost 1 million was reduced to less than 40,000. Its a sobering reminder of the effects of colonialism on an island that has been a state for less than a century.

We are the ones who are here of our kupuna [ancestors] who survived genocide. The fact that were still here we have a responsibility to speak on this. Our families had to fight to stay alive, Kahunahana says. I feel blessed with the opportunity and platform to say something.

Hundreds of years after the genocide of Native Americans, Hawaiians were subjected to the same treatment. The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom led to the separation and indoctrination of Hawaiian children, criminalization of the Hawaiian language, and thus a rupturing of Hawaiian value systems, culture, and identity.

Kea represents the results of that violence. Societal issues like addiction and displacement are enormous concerns while Native Hawaiians are plagued with the highest rates of incarceration and homelessness on their own land.

Chris Kahunahana Handout

We cant afford to live here, Kahunahana says bluntly. Our religion is based on the land. How do you be Hawaiian without the land?

And theres a reason why the film itself is called Waikiki, a nod to the hegemonic tourist industry in Hawaii, fueled by Hollywoods portrayals of the islands as a dreamy paradise where Native Hawaiians are friendly, hospitable and perpetually in service to the beloved white savior-visitors and their exotic fantasies. Today, this notion of a Hawaiian paradise has become a lucrative industry raking in billions of dollars in revenue a year. Kahunahana hopes to turn this delusion on its head.

Waikiki was the first American experiment in tourism, the crown jewel as Kahunahana calls it. But it was an important and beloved land for Native Hawaiians too, the place where our queens went and had houses on the beach.

In the Hawaiian language, waikikii means spouting water. The area was deemed special for its exceptionally fertile lands which allowed plant and sea life to thrive, guided by the ahupuaa system and the fishing and farming techniques developed by Hawaiians who tended them for generations. Nature provides everything, he asserts.

The way Kahunahana talks about the connection between his people and their land is exceedingly evident in his film: The land is the chief, the land is primary We take care of the land, the land takes care of us. The land is aina, that which feeds us, which grows us. We come from the land in our cosmology, in our genealogy. We trace our roots back to the land. Thats our mother. We have an intimate relationship with the land that spans time and space. So when we see the desecration, exploitation of our resources for a fake economy which doesnt value nature intrinsically its offensive to us.

Its almost painful to listen to the way Waikiki was then formed: a canal built over fertile lands to control the flow of water in order to construct fake beaches for the plethora of resorts and hotels that make Waikiki what it is now.

Without having stopped the flow of the natural water systems, they couldnt have their trademark Waikiki, Kahunahana explains.

Unlike the Hawaiian Waikiki, the marketed American version of Waikiki is an exploitation of Hawaiithis place, paradise, where, he says, the economy is based on an extraction of Indigenous resources and the subservience of Indigenous people.

I dont know anybody who hasnt been a waiter, valet, or bus boy. Thats what that industry provides, not living wage jobs Tourism and the military, our largest industries, are extractive and exploitative.

Now there are 10 million asses shitting into our water systems, Kahunahana says. Thats not sustainable we cant grow food for 10 million people. Thats not our correct responsibility and relationship to our land. Its antithetical to a culture that prized its responsibility to the land and was self-sufficient before contact with outsiders.

And Hollywood is absolutely complicit in the oppression faced by Hawaiians. The film industry was used as a propaganda arm to justify the illegal annexation of Hawaii, the labor exploitation of Hawaiians, the ongoing militaristic destruction and robbery of sacred lands, and the unsustainable tourism on the islands.

Its exactly why shows, most recently and notably HBOs The White Lotus, absolutely need better representation in their writers rooms to give a more nuanced and in-depth look at the people whose lands are being occupied. Characters like Lani and Kai, secondary and tertiary roles who often feel like afterthoughts with no real arcs, are merely used as surface-level plot devices to lend the series a layer of wokeness. In past films portrayed on the islands, folks of Asian and Native descent were often deemed interchangeable. Even in cases where Natives were represented in larger numbers on film crews, they were still shut out from positions of power.

In Hollywood, weve never been the main characters in our stories, Kahunahana says.

The cast of HBO's The White Lotus HBO

He understands why many choose to work on these shows, even if it means doing a disservice to the representation of their culture or participating in the cultural erasure perpetrated by white showrunners.

We need to feed our families, Kahunahana says. Sometimes were forced to participate in the exploitation of our culture. Its tragic, but I dont fault them at all. We all have our own different kuleana, different responsibilities.

Its why hes fiercely motivated about being successful as a filmmaker: to show that there is a path available for kanaka maoli in film, and that they do have the right to demand more from those in Hollywood who are eager to use Hawaii as a backdrop for their HBO fantasies.

Hawaii isnt just a paradise, Kahunahana says. Its not Brown Disneyland.

He points to the film industry in New Zealand and their relationships with Maori filmmakers as a model of another Indigenous Polynesian population that has seen worldwide success. Kahunahana argues that Native Hawaiians should have access to a percentage of the annual revenue generated from tourism on the island, and that cultural consultants, as well as a Hawaiian Brown Book, a resource to help filmmakers work alongside Hawaiians with proper sensitivity towards the land and the people, should be made mandatory for any traveling film crews. He doesnt just mean this for Hollywood, though. He believes all the entitled visitors would benefit from a fuller experience of Hawaii in all its grief and glory.

Kahunahana doesnt know what that might look like exactly, but he knows what it shouldnt be: You cant brownwash it. You cant just throw a Hawaiian word on it and pretend like its not an exploitative business.

That is a sentiment among many natives regarding Hawaiis statehood and the duplicitous process that led to the annexation of the 50th state: a process that was non-existent. Over the years, the Land Back and Hawaiian Sovereignty Movements have only grown, and Kahunahana is certainly supportive of the cause.

At the quote-unquote annexation, because theres no treaty of annexation Annexation is a document created between two independent bodies, saying yes, well become part of you. That doesnt exist; its a fallacy. How Hawaii quote-unquote became part of the United States was The Newlands Resolution, a joint resolution passed in the United States Congress... Thats like if me and my friend wanted your house and write each other a fricken deed for your house. So all of a sudden, now were your territory? Thats not even legal, internationally. You cant just go write a deed for somebodys shit. In anybodys law thats just not right.

Apart from being overtaken by businessmen to build water-intensive sugar plantations and the pineapple crops which have become almost symbolic of the islands, Hawaii was also famously used as a military buffer state during World War II. Case in point: Pearl Harbor. While plantations no longer dominate the islands as labor-intensive operations; theyve become idyllic tourist destinations, not unlike the antebellum slave-owning plantations of the South. Similarly, the militarys presence endures, making Hawaii one of the most densely militarized states under U.S. control. The island of Kahoolawe, considered sacred land, was long used as a bombing range for the Air Force, and the Navy only stopped live-fire exercises in 1990.

Kahunahana, in an acerbic tone, raged against the sweetheart deals that promoted the total desecration of Hawaiian land while leaving Native Hawaiians without resources and forced to prove their Native-ness over blood quantum rules that would otherwise shun them from claiming their stake in what little land was left over for Hawaiians to live on. Now, with the wrath of climate change wreaking havoc on cities across the world, Kahunahana cant help but ask: Whos the better steward of the land?

We watched them for 200 years fucking it up, he says. The whole planet would benefit from Natives holding the land.

A scene from Chris Kahunahana's Waikiki Handout

One experience, specifically, brought home the importance of this: his time on Mauna Kea.

Its illegal that they have anything on Mauna Kea at all, Kahunahana argues. Did they ask us to give them those roads? All these backdoor deals. Its funny how the Hawaiians always get screwed out of our land. Its just regular. Oh yeah, there you go, the fake state stealing more land.

Its an ongoing struggle made much more difficult by the militarized response to the activists, and the parachute journalism brought on by an uninformed media writing misinformed articles to well-informed liberal readers who really believed that Native Hawaiians simply needed to stop being mad over a telescope and believe in science.

People think the wrong was done at the overthrow but its still happening, Kahunahana says. He described living for six months on Mauna Kea volunteering as part of the Native media arm, ready to help in any way he couldeven if that meant putting his body on the line to be arrested.

Give me a camera, man, he says. Put me in the middle of it. Im just gonna hand you my memory cards. Thats how we operated for six months. [Department of] Land and Natural resources, fucking SWAT tacticsit was the largest mobilization of law enforcement in the state of Hawaii to arrest Hawaiians, protecting our land. So whose interests do they have in mind? he asks.

Being up there I was able to further understand why these things are important. The sacredness of the Mauna, its wao akua, the realm of gods and spirits. Its kapu we didnt even go up there. Kahuna, Alii, only for spiritual purposes did we go up there at all, he continues. No sites of archaeological existence. Its god space.

Much more, it was the brutal policing that happened on the mountain that stuck with Kahunahana, as remnants of his righteous anger reveal itself during our conversation.

A scene from Chris Kahunahana's Waikiki Handout

Their tactics, the psychological tactics, creating false alarms, spreading disinformation keeping us up all night shining lights into the kupuna tents so old people cant sleep. I was emboldened by peoples commitment. We take our cues from the Mauna. The Maunas there forever; we are connected to that forever. No amount of money is going to sever us from our connection to the land, he tells me.

She calls, were there.

Many times, Kahunahana remarks on the resilience of his people, and his admiration for the younger generations is palpable. I think its great that the youth are youthing, he says, referring to the many ways young Hawaiians have taken to social media to express their culture loudly and proudly. Thats their interaction with the world, their voice... They havent learned to be cynical. So I think its beautiful and empowering.

His focus is on the moneyto provide a space for those coming up in the industry who can help grow the vibrant and independent kanaka maoli film community, and contribute to a culture of funding that helps up-and-coming filmmakers believe in more possibilities for their stories.

And Kahunahana continues to accomplish much in his own right, working on four different creative projectsfrom an installation piece for Hawaiian arts in Honolulu that focuses on Mauna Kea, to a near-future episodic series that tells the stories of Polynesian climate refugees and the birth of the first human AI hybrid. Hes also directing two major motion pictures with two amazing production teams that are fully funded and slated to shoot in the next year.

A Hawaiian to direct Hawaiian stories, he says, as if he almost cant believe its happening to him. Times are changing and producers are seeing the value in hiring Indigenous directors to direct Indigenous stories.

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OTTAWA  The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has expanded eligibility guidelines for booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines.

NACI's latest guidelines suggest provinces could offer boosters to Canadians who received two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of the Janssen vaccine.

The evidence suggests those vaccines may offer waning immunity over time.

The committee also suggests a third shot is an option for people over 70 who could become severely ill from the disease, as well as people from First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities.

Finally, NACI said front-line health-care workers with a short interval between their first two doses may also be offered another vaccine.

"Emerging evidence suggests vaccine effectiveness against asymptomatic infection and mild COVID-19 disease may decrease over time," NACI wrote in its new guidance Friday.

"A booster dose could help restore and maintain protection against infection in certain populations."

NACI more strongly recommends boosters for adults living in long-term care homes and other congregate living situations and adults over the age of 80.

The committee continues to recommend boosters be given six months after the first two doses are received.

NACI found no evidence of widespread waning immunity against severe disease in the general population.

"We are seeing that two doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines continue to perform very well for the majority of people," said NACI chair Dr. Shelley Deeks in a statement Friday.

That means the general population isn't likely to need a booster any time soon, said Canada's chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam.

While NACI has recommended boosters for some groups, Tam said she doesn't expect Canada to change its definition of full vaccination to include a third dose.

"We have to consider the fact that many countries don't even have enough vaccine to complete the primary series," Tam said at a briefing Friday.

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"We have to balance both the scientific facts, the recommendations  but also the reality of the vaccine supply and equity from a global perspective as well."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked about Canada's move toward booster shots when many countries are still struggling to vaccinate its citizens during his official visit to the Netherlands Friday.

There are enough vaccines in the country to ensure every Canadian can get a full slate of vaccines, and the government will continue to work on ensuring vaccine access around the globe as well, Trudeau said.

Some provinces are already moving ahead with plans to offer boosters to the general population.

British Columbia has promised anyone in the province wanting a booster shot of a mRNA COVID-19 vaccine will have access to one by May 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2021.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press
Netflix has signaled its strong commitment to Latin American television content by teaming up with the regions most important confab, Ventana Sur, on its TV strand, SoloSeries.

For the first time, Ventana Sur and Netflix have joined forces to provide more impetus to women creators with a cash incentive of $5,000 (500,000 Argentine Pesos). This will be awarded to one project selected out of five SoloSeries participating projects in development by Argentine women creators. In addition, Carolina Leconte, Netflix director of original series for Latin America, will be mentoring on the participating projects.

More from Variety

Among the five projects is absurdist comedy My Queen by Marlene Grinberg, which tackles the issues of motherhood, children, sex and Judaism. It also participates in Ventana Surs pitching sessions.

SoloSeries aims to gather the most notable series and microseries in Latin America and serves as a networking hub for showrunners, screenwriters and producers.

The event will include conferences and roundtables with leading execs of the worlds top TV companies.

This year, in collaboration with the Spanish production company EsSpotlight, a call was made to present projects in development for fiction and documentary series.

EsSpotlight will select 10 projects that will participate in SoloSeries Pitching Sessions, and will award three major prizes at the end of the market.

Digital platform Flixxo will select five to eight microseries projects in development that are participating in MicroSeries pitching sessions, and will award a bitcoin prize valued at $1,000.

Launched in 2009 as a joint initiative of the Cannes Film Festivals Marche du Film and Argentinas National Film and Audiovisual Arts Institute, Ventana Sur has been an appointment event for the past 12 years. While last years event was completely online, this year, Ventana Sur will run a hybrid edition from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4 at its new venue in central Buenos Aires, the Centro Cultural Kirchner.

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Netflix incentive projects by Argentine women creators:

Ayelen and the Forest Shadow, Luz Rapport, Celeste Lambert and Sofia Sauval.

Fed Up, in a Far Away Defense, Julia Zarate and Nara Carreira. Producer: Dalmira Maria Tobal, Dalmira Films

The Girls of the Fog, Milagros Tucci Layus. Producer: Jorge Lujan Corsi

My Queen, Marlene Grinberg. Producer: Mario E. Levit, Cruz del Sur Cine

Sugar. Handicapped. Reckless, Not that Sweet, Lucrecia Gomez Boschetti and Ana de Pascuale. Producer: Hernan Tchira, Nah Contenidos

Best of Variety

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Sam Kim now calls Toronto home, years after narrowly escaping North Korea as a child. (HanVoice - image credit)

Sam Kim's first two escape attempts with his family from North Korea were unsuccessful.

He first left at the age of six with his mom and grandmother.

Both times, Kim, now 27, says his mom was sent to a labour camp, where she was interrogated constantly, punished and tortured.

The family was successful only after attempting to escape a third time. Today, Kim is now a permanent resident, after living in Canada for 14 years.

Now, he says he's hopeful a new pilot sponsorship program launching in Canada can help others like him.

"When Canadians help North Korean escapees, they're helping someone like my mom, my grandma and myself," Kim said.

Jacky Chen/Reuters

Program lets North Korean escapees 'start a new life'

Launched by HanVoice, a Canadian non-profit focusing on North Korean human rights, the new pilot program will allow Canadians to privately sponsor and resettle certain North Korean refugees.

The group will be working in partnership with the Canadian government, through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

The only other countries that currently accept North Korean refugees include the United States and South Korea. Though according to HanVoice, Canada is the only country that allows refugees to resettle through a private sponsorship mode.

According to Sean Chung, executive director of HanVoice, this move comes after eight years of lobbying the federal government.

"For a group that is fleeing a regime that has deprived them of choice, I think the best thing that we can offer is more choices and where they want to start a life," he said.

Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press

In a statement sent to CBC Toronto, the IRCC said most North Koreans have been able to find a home in South Korea, which is why Canada does not normally resettle North Koreans. However, the immigration minister has the authority to approve a public policy, which would enable the department to consider North Korean cases.

As a result, a small number of North Korean women and their families outside North Korea may be considered for resettlement to Canada, it said.

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The IRCC added that once cases have been referred to the department by HanVoice, individuals will still need to meet admissibility criteria to enter Canada. That includes health, criminality and security screening.

"Once in Canada, these individuals would be supported by HanVoice for their first year. HanVoice will be responsible for providing emotional and financial support to applicants and their families," the IRCC said.

According to a press release sent by HanVoice, 80 per cent of North Korean refugees are women and their children, who are often at significant risk of sexual and gender-based violence.

Chung adds that the goal for the pilot is to raise $250,000 and sponsor five families within two years.

"We're hoping that this can be a spark that opens up new pathways around the world for North Koreans," Chung said.

'Being a bridge'

Today, Sam Kim is a third year psychology student at York University, and hopes to have a successful banking career. He says he plans to continue advocating for North Korean human rights.

Having lived life on the run as a child, he says he often felt lonely and miserable after being separated from his mother multiple times. But to this day, Kim says he still remembers the efforts and sacrifices his mother made to search for freedom.

"I realized that she didn't give up on us, but rather she worked hard to save our family's life. So she was the cornerstone," he said.

Kim remembers that final attempt to escape from North Korea. His mother left for neighbouring China first, and for months worked jobs to earn enough money for a broker to get him and his grandmother out of North Korea.

In order to reunite with her, Sam remembers crossing a lake, barely knowing how to swim.

"I just remember reuniting with her. Crying, embracing her arms. That was a special moment," he said.

Now years later, Kim says he's grateful for the Korean community in Toronto for helping him settle down in the country, and for the education he's been able to receive. He says he hopes to "be a bridge" for other North Korean refugees.

"It'd be amazing to see many North Korean families make it here in Canada and make Canada their home and have that opportunity to enjoy their lives and find that opportunity to flourish."
Sudan's security forces have fired live rounds and tear gas at pro-democracy protesters, killing at least three people, a doctors' committee says.

Thousands marched in the capital Khartoum and other cities on Saturday, demanding the reinstatement of ousted Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok.

The interior ministry denied that live rounds had been fired. Activists say around 100 people were injured.

Coup leader Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan dissolved civilian rule this week.

The general, who also called a state of emergency, said his actions were justified to avoid "civil war" and stop political infighting. The military takeover has drawn widespread international condemnation.

Demonstrators in Khartoum were seen marching with Sudanese flags and chanting, "No to military rule!"

"People here are very peaceful. These protests are going to continue being peaceful even when faced with the guns," Shaheen al Shaheef, a member of the Khartoum Resistance Committee, told the BBC.

"However, we do realise the current situation of [Gen] Burhan - he has lost all his backing. This is really a one-person coup, there is nothing, no-one else to back him."

Sudan's Central Doctors Committee, an independent body, said three protesters had died after being shot by live bullets in Omdurman.

But the interior ministry denied the use of live rounds and accused some protesters of attacking the police.

More than 10 protesters have died in clashes with security forces this week.

The Sudanese authorities have cut off the internet and other communications, as well as imposing restrictions on movement.

Until Monday's coup, civilian and military leaders had been in an uneasy power-sharing agreement since long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in 2019.

The deal was designed to steer Sudan towards democracy, but it proved to be fragile with a number of previous coup attempts, the last just over a month ago.

Gen Burhan, who was head of the power-sharing council, said Sudan was still committed to the transition to civilian rule, with elections planned for July 2023.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa. A Vuntut Gwitchin citizen is taking her legal challenge of her First Nation's residency requirement for councillors to the country's highest court. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press - image credit)

A Vuntut Gwitchin citizen is taking her precedent-setting legal challenge of her First Nation's residency requirement for councillors to the country's highest court.

Cindy Dickson filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada last month. The court opened a file for her case on Oct. 25.

It's the latest development in what's become a years-long battle over the self-governing First Nation's requirement for all elected councillors to live on settlement land, and a case that's forced courts to examine the intricacies and interaction of Canadian and Indigenous law.

Dickson had previously tried to run for council but was barred from doing so because she lives in Whitehorse.

"It's very difficult to go up against the government when you feel that your rights are [being] infringed upon ... and it's been hard on me, but I keep moving forward because I really feel strongly that we need some clarification so that our citizens are all treated equally," Dickson told CBC News Oct. 28.

The First Nation had not filed a response to Dickson's application as of Oct. 29.

Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm declined an interview request. However, he previously told reporters following the Yukon Court of Appeal decision that he would bring the issue forward at the First Nation's general assembly and allow citizens to decide what the next steps, if any, should be.

The Supreme Court of Canada only hears a small number of cases every year; it has yet to decide whether it will hear Dickson's appeal.

Appeal court upheld requirement

Dickson brought a petition to the Yukon Supreme Court in 2019 challenging Vuntut Gwitchin's residency requirement, arguing that it was discriminatory and violated her equality rights as laid out under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The First Nation, by the time the petition was heard in court, required councillors to move to settlement land within 14 days of being elected.

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The only consistently inhabited place within Vuntut Gwitchin settlement land is Old Crow, a fly-in community of approximately 260 people located roughly 800 kilometres north of Whitehorse.

Dickson argued there were numerous reasons why Vuntut Gwitchin citizens might choose or be forced to live outside of Old Crow, including the extremely limited housing and access to healthcare available in the community, and that barring them from being on council was discriminatory.

The First Nation argued among other things that it never agreed to the Charter's applications during the negotiations of its self-government and final agreements, and that the requirement was key in preserving Vuntut Gwitchin culture and tradition.

A Yukon Supreme Court judge ruled that the Charter applied to the Vuntut Gwitchin government and found that while requiring councillors to move within 14 days was unconstitutional, the requirement for them to live on settlement land could stand.

Both Dickson and the First Nation appealed the decision to the Yukon Court of Appeal, with the Attorney General of Canada, Teslin Tlingit Council, Carcross/Tagish First Nation and the Metis Nation of Ontario joining as intervenors in the case.

The appeal court, in a split decision issued in July, found the requirement did, in fact, violate equality rights as protected by the Charter, but that it was shielded in its entirety by another section of the Charter  section 25  that protects the collective rights of Indigenous peoples.

The decision marked the first time a Canadian court examined the intersection of section 25 and the personal rights of First Nations citizens.

'We should all be treated equally'

Dickson told CBC News she was escalating the case to the Supreme Court of Canada because she didn't agree with section 25 being used as a shield "against its own citizen."

"I believe that as an Indigenous person, I have both individual and collective rights," she said, sharing a story of a cousin who learned how to hunt by going out onto the land with different people and learning different techniques.

"To me, that's a perfect example of a collective and individual right, because as hunters out on the land, we own it together, that's a collective, but [my cousin] learning how to hunt and in his own ways, [that was] his own individual right," she said.

Dickson added she was "personally not benefitting" monetarily from the challenge, and that while she's received messages of support from other citizens and First Nations, she's also seen opposition and misunderstandings about her motivations as well.

"It is really scary, but I just wanted to try to do something because I just felt very strongly that we should be able to organize our government so that all of our citizens have a voice," she said of choosing to continue to pursue the case.

"I just think that because the majority of our citizens live off settlement land for various reasons  we should all be treated equally and all be heard."
Two people died, including a Baraboo School District student, and three others were injured in a crash Friday in the Sauk County town of Fairfield, authorities reported.

According to a press release from the Sauk County Sheriff's Office, a 2009 Chevrolet left Highway A south of Side Road at 10:38 a.m. and struck a tree. The driver was dead when responders arrived and four other occupants required extrication. Another occupant died at the scene. A third occupant was taken via MedFlight to University Hospital with life-threatening injuries. A fourth occupant was taken by ambulance to University Hospital and a fifth occupant was taken to a local hospital via ambulance.

Baraboo School Superintendent Rainey Briggs posted to Facebook Friday night that one of those killed was a student in Baraboo School District, two others were current students, and one was a former student. The district will open Beryl Newman Stadium, 1201 Draper St., from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Student services staff, and members of the Baraboo faith community will be on-site to provide grief counseling to any student who needs support. Sauk County Department of Health and Human Services, and the School District of Baraboo Student Services Staff will continue to provide grief counseling and support Monday.

Initial investigation of the crash showed that the vehicle was traveling north on Highway A nearing the intersection with Side Road when the driver lost control. In an attempt to regain control, the driver overcorrected, causing the vehicle to spin into the ditch and strike a tree on the driver's side.

The crash remains under investigation and names of those involved are being withheld pending notification of family.

Assisting the Sauk County Sheriff's Office on scene were members of the Baraboo Fire Department, Baraboo EMS, Dells-Delton EMS, Reedsburg EMS, Wisconsin State Patrol, Baraboo Police Department, UW Med-Flight and Bill's Towing.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 30)  One person died while 50 others were rescued after a motorbanca capsized in waters off Daanbantayan in northern Cebu Province, authorities said on Saturday.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Cebu station has yet to identify the victim's remains but noted the woman was the lone casualty in the sea tragedy.

Meanwhile, most of the passengers and crew of MBCA Mercy Ray were safely brought to Maya port Friday night.

The survivors were all rescued and accounted for past 10 p.m. Three others were brought to the Daanbantayan District Hospital to receive medical treatment.

According to the PCG, the boat departed from Poblacion, Daanbantayan in mainland Cebu Island at around 4 p.m. Friday en route to Carnasa Island, carrying 43 passengers and eight crew members.

The boat also carried 10 sacks of rice and 70 cases of assorted soft drinks and beverages.

Based on the initial report, the boat was around the vicinity of Isla De Gato at 5:30 p.m. when sea waters started to fill the front portion, breaking the boat's outrigger.

In an updated report, PCG-7 spokesperson Lt. Junior Grade Erick Salcedo said the capsized motorbanca may have been "overloaded" as the sea condition was described as "moderate" when the incident happened.

"Actually ang ginamit din po sa pag rescue sa ating mga victims ay motorbancas, na findout po na talagang overloaded po ang banca," said Salcedo.

[Translation: Actually, motorbancas were also used to rescue our victims. We found out that the banca was really overloaded.]

As of this afternoon, the boat captain is already detained at the Daanbantayan Police Station for possible charges of "reckless imprudence resulting to homicide."

Some of the possible violations initially found by the PCG investigators include the lack of clearance to sail from the PCG station in Daanbantayan, failure to submit Master's Declaration of Safe Departure, and the excess or overloading of the motorbanca, MBCA Mercy Ray.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 30) Over 2.6 million donated AstraZeneca vaccine doses arrived in the country in separate shipments on Saturday.

The plane carrying 1,546,200 shots from the global COVAX facility landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 4 p.m., state media reported.

Pandemic task force adviser Ted Herbosa  one of the officials who welcomed the fresh delivery  thanked the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United States for the donation.

Citing data from UNICEF, Herbosa said the Philippines is among the largest recipients of vaccines from COVAX, which seeks to provide participating countries equitable access to the products.

Earlier in the day, a total of 1,065,600 AstraZeneca doses  this time donated by Japan  also arrived in NAIA.

Herbosa also thanked the Japanese government for the new donation, with the Philippines already receiving over three million vaccines from the East Asian neighbor. He added there are more donations expected from Japan in the future.

Herbosa said the new vaccines are expected to be allocated to highly-populated regions, including Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Eastern Visayas, and Northern Mindanao.

Our initial vaccines were given to the highly urbanized NCR, Cebu, Davao. So now, were targeting those regions outside those areas, Herbosa told reporters during the arrival ceremony.

He stressed that the delivery of these vaccines will help the government reach its target of administering up to 1.5 million doses per day starting November.

RELATED: 1.5 million daily COVID-19 shots still possible by Nov. 15, says vaccine czar
(CNN)  Barack Obama is headed to next week's big climate conference in Glasgow to try and convince the world that America is more about Joe Biden than Donald Trump.

At least when it comes to fighting climate change. And at least when you judge the country as a whole and not just what's going on in Washington, where the President's climate agenda just took a major cut in Congress.

It's an extremely unusual appearance by a former US president at a world leaders event, but Obama aides and friends tell CNN the former President wants to help Biden win back world faith in American leadership on this issue, and get the global alliance back on track after four years of Trump.

Obama "has a global following," said John Podesta, who worked on climate issues in the Obama White House and remains in touch with the former President. "Poll after poll show young people in particular are despairing of whether democracy can work, whether politicians are up to the task. They see Obama as inspirational and who tells it like it is."

Obama's presence at the COP26 began with suggestions from climate activists. But it really took shape in conversation with John Kerry, his former secretary of state and Biden's special presidential envoy for climate, people familiar with the conversations tell CNN.

The White House was eager for the help, officials said, requesting anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes conversations.

Still, Obama's trip does not just reflect an acknowledgment in the Biden White House and beyond of how much international faith in America declined during the Trump years. It also reflects an awareness of how much more Obama connects with people globally, even now as a former President, than Biden does as the president actually in the Oval Office.

Even when Obama was at his most popular in America, he was always much more popular overseas, with his election seeming symbolic of the world's superpower embracing internationalism and a new, forward-looking generation. Obama remains the inspiring figure around the globe, particularly with the younger people to which he will dedicate much of his time while in Scotland. In coordination with his own foundation and Columbia University's Climate School, he will host a roundtable with youth activists (including many who are alumni of his global fellowship programs) and urge business leaders to accelerate their own clean energy investments.

A US State Department official called Obama "among our strongest global advocates for action," adding that he'll be "a welcome voice," in describing the rare tag-team approach for two Presidents.

'Can you walk the talk?'

Biden is hoping to come across as more than aspirational talk and empty promises. Obama is hoping to come across as more than a geopolitical celebrity, and instead there throwing his credibility and popularity into backing Biden up. That's especially the case with the President trying to convince the country and the world to see the $500 billion in funding that survived congressional infrastructure negotiations as a success, and not a failure because of how short it is of his original goal.

Plenty of people think it could work. But after Trump, they have their doubts.

"Obama was one of the Paris Agreement's architects and President Biden has confirmed the United States is fully committed to the climate action," said Carolina Schmidt, Chile's minister of the environment and the president of the last Conference of Parties (COP) meeting, held in 2019 at a time of intense international panic about Trump policy guided by his conspiracy mongering that climate change is a Chinese hoax. Trump announced in 2017 he was pulling out of the Paris Accords, which was built around country-by-country commitments to cutting carbon emissions through government action. Biden reentered the agreement in one of his first moves in office.

But, Schimdt added, "We need not only leaders, but concrete commitments by every country -- but especially from the big emitters -- following the signs to be carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest. In that sense, all the commitments of the United States in helping to reach these global agreements is good news."

After asking to speak anonymously, a European Union diplomat was more direct about how Biden's difficulties getting his agenda through Congress have been perceived, even with the current and former President coming to Scotland.

"It's great to see the US back on the frontlines of the global climate fight. But what you manage to do domestically is just as important as what you bring to the table internationally," the diplomat said. "So the international pressure is great and without all these additional diplomatic efforts, we'd certainly be in a worse place, but there is a lingering question: Can you walk the talk?"

Biden sees combating climate change as an existential issue and top priority for his presidency, and aides argue he's picking up on the direction Obama set but trying to turn it into reality. That goes for much of what's in the infrastructure bill, but also an array of executive actions and regulations that the White House is moving ahead with on its own authority.

Role reversal

Biden was picked as the running mate in 2008 in part to shore up Obama's lack of foreign affairs experience and credibility at the time. Now, the roles are reversed, and Obama will be the one shoring Biden up. Careful not to overshadow Biden, though, Obama won't arrive at COP until November 8, a week after Biden's own appearance at the event, starting this Monday. That timing was carefully sequenced: Obama will give a formal speech to the assembled diplomats, but it will be after most of the world leaders leave.

Podesta helped lead Obama White House efforts for the Paris Climate Accords in 2015 and was one of the climate activists who urged the former President to head to this year's COP to help make the case. He said there are critical messages that Obama is uniquely positioned to deliver about America's reasserting itself after Trump, but also about how local efforts to combat climate change continued in the US even while Trump pulled out of the international agreement.

"Even with someone who was furiously trying to go in the opposite direction, the United States stayed the course because people of good will in local office and in governor's mansions around the country stepped up, and they kept us on track," Podesta said. "That's a different story than, 'Oh you can't trust the United States because they elected Trump.' You hear that a lot. And this is the other way of thinking about it."

As Obama heads to Scotland, his foundation is pumping out materials about his own work getting the international climate conversation to this point. That includes a video he narrates, picking up with his appearance at the COP15 conference in Copenhagen during the first year of his presidency, at which an international climate agreement fell short of happening, and follows the diplomatic works he led over the rest of his presidency, which culminated in the Paris Accords. Making an argument he'll pick up in Scotland, he says in the video, "Paris gives us the vehicle through which to bring about the changes that are necessary but what's still required is the will and the activism of citizens pushing their governments to be ambitious."

There's also an oral history of the climate work that concludes with Obama and some of the aides most involved in the Paris negotiations addressing "The Work That Remains."

"A testimony to, I think, its resilience was the fact that my successor in the White House decided unilaterally to pull out of the Paris Accordsand yet, despite what could have been a huge symbolic blow that collapsed the entire agreement, every other country in the world stuck with it," Obama says in that history. "So although we were on the sidelines, all the other major countries said, no, we're going to keep on going. And now we've got a US government that once again is prepared to take leadership in this process."

"He knows he's passing the baton," said Podesta, who's also part of that oral history, "but he knows he has an important role."

This story was first published on CNN.com Obama returns to the world stage to boost Biden and reassure leaders after four years of Trump
(CNN)  The "Schitt's Creek" coffee table book is about as good as the show.

Series creators and stars Dan Levy and Eugene Levy have a new tie-in book about series that goes behind the scenes, breaking down everything from scripts to David Rose's sweater choices. It also includes six pages of every outfit Moira Rose ever wore on the show, including her wig collection.

The book, "Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: The Story of Schitt's Creek," is over 300 pages. Inside, readers will also find character profiles for Johnny Rose (Eugene), Moira Rose (Catherine O'Hara), David Rose (Dan) and Alexis Rose (Annie Murphy). At an event at the Beacon Theater in New York on Monday, Dan Levy said when creating the characters, he went as far back as considering if each individual was a happy baby or not.

The book also highlights standout moments from the show's six seasons, including Patrick (played by Noah Reid) and David's first kiss, the town's local production of Cabaret and Moira's movie premiere.

Murphy writes that her character Alexis only really said the catchphrase "Ew, David" three times in full. The rest were either just "ew" or "David."

Dan Levy said this was by design.

"When people get a catchphrase and you sense that it's catching on, you never want to hit it home and make the audience aware that you're aware that they're aware," he said, adding that it generally means "disinterest or disgust."

Eugene said he knew the show was special after the restaurant scene when they said goodbye to their snobbish former friends, and the dancing scene that followed to the song "Precious Love."

"The dancing scene is when it hit me that there's magic here," he said.

"Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: The Story of Schitt's Creek," publishes Tuesday.

This story was first published on CNN.com 'Schitt's Creek' coffee table book is everything you'd hoped for
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 30)  Scores of last-minute registrants camped outside the doors of satellite sites of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) hours before the deadline for the filing of application to vote in the 2022 elections.

Voter applicants were seen staying and sleeping on sidewalks near a shopping mall in Otis, Manila as early as 1 a.m. on Saturday, the final day of voter registration.

The same situation was also seen outside the doors of malls in Cainta, Rizal, and Antipolo, Rizal in the early morning.

Voter registration sites will be open until 5 p.m.

The Comelec earlier opened satellite registration centers in a number of malls nationwide to give voter applicants a safe option amid the pandemic.

Comelec officer Alvin Talosig told CNN Philippines they usually expect a last-minute surge of voter applicants.

"As usual po pag last day ng registration saka nagdadagsaan ang mga nagpaparegister sa atin," he said in an interview.

[Translation: As usual, voter applicants flock to our registration sites on the last day of registration.]

The voter registration period, which was supposed to end on Sept. 30, was reopened on Oct. 11, as calls for an extension grew.

CNN Philippines' Crissy Dimatulac contributed to this report
(CNN)  Six months after the death of their son Beau in 2015, Jill Biden and then-US Vice President Joe Biden could not bear the thought of going to Nantucket, Massachusetts, for the traditional Biden family Thanksgiving.

It would have been  she wrote in her 2019 memoir, "Where the Light Enters"  "like a photograph with Beau's face cut out."

Instead, she took the helm and decided to bring the family to Rome for the holiday, seeking refuge at the United States ambassador's residence, a source familiar with where she stayed at the time told CNN. For Jill Biden, Italy was a country where they could "escape," as she described it, and the familiarity of the religious symbolism also served as a comfort to the devoutly Catholic Biden family.

This week, Biden returned to the ambassador's Roman residence  a 15th century estate called Villa Taverna  this time as first lady of the United States, distanced several years from the tragedy of Beau Biden's death and determined to support her husband on his first Group of 20 summit trip as President. While he meets with leaders, discussing contentious topics such as the environment, global economics, possible threats from China and Russia and the pandemic, Jill Biden will handle a few diplomatic bilateral meetings of her own.

The first lady's family has deep roots in Italy, and the Italian culture has long played a role in Jill Biden's life. Her Sicilian ancestors are responsible for a historic note: She is now the first, and only, Italian American first lady of the United States.

Biden's maiden name is Jacobs, but before her great-grandfather emigrated to America  arriving at Ellis Island  it was Giacoppa. Guytano Giacoppa "Americanized" the family surname, as thousands of immigrants did, upon starting a new life in the United States.

The Giacoppas lived in tiny Gesso, Sicily  a small village in the Messina province, which now boasts a population of fewer than 1,000 people. Her family's origin story contributes to her growing up with Italian influence, something Jill Biden has credited in several interviews as the impetus for large, Italian-style Sunday family dinners  she has said the President likes her Angel hair pasta with fresh tomato sauce and her sons were partial to her chicken parmigiana.

The first lady's time in her ancestral homeland will be packed with meetings, and will include a visit to the families of American troops.

After an audience with Pope Francis on Friday  to which she wore a black, leopard-print dress suit and a black lace mantilla down to her mid-back, attached to the back of her head  Biden is scheduled for a Friday afternoon tea with Brigitte Macron, the first lady of France.

As she entered a cafe with Macron, the first lady told CNN her meeting with Francis was "wonderful. He was wonderful."

Following a glass of white wine with Macron, the first lady said their relationship was "like sisters."

Standing side by side with Macron outside the cafe, Biden said: "It was nice. Two friends together, just like sisters."

When asked whether she was enjoying Italy, she said: "We come here so many times. I love Italy. Brigitte loves Italy. I mean, who could not love Italy? There's nothing that we wouldn't love about it, right?"

While the two first ladies were enjoying an afternoon drink, their husbands were holding their first in-person meeting since last month's diplomatic dustup. The two first ladies have more in common than their husbands  both are lifelong educators. A source familiar with the meeting told CNN ahead of the meeting that the women were likely to discuss their roles as first ladies in their respective countries, education  bullying is of particular interest to Macron  and common interests in culture, including greater access to the arts.

Prior to Macron, Biden was also expected to have a meeting with Maria Serenella Cappello, the wife of Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Cappello is known in Italy for being a relatively private and press-shy person, and the meeting with Biden will not be available to the media for coverage.

In addition to her one-on-one meetings, Biden is also anticipated to attend a spousal luncheon on Saturday, and a farewell luncheon on Sunday. She will go to the G20 formal gala on Saturday evening with the President, as well.

On Sunday, President Biden departs for Scotland and the COP26 climate summit, while the first lady remains in Rome until Monday, then departs for Naples, where she will make a stop at the United States military base. Biden will visit the Department of Defense Educational Activity School on the base.

"She will meet with high school students, tour several classrooms, and speak at a pep rally for the senior class," her press secretary Michael La Rosa tells CNN.

Following that time with military families, Biden is scheduled to fly home to Washington.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Jill Biden surrounded by her family's deep roots in Italy as she returns to the Eternal City"
The criminal cases against a Lincoln pair accused of conspiring to sell fentanyl-laced cocaine stolen from the Nebraska State Patrol's evidence locker have moved to federal court.

Anna Idigima, a former patrol evidence technician, and George Weaver Jr., the owner of a Lincoln restaurant, have been indicted for conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, a detectable amount of fentanyl and marijuana.

They had been facing drug charges in state court, where on Thursday the Lancaster County Attorney's Office filed motions to dismiss their cases.

Both have made their initial appearances and entered not guilty pleas. A trial date hasn't yet been set.

If convicted, they would face 10 years to life in prison.

Last month, Lincoln Police and the State Patrol announced their arrests and the theft of more than $1.2 million worth of narcotics from the patrol's evidence facility, including $329,800 worth of cocaine.

Idigima, 35, had been a Nebraska State Patrol employee for more than a decade, patrol Col. John Bolduc said. Weaver, 36, owns and runs GrannyWeavs Soul Food and Catering in Lincoln, a business he started after a stint in prison.

The two had been dating since the middle of July, according to police.

At separate hearings Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Fullerton argued for their continued detention pending trial.

While Idigima doesn't have a substantial criminal history, Fullerton said, "she was in basically a position of public trust with the State Patrol's evidence room and is alleged to have stolen significant quantities of cocaine and fentanyl, which were then suspected to have been distributed by her codefendant to other persons."

Idigima's attorney, Jamel Connor, said she had only one speeding ticket on her record, has lived all her life in Lincoln and has four children, three of whom are minors.

Magistrate Judge Cheryl Zwart said there was a presumption of detention in the case, and the grand jury has found that she was able to "under the nose of the Nebraska State Patrol do some fairly significant criminal activity."

"If she can work in their facility and they can't see it, how is Pretrial Services to trust anything she says about her conduct while they're trying to supervise her," she said.

Zwart said on the other hand, Idigima has some medical issues that had significant risk of problems if she were to be in custody in a jail cell and likely wouldn't do well if she were to get COVID-19 there.

So she placed her on home incarceration with electronic monitoring, saying she didn't want her out and about because she didn't think she could trust her.

Weaver's attorney, Oluseyi Olowolafe, had argued for release as well, saying he is the father of 14 children, ranging in age from 3 to 18, whom he supports. Without him in his own business, his family suffers, he said.

Olowolafe said Weaver intends to get treatment for his substance abuse issues, which Fullerton said involved daily marijuana use until his arrest and daily cocaine use until July.

Fullerton argued against release, pointing to Weaver's extensive criminal history and calling him a significant risk to the community to reoffend.

Zwart agreed.

At Weaver's initial hearing, Fullerton said the case was related to Brandon Davis' indictment last month for possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, distribution of cocaine and fentanyl causing serious bodily injury, and conspiracy to deliver cocaine and fentanyl.

Police have tied him to at least six overdoses.

It's unclear if the drugs Davis is accused of selling were part of the cache of drugs stolen from the State Patrol.

Police have alleged that Idigima took $1.2 million worth of drugs from the evidence locker sometime after June 1, including more than 150 pounds of marijuana, nearly 20 pounds of cocaine, about 10 pounds of fentanyl, 9 pounds of heroin and 3 pounds of meth.

Fentanyl-laced cocaine led to 35 overdoses and nine deaths, plus an unborn child, in the Lincoln area between July 25 and Aug. 19.

It's unclear how many of those overdoses or deaths are linked directly to the cocaine taken from the patrol's evidence facility, but court filings link the supply to at least one death: a 35-year-old woman on Aug. 5.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSpilger

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Source: Adobe/imphilip

Asia has been through more than its fair share of nasty crypto scam dramas, from the Mt. Gox scandal right through to 2021 and its plethora of AI-powered fraudsters.

In part 2 of a three-part series, Cryptonews.com looks at just a few of the continents most infamous instances of crypto fraud. (Here's part 1.)

Part 2: PlusToken

2018 was a golden year for crypto scammers in Asia. And few could hope to eclipse the scale of PlusToken, ostensibly a token wallet with benefits. It was launched by a group of individuals spearheaded by Chen Bo in the early months of the year. The idea was, a little like BitConnect, you put your bitcoin (BTC) in the Plus wallet and watch it grow  with huge monthly payments.

The twist here, however, was that you could also deposit ethereum (ETH) in your wallet. And in the tried-and-tested pyramid tradition, you could ramp up your monthly returns by putting more tokens into your account...or recruiting friends, family, and acquaintances as members.

There was also a token named plus that you could swap your hard-earned ETH and BTC for if you wanted extra credit. Monthly payouts, the PlusToken masterminds claimed, could rise as high as 30%.

By 2019, an international network of PlusToken partners had sprung up, with bases all around China, as well as elsewhere in Asia. South Korea, Singapore, and Japan proved fertile hunting grounds for those seeking to climb higher up the Plus pyramid.

In 2019 alone, PlusToken had raked in a cool USD 2bn. Operators ran riot on the WeChat messaging platform, with heavily populated, multi-lingual PlusToken group chats sucking in new investors by the day.

There were investment seminars and workshops, and some promoters even posted about the virtues of PlusToken in hundreds of East Asian convenience stores, photo studios, and supermarkets.

The Chinese authorities, who had enacted a crypto crackdown in September 2017, took a dim view of matters, and launched an investigation. They suspected that just like Charles Ponzis eponymous scheme, organizers were using new investors tokens to pay for early investors monthly payouts.

They turned out to be right.

By March 2019, some investors started complaining that they were having problems withdrawing their funds. Four months later, six Chinese PlusToken bigwigs, including Cheng Bo, were arrested in Vanuatu, the Daily Post reported.

Where are they now?

Chinese police spent months  almost years  trying to take PlusToken down. The problem was that the Vanuatu Six proved to be just one head of the hydra. Cutting it off just saw new leaders emerge elsewhere in the world, and the scam rumbled on almost as though nothing had happened. Indeed, despite the arrests, the project continued to run wild in nations like South Korea.

But behind the scenes, the police were hard at work. Finally, after 12 months of searching and international operations in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia, officers were ready to close in. They finally made their move at the end of July last year, arresting 27 individuals and later claiming that they had completely destroyed PlusToken

Per the South China Morning Post, the Intermediate Peoples Court in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, eventually sentenced the ringleaders to 11 years behind bars. The escalated scale of the damage? The government said the PlusToken was 3,000 levels deep and that the total value of the crypto involved exceeded USD 5.7 billion.

___

Part 3 of the series will be published next week.

___

Learn more:

- Crypto Scams that Rocked Asia to the Core, Part 1: BitConnect

- South African Exit Scam Sees Brothers Vanish with USD 3.6B in Bitcoin



- The USD 4.2bn Question: Has China Dumped PlusToken Bitcoin, Ethereum & Co?

- Another Altcoin Scam Teaches Inexperienced Investors & Influencers a Lesson
One side effect of the surge in public engagement with area school boards and school policy has been the slate of new candidates running for local office.

Its a good thing to get people with different ideas, said Liz Knouse, current president of the South Middleton School Board. You have the opportunity to shape what happens in your community.

The Associated Press reports that interest in school board seats has surged across the country, with national conservative groups and state-level efforts encouraging challenges by right-learning newcomers amid debates over COVID-19 mask mandates, gender-neutral bathrooms, and teachings on race.

Local school board elections typically have been relatively quiet affairs where incumbents sail to reelection, often unopposed. This year, candidate training academies organized by national conservative groups and state-level recruitment efforts are encouraging challenges by right-leaning political newcomers. The results could have consequences for public education and coronavirus safety measures across the country.

The thousands of local school districts in the U.S. make it difficult to know how many sitting board members face challenges from conservative-leaning community members. But the challenges appear widespread.

A veteran of 12 years of service, Knouse said she was encouraged by the sight of school board candidates sitting in the audience of recent meetings getting educated on the issues.

In her last run for office, Knouse was unopposed for a vacant seat. Now the district has six candidates vying for four open four-year seats. There is also a campaign between a candidate on the ballot and a write-in challenger for a two-year seat.

What surprised Knouse this election cycle was the number of candidates who opted not to cross-file in the lead-up to the primary. While Republicans are in the majority in South Middleton Township, it has been the past practice of most school board candidates to cross-file as both Republican and Democrat.

In the primary for South Middleton, only one of the four candidates cross-filed, and two more candidates were added to the November ballot after gaining enough write-in votes during the primary.

Being on a school board should have nothing to do with politics, Knouse said. You really represent the whole community regardless of your political party.

I never feel that Im voting for my party, the Republican woman said. Youre voting for whats best for children. Each party wants whats best for children.

For six years, Michelle Nestor has represented Hampden Township on the Cumberland Valley School Board. She agreed with Knouse that partisan politics have no place in school board deliberations.

There should not be a red or blue side, said Nestor, a Republican. Its about running a school district, representing constituents and remembering that were doing this for all the kids.

Nestor said she is concerned about the motives of some school board candidates.

I dont think its right for people to be passionate about an issue and then be angry with the decision and then say, Im going to run for school board, Nestor said. What are you going to do? Get on the board and do what? There are nine members on a board. Youre one voice and you have a personal agenda thats not for the betterment of all.

While the perception exists across the nation that incumbent board members have personal agendas, the practical side of being on a school board creates a system of checks and balances.

Were all on an equal footing when were sitting at the table, Knouse said. You learn quickly that I can think whatever I want, but that doesnt necessarily mean that Im going to sway the board. Were a board of nine. Things are done at the collective level as opposed to individually.

Being a school board member is not a position to take lightly, Nestor said. Before making the time commitment to run for office and serve, she had a meeting with her family to gauge their support. There are other things to consider.

Its good to have a lot of different tools to bring to the table, Nestor said. A retired Spanish teacher, she is now a real estate agent with business connections in the community.

FreedomWorks, a conservative group that supported the rise of former President Donald Trump, launched a candidate academy in March that has trained about 300 people nationwide, with the largest number from Ohio, said Laura Zorc, the groups director of education reform. About 1,000 people have signed up, she said.

My message to these parents is: Run for office if you dont like (it) and you dont feel your voice is being heard, Zorc said.Schools have been addressing issues of diversity and culturally responsive teaching for years without stirring much controversy, but flames of frustration in some communities have been fanned by groups with bigger agendas, said Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Columbia University.

Some Republicans, he said, see it as an issue that can help them win suburban votes in midterm elections.

Its in the current context where I think this is being deliberately exploited by national actors that this is getting the energy and attention it does, he said.

Email Joseph Cress at jcress@cumberlink.com.

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PHILADELPHIA  Philadelphia has agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Walter Wallace Jr., a Black man experiencing a mental health episode whose fatal shooting by police a year ago was recorded and led to protests, an attorney said Thursday.

The city agreed to pay his family $2.5 million, city officials told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Family attorney Shaka Johnson said during a news conference that the citys announcement this week it would spend $14 million to equip all patrol officers with stun guns was also a part of the settlement.

It was ... a substantial monetary settlement that reflected the tragedy that took place, the citys role and policy failures that contributed to his death, Johnson said. The financial settlement was never the familys primary objective. They have from the beginning called for reforms to the police department.

The U.S. Department of Justice had recommended, in a review of the police departments use of deadly force in 2015, that Philadelphia issue stun guns to all patrol officers, but that never happened, Johnson said.

The family of Wallace, 27, had made several calls for help on the day of the October 2020 shooting, some of them saying he was becoming violent as he experienced a mental health crisis. Video from officers and bystanders showed that two white police officers fired fatal shots within a minute of responding to the home in Philadelphias Cobbs Creek neighborhood.

During those seconds, Wallace appeared to be holding a knife at his side. He ignored commands to drop the weapon as he walked off a porch and zigzagged between cars and across the street.

The officers fired 14 shots at the man, and he crumpled in the street. His mother could be seen in bystander video following Wallace and begging police not to shoot.

The shooting, just five months after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and subsequent nationwide protests, sparked days of unrest and marches demanding an end to police brutality in Philadelphia.

Wallaces family has said that if officers had been equipped with less lethal options than guns, he would still be alive. Johnson said the settlement means there will be legal recourse if the city fails to follow through on giving stun guns to officers.

If this situation can save anybodys life ... if we can save any human being, then I think it is for a good cause, said Wallaces father, Walter Wallace Sr.

After the shooting, police and city officials said that nearly two-thirds of the more than 6,000-member Philadelphia police force were not equipped with or trained to use electroshock weapons.

A script of questions now in place for 911 operators designed to help identify mental health issues before officers arrive is also, in part, thanks to negotiations during the lawsuit, Johnson said.

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The rally attracted global attention for its violence which ended with the vehicular attack by Fields Jr., leaving left dozens injured and Heyer dead.

After years of delays, the multi-week trial began Monday, bringing more than a dozen organizers or their legal representatives back to Charlottesville.

The jury was presented with several images depicting Romero in the wake of the assault, blood covering her face as strangers attempted to clean her off. Her face was so covered in blood that her own mother couldnt identify her from the images at first, Romero said, only being able to do so after recognizing her daughters ROTC watch.

With some assistance from two people she knew, a confused and injured Romero was brought to an ambulance parked near the scene of the attack and transferred to UVa Medical Center.

When I got to the hospital, I asked the nurse that was there what happened to me and they said that I was hit by a car, she said. I asked them, Am I going to be able to walk? Do you know if I have a spinal injury? and no one answered me, they just stared at me. No one could say yes or no, so I just cried.
Fossella had a wife and three children living on Staten Island at the time of his 2008 arrest in Virginia. Fossella told officers he was going to see his sick daughter. The woman he had a secret relationship with, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel who worked for a time as a liaison to Congress, bailed him out of jail.

At the time, he was the only GOP member in Congress from New York City and was a social conservative who represented a largely Catholic district. When the revelations about his second family emerged, Fossella finished his term but opted not to seek another term.

Fossella has said he's worked to repair his personal relationships since he left office and that he felt compelled to mount a comeback after seeing rising crime, a shift in attitudes toward policing and the impact of the citys pandemic policies on small businesses and restaurants.

I saw this in the early '90s when we ran then, helped to turn the city around. And I see it happening again so I feel that the only way to really do it is to step back into the arena and try to make a positive difference for the people of Staten Island, Fossella told The Associated Press in an interview.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP)  Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency Friday for counties affected by severe weather, as the National Weather Service warned that the mid-Atlantic region could see one of the biggest tidal floods in a decade or two as heavy rain and winds pummeled the region.

The weather service said some areas could get the worst tidal flooding that they've seen since Hurricane Isabel in 2003 on Friday and Saturday as strong and persistent winds push water into the Chesapeake Bay. Several public school systems in Maryland were closed Friday.

Hogan issued the state of emergency for areas of Maryland along the shores of the bay, the Potomac River and the Atlantic Coast currently under a coastal flood warning.

Even if you are accustomed to nuisance flooding, this is much more serious and has the potential to be much more damaging over the course of the next 24 hours, Hogan said early Friday evening. We are taking this action to bring all necessary state resources to bear, and assist local jurisdictions in their response efforts."
Everyone eligible should be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel or employment.

Vaccination should be voluntary but those who don't get vaccinated should be frequently tested for COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel and employment.

Both vaccination and testing should be voluntary and not required as a condition of long-distance travel or employment.

I defer to the judgment of lawmakers as long as they base their decisions on a consensus of medical professionals.

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The first saint I ever made friends with was St. Anthony of Padua. I wasn't Catholic at the time, but in college one of my German professors (also a non-Catholic) said, "If you ever lose something, say 'Tony, Tony, come around, something's lost that can't be found.' It can't hurt!"

I tried it, half-heartedly at first, and was surprised by how quickly I would find things that had been lost for a long time.

I didn't know it then, but St. Anthony once had a psalm book that was stolen and then miraculously returned to him after prayer. He is now considered the patron saint of lost things.

In a few days we will be celebrating All Saints' Day. This is a day when we remember and commemorate all of the saints, both those whose names and stories we know and those we don't. As Catholics, we look to the saints as our heroes. Saints were not perfect, but they lived their lives in such a way that they never stopped striving for holiness.

Many of the most famous saints are familiar even outside the Catholic Church  St. Mary, St. Joseph, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Patrick, St. Augustine, St. Nicholas, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Joan of Arc, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Teresa of Calcutta.

There are also likely many millions and perhaps billions of saints whose names we don't know. These quiet holy men, women and children lived their faith the best they could and were never widely known.

Others are from among the many millions of Christians who over the centuries have been martyred for their faith. We believe that these saints are the "great cloud of witnesses" who surround us, according to the author of Hebrews, and they want to help us reach heaven.

We can ask them to pray for us, much as we might ask a friend or family member, and we believe their intercession is powerful since they are with God in heaven and see him face to face. As Catholics we believe that worship belongs to God alone, but we can honor, talk to, and even befriend the saints.

St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan priest who was imprisoned at Auschwitz during World War II. When a group of men was sentenced to die by starvation because an inmate had escaped, one of the men chosen cried out saying that he had a wife and kids and didn't want to die.

Father Kolbe told the soldiers he wanted to take the man's place in the starvation bunker, and they allowed it. The man survived the war, and that week the prisoners in the camp heard Father Kolbe leading the other men in the bunker in songs of joyful praise. After two weeks Father Kolbe was the last man alive and a soldier injected him with a lethal dose of carbolic acid.

A little over a year ago, we had to make the difficult decision to move my uncle, Jim, to comfort care when it became clear he was not going to recover from COVID-19. We said good-bye to him over a Zoom call, but he was unresponsive, and afterward I began asking St. Maximilian Kolbe to pray for him. I knew that Jim did not feel ready and did not want to die, so I prayed:

"St. Maximilian Kolbe, if there's anyone who knows how to help a man die, it's you."

Jim lived several more days than the doctors expected him to, and he died at noon on Aug. 14, the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Jessica Barton is a former Peace Corps Volunteer, a former middle school math and science teacher, lactation consultant, and a married mother of 3. She and her family have lived in Corvallis for 6 years. She is a parishioner at St. Mary's in Corvallis and leads a group called Exploring Catholicism for people interested in learning about the Catholic faith.

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WEITCHPEC, Calif. (AP)  Elizabeth Azzuz stood in prayer on a Northern California mountainside, arms outstretched, grasping a handmade torch of dried wormwood branches, the fuel her Native American ancestors used for generations to burn underbrush in thick forest.

Guide our hands as we bring fire back to the land, she intoned before crouching and igniting dead leaves and needles carpeting the ground.

Others joined her. And soon dancing flames and pungent smoke rose from the slope high above the distant Klamath River.

Over several days in early October, about 80 acres (32.4 hectares) on the Yurok reservation would be set aflame. The burning was monitored by crews wearing protective helmets and clothing  firefighting gear and water trucks ready. They were part of a program that teaches Yurok and other tribes the ancient skills of treating land with fire.

Such an act could have meant jail a century ago. But state and federal agencies that long banned cultural burns in the U.S. West are coming to terms with them  and even collaborating  as the wildfire crisis worsens.

Wildfires have blackened nearly 6,000 square miles (15,540 square kilometers) in California the past two years and more elsewhere amid prolonged drought and rising temperatures linked to climate change. Dozens have died; thousands of homes have been lost.

Scientific research increasingly confirms what tribes argued all along: Low-intensity burns on designated parcels, under the right conditions, reduce the risk by consuming dead wood and other fire fuels on forest floors.

To the Yurok, Karuk and Hupa in the mid-Klamath region, the resurgence of cultural burning is about reclaiming a way of life violently suppressed with the arrival of white settlers in the 1800s.

Indigenous people had their land seized, and many were killed or forced onto reservations. Children were sent to schools that forbade their languages and customs. And their hunter-gatherer lifestyle was devastated by prohibitions on fire that tribes had used for thousands of years to treat the landscape.

It enriched the land with berries, medicinal herbs and tan oak acorns while killing bugs. It opened browsing space for deer and elk. It let more rainwater reach streams, boosting salmon numbers. It spurred hazelnut stems and bear grass used for intricate baskets and ceremonial regalia.

Now, descendants of those who quietly kept the old ways alive are practicing them openly, creating good fire.

Fire is a tool left by the Creator to restore our environment and the health of our people," said Azzuz, board secretary for the Cultural Fire Management Council, which promotes burning on ancestral Yurok lands.

"Fire is life for us."

PERSECUTION AND PERSEVERANCE

Nine years ago, Margo Robbins got a facial tattoo  two dark stripes from the edges of her mouth to below her chin, and another midway between them. It once was a common mark for Yurok women, including her great-grandmother.

I got mine to represent my commitment to continuing the traditions of our ancestors, said Robbins, 59, whose jokes and cackling laugh mask a steely resolve.

She would become a leading voice in the struggle to return fire to her peoples historical territory, much under state and federal management. The more than 5,000-member tribes reservation courses along a 44-mile (70.8-kilometer) stretch of the Klamath.

Since 1910, when infernos consumed more than 3 million (1.2 million hectares) western acres, federal policy had considered fire an enemy. Only you can prevent forest fires, Smokey Bear later proclaimed in commercials.

They considered tribal people arsonists, didnt understand the relationship between fires and a healthy forest, said Merv George, 48, a former Hoopa Valley Tribe chairman who now supervises Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Northern California. I heard stories of people getting thrown in jail if they were caught.

But when George joined the U.S. Forest Service as a tribal relations manager in 2008, western wildfires were growing bigger and more frequent; officials knew something needed to change.

Two national forests  Six Rivers and Klamath  joined a landscape restoration partnership with the Karuk tribe and nonprofit groups. It released a 2014 plan endorsing prescribed, or intentional, burns.

A year earlier, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, had approved a small cultural burn on Yurok land.

It was a victory for Robbins. As a young girl of Yurok, Hupa and Irish descent, she learned the basketry fundamental to her native identity. Tribes use baskets for gathering food and medicinal plants, trapping eels, ceremonial dancing, cradling babies, even prayer.

Weaving is really, really soothing. It's kind of like medicine for your soul," she said, displaying finely crafted baskets at a Yurok firehouse near the village of Weitchpec.

But weaving materials had become scarce, particularly hazel wood. Burns in bygone days helped the shoots grow straight and strong. Under no-fire management, hazel was stunted by shrubs, downed trees, matted leaves.

With grandchildren on the way, Robbins wanted them carried in traditional baby baskets. She needed tribal forests to produce high-quality hazel once more. That meant fire.

After the state-sanctioned Yurok small burn, Robbins and other community members established the Cultural Fire Management Council to push for more.

They allied with Karuk and Hupa activists and The Nature Conservancy to create the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network, which conducts training burns that have drawn hundreds of participants from across the U.S. and other countries. It has expanded into Oregon, Minnesota and New Mexico.

It's really exciting and gives me a lot of hope that the tide is changing, Robbins said. We revived our language, our dances, and now, bringing back fire, we'll restore the land.

FINALLY BEING HEARD

To prepare for the one this month in the Klamath region, Yurok leaders studied weather forecasts, scouted mountainous burn areas, positioned water tanks, uncoiled fire hoses, equipped and drilled 30-plus crew members.

As Azzuz finished her ceremonial prayer, the wormwood that coaxed the first flames was replaced with modern drip torches  canisters of gasoline and diesel with spouts and wicks. Team members moved quickly along a dirt trail, flicking droplets of burning fuel.

Smoke billowed. Flames crackled and hissed. Tangles of green and brown foliage were reduced to ash. Young Douglas firs that squeeze out other species were another target.

But larger trees  oaks, madrones, conifers  were largely unscathed, aside from patches of scorched bark.

Its beautiful and black, Azzuz exulted. By next spring, there will be a lot of hazel shoots.

Hour by hour, torch bearers moved down the slope, igniting swaths of forest floor. Co-workers in radio contact watched firebreaks, ready to douse or beat down stray flames.

There were young and middle-aged, native and non-native, novices and veterans  some from area tribes, others from far away.

Jose Luis Dulce, a firefighter in his native Spain and Ecuador, said he wanted to help revive Indigenous techniques in Europe and South America. Stoney Timmons said his tribe  the Robinson Rancheria Pomo Indians of California  wants to host its own training session next year.

I'm getting some good lessons to take back, Timmons said.

The exercise was especially satisfying for Robert McConnell Jr., who spent years with Forest Service wildfire crews, attacking from helicopters and driving bulldozers. Now a prescribed fire specialist with Six Rivers National Forest, he works with fire instead of against it.

I get to feel like I'm Indian again when I get to burn," he said. It's encoded in my DNA. It's like there's a spark in my eye when I see fire get put on the ground.

As shadows lengthened, cheery yips gave way to shrieks: Log! Log! A chunk of flaming timber jounced down a sharply angled slope, smacked onto a two-lane road and hurtled into a thicket below, igniting brush along the way.

Although crew members quickly extinguished the flames, the runaway log was a reminder of the jobs hazards.

Nick Hillman, 18, his face glistening with grimy sweat, was unfazed. I know my ancestors want me to be doing this," he said.

When Yurok forestry director Dawn Blake helped light the hillside, she felt a connection with her grandmother, who wove baskets and set fires in the area long ago.

Weve been talking and begging about doing this for so long, just spinning our wheels, said Blake, 49. It feels like were finally being heard.

BIGGER AMBITIONS

But tribes want to go beyond training exercises and family burns on small plots. Theyre pushing to operate throughout the vast territories their ancestors occupied.

My ultimate goal is to restore all this land back to a natural state, said Blaine McKinnon, battalion chief for the Yurok Fire Department and a leader of the recent cultural burn.

Relations with federal and state authorities have improved, but complaints persist about permits denied, burns postponed and heavy-handed oversight.

Cultural fire leaders say pledges of cooperation from agency higher-ups arent always carried out by local officials, who fear dismissal if fires get out of hand.

Its a fair point, said Craig Tolmie, chief deputy director of Cal Fire, which struggles to balance the tribes desires for more fire with opposition from a jittery public.

People have really been traumatized and shocked by the last two fire seasons, Tolmie said.

Under state laws enacted this year, tribal burners and front-line regulators will work more closely, he said. One measure requires his department to appoint a cultural burning liaison and provide training and certification for prescribed fire burn bosses.

Another makes it easier to get liability insurance by raising the bar for requiring burn professionals to pay for extinguishing out-of-control fires  a rarity but always a risk. Lawmakers also budgeted $40 million for a prescribed fire insurance fund and tribal burn programs.

Still, prescribed burns alone cant rid forests of more than a centurys accumulation of woody debris, Tolmie said, arguing that many areas should be pre-treated with mechanical grinding and tree thinning before fires are set.

Ancient wisdom and scientific research show otherwise, said Chad Hanson, forest ecologist with the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute in California. Regulators are trying to extort tribes by making cultural burns contingent on logging, he said.

Bill Tripp, the Karuk tribes natural resources director, said the solution is empowering tribes to handle prescribed burns while Cal Fire and the Forest Service focus on suppressing wildfires.

The mid-Klamath area is ideal for a teaching center where cultural burners could guide us into a new era of living with fire, said Tripp, who learned from his great-grandmother and was setting small blazes in his remote village by age 8.

Tribes are uniquely positioned to train younger generations about stewardship-oriented fire management, said Scott Stephens, an environmental policy professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Wed need literally thousands of people doing this burning to ramp it up to a scale thats meaningful, he said.

Talon Davis, 27, a member of the Yurok crew, welcomed the opportunity to show the world what good fire is. He is Robbins son-in-law; his own toddler has been carried in her baskets, as she wished.

This is how were supposed to care for Mother Earth, he said. Put fire back on the ground, bring our home back into balance.

Associated Press reporter Gillian Flaccus contributed to this story.

Follow John Flesher on Twitter: @JohnFlesher

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Nearly 1.7 million migrants were apprehended at the border in Fiscal Year 2021, the highest number recorded since 1960. The caravans have grown despite newly installed President Joe Biden telling would-be migrants in March on ABC: "I can say quite clearly: Don't come. We're in the process of getting set up; don't leave your town or city or community."

Of course, migrants from Mexico, Central America and beyond are ignoring what Biden says. While the president is telling noncitizens not to come, his policies are leaving the door ajar, even to those with criminal records.

On Sept. 30, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas sent out a directive on the apprehension and removal of noncitizens that is supposed to take effect Nov. 29. Its foundational principle: "the exercise of prosecutorial discretion." Also known as prosecuting fewer offenders.

The secretary's guidance advised that being in the United States illegally "should not alone be the basis of" deportation. The priority is supposed to be to remove undocumented immigrants who are a threat to public safety. So that should mean those with criminal records, right? No, the memo directs that noncitizens not be judged "according to bright lines or categories."

"Make no mistake," warned Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors reductions in immigration. "This memo is designed to formalize the guidance that was put in place from day one of the Biden administration, which drastically limits what ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) can do."

Investigators are told to look beyond criminal convictions (say, for drunk driving convictions). "Our personnel should not rely on the fact of conviction or the result of a database search alone," Mayorkas wrote, but also look at "the totality of the facts and circumstances."

These guidelines mean fewer deportations but also slower ICE investigations. As Vaughan told me, "They're requiring the ICE officers to sort of be the defense attorney for the illegal alien and look for mitigating factors."

Meanwhile, friends and families who have crossed the border illegally are telling those they left behind that the coast is clear. "What's really driving it is that they're hearing from friends and families who have gone before them," Vaughan told me.

No one can witness the hardships this year's migrants have endured without sympathy for their ordeal and admiration for their determination, a value that makes America great.

Another value that makes America great, however, is the rule of law. And that rule is being shredded daily.

ICE's budget isn't smaller than it was under Trump, but its mission is.

"It's going to create public safety problems," Vaughan predicted.

The pendulum swung this way before. In 2015, Kate Steinle, 32, was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant as she strolled with her father along San Francisco's Pier 14. The randomness of the crime was outmatched only by its preventability. Shooter Jose Inez Garcia Zarate, a Mexican national, had seven felony convictions and had been deported five times.

Yet there he was, free to re-offend. Steinle became the face of lax federal enforcement and San Francisco's sanctuary city policy.

Immigration advocacy had moved from shielding otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants to protecting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. It's happening again under Biden. That's not policy; it's recklessness.

Debra J. Saunders is a fellow at the Discovery Institute's Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership. Contact her at dsaunders@discovery.org.

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Big fan of art, history, and science? You're in luck. Denver's 'Free Night at the Museums' event, part of Denver Arts Week, is taking place this weekend, offering free access to a number of educational and cultural hotspots around the city after dark.
Joint statement at UNGA 67 Plenary Session with President of the Human Rights Council

Statement

Chair, I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and my own country the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

President Khan, The human rights situation in Yemen is dire. The fourth report by the UN Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen outlines a litany of human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law by parties to the conflict including those involving indiscriminate and disproportionate airstrikes and shelling, attacks on medical facilities and schools, failing to abide by international humanitarian law principles, humanitarian restrictions such as obstacles to access to food and healthcare, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, gender-based violence, including sexual violence, torture, denial of fair trial rights, persecution of and violations and abuses against journalists, human rights defenders, persons belonging to minorities, migrants, internally displaced persons and shocking violations and abuses of children's rights in the period July 2020 to June 2021.

In 2017, the UN Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen was mandated to examine alleged violations and abuses of international human rights. We deeply regret that this mandate was not extended in the last session of the Human Rights Council.

As the conflict in Yemen enters its seventh year, there continues to be an urgent need for independent and impartial monitoring and investigations into all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and human rights abuses, by parties to the conflict.

It remains vitally important to identify and use all opportunities within the UN-system to assess facts on the ground in an impartial manner, and work towards accountability and a just and inclusive peace for the people of Yemen. It is imperative that the international community comes together to actively explore further alternative mechanisms to monitor the human rights situation in Yemen and ensure accountability. Together we must end impunity.

President Khan, What role do you see for the Human Rights Council to ensure human rights monitoring and accountability on behalf of the people of Yemen, now that the mandate of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts has ended? Thank you.

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Were all rolling on up toward the holidays, and I want everyone who has any connection to me, either positive or negative, to have a good one. Theres been a ton of research coming out this last couple of weeks that many of the COVID-19 ritualistic class would find upsetting. But in the spi


remaining of

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Hipkins said he expected most new arrivals would be able to isolate at home by sometime in the first quarter of next year. He said the first priority was New Zealanders and those with valid visas.

Tourists are more of a challenge, in that they dont necessarily have somewhere to isolate on arrival, Hipkins said. But well work our way through all of that.

Political opponents said the changes didn't go far enough and that fully vaccinated travelers returning home posed little risk.

Before the pandemic began, more than 3 million tourists visited New Zealand each year, and the industry was among the nation's largest earners of foreign income.

For more than a year after the pandemic began, the strict quarantine system helped New Zealand remain almost completely virus-free and allowed life to return to normal.

But an outbreak of the more contagious delta variant in Auckland more than two months ago has proved impossible to extinguish, forcing officials to abandon their previous zero-tolerance approach in favor of a suppression strategy.

With the virus continuing to spread in Auckland, which remains in lockdown, the border requirements had begun to seem outdated.

Thursday's announcement came after officials said two people in the city of Christchurch had caught the virus after one returned from Auckland. There was no immediate evidence the virus was spreading further in the city.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Vietnam to vaccinate all children from 12 against Covid this year

Students and their parents are consulted before receiving Covid-19 vaccination in HCMC's District 1, October 27, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The Health Ministry hopes to vaccinate all children aged 12-17 with at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot by the end of the year.

The national vaccination campaign for children is set to start next month, first with cities and provinces where all adults have received at least one vaccine shot and more than 80 percent of people aged 50 and above fully vaccinated.

The vaccination campaign for children would be prioritized in areas with persistent outbreaks, undergoing social distancing, with high population density or high infection risks, Duong Thi Hong, deputy director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said Friday.

Vaccination would be prioritized for high school students, before moving onto secondary students. Those who are not studying at school would also be listed for vaccination.

"If enough vaccine is supplied in December and the early months of 2022, we believe both adults and children would be fully vaccinated soon," Hong said.

Ho Chi Minh City, which has fully vaccinated almost 80 percent of its adult population, was the first locality to vaccinate children aged 12-17 against Covid-19. By Friday noon, around 86,000 children had been vaccinated in the southern metropolis, according to the municipal Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Its neighbor Binh Duong has planned to vaccinate 180,000 children, starting with 58,000 aged 15-17 on Sunday and Monday.

Vietnam has approved two types of Covid-19 vaccines, one by Pfizer and the other by Moderna, to vaccinate children aged 12-17.

"As per instructions from manufacturers, the second shot of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine should be around three to four weeks after the first. But we have requested localities and other vaccination stations to give the second dose two to four weeks after the first one," said Hong.

Within the first three days of vaccination, children must always have their families beside them for health monitoring. Consent from parents or guardians are needed for their childrens vaccination.

Vietnam has vaccinated around 55.6 million adults with at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot while 23.4 million have been fully vaccinated.

Children under 18 account for around 17 percent of all Covid-19 infections in Vietnam, according to data from the health ministry.
As Vietnam prepares to reopen to international tourists, foreigners with families, partners in the country express frustration of waiting for their turns.

"So when can foreign spouses be able to leave Vietnam for work and return to Vietnam without being stuck? When can those foreign spouses who have been unable to return to Vietnam be able to come back? The gov't still has yet to answer this issue."

Mik Stockden

"Ive got a wife and two children in Vietnam who Ive not seen for nearly two years. Im fully vaccinated but still cant return. I understand the need for precautions but vaccinated spouses dont present any more risk than vaccinated tourists, experts etc. Are tourists more important than children growing up without their parents?"

Peter Hodson

"Hello all, I am Uwe from Germany. I have since 10 years a real girlfriend in Hanoi. We want [to get] married in 2020, but Covid came before. From 22 January to September 2020 I stayed in Hanoi, couldnt travel. Then I got a visa for work in China. Since this time I cant visit her. [For] 14 months not seeing my girl, her 2 daughters and our dog. We have bought land and want to start building a house. Now all has to stop and my family is missing me and needs me. I mean, if tourists can come to Vietnam, we must also get the entry to visit our lovely persons. We bring money and technologies to Vietnam. Not only the tourists. I hope we find together a way, that Vietnam accepts our entry."

Uwe Medler

"Like all the others, we had to postpone plans for our wedding, both in Australia and Vietnam. I was supposed to be there for the reconstruction of our future marital home in Tam Ky, I redesigned it and my fiancee had to supervise the construction while I managed it from Gold Coast in Australia. It was a difficult time for us both creating stress and tension. Having made inquires from here in Australia I have to get permission from the Ministry of Health for entry but even that is proving difficult and I need that before I can leave Australia. It will be 2 years for me as I left in Feb 2020, with hopes that it would be over by June...."

Grahame (Gus) Cuthbert

"Time to let them back in. Let everyone back in through HCMC which is no longer pursuing a Covid zero strategy. A few days at a hotel, negative Covid test, release for home quarantine for a few more days. This will have zero impact on the total number of Covid cases in HCMC which are still 1,000 per day. Stop messing around with all these plans to open tourist destinations where the vaccination level is still too low and they are still pursuing a Covid zero strategy."

Tim

"Family visas should be included in those allowed back. So many children have been without a parent for nearly 2 years now. Its heartbreaking."

Sarah Loxley
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The U.S. remains unwavering in its support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
ELKO  Im trying to figure out how to get our mule deer back, Elko County Commissioner Wilde Brough told fellow commissioners this month.

In Elko County and throughout Nevada, mule deer populations have fallen way down from the 1980s numbers. Brough said he is looking at several steps the county could take, including starting a coyote bounty program, to help get the deer numbers back up.

Utah is now in its ninth year of a coyote bounty program. It was started after sportsmens groups lobbied the state legislature to pass the 2012 Mule Deer Protection Act. The state now pays a bounty of $50 per coyote. People turn in the ears and bottom jaw to get the bounty.

Utah is the only state with a statewide coyote bounty program. If Elko County does enact a coyote bounty program, Brough said, it will probably be modeled after Utahs.

Broughs rough estimate is that there may be close to 10,000 coyotes in Elko County.

Brough said he has heard from Mike Reese, president of the Southern Nevada Coalition for Wildlife, that within the past few months the Washoe County and Clark County Wildlife Advisory Boards both asked the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners to consider a statewide coyote bounty program. They basically said they do not want to go down that road, according to Reese.

At their November 3 meeting, Elko County commissioners will be discussing the possibility of a county coyote bounty program to help increase mule deer populations. Brough said hunters and others interested are welcome to join the discussion.

There are a lot of factors that have contributed to mule deer population declines over the years. Tom Donham, eastern region game division supervisor for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, wrote in a recent email that the main issues in northeastern Nevada are loss of crucial winter and transition ranges from wildfire, pinyon-juniper encroachment, drought, shrub senescence, impacts from feral horses and improper grazing.

Brough said the county is hoping to have the University of Nevada, Reno send someone to take a look at mule deer habitat in Elko County.

We think that assessment will be pretty good, Brough said. We think theres a lot of deer habitat, even in the drought.

Some of the big issues that have had an effect on deer populations, Brough believes, include predation, feral horses, and the introduction of elk.

On the wild horses, Brough said, Nobody is coming up with any solutions. Somehow those wild horses have just got to be controlled. I dont know how theyre going to do it. One of the best ways I think is to get the wild horses off of the federal payroll, and make it a private deal. If people want wild horses, they need to be the ones paying for them, not the taxpayers.

Brough said he would also like to see the elk herd moved back off of Spruce Mountain, to open up that winter range for the mule deer. He would like sportsmen to approve moving the elk.

But if hunters are adamant about not removing that elk herd, then we just move on, he said.

The economics

If Elko County did start a coyote bounty program, it would cost taxpayer dollars. In Utah, the state legislature designated $500,000 per year from the general fund to pay for their program. If people turn in 10,000 coyotes a year for the $50 bounties, that uses up the $500,000. For three years, 2016 through 2018, people did turn in a little over 10,000 coyotes each year, but money from previous years had carried over, so the program never has exceeded its budget.

Brough said it makes sense for Elko County to invest some money in a coyote bounty program, because of the economic benefits to the county if the deer numbers come back up.

This whole board understands what economic value those deer would have if they were back to those maximum numbers, Brough said at last weeks county commission meeting.

Statewide, Nevadas mule deer population has fallen from an estimated peak of around 240,000 in 1988 to around 80,000 to 90,000 today. In Elko County, there may have been around 90,000 deer in the late 80s, and today there may be around 32,000.

The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension recently conducted a Nevada Economic Assessment Project to help quantify the economic impacts of outdoor recreation and hunting.

Our preliminary research results indicate the addition of ten antlered mule deer tags for units in Elko County would result in a total economic impact of $6,700 for Elko County, Research Associate Alec Bowman wrote in an email. Similarly, an addition of ten antlerless mule deer tags would generate $4,100 of economic impact.

These numbers are based on estimates of what hunters spend on their various expenses including equipment, travel and lodging.

Using these numbers, Brough estimated that if the mule deer population in Elko County went back up to the 1980s numbers, and there were an additional 50,000 antlered mule deer tags and 20,000 antlerless mule deer tags in Elko County, that could have a total economic impact of $41,700,000 in the county.

That is a very high estimate, but even if you reduce that number by 75%, that would still be around $10 million in economic impact.

In addition to this, coyotes do economic damage to the livestock industry.

Coyote bounties

How well has the Utah coyote bounty program worked in increasing deer populations? Thats hard to say.

While the bounty program has been in effect, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources also has had a targeted coyote reduction program. They work with the federal Wildlife Services agency to do aerial removal of coyotes in areas designated by the DWR.

Were trying to remove breeding pairs prior to deer fawning in June, said DWR Game Mammals Coordinator Darren DeBloois. Those seem to be the coyotes that have the biggest impact on fawn recruitment.

I guess the overall philosophy is, a bounty to kind of keep pressure on coyotes in general, but then we like to go in and surgically remove them in areas where we have concerns based on our biologists experience on the ground, he said.

The targeted program costs about the same as the bounty program, DeBloois said, but is being funded with a $5 fee on Utah big game hunting permits.

Utah also invests a lot in habitat restoration and enhancement. The Utah DWR said in a 2018 post on its website that Utah leads the West in habitat restoration.  Over the past six years, DWR has invested tens of millions of dollars in a statewide, long-term effort to restore habitat and help our mule deer herds.

From 1992 through 2014, the Utah mule deer population fluctuated between around 240,000 and 340,000. In 2012, it was around 286,000, and over the next four years, while the coyote bounty program got started and the targeted coyote program and habitat restoration projects were also in effect, the mule deer population climbed by nearly 100,000, to a high of about 384,650 in 2016. The population went down a bit in the next few years, but during the extreme drought this past year the numbers dropped off, and the estimated deer population in Utah is now down to around 320,000. DWRs goal is a deer population between 400,000 and 450,000.

The number of coyotes being turned in for bounties has also dropped. After reaching a peak of 11,501 in 2017, the number has dropped each year, and is down to just 3,074 coyotes in 2021.

DeBloois said there are several possible reasons for this decline. To reduce cheating, DWR now requires people to report their coyote kills on an app, and this has probably discouraged some people from participating in the program. Also, the coyote population may have seen a bit of a decline, and mature coyotes may be getting wise to whats going on.

A masters student is currently working on a study of the coyote removal programs in Utah, DeBloois said. That study should be completed soon, and will provide some more information on the effects of Utahs coyote bounty program.

DeBloois said that as Elko County discusses the possibility of a coyote bounty program, there are several factors to consider. Do they want a general bounty program like Utah has, or more of a targeted program? He said the county should probably commit to at least several years of the program to see the effects. Also, the county should consider how to make sure everyone is following the rules. Utah has prosecuted some people who tried to cheat the bounty program. One Utah couple reportedly turned in 95 coyotes that were killed in Nevada by other people.

Brough said Elko Countys coyote bounty program would probably closely follow the lead set by the Utah program, including the use of an app.

Wildlife Services

Brough said he has heard that USDA-APHIS Wildlife kills about 4,000 coyotes a year in the county.

He commented that Wildlife Services used to have around five trappers stationed in Elko County, and currently there are none.

Mark Ono, who started in May of 2020 as the Nevada director of the Wildlife Services program, said he is working on getting more people stationed in Elko County. The trapper who was stationed out of Wells resigned in August when the Covid vaccine requirement went into effect. Ono is working on hiring someone to fill that position. He is also currently working with the Nevada Department of Agriculture to move an additional person to Elko to cover the western part of Elko County. There are four Predator Animal Rodent Control people stationed in Ely, and Ono would like to see one of these positions moved to Elko.

Were putting our heads together to figure out how to better utilize the work force based on where the livestock is, Ono said. Elko County is the biggest livestock producing county in the state. So it behooves us to try to rebuild that program so that Elko County has at least two trappers.  It probably needs more, because its such a big county, but weve got to start somewhere.

Along with working with the Nevada Department of Agriculture and landowners on livestock depredation reduction programs, Wildlife Services also works with NDOW on programs to protect wildlife including mule deer, pronghorn and sage grouse.

Giving it a try

A lot of people question the effectiveness of coyote hunting to help increase wildlife populations.

In a 2019 post on his Hunters Gear Guide website, Wes Kolste wrote, I am 100% in support of coyote hunting and predator hunting in general. I participate in the sport myself  However  statistically, coyote hunting just doesnt support the reasoning we so often resort to. Deer populations can be more effectively managed in other ways, and aimlessly killing coyotes doesnt really do much for livestock.

But Mike Reese of the Southern Nevada Coalition for Wildlife said he agrees with the Elko County commissioners that after so many years of continual declines in mule deer populations, its time to give an idea like a coyote bounty a try and see if it can help.

The Elko County commission is trying to come up with ideas, and I applaud them for that, he said.

This is a culmination of a lot of stuff, Reese said. And I think its truly born out of frustration by the Elko County commissioners, who are trying to solve it, because they dont see it being solved very fast.

He speculated that the idea of a coyote bounty might be received pretty well in Elko County, and coyote numbers might go down as people decide to go out and bring in some coyotes.

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- Spanish officials confirm the destruction of 2,532 buildings in La Palma.

- Volcano reaches end of its sixth week of activity, having begun on 19 September

- Spanish government to provide further 70 million among its support measures

- New lava flowing into previously formed 'lava tunnels'

- Local council president suggests bombing the lava flows from Cumbre Vieja

- CBS News published incorrect graphic suggesting La Palma, an island, was on mainland Spain.

- Concerns about La Palma air quality after main cone collapse

- Over 35,000 earthquakes and tremors recorded in La Palma over the past month

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China and Africa enjoy a profound friendship and deep mutual trust. They are good friends, good partners and good brothers.

China has remained Africas largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years. The bilateral trade between the two sides reached $139.1 billion in the first seven months of this year, up 40.5 percent year on year and hitting a historical high.

Chinas industry-wide foreign direct investment in Africa reached $2.07 billion during the January-July period, outperforming the pre-pandemic level in the same period two years ago.

Since the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit, China and Africa have jointly implemented a large batch of projects that benefitted both Chinese and Africans and offered strong support for the economic recovery of Africa. China-Africa cooperation stands as a model of South-South cooperation, and a fine example of international cooperation with Africa.

Currently, the FOCAC African Products Online Promotion Season is being held. The three-month event aims at building new platforms for China-Africa cross-border e-commerce, as well as promoting China-Africa cooperation on digital economy and the diversification of trade forms. Thanks to the event, many high-quality African products, including oranges from South Africa, gems from Tanzania, and dried mangoes from Uganda, are being introduced online by livestreamers to Chinese consumers. China-Africa e-commerce cooperation is injecting impetus into Africas economic recovery.

Months ago, dried chili peppers planted and processed by Rwandas young entrepreneur Dieudonne Twahirwa entered the Chinese market after being quarantined, becoming the first African dried chili peppers to be exported to China. Twahirwa is currently planning to introduce breeding machines, planters and dryers from China, so as to produce chili pepper products of higher quality and make a name for African chili peppers in China.

Wu Peng, Director-General of the Department of African Affairs of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that its a win-win cooperation to promote African commodities on Chinese e-commerce platforms, which demonstrates the spirit of mutual benefit of the China-Africa pragmatic cooperation. China and Africa enjoy a huge potential in upgrading their economic and trade cooperation, Wu added.

Martin Mpana, Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps and Cameroonian Ambassador to China noted that promoting China-Africa e-commerce cooperation is one of the effective approaches to the revitalization of African economy. He said Africa should make full use of the online promotion season to build the business capability of young Africans and African entrepreneurs.

Elmuthna Fahel with Sudanese newspaper Alintibaha, whos also an expert on international issues, said Africa and China are seeing an unprecedented growth in the demand for bilateral cooperation on economy and trade, which has enhanced the two sides confidence in their cooperation. The cooperation with China is indispensable for African countries including Sudan, he remarked, hoping that the cooperation between the two sides can go deeper in digital economy, marine economy and green economy.

Many African countries have received Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, including Lesotho, which obtained the doses donated by the Chinese government at the end of August this year. So far, China has offered and is offering COVID-19 vaccines for over 40 African countries and the African Union Commission, and is continuing supporting Africa to build the latters own capacity of vaccine production.

The construction of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters office donated by China has officially commenced, and a relevant pair assistance mechanism between China and Africa is in the making.

Upholding the vision of building a global community of health for all, China adopts an open and cooperative attitude on the development, production and distribution of vaccines. It is actively promoting localized production of vaccines in countries that are well conditioned. On April 21 this year, an agreement signed by Chinese and Egyptian enterprises, allowing Egypt to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines locally.

Facing the challenges brought by COVID-19, many Chinese enterprises engaged in construction projects in Africa are still sticking to their work, bringing a light of hope to Africas economic recovery. In June, Guineas first modern railway since the 1970s, the Dapilon-Santou railway invested by a Chinese enterprise, officially started operation. In the following month, the first batch of units of the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydroelectirc Project in Zambia was commissioned. In August, a new terminal of Zambias Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, which was built by a Chinese company, was put into use.

At present, there are still many Chinese engineering technicians working in Africa, and 1,100 cooperation projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) remain operational throughout the continent. They are a strong support for Africas resumption of work and production. So far, 46 countries in Africa and the African Union Commission have inked agreements with China to jointly advance the construction of the BRI.

Adhering to the principle of common development and promoting the stable development of pragmatic cooperation, China and Africa are implementing cooperation projects with higher standards to benefit the people. These projects will fuel Africas integrated construction and industrialization, and help the continent achieve independent and sustainable development.
There will be no electricity imports from the Russian Federation and Belarus from November 1, Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy, Housing and Utility Services Andriy Gerus has said.

"There will be no electricity imports from the Russian Federation from November 1, Inter RAO announced an auction for the sale of electricity on October 20, but the corresponding auction was canceled on October 21. Also, from November 1, there will be no electricity imports from Belarus, the corresponding auctions for the sale of electricity have been canceled," he wrote on his Telegram channel on Saturday.

Earlier, Gerus said that the Russian Federation has stopped supplies to Ukraine of grade A (anthracite) and L (lean) thermal coal since November 1. Coal of these grades was imported by DTEK, Donbasenergo, as well as Tekhnova, which unites Darnytsia, Sumy and Chernihiv CHPPs.
If necessary, Saakashvili may be transported to prison hospital by helicopter - justice minister

The Georgian penitentiary service is prepared for any scenarios if former President Mikheil Saakashvili needs to be transferred to a prison hospital, Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said.

"If he requires hospitalization, he'll be transferred to a prison hospital," Bregadze said on the Imedi TV channel on Friday evening.

"If necessary, we'll transport Saakashvili to the prison hospital by helicopter to ensure his security," Bregadze said, in commenting on the State Security Service findings that some radical groups might prevent Saakashvili's transfer from the Rustavi jail to the prison hospital on the grounds of the Gldani prison in Tbilisi.

Bregadze also denied Saakashvili's assertion that he refused medical aid and will not take medicine.

"It's for doctors to assess Saakashvili's health status, but at the present time, the inmate Saakashvili is continuing to receive treatment, and his vital parameters are normal," Bregadze said.

A team of emergency doctors with the necessary mobile equipment is on duty at the Rustavi prison round the clock, he said.

Bregadze cited a panel of doctors believing that Saakashvili's health condition does not require hospitalization at present.

Saakashvili, former Georgian president and currently a citizen of Ukraine, secretly arrived in Georgia from Ukraine on September 29. He was detained in Tbilisi on October 1 and is currently being held in a Rustavi prison.

Georgia earlier declared Saakashvili wanted as a person convicted in absentia in several criminal cases and treated as a suspect in some others. The Georgian authorities warned repeatedly that he would be detained immediately after he crossed the border. Saakashvili has described his detention as unlawful and the charges brought against him as falsified.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine categorically denies the allegation of Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek about the alleged "discrimination" of Polish people in Ukraine, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko has said.

"Use of such statements regarding the position of the Polish community in Ukraine is, to say the least, inappropriate. It misleads our societies, does not reflect the real state of friendly and partner relations between Ukraine and Poland," he told Interfax-Ukraine on Saturday.

Nikolenko noted that the Foreign Ministry was surprised that this statement was made the day after a successful meeting in Warsaw of the advisory commission on meeting the educational needs of representatives of the Ukrainian minority in Poland and the Polish minority in Ukraine. According to him, the commission confirmed mutual understanding and mutual openness to constructive dialogue.

"We call on the Polish side to refrain from political assessments that are discordant with the real intentions and steps of the parties to strengthen the partnership between Ukraine and Poland in various fields," he said.

Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek said that "Polish people in Ukraine are discriminated against in terms of freedom of religion, access to education in their native language and freedom of speech."
Introduced from November 1, the lockdown in Kyiv will be valid for the unvaccinated, mayor of the city Vitali Klitschko has said.

"From November 1, the Ukrainian capital is included in the 'red zone' [...] We are counting on clear interaction with the police. To monitor compliance with the key rules: both for travel in transport and for visiting various establishments. I want to emphasize once again that today the lockdown in Kyiv will be valid for those people who are not vaccinated," the press service of Klitschko quotes his words, said on the air of the Freedom of Speech program with Savik Shuster on the Ukraine TV channel on Friday.

According to him, there is very disappointing statistics in Kyiv  40-50 people died every day over the past week. Statistics will be released on Saturday that 54 people have died over the past day. "The situation is very difficult. And we are doing everything possible to help doctors from the capital's budget, motivating them. We buy oxygen. As of today, we have no problems with provision to hospitals," Klitschko said.

At the same time, he noted that the Ukrainian capital today is the leader in vaccination among other Ukrainian cities and regions. In total, since the beginning of the vaccination campaign in the Ukrainian capital, about 2.200 million vaccinations have been carried out.
On Thursday, November 4, at 11.30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "Creative industry as new driving force of economy in Ukraine and world," a unique system of relations based on the new non-governmental platform I-Dolina (Ukrainian Silicon Valley) will be presented. Participants include Chairman of the International Technology Transfer Association, founder of I-Dolina Artem Honcharenko; President of the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine, former Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services Lev Partskhaladze; Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC IBOX BANK Rostyslav Nakonechny; representative of the Information Committee of the Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce Oleh Sytnyk; Director of the Institute of Digital Transformation, Ph.D. in Economics, former CEO of Microsoft Ukraine Nadiya Vasilyeva; fundraising expert, Managing partner of the Synergy Universe group of companies Svitlana Olieinikova; Head of the audiovisual authors' society ARMA Ukraine, founder of UNI.UA Dmytro Kolesnykov; Director of Kyiv Junior Academy of Sciences, Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences Iryna Polischuk; Chairman of the Board of the Ukraine-Israel Business Council Oleksandr Pavlov; member of the Supervisory Board of the International Technology Transfer Association Oleksandr Tepliuk. Participants online: Chief Engineer, CTO Security at Cisco Andriy Zavadovsky; Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-nominated producer and writer Den Tolmor (8/5a Reitarska Street). The broadcast will be available on the YouTube channel of Interfax-Ukraine. Due to quarantine restrictions, the number of seats in the press center is limited. Admission of journalists requires registration on the spot.
Previous One Direction Member Zayn Malik charged with multiple complaints of harassment from Yolanda Hadid! (Photo : REUTERS )

Zayn may have repeatedly denied "hitting" his ex-partner Gigi's mother Yolanda Hadid. Still, documents acquired by HollywoodLife proves that he did not contest the harassment complaint that was filed against him.



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Malik, Zayne, former one direction's most famous band member, is now charged with at least four counts of harassment following the altercation that happened at his home in Pennsylvania on the 29th of September 2021, wherein he did not plead for not guilty. Instead, he pled to not contest the complaint to the four counts of harassment that was filed against him.



Based on the documents that were obtained by HL on the 29th of October 2021, Malik allegedly called Yolanda Hadid a "F***ing Foreign Whore," and aggressively demanded that she "do not even put one step forward towards his f***ing daughter, Kai." Police reports also explained that he allegedly referred to his and Gigi Hadid's daughter Kai as the "f***ing c*m that came out of his f***ing d***."



After a much-heated argument with Yolanda Hadid the One DIrection Hitmaker then allegedly "pushed her [Yolanda Hadid] inside a dresser which caused Yolanda Hadid to become mentally traumatized about the whole ordeal including some concerning physical pain." Zayn was also charged with harassing Gigi Hadid because he shouted at her while on the phone, telling Gigi to "Put on some strap-on with f***ing balls and protect her partner from her f***ing mother in his own home and property." Reliable Sources had told TMZ that the Gigi Hadid was actually not at home when the heated argument happened but was actually in Paris at the time of the unfortunate altercation and was just shouted at over the phone by then, his ex-boyfriend Zayn.



Even the security detail was afraid of zayn at the moment, even when he was at the scene as the alleged harasser allegedly tried to fight him also during the heat of the moment.



He also shouted at him, saying he should "f***ing leave his f***ing house." He has pled to no contest to the complaint since October 27, 2021 and was also forced to pay a monetary amount and need to go through a complete course of anger management class plus a domestic violence crash course so that the judge may be able to terminate his probation from 360 days to 6 months minimum. He is also not allowed to be near and have absolutely no contact with either Yolanda Hadid or the Security Guard.


Queen Elizabeth told to rest for at least two more weeks

Britain's Queen Elizabeth attends the opening ceremony of the sixth session of the Senedd in Cardiff, Britain (Photo : Jacob King/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth has been advised by doctors to rest for at least the next two weeks, with the 95-year-old monarch avoiding official visits and only undertaking light duties during this time, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.



However the world's oldest and longest-reigning monarch, is determined to appear at the annual Remembrance Sunday service that commemorates the nation's war dead in central London on Nov. 14, the palace said.



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Elizabeth, who is queen of 15 other realms including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, has been resting at her Windsor Castle since she stayed overnight in hospital last week after undergoing "preliminary investigations" for an unspecified ailment that is not related to COVID-19.



The monarch had already pulled out of addressing world leaders in person next week at the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow.



And she has endured a difficult two years. In April her husband of more than seven decades, Prince Philip, died aged 99, while in 2020 her grandson Harry and his wife Meghan stepped back from royal duties and moved to the United States.



Her second son Prince Andrew has also quit royal duties over his links to U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, a registered sex offender who killed himself in a Manhattan jail in 2019.



Following the latest advice, Elizabeth will no longer attend a major event on Nov. 13 at the Royal Albert Hall hosted by a British military charity. But the queen had a "firm intention" to be present at the main national service of remembrance for veterans on Sunday Nov. 14, the palace said.



A palace source said the queen remained in good spirits and had recorded a video address for the COP26 delegates on Friday. Further rest was a "sensible precaution", the source added.



However the news is likely to raise concerns about the health of the queen, who is due to celebrate 70 years on the throne next year. The Daily Telegraph described the advice for two more weeks of rest as the most significant absence of the queen's long reign.



Aides have not given any details as to what prompted the medical attention last week, which followed the cancellation of a visit to Northern Ireland.



Since then the queen appeared in a cheerful mood in video footage released by the palace on Thursday, when she took part in a ceremony awarding a medal for poetry.



She has also been shown smiling and greeting foreign ambassadors via video link.



Prior to this period the queen has been known for her robust health and still carries out many public duties.



The evening before she had to go into hospital, she hosted a drinks reception at Windsor Castle for billionaire business leaders, including Bill Gates, who were attending a green investment conference ahead of COP26.


The congressional committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol has delayed testimony by Jeffrey Clark, a former senior official at the Justice Department, because he has retained a new lawyer.



"Mr. Clark has been granted a brief postponement as a result of his retaining new counsel," a committee aide said on Friday.



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The U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the seat of the U.S. government announced on Oct. 13 that it had issued a subpoena to Clark asking him to produce records and testify at a deposition by Oct. 29.



Clark was acting head of the Justice Department's civil division during the presidency of former Republican President Donald Trump. He was a proponent of Trump's unfounded claims that Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the November 2020 election was the result of fraud.



In announcing it subpoenaed Clark, the committee said it needed to understand all the details about efforts inside the previous administration to amplify misinformation about election results.



Trump gave a speech espousing his election fraud theory at a raucous rally on Jan. 6, when Vice President Mike Pence and Congress met to certify Biden's election. Trump urged his supporters to "fight like hell," sending thousands of them to march on the Capitol.


A person rests on a Washington Metro subway car wearing a face mask, following Mayor Muriel Bowser's declaration of a state of emergency due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Washington, U.S. (Photo : REUTERS/Tom Brenner TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) said Friday it had asked U.S. transit agencies to conduct inspections of wheel gauges on rail cars following the Oct. 12 derailment of a Washington subway train.



FTA said it was requiring state https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2021-10/FTA-Safety-Advisory-21-1.pdf safety agencies to report out-of-tolerance wheel gauges discovered since October 2020 and advised them to require fleet-wide inspections of wheel gauges in public transportation systems. The Washington subway system said on Thursday it expected to operate sharply reduced service through at least Nov. 15.



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FTA says operators must disclose how often they inspect wheel gauges and the number that failed inspections.



On Oct. 17, the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission ordered the subway system to indefinitely remove about 60% of its railcars following inspections after the derailment.



The National Transportation Safety said the train had derailed at least three times on Oct. 12.



The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), known as the Metro, serves the U.S. capital and parts of Maryland and Virginia. It has urged commuters to take buses or use other transit modes as train service has been cut back.



Average Metrorail weekday ridership has fallen by about 25%, WMATA said this week.



The commission ordered WMATA's 748 7000-Series trains removed from service after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) "identified safety concerns related to the spacing of wheels on 7000-Series railcar axles".



The NTSB said WMATA had been aware of wheel assembly issues since 2017. It was a 7000-Series train that was involved in the Oct. 12 derailment outside Washington in Arlington, Virginia.



WMATA said on Tuesday it had completed inspections on its 748 7000-Series trains and 20 axles were found to be out of alignment.



The derailment did not injure any of the 187 passengers onboard, but NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said the incident could have been "catastrophic."


Shiloh Jolie-Pitt Seen Wearing A David Bowie T-Shirt While Leaving A Los Angeles Dance Class (Photo : Yara Nardi/ REUTERS)

Let's rock! Shiloh Jolie-Pitt channelled some rock star vibes recently when she exited a Los Angeles dancing lesson wearing a David Bowie t-shirt. The 15-year-old wore a black David Bowie top with black Adidas track trousers and black Converse sneakers. Additionally, she wore her hair back in a casual mid-length ponytail as she exited the dancing lesson with a water bottle and a rucksack.



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Shiloh had already expressed her David Bowie obsession, as she was recently sighted in London with mother Angelina Jolie, 46, at the rock legend's pop-up shop on Heddon. Perhaps that is how the teen obtained her adorable t-shirt! While on the shopping excursion, Shiloh also demonstrated her affinity for the color black by donning a black "Italia Roma" sweatshirt, denim shorts, and black boots.



Additionally, she accessorized the appearance with a black face mask to match her mother for the occasion. Additionally, Knox, 13, and Zahara, 16, were present for the shopping trip, both dressed fashionably casual.



Shiloh has been touring the globe with her mother Angelina to promote "Eternals", a Marvel film where she made a cameo. Angelina also accompanied Shiloh's brothers and sisters, Maddox, 20, and Vivienne, 13, to the red carpet premiere, which was then followed by a cast party at a private members' club. Shiloh and sister Zahara were also there at the Eternals premiere in Rome on Oct. 24, while five of the six children attended the Los Angeles premiere on Oct. 18.



Throughout these occasions, Shiloh maintained her fashion prowess opting for a stunning sleeveless beige gown during the Los Angeles premiere that accentuated her beauty to the max. The girl then donned a black velvet gown in Rome and juxtaposed the elegant dress by adding her personal touch with a pair of bright yellow shoes.



She also donned a white gown with a black pattern to the London premiere. Along with Shiloh, sister Zahara donned her mother's old Elie Saab gown to the Los Angeles event, evoking Angelina's shimmering, sheer splendour from the 2014 Academy Awards.


Egypt's parliament will on Sunday start a debate on new government-drafted amendments to an article of the country's anti-terror law, which aim to give concerned authorities greater flexibility to combat terrorism crimes.

The article 53 gives the president of the republic the power to take the measures necessary to preserve security and public order, such as evacuating or isolating some areas or imposing curfew on them, according to a parliamentary report

The parliament will also tackle new amendments to the penal code to toughen penalties on those who commit the crime of leaking state defence secrets.

"Those convicted of this kind of crimes will face a prison sentence ranging from six months and five years and a fine ranging from EGP 5,000 to EGP 50,000 (instead of a current fine ranging from EGP 100 to EGP 500)," the report said.

The parliament will also on Sunday discuss amendments to a law regulating the protection and safeguarding of public establishments, which will entrust the Armed Forces with helping police forces safeguard public and vital establishments such as electricity stations and grids, and gas and oil pipelines on a permanent basis.

The legislature will then open a discussion on article 17 of the law regulating the participation of the private sector in implementing infrastructure projects.

On Tuesday, the parliament will start discussing the new General Unified Finance law, which aims to upgrade the process of drafting the state's annual budget through merging two pieces of legislation regulating the annual state budget and government accounting into a single bill.

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Ethiopian forces retreated from Dessie, a strategic town in the Amhara region that borders Tigray, residents told AFP on Saturday following heavy fighting and power outages in the city.

If confirmed, the fall of the town to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) would be a major blow to the federal government, which has been embroiled in a nearly year-long war with the rebels.

"At around 2 am Ethiopian soldiers began retreating from the area," said Amir, a Dessie resident who declined to give his second name.

TPLF fighters "entered the city, with ENDF (Ethiopian National Defence Force) soldiers not seen," said another resident who gave his name only as Mohammed.

"I don't know if the soldiers left or were captured," he told AFP, adding that he was trying to flee the town now.

There was no immediate comment from the TPLF or the government on the situation in Dessie.

Much of northern Ethiopia is under a communications blackout and access for journalists is restricted, making battlefield claims difficult to verify independently.

Dessie, which is located in the Amhara region neighbouring Tigray, lies about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Residents had earlier reported a heavy military build-up in the area, as civilians fleeing conflict-hit towns further north poured into Dessie seeking refuge.

The TPLF on October 20 claimed the rebels were "within artillery range" of Dessie, with Amhara regional president Yilkal Kefale the following day urging armed Amharas to converge on the town to defend it.

The conflict erupted last November when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed troops in Tigray, with the operation spiralling into a prolonged war marked by massacres, mass rapes and a looming threat of famine.

The prime minister, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, said the operation was in response to attacks on army camps by the TPLF, the regional ruling party which dominated national politics for three decades before Abiy took office.

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Cairo International Airport received on Saturday a total of 3,634,020 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from the US, the fourth and largest shipment of this vaccine to reach the country since late September.

This ups the total number of doses of the American-German vaccine the country has received to 8,255,520, Minister of Higher Education and Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said in a statement.

Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly issued a decree on Friday to delegate Abdel-Ghaffar to undertake the duties of Health Minister Hala Zayed till her recovery.

Zayed was hospitalised after suffering a heart attack last week, but reportedly returned home shortly afterwards.

Abdel-Ghaffar said the US government made the shipment to Egypt through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) program, in cooperation with the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI).

Egypt received its third Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipment on 22 October comprising almost 1.4 million doses.

The shipments are part of 500 million Pfizer vaccine doses donated by the US to African Union countries through COVAX.

Last week, Egypt also received its third batch of 1,058,400 shots of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust in cooperation with the African Export-Import Bank.

This brought the total number of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses in Egypt to over 1.8 million.

Egypt is also waiting to receive millions of doses of the US's Moderna vaccine soon.

Egypt has vaccinated around 22 million people against coronavirus, Presidential Advisor for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din told the media on 22 October.

Egypts vaccination campaign currently uses various types of imported vaccines, including Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer, in addition to its locally-made Sinovac/VACSERA.

Egypt aims to vaccine 40 million citizens by the end of the year, allocating almost 2,000 vaccination centres nationwide, according to Aysam Salah, advisor to health minister for information technology.

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US President Joe Biden will meet with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, a senior US official said.

The NATO allies had been expected to hold a bilateral at the UN summit climate in Glasgow next week, but a senior US administration official briefed reporters on Saturday that it would take place Sunday morning.

On the agenda will be Syria, Libya and the various defence systems Turkey hopes to acquire from Russia and the United States.

Erdogan has had a rocky relationship with Biden, whom he last met in June on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels.

Turkey is currently seeking $1.4 billion in compensation after Washington kicked the NATO ally out of its F-35 fighter jet programme in retaliation for buying a Russian missile defence system.

The meeting would also come on the heels of a new diplomatic spat that saw Erdogan threaten to expel ambassadors from the United States and nine other Western nations over their support for a jailed Turkish civil society leader.

Erdogan, who accused the envoys of meddling in Turkey's affairs, walked back the threat after the embassies issued statements pledging to stay out of Turkey's domestic affairs.

"I'm not actually even sure we would have had the meeting if he had gone ahead and expelled," the US official said.

"Certainly the president will indicate that we need to find a way to avoid crises like that one going forward... Precipitous action is not going to benefit the US-Turkey partnership and alliance."

Turkey's 2019 purchase of a Russian S-400 air defence system has been an irritant on ties, prompting Washington to block Ankara's plans to buy about 100 next-generation US F-35 planes.

Erdogan has insisted on compensation, saying Washington could pay back at least part of the $1.4 billion advance payment Turkey made for the F-35s through the delivery of older-generation F-16 fighter jets.

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Alexandria will witness heavy rainfall and thunder on Saturday night, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) said.

Satellite images show thunderclouds gathering over El-Dabaa city in northern Egypt

Rain clouds will also gather over Cairo and Delta with varying levels of rainfall, the EMA added.

In an earlier statement, the EMA expected moderate to heavy rainfall, possibly accompanied by thunder, along different parts of the North Coast and the northern part of the Delta on Saturday and Sunday.

During the same two-day period, light to moderate rainfall is expected over Greater Cairo and the rest of the Delta.

Parts of northern Egypt already witnessed moderate rainfall on Saturday morning, including on Matrouh, Alexandria, and Menoufiya governorates.

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The United Arab Emirates announced Saturday it was withdrawing its diplomats from Lebanon after a similar move by Saudi Arabia, and also banned its citizens from travelling to the country.

"The UAE announced the withdrawal of its diplomats from Lebanon in solidarity with the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," the foreign ministry said in a statement. It "also decided to prevent its citizens from travelling to Lebanon," it added.

Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia on Friday said it was recalling its ambassador to Lebanon and giving Beirut's envoy 48 hours to leave Riyadh, after "insulting" remarks made by a Lebanese minister on the Yemen war.

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Sudanese security forces on Saturday killed three protesters during mass anti-military takeover rallies, medics said, despite warnings from global powers who had urged the military to exercise restraint.

"Two demonstrators were killed in the city of Omdurman by the putschist military council," the independent Central Committee of Sudan's Doctors said in a tweet, adding that one was shot in the head and the other in the stomach.

It later said security forces had shot dead a third protester, also in Omdurman, Khartoum's sister city.

Forces "have fired live rounds at protesters in Omdurman" and areas in the capital, the medics said.

More than 100 people have been wounded in the violence or have suffered breathing difficulties due to tear gas, the committee added.

The latest killings bring the death toll since the outbreak of anti-military takeover protests on Monday to 12.

Sudan's interior ministry slammed reports of killings on Saturday as "inaccurate" and denied forces had used live rounds.

"Groups of protesters... attacked the police, as well as vital sites, which prompted the police to fire tear gas," the ministry said in a statement.

An AFP correspondent said tear gas was fired at other protests on the eastern banks of the Nile in Khartoum.

Saturday's demonstrations came almost a week after the military on Monday detained Sudan's civilian leadership, dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency, leading to a chorus of international condemnation -- and warnings against using force.

"No, no to military rule", and "We are free revolutionaries and we will continue the road" of democratic transition, protesters carrying Sudanese flags chanted in Khartoum.

Despite bloodshed throughout the week, organisers on Saturday aimed to stage a "million-strong" march against the military's power grab, similar to mass protests that led to the toppling of autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

- 'Don't back down' -

Demonstrations took place throughout Khartoum state as well as in the eastern regions of Gedaref and Kassala, and the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, witnesses and AFP correspondents said.

Protests also broke out in the central state North Kordofan, and White Nile state in the south, according to witnesses.

"We want civilian rule... It has to be civilian 100 percent," said Hashim al-Tayib, a protester in southern Khartoum.

Sudan had been led since August 2019 by a civilian-military ruling council which was supposed to last three years and lead to full civilian rule.

The arrangement came under increasing strain prior to the coup, which analysts said aimed to maintain the army's traditional control over the northeast African country.

"Though I have reservations on the performance of Hamdok's government, there is no substitute for it," said protester Hagar Youssef from east Khartoum. "Sudan has had enough of military rule."

Protesters held posters of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, ousted by the military and effectively held under house arrest, with slogans saying, "Don't back down."

In east Khartoum, protesters burned tyres and held posters reading, "It's impossible to go back", while in the city's southern district banners expressed concern that the country might return to Washington's state sponsors of terrorism list.

That designation, accompanied by years of crippling sanctions, was lifted only last December, opening the way to debt relief and renewed largesse from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

After the coup, the World Bank suspended aid to Sudan in a heavy blow to a country already mired in a dire economic crisis that began under Bashir.

Other protesters called for "freedom to the members of cabinet" who have been detained since the putsch.

Several pro-democracy activists have also been arrested following the takeover led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan's de facto leader since the ouster of Bashir which came at the cost of more than 250 lives.

- Warnings on violence -

Officials from the United Nations, the US and Britain have urged security forces to refrain from violence and show "restraint".

"The security services and their leaders will bear responsibility for any violence towards any protesters," said Robert Fairweather, Britain's special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan.

Security forces had deployed in large numbers and blocked bridges to Khartoum.

Before the protests began, Sudan's information ministry, which backs a civilian government, warned that coup authorities were planning to engineer "instances of destruction to justify its excessive violence".

Protesters during the week had, in some cases, already been met with tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and live rounds.

Shops have largely been shuttered, and government employees have refused to work as part of a campaign of civil disobedience.

Prior to Saturday's rallies, Sudan state TV aired testimonies from military men alleging that protesters wounded them during clashes, and showed ordinary Sudanese hailing the army.

Burhan, a senior general under Bashir's three decades of iron-fisted rule, has insisted the military takeover "was not a coup" but only meant to "rectify the course of the Sudanese transition".

One of the world's least developed countries, Sudan has enjoyed only rare democratic interludes since independence in 1956 and spent decades riven by civil war.

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World leaders have been meeting for 29 years to try to curb global warming, and in that time Earth has become a much hotter and deadlier planet.

Trillions of tons of ice have disappeared over that period, the burning of fossil fuels has spewed billions of tons of heat-trapping gases into the air, and hundreds of thousands of people have died from heat and other weather disasters stoked by climate change, statistics show.

When more than 100 world leaders descended on Rio de Janeiro in 1992 for an Earth Summit to discuss global warming and other environmental issues, there was ``a huge feeling of well-being, of being able to do something. There was hope really,'' said Oren Lyons, faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, one of the representatives for Native Americans at the summit.

Now, the 91-year-old activist said, that hope has been smothered: ``The ice is melting. ... Everything is bad. ... Thirty years of degradation.''

Data analyzed by The Associated Press from government figures and scientific reports shows ``how much we did lose Earth,'' said former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief William K. Reilly, who headed the American delegation three decades ago.

That Earth Summit set up the process of international climate negotiations that culminated in the 2015 Paris accord and resumes Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, where leaders will try to ramp up efforts to cut carbon pollution.

Back in 1992, it was clear climate change was a problem ``with major implications for lives and livelihoods in the future,'' U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the AP this month. ``That future is here and we are out of time.''

World leaders have hammered out two agreements to curb climate change. In Kyoto in 1997, a protocol set carbon pollution cuts for developed countries but not poorer nations. That did not go into effect until 2005 because of ratification requirements. In 2015, the Paris agreement made every nation set its own emission goals.

In both cases, the United States, a top-polluting country, helped negotiate the deals but later pulled out of the process when a Republican president took office. The U.S. has since rejoined the Paris agreement.

The yearly global temperature has increased almost 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) since 1992, based on multi-year averaging, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Earth has warmed more in the last 29 years than in the previous 110. Since 1992, the world has broken the annual global high temperature record eight times.

In Alaska, the average temperature has increased 2.5 degrees (1.4 degrees Celsius) since 1992, according to NOAA. The Arctic had been warming twice as fast as the globe as a whole, but now has jumped to three times faster in some seasons, according to the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program.

That heat is melting Earth's ice. Since 1992, Earth has lost 36 trillion tons of ice (33 trillion metric tons), according to calculations by climate scientist Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds. That includes sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic that melts now more in the summer than it used to, the shrinking of giant ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, and melting glaciers.

And Michael Zemp, who runs the World Glacier Monitoring Service, said Shepherd's numbers may be a little low. He calculates that since 1992, the glaciers of the world have lost nearly 9.5 trillion tons of ice (8.6 trillion metric tons), about a trillion tons more than Shepherd's figures.

With more ice melt in the ocean and water expanding as it warms, the world's average sea level has risen about 3.7 inches (95 millimeters) since 1992, according to the University of Colorado. That may not sound like much, but it is enough to cover the United States in water to a depth of 11 feet (3.5 meters), University of Colorado sea level researcher Steve Nerem calculated.

Wildfires in the United States have more than doubled in how much they have burned. From 1983 to 1992, wildfires consumed an average of 2.7 million acres a year. From 2011 to 2020, the average was up to 7.5 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

``The unhealthy choices that are killing our planet are killing our people as well,'' said Dr. Maria Neira, director of the World Heath Organization's environment, climate change and health program.

The United States has had 265 weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage _ adjusted to 2021 dollars _ since 1992, including 18 so far this year. Those disasters have caused 11,991 deaths and cost $1.8 trillion. From 1980 to 1992, the U.S. averaged three of those billion-dollar weather disasters a year. Since 1993, the country has averaged nine a year.

Worldwide there have been nearly 8,000 climate, water and weather disasters, killing 563,735, according to the EMDAT disaster databas e. Those figures are probably missing a lot of disasters and deaths, said the Debarati Guha-Sapir, who oversees the database for the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters at the University of Louvain School of Public Health in Brussels.

Medical researchers earlier this year looked at 732 cities worldwide and calculated how many deaths were from climate change-caused extra heat. They found that on average since 1991, there have been 9,702 heat deaths from global warming a year just in those studied cities, which adds up to 281,000 climate-caused heat deaths since 1992.

But that's a small proportion of what really is happening, said study author Ana Vicedo-Cabrera, an epidemiologist at the Institute of Social and Preventative Medicine at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Using those cities, researchers calculated that during the four hottest months of the year, the added heat from climate change is responsible for 0.58% of the globe's deaths.

That comes to about 100,000 heat deaths caused by climate change a year for 29 years, she said.

WHO officials said those figures make sense and calculate the annual death toll from climate change will rise to 250,000 a year in the 2030s.

Scientists say this is happening because of heat-trapping gases. Carbon dioxide levels have increased 17% from 353 parts per million in September 1992 to 413 in September 2021, according to NOAA. The agency's annual greenhouse gas index, which charts six gases and weights them according to how much heat they trap, rose almost 20% since 1992.

From 1993 to 2019, the world put more than 885 billion tons (803 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide in the air from the burning of fossil fuels and making of cement, according to the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists who track emissions.

A pessimistic Lyons, the Native American activist, said, ``I would say this meeting in Glasgow is the last shot.''

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Over two weeks in November, world leaders and national negotiators will meet in Scotland to discuss what to do about climate change. It's a complex process that can be hard to make sense of from the outside, but it's how international law and institutions help solve problems that no single country can fix on its own.

I worked for the United Nations for several years as a law and policy adviser and have been involved in international negotiations. Here's what's happening behind closed doors and why people are concerned that COP26 might not meet its goals.

What is COP26?

In 1992, countries agreed to an international treaty called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which set ground rules and expectations for global cooperation on combating climate change. It was the first time the majority of nations formally recognized the need to control greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming that drives climate change.

That treaty has since been updated, including in 2015 when nations signed the Paris climate agreement. That agreement set the goal of limiting global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F), and preferably to 1.5 C (2.7 F), to avoid catastrophic climate change.

COP26 stands for the 26th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC. The "parties" are the 196 countries that ratified the treaty plus the European Union. The United Kingdom, partnering with Italy, is hosting COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, from Oct. 31 through Nov. 12, 2021, after a one-year postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why are world leaders so focused on climate change?

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's latest report, released in August 2021, warns in its strongest terms yet that human activities have unequivocally warmed the planet, and that climate change is now widespread, rapid and intensifying.

The IPCC's scientists explain how climate change has been fueling extreme weather events and flooding, severe heat waves and droughts, loss and extinction of species, and the melting of ice sheets and rising of sea levels. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the report a "code red for humanity."

Enough greenhouse gas emissions are already in the atmosphere, and they stay there long enough, that even under the most ambitious scenario of countries quickly reducing their emissions, the world will experience rising temperatures through at least mid-century.

However, there remains a narrow window of opportunity. If countries can cut global emissions to "net zero" by 2050, that could bring warming back to under 1.5 C in the second half of the 21st century. How to get closer to that course is what leaders and negotiators are discussing.

What happens at COP26?

During the first days of the conference, around 120 heads of state, like U.S. President Joe Biden, and their representatives will gather to demonstrate their political commitment to slowing climate change.

Once the heads of state depart, country delegations, often led by ministers of environment, engage in days of negotiations, events and exchanges to adopt their positions, make new pledges and join new initiatives. These interactions are based on months of prior discussions, policy papers and proposals prepared by groups of states, U.N. staff and other experts.

Nongovernmental organizations and business leaders also attend the conference, and COP26 has a public side with sessions focused on topics such as the impact of climate change on small island states, forests or agriculture, as well as exhibitions and other events.

The meeting ends with an outcome text that all countries agree to. Guterres publicly expressed disappointment with the COP25 outcome, and there are signs of trouble heading into COP26.

What is COP26 expected to accomplish?

Countries are required under the Paris Agreement to update their national climate action plans every five years, including at COP26. This year, they're expected to have ambitious targets through 2030. These are known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs.

The Paris Agreement requires countries to report their NDCs, but it allows them leeway in determining how they reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The initial set of emission reduction targets in 2015 was far too weak to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

One key goal of COP26 is to ratchet up these targets to reach net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century.

Another aim of COP26 is to increase climate finance to help poorer countries transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change. This is an important issue of justice for many developing countries whose people bear the largest burden from climate change but have contributed least to it. Wealthy countries promised in 2009 to contribute $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing nations, a goal that has not been reached. The U.S., U.K. and EU, among the largest historic greenhouse emitters, are increasing their financial commitments, and banks, businesses, insurers and private investors are being asked to do more.

Other objectives include phasing out coal use and generating solutions that preserve, restore or regenerate natural carbon sinks, such as forests.

Another challenge that has derailed past COPs is agreeing on implementing a carbon trading system outlined in the Paris Agreement.

Are countries on track to meet the international climate goals?

The U.N. warned in September 2021 that countries' revised targets were too weak and would leave the world on pace to warm 2.7 C (4.9 F) by the end of the century. However, governments are also facing another challenge this fall that could affect how they respond: Energy supply shortages have left Europe and China with price spikes for natural gas, coal and oil.

China - the world's largest emitter - submitted an updated NDC on Oct. 28 with little change from pledges it announced almost a year ago. Major fossil fuel producers such as Russia and Australia seem unwilling to strengthen their commitments. Saudi Arabia strengthened its targets but doesn't count exports of oil and gas, which it says it will continue producing. India - a critical player as the second-largest consumer, producer and importer of coal globally - has also not yet committed.

Other developing nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa and Mexico are important. So is Brazil, which, under Jair Bolsonaro's watch, has increased deforestation of the Amazon - the world's largest rainforest and crucial for biodiversity and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

What happens if COP26 doesn't meet its goals?

Many insiders believe that COP26 won't reach its goal of having strong enough commitments from countries to cut global greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030. That means the world won't be on a smooth course for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and the goal of keeping warming under 1.5 C.

But organizers maintain that keeping warming under 1.5 C is still possible. Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been leading the U.S. negotiations, remains hopeful that enough countries will create momentum for others to strengthen their reduction targets by 2025.

The cost of failure is astronomical. Studies have shown that the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius can mean the submersion of small island states, the death of coral reefs, extreme heat waves, flooding and wildfires, and pervasive crop failure.

That translates into many premature deaths, more mass migration, major economic losses, large swaths of unlivable land and violent conflict over resources and food - what the U.N. secretary-general has called "a hellish future."

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Other important discoveries made by the mission include the tomb of the mayor of Memphis, Ptah-Mas; the royal ambassador to foreign countries, Basir; and the supreme commander of the army, Eurkhi.

Mohamed Othman El-Khosht, Head of Cairo University, explained that this is another important discovery made by the universitys mission in Saqqara, highlighting the top priority the institution affords to field work alongside research and scientific work.

He pointed out that the area where the new discovery was made includes the tombs of top officials of the New Kingdom, among with is the tomb of the renowned military commander Haremhab.

According to Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the discovery is important because of the several titles the tomb owner possessed in life. He was the royal scribe, the head of the treasury, the supervisors of cattle and was responsible for sacrifices to the deities at Ramses II temple in Thebes.

The head of the archaeological mission, Ola El-Egazy, added that the tomb architecture is similar to its neighbours. This style is known as a tomb-temple because it consists of an entrance in the form of an edifice, followed by one or more courtyards. The tomb ends at the western side with a shrine for deities headed by a pyramidion.

The entrance of the tomb is the only uncovered part and it is carved in stone engraved with scenes depicting the tombs owner, she added.

The entrance leads to a first hall with painted walls showing scenes depicting the offerings processions.

Many stone blocks were found under the sand, as well as several Osirian columns, some of which are still lying in sand while others are standing in their original place. All these pieces will be studied to be put back in their original places inside the tomb, El-Egazy said, adding that the mission had completed all the required work on the tomb of the supreme commander of the army during the reign of King Seti I and his son, King Ramses II.

Ahmed Ragab, dean of the Faculty of Archeology, said that excavation work in Saqqara began in the 1970s at the New Kingdom cemetery south of the road leading to the pyramid of King Unas. Headed by Professor Sayed Tawfiq 1983-1986, this mission resulted in the discovery of many tombs dating back to the Ramesside period, including the tomb of the royal vizier Nefer-Ranpet.

The universitys current mission, headed by Ola El-Egazy, started in 2005 and has continued through the present.
French authorities fined two British fishing vessels and ``immobilized'' one of them overnight in a port, France's maritime minister announced Thursday as a dispute over fishing licenses between the countries on both sides of the English Channel intensified.

The French Sea Ministry said in a statement that the fines resulted from new boat checks that are ``part of the tightening of controls in the Channel, in the context of discussions on licenses with the United Kingdom and the European Commission.''

``We are reinforcing the checks,'' Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin told French radio network. RTL ``One (vessel) was fined for refusing to let the check take place, and the other one didn't have the right to fish in the zone because it didn't have a license.''

France's Europe minister, Clement Beaune, said Thursday that France ``will do systematic controls, customs, sanitary, security checks at sea for British vessels, We will have zero tolerance, zero indulgence.''

France announced Wednesday that it would bar British fishing boats from some French ports starting next week if no deal is reached with the U.K. in a dispute over fishing licenses. It also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands, British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France.

The U.K. said the threat appeared to breach international law and vowed to retaliate if Paris went through with the move.

``France's threats are disappointing and disproportionate, and not what we would expect from a close ally and partner,'' the U.K. said.

It said the measures ``do not appear to be compatible'' with the U.K.-EU Brexit withdrawal agreement ``and wider international law, and, if carried through, will be met with an appropriate and calibrated response.''

Since the U.K. left the economic orbit of the European Union at the start of the year, relations between London and Paris have become increasingly frayed.

France vehemently protested the decision last month by the U.K. and the Channel Island of Jersey to refuse dozens of French fishing boats licenses to operate in their territorial waters. France says the restrictions are contrary to the post-Brexit agreement that the British government signed when it left the EU.

After weeks of negotiations, British authorities have issued more fishing licenses but the number still only accounts for 50% of what France believes it ``is entitled to,'' French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Wednesday.

The French ministers for Europe and for maritime affairs said in a joint statement Wednesday that if no agreement is reached by Nov. 2, France will bar British fishing boats from designated ports and tighten customs, security and other controls on any British boats and trucks traveling between France and Britain.

France said it also ``doesn't exclude'' measures in the coming weeks that would target energy supplies to Britain, the statement said. Attal specified that meant the Channel Islands, which are closer to French shores than British ones and rely heavily on electricity supplied by the French grid.

``We have worked with the British, we gave them all the requested data, documents, information to back these (license) requests,'' Attal said. ``Our patience has reached its limits today.''

Britain says it has granted 98% of fishing license applications from European vessels, but there is a dispute over 31 vessels which the U.K. says did not supply evidence to support their applications.

Jersey, which is only 14 miles (22 kilometers) off the French coast, is a British Crown dependency outside of the U.K. As such, it has its own powers over who is allowed to fish in its territorial waters. It has granted licenses based on its interpretation of the U.K.-EU trade deal, and has accused France of acting disproportionately.

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KYODO NEWS - Oct 30, 2021 - 21:10 | World, All

Mourners paid their final respects to former South Korean President Roh Tae Woo in a state funeral held in Seoul on Saturday amid protests, with some municipalities refusing to raise flags of mourning for the army general-turned politician over his involvement in a bloody crackdown on a pro-democracy movement.

At the ceremony for Roh, who served as president from 1988 to 1993 and died Tuesday at the age of 88, Prime Minister Kim Boo Kyum praised him for improving ties with Pyongyang.

Roh and North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung in 1991 signed an agreement on reconciliation and exchange and adopted a joint statement on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

But Kim also mentioned the 1980 crackdown on the pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju, in which scores of civilians were killed, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency.

"We fully understand those of you who oppose the state funeral," the report quoted Kim as saying. "Despite the many achievements of the deceased as president, we are simply unable to just mourn his death today because there are still many tasks left to be resolved by our community."

During the five-day state funeral that started Tuesday, local governments were required by law to display flags of mourning.

However, Gwangju refused to do so as the city said the late president, who led the massacre, had not offered a sincere apology to the victims. Three other municipalities followed Gwangju in protesting against raising a flag in his honor, according to a report by the Kyunghyang Shinmun.

After his presidency, Roh and Chun Doo Hwan, an army general and his predecessor as president, were convicted in 1996 of corruption, mutiny and treason for a 1979 coup and the crackdown in Gwangju.

South Korean President Moon Jae In offered a eulogy for Roh but did not make a condolence visit, leaving for Europe on Thursday to attend the Group of 20 summit in Rome and other meetings.

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Former South Korean President Roh Tae Woo dies aged 88
By Magali Beuchat, KYODO NEWS - Oct 30, 2021 - 15:05 | All, Japan, Feature

Japan is advancing an initiative to export a new type of wagyu -- lean, healthy beef from refattened mother cows, typically processed but still bursting with umami flavor.

The effort is a win-win for the local exporter and breeder of the animals, which are appealing to the tastes of overseas customers and the emphasis they place on animal welfare in livestock breeding, with those concerned attracted by the new wagyu from the standpoint of ethical meat production.

As part of the initiative, the government-backed Japan External Trade Organization and the Japanese Embassy in Switzerland organized an event in Bern to provide local meat purveyors and restaurants with samples of a nicely marbled wagyu steak from the Jukuho Farm in Shimane Prefecture, western Japan.

At the Oct. 14 event in the Swiss capital, Ginkakuji Onishi, a meat exporter and processing company in Kyoto, and Jukuho Farm -- two major promoters of wagyu derived from older animals in Japan -- presented the product to about 30 participants, mainly Swiss importers, retailers, butchers and chefs from prestigious restaurants.

Newly launched products such as wagyu salami of the same variety were also on offer for tasting.

Wagyu beef is known worldwide for its rich marbling, soft texture as well as exceptional flavor. It is one of the most expensive and luxurious meats in the world.

The wagyu industry traditionally focuses on young animals aged 27 to 30 months because of the tenderness of their high-priced meat, but cows aged 90 to 100 months, which have given birth multiple times, are usually butchered for low-priced processed or minced meats.

At Jukuho Farm, mother cows, previously considered to be of low value, are purchased and examined in detail for growth and feed consumption. By individually feeding each cow, Jukuho Farm was able to produce meat with moderate fat content at a low price.

Jukuho Farm procures mother cows from all over Japan, provides them with high-quality feed enriched with yeast and vitamins, and a stress-free environment, according to the company's president Shuhei Ishitobi, 32.

Wagyu meat is usually aged for a period of time after it is butchered, in a process of dry aging or wet aging, but Jukuho Farm says the meat from its cows is aging while the animal is still alive as "the meat quality changes and the meat becomes aged with umami components like amino acids," according to its website.

"Mother cows (for wagyu) are still not a favorite in Japan, but I'm happy there are people who acknowledge that they are not high in fat content and are delicious," said Ishitobi.

Some people feel that the tender, marbled meat, which is preferred in Japan, has a weaker taste because it comes from younger animals, but the deliciousness of meat from older cows appears to be much more accepted in Europe, where there has been a positive response to the new wagyu.

Hideki Onishi, 32, the overseas division manager at Ginkakuji Onishi, is hopeful of expanding the market for mother cow meat, which, he says, in addition to the robust aroma peculiar to wagyu, also has a deep umami flavor.

Ginkakuji Onishi buys about 30 mother cows from Jukuho Farm every month and exports the wagyu beef to eight countries, including Singapore, Italy, France and the Netherlands.

In coordination with the private sector, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has further promoted wagyu beef exports, which have been expanding sharply in recent years.

In July, the ministry launched a new bureau to boost exports of farm products to diversify from a domestic market that is shrinking due to Japan's aging population and declining birth rate.

After approximately six months, the older mother cows are butchered for their wagyu meat. This wagyu beef production method is largely unknown in Japan, Onishi says.

"I thought of exporting the meat overseas first, as Japan still does not understand the importance of efficiency in meat production," Onishi said.

He hopes this concept that has succeeded in the European market will, in turn, spark interest among Japanese consumers.

After tasting the new wagyu at the event, a butcher from a high-end Swiss store that already sells regular wagyu from Japan, Spain and Australia said, "It is fantastic. It melts in the mouth."

The butcher said he would have liked to see raw pieces of meat to judge their quality. The price will also be a decisive element, he added.

Consumers in Switzerland are increasingly sensitive to animal welfare, judging cruel methods of livestock breeding, such as the use of cages in poultry farming, as unacceptable.

A Swiss importer of wagyu beef and other food products said the ethical aspect of new style wagyu is "sensational" and builds a strong case for the product's marketability.

However, the importer said it is crucial to raise awareness among consumers about the differences between regular and mother cow wagyu meat.
KYODO NEWS - Oct 30, 2021 - 16:17 | All, Japan

Japan's political leaders made their final appeals to voters on Saturday, a day before the general election to decide whether to give Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a mandate for his COVID-19 and economic policies.

The Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito are looking to retain a majority in the 465-seat House of Representatives, the powerful lower chamber of parliament, with the outcome hinging on dozens of battleground constituencies.

In a stump speech in Saitama Prefecture's Higashimatsuyama, just north of Tokyo, Kishida vowed to secure more hospital beds to treat COVID-19 patients and begin administering vaccine booster shots from December, while putting the world's third-largest economy back on a growth track and boosting middle-class incomes.

"We will revive the Japanese economy and make sure the fruits are enjoyed by everyone, not just a chosen few," he said to a crowd of about 2,000. "The opposition is only thinking about redistribution, but (without growth) there will eventually be nothing to distribute."

Opposition parties including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan argue the "Abenomics" policies pursued by Kishida's predecessors, Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga, have only served to boost corporate earnings and share prices while failing to achieve wage increases. They also criticize the government's handling of the pandemic as "behind the curve."

"Politics exists to protect lives and livelihoods," CDPJ leader Yukio Edano said in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. "We have continued to make proposals for change. It's up to you to make a change."

Japan's first general election in four years is the first major political test since Kishida took office on Oct. 4.

Media polls suggest the ruling coalition will retain a majority, or at least 233 seats, in the lower house, although the LDP could fall significantly short of the 276 it held prior to the dissolution of the chamber on Oct. 14.

A Kyodo News survey conducted earlier this week showed LDP candidates leading in about 200 of the 289 single-member districts, and neck-and-neck with opposition candidates in around 70. With about 40 percent of respondents saying they were unsure of who to vote for, the final result is difficult to predict.

"This election is a dead heat, it's a really close race," Kishida said in Higashimatsuyama.

The LDP, which has governed for most of the past six decades, faces its biggest threat in years as the CDPJ has formed an alliance with the Japanese Communist Party and other opposition groups to back the same candidates in battleground constituencies.

"We're asking you to pass judgement on the nine years under Abe and Suga," JCP Chairman Kazuo Shii said in a stump speech in Chiba, east of the capital, criticizing the government for past scandals and a sluggish COVID-19 response.

The CDPJ and its allies are calling for lowering the consumption tax and adopting legislation on equality for sexual minorities as well as abandoning nuclear power in favor of renewable energy.

The ruling coalition, meanwhile, is pointing to the opposition parties' differing stances on foreign policy and national security as making them unfit to govern, while pledging to double Japan's defense budget to around 2 percent of gross domestic product in the face of China's military buildup and the North Korean missile threat.

"We can't let such an unstable and uncertain opposition take the reins of government," Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi said in a stump speech in Tokyo.

Related coverage:

Japan's LDP to lose seats, keep comfortable majority with Komeito: poll

Kishida says LDP in "extremely tough" situation in general election

A guide to Japan's upcoming House of Representatives election
KYODO NEWS - Oct 30, 2021 - 11:16 | All, World

President Joe Biden on Friday admitted to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that the United States was "clumsy" in its handling of a U.S.-British nuclear submarine deal with Australia that stunned Paris and created a diplomatic rift.

The bilateral talks, held in Rome ahead of the Group of 20 summit, was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since ties soured over the deal, which was announced in September as an initiative of a new "AUKUS" security partnership.

The deal resulted in Australia ditching a French diesel-powered submarine contract for a nuclear option offered by the United States.

Biden said his country does not have an older and more loyal ally than France and praised the European country for being a valued partner.

On the establishment of the AUKUS partnership, which France described "a stab in the back" shortly after it was announced, the U.S. president said, "I think what happened was, to use an English phrase, what we did was clumsy."

"It was not done with a lot of grace," he added. "I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the (French) deal was not going through," Biden said, sitting next to Macron.

France's disappointment was also associated with the fact that it was left out of what was hailed as a new security partnership focused on the Indo-Pacific region.

France is the only European Union member with overseas territories in the Indo-Pacific and has served as a key driver for broader European engagement in the region in the face of growing assertiveness from China.

The spat over the AUKUS deal led Paris to temporarily recall its ambassadors to the United States and Australia.

A joint statement issued after the meeting of the two leaders highlighted the importance of "robust collaboration" in the Indo-Pacific, citing "growing economic and strategic challenges there."

"The United States welcomes France's enduring role as an Indo-Pacific partner, whose long-standing commitment, geography, and military capabilities based throughout the region make it a key contributor and security provider to a free and open Indo-Pacific," the statement said.

The United States also vowed to "increase its support and material contribution" to France and other European nations that are increasing their air and maritime deployments in the region, it said.

The leaders also agreed to launch a bilateral defense trade strategic dialogue to discuss export issues and intensify cooperation on space issues.

Asked by reporters whether he was satisfied that the relationship is repaired, Macron said, "We clarified together what we had to clarify."

"And now what's important is precisely to be sure that such a situation will not be possible for our future. Stronger coordination, stronger cooperation," he added.

Biden is on his second overseas trip since taking office in January, the first having been on the occasion of the Group of Seven summit in Britain in June. He is planning to attend the G-20 summit in Rome from Saturday and a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Britain, early next week.

Earlier Friday, Biden, who is the second Catholic president in United States history and goes to church nearly every week, met Pope Francis at the Vatican and discussed issues such as the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and world poverty, according to the White House.

Related coverage:

France declines to back AUKUS deal, wary of Indo-Pacific tensions

U.S., U.K., Australia to form security partnership amid rise of China
By Rudy Madanir, KYODO NEWS - Oct 30, 2021 - 11:55 | Arts, Feature, All

A cat fashion designer in Indonesia has garnered attention for his many outfits that include manga and anime characters and even samurai and kimono prototypes as he eyes taking his business to Japan and beyond.

Fredi Lugina, a former schoolteacher turned cat outfit tailor, thinks his fashions will be well received in Japan because of the country's penchant for pampering pets, including taking them out to cat cafes, and a culture that worships all things cute.

Already gaining millions of likes for his photos and videos featuring his model cats wearing colorful designs posted on social media, Fredi has longed to see what Japan's cat lovers think of his "haute couture" because of the country's image as a global fashion trendsetter, he says.

"I think Japan is a mecca for the world's pet cat lifestyle with its cat cafes and restaurants," the 40-year-old said.

He said Japan had been the inspiration for dozens of outfits, from simple creations to more intricate clothing designs featuring superheroes and popular online game characters. Viewed from the front, cats dressed in the costumes, which also feature arm appendages, look almost human.

"To Japan, I offer many variations of unique, good quality cat clothing at competitive prices," he said during a recent interview at his bungalow studio in Bogor, a city in the West Java province of Indonesia, operated only by himself and his two younger brothers using nine sewing machines.

His unique cat designs have attracted a growing international clientele, including from Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States.

Fredi sells around five to 10 items a day, with prices ranging from 33,000 ($2.30) to 220,000 rupiah. He typically earned about 1.20 million rupiah per month before the pandemic, but demand among cat owners staying home due to COVID-19 has surged, with sales jumping three to five times higher than before.

The domestic market still makes up the bulk of his sales, but he recently has seen more overseas buyers.

Fredi took a sewing course when he was in college. As a child, he had taken an interest in needlework while watching his mother stitch clothing together on her sewing machine.

After making cat outfits as more of a hobby, he decided to pursue it full time, quitting his job as an elementary school teacher in 2017 and deciding to open a tailor shop for cat clothing. Coaxed by his older brother, Fredi began selling his cat lineup online in 2018, and the outfits started gaining popularity on social media.

But Fredi has also faced criticism from pet owners who think cats should not be dressed in such attire. He agrees that cats should never be forced to don the outfits and only wear them for short periods. Only three of his seven cats show no reluctance to wearing the costumes, he says.

This year, to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, a major Muslim holiday, Fredi designed a costume called "Pak Haji," resembling clothing commonly worn by local Muslim men after completing a Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. With nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's population comprising believers of Islam, it is no wonder the design is among his best sellers.

"Celebrating holidays, cat lovers are (now) not only dressing up themselves but also their cats," he said, adding that he usually hires more workers during the holiday seasons to respond to increased demand.

Fredi says he considers his samurai outfit with its intricate attention to detail, complete with a "miniature sword" and "metal helmet," one of his masterpieces.

"A cat lover already offered to buy it from me for a handsome price, but I still don't want to let it go," he said with a laugh.

Unlike the samurai attire, the ready-to-wear kimono costumes are simpler and come in various bright colors, including pink, the most popular.

Fredi said he dreams of holding a cat clothing exhibition in Japan and elsewhere in the world once the pandemic ends.
KYODO NEWS - Oct 30, 2021 - 22:06 | All, Japan

Kei Komuro, the newlywed husband of former princess Mako, failed the New York State bar examination, a source close to the matter said Saturday.

Komuro, who is planning to start a new life with the niece of Emperor Naruhito in New York as early as next month, is expected to retake the exam, possibly in February, according to the source.

Komuro's name was not found on the latest pass list released by the exam's organizer Friday, days after their marriage.

Komuro has already started working as a law clerk at a legal firm in New York after graduating from Fordham University's law school with a Juris Doctor degree in May. He took the bar examination in July.

Of the 9,227 people who took the test, 5,791 passed, according to the examination board.

Those wishing to sit for the February exam must submit an application between Nov. 1 and 30.

The couple, both 30, registered their marriage and appeared in front of the press on Tuesday, four years since their relationship was made public.

Reading a prepared statement, the former princess said she had asked Komuro to move forward his plans to study abroad and "set up a base (for living) overseas."

With the couple and their families having become fodder for tabloids and TV talk shows, she also said she was "horrified, scared and saddened by the fact that false information has been taken as fact and that unfounded stories have spread."

She has been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder caused by what she described as psychological abuse the couple and their families received, the Imperial Household Agency recently said.

The eldest daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito forfeited her royal status as the Imperial House Law stipulates that a female member of the imperial family must abandon her title if she marries a commoner.

The couple, who are currently staying in a Tokyo condominium, visited a driver's license center on Thursday, apparently to file paperwork as part of preparations for leaving Japan.

The marriage had been delayed for nearly three years following a string of reports about a financial dispute involving Komuro's mother that led the couple to forgo traditional ceremonies associated with a royal marriage.

Related coverage:

FOCUS: Princess Mako's marriage "warning sign" for Japan's imperial system

PROFILE: Princess Mako's groom Kei Komuro pursuing legal career in U.S.

Princess Mako marries commoner boyfriend after years of controversy
New Delhi:

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of including his caste in the list of Other Backward Class (OBC) communities for political gains.

" In this election PM Modi tried his best to get votes in the name of backward classes. PM always belonged to upper caste but during his tenure in Gujarat he included his community in the OBC category for political gains," the BSP chief said while addressing a press conference in Lucknow.

Mayawati, BSP: In this election PM Modi tried his best to get votes in the name of backward classes. PM always belonged to upper caste but during his tenure in Gujarat he included his community in the OBC category for political gains. pic.twitter.com/Nscp9otNNV a ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 27, 2019

"Today, at Kannauj, he (Modi) said Behenji and Akhilesh think of him as a lowly (neech) person as he hails from a backward caste. Their (BJP's) scheduled caste-backward card is not working anymore," she said and added that the prime minister has done this to kill the rights of the backward castes.

Terming prime ministeras allegation as amischievousa, Mayawati said she never considered the Modi a lowly person and always treated him with all due respect as a member of an upper caste. "Then, how does the issue of calling him 'neech' arise? This makes me feel that he considers the upper-caste society as lowly," she said.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief alleged that PM Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) considered the scheduled casteA as lowly.

Her remarks come hours after the prime minister, while addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj, said that aI am the most backwarda.

"Mayawatiji, I am the most backward...I request with folded hands not to drag me into caste politics, 130 crore people are my family. This country did not know my caste till my detractors abused me...I am thankful to Mayawatiji, Akhileshji, the Congress people and the 'mahamilavatis' that they are discussing my caste...I believe that taking birth in a backward caste is an opportunity to serve the country," he said.

PM Modi also slammed the SP-BSP-RLD grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, saying the tie-up of "opportunists" wanted a helpless government at the Centre as its mantra was "jaat-paat japna, janta ka maal apna" (looting public money by playing caste cards).
New Delhi:

The Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is all set to announce the VITEEE Results 2019 on 29 April, 2019 at 5 pm. "VITEEE result will be released on April 29 at 5 pm," reads the latest update on the official portal of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). "Counselling will start from 9th May 2019 onwards. Counselling schedule / Counselling procedure / payment of fee details will be updated in due course," adds the official update.

The candidates who have appeared for the examination should keep all the details ready for the fast and easy access to the result. Soon after the declaration of results, students can visit the official website of the institute i.e. vit.ac.in to check their VITEEE Result 2019.

Steps to check and download VITEEE 2019 Result:

Step 1: Visit the official website of VITEEE 2019

Step 2: Click on the result link

Step 3: Login Using Application Number and date of birth

Step 4: Your result will be displayed on the screen

Step 5: Ensure that all your particulars mentioned in the scorecard are correct

Step 6: Download and print a copy of your result for future reference

Candidates who qualify the VITEEE 2019 will be called for counselling. The counselling of the examination will be held offline. The counselling venue and dates shall be announced in due course of time.

VITEE exam is held for offering UG engineering admission in VIT University, Vellore and its campuses at Chennai, Bhopal and Amaravathi. The exam was conducted from April 10 to 21 in online mode across various test centres in India.
New Delhi:

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday filed complaints with the Election Commission (EC) against Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal for misleading voters through FM radio advertisement and distorting party chief Amit Shah's statement on illegal infiltrators.

In a complaint letter to the Election Commission, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor objected the content of the AAP's FM radio advertisement.

"In the radio advertisement, the Delhi Chief Minister can be heard provoking people of Delhi that the central government collects thousands of crores rupees in revenue from Delhi but gives back around partly Rs 325 crore to Delhi, he said in his complaint.

The BJP spokesperson also requested the EC to review the contents of the AAP advertisement and block it as it was "misleading" for the voters.

Praveen Shankar Kapoor also said, The central government which maintains Delhi Police spends Rs 7,881 crore annually on it for maintaining law and order in the city and spends around Rs 40,000 crore annually on Delhi Metro, road infrastructure, Yamuna cleaning, hospitals, Delhi University among others which directly benefits the people of Delhi.

In another complaint filed by BJP's national secretary R P Singh and Delhi BJP legal cell in-charge Neeraj, the party accused Kejriwal of "distorting" Amit Shah's statement on illegal infiltrators in the country. The complaint accused Kejriwal of trying to gain Muslims votes by "misleading" them and "instigating" their religious sentiments.

"Citing BJP's election manifesto, Shah had on April 10 said that with the help of National Register of Citizens (NRC), the party would drive out infiltrators from India and protect the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhs. But the Delhi CM is not only trying to defame Shah by distorting his statement but instigating religious sentiments in violation of the Model Code of Conduct, R P Singh said.

Earlier, on Friday, Congress filed a complaint with the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly making a communal and provocative statement and demanded that he be barred from campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

In the meantime, AAPs star candidate Atishi, who is contesting Lok Sabha election from East Delhi, filed a criminal complaint in Tis Hazari Court against her rival and BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir claiming he has two voter cards in two separate neighbourhoods in the city.

The Lok Sabha Elections 2019 are being held in seven phases, starting from April 11. The first, second and third phase has been concluded. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh phase of polls will undergo on April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19 respectively. Delhi will vote on May 12 in sixth phase. The results will be declared on May 23.

With inputs from PTI
Muzaffarnagar:

Five inmates, including three life convicts, of the district jail here have scored first division in class 10 board exams of the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP). The results of the examination were declared on Saturday.

According to Jail Superintendent A K Saxena, the inmates had appeared for the exams in Dasna Jail, Ghaziabad.

The three life convicts passing the examination are Kapil, Pankaj and Vipul Kumar. Arjun, detained under the National Security Act in connection with violence during a Dalit agitation on April 2, 2017, is also among the five to pass the examination with first division, he said, adding Rahul is another inmate.
New Delhi:

A voter turnout of 10.02 per cent was recorded on Monday for second phase voting in the Anantnag parliamentary constituency. The polls are being held in three phases on this Lok Sabha seat due to security reasons.

"10.2 per cent voter turnout was recorded in today's polling in the four segments of Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency. The poll process ended peacefully despite some stray incidents of violence in which miscreants tried to disrupt the poll process," poll officials said.

The voting, which started at around 7 am, was mostly peaceful with isolated incidents of stone-pelting near polling stations. Two people sustained pellet injuries in clashes with the security forces in Kulgam district. Both of them have been shifted to Srinagar for treatment, police said.

Todays voting will decide the fate of 18 candidates, including former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Anantnags Kulgam district, which comprises four assembly segments -- Kulgam, Devsar, Noorabad and Hom Shalibugh - has 3,45,489 electors including 1,79,607 males, 1,64,604 females, 1,265 service electors and 13 transgender voters.

The Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency covers four districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama with 16 assembly segments.

Anantnag district went to polls on 23 April, while voting in Pulwama and Shopian districts will take place on 6 May.
New Delhi:

The US state department for travel said the gunfire was coming from the rear of the building. It urged any travellers to seek shelter in place. The first report of gunfire was issued at around 12.50pm local time.

The travel alert said the staff had taken shelter inside the embassy. "If you are traveling to the embassy, find a safe area to shelter," it wrote on Twitter.

State Department officials did not immediately have further details on the incident, including whether it was ongoing.

Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries, witnessed widespread riots in February when thousands of people took to the streets demanding better living conditions. Haiti's President Jovenel Moise earlier this month appointed a new prime minister to tackle mounting problems, including insecurity in the capital.

Haiti won independence from France in 1804, making it the second-oldest republic in the Western Hemisphere.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

President Donald Trump's national security adviser on Sunday said that the U.S. has little interest in joining other countries in a multi-nation effort to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. "I think Kim Jong Un, at least up until now, has wanted the one-on-one contact with the United States, which is what he has gotten," John Bolton said, adding that Trump is open to possibility of a third summit with Kim.

Following their talks in Russia on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin suggested the revival of a multilateral approach to the denuclearization negotiations, which have failed in the past.

Putin said Kim is willing to give up nuclear weapons, but only if he gets ironclad security guarantees supported by a multinational agreement.



Earlier, Trump on Friday welcomed Russian and Chinese help with North Korean nuclear negotiations, despite Kim Jong Un accusing the US of bad faith at a first summit with Vladimir Putin.

I appreciate that Russia and China are helping us, he told reporters at the White House.

Putins first summit with Kim on Thursday was seen as a response to the failure of a Kim-Trump meeting in Hanoi in February, where talks broke down without agreement.

But Trump indicated that he does not see China and Russia as rivals in the struggle to get North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal.

China is helping us because I think they want to. They dont need nuclear weapons right next to their country, Trump said.

I think were doing very well with North Korea. A lot of progress is being made, he added.

I appreciated President Putins statement yesterday. He wants to see it done also. I think there is a lot of excitement for getting a deal done with North Korea.

Kim left his summit with Putin indicating that he has cooled on the much-touted bid by Trump to woo his country into a non-nuclear future.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim told Putin the US had adopted a unilateral attitude in bad faith at the Hanoi summit.

Peace and security on the Korean peninsula will entirely depend on the US future attitude, and the DPRK will gird itself for every possible situation, Kim was quoted as saying.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Incidents of violence in West Bengal and EVM glitches in some areas were reported as 64 per cent turnout was recorded on Monday in 72 constituencies across nine states in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections. In the heartland states, where the BJP had won 30 out of 32 seats in 2014, 62 per cent turnout was recorded in Rajasthan (13 seats), 53.12 per cent in Uttar Pradesh (13 seats) and 65.86 per cent Madhya Pradesh (6 seats).

West Bengal recorded a high turnout at 76.47 in the eight seats though clashes broke out between supporters of rival parties in Nanoor, Rampurhat, Nalhati and Suri areas of Birbhum seat, leaving several people injured.

In Barabani, BJP candidate from Asansol and Union minister minister Babul Supriyo's vehicle was vandalised allegedly by TMC workers outside a polling station while in Dubrajpur area central security forces personnel reportedly opened fire in the air to disperse irate people who attacked them when they were barred from entering the booths with mobile phones.

An FIR was registered against Supriyo for allegedly getting into an argument with polling officials, an election official said. The ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP accused each other of intimidating voters in the state, which has seen violence in all previous three phases despite stepped up central forces deployment.

The stakes are high for the BJP which had won 56 of the 72 constituencies in the 2014 polls. About 12.79 crore people were eligible for voting in the phase, which marked the start of polling in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh while elections came to an end in Maharashtra and Odisha.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Madhya Pradesh V L Kantha Rao said that during a mock-poll, electronic voting machines (EVMs) were replaced at 207 polling booths as some glitches were found. EVMs were also replaced at 106 polling booths after the voting began.

Polling was peaceful in Rajasthan, with tribal dominated seat of Banswara recording the highest voting percentage at 72.34, followed by Barmer which recorded 72.21 per cent voting, according to state election officials.

Nearly 52 per cent voting was recorded in Maharashtra (17 seats), 64.05 per cent Odisha (6 seats), 53.67 per cent Bihar (five seats) and 63.42 per cent Jharkhand (3 seats), according to data provided by the Election Commission till 6 PM.

In Kulgam district of Anantnag constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, 10.3 per cent polling was recorded, amid isolated incidents of stone pelting. This was the second of the three-phase polling in the sensitive seat.

Billionaires and Bollywood stars lined up outside polling stations along with the common folks in Mumbai, where polling was held in six constituencies. Complaints of technical glitches in EVMs and VVPAT machines in some polling booths were addressed in Maharashtra, an election official said.

Bollywood celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, the Khan troika of Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir, and Deepika Padukone cast their votes in Mumbai. Priyanka Chopra, Rekha, Aamir and wife Kiran Rao were among the early voters.

In Uttar Pradesh, opposition Samajwadi Party's alleged that many EVMs malfunctioned and in Kannauj, from where SP chief Akhislesh Yadav's wife and sitting MP Dimple Yadav is contesting, several party workers were prevented from coming out of their homes to vote.

In Kanpur, BJP workers allegedly tried to barge into a polling booth and clashed with the police. A case has been registered against BJP leader Suresh Awasthi and six others in this connection, Kanpur District Magistrate Vijay Vishwas Pant said.

Shahjahanpur (SC), Kheri, Hardoi (SC), Misrikh (SC), Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah (SC), Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur, Jalaun (SC), Jhansi and Hamirpur seats recorded 53.23 per cent polling till 5 pm, an electoral officer said.

Reports were received of EVMs developing snag in Bidhauna area under the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat following which polling remained suspended for over an hour. Complaints of EVM malfunctioning were also reported in Etawah under Auriaya district, with voters claiming they had to wait for hours at polling booths in Tilak Mahavidyalaya, Sahupur, Ajitmal and Dalelnagar to cast their votes.

According to a report from Hardoi, an elderly woman voter complained that the presiding officer at Jamkara booth under Sandila area forcibly pressed the EVM button. The sector magistrate has removed the officer and handed him over to the police who is investigating the matter.

Besides Dimple Yadav, prominent candidates whose electoral fate will be decided in this phase are Dimple Yadav, former Union ministers Salman Khurshid (Farrukhabd) and Sriprakash Jaiswal (Kanpur) of Congress, UP Cabinet minister Satyadev Pachauri (Kanpur) and Sakshi Maharaj of BJP (Unnao)

In Bihar, voting was delayed due to EVM malfunctioning at three polling stations in Munger, two polling stations in Darbhanga and three polling stations in Begusarai, from where CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar and Union Minister Giriraj Singh (BJP) are contesting, due to technical glitches, official sources said.

In Odisha, technical glitches in EVMs delayed polling in 60 booths, but it resumed after the snags were rectified, the official said.

Election to 542 Lok Sabha seats is being conducted in seven phases between April 11 and May 19. Election in Vellore constituency in Tamil Nadu has been cancelled following excess use of money power. Results will be declared on May 23.
New Delhi:

National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to carry forward the legacy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Modi has failed to carry forward the legacy of Vajpayee. The people of J-K did not see him (Modi) put into practice the catch words of Jamhooriyat, Insaniyat and Kashmiriyat, Abdullah said addressing a public meet at Damhal Hanjipura in Kulgam district of south Kashmir.

The NC president said the people of the state have not seen Modi deliver on his promises.

His words have been confined to rhetoric only. Had he the sincerity of thought to implement it, he would have done so since 2014, however, no concrete step was taken by the incumbent BJP government led by PM Modi to realize it on ground.

Today we see him tout Vajpayee formula, why didnt he implement it on ground for past five years. We didnt see him do justice either with the people of our state. On the contrary the people of our state have never in history suffered so immensely as they did during PM Modi-led BJP government, Abdullah said.

Earlier, Farooq Abdullah had stirred controversy after praising Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik. Yasin Malik despite being severely ill is languishing in jail because he is advocating a dialogue with India but is not willing to sell self-respect of Kashmiris. He has preferred death over surrender. I congratulate him for that, Abdullah said. He said this addressing an election rally in Devsar area of Jammu and Kashmirs Kulgam district.



Hitting out at separatists Abdullah said, the election boycott will not serve any purpose. The separatists have only led Kashmir towards death and destruction and today the NIA is after them, he said.
New Delhi:

Like every time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to come out and vote in large numbers in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on Monday. Taking to social media, PM Modi tweeted, "Another phase of the General Elections begins today. I hope those voting today do so in large numbers and break the voting records of the previous three phases. A special appeal to young voters to head to the polling booth and exercise their franchise."

Another phase of the General Elections begins today. I hope those voting today do so in large numbers and break the voting records of the previous three phases.



A special appeal to young voters to head to the polling booth and exercise their franchise. a Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 29, 2019

As many as 12.79 crore voters will exercise their franchise in 71 constituencies spread over nine states. The states which are going to polls in Round 4 are - Maharashtra (17/48 seats), Rajasthan (13/25 seats), Uttar Pradesh (13/80 seats), West Bengal (8/42 seats), Madhya Pradesh (6/29 seats), Odisha (6/21 seats), Bihar (5/40 seats), Jharkhand (3/14 seats) and Jammu and Kashmir (1/6). Apart from these, the fourth and final phase of Odisha Assembly elections is scheduled to be held in 42 segments on Monday.A

The voting will take place between 7 am and 6 pm in most of the constituencies to decide the fate of around 961 candidates in nine states all over the country. The Election Commission has set up 1.40 lakh polling booths/stations and has made elaborate security arrangements.
Dholpur:

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Monday described the partys proposed NYAY minimum income guarantee scheme as a diesel for the engine of the Indian economy. Addressing an election rally in Rajasthans Dholpur district, Gandhi said the Congress will deposit Rs 3.60 lakh in bank accounts of five crore women in five years unlike Narendra Modi who, he alleged, opened bank accounts of people, but did not deposit a single penny in them.

Gandhi promised to give government jobs to 22 lakh youths in one year, recruit 10 lakh youths in panchayats and said no farmer will be jailed for not repaying loan, if voted to power.

I am not here to lie. Our NYAY scheme will jumpstart the economy. It will be a diesel for the Indian economy. We will deposit Rs 3.60 lakh in five years in bank accounts of 5 crore women, he said in the rally held in Sepau town of this district.

The Congress has promised to give an annual income support of Rs 72,000 to poor families under the NYAY scheme.

He claimed that unemployment is highest in 45 years and 22 lakh government jobs are lying vacant.

We will fill the vacancy in one year after coming to power, Gandhi said.

Dholpur, along with 11 seats in Rajasthan, will go to polls on May 6. Thirteen seats of the state are voting Monday.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the opposition's grand alliance does not want a government with absolute majority. Addressing an election rally in Koderma, Jharkhand, PM Modi also slammed the Congress, alleging that the party wants a weak government which it can "remote control".

"The 'mission mahamilavat' is not in favour of a government with absolute majority at any cost. I want to caution all the first-time voters about their intentions," the prime minister said.

Taking potshots at the "mahagathbandhan" (grand alliance) and its leaders, PM Modi said they owe allegiance to nobody, and are only interested in votes.

"They are just not interested in the development of those areas where they do not see their vote bank," he alleged.

The first phase of polling is underway in Jharkhand. An estimated 20.87 per cent of the 45.26 lakh electorate cast their votes till 11 am today in three Lok Sabha constituencies of the state.
New Delhi:

A presiding officer, identified as Purna Chandra Panda, died at a polling station in Balasore district on Saturday.

Confirming the same, the officials said, Panda died after reaching his designated polling station in Ajodhya village under Nilagiri assembly segment in Balasore district.

In a statement, balasore district assistant collector Rakesh Panda said, "Purna Chandra Panda was deputed as presiding officer at polling station no 28. He suddenly became ill and rushed to Balasore district headquarters hospital where doctor declared him dead."

However, the exact reason of Pandas death was not yet ascertained. Panda and other personnel of the polling team had reached the booth to conduct voting in Nilagiri assembly segment and Balasore Lok Sabha seat on April 29.

On 18th April, the Election Commissions nodal officer named Arnab Roy was gone missing from his office in West Bengals Krishnagar. He was an in-charge of EVMs and VVPATs for the Ranaghat parliamentary constituency.

His vehicle was found parked outside the college. Both of his mobile phones were switched off and the police traced their last location near Shantipur, around 18 km from Krishnagar. Rumours were rife that he had an altercation with the district magistrate a few days ago. Fortunately, the West Bengal CID on 25th April rescued Arnab Roy from Howrah.

We have found Mr Roy from a house in Howrah this morning. He is fine, the CID officer told PTI. The CID officer also said that Roy was looking tired. Asked whether Roy was abducted or he was hiding on his own, the officer said, We will talk to him to find out what actually happened.

The Lok Sabha Elections 2019 are being held in seven phases, starting from April 11. The first, second and third phase has been concluded. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh phase of polls will undergo on April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19 respectively. The results will be declared on May 23.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Beijing:

Chinas factory activity softened in April, official data showed on Tuesday, in the latest sign that the worlds second-largest economy remains on uneven footing despite a raft of government stimulus measures. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), a key gauge of factory conditions, came in at 50.1 for the month, down from 50.5 in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

The reading is below analyst forecasts but remains above the 50.0 level separating expansion from contraction.

The latest survey data disappoint hopes for a further recovery, said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics.

The official PMIs suggest that (the second quarter) got off to a weaker start and reinforce our view that there are still some downside risks to near-term activity, he said in a note.

Growth in factory activity from last month and new orders softened, while raw material inventories declined.

Tepid global demand and a trade war with Washington that has seen tariffs slapped on more than $360 billion in goods has weighed on Chinas manufacturing sector.

The new export and import orders sub-index rose from March, but remained in contraction territory.

Beijing has announced a raft of stimulus to cushion the impact from its cooling economy, with spending on roads, railways and other big-ticket infrastructure projects picking up early this year, and tax cuts worth 2 trillion yuan (USD 297 billion) kicking in this month.

Economic growth in the first quarter stabilised at 6.4 percent.

NBS analyst Zhao Qinghe credited government policy for improving small business conditions.

It shows that a series of precise and effective tax and fee reduction policies and measures have gradually appeared to support the healthy development of small and micro enterprises, Zhao said in a statement.

Data from independent data provider Caixin released Tuesday also showed growth in Chinas factory activity softening from last month.

The figures come as top US trade negotiators arrive in Beijing later Tuesday for the latest round of negotiations aimed at resolving the thorny issues riling relations between the worlds top two economies.

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Sri Lankas former president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday thanked India for the help in exposing the plot behind the deadly Easter Sunday attacks but said that he does not want any foreign forces, like the National Security Guard, on its soil.

India has been helpful. But there is no need for the NSG to come in. We don't need foreign soldiers. Our forces are capable enough (We) just need to give them powers and freedom, Rajapaksa was quoted by News18 as saying.

Earlier, it was reported that the New Delhi has kept NSG commandoes on standby if the island nation needs any help.

Rajapaksa also held President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe responsible for the serial blasts on hotels and churches which left over 250 dead. The remarks come at a time when elections are due between October and December to elect a new president.

Indian intelligence agencies had warned their Sri Lankan counterparts about a possible terror attack hours before the terror attack, claimed by Islamic State, ripped through the island nation.

Indian intelligence officers contacted their Sri Lanka counterparts two hours before the first attack to warn of a specific threat on churches.

The inputs were sent through diplomatic channels to Sri Lanka after a thorough investigation pertaining to the ISIS case in Coimbatore was carried out by the NIA, which has filed a charge sheet against seven people.

During investigation, the probe team had stumbled upon videos of NTJ leader Zahran Hashim, which was indicative of a terror attack on the Indian High Commission in Colombo.

After further investigation which included cyber trailing of some of the accounts associated with the ISIS, the central security agencies shared an input with their Lankan counterparts about the churches being the likely target of the ISIS module, the officials said.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

HPBOSE 10th Results 2019: The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education or HPBOSE has declared the results of Class 10 examination today. The results was announced at 12.30 pm. The scorecards are available on the official website of the board i.e. hpbose.org. The candidates can also check the results by clicking on the link given below. The candidates who have appeared for HPBOSE class 10 examination are asked to keep all the details ready for the fast and easy access to the result.The overall pass percentage is 60.79 percent.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK HPBOSE CLASS 10 RESULT 2019

The candidates can also check their results on this page as we will be activating the result link soon after the formal declaration of the results. For the convenience of the students, we have mentioned the steps through which the candidates can check their results.

Visit english.newsnationtv.com/board-results and click on the HP Board page

Enter your roll number/roll code

Click on the submit button

Results will appear on the screen

HP Board Result 2019 Class 10: Previous Year Analysis

The analysis of HP Board Result 2019 will be done after the results are declared in May. With tension rising among the students, a simple way to calm the nerves would be to look at the result stats of last year. This data will help the students understand the strictness and evaluation standards followed by the examiners to check the answer sheets. It also helps the students build right and realistic expectations with regards to HPBOSE 10th Result 2019. For this purpose, we have provided the key statistics of previous year's HP Board Result 2019 below.

Year Appeared Students Number of Passed Passing % Boys Passing % Girls 2013 1,28,154 86.76 84.54 84.17 2014 2,78,287 89.69 87.57 87.75 2015 2,89,197 92.25 90.96 90.87 2016 3,79,048 95.51 93.43 93.56



About Himachal Pradesh Board:

The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education has been in existence since 1969 and was established under Himachal Pradesh Act No. 14 of 1968. The HPBOSE was initially located at Shimla, which was later shifted to Dharamshala in January 1983. Despite the tough terrain of the state, the Board has more than 8,000 affiliated schools and additionally has more than 1,650 examination centres in the state. The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education has also established 19 information centres, book depots to provide required educational resources to the students.

The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education regulates affiliated schools and conducts Board examinations for more than 3 lakh students at both the SSC and the HSC level. Apart from the board examinations to regulate and access the competency level of its academic staff, it conducts JBT and TTC examinations too.
Nairobi: A Kenyan serial killer (Serial Killer) was beaten to death by a mob. The 20-year-old serial killer was accused of killing 10 children. He had also confessed to his crime in all the murders (Child Killer). He had escaped from police custody in the past after which it was found that he had been murdered.

According to reports, the case is from Nairobi (Nairobi) in Kenya. Where a 20-year-old Masten Milimo Vanjala (Masten Milimo Wanjala) was arrested in connection with the murder case. Investigations revealed that he had brutally murdered not one or two but 10 children. Kenyan authorities had called him a "blood-thirsty vampire." Because Vanjala sometimes drank children's blood before killing them. He himself made a series of shocking revelations to the police. He said he had committed the first murder at the age of 15.

He was arrested in July in connection with the disappearance of two children, but authorities said he had confessed to killing ten children in five years. However, hours before he appeared before the court in the murder case, he escaped from custody and hid in a village. But the villagers came to know about it. He knew all about Vanjala. People found him and started beating him. The mob thrashed him so much that he succumbed to his injuries on the spot. When police reached the spot, they found Vanjala's blood-soaked body.

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TOKYO, -- Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda recently expressed his opposition to the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in China, Sankei News reported. In a speech on Wednesday, Fukuda said that the China origin of COVID-19 was "a rumor." He expressed his understanding about the Chinese side in terms of addressing the rumor.

He also insisted on holding a Japan-China summit, saying that "it is necessary to build a new relationship of trust" regarding bilateral relations with China. The former prime minister questioned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's pledge to increase defense costs by more than two percent of gross domestic product.

"If the surrounding countries are enemies, no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to protect (Japan). It is necessary not to create enemies," Fukuda said.

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US Trade Representative Katherine Tai will visit South Korea next month (November) as part of a three-nation trip that also includes Japan and India, according to her office. According to reports, Tai will be accompanied by Deputy USTR Sarah Bianchi on her visit, which will begin on November 15.

They will "travel to Tokyo, Seoul, and New Delhi to meet with government officials and stakeholders to discuss the United States' enduring commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and to strengthen trade and economic relationships with key allies and partners," according to a statement released by the US Trade Representative's office on Friday.

This will be the top US trade official's first visit to Seoul since 2011. On November 15, the US Secretary of State will arrive in Japan, followed by a five-day trip to Seoul on November 18. Her journey will come to an end in India, where she will return on November 24. South Korea's second-largest trading partner is the United States, and the United States' sixth-largest trading partner is South Korea.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi postpones infrastructure bill vote

US economy grows at annualized 2.0 percent in Q3 amid Delta surge

US senator Ron Wyden unveils a proposal to levy a new tax on billionaires
Earlier this year, a report from the EU showed that 42% of companies exaggerate their level of sustainability. This "greenwashing" is now so prevalent that one organization has launched a platform to calculate businesses' true environmental impact and avoid misleading marketing.

Todays global impact investment market is valued at $715 billion and growing. But as VCs, angels and celebrities rush to put their dollars in businesses that do good, they're not doing sufficient due diligence.

For some founders, tying themselves to impact is a way to play into trends and get noticed by investors. It's why some people identify themselves as an "impactpreneur."

There's a fine line between impact and pushing a narrative for marketing purposes, and misjudging a startup's genuineness can cost investors money as well as their reputation. During my time working with thousands of startups, Ive picked up on these three signs that a startup is using impact to gain traction on the public stage -- not make real change.

They aren't recording and tracking impact metrics

If a company isn't measuring the impact they claim to focus on, that's a red flag. Startups that are really striving for impact will have a clear definition of what their goals are, how they're getting there and what metrics are monitored along the way.

At Founder Institute, we have defined several impact KPIs that help startups track their incremental impact steps.

For example, a women-led accelerator program that hopes to increase the number of successful female founders could have metrics around the number of female attendees per month and year, the number of attendees that launch a business and how much funding those businesses received. No impact is created overnight, but by breaking the journey into granular chunks, businesses demonstrate that they're committed to building and refining their path to impact.

Tracking metrics also forces companies to be fully accountable for the impact they advertise. The companies that publish their metrics even when they aren't positive tend to conduct deep dives into what went wrong and put in place plans to remedy the situation.

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A great example is Duke Energy, which shared a report acknowledging that it fell short on team diversity goals last year. To improve the metrics, the company hired a new chief diversity and inclusion officer and committed $4 million to advocate for equality in the communities it serves.

We investors also have to ensure that metrics are present throughout a company -- that startups practice what they preach. If a business has stated that it wants to improve access to education for more people, the founder should be able to provide metrics around in-house training programs, course offerings, development plans and promotions.

If they don't have this information, that could be a sign that the company's impact only targets lateral goals and isn't built into internal operations.

The CMO is responsible for the impact strategy

Impact should ultimately fall on the shoulders of the CEO. It may sound obvious, but if the chief marketing officer is the go-to person for conversations and reporting about impact, that's a problem.

When impact exists solely in the marketing realm, it can be easy for people to have accidental or convenient impact -- where they retrospectively look at data and celebrate successes that weren't the direct result of an impact strategy. For example: A startup claims that it reduced its carbon footprint by 10% in 2020, when really the drop was due to operations being shut down during the pandemic.

Likewise, if a startup's impact objectives seem too good to be true, they usually are. Marketing departments go big when they want to make a splash (see: Theranos), but with impact, companies need to be acting at the ground level before they shoot for the moon.

Take ExxonMobil, which advertised its experimental algae biofuels as a means to reduce transport emissions. Consumers were quick to point out that the company had made no pledge to net zero carbon emissions before shooting for "sexier" impact alternatives.

They're about projections, not progress

It's natural that when founders are fundraising, they emphasize their most disruptive edge. That they can end poverty, close inequality gaps or reduce the effects of climate change. These promises can raise investor eyebrows, but they have to be rooted in the how.

Every investor knows the feeling of glossing over the financial projections in a startup pitch deck. It's not so much the figures that matter, but the process behind them. It's exactly the same with impact.

If a startup's whole identity is the future numbers of their impact goals, investors should be wary. The methodology is far more telling than the statistics.

For example, GSK has announced ambitious plans to be net zero carbon by 2030, but its breakdown of key activities like switching to renewable electricity, electric cars and green chemistry is what confirms that the company is actually moving toward that impact. If the company doesn't reach total net zero status, the intent is still clearly there, and progress will be made -- but perhaps at a slower pace.

If Theranos has taught us anything, it's that companies are wise to the allure of impact when raising funds. For investors, being able to distinguish real impact from marketing ploys not only protects them, it helps their capital go to places that can really make a difference.
Motley Fool

High-yielding dividend stocks can be tempting to invest in because that means you're collecting more on your investment. Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI) and Altria Group (NYSE: MO) don't have yields that high, but at around 9% and 8%, respectively, they are definitely on the top end of the scale. Are these examples of dividend stocks that are too risky to be in your portfolio or could they be among the best deals on the stock market today?
PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitcoin Latinum, the next generation, insured asset-backed cryptocurrency, is proud to announce an exclusive partnership with OSO ATMs, one of the biggest ATM providers, to help install 100,000 Bitcoin Latinum ATMs across all fifty states in the United States.



Developed by Monsoon Blockchain Corporation on behalf of Bitcoin Latinum Foundation, LTNM is a greener, faster, and more secure version of Bitcoin, capable of managing massive crypto transactions while being highly efficient in terms of cost and scalability. As part of its plan towards crypto-adoption, Bitcoin Latinum has partnered up with various trading platforms to list its native LTNM token for trading.

Partnering with a full-service ATM company, OSO ATMs, sets a new journey for Bitcoin Latinum to further span its vision of making crypto easily accessible for everyone. Besides, itll help the cryptocurrency to further span its customer reach. As part of the partnership, OSO ATM will help Bitcoin Latinum install 100,000 ATMs across all 50 US states, where users can easily buy LTNM tokens by using their fiat currencies.

Commenting on the partnership, Donald Basile, the founder of Bitcoin Latinum, said in an interview, OSO is aiming to install 25,000 ATMs by the end of January 2022. This partnership will allow the users of different states of the U.S to buy or cash out Bitcoin Latinum and Bitcoin, which will further help in the mass adoption of Bitcoin Latinum.

OSO ATM is an ARIZONA-based ATM company providing different ATM services including ATM processing, customized ATM branding, ATM Equipment sales, etc., to customers in all 50 states of the United States. Additionally, the ATM provider offers Bitcoin Kiosk machines. However, with this exclusive partnership of 5 years, OSO ATMs will help install 60,000 LTNM ATMs throughout these 5 years. The company has aimed to install a minimum of 8,000 ATMs by the end of 2022 across different states in the US.

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Arikat, Chief Operating Officer at OSO ATM-Nationwide ATM Company, shared his views on the partnership and said, The operation of crypto ATMs is picking up pace in other parts of the world as well. In El Salvador for instance, Bitcoin ATMs allow people to transact in the crypto token or convert it to fiat. Bitcoin Latinum aims to bring the ease of using cryptocurrencies in the United States, and we are extremely proud to be a part of their journey to take cryptocurrencies to the mainstream audience. 

About Bitcoin Latinum

Bitcoin Latinum is the next generation, insured asset-backed cryptocurrency. Based on the Bitcoin ecosystem, Bitcoin Latinum is greener, faster, and more secure, poised to revolutionize digital transactions. Using an energy-efficient Proof of Stake consensus algorithm, Bitcoin Latinum plans to bring better transaction speed, lower fees, and more security to high growth markets such as Media, Gaming, Telecommunication, and Cloud Computing.

For more information, please visit https://bitcoinlatinum.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bitcoinlatinum

About OSO ATMs

OSO ATM is a nationwide ATM company providing ATM service to customers in all 50 states. OSO is dedicated to serving our customers, distributors, ATM affiliates with the most competitive pricing and service to help maximize profits. The company has over a 99.5% retention rate and offer 24-hour tech support and online tools to help manage businesses more efficiently

For more information, please visit https://osoatm.com/

Media contact

Company: Bitcoin Latinum

Contact: Kai Okada, Director of Communications

E-mail: kai.okada@bitcoinlatinum.com

Website: https://bitcoinlatinum.com/

Address: 2100 Geng Road, Palo Alto, California 94303, USA

Telephone: +1 800-528-0985

SOURCE: Bitcoin Latinum




MUNICH, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Germany's MTU Aero Engines on Friday became the latest supplier to express caution over plans by Airbus for sharp increases in jet production.

MTU Chief Executive Reiner Winkler said a current firm target of 65 A320-family jets by summer 2023 would not pose a problem.

"Then we have to see as a second step if the market can really digest higher output from Airbus, together with something like 50 (Boeing 737) MAX," he told analysts.

"You have heard some critical words from lessors, obviously. If we go to 75, I think it is still not yet clear."

Earlier, he told reporters: "If we have enough lead time, about 1 or 2 years, this (proposed rate of 70 to 75) would be manageable, but the question remains how large the demand really is".

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner, Editing by Tim Hepher)
(Bloomberg) -- The leader of Japans main opposition party did damage control two days ahead of a national election after a senior member floated removing the tax-exempt status on individual savings accounts held by millions of voters.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Yukio Edano, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, on Friday tried to walk back comments made by one of his top lieutenants about a policy that could dent support as the party tries to pick up ground on the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. We are not thinking of increasing taxes, he wrote on Twitter, adding the CDPs election manifesto includes pledges to expand the program.

But the party may have taken a hit. The program known as NISA, or the Nippon Individual Savings Account, was the number one trending topic in Japan on Friday, with many on social media angered about possible changes to a program designed to help the average household invest.

Kenji Eda, a senior CDP member made the comments on a BS Fuji TV program Thursday. After saying his party would increase the capital gains tax on stock investments to 30% from the current 20%, Eda was asked if he would apply the same standard to individual investors, including those in tax-free accounts. He replied that he would.

The topic of taxing high earners has been one of the key areas of focus of the election campaign, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the leader of the ruling LDP, stealing some of the oppositions thunder by initially promising to rethink capital gains taxes. The level at which high earners pay a lower tax rate, termed the 100 million yen ($880,000) barrier, has led to calls for reform.

The Nippon Individual Savings Account was launched in 2014 and modeled on the U.K.s ISA program. It allows individuals to invest as much as 1.2 million yen a year in accounts without being taxed on capital gains and dividends. The program was designed to promote investment in stocks in a country where only around 26% of those over 20 own shares or mutual funds, according to Nomura Asset Management. More than 16 million NISA accounts had been opened as of end-June, according to the Financial Services Agency.

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Kishidas ruling coalition is expected to keep its majority in the powerful lower house after the vote, but polls largely compiled before Edas comments and published Friday by the Yomiuri and Nikkei newspapers found the LDP was at risk of losing its outright majority in the body for the first time in about nine years.

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2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Demand for Bitcoin Latinum showcases a strong appetite for new digital currencies worldwide

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitcoin Latinum (LTNM), the next generation insured asset-backed cryptocurrency, continues its aggressive expansion strategy and will be listed on Hotbit, a premier global digital asset trading platform, at the middle of Nov 2021. LTNM will be available for trading with BTC and USDT pairs, and demonstrates the growing appetite for additional digital currencies such as Bitcoin Latinum to begin trading worldwide.



"The strong demand for new digital currencies such as Bitcoin Latinum is clear. Hotbit is the perfect digital exchange partner as it is our eighth exchange to date. This is a milestone event in the history of Bitcoin Latinum and we continue to reach wider audiences and showcase our coins' unique digital assets around the world," said Donald Basile, Founder of Bitcoin Latinum and CEO of Monsoon Blockchain Corporation.

Bitcoin Latinum is a fully insured asset-backed cryptocurrency based on the Bitcoin ecosystem. Developed by Monsoon Blockchain Corporation on behalf of Bitcoin Latinum Foundation, LTNM is a greener, faster, and more secure version of Bitcoin, capable of managing massive crypto transactions while being highly efficient in terms of cost and scalability. As a revolutionary new Bitcoin blockchain-based token, LTNM focuses on disrupting high-growth industries like Media, Gaming, Telecommunications, and Cloud Computing.

Improving on Bitcoin's energy-usage concerns, LTNM utilizes a proof-of-stake (PoS) algorithm to achieve consensus, which not only increases the TPS rate of the network but also significantly minimizes the fee. Besides, unlike other crypto assets, LTNM is insured, and backed by real-world and digital assets. Its asset backing is held in a fund model so that base asset value increases over time. It accelerates this asset-backed funds growth by depositing 80% of the transaction fee back into the asset fund that backs the currency. Thus, the more Bitcoin Latinum is adopted, the faster its asset funds grow, creating a self-inflating currency. Furthermore, users and businesses can unlock new revenue streams while lowering their transactional costs. The listing on Hotbit highlights the Bitcoin Latinum Foundation's commitment to supporting the growth of a sustainable crypto ecosystem.

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Hotbit is pleased to add LTNM to our portfolio. As the ecosystem moves towards energy efficiency, next-generation assets like Bitcoin Latinum with its increased speed and low transaction fees are bound to grow exponentially within the industry as a method of digital transaction. Hotbit believes in Bitcoin Latinum's ability to deliver a simple, secure, and sustainable experience to the Hotbit's emerging market community.

About Bitcoin Latinum

Bitcoin Latinum is the next generation, fully insured asset-backed cryptocurrency. Based on the Bitcoin ecosystem, Bitcoin Latinum is greener, faster, and more secure, poised to revolutionize digital transactions. Using an energy-efficient Proof of Stake consensus algorithm, Bitcoin Latinum plans to bring better transaction speed, lower fees, and more security to high growth markets such as Media, Gaming, Telecommunication, and Cloud Computing.

For more information, please visit https://bitcoinlatinum.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bitcoinlatinum

About Hotbit Exchange

Hotbit exchange is a premier global digital assets trading platform with more than 2000 trading pairs in total and was ranked no.1 among all exchanges regarding the number of types of cryptocurrency projects listed. Hotbit has accumulated 3,000,000+ registered users from more than 210 countries and areas all over the world. To learn more about Hotbit, visit their website , follow their Twitter for more updated news and promotions.

FOR EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY; NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE. Any information offered is for educational and informational purposes only and should NOT be construed as a securities-related offer or solicitation or be relied upon as personalized investment advice. Bitcoin Latinum strongly recommends you consult a licensed or registered professional before making any investment decision.

Media contact

Company: Bitcoin Latinum

Contact: Kai Okada, Director of Communications

E-mail: kai.okada@bitcoinlatinum.com

Website: https://bitcoinlatinum.com/

Address: 2100 Geng Road, Palo Alto, California 94303, USA

Telephone: +1 800-528-0985

SOURCE: Bitcoin Latinum




Rene Perras is one of the industry's leading experts in PR, SEO, and lawyer marketing.

Lawyer Marketing Futurist & PR Expert Rene Perras

Rene Perras is one of the industry's leading experts in PR, SEO, and lawyer marketing.

Rene Perras is one of the industry's leading experts in PR, SEO, and lawyer marketing.

Dallas, TX , Oct. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mr. Perras has demonstrated his ability to secure high ticket cases using his PR expertise as an author and publicist for a number of companies and law firms. Perras has been involved in many public relations efforts for professional associations as their go-to guy and has worked with top trial lawyers nationwide.



In his new position at KISS PR, Rene will be responsible for new client acquisition and will work with top law firms to promote KISS PR legal new business.

Rene Perras



Rated Best Lawyer SEO & Marketing Advisor - Rene Perras

About Rene Perras

Rene Perras, born in Canada, now a Jupiter Florida resident president of Cepac and involved in the day to day activities of managing his consulting firm, since June of 1987, has always been a disruptive entrepreneur in the marketplace. He met and married his wife in Montreal, a first generation American born Indian whose family emigrated from Hyderabad over fifty years ago to the US. Hes always been interested in finding inventive ways to streamline businesses and law firm operations, making them more effective and efficient. Among the media accolades, he has received are Forbes, Entrepreneur, Law.com to name a few.

About KISS PR Brand Story

KISS PR is a Dallas based digital marketing company that specializes in news & brand storytelling.

For more information visit kisspr.com

Media Contact

Az@kisspr.com





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Rescue Dog Wines and Artisan Beverages of Georgia Bringing Award-Winning Wine to Wine Lovers, and Dog Lovers, in Georgia

2020 North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon

2020 North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon

2020 North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon

SAINT HELENA, Calif., Oct. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rescue Dog Wines, based in St. Helena, California, is entering the Georgia market with its wines, from which 50% of the profits go to rescue dog organizations.

Rescue Dog Wines have been available to order via the company's website (www.rescuedogwines.com), but are now being rolled out to stores in Georgia, including their 2020 North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon and a new Red Wine Blend, via distributor Artisan Beverages of Georgia (www.artisanbevga.com).

Rescue Dog Wines has won multiple awards, including two gold medals in the highly regarded San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. In addition to the two new wines mentioned above, the current wines available include Predominantly Poodle Sauvignon Blanc, the 2018 Rose, Beloved Mixed Red, Bubbly Boxer Sparking Rose and Bubbly Boxer Demi Sec Sparkling wine.

Rescue Dog Wines currently supports the English Bulldog Rescue Bully Ball in Atlanta and Best Friends Animal Society, in addition to other local and national rescue organizations throughout the U.S. The Vintner will have a presence at the Kennesaw Beer and Wine Festival October 30, the Decatur Wine Festival on November 6, and the Acworth Beer and Wine Fest on November 13.

Sales for Georgia are being managed by Rescue Dog Wine's national sales manager, Mark Fedorchak, and Decatur-based Happy Harris, both industry veterans. Rescue Dog Wines is owned by Blair and Laura Lott, who recently returned from a 10-year stint in California to reside in Augusta, Georgia.

"Our family vineyard is in Acampo, California, but Georgia is my home state, and I'm happy to be back home," Blair Lott, the company's president, said. "Laura and I are making it our mission to spread the word about Rescue Dog Wines and rescue dog organizations here."

Story continues

Laura Lott, Rescue Dog Wine's Chief Giving Officer, added, "Our goal is to build a strong presence in Georgia as a wine, but more importantly we believe that helping Georgia's rescue dogs find good forever homes is our, and our company's, ultimate mission. We both love rescue dogs!"

Rescue Dog Wines seeks to partner with animal rescue organizations to donate wines for auction or to serve to guests at fundraising events.

About Rescue Dog Wines

The goal of Rescue Dog Wines is to produce world-class, award-winning wines from domestically sourced, certified green sustainable grapes, as well as bring awareness to, celebrate and provide financial support to the Rescue Dog movement.

About Artisan Beverage of Georgia

Artisan Beverage is locally family owned and operated. Paul Bynum and David Bynum have over 25 years of combined beverage and distribution experience in the Atlanta and Southeastern market. Both focus on service, brand value, and accessibility when getting behind any new item coming into the Georgia Market.

For Immediate Release

Media Contact: Stephen Antczak

EMAIL: RescueDogWines@gmail.com

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Image 1: 2020 North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon





Rescue Dog Wines newest wine. A 2020 North Coast Sauvignon.









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Eni's logo is seen in front of its headquarters in San Donato Milanese

By Stephen Jewkes

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian energy group Eni is stepping up its plans to spin off parts of its business to raise the cash needed to help fund its transition away from oil and reward shareholders.

Under Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi Eni has launched one of the industry's most ambitious clean-up strategies, pledging carbon neutrality by 2050 and shifting into clean energy as it phases out oil production as of 2025.

"We are deeply reshaping our company structure to enhance value creation... and flexibility," Chief Financial Officer Francesco Gattei told analysts on Friday.

The strategy is in contrast to Royal Dutch Shell, which said on Thursday its businesses operated better together than apart in response to an activist fund's call for a break up.

Earlier this month Eni said it intended to list part of its new retail and renewable business, and also said it could seek a separate market listing of its Norwegian joint venture Vaar Energi with shareholder HitecVision.

It is also planning to set up a combined upstream business company in Angola with BP which Gattei said would be completed before the end of the year.

"Next year with the different IPOs and business combination there will be a quite material contribution of cash," Gattei told analysts on a conference call following its third-quarter results.

He said the cash would be used to cut debt, improve dividend policy, and fund the group's transformation.

In a statement on results Descalzi said the creation of dedicated business vehicles would be accelerated to focus on growth and extract value from the group's portfolio.

Several European energy companies, including Spain's Repsol, are looking to divest all or part of their renewables business to raise money to fund the energy transition.

Oil and gas majors are coming under increasing pressure from governments and climate-conscious investors to shift into renewable energy, even amid calls to still meet current high levels of fossil fuel demand.

Story continues

In the third quarter Eni beat expectations as its profits jumped back to pre-COVID levels, boosted by higher gas prices that could give an additional lift to earnings in coming months.

Adjusted net profit stood at 1.43 billion euros compared with a loss of 153 million euros a year earlier, beating a 1.08 billion euro consensus forecast.

"We believe the better than expected results and improved outlook have positive implications for estimates and the stock," Milan-based broker Equita said.

At 1419 GMT Eni shares were up 2.35% while the European oil and gas index was down 0.3%.

($1 = 0.8572 euros)

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Jason Neely and David Holmes)
Chinese visitors look at model residential apartment buildings at a house fair in Nanjing city, east Chinas Jiangsu province, 8 April 2008. Chinese government on October 22 stepped in to bolster the ailing real estate market by lowering transaction taxes, reducing down payments and lowering mortgage rates. But analysts said the measures may not hold back price corrections because the current prices have surged far out of reach of many buyers. The Ministry of Finance and the central bank announced that property purchase tax would be lowered to 1 per cent for people buying their first home if it is smaller than 90sqm. The previous rate was 3 per cent, with those buying houses smaller than 140sqm paying 1.5 per cent. The new rate will be effective from November 1. For people buying their first home, the down payment ratio will be lowered to 20 per cent, and banks will be allowed to charge as low as 70 per cent of benchmark lending rates for such mortgages. Both measures are effective next Monday (October 27).(Imaginechina via AP Images

The recent publication of a speech by president Xi Jinping saw the leader detail in public for the first time how he plans to curb excessive wealth and achieve his goal of common prosperity for China. But it was his mention of a property tax, which has been much-discussed in China over the last two decades, that carried the most significant implications.

A few days after excerpts of the speech were published, the countrys top legislative body announced that it will roll out a five-year pilot scheme for the property tax in some regions, despite steep resistance from the middle class and political elites, many of whom own a vast number of properties.

Aside from the fact that it would exclude rural households, the announcement lacked specifics, including the location of the trials and the range of the tax rate. But it represents Chinas biggest step towards having a nationwide property tax on homes, which has been discussed since at least 2003.

Xi, whose heightened power is compared often to that of chairman Mao Zedong, seems determined to push through the tax, despite its unpopularity. With around 70% of Chinese families wealth parked in properties, it could be his most powerful tool in adjusting the overly high incomes targeted by his common prosperity campaign. In the past years, the value of residential housing has been skyrocketing due to its rising prices, which helped many families to accumulate their wealth, making properties an important element in creating wealth gaps, wrote Economic Daily, a state-owned media outlet this week. A property tax will focus on adding taxation for owning the asset to enhance the regulation and adjustment of high income.

It is too early to say definitively how the property tax could affect Chinas economy and society. It may not bring down housing prices substantially, as that will still depend on supply and demand. But the consensus among analysts is that the taxation will finally alter the habit of citizens, developed since the country allowed private home ownership in 1998, of holding on to properties.

Story continues

Recent events likely mark the start of a new paradigm for Chinas growth and its property sector, said Bruce Pang, head of macro and strategy research at China Renaissance Securities. One featuring greater state involvement with less policy support, lower investment and slower activity for the sector, reduced real-estate lending concentration, and less household allocation in property assets.

In short, the tax could send China onto a different path of development.

Why does China want a property tax?

Despite its hesitation over enacting a property tax, China has long felt the acute need for it.

Chinas existing property-related taxes mainly target commercial real estate, and the construction and transaction processes of residential properties. Taxes like the one being piloted by Xi are the largest revenue source for local governments in many US states.

The countrys leaders believe theres too much speculation in the sector, which they say has pushed up housing prices, widened the wealth gap, and suppressed residents desire to spend money elsewhere. Houses are for living, not for speculation, Xi famously said in 2017, sending a strong signal of his discontent about the sector.

Prior to the announcement of the tax, property developers had already faced a squeeze. China has pushed real estate firms to deleverage in an effort to deal with their rising debt levels. This has made it harder for giant companies like Evergrande to raise funding, and has led developers to grab land at a slower pace.

This has in turn put pressure on local governments. China only allows the private ownership of properties, whereas land must be leased longterm from local authorities or village collectives. Land sales to property developers account for a third of their revenue. In August and September, the value of land sales in China decreased by double digits, according to Reuters.

This is lending an urgency to the launch of the property tax, which will expand local governments fiscal revenues, wrote analysts from Dongfang Securities.

What could the property tax look like?

Two of Chinas largest cities, Chongqing and Shanghai have trialed property taxes between 0.4% and 1.2% since 2011, mainly targeting second homes, luxury properties, and purchases by non-residents. The new tax is expected to cover a much wider range of properties.

An important issue is whether the pilot tax will be applied to existing properties or ones purchased going forward, said Zoe Yang, assistant professor at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong-based CUHK Business School.  If the tax is imposed on existing properties that will be a huge burden for residents, who would have to deal with both the tax and mortgages, she said. The disposable income of Shanghai residents per capita is around 70,000 yuan ($10,951). For a 10 million yuan housea common price tag in an affluent cityeven a 0.5% tax rate would cost 50,000 yuan a year, adding pressure to families, she said.

Many analysts expect the central government to focus on taxing all houses. If the property tax only covers newly purchased homes it will have a small scale, which means it can hardly achieve the purposes of boosting fairness and contributing more fiscal revenues, said analysts from Dongfang Securities. It is likely the government will give a rough guideline on the tax rate for local authorities to use as a guideline, they wrote. Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Nanjing, some of the countrys most developed cities, could also be possible candidates for the pilot scheme, according to Pang at China Renaissance Securities.

A delicate balance

Although the property tax may help reduce the wealth gap in the long run, it will be an immediate sharp shock. The government will need to carefully calculate the range of the tax rate to avoid hurting citizens and the economy too much. The increased thriftiness and reduced spending of consumers is already a concern for Chinas economy, which has relied on exports and investment for its fast growth.

For example, retired people who rely on their pensions as a major source of income would struggle to pay the new tax, especially if the value of their home has risen significantly over the years, said Yang, the professor. Rent in first-tier cities which have seen large influxes of people could also rise if the tax comes through, as landlords would want to transfer part of their burden to tenants. Eventually, however, the rich would still be taxed the most, especially if China adopts a progressive model, applying a higher tax rate to individuals holding many properties, she said.

Thats small consolation for prospective home owners. I am just about to be able to pay mortgage together with my partner, and we have already used up savings from ourselves and parents for buying the house. I dont know how can people like me survive after the property tax?' asked a Chinese internet user after news of the pilot tax emerged.

The property tax risks accelerating the outflow of people and leading to a plunge in property prices, wrote Chinese finance columnist Shinian Kancha on social media platform Weibo. For underdeveloped, smaller inland cities, it is equal to drinking poison to quench thirst, the columnist wrote.

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MONTREAL, Oct. 29, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) is unveiling its mandatory vaccination policy in line with the regulations outlined today by Transport Canada. Via Rail's comprehensive vaccination policy will require everyone 12-years of age and older on board our trains to show proof of vaccination as of October 30.

VIA RAIL UNVEILS ITS MANDATORY VACCINATION POLICY (CNW Group/VIA Rail Canada Inc.)

To allow passengers time to become fully vaccinated, there will be a one-month transition period during which passengers will be able to travel if they show a valid COVID-19 molecular test within 72 hours of travel time. This transition period will end on November 30, after which all passengers must be fully vaccinated in order to board our trains. For full details on VIA Rail's mandatory vaccination policy, as well as all other COVID-19 measures please visit our website.

Key Dates:

October 30  Passengers 12-years and older boarding VIA trains must show proof of vaccination or valid COVID-19 molecular test.





November 30  Passengers 12-years and older boarding VIA trains must show proof of full vaccination (COVID-19 molecular tests no longer accepted).

"Protecting the health and safety of our people, our passengers and the public is more than just a main priority, it is a core value deeply rooted in VIA Rail's culture and a responsibility that we all share," said Cynthia Garneau, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The implementation of this mandatory vaccination policy, in line with directives from the Government of Canada, will provide an added layer of protection against COVID-19, and make our trains safer, so that our passengers can continue to travel with confidence."

In line with the Government of Canada's requirements, VIA Rail also developed a mandatory vaccination policy for its employees. Those who have not begun their vaccination process by November 15 will be placed on administrative leave.

Even with these stringent vaccination policies in place on board our trains, all other existing measures implemented by VIA Rail in response to COVID 19 remain in effect. Those include, amongst others, the requirement to wear a mask on our trains, and a pre-boarding health check for every passenger.

Story continues

REMINDER

Wearing a mask is required at all times in VIA Rail's stations and on board VIA Rail trains. For the health and safety of all passengers and employees, passengers who do not wear a mask during their trip will be required to disembark the train or will be refused entry upon boarding.

Wearing a mask over the nose and mouth is one more way to protect one another and will help VIA Rail safeguard the travel experience of its passengers and employees. Throughout the pandemic, when VIA Rail has ramped up service levels in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, enhanced health and safety measures introduced during the pandemic have been maintained, including enhanced cleaning, pre-boarding screening of travellers, modified onboard services.

Furthermore, VIA Rail asks that passengers stay informed of public health guidelines and respect those that apply to them and their travel plans, including mandatory vaccination as of October 30. The Corporation also constantly reminds its passengers and employees of the importance of following recommendations from public health authorities and to rigorously follow good hygiene practices (wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, cough or sneeze into a tissue or the bend of the arm, avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth without first washing their hands).

Passengers will be denied boarding if they are experiencing symptoms similar to a cold or flu (fever, cough, difficulty breathing) or if they have been denied boarding for travel in the last 14 days due to medical reasons related to COVID-19.

The most recent updates are available on VIA Rail's website.

About VIA Rail

As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and all its employees are mandated to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada, and about 180 more communities through intermodal partnerships, and safely transported over 5 million passengers in 2019. The Corporation has been awarded nine Safety Awards and three Environment Awards by the Railway Association of Canada since 2005. Visit the "About VIA Rail" section at https://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.

PLEASE VISIT OUR MEDIA CENTRE TO GET THE LATEST INFORMATION.

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View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2021/29/c1834.html
We didnt get this crystal ball status in Virginia because were particularly good at that; we got it because were one of the few places that people could look for any kind of indication about how well the new president is doing, he said.

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Farnsworth said when Ralph Northam was elected governor in 2017, many voters seemed dissatisfied with the direction then-President Donald Trump was taking the country and that negative sentiment boiled over to create a Democratic majority in Congress the following year.

Farnsworth also said a similar situation occurred during President Barack Obamas first term in 2009, when Republican candidate Bob McDonnell defeated Democrat Creigh Deeds with nearly 59 percent of the vote to become governor. McConnell succeeded then-Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine, who is now a U.S. senator.

Farnsworth said timing isnt the only reason Virginias gubernatorial race usually draws national media attention.

The reality is, Virginia has importance in national politics because were having an election when few other places are, and reporters find it easy to cover Virginia because were so close to Washington, he said.
The Rev. Richard Cizik is one of the thousands of people who know all too well the cost of drug addiction. In December 2013, the Stafford County man cradled his son in his arms as the 23-year-old died from a heroin overdose. Addiction started for his son, Richie, as it did for so many others in the opioid crisis, with painkillers prescribed by a doctor.

Richie had molars pulled, and later, a broken wrist, and he became hooked on the sensation the pain relief provided. When the prescriptions ended, he turned to street drugs. His family rallied, got him into an expensive, private drug rehabilitation program and Richie tried to embrace a life without heroin. But the cycle of addiction and withdrawal, rehab and relapse caught up with him.

It devastated my family and dont let anybody tell you it goes away, Cizik said. It doesnt go away. My answer was not to get angry, but to do something.

In the years since his sons death, Cizik has offered any help he can to other addicts. Hes a licensed Uber and Lyft driver and provides free rides. Sometimes, he takes people to and from a clinic in Spotsylvania County where methadone is dispensed. The drug is part of medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, which safely satisfies the brains craving for opioids but allows the person to resume aspects of normal life.
Democratic incumbent Joshua Cole and Republican challenger Tara Durant have raised more than $2.7 million in their race for the Fredericksburg areas 28th District House of Delegates seat, more than double the total from when Cole won the seat two years ago.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, campaign finance reports show Cole had raised $1,743,504 as of Oct. 1 and Durant had brought in $944,846. For Cole, that is 171 percent more money raised in this election than he did in 2019.

In that race, Cole raised $642,304 compared with $654,441 by Republican nominee Paul Milde. Cole went on to defeat Milde by just over 1,000 votes, giving the Democrats the seat representing southern Stafford County and part of Fredericksburg for the first time in 38 years.

Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies, said the 28th District is one of the most competitive races in Virginia and one of a handful that could determine whether Republicans can overturn the Democrats 55-45 majority in the House of Delegates.
Sutherland said he didnt know Family Pizzeria was closing its doors until he read about it on social media.

As soon as we saw it, we did what everybody else has done and we went in and got a pizza and talked to Mike, said Sutherland, who first visited the restaurant when he lived in Maryland 30 years ago and traveled to Fairview Beach on weekends during the summer.

Of course you know about Carls ice cream, you know about Family Pizzeria, wed go there on weekends and pick up a pizza, said Sutherland.

Cain, 63, said hes closing largely due to difficulties he faces purchasing goods and supplies needed to keep the pizzeria afloat. He said prices have tripled from what he paid for the same items before the coronavirus pandemic.

Hes also having difficulty finding people willing to work, and said another lockdown or COVID-19-related mandate would be too much to bear.

Theres a lot of government overstep, said Cain. The time is right now.

Lindsay Cain, who's been operating Family Pizzeria with her father since Cains wife passed away 14 years ago, said she remembers playing as a child in the restaurant in 1985 when it was located at Earls Shopping Center in Falmouth.
Nick Vrba, Executive Vice President, First State Bank & Trust Company, has been appointed to serve as Nebraskas representative on the American Bankers Associations (ABA) Government Relations Council.

Council members are appointed by ABAs chair, and there is typically one representative from each state. Each serves a one-year term with the possibility of appointment to one additional term.

The Government Relations Council (GRC) is the leadership committee with the exclusive responsibility for recommending annual policy priorities to ABAs Board of Directors. The Council provides ongoing policy guidance to ABA leadership as policy issues arise during the year. Its diverse membership is reflective of the industry at large, representing banks from across the country of varying asset size, charter type, and business structure, making it a critical committee in representing both the specific interests of the industry segments and the broader industry. GRC members also participate in ABAs political engagement programs.

Vrba and other members of the GRC serve as essential advocates of ABAs policy positions before members of the legislative and executive branches and related agencies, local media and fellow bankers.

It is a great honor to serve on this important council, Vrba said. I look forward to participating and helping further the critical role our nations banks play in both their communities and the broader economy.

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Nurse Honor Guard

The second annual Nebraska Nurse Honor Guard Conference was held Oct. 23 in Lincoln with approximately 50 Honor Guard Nurses in attendance. The theme of the conference was Our Legacy  A Look Back!

Deb Zobel, president, gave the State of the Organization. The Nebraska Nurse Honor Guard was organized in November 2019. Eighty-five nurses have been inducted into the organization and 137 tribute services have been conducted for fellow nurses. Even through the growth of the organization has been slowed by the pandemic, it continues to organize groups across the state that will provide tribute services when requested for fellow nurses after their demise.

Carol Kuhfahl, a historian and a retired RN and member of the Honor Guard, presented the history of nursing in the Armed Services during World War II. She shared the struggles, strengths, and resilience of the nurses who served in World War II.

Florence Nightingale was remembered with a tribute by Joan Kunes, Honor Guard member.

Nebraska Nurse Honor Guard members closed the conference Looking Forward by sharing goals and ideas for the future of the statewide organization.

Four Fremont Area Nurse Honor Guard members attended the conference, including co-leaders Carol Bohling and Jan Ostransky, and Melinda Rasmussen and Kathie Skidmore.

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Metropolitan Community College will honor Native American Heritage Month through a series of educational events that will share the stories, history and culture of Native Americans. Throughout the month of November, MCC will host virtual educational events that are free and open to the public.

The month begins with a lecture titled, Good Medicine: Finding Your Voice After Collective Trauma. The lecture will be given at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1, by Kyle Ethelbah of the University of Nevada Las Vegas. His talk will inspire as well as tell his unbelievable journey after a traumatic childhood.

Other lectures and video discussions will cover topics such as the history of tribal colleges and the Nebraska Genoa Indian Industrial School, which includes the stories of many missing children who never returned home and their fates have yet to be accounted for.

To attend the events, visit mccneb.edu/native at the scheduled start time and click on the Zoom link. You can also visit the same website for a full schedule of events and more detailed information.

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It was night when Capt. Bob Koenig headed to a washed out river bed in Afghanistan.

The former Fremonter and other Marines were supposed to meet a reliable Afghan informant.

Koenig always said Mubarak  the Afghan interpreter who was with him  had a sixth sense about things.

And Koenig saw it at work that night in 2004.

We came around the corner and there was somebody who was not the person that we were looking for and (Mubarak) knew something was wrong, Koenig said.

Mubarak suggested they either leave immediately, because this could be an ambush, or else arrest the man and find out what was going on.

They left.

Later, they learned the man in river bed had weapons and they likely would have been attacked.

Seventeen years later, Koenig is working to help Mubarak, who repeatedly saved his life and is credited with saving the lives of many other U.S. military personnel.

Now a deputy with the Sarasota County Sheriffs Office, Mubarak, identified only by his last name for security reasons, lives in Florida with his wife and children. Hes recently been able to get 33 of his 34 family members, whose lives were in danger, to the United States.

They include Mubaraks brother and sisters, one of whom is a doctor, and their children, ranging in age from 3 to 17.

To help, Koenig has started Ruck for Refugees to raise $250,000 to be used toward sustainable housing for Mubaraks siblings and children. Koenig has worked to gain donations by raising awareness through a 140-mile ruck march (a military term for a hike) and launching a gofundme page.

A 1994 Archbishop Bergan High School graduate, Koenig recently made the trek from his Elkhorn home to Hartington, approximately the same distance Mubaraks extended family had to flee to get from their home in eastern Afghanistan to the Kabul airport to be flown to the United States.

Koenig began his ruck on Oct. 16, stopping in Fremont at about 5 p.m., that day, and finishing on Oct. 21 in Hartington.

As of Friday, $27,480 has been raised via Koenigs gofundme page.

A real estate investor, Koenig buys and rents out small- to medium-size, multi-family properties.

He formed the Ruck for Refugees organization to raise donations for a down payment, associated fees, and any needed renovations for a multi-family residential property for Mubaraks siblings and their children.

Those who contribute arent making a financial investment, but a donation to help these families.

Koenig believes theres a looming housing crisis for Afghans, now housed in warehouses and old barracks on military bases.

Our current rental market and housing market is not well set up for these people, because of the prices and everything thats been going on with COVID and the moratoriums on evictions and everything else, Koenig said. Theyre coming into a very difficult housing market, so Im trying to raise awareness for my fellow real estate investors and professionals and business people that we need to solve this problem.

On the positive side, restaurants and other businesses are looking for workers and Afghans coming into the U.S. will be eager to work as they try to rebuild their lives.

For them, this is a great opportunity from a job standpoint to find meaningful work here in the United States, Koenig said. Theyre going to have jobs over time. Theyre going to start building up savings and eventually become fully integrated members of society where they can buy their own properties.

Koenig hopes Ruck for Refugees will become a national organization and that veterans and other individuals will form their own local chapters.

Many veterans appreciate their Afghan interpreters work.

Mubarak gave so much and risked his life and his familys life to assist U.S. Special Forces in a fight against the Taliban, Koenig said.

Koenig was a commander of a counter intelligence company at Camp Pendleton when the 911 terrorist attacks occurred. Some men in his company were the first Marines on the ground in Afghanistan that fall.

When Koenig got off the plane in Eastern Afghanistan in 2004, Mubarak was the first Afghan he met.

Mubaraks father, who died in August during the evacuation, had wanted his sons to become educated and help the Americans.

I think they were tired of living under the Taliban, Koenig said. Mubarak had younger sisters and women in the country at the time werent treated very well or given an opportunity for education. His father had the foresight that we were going to make it more of an equitable country for them.

Koenig, who served with a special operations and intelligence unit, appreciated Mubaraks skills.

He was very well-educated, very personable and very intelligent, Koenig said. He had a very strong knack for helping us as Americans to understand their culture, traditions and how their society worked.

That was crucial when Koenig met with informants.

Mubarak also had what Koenig describes as a sixth sense when it came to determining if an informant was legitimate or someone who could be luring them into a trap.

Hed pick up on things we couldnt pick up on, because we didnt have the cultural experience, Koenig said. Over time, we developed that and we started seeing the things that he could see, but he was there to teach us that from the beginning.

Koenig believes Mubarak kept him and others out of potentially deadly situations at least a dozen times.

Mubarak specifically worked alongside former U.S. Marine Col. Randy Hoffman, whos publicly said that Mubaraks decisions not only saved his life, but the lives of other Special Forces operators  more than 10 times.

Koenig also said the base where he was stationed was often under attack.

Mubarak answered radio calls from Afghans on border patrol, who told of incoming rocket or mortar attacks to the base. In turn, Mubarak warned U.S. military personnel to head to the bunkers.

Attacks could happen in the middle of the night.

He had to have that radio with him all the time, Koenig said.

Mubarak got a special immigrant visa and he and his wife and children came to the U.S. in 2009. At 29 Palms, Calif., he taught basic language skills and cultural cues to Marines before they deployed.

He gained his citizenship and in 2010 deployed back to Afghanistan as a cultural adviser and interpreter for the regimental commander of a large Marine Corps unit.

During a nighttime raid when military personnel were entering a house, the Marine in front of Mubarak was shot in the chest.

He was wearing armor, but the bullet fragmented and even went into his thighs and shredded up his legs and so he was bleeding and screaming and Mubarak was the person right behind this guy, Koenig said. While bullets are flying, he pulled him out of the doorway, got him out of harms way and got him back to where the medics could start taking care of this guy.

Koenig commended Mubarak.

Not only did he indirectly save my life many, many times, but he certainly saved this guys life on that occasion, Koenig said. Hes a hero for sure.

Mubarak returned to the U.S. and earned bachelors and masters degrees. He began training with the Sarasota Sheriffs Department in April. He goes on patrol and helps solve domestic issues.

Hes good at it, Koenig said. Hes a very soft-spoken and intelligent person that I think could defuse a lot of situations and Im sure hes going to be a fantastic sheriffs deputy.

Mubaraks siblings and their children came to Fort Bliss in Texas in August after the Taliban overthrew the Afghan government. They underwent background checks and were vaccinated before moving to Sarasota.

In the meantime, Koenig contacted Mubarak.

I told you 17 years ago that if there was anything I could ever do for you to let me know, Koenig said.

Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman started a gofundme to raise funds for food and clothing. But help was needed to find them housing.

Koenig is looking for multi-family property to help Mubaraks siblings and will set up a business to purchase it.

More work lies ahead, but Koenigs already taken the first 140 miles worth of steps on an endeavor to help a man, whos already done so much to help others.

Those whod like to contribute may visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ruck-for-refugees-afghan-family-resettle-housing and more information is available at https://www.ruckforrefugees.com/ and the Ruck for Refugees Facebook page.

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More than two dozen LGBT Afghans have arrived in Britain after interventions by Foreign Minister Liz Truss and gay rights organizations to get them out of Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power.

The arrival of the 29 Afghans is "hoped to be the first of many" in the coming months, Britain's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on October 30.

"We played a key role getting these people out and will continue to do all we can to help at-risk Afghans leave the country," Truss said in the statement.

Among the group are students and activists who have repeatedly stood up for equality for the LGBT community in Afghanistan.

Under Taliban rule, LGBT people are among the most vulnerable groups in Afghanistan. Many face increased levels of persecution, discrimination, and assault, the statement said.

The group will be supported by Stonewall, Micro Rainbow, and other LGBT charities to set up their new lives in Britain.

Safe houses are being established for the Afghans, said Sebastian Rocca, chief executive of Micro Rainbow. The organization will also help them access counseling, health care, and jobs, Rocca said.

Stonewall and the Canadian organization Rainbow Railroad were part of the effort to get the group to Britain, the Foreign Ministry said.

With reporting by Reuters
As school board races across the state have drawn more than $1 million in spending from independent committees, El Paso County has seen tens of thousands of dollars flow into local races.

The most notable spending has come from Springs Opportunity Fund, a group with Republican ties, that state reports show has spent $57,770 of the $130,000 it raised on races in District 11, District 20 and District 49. The group has backed some candidates with conservative positions on hot-button issues such as critical race theory, a graduate-level concept that is not taught in K-12 classrooms.

Springs Opportunity Fund shares its address and registered agent with the Republican Senate Majority Fund, according to secretary of states records. The group also seems to have selected conservatives from among fields largely crowded with right-leaning candidates to support.

As an independent expenditure committee, Springs Opportunity Fund does not have to disclose its funders. The lack of reporting requirements for certain groups and committees gives rise to the phrase dark money in politics.

But conservative groups dont appear to have a monopoly on dark money. Other independent committees have weighed in as well, including T4CS for D-11, a spinoff of Together for Colorado Springs, a group with progressive ties that has supported candidates in District 11. The group had not yet filed spending reports as of Friday, so it was impossible to know how much the group had spent, but they have sent out mailers on behalf of their candidates.

Outside dark money is bad  its as simple as that, said Shelly Roehrs, spokeswoman for the League of Women Voters of the Pikes Peak Region. When partisan influences get involved in nonpartisan races, it creates problems.

The political furor around school boards also gave rise to a parent-driven nonpartisan committee called BIG FA$HION, which is backing candidates based on their experience in education rather than on any political stance. The committees campaign, called Kids First in Academy District 20, has drawn a following of 500 parents on Facebook, co-founder Rob Rogers said. The group doesn't address critical race theory at all, an issue Rogers described as a manufactured issue because it's not part of day-to-day learning.

The group has backed Tiana Clark, Brian Coram and Jackie Lesh in the District 20 school board race because they all understand the mundane details of running schools, he said. For example, Lesh has a masters degree in special education, and Coram has a professional background in childhood counseling, he said. The group has raised $970, state spending reports show.

They are not like other candidates who wouldnt have a platform if it wasnt for the masks or manufactured CRT outrage, he said.

The group's approach has caught the attention of parents at other school districts who are interested in doing similar nonpartisan work, Rogers said.

"They are also tired of the outside influences on their local school boards," he said.

Colorado Springs-area board meetings have made local and regional headlines for their contentiousness in recent months. In August, a hotly contested resolution banning the teaching of CRT in District 49 passed by the narrowest of margins in a 3-2 vote. In October, an allegation that a District 20 staff member secured a mask to a students face with tape sparked outrage despite the fact that the accusation hasnt been confirmed. Parents and local residents showed up at a recent D-20 board meeting wearing tape on their faces and clothing in protest, and several parents spoke angrily about the allegation and about mask mandates in general.

Springs Opportunity Fund has backed candidates who are against CRT and sent out mailers calling for change in schools following poor academic performance during a school year challenged by remote learning.

Daniel Cole, owner of Cole Communications who spent the Opportunity Fund dollars, also pointed out poor academic performance, noting that D-11 ranked 159th in the state and D-49 ranked 155th out of 183 school districts.

We are supporting the only candidates in these districts who acknowledge there is a problem and are committed to doing something about it, he said.

The group backed Nicole Konz, incumbent Thomas LaValley and Aaron Salt in District 20. All three are against mask mandates. In District 49, the group supported Jamilynn DAvola, Lori Thompson and incumbent Ivy Liu. DAvola, a schoolteacher, was the lone D-49 candidate to go on record against a proposed $8.6 million tax increase to fund a pay raise for teachers and other district staff members. Liu voted in favor of the CRT ban.

Sandra Bankes, Al Loma and Lauren Nelson are the District 11 candidates backed by the Springs Opportunity Fund.

Attempts to contact most of the candidates supported by the group were unsuccessful, but Konz said she has received no direct financial support from the fund, and Bankes said she had no knowledge of it.

"I want to be clear, I don't (know) anything about what others are doing and can only speak on what I'm doing to win this election," Bankes told The Gazette in an email. "I am focused on my campaign and finding many voters who want to see a change on the D11 school board."

Cole said he did not contact candidates before spending money on their behalf, such as purchasing digital advertising. Independent expenditure committees cannot coordinate with candidates.

Cole previously worked on campaigns backing conservative city council candidates and said at that time outside campaign efforts make candidates more visible, but candidates who win always win on their own merits.

Teddy Weiss, communications director for T4CS, said his group was not acting as a counterpunch to right-leaning campaigns but rather supporting candidates that would bring competence and compassion to the positions. Together For Colorado Springs has backed progressive candidates in the past, including City Councilmembers Richard Skorman and Yolanda Avila.

In a mailer, the group backed Jennifer Williamson, Julie Ott, Chris Wallis and Shawn Gullixson. All but Williamson are incumbents.

Wallis said he spoke with Weiss about his values but did not give his permission to be included in a mailer. He was also completely against outside money in school board elections.

When we have all these outside influences dominating the conversation, its difficult to cut through the noise, he said. The other D-11 candidates in the mailer didnt respond.

The outside spending also doesnt seem to be generating much participation from the electorate. El Paso County Clerk Chuck Broerman said Thursday based on turnout trends he was expecting lower participation than 2019 and 2017, also off-year elections.

Rogers said he has seen lots of emotional exhaustion from the pandemic and the political furor while out campaigning, and that some people are choosing to tune out this election cycle.

However, he could not stand by after receiving a flyer from D-20 candidate LaValley, who promised to be a conservative voice in District 20.

Thats not the way a school board is supposed to work, he said. All school board seats are nonpartisan.

The political controversy over issues like masks are also bleeding into his students experiences, he said. He is hopeful his slate of candidates will bring the focus back to education on the D-20 board.

I think they are going to bring a calming aspect, he said.
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Colorado Politics senior political reporter

Joey Bunch is the senior correspondent and deputy managing editor of Colorado Politics. His 32-year career includes the last 16 in Colorado. He was part of the Denver Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 and he is a two-time finalist.
Police apprehended a man with six felony warrants out for his arrest Friday morning, law enforcement said.

Colorado Springs police located 38-year-old Joel Kent Atwell in the 4700 block of North Academy Boulevard around 8:20 a.m..

During previous attempts to arrest Atwell, he eluded officers and rammed their vehicles while driving stolen vehicles, police said. That is why officers called the Tactical Enforcement Unit to help arrest him Friday, police said.

The tactical unit "contacted" Atwell in a silver Honda Civic. He tried to escape but the Honda Civic was penned in and officers took Atwell into custody, police said.
Hospitals in El Paso County and those across the state are bracing for the surge of COVID-19 patients to get worse in the coming weeks, as the county hits another high for the percentage of patients testing positive on average.

Halloween celebrations are also likely to add rapid spread of the virus in the county because numerous events are planned where partygoers will likely be "loud and drunk and spewing aerosols everywhere," said Phoebe Lostroh, who has a Ph.D. in microbiology from Harvard University and models the local spread of the virus.

"Its like people have just given up," she said.

El Paso County has seen a steady rise in hospitalized patients since July and set a new record high for the year for the percentage of people testing positive on average at 11.38 on Thursday, El Paso County Public Health spokeswoman Michelle Beyrle said. The rate of spread is also high with 2,594 new cases in the last week.

While the county did see a drop in the number of hospitalized people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 from 246 to 211, it likely isn't a sign of the virus slowing down because of the other signs of spread, she said.

Lostroh also said she expected the situation would get worse, in part, because a significant portion of the population is not on board with COVID-19 precautions, such as wearing a mask.

"I think we should plan for an emergency situation where our hospitals are running out of room," she said.

She said that while 64% of the county's eligible population has been vaccinated and a large number have recovered from the virus it's not enough to slow the virus down because it is so contagious.

It's also very widespread.

Right now, about one out of every 10 people in the community could expose you to the virus, El Paso County Public Health Medical Director Robin Johnson said on Wednesday.

UCHealth is making plans for patients to be cared for in hallways, spokeswoman Cary Vogrin said. The system has also moved critical-care patients out of ICU areas, doubled up patients into single rooms and have held patients in the emergency departments or post anesthesia care unit until beds free up elsewhere.

"Its not clear that someone in a car accident is going to get the care they would have two weeks ago," Lostroh said.

However El Paso County Commission Chairman Stan VanderWerf said he had not received any requests from the hospitals for assistance to advocate the state for relief or take other measures.

"The board of commissioners will do everything we can to help the hospitals, if they ask," he said.

The state has reopened its staffing fusion center and can provide people to help with administrative tasks and medication administration, to free hospital staff up for other tasks, said Cara Welsh Colorado Hospital Association spokeswoman.

The center is filling requests for staff from Springs Ranch Memory Care Center and Crestview Assisted Living Center, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

UCHealth said last week that moving patients medically ready to convalesce outside the hospital had been a problem because of staffing shortages and capacity issues at nursing homes and rehabilitation centers.
Jeresneyka Rizzo Rose is a Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) Fellow with The Trust for Public Land. She has lived in Southeast Colorado Springs for nearly two decades, and has worked as an artist and advocate for the community for the last 7 years.
It is now up to the Colorado Supreme Court as to whether we will have a number of competitive districts in Colorados eight-member delegatio
This latest COVID-19 surge is not subsiding, Gov. Jared Polis, state public health experts and hospital officials agree.

State and hospital modelers project the peak may yet be another three weeks or more away. Banner Health, whose Northern Colorado facilities have run at maximum capacity for weeks, says it's expecting its surge won't begin to slow until a week before Christmas.

Eighteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and nearly a year since the first batch of vaccine was delivered to the states public health lab, the virus is playing a part in stretching the states hospital capacity to its tightest point of the crisis.

Both intensive and acute care beds are running at 90% or more occupancy statewide. There were more Coloradans hospitalized with COVID-19 this week than at any point since before Christmas. Polis told reporters Thursday he's expecting multiple measures to be deployed  including potentially suspending non-emergency surgeries  in the coming days in an effort to help hospitals.

"I would say we're certainly at a place I never would have expected we'd be," said Jon Samet, the dean of the Colorado School of Public Health and the head of the state modeling team. "Looking back to the summer when we were at a low  I think our low in July was 260 people in the hospital with confirmed COVID. It was 1,170 (earlier this week)."

More so than last year, though, the burden falling upon those facilities now is multifaceted. There are hundreds fewer COVID-19 patients now than in late November 2020. But staffing has become a major obstacle, hospital officials say. Space isn't always a barrier to accepting more patients  it's a lack of providers to treat them.

What's more, the downstream effects of many people  in Colorado and nationwide  delaying care during the first several months of the pandemic are beginning to waterlog hospitals with typical, but now more severe, medical maladies. Emergency department admissions are up, Banner and UCHealth officials said this week. Beds that would typically be available to alleviate such a surge are now filled with COVID-19 patients, and the higher acuity  meaning worse condition  of both COVID-19 and more standard patients is keeping beds occupied for longer.

"We just looked at our acuity two days ago, and it's significantly higher than last year," said Margo Karsten, the president of Banner's Western Region. "High acuity COVID with non-COVID high acuity. It's causing this layer of volume and clinical stress on our staff, and then if you layer on nationally the shortage we're seeing in the workforce  certified nursing assistants, respiratory therapists, nurses  we're in a perfect storm."

The clouds continue to gather. Banner is projecting that its COVID-19 surge won't begin to subside until Dec. 18; even then, officials said, it will likely be a slow downturn, rather than a steady, steep drop. Samet "ball-parked" the peak of the current surge as potentially coming in three to four weeks, which an official from HealthONE said matched that system's estimates. Michelle Barron, UCHealth's senior medical director of infection prevention and control, said that system's internal models "suggest that what we're seeing now is going to potentially be worse" in the coming weeks.

"We think that each week we see is the worst week we've had yet," said Cara Welch, spokeswoman for the Colorado Hospital Association.

"And then it gets worse."

After a reprieve for half of this past summer, Colorado's COVID-19 situation has worsened steadily for weeks. There were dips in late September and earlier this month, but the temporary gains brought by those dips have been scuttled. The state is returning a high percentage of positive COVID-19 tests, a potential omen for increased cases  and increased hospitalizations  for the coming weeks. Colorado is now among the worst states in the nation for COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates.

Why? The late-summer surges that overwhelmed parts of the South have subsided. Why is Colorado continuing to slug through prolonged surges and plateaus?

Polis and Rachel Herlihy, the state's epidemiologist, have both been asked this question repeatedly recently. Neither said they had a firm answer. Nor did Samet, or Cali Zimmerman, of the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment. There are theories, but Polis predicted that it will likely take lengthy study to discern firm explanations.

One factor may be that Colorado had a "relatively early start with vaccinations," which, in turn, means that immunity here may have waned at an earlier point than elsewhere, said Glen Mays, also of the public health school. Boosters should help address that, though they're only now beginning to roll out in force.

Colder weather, students returning to school, the general public shedding masks  all could be playing roles as well, Samet said. More than three-quarters of hospitalizations  and most infections  are still among the unvaccinated, and areas with lower vaccination rates are reporting higher hospitalizations levels. El Paso County, for instance, is running eight points behind the state's vaccination rate and nearly 14 points behind Denver's. The county sent the most COVID-19 patients to hospitals this past week, doubling the second-highest contributor.

Eventually, Samet said, the virus will run out of people to infect. That's not herd immunity  natural immunity wanes, and the CDC said Friday that vaccine immunity is longer-lasting than that given by prior infection. But it will invariably happen.

But along the way, as the virus chews through its pool of eligible hosts, Coloradans are being hospitalized and dying at faster clips than in recent months. The state has had six consecutive weeks where more than 100 people died from the virus, according to data from the Department of Public Health and Environment; there hadn't been one such week since January.

Officials for UCHealth and HealthONE struck optimistic tones. Facilities have learned much about how to quickly open up space and how to best treat  and, as a consequence, discharge  COVID-19 patients. Barron said UCHealth was beginning to scale back procedures. The situation is "pretty tight," she said, but not to the point where the sprawling system is turning patients away.

"Some days are tight  very tight  but never to the point where we haven't had a bed, which I feel relieved (about)," she said. "We have contingencies in place if we had to go that direction."

Gary Winfield, HealthONE's chief medical officer, echoed that sentiment: Eighteen months in, hospitals have grown accustomed to the uncertainty of the pandemic and the need for flexibility. The system is growing "comfortable with the discomfort," a spokeswoman said. Winfield said HealthONE facilities remain in good shape, capacity wise, and that COVID-19 patients make up, at most, 12% of filled beds.

What's harder to adjust is staffing, the various hospital leaders said. Karsten, the Banner Health official, said the system is at its highest capacity in her five years there. Qualified caregivers are being redeployed to help on the front line, something UCHealth is also doing, Barron said. Banner is bringing in traveling nurses and providers, a significantly expensive but increasingly vital lever hospitals nationwide have pulled this year.

Staffing is the "top concern" for hospitals in Colorado, Welch added. Facilities across the state are suspending non-emergency procedures, for varying lengths of time. Polis said this week that he was considering blocking all such surgeries until hospitalizations slow.

"Last fall, we were definitely watching our staffing closely and were very concerned about that before the vaccine started to rollout," she said. " ... But I think a year later, we just have that much more burnout, that much more stress. Unfortunately, some of our health care workers are being harassed, are being accused by the public of fabricating the virus. It's a very different situation this year than what we saw last year."

Hanging over the present, already strained is the looming arrival of influenza. Last year, with masking universal and students in and out of school, Colorado had a flu season so mild that it felt almost nonexistent. Where a typical season may bring more than 3,000 patients into hospitals between October and early spring, last year saw just 34.

There is no reason to believe this year will be that mild, officials said. Masking is no longer required. Students are in school, often also unmasked. People are working and interacting in person more. The remarkably low presence of flu last year may mean less immunity among the general population this year; experts have suggested the spike in RSV cases in August, an unprecedented time for the respiratory illness to emerge, may have been pushed by its low prevalence last year.

In non-pandemic years, hospitals plan specifically for flu. It can stretch their capacity on its own, when coupled with the standard ebb and flow of admissions, but they prepare staffing levels and are ready. While that won't change this year, hospitals will have to include COVID-19, staffing and the influx of more routine medical issues into their plans.

Barron said flu gave her a "high level of concern." Mays, the public health school expert, said the introduction of flu with COVID-19 prompts "really serious concerns."

It's "extremely worrisome," Karsten said.

For now, hospitals can only prepare contingency plans and plead with the public to get vaccinated  both against COVID-19 and influenza. While the state is in the middle of a pandemic surge, what flu will do is unclear. The dominant strain may be covered well by the vaccine this year, or it may not. Changes in behavior could blunt it, or behavior could not change. COVID-19 hospitalizations could abate before flu hits in force. But that abatement, if the various projections are to be believed, is weeks away. The peak for flu is typically in the heart of winter, often beginning in late December.

There are, of course, broader measures that could be taken by the state or local communities to more uniformly, forcefully address the present moment. The more than half-dozen health officials who spoke for this story were circumspect about statewide public health orders like masking. Mays and Samet said there remained enough slack with hospitalizations that state officials could hold off. Polis and others have continued to advocate that local authorities make those decisions themselves.

"Is this really the right timing, is this the right thing to do?" Barron asked, putting herself in the shoes of Polis and other state leaders who will make those decisions. "What are the implications? When you're in the middle of the fire, all you want is water to come. You don't really care, you just need the water."

Doesn't the situation seem on fire now?

"Yeah," she said. "This is where I just don't know where the powers that be, what they're thinking. I like to think there are some really smart people who have been in the thick of this as long as I have. ... I have some level of faith they're doing things for the right reasons."

For now, Polis has said he's preparing to deploy at least some of five strategies to address hospitalizations: The state is pushing monoclonal antibody treatments, which, when used quickly in newly infected patients, can prevent hospital admissions. The state may given hospitals more leeway on staffing levels, and may even give them direction on how to ration care. Executive orders on transfers may come, too, and the state is preparing to ask the federal government for staffing help via the Federal Emergency Management Administration.

Of the health systems in Colorado, Banner is likely in the most dire straits. Karsten said the monoclonal antibody push will help, as will FEMA resources.

But she and Angela Mills, the chief medical officer for Banner North Colorado Medical Center, stressed the need for community-level behavioral changes: masking and vaccines, primarily  particularly as the holidays, and the gatherings they inevitably bring, near. They said they were meeting with Scott Bookman, the state's COVID-19 incident commander, on Friday and giving him a tour of Banner's facilities.

"The hospitals  we have reached a level of stress in which we need support," Mills said. "That's a fact. We need support."
Theres no good time for bad news. Most farmers and ranchers, however, prefer to hear it sooner than later to factor it into the day or seasons plan.

Maybe thats why our good friends at farmdocDaily, the online consortium of Land Grant extension specialists hosted by the University of Illinois, released a Stress Test of 2022 Crop Returns in late August: They want corn and soybean farmers to begin to focus on what a return to average could bring after three years of government payments and wild market swings.

Their collective view is clear. Positive returns are projected for both 2022 corn and soybeans given a $4.25 corn price and $12.00 soybean price. But lower prices for both, such as a return to 2014-2019 prices, they warn, will bring meager incomes, and possible pressures for another round of ad hoc Federal payments.

Thats Extension-speak for So far, so good but this could go south in a hurry. (Links to farmdocDaily bulletins and tables cited here, including all imputed costs, are posted at farmandfoodfile.com.)

For example, if 2022 corn prices average $4.50 per bu. compared with this years estimated $5.25, and yields drop from todays 235 bu. average to a normal 220 bu., the estimated farmer return per acre collapses from a thick $343 now to a skinny $20 next year.

A continued strong market in soy, however, would soothe that bruise. According to the analysts, if 2022 bean prices average $12 per bu., just $1 under 2021s projected average price, per acre bean profits slip from a fat $294 to a still-plump $122.

That means a central Illinois high productivity  50% corn, 50% soybean rotation this year will return $315 per acre, a record level exceeding the previous high of $290 per acre set in 2011.

But $4.50-corn and $12-beans in 2022 means the projected farmer returns on the same 50/50 rotation would be $71 per acre, a whopping $244 an acre less but still three times the paper thin, 2014-to-2019 average of $25 per acre.

Thats the still-good news; heres the potentially bad: While returns are projected positive for 2022, relatively small declines in prices could cause returns to be negative.

If, for example, 2022 corn prices average $4.41 per bu. and bean prices average $10.23 per bu. or lower, farmer returns would be negative on cash rented land.

Lower crop prices, though, arent the only reason. Crop input prices for 2022, especially fertilizer, are far higher and, too, for the first time in years there will be no ad hoc Federal payments.

While no one can say where fertilizer prices will top out -- potash, nitrogen, and diammonium phosphate, or DAP, are now at record levels and rising -- we do know that federal payments to productive, central Illinois farms averaged from 2018 to 2020, respectively, $1, $110, and $68 an acre for corn while soybean payments were $122, $94, and $45 an acre those same years.

Nationwide, thats billions more in tomorrows production costs and tens of billions less in yesterdays government payments.

And what do the number gurus see for per-acre returns if U.S. markets revisit 2014-2019 average prices of $3.64 per bu. [for corn] and $9.91 per bu. [for soybeans]?

In a word, disaster. At those prices, the average return for corn is -$164 per acre and -$17 per acre for soybeans. The 50-50 rotation return is -$86 an acre, well below all returns since 2000.

While no one predicts that happening, the analysts are quick to point out that corn prices averaged $3.49 per bu. in 2016 and soybeans averaged $9.39 per bu. in 2018.

Still, the farmdocDaily pros are suggesting that U.S. corn and soybean farmers now are riding a high-profit wave thats probably already crested. Whatever comes next includes the words lower and less.

And Cowabunga!

The Farm and Food File is published weekly throughout the U.S. and Canada. Past columns, events and contact information are posted at www.farmandfoodfile.com.

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Bunuel wrote:

In a class of 78 students 41 are taking French, 22 are taking German. Of the students taking French or German, 9 are taking both courses. How many students are not enrolled in either course?



A. 6

B. 15

C. 24

D. 33

E. 54



Kudos for a correct solution .

Formula for calculating two overlapping sets:A + B - both + NOT(A or B) = Totalso in our task we have equation:41 (french) + 22 (german) - 9 (both) + NOT = 7854 + NOT = 78NOT = 78 - 54 = 24So answer is C_________________
Olivia is Connecticut's resident expert on evergreens. Days before Christmas she gets a plea for help from Jack, a Christmas tree farmer in need of her skills to figure out what mystery illness is causing their trees to die out and ruining their business, which has been his family's legacy for 100 years. After calling off her Christmas wedding six months earlier, Olivia isn't eager to head home for the holidays so she agrees to make a detour and stop at Jack's farm in Avon to examine the trees. Unable to immediately discover the cause, Olivia is determined to get to the root of the problem and extends her stay to run advanced tests. With time to kill while she waits for test results for the trees, Olivia joins Jack and his friends at the holiday festivities around town and finds their traditions a welcome change to the reserved holidays she grew up with. As they spend more time together, they begin to fall for each other and Jack helps Olivia reconnect to Christmas, her parents and herself. In the end, her tenacity pays off and Olivia not only devises a way to preserve Jack's trees but she discovers the shocking truth about why his firs were fizzling  much to the dismay of Dwayne, a rival local tree farmer
Amirite, or amirite? As the world evolves, words follow, which is why Merriam-Webster has added 455 new ones to the dictionary this month.

TBH, many have emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic that has shaped so much of people's lives over the past 20 months.

In 2020, the English word of the year was not surprisingly "pandemic."

This year, "digital nomads" who want to avoid "super-spreader" events where they might incur a "breakthrough" infection can circle the globe with their "vaccine passports" and hopefully avoid "long COVID." And Merriam-Webster says that's all OK, as far as the new winning Scrabble words go.

As uncertain as such a life might be, there's a fresh menu of dishes highlighted in the latest dictionary additions that can help ease transitions into a post-pandemic world, although some may be wary of developing a "dad bod." (Yes, that's in there, too).

The new words are grouped into categories for online culture and communications, the coronavirus, tech and science, pop culture, medicine, politics and food.
HIGH POINT  Federal IRS agents teamed up with High Point University accounting students Wednesday to simulate different criminal accounting investigations IRS agents encounter.

Agents from the IRS Criminal Investigation divisions Charlotte field office visited the school to talk to 20 accounting students about their careers and lead them through three different scenarios based on the types of cases they work.

Special Agent Jared Peck led a group of students who interviewed an informant who told them he felt bad because the accountant who filed his tax return last year claimed he had made charitable donations when he did not donate.

The students asked him questions and immediately began to study the informants tax return. When Peck supplied other returns the accountant in question had filed, the students began to look into whether the accountant and his company may have a criminal history or unexplained purchases of property or vehicles.

The exercise was an example of entry-level tax fraud but common for IRS investigators, which sometimes use informants who are close to the subject such as an ex-wife, ex-mistress or former business partner, Peck said.
Its not uncommon for the court to ask for additional briefing on a legal question, said Bob Edmunds, a North Carolina Supreme Court justice for 16 years through 2016. But a request for so much information on recusals, he added, is something that I have not observed before.

The one that got the most attention: Does this court have the authority to require the involuntary recusal of a justice who does not believe that self-recusal is appropriate?

The inquiry raises the possibility that one or both of the justices indicated that they would not recuse themselves. Neither responded to a request for comment that The Associated Press asked a court spokesperson to pass along to them.

The briefing order makes the court seem dysfunctional and creates the appearance that justices arent working together in the normal collegial way, said Jon Guze, a legal expert for the right-leaning John Locke Foundation.

Some states including Michigan, Mississippi and Texas, empower fellow justices to disqualify a colleague who declines to step down, according to the National Council for State Courts. But Guze said he fears disqualifications will become retaliatory and commonplace in North Carolina should Berger or Barringer be removed against their will.
While the items might be rare, lovely or valuable, taken out of their context, they arent necessarily historically meaningful.

History in everyday items

In recent years, Poteat said, North Carolina curators have focused more on gathering items that were made or used in the state and can be directly connected with life here.

For instance, Poteat said, curators have wished their forebears had thought to stash away more artifacts and documents from the 1918 flu epidemic, which claimed the lives of nearly 14,000 North Carolinians. The first known case was in Wilmington on Sept. 19 of that year, historians say. In its collection, the Museum of History has the Red Cross head gear of Wilmington nurse Pauline Williams, along with a scarf and mask she wore, and a bottle of Vicks medicine made in the state.

We dont have as many things as we would like to tell that story in more depth, Poteat said. Thinking back to that has made us very aware of wanting to collect more and varied items for the future telling of the story of this pandemic.
Speaking through an interpreter, Vanessa said she had heard the vaccine might have long-term side effects, and that worried her. Price turned to the couple and said she couldnt say what the future will bring.

But what we do know is what the present disease, COVID, can do, and its been killing people. Its been making normal, healthy-looking people sick, Price said. So I think a lot of times we have fears with new things, and I understand that. But I can only know what I know now, and what I know now is that the disease seems to be a lot worse than this vaccine.

Argenis and Vanessa Gutierrez both got their first shot when Price returned the following week.

This is why we went into medicine

In early February, Black people had received fewer than 13% of first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, despite making up nearly 23% of the states population. That gap has narrowed, so that Blacks now account for 18% of first doses, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. Hispanic residents are now as likely to be vaccinated as non-Hispanics.

The narrowing of those gaps has taken concerted efforts by health care organizations and volunteers across the state, including the Sister Circle.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
With Helena municipal elections set for Tuesday, incumbent candidate for mayor of Helena Wilmot Collins and City Commission candidates Eric Feaver and Troy McGee are leading their respective races in campaign donations.

Collins outpaced challenger Sonda Gaub by a wide margin, raising $28,323 as of the last finance report filed with the Montana commissioner of political practices Oct. 20.

Gaub's campaign reported raising $5,785.

Collins spent a total of $20,118.97 as of the final report. He said in an interview Friday evening the leftover funds will be used to compensate some of his campaign volunteers and donated to a charity of his choosing.

Gaub spent $5,746.27 of her war chest. She did not immediately return a phone call placed late Friday.

In the race for two Helena City Commission seats being vacated by outgoing Commissioners Andres Haladay and Heather O'Loughlin, Feaver raised the most money with a total of $27,551, of which he spent $14,085.05 as of the last finance report filed Oct. 20.

McGee raised $23,655 and spent $22,727.48, according to his campaign's last report.

Melinda Reed reported a total of $18,338 in campaign donations raised, with $11,598.86 spent as of the campaign's last finance report.

Reed said in an interview Friday that her campaign has spent "quite a bit" since that Oct. 20 report. Any leftover money will be donated to a local charity, she said.

Steve Allen raised $7,877.33, with $6,363.49 spent as of the Oct. 20 report.

Allen said the leftover money has since been spent on radio ads.

Neither Feaver nor McGee immediately returned requests for comment placed Friday evening.

Lewis and Clark County Elections Supervisor Audrey McCue said of the 19,640 ballots mailed out to Helena voters, 8,293 (42% of active registered voters) have been returned.

McCue said 1,073 ballots were deemed undeliverable and 10,274 have yet to be returned.

Ballots are due back to the county elections department, 316 N. Park Ave., no later than 8 p.m. on election night, Nov. 2. McCue said postmarked ballots received after the deadline will not be counted.

Voters can also deliver ballots to the elections office in person Monday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The office plans to offer extended election day hours and expects to be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 2.

McCue said her staff is permitted to count all ballots received through Friday on Monday and expects to have the majority of votes counted at that time.

She said a preliminary count is anticipated to be released around 8 p.m. Tuesday, with all ballots counted by midnight.

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The state of Montana has pre-ordered nearly 25,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11 in advance of the anticipated approval of the shots for that age group next week.

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of smaller doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccination for younger children, finding the vaccine was safe and effective.

In a press call Friday, Dr. Katie D'Ardenne, a pediatrician at Bozeman Health Pediatrics at Belgrade Clinic, said while the chance of a severe reaction from COVID-19 is lower in pediatric patients, more younger children are falling ill with the virus.

"We've seen a shift where a much higher proportion of the cases are coming from the pediatric population," D'Ardenne said. "So not only would vaccinating children help to prevent against COVID-19 infection in children, but the hope is that it would also help to decrease the transmission throughout the community."

The approval means as early as next week, nearly 90,770 additional Montana children would be eligible for vaccination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advisory panel is set to meet Nov. 2 to vote on recommending the vaccine for the 5-11 age group, and then the CDC will make its recommendation Nov. 3.

Caryl Pardaems, the operations section chief for Bozeman Health, said during the press call Friday the hospital and local health department are ready for vaccine distribution to children ages 5-11 starting Nov. 4, pending CDC approval.

"We have also pre-ordered vaccine to be ready for the rollout on the approval date, anticipating kind of the demand we may see in the community in that age group," Pardaems said. "We're focused on an immediate response but we're also focused on a safe administration response and want all parents seeking that vaccine to feel confident that they're getting it in a safe manner for their kiddos."

State health department spokesperson Jon Ebelt said in an email Friday the 25,000 doses is "just a starting point." Children's doses are about a third of the size of adults'.

"It was our estimate on what they would need to begin. Providers will be able to order more vaccine as needed," Ebelt said.

According to the CDC, nationwide kids ages 5-11 account for 39% of cases among those 18 and under.

D'Ardenne said while the majority of children who test positive for COVID-19 recover quickly, there are still severe outcomes. A recent study found the risk of myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, could be up to 2% after a COVID-19 infection.

Following data from studies for the vaccine in children ages 12-17, some families had concerns about myocarditis from the vaccine, D'Ardenne said. But that rate is much lower  0.2% to 0.3%  than from developing the condition after getting COVID-19.

She added that in vaccine trials for the 5 to 11-year-old population, none of 1,528 of the children who received the vaccine developed myocarditis.

"Granted that is a small sample, but I think that is very reassuring against one of families' major concerns about the vaccine," D'Ardenne said.

Children can also get MISC, which is multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, a few weeks after a COVID-19 infection, leading to high fevers and cardiac complications.

"I stress that while COVID is often very mild and children, it can be more severe and if we have an opportunity to prevent those infections then it's going to be beneficial for both the child and the community as a whole," D'Ardenne said.

The vaccine for kids age 5-11 will be available at pharmacies, hospitals, doctors offices and community health centers, Ebelt said. The Department of Public Health and Human Services has also been working to enroll more pediatric providers to provide vaccines, he added.

In Missoula, the school district is working to provide space and support in consultation with Granite Pharmacy. The school itself won't offer the vaccine, but will help connect parents with local pediatricians and pharmacies who could offer clinics.

A spokesperson for Missoula County Public Schools said Friday that planning is still in the early stages.

"We understand it is a family-based decision and our hope is that we will be able to offer a central location, not necessarily school by school, but a single location that the pharmacy would be able to invite the family to come to," said spokesperson Tyler Christensen.

Ebelt said while the process of distributing vaccines now is similar to the start of the year, the big difference is that supply is no longer an issue. When vaccines first became available in early 2021, demand far outpaced doses.

Montana has vaccinated about half its population, a rate that lags behind the national average. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has full approval for those ages 16 and up and is under emergency-use authorization for those ages 12-15. The Moderna and Johnson and Johnson's Janssen vaccine are approved under emergency-use authorization for those ages 18 and older.

Boosters are also available. Those who received their first two doses of Pfizer and Moderna are eligible for a booster at least six months after their second shots if they are 65 and older, have underlying medical conditions or live or work in high-risk settings. People can get a booster shot of any of the authorized vaccines.

Anyone ages 18 and older who received a Johnson and Johnson shot is eligible for a booster two months after their initial shot. People can get a booster shot of any of the authorized vaccines.

Vaccines are safe and effective against COVID-19. Data from the state health department shows from April 1 to Oct. 22, those who were not vaccinated made up 84% of the state's hospitalizations for the illness and 76% of deaths.

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DECATUR  With everyone working a boat load of hours, Joshua Jones, owner of The Wharf restaurant in Decatur, decided to close up shop this we
Todays Highlight in History:

On Oct. 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round of a 15-round bout in Kinshasa, Zaire, known as the Rumble in the Jungle, to regain his world heavyweight title.

On Oct. 30:

In 1912, Vice President James S. Sherman, running for a second term of office with President William Howard Taft, died six days before Election Day. (Sherman was replaced with Nicholas Murray Butler, but Taft, the Republican candidate, ended up losing in an Electoral College landslide to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.)

In 1921, the silent film classic The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino, premiered in Los Angeles.

In 1938, the radio play The War of the Worlds, starring Orson Welles, aired on CBS.

In 1945, the U.S. government announced the end of shoe rationing, effective at midnight.

In 1961, the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb, the Tsar Bomba, with a force estimated at about 50 megatons. The Soviet Party Congress unanimously approved a resolution ordering the removal of Josef Stalins body from Lenins tomb.

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In 1972, 45 people were killed when an Illinois Central Gulf commuter train was struck from behind by another train on Chicagos South Side.

In 1975, the New York Daily News ran the headline Ford to City: Drop Dead a day after President Gerald R. Ford said he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City.

In 1984, police in Poland found the body of kidnapped pro-Solidarity priest Father Jerzy Popieluszko whose death was blamed on security officers.

In 1995, by a razor-thin vote of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, Federalists prevailed over separatists in a Quebec secession referendum.

In 2001, Ukraine destroyed its last nuclear missile silo, fulfilling a pledge to give up the vast nuclear arsenal it had inherited after the breakup of the former Soviet Union.

In 2002, Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell), a rapper with the hip-hop group Run-DMC, was killed in a shooting in New York. He was 37.

In 2005, the body of Rosa Parks arrived at the U.S. Capitol, where the civil rights icon became the first woman to lie in honor in the Rotunda; President George W. Bush and congressional leaders paused to lay wreaths by her casket.

In 2011, Britains Sunday Telegraph published an interview with Syrian President Bashar Assad, who warned that a western intervention in Syria would lead to an earthquake that would burn the whole region.

In 2016, the third powerful earthquake to hit Italy in two months spared human life but struck at the nations cultural identity, destroying a Benedictine cathedral, a medieval tower and other beloved landmarks.

In 2020, a day after Walmart said it had removed ammunition and firearms from displays in U.S. stores because of civil unrest in some areas of the country, the retailer said the items had been restored to displays because the unrest had remained isolated. Full House actor Lori Loughlin reported to a federal prison in California to begin a two-month sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scandal. A Connecticut prosecutor said Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel would not face a second trial in the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley; he had served more than 11 years in prison before being freed in 2013.

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SHELBYVILLE  An Oconee man who led police on a high-speed chase has been sentenced to seven years in prison on a drug charge.

Nathan W. Moore, 38, was arrested on June 1 after police attempted to stop his vehicle for driving with a loud exhaust. He fled at a high rate of speed, abandoning his vehicle after disregarding a stop sign and driving through a back yard of a residence, according to the police report.

Moore was apprehended as he ran toward a tree line in Tower Hill. Police found 1.8 grams of methamphetamine and 2.8 grams of buprenorphine in Moore's pocket.

Moore was sentenced Tuesday in Shelby County Circuit Court on a charge of as unlawful possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine.

According to Shelby County States Attorney Nichole Kroncke, the offense normally carries a sentencing range of probation to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

"Moore faced an extended term sentence with a maximum term of 10 years due to his prior criminal history," Kroncke said in a press release.

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Moore was sentenced to a concurrent term of six years for the offense of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with a prior conviction.

Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR

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EVANSTON  Northwestern University's Police Department has launched an investigation after several people were drugged without their consent at off-campus gatherings, the department said.

The investigation comes just weeks after reports of similar incidents at on-campus fraternity houses prompted the Evanston school to suspend all fraternity-related activities. That ban on social events, which was initially set to be lifted after three weeks, was extended earlier this month until at least Jan. 3 of next year, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The university has not detailed the latest incidents, other than to say one of the most recent ones occurred at the address of a non-Greek affiliated student organization.

On Friday, the police department issued an alert to notify students of the latest incidents.

"If you suspect that you or a friend has symptoms that may indicate nonconsensual drugging, call 911 or go to the emergency room, where you can get medical attention and/or request a screening for nonconsensual drugging," police said.

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SPRINGFIELD  With just enough votes to spare, Illinois lawmakers early Friday morning approved a gerrymandered redistricting proposal that, with Gov. J.B. Pritzkers expected sign-off, will set the states congressional map for the next decade.

The new boundaries have significant consequences for downstate Illinois, which was mostly carved into five districts  three safe Republican seats and two designed to elect Democrats  that placed four of the states five Republican members of Congress into districts with another incumbent.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channhon, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, announced that he would not seek reelection, forgoing a primary against fellow incumbent Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, in a rural district that jigsaws from the Wisconsin border to just south of Bloomington-Normal.

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I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide, Kinzinger said in a video released Friday morning. I want to make it clear  this isnt the end of my political future, but the beginning.

An hour later, LaHood, a Trump supporter, announced he was running for reelection.

Later in the day, Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, said he would run for reelection in a district that includes almost everything south of Interstate 70 in Southern Illinois.

Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, a conservative firebrand, also lives in the district, but did not immediately disclose her intentions. She could opt to run in the nearby 15th district, a largely rural Central Illinois district stretches from Iowa to Indiana, picking up outlying areas of Springfield and Decatur and several mid-size towns in between.

Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, lives in the new 15th, but has also mulled running for governor against incumbent Pritzker depending on how the map shook out. On Friday, Davis was mum on his political future.

Rodney will make a formal announcement on his 2022 plans once the Governor signs the redistricting legislation into law, said Davis campaign spokesman Aaron DeGroot.

14 Democrats, 3 Republicans

The political chaos was largely set in motion by state legislative Democrats, who approved a map that divides the state in a way that maximizes the partys partisan advantage.

The proposal would likely result in electing a congressional delegation with 14 Democrats and three Republicans, up from the current 13-5 split. The state lost a congressional seat after the 2020 U.S. Census.

Map drawers took advantage of Democratic gains in the Chicago suburbs as well as declining population in downstate Illinois, the most-heavily Republican region of the state.

There are three districts in Illinois where a Democrat would not have the chance at all, said Frank Calabrese, a political consultant who specializes in Illinois redistricting. So the 16th, 15th and 12th districts are extremely Republican and Democrats are not going to be trying to compete in those districts.

These heavy Republican districts take up most of the rural swaths of downstate Illinois. By the same token, two oddly-shaped districts were drawn to connect the regions Democratic-leaning urban areas.

In Central Illinois, the new 13th district stretches from the Metro East region near St. Louis to Champaign-Urbana, picking up the urban cores Springfield and Decatur in between. President Joe Biden carried the string bean-shaped district by 11 points in 2020.

And the new 17th district takes a C-shape, winding from Rockford to the Quad Cities and down to Peoria and most of Bloomington-Normal, picking up several smaller college and industry towns in between. It goes from a district that voted for Trump twice to one that voted for Biden by eight points.

Downstate Illinois is largely Republican, but you have these cities  mid-sized cities where we're talking about 100,000 to 200,000 people  that have Democratic parts to it because they're college towns, because they have minorities, etc., Calabrese said. So, basically, Democrats tried to connect as many of these mid-size cities as possible.

'Not number one to anybody'

Still, not all cities were kept intact. In Decatur, for instance, the urban core is in the Democratic-leaning 13th district while areas south and west are in the 15th district.

In some neighborhoods on the city's west side, neighbors who live across the street from one another are in different districts.

Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe lamented that being carved into two districts could lead to the city not receiving the attention it deserves.

"You're not number one to anybody," Moore Wolfe said. "People don't even really understand who their congressman is when it's that chopped up. So it's a disservice to the people of Macon County, it's a disservice to the people of Illinois."

In Bloomington-Normal, there is a similar situation, with the new Democratic-leaning 17th district grabbing most of the urban core, including Illinois State University, but the GOP-leaning 16th district getting most of the Twin Cities' western outskirts and some of Normal's northwest side.

This is a theme  downstate urban centers included in narrowly-drawn districts that connect to other urban centers while outerlying areas in each region are included in rural districts that take up the space surrounding those cities.

There are also some urban districts that start in Chicago or the suburbs and extend downstate. Most prominently, the 2nd district, held by Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Matteson, stretches from 43rd Street on the South Side of Chicago to downstate Danville.

"It's almost a kind of civics book case in how not to draw fair maps," said John Shaw, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. "I mean, some of the districts are almost cartoonish in their complexity and their meandering flow."

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, a non-partisan group that seeks to eliminate gerrymandering, has given Democrats' map an "F" grade for partisan fairness.

"Every decade, redrawing the maps is a hugely-charged, very political issue," Shaw said. "This year, I think it has been especially true, in part because so many of the national Democrats have been keeping a very close eye on the state."

A product of 'creative cartography'

Indeed, there was significant pressure on Springfield Democrats from the national party to maximize opportunities in Illinois, one of the few states where the party has complete control of the redistricting process.

Democrats have a fragile majority in the U.S. House and with Republicans controlling redistricting in several key states like Texas and Florida, "the prospect of increasing the Democratic majority by aggressive and creative cartography" in Illinois was enticing for national Democrats, Shaw said.

As a consequence, downstate Illinois has been cut into oddly-shaped pieces.

Up in the Chicago area, Democrats drew a second district designed to elect a Latino. The district, which is about 47% Latino, stretches from the Northwest Side of Chicago to the western suburbs.

State lawmakers had long packed Latino communities on Chicagos Northwest and Southwest sides into one hyper-minority district.

The Southwest Side-based 4th district remains Latino majority and contains the homes of incumbent Reps. Chuy Garcia, D-Chicago, and Marie Newman, D-La Grange.

Newman has already announced her intention to run in the nearby 6th district, which includes southwest suburban Cook County and parts of DuPage County, against incumbent Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove.

Newman was drawn into the district under a previous proposal but was taken out in part to appease Casten.

All other Democratic incumbents were drawn into safe districts. But the 17th district, represented by the retiring Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, could go Republican in a wave year, Calabrese said.

Moore Wolfe, for what it's worth, is trying to make the best of what she considers a disappointing map.

"It looks like one of the districts that will be ours will be a strong Republican district and it looks like the other will be a strong Democratic district," Moore Wolfe said. "And that can work in our favor depending on who's in the White House and who's leading the House of Representatives."

"So I'm going to try and make the best of this," she said. "We will work to make sure whoever is in both of these congressional districts understand what is important to the people of this community. But it is frustrating."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the name of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

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DECATUR  With everyone working a boat load of hours, Joshua Jones, owner of The Wharf restaurant in Decatur, decided to close up shop this week to give his staff a break.

"Everyone's been working lots of hours so it was just time," Jones said. "It's been a long ride."

Employers across Macon County are sharing the same sentiment as they struggle with employee shortages amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and challenges it has created. Some point to the extended $300 unemployment benefit as part of the problem, providing less incentive for people to return to work.

Jones said he has lost some employees, citing their desire to return to school or being cautious of the pandemic. Jones said he is currently without a dishwasher, meaning the cook has to be versatile enough to do both.

Jones said they do get some applicants that show up for interviews and other times they dont, but that's no different than it was before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With staffing shortages and other dilemmas affecting people like mask mandates or any restriction thats been added, its definitely added a level of difficulty, Jones said. Its the same as pre-pandemic. You still got to adapt when changes come.

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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker steadfastly defended extended $300 unemployment benefits when surrounding states cut them off prematurely and state business groups urged him to follow suit.

Our job here is to make sure were creating jobs and helping people to rebuild the lives they had before the pandemic, and so were not going to pull the rug out from under people, Pritzker said in May.

And Illinois has actually fared better than most states as its labor force increased from about 6.1 million in January to 6.2 million in September, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The labor force participation rate increased from 61.9 percent to 62.8 percent in that same time.

The states unemployment rate decreased for a sixth consecutive month, the Illinois Department of Employment Security announced Friday. Still, unemployment remains stubbornly high at 7 percent, nearly double the pre-pandemic level, and more than 435,000 people are still out of work.

The Pritzker administration and IDES are committed to enhancing this recovery period by working with employers and dislocated workers to assist them in their search for jobseekers and career opportunities, said Illinois Deputy Gov. Andy Manar.

Pritzker has previously said that it was not the enhanced benefit but other factors, such as the lack of adequate childcare, that explain why people are not returning to work.

Rocki Wilkerson, executive director of Workforce Investment Solutions, said her group is providing a plethora of workforce training programs using grants they have received in an attempt to fill the empty positions.

She said there are about 2,000 jobs in Macon County waiting to be filled, but it just does not seem like things have gotten back to normal.

Wilkerson said the unemployment rate in the county was at 7.7 percent at the end of January and now it has only come down to 6.9 percent at the end of September.

Weve got a lot of empty positions that need to be filled, Wilkerson said. Employers arent getting applications, theyre not getting applicants and were trying to figure out why we arent getting them.

Nicole Bateman, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County, said they are hearing a lot from manufacturers and the healthcare community that need employees to not just apply and work there for a few months but to stay there as a career.

Its great to have a lot of jobs available, but because there are so many jobs available there is a luxury knowing that if quit your job one day, you can apply and get hired somewhere else the next, Bateman said. People arent, in general, staying in careers as long as they used to, but certainly theyre seeing a very high turnover rate.

Wilkerson said they are providing people with opportunities to be certified as childcare workers or receive their commercial driver's license training, as well as on-the-job and incumbent training for various other positions within the healthcare, hospitality and manufacturing industry.

There are also BRIDGE programs that are free under the partnership between Workforce Investment Solutions and Richland Community College, which provide students with basic skills before transitioning to college or to employment, Wilkerson said.

When I hear we cant find employees or were closing because we dont have the workers, that just make me think about what else needs to be done, Wilkerson said. Through any career pathway you might start at the very bottom but there is a pathway to do more education and training thats going to take you forward.

Christy-Foltz General Contracting president Mitch Schinzler said they have been noticing delays in all facets of their work, including getting products on time, extended lead times on materials and finding employees to fill in from time to time.

The people that we talked to, from our suppliers and the manufacturers, are having problems getting product themselves or men and women to deliver those products, Schinzler said. There is a shortage and its impacted us to some degree.

Schinzler said they mainly rely on their union shops for skilled tradesman like carpenters, laborers, operators of different machinery or painters to provide the workforce needed for a project and throughout this last summer  when construction was at its peak  they were having difficulties getting needed workers.

We just try to use our current union employees that we have, Schinzler said. Its a juggling act, you get them and you try to keep them as long as you can because you know when you lay them off, they're in demand, so they will go somewhere else and its hard to get them back.

Like Pritzker and Wilkerson, Bateman said the consensus among the those she has heard from is that some people may not be coming back to work because they are still experiencing challenges with childcare, finding additional training to re-enter the workforce or people may have become more particular about changing careers and are taking the time to figure that out.

The pandemic has created an opportunity for people to hit the restart button and making decision in the middle of your life that might take some time to figure out, Bateman said. There are plenty of resources here in the communities that exist for folks to do that, to help figure that out and to help them on new career pathways.

Oftentimes these opportunities come with funding that can make that transition to a career pretty seamless and can include wrap-around services like transportation, childcare and other benefits of that nature, Bateman said.

A lot of what they do at the Economic Development Corporation is connect people with jobs and amplify the message from employers that there are job opportunities out there, Bateman said.

Under the EDC umbrella there are parent organizations that include Midwest Inland Port and Limitless Decatur which help market available career and job skill training opportunities for people in Macon County.

We use some of our own funding and our own platform to help spread that message about job opportunities so that people will look here in the community and not turn and think that theyve got to go somewhere else for that, Bateman said.

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EMORY, Va.  Emory & Henry College grabbed for the future while reaching into the past Friday.

The college announced a new home for the School of Business at an old spot on campus.

Generations of E&H students remember Carriger Hall as a mens dorm, complete with pool tables in the common area, bedrooms and an enviable spot in the middle of campus. Future generations will remember the building between the library and McGlothlin Center for the Arts as a place of business with breakout rooms, conference and board meeting rooms, classrooms, distance learning facilities and presentation rooms.

E&H President John W. Wells said renovations will honor the buildings past, maintaining the architectural flourishes and history. An architect from Atlanta, Georgia, was tasked with developing the plan for the space.

Bill Pendleton, a 1972 graduate of E&H who now lives in Atlanta, said the designs maintain the historical integrity of the nearly 120-year-old building.

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BRISTOL, Va.  Three times in the past 20 years, including twice recently, Bristol, Virginia leaders considered but rejected joining the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority.

This month  the fourth time  the process is progressing and expected to be completed by December, although a citizens group is opposed to the switch and gathering signatures on a petition, and both men running to become the next city sheriff have urged the city to slow its process.

While theoretically the city could still reverse course, that doesnt appear in the cards. This time, City Manager Randy Eads said, it makes financial sense.

Finances are the big reason. In spring of 2018 and 2019, when the city looked at this, the financial condition of the city is not as secure as it is now, Eads said. We are in a position now where we can make this transition and it not be a burden on other departments throughout the city.

The second reason is we have a facility that is 50 years old, its beyond its useful life, and it needs significant capital upgrades, Eads said. When youre putting money into capital projects  at some point  it becomes good money going after bad when you have a 50-year-old facility that was designed to house 67 inmates.
With Halloween falling on a Sunday this year, local children are expected to enjoy the spooky festivities all weekend long.

The city of Bristol, Virginia recognizes Halloween on Sunday, Oct. 31, this year, according to Capt. Darryl Milligan with the Bristol Virginia Police Department. Milligan said the city understands that some churches and organizations are holding trunk-or-treat events Saturday.

We are scheduling extra patrols both nights just for safety and any traffic issues and urge motorist citizens to be aware there may be trick-or-treaters out both nights.

Milligan noted that people should drive with caution this weekend, and pedestrians should wear reflective clothing that shows up better at night.

We also recommend parents inspect their childrens candy before letting them eat it, just trying to verify no tampering, Milligan said.

The Bristol Virginia Police Department will not host its annual Trunk or Treat event this year due to COVID-19 concerns and safety issues. The department said in a statement that it hopes the popular event returns next year.

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In Abingdon, Virginia, the community will also observe Halloween on Sunday, per the Town Councils decision.
Part of Bristols history will be recognized and remembered today as two historical markers are added to Cumberland Park to permanently commemorate the contributions of Charles Spurgeon Johnson and Lee Street Baptist Church.

Born in Bristol in 1893, Johnson was the first Black president of Fisk University in Nashville. The American sociologist was an early advocate for the rights of Blacks in America.

Johnson was a writer who developed platforms such as a magazine named Opportunity and the creative movement in New York City called the Harlem Renaissance. Both avenues gave Black artists a forum to express their creativity in an environment where those opportunities were greatly limited.

Johnsons work with the National Urban League in Chicago helped uncover the principle reasons behind the 1919 race riots in Chicago. He looked for opportunities to advance the causes of Black Americans as a precursor to the Civil Rights movement. Some of his best known works sought to understand and explain the plight of Black Americans while also advocating for change. He wrote Shadow of the Plantation in 1934 and Growing Up in The Black Belt in 1940. In 1930, Johnson won the Harmon Prize for Science for his work entitled The Negro in American Civilization.
He said his move to Catholicism was necessary because I believe that the traditional Anglican desire to adhere to the fullness of apostolic, patristic and conciliar teaching can now best be maintained in this way.

Writing in The Daily Mail, he called the decision a bittersweet moment.

Bitter, because I am deeply saddened that the Church of England is not the church I joined, he said. There are many individual parishes, priests, and believers who remain committed to biblical faith and values. But as an institution, it seems to be losing its way.

Sweet, because I am excited about the opportunities that joining the ordinariate will bring: to uphold human rights and help millions of suffering Christians and others round the world.

Another major factor was his experience in global dialogues between Canterbury and Rome, Nazir-Ali explained, appearing on the Kresta in the Afternoon program on Ave Maria Radio. Even as significant theological agreements were being reached, the U.S. Episcopal Church and some other Anglican provinces were undermining them by behaving in ways that were opposite to the spirit of the agreements and sometimes the letter of them, said Nazir-Ali.
Often times, it isnt what you say, but how you say it. One of the key components is listening, Scott said. There is an art to listening. Most of the time conflicts come from not listening to each other.

Scott said he applauds Tuttle for her efforts to help the students. This will be an effort from the Ridgeview community to help meet the needs of students, particularly African American students, Scott said.

Some of you may also be wondering about parents  Have you talked to parents? Are they on board? What do they think? Are you getting permission? Absolutely, we are making connections with each and every one of these students that we have identified, Tuttle said.

So let me take a step back. You are probably wondering How did you identify students, Mrs. Tuttle? Weve looked at the data. How many students right now are failing academically? How many students have three or more referrals to the office or are they already possibly in criminal trouble? Those are some of the baselines that we used.

As of right now, there is no specific number of students set to take the course, because the school is still working on obtaining permission from parents. Tuttle said she hopes this process will be a success and can be a tool that can be utilized in other schools in the district in the future.

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We now live in a country where you can't ask questions or question authority. I'd like answers to these questions:

Why are citizens losing their jobs for being unvaccinated when over a million illegals and Afghans have entered our country unvetted with no COVID-19 restrictions?

Why can "my body my choice" apply to abortion but not the unvaccinated?

Why are companies with 100 employees vaccine mandated but companies with 99 aren't?

Why did Congress give themselves a vaccine exemption when they're fighting exemptions for others?

Why are children mask mandated when no random study was done that supports it?

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Why were masks mandated at large gatherings for us but ignored by Obama, Pelosi and the Emmy elites?

Why are therapeutics used successfully around the world yet not promoted here?

Why is natural immunity from getting COVID-19 ignored when an Israeli study shows it has better protection than vaccines?

Why hasn't Biden given a press conference in three months when Trump took questions daily?
Each year, parade marshals are chosen from the local community for their leadership and contributions to Concord. This years parade marshal is Noelle Rhodes Scott, president and CEO of the Cabarrus Arts Council. Scott is retiring at the end of the year after serving the arts council for 21 years. Under her leadership, the arts council grew from an all-volunteer council into a vibrant organization responsible for bringing live performances, fine art and hands-on creative experiences to thousands of local children and adults annually. She is the visionary behind arts-for-all initiatives like Students Take Part in the Arts, one of North Carolinas largest and longest art-in-education programs. Each year through this program nearly 40,000 students in Cabarrus County and Kannapolis City school districts have the opportunity to see professional theater, dance and musical performances at no cost to them. During her tenure, the arts council also created a fine art gallery that features four exhibitions annually. Admission has always been free. Her tenure also saw the introduction of the Davis Theatre, an intimate musical venue that brings top bluegrass, Americana and jazz performers to the stage for the community to enjoy.
Most of Dixmoors public works employees were laid off days before the villages recent water shortages, according to the village administration and ex-employees.

Joe Berry, one of the five people in the six-person department who were laid off, provided to the Tribune a letter sent to affected employees that said were being laid off due to a lack of work.

Village spokesman Travis Akin confirmed the layoffs, and the head of human resources said the action was taken because the employees werent qualified to do work that needed to be done.

According to the letter, the layoffs became effective at 11:59 p.m. Oct. 13, about three days before village residents started experiencing water shortages, which are ongoing for some residents. The village remains on boil water order.

Two employees were rehired Oct. 18, two days after the water shortage started, according to ex-employee Leonard Smith and confirmed by spokesman Akin.

Employees received the letter after two employees and a representative of their union, SEIU Local 73, met with village administration earlier that day to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement regarding pay, working conditions and other items such as increased sick days, Berry said. According to Richert, the unions proposals were rejected by village officials.

Akin said that these negotiations predate the (recent water) crisis and that the laying off of employees is an HR issue and it has nothing to do with the crisis. Akin said that this didnt affect the villages ability to deal with the water shortage because it had the help of volunteers, Cook County and other communities.

According to the villages human resources director, Anthony McCaskill, the employees were laid off because none of them have the qualifications or the certificates or the credentials to do what they had to do, and the village was paying extra to employ contractors. He added that the plan was to employ contractors from now on.

Smith, ex-public works employee who had been on the job since 2013, said that workers informed SEIU Local 73 that the village had them performing tasks we werent supposed to be doing, such as fixing village equipment and changing sewer mains, which saved the village money. In response, McCaskill said that the employees did the manual labor of this but the technical stuff they didnt do.

Although Berry believes that the layoffs had nothing to do with the water crisis, he and ex-employee Smith said the Public Works Department would have handled water maintenance and issues including monthly meter readings and repairing water mains. The employees also would have been tasked with distributing bottled water, they said, a task Dixmoors mayor has said he is carrying out with the help of village trustees.

The letter was signed by McCaskill, and included the names of village trustees, corporation counsel James Vasselli, the mayors assistant and the village clerk.

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Children believe that anything is possible and, for the little boy, failure is not even an option. We all have a choice in how to act in challenging situations. The little boy chooses to react with confidence, and by doing so, he discovers he can do extraordinary things by believing in himself, and that grownups dont have all the answers. There is no greater magic than childhood.

Q: How have you evolved as a writer?

Answer: I am always evolving as a writer. I never want to remain stagnant. I write every day in one format or another. For example, I craft articles for various publications on behalf of clients and about the publishing landscape. I write creative press releases and media pitches, and I am working on my next book.

But it is more than just the mechanics of writing that has changed for me. Yes, I always want to be improving on the page, but my greatest evolution has been more interior. The most beautiful thing about writing is how it changes your inner world and the way you look at the world around you. Writing always involves self-discovery.

Q: Who has influenced your work?
Professor Harold Tedford taught theater at Wake Forest University for more than 30 years and directed over 40 plays. He took hundreds of students to New York and London to immerse them in theater.

He also made his students his family, Wake Forest alumni said this past week as they reflected on the passing of a man who played such a big role in their lives. Tedford died on Oct. 20 at the age of 88.

It is a testimony to his kindness and character that he retained so many people who crossed his path, said John Cavanaugh, who studied under Tedford in the early 1980s and remained a lifelong friend. He is the kind of person you wanted to keep tabs on. Even when I visited him when he had a lot of health issues, I would say that it was hands down the highlight of my month.

Tedford joined the faculty at Wake Forest in 1965 and retired in 1998. He helped design the building now known as the Scales Fine Arts Center on campus, which opened in 1976. In 2016, the main stage at the center was named in his honor.

While he did plays of all sorts, those who knew him said he liked comedies the best.
Every school in Forsyth County is currently bringing awareness toward the environment, climate change and the COP26 conference being held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12. It is the young all over the world who will face the adverse impact of climate change in the coming years. Therefore the under-20 group is hearing one particular high pitch much better than others, just when another meeting of countries on combating climate change is around the corner.

This time the annual Conference of Parties (COP), as the U.N. meeting on climate change is called, will be held in Glasgow. The COP meeting was first held in Berlin in 1995 and was referred to as COP1. The COP26 this time takes place a couple of months after the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released its latest and most scary report about global warming. IPCC consists of experts appointed by the U.N. for assessing the science related to climate change. Their sixth report, released in August, called for urgent and immediate climate change action plans because the world is headed towards a 1.5 degree increase in temperature.
State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, who chairs the Legislature's Revenue Committee, said the new revenue projections mean that income tax cuts can be accomplished without increasing other taxes to cover state expenses.

"Now we are in a position to make our income taxes more competitive with neighboring states while we continue to provide significant property tax relief to all Nebraskans," she said. "We are in a fortunate fiscal position compared to most states. We need to continue to reduce the tax burden on Nebraska's taxpayers."

If actual tax revenues match the new projections, a state program that offers income tax credits to offset a portion of school property taxes will grow by $13 million in 2024.

The program, passed in Legislative Bill 1107, will set aside $548 million for credits in 2022 and 2023. The state set aside $125 million for LB 1107 credits in the program's first year, while basing later amounts on the growth of state tax revenue. However, more than $50 million of the first-year credits failed to reach taxpayers because property owners did not claim the credit.

OpenSky Policy Institute Executive Director Renee Fry urged lawmakers to proceed with caution. She said federal money provided through various pandemic relief measures have had a significant effect on the state's economy.
The governor said UNL has invited "much more controversial speakers" to campus and urged Chancellor Ronnie Green "to step in and define policies to end this kind of discrimination and to send a message that all viewpoints, including Christian values, are welcome."

Pillen said UNL must change its policy if the allegation made by Ratio Christi is true.

"If any students or student groups didn't have the opportunity to access University Program Council funds because of religious discrimination, that is unacceptable," he said.

After declining to comment earlier this week, UNL reiterated "all viewpoints are welcome," and said it has a variety of speakers on its campus "from across the ideological, religious and political spectrum."

There are several sources of funds the University Program Council uses to pay for those speakers, said Deb Fiddelke, UNL's chief communications officer.

The Fund Allocation Committee, which denied Ratio Christi's application, is a student-led process that oversees a $10,000 Event Fund, part of the $270,000 managed by the University Program Council to bring events to UNL.
Fun.

That has been the operative word for Gordon and Joy Watanabe since they opened Nobbies Parties in west Omaha in 1988.

Originally a branch of Oriental Trading Co.  which Gordons father, Harry, founded in 1932 and is now owned by Berkshire Hathaway  Nobbies evolved over the decades to stand on its own as one of the regions top party superstores.

Now the fun at Nobbies is about to come to an end. The Watanabes, who married in 1986, plan to retire and close the store sometime after Halloween.

Until those doors close at 2500 S. 120th St., the sense of fun and lightheartedness the Watanabes have practiced over the last 33 years will be present each day.

Nobbies will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. All of the stores inventory, including retail fixtures, will be sold.

During a recent visit to the store, the couple  dressed in Toy Story costumes, with Gordon as Buzz Lightyear and Joy as Jessie  described closing the store as bittersweet.

We have so many people that come in that say theyre going to miss us, Gordon said.

For many people, the Watanabes have played roles in the most important moments of their lives. On the retail side, Nobbies has been the one-stop shop for many birthday, graduation and holiday parties. On the staffing side, Nobbies has employed many young people over the years  some of whom went on to get married after meeting at Nobbies.

By the Watanabes count, six couples met at Nobbies.

They have been stopping in and saying, Hey, thanks so much, Joy said. We had a former employee currently living in Richmond, Virginia, that sent us a lovely note. We have customers from Kearney, Nebraska, that stopped in and said they come here for every Halloween for some of their Halloween products.

It has been bittersweet to talk to the customers and hear their stories.

The strong bond the Watanabes have formed with their customers and employees helped Nobbies thrive through the changes that have upended the retail industry in the last 33 years.

We really worked with our team and created a culture. We even created an acronym called PASTA, where it was Pride, Attitude, Service, Teamwork and Accountability, Joy said. Thats the service we wanted to be sure that we provided.

The Watanabes also embraced change. One of the first instances came in 1993, when they moved from a store that was 15,000 square feet to their current location, which has 32,500 square feet. The additional square footage allowed Nobbies to expand its inventory.

Gordon and Joy also met the challenges that came with online retail. While Nobbies was a regional retailer that at one time also operated stores in Bellevue and the Des Moines area, its online presence attracted customers from throughout the country. Nobbies also listed some of its inventory on Amazon.

Online shopping, Gordon said, just complemented what we were doing.

While running a business for 33 years and adapting to the retail changes involved a lot of hard work, the Watanabes strove to keep a sense of fun at the forefront.

Thats what we sell. We sell fun, Joy said. Thats why people come here: because its fun.

Gordon added, What we sell are products that makes memories.

One of the couples fondest memories came in 1998, during the stores 10th anniversary celebration. Staff celebrated by dropping 10,000 pingpong balls from a present that was hanging by a crane in the stores parking lot. Lucky customers who collected the balls received anything from T-shirts, mugs and gift cards to rare and coveted Beanie Babies.

It was such a success, and it was a lot of fun, Joy said.

In at least one instance, the fun was had at Nobbies expense.

One track on a 1996 album by New York City comedy act The Jerky Boys featured a Nobbies employee who received a prank phone call. During the call, a foul-mouthed father asked how many helium balloons would be needed to float his 65-pound child on a chair around a house. The amused employee played along, estimating that it would take about 200 balloons to accomplish the task.

Nobbies received a complimentary copy of the album.

We had no idea until the CD came in with a thank-you, Gordon said.

The Watanabes are quick to point out that none of the fun would have been possible without their staff. Because of the stores employees, the couple were able to raise their five kids  who are now adults  and attend their school and social activities.

We were very blessed with wonderful employees, Joy said.

Nobbies longest-tenured employee, Nancy Hulett, has worked for the retailer for 29 years.

Hulett, the warehouse manager, described a culture where having fun at work is encouraged. She said the Watanabes took the time to get to know their employees.

Gordon and Joy are great to work for, she said. Theyre family.

But soon, everyone at Nobbies will embark on a new chapter. While Gordon and Joy Watanabe dont know where retirement will take them, if the past is indicative of anything, one thing is assured.

It will be fun.

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Stulken didn't review This Book is Gay because he didn't get a copy, he wrote. The library board voted Monday to uphold a decision by library staff that moving This Book is Gay out of the teen section would be censorship, the Gillette News Record reported.

Stulken's opinion appeared to be thoroughly researched, the library's executive director, Terri Lesley, said Thursday. I'm happy to have this decision made so that we can move on, Lesley said by email.

Hugh Bennett, who along with his wife, Susan, filed the complaint with the sheriffs office, called the decision not to file charges disappointing.

"We had thought that they would see a problem with recruiting children for sexual activity when theyre not mature enough for that to be an issue in their lives, creating an issue where it should not be created, Bennett told The Associated Press.

The couple still believe it's wrong to use public money to keep such books in the library youth sections, Bennett said.

Im not intending to change my mind because of something a lawyer chooses to do or not do, Bennett said.
ROME (AP)  Leaders of the world's biggest economies on Saturday endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations, a linchpin of new international tax rules aimed at blunting the edge of fiscal paradises amid skyrocketing profits of some multinational businesses.

The move by the Group of 20 summit in Rome was hailed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen as benefiting American businesses and workers.

G-20 finance ministers in July had already agreed on a 15% minimum tax. It awaited formal endorsement at the summit Saturday in Rome of the worlds economic powerhouses.

Yellen predicted in a statement that the deal on new international tax rules, with a minimum global tax, will end the damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation.

The deal did fall short of U.S. President Joe Biden's original call for a 21% minimum tax. Still, Biden tweeted his satisfaction.

Here at the G20, leaders representing 80% of the world's GDP  allies and competitors alike  made clear their support for a strong global minimum tax, the president said in the tweet. This is more than just a tax deal  it's diplomacy reshaping our global economy and delivering for our people.
Have you seen a shark cry? It's unsettling. But when the tears are caused by dyslexia, it can also be revealing.

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. So it's time to explore the peculiar world of a learning difficulty that experts say could afflict as many as one in five Americans.

The shark is Kevin O'Leary. The boastful Canadian-born "Shark Tank" host and multi-millionaire investor -- aka "Mr. Wonderful" -- who chokes up when discussing his struggle with dyslexia as a child in the 1960s.

"It was very difficult for my mother," O'Leary told Yahoo! Finance. "She was very worried about me. Parents don't know ... what the future holds. They're not sure what's going to happen. And that puts a lot of pressure on relationships and families."

I hear this often from dyslexics, that their parents wanted so badly to help them but didn't know how. As a parent, it breaks my heart.

I've also seen many parents of dyslexic children shell out money for specialized language therapy and shuttle their kids to after-school sessions.

I'm impressed by dyslexic children who battle a public school system that was not built for them. But I'm in awe of those parents who heroically fight for their kids against an invisible enemy.
Govt-and-politics

topical alert

Bipartisan group of election commissioners says Sheriff's Office is wrong on election fraud

ADAM ROGAN, adam.rogan@journaltimes.com Sgt. Michael Luell of the Racine County Sheriff's Office, right, and Sheriff Christopher Schmaling conduct a news conference Thursday detailing allegations of election fraud at a Mount Pleasant nursing home.

Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling wants a statewide investigation into alleged election fraud in nursing homes, including at Ridgewood Care Center in Mount Pleasant.

Its unclear if that will happen, but there certainly is statewide attention on the topic now.

GOP leaders join calls

Wolfe

A number of Republicans have called for either the removal of Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe or the entirety of the six people who serve as WEC commissioners  or both  including the commissioners appointed by Republicans.

Evers

Vos

Gov. Tony Evers has criticized the Republican calls for resignations. Evers specifically called out Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, for Vos having called for Wolfe to resign  which she refused to do.

Vos had stated: Clearly there is a severe mismanagement of WEC, and a new administrator is needed. I am calling for the resignation of Meagan Wolfe as Elections Commission Administrator. Cover-ups and complacency with law-breaking are red flags Wisconsinites cannot ignore.

Evers responded, writing: Speaker Vos comments are unbecoming of his office and the people we serve. Its my expectation  and one Wisconsinites share  that elected officials in this state treat others with civility and respect. The speakers behavior today fell woefully short of those expectations.

Sanfelippo

State Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R-New Berlin, called for all six WEC commissioners  all volunteers, three appointed by Republicans and three appointed by Democrats  to be removed from their positions following the Sheriffs Offices news conference Thursday detailing its allegations of election laws being ignored amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vos office did not reply to a request for comment Thursday on why he called for Wolfe, who is a paid state employee, to step down but not the others.

Wanggaard

Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, called for mass resignations at WEC  WECs reputation is damaged beyond repair.

WEC responds

ADAM ROGAN, adam.rogan@journaltimes.com Sgt. Michael Luell of the Racine County Sheriff's Office stands near the podium during a press conference Thursday.

Primarily, the allegations detailed by Schmaling and Sgt. Michael Luell, the lead investigator on the case, focus on how Wisconsin law requires, with some exceptions, Special Voting Deputies to be sent into nursing homes to conduct absentee voting. That law was waived amid the pandemic by a vote of the WEC commissioners.

After an emergency teleconference meeting Thursday night, most of which was closed to the public, five of the six commissioners issued a lengthy statement in which they stated strenuous disagreement with the allegations made Thursday in a press conference orchestrated by the Racine County Sheriffs Department.

To put it simply, we did not break the law, Commission Chair Ann Jacobs, a Milwaukee attorney, wrote. In fact, without action from the Commission, many residents in Wisconsin care facilities could have and would have been disenfranchised and not able to vote in the 2020 elections.

The letter continued: Statutes call for two attempted visits by SVDs to a facility after a 5-day notice period. If the SVDs are not allowed access, then absentee ballots are sent to those residents. Residents complete those ballots in the same manner as other absentee ballot voters. The timeline for these visits, and the sending and return of absentee ballots, all must occur in the 22 days immediately before an election. In 2020, the U.S. Postal Service advised that clerks should plan for 13 days to send a ballot and have it mailed back to them in time to be counted on Election Day.

In a thoughtful, public, and hours-long discussion at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, commissioners acted in a bipartisan fashion to preserve the right to vote by ensuring ballots were sent to care facility voters in time for the ballots to be mailed and returned.

The Journal Times asked Mount Pleasants village clerk, Stephanie Kohlhagen, who requested the absentee ballots at the home, about this. In an email, she replied: The ballots you reference were mailed to the electors in a response to the applications they submitted.

Commissioner Julie Glancey, a Democrat and a former clerk, stated in the letter: We knew that for the protection of residents, only essential workers  which did not include SVDs  were being allowed into facilities across the state. As such, we knew it was essential to preserve the right to vote for those residents, so rather than require the absurdity of sending SVDs to knock on a locked door, we pivoted to the absentee voting process.

Added Commissioner Mark Thomsen, a Democrat who also is an attorney: If we had waited for two unsuccessful attempts by SVDs to enter nursing homes, we would have been in danger of missing the deadline to get their votes collected and counted. Our goal was to allow as many eligible voters as possible to participate in the election.

On virtual SVDs During a press conference Thursday, Sgt. Michael Luell had wondered aloud why the Wisconsin Elections Commission had not advised Special Voting Deputies to do their work virtually, rather than go into nursing homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Five of six WEC commissioners, plus Administrator Meagan Wolfe, responded to that in their letter Thursday night. "While the WEC has embraced virtual SVDs as a possible solution to providing nursing home residents with voting assistance, not all facilities have the necessary equipment or training to allow for digital assistance. Additionally, it is unclear how a digital process would work with the rights of observers. The WEC is an agency that cant make demands on private facilities to purchase technology. Nor does the WEC have control over the individual staff members who work in nursing homes."

Commissioner Robert Spindell, a Republican appointee, did not sign Thursdays letter.

Spindell repeatedly voted against waiving the SVD rules throughout last year after initially voting in favor. After Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, Spindell had given voice to unsubstantiated claims of election fraud that Trump actually won when he attended and spoke at a Stop the Steal rally on Dec. 7 in Madison.

DOCUMENTS: More than 50 pages detailing Racine County Sheriff's investigation into alleged nursing home voter fraud More than 50 pages detailing Racine County Sheriff's investigation into alleged nursing home voter fraud have been released by the Racine Coun

Family members testimony

Luells investigation was based primarily on family members of eight residents, one of whom is now deceased, of Ridgewood Care Center. According to Luell, those family members attested that their loved ones did not have the mental capacity to vote due to dementia and/or similar afflictions.

In the hours following the detailing of the investigation, some legal questions arose regarding whether all eight of these residents were actually unable to vote.

According to the WEC: Under the law, if someone hasnt been adjudicated as incompetent by a court, they cant be refused the right to vote for things like dementia or other brain-related diseases.

According to the Sheriffs Office, only one of the eight had been adjudicated by a court. The commissioners statement noted that, if this is true, then a prosecution may be in order in only that case.

For the other seven, the Sheriffs Office relied on the accounts of family members of those at the nursing home.

A loved one of a Ridgewood resident was adamant that (redacted name) would not have requested an absentee ballot. (Redacted name) was usually unable to remember what she ate for breakfast that day.

The commissioners letter stated that it must be stressed that an individuals voting right can be restricted only by an incompetency order from a judge, not a friend, family member or even a doctor.

Its not fraud if your family thinks that you arent competent enough to vote and you still vote. Family members dont have that power, Rachel Rodriguez, the elections management specialist for Dane County, tweeted Thursday evening.

Questions of legality

Luell, who also serves as the RCSOs public information officer, did not respond to a request for comment responding to the claims that family members cannot declare whether their loved ones can vote.

However, if someone  such as an employee of a nursing home  were to fill out a ballot on behalf of someone else and the voter truly did not have any knowledge of voting, that would be illegal.

According to the sheriffs investigation, the truth may land somewhere between the two. According to one of Luells reports, a former staff member of Ridgewood said that the director of the facility instructed her to push residents to vote even if they initially declined.

According to a report written by Luell: I asked (name of former Ridgewood employee redacted) if she was influencing (redacted name of Ridgewood resident)s vote given that (redacted) had reservations and confusion about voting. The director of the facility then told the employee to ask the resident Democrat or Republican to just jog her memory of what the words are.

When Luell asked: So you think some of these people that you were instructed to have vote, probably did not have the mental capacity to vote? The former employee, according to the report, answered: Probably not.

The Sheriffs Office also pointed out that state law prohibits staff members of nursing homes to serve as SVDs, but that appears to be among the laws waived/ignored by the WEC due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Rodriguez said in a Friday interview that nursing home staff are allowed to help residents fill out ballots in typical years after SVDs have already visited the home twice; the WEC advised that those two typically required visits were being waived due to COVID-19 and nursing homes should proceed as if those two visits had been attempted and failed.

Helping someone who has a disability, regardless of the pandemic, is legal under most circumstances. Someone who cannot use their hands or is blind and thus is unable to write or read the ballot itself, for example, can have a family member or friend or coworker fill out a ballot at their instruction.

You can have someone read the ballot to you and have someone mark that ballot for you, that would totally be legal, Rodriguez said. She did, however, note that certain people are not allowed to help. Those include employers and union representatives. Nursing home staff are allowed to help after the two typically required SVD visits have occurred.

Republican Commissioner Dean Knudson, while he did on several occasions still vote to waive the SVD rules, did express concern about the sweeping actions of the WEC amid the COVID-19 emergency.

I have had some discomfort ... We will be telling the clerks to break the law ... Is there some other way we can accomplish this same thing? he said during one meeting.

On March 2, 2021, according to Luells reports, WEC staff attorney Jim Witecha had advised commissioners that their actions had not been wrong in part because of the legal principle of force majeure, which is defined as unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract.

Witecha noted that the pandemic could serve as such an act of God that would stop Special Voting Deputies from being able to fulfill their legal duties.
MADISON  Two Republicans joined Democrats this week in voting against a package of anti-abortion bills in the state Assembly.

The bills are expected to be vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers, and Republicans do not appear to have enough votes to override a veto.

While Democrats have largely opposed the bills in an effort to not infringe on abortion rights, Republican Reps. Chuck Wichgers and Timothy Ramthun said their opposition was because the bills werent anti-abortion enough.

Wichgers, R-Muskego, whose district includes a portion of western Racine County, said in a statement Wednesday that as a devout Catholic with an informed conscience he could not vote in favor of the package because one of the bills offered legal protections to a woman who would seek an abortion in violation of Assembly Bill 6  which is commonly referred to Born Alive legislation.

Assembly Bill 6, Wichgers said in a statement, provides that a baby born alive following an abortion attempt be given the same care as any other child born at the same gestational age. The bill, however, exempts the mother of the child born alive from prosecution for a violation of or an attempt or conspiracy to violate the requirements of the bill. Assembly Bill 6 also subjects any person who intentionally kills a child born alive after an attempted abortion to a Class A felony, with the same exception for the mother. I offered an amendment to the bill in committee because I fear for the unintended consequences of this bill should it become law.

He continued: I do not support the carve outs and exemptions ... Making exceptions in pro-life legislation constitutes a patent violation of equal protection under the law. The aim of the pro-life movement is to establish equal protection under the law for all human beings, born or unborn. Life does not begin at birth, but at conception.

On Born Alive From 2003-2014, millions of abortions were performed in America. Of them, 143 infants died after the abortion failed and were born alive across that span, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When the bills voted on Wednesday were being discussed in committee, Wichgers attempted to remove caveats that would allow abortions to go unquestioned in cases of incest, rape or when the abortion is deemed medically necessary to save the life of the woman or when the fetus has a life-limiting fetal anomaly. Those amendments he proposed were shot down by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans.

Earlier this year, Wichgers received the Pro-Life Wisconsin Legislator of the Year award from Pro Life Wisconsin.

In an email Friday, Ramthun, R-Campbellsport, gave similar reasoning as to why why he voted against the otherwise anti-abortion bills.

Representative Ramthun is a supporter of pro-life legislation that protects all life that begins at conception, states the email from Tristan Johannes, research assistant for Ramthun. He believes there are no exceptions to this, and regardless the circumstance, the life of a child should never be punished for the actions of the parents. The bills voted on did not reflect this.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has been a vocal supporter of the bills. In an email to voters in his district following committee hearings on the bills, he said this legislation would require a woman who is considering taking an abortion-inducing pill to be notified by her physician that the ingestion of the first drug in the regimen may not result in an abortion on its own, and that she should review the materials and consult a physician about her options to continue the pregnancy if she changes her mind ... In 2019, 33% of abortions in Wisconsin were chemically induced, and this percentage has been steadily climbing in here and nationwide. With this increasing trend, its imperative for the women receiving these types of chemically induced abortions to be informed, know their options, and the alternatives.

Democrats have argued the bills will harm womens health in Wisconsin.

There are so many bills that could actually improve the health and lives of women and babies in our state, and that would reduce the need for abortion  but the GOP is blocking them, state Sen. Kelda Roys, a Madison Democrat, stated earlier this month. People dont need bills that force doctors to lie to patients, what they need is paid family leave, Medicaid expansion, affordable childcare, birthing and postpartum care options, good transit, livable wages, clean air and water, and autonomy over their bodies. Thats what I am here to fight for.

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Kyle Rittenhouse, the aspiring police officer who gunned down three people in Kenosha during a 2020 protest against racism and police brutality, is white. So were those he shot. But for many, his trial this week will be watched closely as the latest referendum on race and the American legal system.

Make the connection, said Justin Blake, a black man whose nephew Jacob was a key part of the backstory of the case. This is clearly black and white.

Rittenhouse was 17 when he used an AR-style semiautomatic rifle to kill two people and wound a third on Aug. 25, 2020. He had gone from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha, he said, to protect property from protesters who took to the streets in anger days after Jacob Blake was shot in the back by a white Kenosha officer.

Rittenhouse faces the equivalent of murder and attempted murder charges and could get life in prison. He has said he fired in self-defense after being attacked by protesters.

After the shooting, he drew sizable support from opponents of the Black Lives Matter movement and supporters of gun rights. Pro-gun conservatives helped raise $2 million for his bail and legal defense. After he got out of jail, he was photographed with apparent members of the far-right gang the Proud Boys.

If Rittenhouse gets off, that would send an ominous message to black America, Justin Blake said.

If our country shows that you can shoot Caucasians who support us, then this country can never stand up in any international or global hearing and talk about human rights, the uncle said. He said if Rittenhouse goes free, white people will be able to ride down every African American community and just have fun, like youre going hunting or something.

Rittenhouses lawyers have said he is not a white supremacist, and his defense fund has said he was not part of a militia group.

Some activists also see a racial double standard in the way the Blake and Rittenhouse cases were handled.

Blake was shot seven times and paralyzed at the door of his SUV as his children sat in the back seat. Police say Rusten Sheskey, who shot Blake, and two other officers responding to a domestic disturbance had tried to arrest him on an outstanding warrant and, during a scuffle, a pocketknife fell from Blakes pants.

Jacob Blake has said he picked the knife up and was prepared to surrender once he put it in the vehicle.

After he was rushed to a hospital, police briefly handcuffed him to his bed. State prosecutors declined to charge the officer, saying the knife justified Sheskeys claim of self-defense. Federal prosecutors also declined to file charges.

Rittenhouse experienced a seemingly different response from law enforcement.

He and others were armed and professed to be there protecting the citys businesses and homes after protesters set fires and vandalized property on two previous nights of unrest in Kenosha, and after weeks of sometimes-violent demonstrations around the U.S. over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Law enforcement officers saw Rittenhouse and other armed people on the streets that night despite a citywide curfew and passed them bottles of water. One officer was heard over a loudspeaker saying: We appreciate you guys.

Later that night, Rittenhouse was chased through a used car lot by Joseph Rosenbaum, a participant in the protests, before he fatally shot the man; Rosenbaum was reportedly suffering a mental health crisis and asked to be shot throughout the night.

Rittenhouse was then seen running onto a street with protesters after him.

A man named Anthony Huber struck Rittenhouse with a skateboard, and the teenager shot and killed him. Seconds later, Gaige Grosskreutz stepped toward Rittenhouse with a pistol, and Rittenhouse shot him in the arm.

Even as people on the street tried to flag Rittenhouse to police officers as the person responsible for the shootings, he was not stopped. With his weapon slung over his shoulder, he put his hands in the air and was waved past a police line.

Hours later, he turned himself in to police in his hometown of Antioch.

What looms above this trial is this whole notion that we have two justice systems, one for black America and another for white America, said Blake family attorney Ben Crump, the civil rights lawyer who has also represented the families of Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery, both killed in what prosecutors portrayed as acts of vigilantism.

I just think that right now in America, there is this notion that certain people have the right to solve every disagreement with a gun, Crump said. And especially, when we see people protesting for justice for the killing of black people, that we dont have to respect their rights to the First Amendment.

A week before trial, the judge in Rittenhouses case ruled that prosecutors and the defense cannot refer to the men killed as victims, but can call them rioters or looters if the evidence supports that. The ruling outraged black activists, who pointed to it as another racial double standard in the judicial system.

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, co-executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center and a leader of the Movement for Black Lives, said Rittenhouse left home with the intention of dispensing vigilante justice, for the sake of so-called protecting buildings and businesses, at the expense of human life.

To not call the people that are directly impacted by that victims is nothing but the tenets of white supremacy masked in unjust laws, Henderson said.

Video journalist Carrie Antlfinger in Milwaukee, Wisconsin contributed to this report. Aaron Morrison, who reported from New York City, is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team.

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RACINE  A Pewaukee man allegedly sexually assaulted a child, telling her he was doing exams on her for insurance and certifications.

James A. Wicht, 51, was charged with four felony counts of first-degree child sexual assault, two felony counts of physical abuse of a child intentionally causing bodily harm and a felony count of sexual exploitation of a child by filming.

According to a criminal complaint:

An investigator conducted an investigation into allegations of a sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 that occurred in the 3300 block of 10th Avenue. She said that Wicht committed all of the assaults and they occurred between October 2020 and Oct. 7, 2021.

During an interview, she said that Wicht would come to her home and conduct exams on her. He asked to conduct the exams to keep his insurance and other certifications up to date.

Before the assaults occurred, in past years the exams involved taking blood pressures, pulses and respirations. Then on separate occasions he would touch her breasts and sexually assault her, claiming it was part of the exam.

Wicht was given a $1,000,000 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Thursday. A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 11 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show.
A Milwaukee man allegedly was swerving all over the road on the Interstate in Racine County and has now been charged with his third OWI.

Sean Michael Morris, 35, was charged with misdemeanor counts of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence, third offense, and operating a motor vehicle while revoked.

According to a criminal complaint:

On Wednesday, a deputy with the Racine County Sheriffs Office was on patrol on Interstate 94 near Highway K when he was notified of a potential drunken driver. Two people called in a Jeep that was reportedly swerving all over the roadway.

The deputy found the Jeep, saw lane deviation and initiated a traffic stop. He saw the driver moving items from the front of the car to the back seat.

The deputy spoke to the driver, Morris, and noticed a heavy odor of alcohol coming from the car. Morris claimed he was very tired. He denied drinking and said the odor was actually from his clothes.

A 24-ounce Mikes Hard Lemonade bottle was on the rear floorboard of the car, was mostly gone and cold to the touch. Morris was arrested on suspicion of OWI; Department of Transportation records confirmed his license was revoked.

Morris was given a $700 signature bond and a $300 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Thursday. A status conference is set for Jan. 10 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show.

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RACINE  For Cheryl McCrary, the tiara and sash that come with being Mrs. Wisconsin Royalty International Ambassador are not merely accessories.

Instead, she explained, they are a symbol of the responsibility she has after the pageant, to work in the community and help empower other women.

I want to help women see that they can be more than they thought they could be  if only they believed in themselves, she said.

McCrary explained she promotes this message through her work and her music.

She said through the songs that she sings, she hopes to promote the idea of the positive outcome to pursue ones dreams and passions with a purpose, as she has followed hers.

Becoming Mrs. Wisconsin

McCrary was not a woman who participated in pageants her entire life.

Instead, she entered her first pageant after a friend encouraged her to join a fitness pageant. McCrary is a lifelong fitness enthusiast, so that seemed like a good fit.

Since then, she has participated in several other pageants including joining women around the globe at the Historic Palmer House in Chicago for the Miss Royalty International (M.R.I.) pageant in July.

I shared the stage with women from South Africa, the Philippines  from just everywhere. It was an amazing experience I will never forget, she said.

MRI is the largest growing international pageant, which includes Miss, Mrs., Ms., Pre-Teen, Plus and Elite divisions, along with various areas of competition and optionals in which McCrary participated.

She received crowns and sashes for International Ambassador, International Spokesmodel, International Volunteer, named model citizen, received the Spirit and Heart of Service Awards, best social media presence, best eyes, best smile, best hair, best personality and best interview.

McCrary said the touching part was meeting so many empowered women.

The pageant ultimately ended, but for her the work had just begun, she said.

She came back to Racine with more enthusiasm for serving the community, especially for women who needed some encouragement as they work to live an authentic life.

Campaigns

McCrary volunteers for many activities, which include her campaigns to help women empower themselves.

One of those campaigns is Women Overcomers Win (W.O.W.), which includes women in her circle of influence, family and friends.

She wants to help women understand they are not a mistake and that they have the ability to pursue their dreams no matter what has happened.

As part of her campaign for fresh starts, she is planning a WOW event titled, Second Chances/New Beginnings, which will include guest speakers, a fun fashion show featuring garments participants have purchased second-hand and she will also perform.

Second chances and new beginnings are for all of us, no matter what weve been through, she said.

McCrary desires to be a voice for the voiceless with her platform advocating Human Trafficking Awareness. A portion of her CD proceeds are donated to human trafficking charities.

McCrary said if a woman has experienced physical trauma, sexual or emotional abuse, she wants to ensure they understand there is still an opportunity to further themselves to be somebody, and not think they are a failure.

They can continue to move forward, despite the hardships theyve been though, she said.

She also quietly volunteers for many other organizations and spreads love where she can.

With her Hands of Hope/Be A Blessing/Leave A Legacy of Love, she creates gift bags filled with non-perishables and essentials to give charities and families in need.

Lets be a blessing to families that are hurting, she said. If someone needs help, lets pay it forward with love.

Responsibility

As the Royalty International Ambassador, McCrary said one of her aspirations was to set an example as a model citizen, in keeping with the mission of the pageant.

One of the things that I really hold high is my God-given values that I was raised with, for honesty and integrity, she said. I intend to be a spokesmodel and spokesperson for those values.

McCrary added: What legacy will we leave behind when we pass from this earth? Integrity and being a role model along with the values that my parents raised me with, are going to be what people will remember.

McCrary said for as long as she is here she will be working to do her part for the community, to be a light and spread the word to be Gods extended arms of love. We need it today, she said.

She concluded by expressing her gratitude to her husband, family and friends, for their love and support throughout her pageant journeys.

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Thousands of homes and businesses in rural areas of Racine and Kenosha counties will soon be receiving high-speed internet, thanks to state grants funded by the federal government.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission committed $100 million in federal pandemic relief money via the American Rescue Plan Act to fund broadband expansion projects expected to bring high-speed internet access to more than 29,000 homes and businesses across the state.

The PSC announced its latest round of Broadband Expansion Grants on Oct. 15.

In Racine County, about 2,000 customers in Yorkville, Rochester and Union Grove will receive high-speed fiber internet. In Kenosha County, 918 residences in Paris, Brighton and Bristol will also receive the same high-speed fiber internet. The total cost of investment is more than $9 million, and Spectrum is contributing about two-thirds of the funding.

Quote Expanding internet access to all parts of Racine and Kenosha county has been a priority for several years. High-speed internet has become like electricity. In order to function effectively, having quality internet is key. This was made evident by COVID last year. Whether people were working from home or learning virtually, quality internet was required to be productive. State Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine

More than 1,000 households in underserved parts of the villages of Raymond, Yorkville and Rochester, and the towns of Norway and Dover, do not have access to high-speed internet, meaning their service does not reliably meet or exceed 100 megabits per second for downloading, between at least 20 Mbps and 100 Mbps for uploading, and be scalable to a minimum of 100 Mbps symmetrical.

Spectrum will be laying fiber optic cables to the homes and businesses. The broadband is expected to be installed by Dec. 31, 2024.

The grant covers a portion of the construction cost including the fiber cable, and the burying or hanging of the cable. Customers will need to purchase internet service from the provider.

Upon activation of the network, qualifying customers will have access to all Spectrums internet offerings and federal programs, including Spectrum Internet Assist, EBB program, Stay Connected, Spectrum and Spectrum Community Solutions Program. Funds will be used solely for the purpose of constructing and installing FTTH infrastructure throughout the designated grant area. Spectrums grant does not include Spectrums operating costs associated with project planning, pre-engineering, overhead design or any work completed by our employees. All work required, with the exception of construction and materials, are costs Spectrum will provide.

Connecting the community

State Sen. Van Wanggaard, a Racine Republican who represents much of rural Racine and Kenosha counties, worked with Spectrum to help deliver the internet to the region.

Spectrum reached out to Wanggaard during the summer about its plans to bring fiber to the homes of 2,000 customers west of the Interstate, he said in a statement.

Ironically, in the days prior, I had just spoken with some constituents about the issue, Wanggaard stated. His office worked with Spectrum and the county executives office to try to gain support for a $6 million investment.

Ultimately, the county used its resources for a different project. So, Wanggaard asked the PSC to approve this grant.

Expanding internet access to all parts of Racine and Kenosha county has been a priority for several years. High-speed internet has become like electricity, Wanggaard stated. In order to function effectively, having quality internet is key. This was made evident by COVID last year. Whether people were working from home or learning virtually, quality internet was required to be productive.

We have been working tirelessly through lobbying and advocacy to bring high-speed broadband access west of the I, and we are excited to see our hard work come to fruition, said County Executive Jonathan Delagrave in a statement. The county will continue to look for opportunities to extend broadband access and bridge the digital divide.

The Village of Rochester was the only county municipality to commit matching funds. The village partnered with the residents that will see the benefit of this project to make financial commitments of $68,850.

The Rochester Village Board additionally committed $50,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act funding towards the project; the village had been approved to receive about $380,000 total in ARPA money. The board made this commitment hoping it would help persuade the PSC to approve the grant.

The extension of high-speed internet to these areas will greatly improve their quality of life and make the area more desirable for both current and future residents, said Rochester Administrator and Treasurer Betty Novy in a statement. The Village Board is extremely pleased that some relief is finally in sight for these residents.

Having access to better internet can mean more access to telehealth services, education, COVID-19 vaccinations and work readiness and employment opportunities for residents, said Racine County Communications and Media Relations Director Andrew Goetz.

Through high-speed broadband, unserved and underserved residents can utilize cheaper, more accessible telehealth options rather than visiting prompt care or health care clinics, especially important for unserved and underserved residents without personal transportation, Goetz said in a statement.

Additionally, high-speed broadband provides upload and download speeds to support critical educational activities for students and families in unserved and underserved areas, including Raymond Elementary and Yorkville Elementary.

Rural residents also show lower COVID-19 vaccination rates in Racine County. As many COVID-19 vaccination sites require online registration, reliable internet access could increase vaccination rates.

High-speed internet also has the potential to help promote online training opportunities to upskill unserved and underserved residents, particularly low-income residents, Goetz said.

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Kyle Rittenhouse, the aspiring police officer who gunned down three people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during a protest against racism and police brutality, is white. So were those he shot. But for many, his trial next week will be watched closely as the latest referendum on race and the American legal system.

Make the connection, said Justin Blake, a Black man whose nephew Jacob was a key part of the backstory of the case. "This is clearly Black and white.

Rittenhouse was 17 when he used an AR-style semiautomatic rifle to kill two people and wound a third during the summer of 2020. He had gone to Kenosha, he said, to protect property from protesters who took to the streets in anger days after Jacob Blake was shot in the back by a white Kenosha officer.

Rittenhouse faces the equivalent of murder and attempted murder charges and could get life in prison. He has said he fired in self-defense after being attacked by protesters.

After the shooting, he drew sizable support from opponents of the Black Lives Matter movement and supporters of gun rights. Pro-gun conservatives helped raise $2 million for his bail and legal defense. After he got out of jail, he was photographed with apparent members of the far-right Proud Boys.

If Rittenhouse gets off, that would send an ominous message to Black America, Justin Blake said.

If our country shows that you can shoot Caucasians who support us, then this country can never stand up in any international or global hearing and talk about human rights, the uncle said. He said if Rittenhouse goes free, white people will be able to ride down every African American community and just have fun, like youre going hunting or something.

Rittenhouse's lawyers have said he is not a white supremacist, and his defense fund has said he was not part of a militia group.

Some activists also see a racial double standard in the way the Blake and Rittenhouse cases were handled.

Blake was shot seven times and paralyzed at the door of his SUV as his children sat in the back seat. Police say Rusten Sheskey and two other officers responding to a domestic disturbance had tried to arrest him on an outstanding warrant and, during a scuffle, a pocketknife fell from Blakes pants.

Blake has said he picked the knife up and was prepared to surrender once he put it in the vehicle.

After he was rushed to a hospital, police briefly handcuffed him to his bed. State prosecutors declined to charge the officer, saying the knife justified Sheskey's claim of self-defense. Federal prosecutors also declined to file charges.

Rittenhouse experienced a seemingly different response from law enforcement.

He and others were armed and professed to be there protecting the citys businesses and homes after protesters set fires and vandalized property on two previous nights of unrest in Kenosha, and after weeks of sometimes-violent demonstrations around the U.S. over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Law enforcement officers saw Rittenhouse and other armed people on the streets that night despite a citywide curfew and passed them bottles of water. One officer was heard over a loudspeaker saying, We appreciate you guys.

Later that night, Rittenhouse was chased through a used car lot by Joseph Rosenbaum, a participant in the protests, before he fatally shot the man. Rittenhouse was then seen running onto a street with protesters after him.

A man named Anthony Huber struck Rittenhouse with a skateboard, and the teenager shot and killed him. Seconds later, Gaige Grosskreutz stepped toward Rittenhouse with a pistol, and Rittenhouse shot him in the arm.

Even as people on the street tried to flag Rittenhouse to police officers as the person responsible for the shootings, he was not stopped. With his weapon slung over his shoulder, he put his hands in the air and was waved past a police line.

Hours later, he turned himself in to police in his hometown of Antioch, Illinois.

What looms above this trial is this whole notion that we have two justice systems, one for Black America and another for white America, said Blake family attorney Ben Crump, the civil rights lawyer who has also represented the families of Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery, both killed in what prosecutors portrayed as acts of vigilantism.

I just think that right now in America, there is this notion that certain people have the right to solve every disagreement with a gun, Crump said. And especially, when we see people protesting for justice for the killing of Black people, that we dont have to respect their rights to the First Amendment.

A week before trial, the judge in Rittenhouse's case ruled that prosecutors and the defense cannot refer to the men killed as victims, but can call them rioters or looters if the evidence supports that. The ruling outraged Black activists, who pointed to it as another racial double standard in the judicial system.

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, co-executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center and a leader of the Movement for Black Lives, said Rittenhouse left home with the intention of dispensing vigilante justice, for the sake of so-called protecting buildings and businesses, at the expense of human life.

To not call the people that are directly impacted by that victims is nothing but the tenets of white supremacy masked in unjust laws, Henderson said.

Video journalist Carrie Antlfinger in Milwaukee, Wisconsin contributed. Morrison, who reported from New York City, is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison

Find APs full coverage on the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse at: https://apnews.com/hub/kyle-rittenhouse

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Former employees and shareholders of AL. Ringling Brewery in Baraboo are suing the company and its owners for alleged sexual assault and lying to get them fired and removed from the company board, according to a complaint filed in the Western District of Wisconsin U.S. District Court.

Joe Colossa, who is at the center of most of the allegations and a co-owner of the brewery, said the allegations were false and declined to comment Thursday when contacted to ask about the lawsuit.

In a statement released by Colossa that same day, he reiterated that the claims are false and are hurtful, especially as they come from people we trusted.

I am eager for the truth to come out so that we can move forward, the statement said. In the meantime, we are sorry to our customers, employees and friends in the community that a private disagreement has gone public.

The complaint, filed in district court Oct. 12 after those alleging the charges withdrew a lawsuit originally filed in Sauk County Circuit Court, outlines an atmosphere in which Colossa verbally abused brewery general manager Jonathan Bare and sexually assaulted and harassed employees Barbara Vera Torres and Carmen Vera Torres.

Carmen Vera Torres, who feared her husband, according to the complaint, filed for divorce from Colossa in November.

According to the complaint, the filing was in part because she was afraid of him and upset by his behavior.

Bare, his wife Barbara Vera Torres and a company shareholder, Michael Grassman of Greendale, also allege that co-owners Colossa and Donald Horowitz lied about Bare and terminated his and Barbara Vera Torres employment over their complaints to Colossa about his behavior.

The lawsuit alleges that Colossa took nude photos of Barbara Vera Torres without her consent and would frequently attempt to show them to other workers at the business. He also obtained videos and photos of her from another person and would show them to others. According to the complaint, one witness told Baraboo police that Colossa disgusted him and made him feel uncomfortable. Another witness alleged that Colossa would show the photos and videos to multiple men at the business.

According to the complaint, both Bare and Barbara Vera Torres repeatedly asked Colossa to stop showing others the photos and to no longer engage in abusive behavior.

Baraboo Police Chief Mark Schauf verified that multiple meetings had taken place between officers and brewery staff, but declined to provide details due to ongoing investigations which arose from those discussions.

Barbara Vera Torres also alleges that Colossa would make unwanted advances, like offering her money to have sex with him, and groped her multiple times. Other employees said he would frequently brag about sexual conquests and make lewd jokes.

They told Bare of other instances of sexual assault. According to the complaint, several workers told police that Colossa had propositioned them to engage in sex with him and his wife. Others verified Colossa showed them photos of Barbara Vera Torres in which she did not appear to be aware that her photograph was being taken.

In the complaint, Bare accused Colossa of becoming increasingly abusive to the point of making a death threat against him in front of other workers. Attempts at mediation ended when the mediator suggested Colossa not visit the brewery and Colossa stopped participating.

The complaint alleges that Colossa fired Barbara Vera Torres for pushing back against the unwanted sexual advances and photos being shared without her consent. She asserts that she is owed more than $3,800 in overtime pay.

Bare accused Colossa of attempting to ruin his reputation after he and Horowitz fired Bare by telling the public that Bare stole from the company and lying to a fellow board member to have Bare removed as the vice president.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Screnock granted a restraining order against Colossa filed by Bare in April. According to court records, this is the second restraining order filed against Colossa by a former employee.

In October 2014, a former employee who lived at the mansion was granted an injunction against Colossa which expired in 2018. In court documents, the person who filed the restraining order wrote that Colossa threatened to harm him in text messages and attempted to goad him into a physical fight. After throwing out the employee with less than 24 hours notice, Colossa continued to threaten him and tell others falsehoods about his behavior to his friends, the filer wrote.

Follow Bridget on Twitter @cookebridget or contact her at 608-745-3513.
Selling educational software to corporations is in the rearview mirror for Jim Berke.

His days are now filled with fillets of cod, salmon and cobia, steaks of swordfish and bags of oysters, stone crab and shrimp.

And while there are other places in the city to buy fresh seafood, Berke believes theres more room in the marketplace for a stand-alone seafood store in Madison.

Thats why he opened Berke & Benham Seafood Market at 1925 Monroe St. The 2,000-square-foot shop is in an affluent neighborhood, near thousands of international students and faculty at UW-Madison and is on a commuting route for some of the 9,500 employees who work at Epic Systems in Verona but live in Madison.

Berke is not dissuaded by the seafood offerings that can be found at grocery stores like Metcalfes Market, Hy-Vee, Festival Foods and Whole Foods Market, the Seafood Center on Whitney Way or any number of smaller stores that cater to an international clientele.

I dont know if theres a separation of us, but theres plenty of space for all of us, Berke said. Madison is a great food town with a wide-ranging palate.

Unlike Lake Edge Seafood Co. on Monona Drive, which has a seafood counter and a restaurant, Berke & Benhams revenue is primarily derived from those looking to cook at home. However, Berke has plans for an oyster bar and has just begun selling wine, beer and ciders to take home.

He also wants to expand his small grocery section at the front of the store. The inventory includes pickled vegetables and tins of mackerel, sardines, tuna and octopus from Spain; cookbooks; and a variety of domestic and international seasonings. That lineup includes offerings from The Deliciouser, a Madison-based company that creates small-batch spice blends, salts and peppers.

Berke, who opened the doors of his shop in June between Brasserie V and the Good Day Shop, also wants to create his own line of seasonings, sell homemade chowder and fish stock and use the expansive back room of the business for special events; classes in butchering whole fish and shucking oysters; private dinners; and tastings that revolve around seafood and wine.

Our shop is for any consumer who wants to buy fresh seafood, learn about fresh seafood and (learn) how to cook it, Berke said. Im fascinated by the ocean. I love the thought of being good stewards of a vital part of the planet.

Berke grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where he and his brother would fish often on the Fox River and at a nearby pond for bluegill and catfish. He graduated from the University of Illinois-Chicago with a biology degree but ditched his corporate job in 2017 to purse his longtime dream of becoming a fish monger. Hes also following in the footsteps of his entrepreneurial father, who created his own janitorial service company after World War II.

Jim Berkes first gig was at the fish and meat counter at Eataly Chicago, an Italian market on East Ohio Street in the citys downtown. But after about six months he took a retail position with Wabash Seafood, one of the citys most well-established fish wholesaling companies. Thats where Berke immersed himself in the seafood culture and became schooled in the nuances of the industry after Wabash created a retail shop.

It hasnt been that long, but the people that I worked with at Wabash, they were fountains of knowledge, Berke said. They had no problem teaching me the technical skills ... but also vendor relationships.

But when the pandemic came crashing down, Berke lost his job and retreated from Chicago with his family to their home on 25 acres between Mount Horeb and New Glarus. His wife works for a Chicago-based public relations firm and they have five adult children from previous marriages. The seafood shop is a combination of Berkes last name and his mother-in laws maiden name.

The fish in the shop come from suppliers in Chicago, Boston and elsewhere around the country that bring in wild-caught and farm-raised fish from around the world. On Wednesday the offerings on ice in the display case included fillets of yellowfin tuna, lane snapper, ocean trout, littleneck clams, gulf shrimp, scallops and Faroe Island salmon. Berke also sells wild whitefish, lake trout and walleye from Lake Superior, had just received a shipment of whole cod and stone crab, and had a walk-in cooler filled with whole halibut, monk fish and yellowtail kingfish.

Ive wanted to work in this business for many, many years, and if I didnt do it now I would never do it, Berke said. So I took the leap.

Send retail-related tips and story ideas to badams@madison.com or call Barry Adams at 608-252-6148.

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1. Yes. Council members appear to have taken time to review each section carefully.

2. Yes. The council has set up town halls and a public hearing to inform the residents.

3. No. The council should have set up a charter review committee, including residents.

4. No. Some of the items proposed so far benefit the council more than the community.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say until after the public has had more opportunities to weigh in.

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Reviewer Joaquin Zihuatanejo, author of Arsonist, said of Masons book, The duality of home is captured in these poems as metaphor and image coalesce proving to us that Omaha is equal parts muscle bound earth and ropes draped over Harney Street lamp posts. Matts portrayal of Nebraska is unflinching; as you navigate through the poems you wonder what was there on that spot before the Walmart was built? Whats the story of the land beneath it? But in these poems you will also be given answers.

Mason writes at least one new poem each week. He has folders worth of poems to pick from.

My first book was mostly about the Midwest, but not entirely, he said. I wanted to go in to this book with a focus on poems about my home state. There are some new poems and some old ones so its a good mix. I spent a lot of time going through files and finding the poems I thought would fit.

He then refined the process and worked on fitting the pieces together into a cohesive collection.

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I like what I came up with, Mason said.

As a presenter of poetry, he often uses humor to get his message across.
Hospitals often receive donations of knit booties or caps for newly delivered babies, but this fall local tiny tots were the recipients of handmade Halloween costumes, dressed up as petite sweets, bitty burgers and smiling suns.

The costumes, crafted by Longfellow Middle School students and staff, were donated to Mayo Clinic Health System for infants born this month in the Special Care Nursery. The first recipients were fraternal twins Cashton and Cole Jones, born on Oct. 15. The two were outfitted as a pumpkin and a ghost.

We know the importance of joy here at Mayo Clinic and this has been a great opportunity to spread that joy to our patients and families, says Karizma Maxon, R.N. nurse manager of the Family Birthplace at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse.

This is a huge part in creating a safe, amazing and memorable experience for our families.

The holiday outfits were a first year project for the over 30 students in Megan Zellners 8th grade teams by design family and consumer science class. Inspired by similar projects on social media, the students spent four class periods creating 40 baby costumes, with many of the materials donated by community members.

The kids were looking for ways to come up with things to do to help others, says Zellner. We looked at some ideas and came up with this. The kids loved the idea.

The costume designs, which ranged from Tootsie Rolls to UPS drivers, were chosen by the students, who worked individually or in small groups.

It was neat to see all the different personalities show when making these outfits, Zellner says. Some even made the comment that the outfits related to them in one way or another. Some had worn outfits similar to when they themselves were little, or they picked costumes that related to them in their own experiences.

For the babies bestowed with the whimsical wears, and their parents, it is a sweet treat that will last much longer than candy.

Emily Pyrek can be reached at emily.pyrek@lee.net.

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Well known in the Holmen area for her community involvement, Ruth Scholze is especially notorious for her chocolate cookies and other delights, which she freely shares with friends, family, coworkers and others.

Because of her years of service to her hometown, Scholze was recognized with the 2021 Frederick D. Frick Servant Leadership Award at the 2021 Holmen Area Foundation Community Breakfast.

Mark Huesmann, HAF breakfast committee chair and past president, introduced Scholze as this years recipient. Scholze was selected by the HAF breakfast committee after reviewing her contributions to the community, schools and church.

In his remarks, Huesmann noted Scholze, . . . is so giving and always thinking of others first before herself. Many area people have been blessed with a surprise container of cookies or a loaf of banana bread on their doorsteps.

This is the first time Ive been given chocolate chip cookies instead of giving them, said Scholze after she was presented with a bakers box of the treats as part of the award ceremony. Im very grateful and humbled for this servant leadership award. Life is a gift and how you live your life makes a difference to your family and friends. I am who I am because of the grace of God.

The breakfast is held annually to thank the community for its support and to celebrate the positive developments in the Holmen area. This year, it took place Thursday in the Holmen Area Community Center.

Scholze traces her involvement in her lifelong community to her attendance at an earlier HAF Breakfast.

Laurie Kessler spoke about getting involved with a community center with a focus on the youth, so when I retired from the School District of Holmen in June 2012 and started part time back at La Crosse County Library, I had time to get involved, said Scholze. The community center committee, the library committee, Holmen Area Foundation Board, in addition to Holmen Area Historical Society, McGilvray Bridges, Halfway Creek Lutheran Church, Gift of Grace Lutheran Church, Delta Kappa Gamma kept me busy. Its good to give back to the community; its the little things that make a difference like receiving a box of chocolate chip cookies!

Kessler, a founding member of the organization to build the HACC, inspired Scholze to make a difference when she urged her friends and neighbors to ask, How can I help?

Scholzes service also extended to her faith community. As a member of Halfway Creek Church, Scholze served as choir director, a member of the church council, the president of the Ladies Aid and a Sunday school teacher.

Born and raised in the Halfway Creek area, the only time Scholze left the Holmen area was to attend Wartburg College, earning an education degree, and then teaching in New Vienna, Iowa, for a year. Returning to school to earn a masters in library science, she moved back to the area after she became the childrens librarian for La Crosse County. A few years later, she became the LMC director at Evergreen Elementary School where she worked over 20 years until her retirement.

In retirement, she realized she longed for the library experience, so she took a part-time position at the Holmen Public Library and now continues to work there for almost 20 years.

Since 2009, HAF has recognized a community member who displayed the qualities of servant leader at its annual breakfast. Named for the longtime School District of Holmen Superintendent Frederick D. Frick, the Servant Leadership Award recognizes a Holmen area resident who serves others, volunteers, practices leadership and commitment to the community.

Past recipients have been Laurie Kessler, Mike Schmitz, in memoriam; Bev Rott; Festival Foods; Pat Stephens; Dan McHugh; Barry Bertelsen, in memoriam; Len and Sandy Beranek; Sister Bridget Donaldson; Marie Dummer; Drugan family; Lloyd Dresen; and Dave and Barb Skogen.

In addition to the servant leadership award presentation, the mornings event also featured updates from representatives of the village of Holmen, the towns of Holland and Onalaska, the Holmen Area Community Center, Boys and Girls Club and the School District of Holmen.

The representatives highlighted the activities and new developments taking place in their various municipalities and with their organizations.

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FARMINGTON, Minn. (AP)  A Farmington man fatally shot his father and brother in the head, then killed his mother with a hammer two days later, according to criminal charges filed Friday.

Blake Maloney, 26, was charged in Dakota County with three counts of murder. The criminal complaint lists no motive for the killings but says that Maloney told an officer he killed three people, and that he didn't believe they were his family.

The bodies of Tracy Maloney, 53, Jack Maloney, 55, and Scott Maloney, 23, were found Wednesday by a police officer who went to a Farmington townhome to check on Tracy Maloneys welfare after one of her friends said the woman had been unreachable since she went to her ex-husband's townhome to visit her sons, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.

A message left with Blake Maloney's attorney was not immediately returned to The Associated Press on Friday.

According to the criminal complaint, the officer went to the townhome Wednesday morning and asked Blake Maloney if Tracy was there and if he could talk to her. Maloney then raised his hands above his head and said, I did something. I murdered them or something, according to the complaint.

The officer found Tracy Maloney on the kitchen floor with a yoga mat over her face. There was a large amount of blood on the floor and several head injuries consistent with blows from a hammer, the complaint said.

The officer also found Jack Maloney dead on a bed in the basement, covered with blankets. He had been shot in the head. Scott Maloney was found on the second level of the townhome, blocking entry into a bedroom. He also had a gunshot wound to the head, the complaint said.

Officers found a bloody hammer and loaded AR-15 rifle in the house. At the police station, Blake Maloney allegedly said he killed his brother, then his father a couple of days before his mother came to the townhome.

He admitted he killed (his mother) with a hammer because he did not want to use the gun anymore, the complaint said.

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KENOSHA, Wis. (AP)  The edge of the steps leading to Marcus Giddens front porch is lined with tokens of affection  candles, flowers, balloons tied to the railing, a can of his favorite beer.

Several feet away, through the front door to the building on the steps leading to the landing of his second-floor apartment, a blood stain marks the need for the memorial to Giddens.

Forty-one-year-old Giddens  known in his Uptown neighborhood by the nickname Lucky  was killed at about 11:20 p.m. Oct. 8 in the four-unit building on the 6300 block of 24th Avenue.

A neighbor who lives in the building said she was home the night of the murder. She said she heard Lucky laugh, then heard gunfire. The shooter fled. Lucky was found lying on the steps with multiple gunshot wounds, the neighbor said, a beer still in his hand.

Giddens death was the 10th homicide in the City of Kenosha this year, the Kenosha News reported.

On Oct. 19, there were two more. Eighteen-year-old Marian Pizarro, who was 9-months-pregnant and due to have her baby any day, and her boyfriend Sebastian Perez-Alverez, 17, were shot and killed in their home on the 600 block of 40th Place. Pizzaros mother Luz Pizarro-Perez, and Pizarro-Perezs 14-year-old son, were shot and wounded. Police believe Pizarro-Perezs 24-year-old boyfriend Jostin Gutierrez-Pagan shot everyone in the family, then shot and killed himself. Kenosha Police Sgt. Leo Viola said police believe the shootings happened after Gutierrez-Pagan became enraged about Perez-Alverez being in the home.

A tragedy like this is almost beyond comprehension, Interim Kenosha Police Chief Eric Larsen said about the Oct. 19 shooting.

But tragedy has become a nearly monthly occurrence in the county this year. The City of Kenosha is now up to 12 homicides this year  nearly triple the average annual total. Add to citys total the three men killed in April at the Somers House tavern and that brings the number of people killed Kenosha County to 15 so far in 2021.

Behind each of the numbers is heartbreak. I wont answer messages but I just ask for a lot of prayer for me and my family. Hard days are coming and I will need a lot of strength, Pizarro-Perez wrote on social media the day after the shooting that decimated her family.

In Uptown, a week after Giddens death, two friends sat on his porch near his memorial. They said his death had shocked the neighborhood where he was known as friendly, non-confrontational and devoted to his family. Lucky was love, nothing but love, said a friend who was sitting on Giddens front steps near the memorial. She said she did not want to be identified, fearing retribution.

Visible from the front steps of Giddens home  just across the street and to the south on the same block  another set of steps, another makeshift memorial, another blood stain. On Labor Day, a gunman killed 23-year-old Chrishon Wright  the ninth homicide victim of the year  shooting him in the chest as he attended a cookout in the front yard.

Wrights mother Nicole Jones said her son, who split his time between his home in Lake County, Illinois, and his girlfriends home in Kenosha, was on 25th Avenue that day attending a family gathering at the home of a relative of his girlfriend.

Police described the shooting as a targeted killing.

According to Jones, her son Chrishon was out on the front lawn along with his girlfriend, her relatives and Chrishons young children when the gunman appeared.

When the gentleman approached them he told Chrishons girlfriend to move out of the way, Jones said. And then he just shot my son. It was very targeted. It was bold, a very bold thing that that gentleman did to go after him in front of all the kids.

The day after the shooting neighbors described hearing gunfire and children screaming.

The City of Kenosha typically has about five homicides each year. This year, the first two homicides came just six days into the year when a 24-year-old man is alleged to have hacked his father and step-mother to death with a machete. Murders hit their normal annual total by the second week in March.

Kenosha isnt alone in seeing an increase in murders. According to FBI statistics released in September, the United States saw a record one-year increase in homicides from 2019 to 2020, with a total of 21,500 people killed, up about 4,900 from the previous year. Seventy-seven percent of people murdered died by gunfire. While the number of murders is increasing, overall crime is on the decline.

This year, the number of homicides is continuing to rise nationwide, although at a slower pace than last year. Kenoshas two much larger neighbors  Chicago and Milwaukee  are having particularly violent years. According to data compiled last week by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Milwaukee had 160 homicides so far in 2021, up slightly from the same date last year, which was itself a record year for murders in the city. In Chicago, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, about 650 people had been killed by the third week of October, outpacing last year and reaching the highest level since the 1990s.

The cause of the increase nationwide is subject to debate, with speculation nationally focusing on the societal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the proliferation of firearms and the impact of widespread protest about police shootings.

Kenosha Police Chief Larsen has a longtime interest in using data as a tool in directing resources. What the data shows in the homicide increase here presents a puzzle, he said.

Weve seen an increase in all firearm-related activity and I think certain aspects of that are starting to catch up with us, Larsen said. Last year there were 189 verified shots-fired calls in the city, up nearly 114 percent from 2019 and up 186 percent from 2018. Aggravated assault with firearm cases increased from 8 in 2019 to 52 in 2020.

Guns were involved in all but two of the 15 homicides in the county this year.

To combat increasing gun crime, Kenosha Police formed the Special Investigations Unit this year. The unit is made up of officers who had been assigned to the gang unit and to drug investigations. The SIU also has assigned federal officers from the ATF and includes a partnership with Pleasant Prairie Police. One focus of the group is targeting illegal guns.

On Oct. 18, the FBI unveiled a report showing a 30 percent increase in homicides in 2020. Cheddars Chloe Aiello looks into the bureaus numbers that show a steep increase in gun violence amid the growing pandemic.

But even as homicides have doubled, shots-fired calls have fallen sharply this year. Larsen said last week that there have been 87 shots-fired calls from Jan. 1 through Oct. 18 this year compared to 153 in the same time period last year.

Shootings resulting in injuries are also sharply down. Larsen said there were 34 shooting incidents involving injuries in 2020 and only 10 thus far in 2021.

Thats why it is difficult to use 2020 as any kind of measure. There were so many social, economic, and even educational factors that affected everyone, Larsen said.

The police chief said the increase in murders cannot be attributed only to gun crime. Fifty percent of them (homicides this year) are domestic related, which is significant, he said in an interview he gave days before the most recent homicides. With the double homicide on 40th Place, that percentage has climbed to about 67 percent. This isnt just happening on the streets, its happening in our households also.

Larsen said that indicates there are wider societal causes behind the increase.

Recently, four Kenosha Police officers walked the Uptown neighborhood looking to address those issues, trying to chat with local residents and to offer a guidebook to resources in the community. They hoped not only to give people links to services, but to work to build relationships and trust in a neighborhood that has been rocked by violence over the last year and by rioting that occurred last August in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting by Officer Rusten Sheskey.

They knocked on doors, stopped to talk to people gathered in a barbershop, and to talk to people working in their yards or hanging out on porches.

One of the stops they made was on Luckys porch, where a neighbor and a friend of Luckys were sharing beers.

Were not here investigating anything, were just letting people know what support is out there, Kenosha Police Lt. Joe Nosalik told the women sitting on Luckys porch. The officers were handing out a pocket-sized booklet from the Kenosha County Division of Health and the Department of Human Resources that had phone numbers for mental health and substance abuse counseling services, legal assistance, and for food pantries and shelter programs.

But the talk quickly turned to Lucky, with the officers sharing recollections of a man they knew from the neighborhood and for his side business selling DVDs and CDs on the street, and the women on the porch sharing memories of their friend.

When the officers walked away, one of the women on the porch was nervous. People are going to see I was talking to them, theyre going to be saying Im a snitch, she said.

When police left the woman looked at the booklet they had handed her and said I dont need this, I dont need support.

I do, said another man from the neighborhood, taking the booklet from her. I need counseling.

The man said he lived next door to the home where Chrishon Wright had been killed, and had been home with his children when the shooting happened. They heard the shots and heard the screams of the kids in the yard. He said while watching a movie this week he was surprised when felt panicky when there was gunfire in the film. I didnt know how much it affected me.

Chrishon Wrights mother Nicole Jones has another theory in what may be fueling homicides  at least that that took the life of her son. I really believe its social media, she said, saying that she thinks what began as a dispute on social media may have led to her sons shooting. Words being thrown back from different individuals.

Social media feuds are often the spark behind violent crime in Kenosha. And according to past statements from Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley, worries from witnesses about the possibility of being outed on Facebook have led to a growing reluctance to cooperate with police and prosecutors in investigations.

The thing about social media is that it makes communication that much easier because you can communicate any time of the day with anyone regardless of where you are. That being said, you also can have conflict any time of the day, with anyone, Larsen said. It could be argued that friend groups are larger and similarly enemy groups could also. Rumors in the past might have a limited audience; now they could be shared to thousands.

Jones said since Wrights death, shes been mourning for him, worried about her traumatized grandchildren, and remembering happier times, including her birthday a year ago when all of her children and grandchildren, including Wright, were with her to celebrate.

My son, he had his faults. He got into mischief here and there, she said. But he was loveable, always happy, always had a good smile on his face. He loved his kids. He was a great dad.

She said Kenosha Police detectives have been keeping in close contact with her about their investigation, and she said she is grateful for their work and feels they will ultimately make an arrest.

Its hard to understand who could hate him so much to walk up to him in broad daylight and shoot him like that, Jones said. That is a person who has to be heartless. Hes a cold-blooded killer  they need to get this individual off the street before another mother, or other kids, have to see their loved one shot down like this.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Kenosha News.
Lancaster County has its share of local legends and ghost stories, from the Walking Statue of Lancaster Cemetery to the werewolves of the Hans Graf Cemetery.

Weve been told of an eternal hunter, cursed to roam the woods of the Cornwall area with his hounds.

The Fulton Theatre has a full suite of ghostly tales, from a mystery spectator to a whistling ghost and a screaming downstage diva.

In 2018, LNP Studios videographer Tyler Huber decided to delve a little deeper on these stories, creating the Legends of Lancaster mini-documentary series, an in-depth exploration of the lore of Lancaster County. The series touches on intriguing history, colorful myths and various tall tales that have been passed down through generations.

Chickies Rock Ghost Mania of 1969

In August 1969, hundreds of people claimed to have witnessed a misty grayish apparition in the well-known woods outside of Columbia. The mania began when a group of teens said they saw a ghost when they were hanging out at Chickies Rock, describing it as a formless, misty, gray apparition floating through the trees in a wooded area behind two large boulders. They told friends, and the story spread. Hundreds of people started going to Chickies Rock each night hoping to glimpse the specter. Police from Columbia, East Donegal and West Hempfield had to untangle massive traffic jams and control crowds. Night after night, people would say they saw the apparition. On Aug. 26, troopers were called in, and half of the 200 people fled in terror when someone shouted theyd seen the ghost.

On Aug. 28, Dr. Jonathon W. Price, curator of paleontology at the North Museum of Franklin & Marshall College, arrived with Lancaster New Era reporter Bill Geist to find answers.

Hogwash, all these spooks and ghosts can be explained away scientifically. Somebody is either playing a prank on you, or its a natural occurrence, or youre just imagining things, said Price. Well get to the bottom of this.

Price and the reporter followed teens into woods, where a seance was conducted in English and Latin. A girl screamed, saying she saw a dark shadow, and the rest concurred -- though Price and Geist said the shadows were caused by the full moon. The expedition ended after three hours with no apparition.

Later, some members of the original group of teens who said theyd seen the apparition said theyd made it up after drinking some wine. The crowds left, while some people questioned what they saw, some were truly convinced theyd seen something.

The Haldeman Mansion

Native Americans -- the Susquehannock -- first lived on the land that now is home to the Haldeman Mansion in Bainbridge, along the Susquehanna River, was originally home to native American settlements. The Haldeman family bought the property in the mid to late 1700s and lived here through the early 1800s; the mansion was built in the 1730s and underwent many additions. Samuel Haldeman, a world-renowned naturalist to whom Charles Darwin referred in his research, was born on the property.

It holds a lot of history, Christina Mark, preserving secretary of the Haldeman Mansion Preservation Society, said when the Legends video was recorded. Its just got a little mystery and intrigue to it.

Apparitions, ghosts -- people say they can feel them, some hear them say things, some people have seen the spirits. I myself saw one here that was back in the early 1980s, Mark said. I was coming through the house and actually walking out to the front porch. There was a wedding here, and I was putting food out on the tables. And as I came into this room, I could ... it was like I felt something, and I looked over at the window. There was a woman standing there, and she was looking out the window. She didnt react to me whatsoever; she just looked out the window, dressed in a normal dress youd see in the 1800s.  then all of a sudden she was gone.

One year, my husband and I were here for a family members birthday party. It was a teenager, and we had a mini haunted house for the kids, and we heard a door slam upstairs. We had made some areas off-limits. My husband thought, OK, some kids went in the far room. The one staircase was closed off and no one could use it. When he went into the room, it was totally empty. When he came back downstairs, it happened again. He saw someone go past the stairwell, so he went back upstairs, opened up the door, and nobody was there -- no one he could see.

The Fulton Theatre

I think every theater has its ghost stories, StephJo Wise, then director of community engagement, at the Fulton Theatre, said when the Legends video was recorded.

And the Fulton has several.

The Whistler has appeared, and weve heard him whistling to several people for decades now here at the Fulton, said Wise, who is now the Fultons director of education. The whistling apparition is described as wearing a three-pieces, white suit with a straw boater hat and brown shoes and brown belt; hes been described in detail repeatedly by those who claim to have seen him.

Some people say he whistles when someone is messing up their line or their lyrics, or perhaps hes a bit of a trickster and likes to play jokes on people, Wise said. No ones ever really been too afraid of him; they feel like he is a positive presence to have around. But hes appeared over and over for decades now.

Theres also the tale of a ghostly spectator, a man who appeared in the audience one night of a closed rehearsal, explaining he was there to see his granddaughter. He said [to the spotlight operator], Oh, well, I'm here to see my granddaughter perform. I've never gotten to hear her sing before on stage,  Wise said. After the show, the spotlight operator  went down to the woman who the man said he was the grandfather of and said, I just got to meet your grandfather -- he was so proud of you, so excited to come hear you sing and perform. She said, But both of my grandfathers are dead; they passed away a long time ago, but my one grandfather was very sad, he told me he had never gotten to hear me sing.

Last is the story of the downstage diva, believed to be the ghost of Broadway star Marie Cahill, who died Aug. 23, 1933, in New York City and who repeatedly performed at the Fulton in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

She tends to appear to women, female actresses on our stage, she always appears downstage right, Mark said. There used to be a spiral staircase from downstage right that would go down to the dressing rooms, and she always insisted on having a dressing room down at the bottom of downstage right, at the bottom of that staircase. Some women have even said she has screamed in their ears while theyre trying to sing or say their lines. So we think she has some major jealousy issues with fellow divas.

The Eternal Hunter and the Legend of the Hounds

In the 18th and 19th century, iron furnaces cluttered the ridge between Lancaster and Lebanon Counties. While many no longer exist, a haunting tale endures -- that the rugged hills are home to the spirit of an ironmaster whos eternally cursed to hunt with his pack of hounds.

This legend was first documented by Philadelphia poet George Henry Boker in his story The Legend of the Hounds.'' Boker tells the story of a ruel ironmaster from Colebrook Furnace dubbed The Squire -- a heavy drinker who treated his workers and hounds poorly.

When a group of friends from Philadelphia visited to hunt, the Squire bragged about his hounds -- but they failed to live up to his expectations. He shouted, I'll show these town-bred gentlemen / If my dogs can hunt so well / On earth, another hunt in hell! The squire then drove his hounds to the furnace and made his workers throw them into the fire.

The squire later regretted what he did, according to the tale, and his dogs haunted his thoughts as the life drained out of him. Local legend says his spirit now spends eternity hunting.

Mondale Road bridge

Lancaster County has more covered bridges than any other Pennsylvania county, and one is claimed to be haunted.

Because legend just calls it the Mondale Road Bridge, its unclear which bridge is the source. There are two bridges off Mondale Road in Lancaster: the Hunsickers Mill Covered Bridge and the Pinetown Covered Bridge. Both were built in the mid-1800s and rebuilt after Hurricane Agnes.

Legend says an Amish girl was playing on the bridge and fell into the water, where she drowned. While there are no records of the death, the story circulated. A popular dare involves parking on the bridge at night and turning off the lights, where a little girl will appear and crawl into the car, spooking people until they leave. Small handprints are reportedly seen the next day on the vehicle.

[Editors note: The LNP Studio video team tried this on both bridges; no specters appeared; no handprints appeared. We recommend NOT trying this yourself, as its unsafe to park on a dark bridge with your headlights off.]

Rock Ford

Historic Rock Ford was built around 1794 in Lancasters Central Park.

Edward Hand, an Irish-born soldier in the Continental Army and local politician, as well as a slaveholder, lived on the property with his family. Four members of the Hand family died in house, and quickly became rumored to be haunted.

Where those stories or those legends seem to have begun was with John Hands death here in 1807, Sam Slaymaker, executive director of Rock Ford, said when the Legends video was recorded. John Hand was the eldest Hand son; he died here as a result of a gunshot wound to the head. It was believed that actually it was intentional, unfortunately it was a suicide. 

"Theres two possible rooms where it happened, and one is the Gold Parlor [or the family parlor]. The other, which is the more likely location, is on the second floor, which we believe was an upstairs sitting room at the time that maybe doubled as a guest bedroom. For years, there was a big stain on the floor in the floorboards, and the story was that that was John Hands blood and they were never able to clear it up.

The room was known as the unrestored room for that reason, but whether the stain is blood has never been confirmed.

When something terrible like that happens in a house, then and now, it can often leave a stigma on a place, Slaymaker said, and after Johns death here, no one really wanted to live here.

Staff and volunteers experience strangeness after the home was restored and opened as a museum in the 1960s, Slaymaker said. They sometimes smell something like candles having been snuffed out first thing in the morning, hear footsteps on the stairs.

In the 1970s, a couple had a son living in an apartment on top, where caretakers would live, Slaymaker said. The son was told he shouldnt be playing in the museum rooms, but kids being kids, he did. He one day came back to his mom shaken up and he told her that he was in the boys bedroom on the second floor -- the Hand boys bedroom -- and there was another boy there. He said he could tell it was his room and he didnt want him there.

Hans Graf Cemetery

Just north of Marietta in Rowenna, along Old River Road, lies a cemetery thats two centuries old and rumored to be a hotbed for paranormal activity. The cemetery is the resting place of the descendants of Hans Graf, a Swiss immigrant who was one of the first settlers of Lancaster.

Thirty 30 markers, many unreadable or crumbled, are surrounded by a small wall with no gate.

In one legend surrounding the cemetery, a handful of descendants were accused of being werewolves and shot down under a full moon on the spot -- but while its hard to find dates on some of the stones, none appear to repeat.

Another legend says Hans was killed by a werewolf -- or was one -- and he placed a curse on the grounds and haunts them in canine form. But Graf is buried in Leola and died in 1746, 50 years before the first grave in the Rowenna plot.

Another legend says if you circle the cemetery seven times under a full moon, you wont live to see morning. People report barking, a white canine among graves.

The Walking Statue

In the northeast part of Lancaster city sits Lancaster Cemetery, where one grave stands out: the tombstone of Augusta Harriet Bitner, who died at 21 years old in 1906. Her memorial features a white, life-sized statue of her likeness.

Shes called the Walking Statue, so people say they see her walking in Lancaster Cemetery, Cynthia Douts Roth, an Augusta Bitner historian, said when the Legends video was recorded. They've also said that her eyes spark green, that she weeps for the child that is not buried with her. So the story is that Augusta trips on her wedding gown; she fell, she broke her neck, and thats been the story for forever. 

The facts are that Bitner was born Aug. 24, 1884, in Lancaster, growing up on Marietta Avenue and graduating from Linden Hall in Lititz in 1902. On May 3, 1905, she married Stanley Hart Tevis and moved to Philadelphia, where they had a daughter, Sylvia. A week after their first anniversary, Augusta got typhoid and died a horrible death, Roth said.

She got married, gave birth and died in 13 months, Roth said.

The white Italian marble monument was special order from Leland and Co. in New York, with ivy circling one pillar, and bearing the inscription, The lord is my shepherd; I shall not want, Augustas favorite hymn. It also includes the cryptic question, Could love have kept her?

Im not sure her parents approved of Stanley, Roth said. The baby came seven months after they were married, so I assume they had higher expectations also for her. I just will say that Stanley wasnt a bad guy. She was a Bitner longer than she was a Tevis.

The White Hermit of Mount Joy

Strong possibility that its true; it just sounds a little too unusual to be made up, Sam Allen, owner of Bubes Brewery in Mount Joy, says of the tale of a White Hermit who haunts the caves 40 feet under street level, naturally formed in a seam of limestone.

The hermit -- a schoolteacher -- came from Scotland in the 1700s. When he was young, legend says, his mother died and father remarried, having a baby with the stepmother. The boy didnt get along with his stepmother, and one time when the father was away in the middle of winter, the boy apparently pushed his stepmother and sibling out the door. He left them out too long in the cold, where they died. To escape, he left for America, settling in Lancaster with a teaching job. But one day, he ran into someone he knew from his hometown. He ran away, headed west, and decided to move into and hide in the caverns under Mount Joy.

The catacombs at Bubes, once used as refrigeration, are about all thats left of the cave system. Some believe the White Hermits main cave was under Bubes, but the caves extended for miles with many entrances. The hermit went unnoticed for years, legend says, and by the time townspeople were aware of him, he had a long, white, unkempt beard that gave him the name White Hermit. 

He was last seen around 1765. Legend says he died in and haunts the caves.
Free, walk-in flu shots will be available next week at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design at 204 N. Prince St. in Lancaster.

The states Community-Accessible Testing & Education Mobile Response Unit will be at the college Nov. 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as part of a campaign to offer free flu shots in low-income, vulnerable communities. Shots are available on a first come, first served basis. No appointment or pre-registration is necessary. Services are available for both insured and uninsured patients.

The flu shots are being offered through a partnership with Latino Connection, Highmark CHIP and other community partners.

Launched in April, Latino Connections mobile unit  known as CATE  has crisscrossed across Pennsylvania to provide free COVID-19 vaccines to underserved communities.

CATE has previously made stops Lancaster County. Next week the mobile unit will be in Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties.

Flu shots will be administered by qualified health providers, which in Lancaster includes Union Care Community, a federally qualified health center.

After a relatively mild flu season last year, health officials are bracing for what could be a catastrophic winter influenza season because COVID-19 mitigation last season means fewer Americans contracted flu last and have immunity against future infection.

The shutdowns last year helped the U.S. sidestep a convergence of influenza and COVID-19, dubbed the twin-demic, but Americans might not be so lucky this year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone six months and older get a flu vaccine.
More than 340 acres of historic Lancaster County farmland are set for new ownership after Elizabeth Farms sold at auction Friday afternoon for over $7 million.

The sale marks the first time in two and a half centuries that the land will not be owned by a member of the Coleman family.

I never felt like an owner. I only felt like I was taking care of it, and I think I did that, said Bill Coleman, the farms eighth-generation heir, who has been an owner since 1976.

Coleman added that he was pleased with the bids submitted for his land.

At Fridays sale, Elizabeth Farms was split into three adjacent lots, located off of the 200 block of Hopeland Road in the Brickerville area of Elizabeth Township, near a stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Those lots were auctioned separately.

The largest parcel  at 190.5 acres along the southeastern border of Hopeland Road  sold to David L. Sensenig, a Lititz-area farmer, for $3.42 million, according to auctioneer Randal V. Kline.

Reached by phone about 5 p.m. Friday, Sensenig said he did not want to discuss his plans for the land.

A collection of buyers from Lebanon County submitted the winning bids for both of the two other lots, which measure 100 and 56.7 acres across land north of Hopeland Road.

Respectively, buyers Brian Boyd, Eric Fetter and Justin Bollinger and their families bid $2.95 million and $969,570 to win the parcels, Kline said.

Later Friday, Boyd said the group intends to continue farming, events and tourism activities on the land  hopefully seizing on its history, which dates to the American Revolution.

It is incredibly exciting, Boyd said, slightly disappointed the group couldnt win all three lots. We would have loved all three, but it takes big pockets.

Historic property

Elizabeth Farms has been in the Coleman Family since the late 1750s, according to a brochure circulated by Kline, Kreider & Good Auctioneers, who managed Fridays sale.

Weeks prior to the auction, Coleman recounted some of that history, speaking to an LNP | LancasterOnline reporter about the farms agricultural legacy and its role in the Revolutionary War, as well as some historic visitors to the area, which included the nations first president, George Washington.

More recently, the land supported a Christmas tree farm, farm-to-table restaurant, wedding venue and Mangalitsa hog farming operation, according to the auction brochure.

Much of that operation was housed on the smaller parcels won by the group from Lebanon County, and Boyd said they plan to keep things running similarly.

We are going to continue everything right the way it is, he said.

Boyd said he and Fetter are farmers and Bolligner is an attorney. The group also plans to graze cattle in the area, Boyd said, though he stressed his excitement at being able to open the properties to visitors  a business practice known as agritourism. Many farmers across the region have embraced agritourism as a way to bring in additional revenue to subsidize traditional farming efforts.

Its the only way to make a living farming, Boyd said. Thats why we want to keep as much together as we can.

The lands unique history wasnt lost to the auctioneers, who noted in their brochure that Fridays auction granted an opportunity to buy a one-of-a-kind farm that has been in the Coleman family for more than 260 years.

They highlighted native sandstone houses and barns at the site, describing them as in very good condition.

And in coaxing bids at Fridays auction, Kline reminded prospective buyers of the properties history.

They dont exist like what we got, he said.

Several hundred people turned out to watch as bidders competed for the parcels.

Curvin M. Horning, who helped conduct the auction, said the crowd was much larger than normal. He guessed that was because of Elizabeth Farms' long and storied past.

Its sort of like a historical event, he said of the sale.

Potential buyers yelled out their bids beneath a tent that shuddered in the wind as heavy rain soaked the surrounding farmland.

By about 3 p.m., the parcels were sold.

Hours later, Coleman spoke over the phone, explaining that he was happy with Fridays outcome.

I am satisfied that I did the best I could to take care of the farm for the last 45 years, he said. Now, its someone elses turn.
Two Lancaster city police officers were fired earlier this month for submitting forged COVID-19 vaccination cards to the department falsely indicating theyd been vaccinated, according to their termination letters.

Heather Schaeffer got a blank vaccination card from her cousin, who is in the military and involved in vaccination efforts, made a copy and sold it to Benjamin Lapp for $20, according to documents LNP | LancasterOnline obtained through a Right to Know request to the city.

The city does not mandate employees to get vaccinated, but strongly encourages them to do so, Jess King, chief of staff to Mayor Danene Sorace, told LNP earlier this year.

Employees who are not fully vaccinated must wear masks in city buildings; those who are fully vaccinated do not, according to the policy.

According to Schaeffer and Lapps termination paperwork, Capt. Richard Mendez learned in September that the two had been openly speaking about having fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards.

Both admitted submitting the forged cards during a Sept. 22 interview with police officials, the paperwork said. Lapp also told the officials that Schaeffer had other fraudulent cards and was possibly selling them.

Efforts to reach Schaeffer and Lapp or a police union representative on Friday were not immediately successful.

The paperwork also said the Lancaster County District Attorneys Office opened a criminal investigation into the matter on Sept. 29. District Attorney Heather Adams declined comment Friday afternoon.

A check of online court documents Friday afternoon did not show any criminal charges filed against either Schaeffer or Lapp.

They were accused of violating police department standards of conduct for failing to follow regulations and orders, conduct unbecoming an officer and of violating the citys human resources policies concerning insubordination and unlawful conduct.

They failed to show at a due-process hearing before city officials earlier this month and instead submitted responses saying they had nothing further to add, according to termination letters signed by Sorace. The letters also said they may appeal or file a grievance through the police union.

The department and city did not comment beyond issuing a brief statement of their firings Friday, which referred to COVID-19 records falsification and being unfit for duty.

Schaeffer, who was fired Oct. 20, was sworn in on March 17, 2017. Before coming to Lancaster, she worked at departments in Perry and York counties and for Franklin & Marshall College's public safety department. She made a base salary of $72,349 and held the rank of officer upon termination.

Lapp, who was fired Oct. 18, was sworn in on Aug. 10, 2016. He graduated Manheim Central High School and was an officer for three years in Hagerstown, Maryland, before joining the Lancaster force. He made a base salary of $79,622 and held the rank of officer upon termination.
Mike Peinovich walks confidently onto a stage as a large audience chants his name, their voices echoing off the weathered sides of a historic barn.

Mike! Mike! Mike! Mike!

He quickly shakes the hand of a man standing at the podium, pats him on his back and pulls a copy of his speech from his jacket pocket.

Quieting his supporters with a wave, Peinovich dives into a 30-minute speech declaring the establishment of a political party whose platform is to preserve and protect the white European majority in the United States.

The white race is under attack, Peinovich said, rallying the crowd. We are announcing the formation of a new political party, a new political vehicle that is going to fight for you, for white rights, for our people in America and the world.

The new partys enemy, he said, is capitalism, Zionism and the international Jewish oligarchy. These are the people that are oppressing us.

That rally announcing the creation of the National Justice Party, captured in a video posted online by its organizers, happened right here in Lancaster County 14 months ago. It was held in a historic barn on Millersville Pike just outside Lancaster city.

The gathering of some of the nations most notorious white supremacists here, which went largely unnoticed at the time by neighbors and law enforcement, suggests the group sees this traditionally conservative region as fertile ground for recruiting new members as the population grows more ethnically and politically diverse, experts said.

You cannot have a nation of justice, a nation of liberty, without a white majority forever, Peinovich announced to raucous applause from the crowd in the barn, also stating that races dont necessarily need to mix together all the time.

That the National Justice Party chose a small, suburban Lancaster County barn to launch its organization also raises scores of questions - some of which can be answered and some of which remain a mystery despite months of research and reporting for this story.

All of those questions, however, circle back to Charles Bausman, a figure with ties to the Stop the Steal movement who has spent much of his adult life in Russia. Bausman quietly settled in Lancaster, the home of his ancestors, in late 2018, months after penning a lengthy essay on the Jew taboo that drew international backlash.

Why Lancaster?

While its unclear what role Bausman intends to play as the group travels the country seeking new members -- and potential influence in electoral politics -- Bausman, who is the publisher and editor of the pro-Kremlin website Russia Insider, openly discusses his ties to the partys founding members and his general support for many of their political and social views.

Their criticism of Jews is fair and well-reasoned, Bausman said, although he also said the nascent political partys members are not as Christian-centered as he would like.

[Whos Charles Bausman? A closer look at the pro-Putin blogger who moved to Lancaster]

Both Peinovich and fellow party founder Joseph Jordan, using the respective pseudonyms of Mike Enoch and Eric Striker, have published essays on Russia Insider. Bausman made appearances on Peinovichs Fash the Nation podcast, he said in an October 2020 interview with LNP|LancasterOnline. (Bausman's ties to alt-right media platforms run by Peinovich and others was first reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center in early Oct. 2020.)

And soon after Bausman purchased the nearly five-acre property at 1630 Millersville Pike for $450,000 in 2020, he allowed white nationalists to list it as a home address.

Party founder Gregory Conte is currently living at the property, Bausman said in an interview with LNP|LancasterOnline this month. William Von Diez, a former leader in the white supremacist group Identity Evropa, registered to vote in Lancaster County in February 2020, with the farm listed as his address.

Norman Trey Garrison, who had been editor of The Lancaster Patriot before LNP|LancasterOnlines reporting identified him as the host of a white-nationalist podcast on Peinovichs The Right Stuff network, is also listed as living on the property in court papers related to his recent DUI case.

[Who's behind Lancaster Patriot? An alt-right podcaster from Texas, investigation shows]

Neither Peinovich nor Conte responded to requests for comment.

In an October 2020 interview, Bausman lied to LNP|LancasterOnline about his knowledge of the party rally and his association with other white nationalists. He said he did not know where the Peinovich speech was given and denied being in attendance.

Not that I'm aware of, Bausman said last year when asked if the event was in Lancaster County. I think something in the speech said something about New England.

Peinovich quote You cannot have a nation of justice, a nation of liberty, without a white majority forever." -- Mike Peinovich, chairman of the National Justice Party

When confronted with contrary evidence in an interview earlier this month, Bausman initially continued to deny the event was hosted on his property. But he eventually conceded that one of (The Right Stuff members) said, Can we use your barn for an event? and I said, Fine with me.

[How we confirmed a barn in Lancaster County was used for a 2020 white nationalist rally]

He also said he was at the barn for Peinovichs speech and that there were about 100 people there.

I didnt want to draw attention to a situation where other people can get in trouble, he said, explaining why hed initially concealed his connection with the event.

Aerie Perliger, a professor of criminology and justice at the University of Massachusetts who researches political extremism and far-right politics, said the August 2020 gathering of white nationalists in Lancaster County was an example of overlapping political grievances and racial tensions. As communities become more culturally and ethnically diverse, he said, some worry that will translate into political diversity, creating support for more liberal values that could jeopardize their conservative majority.

The danger, Perliger said, is that political polarization can help one group dehumanize the other side or portray the other side in absolute terms that sometimes can justify even violence.

If you believe the other side wants to see the destruction of America, if you believe the other side is not really part of your community, is not part of what America should be, it's easy for them to marginalize other groups and in some cases even justify violence against other groups, he said.

Most activities by white nationalists have been happening in blue states with substantial rural areas, Perlinger said, adding he is not surprised the party chose Pennsylvania for its launch. The party also lists its mailing address as a post office box in Butler, a city in rural western Pennsylvania.

Lancaster County political leaders and law enforcement, however, said they were shocked to learn the rally was held here.

I unequivocally condemn white supremacy and this gathering in the harshest terms possible, said Iber Guerrero Lopez, vice chairman of the Lancaster Township board of supervisors. Theres absolutely no room for white nationalists in Lancaster Township, and quite frankly, to advance white racial superiority is a poor, pathetic, and an evil use of the first amendment.

Its a sad day when you find out that hate and bigotry were welcomed onto the property in question. Lancaster Township will always be an inclusive, welcoming and tolerant municipality; that type of disgusting ideology has no home here.

The township manager, Bill Laudien, said officials there learned of the rally from an LNP|LancasterOnline reporter researching this story. We condemn in strongest terms the hate filled rhetoric that we have heard. There is no place for this in our community or any other community, he said.

Diane Topakian, chair of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee, said she was disturbed to learn about the rally and the partys beliefs.

All Americans should be horrified by these beliefs. We must use every opportunity to oppose this rhetoric and be vigilant, she said.

Republican Committee of Lancaster County chairman Kirk Radanovic voiced similar distaste.

These comments are absolutely appalling and disgusting, he said. We join with our Jewish friends and neighbors to strongly condemn the creation of this party, and the comments at this event. We continue to be proud of the work President Trump did to support the Jewish community and our allies in Israel. Those who attended this event and those who will join this party, are not welcome in the Republican Party or in Lancaster County."

The Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, when contacted for this story, was unable to provide information on whether the party or its founders are monitored by statewide law enforcement.

The diversification of Lancaster County

Lancaster County, particularly the urban core including the city and surrounding municipalities, has become increasingly diverse in recent decades, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In 2000, Lancaster Townships population was 84.1% white. Two decades later, in 2020, only 57% of the nearly 19,000 residents were white, according to census data.

The suburb has also tipped blue after decades of voting for Republicans. A majority of voters there backed Democrats Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in the last two presidential contests, for example; in 2000, they backed Republican George W. Bush.

The county has followed the same trend, albeit more slowly. Republicans made up 61% of registered voters 20 years ago; they make up 51% today.

Alexander Reid Ross, a doctoral fellow at the United Kingdom-based Center for Analysis of the Radical Right and author of Against the Fascist Creep, has been following the activities of Peinovich and other National Justice Party members for years. He said he sees the group as part of a broader effort to shift America toward right-leaning, populist governance like that of Victor Orbans Hungary.

Theyre trying to create a populist radical right party in the United States thats more hard line than the Republican framework, Ross said. I think theyre doing Lancaster because theyre trying to cultivate a rural following, because thats effectively what (Prime Minister Victor) Orban did in Hungary  get a diehard following in rural areas and use that to subvert the liberalism of the urban core and then single handedly dismantle the institutions of liberal democracy.

Ross was referring to the definition of liberalism as the political philosophy that values individual rights, civil liberties, democracy and free enterprise, not the definition meaning left-leaning politics.

National Justice Party & its founders

Carla Hill, the associate director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism, said the ADL has been tracking the party since August 2020 and had tracked many of its members before then.

She said the group espouses typical white-nationalist ideology; the party believes immigration must be curtailed or stopped to ensure whites retain a majority because thats how the country was founded.

Our concern would be this very vitriolic antisemitism that they express, she said.

The ADL is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization founded in 1913 to combat antisemitism.

jordan quote "The Jew is the virus that launches many infections against our national bodys White blood cells ... we must eliminate this virus before it brings about our Demise. -- National Justice Party founder Joseph Jordan, writing under the pseudonym Eric Striker"

Party chairman Peinovich was a speaker at the 2017 Unite the Right'' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he introduced former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Peinovich said in a 2017 interview with The New Yorker that he had an intense, personal antipathy for Jews and repeatedly has been photographed and videotaped preforming the Sieg Heil Nazi salute.

Party founder Jordan, who writes under the name Eric Striker, once wrote in The Daily Stormer that the Jew is the virus that launches many infections against our national bodys White blood cells ... we must eliminate this virus before it brings about our Demise. The Daily Stormer is a white-supremacist website that and message board that often includes advocacy for a second genocide of Jewish people.

Excerpts of the National Justice Party platform These excerpts include the first five points of the National Justice Partys platform, which was largely outlined in a speech Aug. 15, 2020, in Lancaster County. You can read the full platform here. The United States of America will be declared an outpost of Western civilization and a state dedicated to its European-heritage population and their posterity. It will be the policy of the state to set immigration and natal policy that will ensure a permanent European majority. The rights of historic minority populations will be respected. We demand the extension of the 1964 Civil Rights act to provide equal protections and privileges to the White majority, or the act must be repealed. We support the nationalization and strategic break ups of banks, mass media, and monopolistic corporations in order to create public accountability and guarantee that they serve the nation first. We support a two percent ceiling on Jewish employment in vital institutions so that they better represent the ethnic and regional population balance of the country. We support the sacred rights of free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of association. Political views will not be censored by the state or any large private concerns. It will be illegal for any employer to retaliate against workers for political activism and expression outside the workplace. -- SOURCE: nationaljusticeparty.com/platform/

Other members have made more explicit connections between their beliefs and the kind of antisemitism and white supremacy espoused in Hitlers Nazi Germany.

Greg Conte, the party founder now living at the Bausman farm, used his channel on Telegram - a messaging service created by a Russian entrepreneur - to praise American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell. In another message to his 1,400 subscribers, he wrote, Its sad that Hitler didnt win.

In a speech at a July gathering of the party, party founder Warren Balogh uses the phrase hail victory, which is the English translation of the Nazi chant Sieg Heil. Balogh attended the Bausman farm rally and was introduced on the stage alongside his father, Alan Balogh.

As he introduced the partys platform at the Bausman farm rally, Peinovich made no attempt to hide the partys view that whites are superior and Jews are to blame for societys ills.

He called former President Donald Trump, who he admitted previously supporting, the most Jewish president ever who is in the pocket of Jared Kushner and Zionist Jews. Trump was a fake who did nothing to help the white people he vowed to support, Peinovich said.

There's one other huge problem with the GOP, Peinovich said at one point in the speech.

Jews? a crowd member yells.

You beat me to it, Peinovich laughs. Now theyre the party of Zionism.

In laying out the partys principles, which include promoting the rights of white workers and implementing true immigration reform, he calls for a legal designation declaring the United States a European-majority country.

We need to unify as a race and as a people and fight for our prosperity and for our rights and for our right to this country which we founded! he said.

Whats next?

Hill, the Anti-Defamation League researcher, said the party has spread its message mainly through its podcasting network and posting their speeches online, but that they havent taken much public action beyond that.

However, party founders have made some notable connections within white-supremacist circles, she said. The partys recent involvement in a documentary connects them with groups which, the ADL said, consider themselves vigilante soldiers standing guard against a perceived existential threat to their white future.

They also appear to be connected to Thomas Rousseau, the leader of the white nationalist group Patriot Front, who has been keeping a low profile for the past few years but was seen in a video of the partys meeting on July 24.

So if they have the ear of these active clubs and the ear of Patriot Front, that's some of the most active groups, Hill said. It makes them have more influence.

Although Bausman said Conte is still living at the property on Millersville Pike, most of the groups members seem to have moved on from Lancaster County. Recordings of recent speeches show their meetings are being held somewhere in the Midwest. While its difficult to gauge the size of the partys membership, the groups Telegram channel had fewer than 9,000 followers as of this week.

Peinovich, in a documentary released earlier this month, said the goal of the party is to gain support by focusing on divisive social issues like race and LGBTQ issues. They hope to nominate candidates for elected office and usurp the Republican Party as the voice of conservatives.

We want to agitate, Peinovich said. Because right now, we dont have much power.

What success will they have as a political party?

Ross, of the Center for Analysis of the Radical Right, said he is skeptical if that is their real goal.

I think what they really want to do is promote a law-and-order framework that assembles around antisemitism in order to then force the Republican Party to embrace open antisemitism as well, or at least to kind of move toward the antisemitic framework.

COMING MONDAY: A look at the pro-Russia blogger's activities, online and in person, between the 2020 election and the Capitol riot.
Charles Bausman, whose family traces its presence in Lancaster County to the 1700s, took up permanent residence in Lancaster city for the first time in 2018.

Bausman, 57, grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and spent some of his childhood overseas, including years when his father was a journalist working in Moscow.

My dad was born here. He grew up here. My granfdparents lived here, Bausman said of Lancaster during an October 2020 interview. Its a wonderful part of the country, and I was so happy when, a few years ago, things worked out that I could actually move here.

Last year, Bausmans property hosted a group of white-nationalists who were forming a new political party. Although initially denying it, Bausman admitted early this month that his barn on Millersville Pike in Lancaster Township was the site of an August 2020 rally where a group called the National Justice Party announced its formation, saying it would stand for this such as combating the international jewish oligarchy and ensuring America retained a white majority forever.

[A group of notorious white nationalists met secretly in historic Lancaster County barn last year. Why here?]

Bausman spent much of his adult life living and working in Europe, mainly in Russia, initially working as a businessman in Russias agricultural sector. In 2014, he founded an online publication called Russia Insider, launching a second career as a media entrepreneur.

Russia Insider, from its start, was aimed at delivering pro-Russia coverage to western audiences, starting with its defense of Russias 2014 seizure of Crimea from Ukraine. Articles on the site attempted to make the case that Americas leaders were blinded by hatred of the Russian government to the point they were misleading Americans about the nations commonalities. A 2018 U.S. State Department report on rising antisemitism in Russia described Bausmans Russia Insider as being linked to progovernment oligarchs.

Reporting from The Interpreter, an online publication covering Russias government and foreign policy, showed he sought funding for Russian Insider from Russian Oligarch Konstanin Malofeev, who has ties to the European far-right.

In January 2018, Bausman published an essay, titled Its Time To Drop the Jew Taboo, on Russia Insider that drew international backlash. The essay argued that Israel and Jewish people were leading efforts to undermine Russias place on the world stage. To deflect any criticism, Bausman said, Jews use the memory of the Holocaust to portray any critics as antisemitic.

Jewish elites, Bausman wrote, are responsible for much of societys ills: The evidence suggests that much of human enterprise dominated and shaped by Jews is a bottomless pit of trouble with a peculiar penchant for mendacity and cynicism, hostility to Christianity and Christian values, and in geopolitics, a clear bloodlust.

The essay drew such rebuke that Russia Today - the Russian state-owned television network on which Bausman had appeared as a guest - disavowed him.

In his October 2020 conversation with LNP|LancasterOnline, Bausman said his willingness to criticize Jews was reinforced by his own belief that the Holocaust never happened, which he attributed to reading Holocaust-denial materials posted online by alternative media and researchers.

According to the National Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust denial and distortion are forms of antisemitism, prejudice against or hatred of Jews.  These views perpetuate long-standing antisemitic stereotypes  (and)l undermine the truth and our understanding of history.

Move to Lancaster

Ten months after publishing his antisemitic essay, Bausman purchased a house on West Chestnut Street in the city for $440,000. In early 2020, he purchased a nearly 5-acre property at 1630 Millersville Pike in Lancaster Township for $450,000. That parcel, which includes an historic barn and a house, sits on property that once belonged to one of Bausmans ancestors and abuts a subdivision that carries the family name.

This barn was the site of the National Justice Partys Aug. 15, 2020 meeting. It has also been, at various times, the address for William Von Diez, a former leader in the white supremacist group Identity Evropa; Norman Trey Garrison, the former editor of The Lancaster Patriot whom LNP|LancasterOnline reported last year was a host of a white-nationalist podcast; and is currently the home of Greg Conte, a founding member of the National Justice Party, according to Bausman.

[How we confirmed a barn in Lancaster County was used for a 2020 white nationalist rally]

Bausman, who told LNP|LancasterOnline he is fundamentally driven by his Christianity, also spoke of attending the Future of Christendom Conference in 2019 that was held at the Lancaster County Convention Center, and he said he and his family attended two Orthodox churches  Annunciation Greek Orthodox in Lancaster and St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Reading.

In October 2020, the Southern Poverty Law Center published a report describing Bausmans ties to white nationalists, his history of writing and promoting pro-Putin propaganda and his courtship of Russian oligarchs to fund his media properties. The report also explicitly linked Bausmans websites to Garrisons, whose blog, the SPLC said, shared computer code with Bausmans sites and a server operated by a Russia-based web development contractor.

Bausman was interviewed by two Pennsylvania newspapers in the wake of the SPLC report and spoke with an LNP|LancasterOnline reporter around the same time. In those conversations, he blasted the SPLC as a disreputable organization and denied any connections to Russias government.

In the October 2020 interview with LNP|LancasterOnline, Bausman said, I care a lot about this place (Lancaster), and I want it to be a better town. And I dont think its being very well managed.

In the days after the Jan. 6, Bausman collaborated with a Russian news program on a report about American politics and the attack on the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters.

He also left the country. Bausman and his family have been living in Moscow since mid-January.

COMING MONDAY: A look at the pro-Russia blogger's activities, online and in person, between the 2020 election and the Capitol riot.
CAIRO (AP)  Tens of thousands of Sudanese took to the streets across the country Saturday, in the largest pro-democracy protest yet since the military seized control earlier this week.

Three protesters were killed and dozens injured  several by live rounds  as security forces opened fire in several locations, a doctors' union said.

The coup, condemned by the international community, has threatened to derail Sudan's fitful transition to democracy, which began after the 2019 ouster of long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir. Since then, the military and civilian leaders have governed in an uneasy partnership.

Pro-democracy groups had called for protests across the country Saturday to demand the re-instating of a deposed transitional government and the release of senior political figures from detention.

The United States and the United Nations had warned Sudan's strongman, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, that they view the military's treatment of the protesters as a test, and called for restraint.

Burhan has claimed that the transition to democracy would continue despite the military takeover, saying he would install a new technocrat government soon. But the pro-democracy movement in Sudan fears the military has no intention of easing its grip, and will appoint politicians it can control.

Saturday's large turnout is bound to increase pressure on the generals who face condemnations from the U.S. and other Western countries to restore a civilian-led government.

Crowds began to gather Saturday afternoon in the capital of Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman. Marchers chanted Give it up, Burhan, and revolution, revolution. Some held up banners reading, Going backward is impossible.

The demonstrations were called by the Sudanese Professionals Association and the so-called Resistance Committees. Both were at the forefront of an uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in 2019. They are also calling for the dismantling of paramilitary groups and restructuring of the military, intelligence and security agencies.

All three protesters killed Saturday were shot in Omdurman. One was shot in his head, another in his stomach, and a third in his chest, the Sudan Doctors Committee and protesters said.

The committee, which is part of the Sudanese Professionals Association, said security forces had used live ammunition against protesters in Omdurman and nearby. It said it counted more than 110 people wounded, some with gunshots, in Khartoum, Omdurman and the eastern province of al-Qadarif.

Sudanese police denied using live ammunition and said in a statement that a policeman was wounded by gunfire. They said they used tear gas to disperse groups of demonstrators who allegedly attacked their forces and important positions. The statement did not elaborate.

Elsewhere, security forces fired tear gas at protesters as they attempted to cross the Manshia Bridge over the Nile River to reach Khartoums downtown, said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the professionals association.

No power-sharing mediation with the military council again, he said, marching at an area protest.

Anti-coup protests also erupted in other areas, including the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, Kassala in eastern Sudan, and Obeid, in North Kordofan province, according to activists.

As night fell, plain clothes security forces chased off protesters in Khartoum and Omdurman, to prevent them from setting up sit-ins, activists said. In some neighborhoods, protesters blocked roads with makeshift barricades.

Earlier on Saturday, security forces blocked major roads and bridges linking Khartoums neighborhoods. Security was tight downtown and outside the militarys headquarters, the site of a major sit-in during the 2019 uprising.

Since the military takeover, street protests have been daily. With Saturdays fatal shootings, the overall number of people killed by security forces since the coup rose to 12, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee and activists. More than 280 others were wounded. Troops have fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup demonstrators, and beat protesters with sticks in recent days.

Meanwhile, talks are ongoing to try to mitigate the crisis.

Late Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, met with Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, a coup leader seen as close to Burhan. Dagalo commands the feared Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary unit that controls the streets of Khartoum and played a major role in the coup.

He said the U.N.s transition mission for Sudan is facilitating dialogue between the top generals and civilian leaders. Perthes said this remains the only path toward a peaceful solution to the current crisis.

A Sudanese military official said Saturday that a U.N.-supported national committee began separate meetings with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Burhan to find common ground.

The official said Hamdok demanded the release of all government officials and political figures arrested since the coup. Burhan, the official said, gave an initial approval to release most of the detained, but rejected the release of others, including Khalid Omar, the minister of Cabinet Affairs, saying they face accusations of inciting troops to rebellion.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Meanwhile, the U.N. said it is closely monitoring security forces' response on Saturday.

They will be held individually accountable for any excessive use of force against protesters," said Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Burhan has claimed that the takeover was necessary to prevent a civil war, citing what he said were growing divisions among political groups. However, the takeover came less than a month before he was to have handed some power to a civilian.

Burhan installed himself as head of a military council that he said will rule Sudan until elections in July 2023. Observers say it's doubtful the military will allow a full transition to civilian rule, if only to block civilian oversight of the military's large financial holdings.
CD-9 Welcomes Residents Applying for BIG:LEAP Program

The field office of Councilmember Curren Price, Jr. (CD 9) proved popular to South L.A. residents, who lined up on October 29, to apply for the BIG:LEAP  the Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Program.

Through BIG:LEAP, 3,000 qualified recipients will get $1,000 per month starting the end of January 2022. The payments will be issued for 12 months with no-strings-attached or conditions on how the funds must be spent.

The only requirements are that applicants must live in the city of Los Angeles, be over 18-years-old, have at least one dependent, income at or below 100% of the federal poverty line, and experienced economic and/or medical hardship due to COVID-19. Judging from the number of folks in line, many people meet the stipulations.

The district I represent has high rates of poverty and high rates of homelessness. I wanted to identify a program that we could utilize to try to alleviate some of that. We know the program has been successful in other communities on a much smaller scale. I said I want to make that same kind of commitment in my district, said Price.

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Initially, he designated $6 million from his public safety fund with the plan of providing 500 families with $1,000 per month. However, Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson (CD 8) and Council President Nury Martinez (CD 6) contributed funds along with Mayor Eric Garcetti, who allocated $30 million, making BIG:LEAP a citywide program endowed with a total of $40 million to aid families living in poverty.

According to Price, BIG:LEAP is an important opportunity to see how effective this kind of program can be. It will certainly benefit the individuals that are involved and their families, but it also will provide good data for the city as we reconfigure programs, figure out how we can assistance programs more effective, more innovative and more appropriate.

Two local residents anticipated that the program would relieve some of their financial worries if they were deemed eligible to participate. Shamane Draper noted that the extra money would help her provide for her four-year-old son and two grandchildren.

I would take care of my family and take care of bills. Because of COVID-19, its been a hardship for me and my family, so I would be really thankful if I am selected, said Draper.

Lisa Lampkins shared comparable remarks, stating, Im the mother of five and it would really help us. I could catch up on my bills and be able to provide more for my family.

Interested persons have until November 7 to apply for BIG:LEAP. Applications can be submitted online at bigleap.lacity.org or in person at Prices field office, 4301 S. Central Avenue in Los Angeles. The office hours during the application period are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The weekend hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Other sites in CD 9, including All Peoples Community Center, L.A. Trade-Tech College and Ascot, Junipero Serra and Vermont Square Branch Libraries, will also accept applications. The locations will offer computers, Wi-Fi and language support .

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For more information about BIG:LEAP, call (323) 846-2651.
Here is a question for our listeners: What do witches, rabbits and dinosaurs have in common?

The answer? They are the top three most popular Halloween costumes this year in the United States. That information comes from data gathered by the Google News Initiative.

A special website called Google Frightgeist provides a look at the 500 most popular costumes this year nationwide. It also lets users know what costumes they are likely to see where they live on Halloween night.

Rounding out the top five most-searched costumes this year are the superhero Spider-man and Cruella De Vil, a dog-hating character from the Disney movie The Hundred and One Dalmatians. The 2021 films Cruella and Spider-Man: No Way Home are surely behind the popularity of these costumes.

Frightgeist offers more than just lists of the years most popular costumes. It also aims to help people who do not yet know what they are going to dress up as for Halloween. And it provides suggestions for people who hope to stand out with unusual and rare costume choices.

Users can choose show me something less popular or surprise me to get truly unusual costume ideas.

For example, if you choose witch on the website but are looking to dress up as something less common, Frightgeist suggests ideas like Tin Man and Candy Corn. The Tin Man is a character from the film and book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Frightgeist says it is the 339th most popular costume in America. It notes that you have a shockingly low chance of running into another Tin Man costume at a party. Candy corn is a sweet food that looks like a piece of corn. It is a common thing to eat during the Halloween season. But it is a decidedly uncommon costume.

The sites costume map gives users a look at the most popular costumes in cities across America. For example, the top costume around Charleston, South Carolina, is an astronaut. In the northernmost part of Maine, an elephant appears to be a popular choice. And in Topeka, Kansas, you might find a frightening number of zombies wandering the streets on Halloween.

To see more costume information and to get ideas for yourself, you can visit frightgeist.withgoogle.com.

Im Ashley Thompson.

Ashley Thompson wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

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Words in This Story

witch n. a woman who is thought to have magic powers

costume n. the clothes that are worn by someone (such as an actor) who is trying to look like a different person or thing

character n. a person or being who appears in a story, book, play, movie or television show

stand out v. to be easily seen or noticed

zombie n. a dead person who is able to move because of magic

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
We present the short story "The Caliph, Cupid and the Clock" by O. Henry. The story was originally adapted and recorded by the U.S. Department of State.

Prince Michael of Valleluna sat in the park on the seat he liked best. In the coolness of the night, he felt full of life. The other seats were not filled. Cool weather sends most people home.

The moon was rising over the houses on the east side of the park. Children laughed and played. Music came softly from one of the nearer streets. Around the little park, cabs rolled by. The trains that traveled high above the street rushed past. These cabs and trains, with their wild noises, seemed like animals outside the park. But they could not enter. The park was safe and quiet. And above the trees was the great, round, shining face of a lighted clock in a tall old building.

Prince Michaels shoes were old and broken. No shoemaker could ever make them like new again. His clothes were very torn. The hair of his face had been growing for two weeks. It was all colorsgray and brown and red and green-yellow. His hat was older and more torn than his shoes and his other clothes.

Prince Michael sat on the seat he liked best, and he smiled. It was a happy thought to him that he had enough money to buy every house he could see near the park, if he wished. He had as much gold as any rich man in this proud city of New York. He had as many jewels, and houses, and land. He could have sat at table with kings and queens. All the best things in the world could be hisart, pleasure, beautiful women, honor. All the sweeter things in life were waiting for Prince Michael of Valleluna whenever he might choose to take them. But instead he was choosing to sit in torn clothes on a seat in a park.

For he had tasted of the fruit the tree of life. He had not liked the taste. Here, in this park, he felt near to the beating heart of the world. He hoped it would help him to forget that taste.

These thoughts moved like a dream through the mind of Prince Michael. There was a smile across his face with its many-colored hair. Sitting like this, in torn clothes, he loved to study other men. He loved to do good things for others. Giving was more pleasant to him than owning all his riches. It was his chief pleasure to help people who were in trouble. He liked to give to people who needed help. He liked to surprise them with princely gifts. But he always gave wisely, after careful thought.

And now, as he looked at the shining face of the great clock, his smile changed. The Prince always thought big thoughts. When he thought of time, he always felt a touch of sadness. Time controlled the world. People had to do what time commanded. Their comings and goings were always controlled by a clock. They were always in a hurry, and always afraid, because of time. It made him sad.

After a little while, a young man in evening clothes came and sat upon a seat near the Prince. For half an hour he sat there nervously. Then he began to watch the face of the lighted clock above the trees. The Prince could see that the young man had a trouble. He could also see that somehow the clock was part of the trouble.

The Prince rose and went to the young mans seat.

I am a stranger, and I shouldnt speak to you, he said. But I can see that you are troubled. I am Prince Michael of Valleluna. I do not want people to know who I am. That is why I wear these torn clothes. It is a small pleasure of mine to help those who need help. First I must feel sure they are worth helping. I think you are. And perhaps your trouble may be ended if you and I together decide what to do about it.

The young man looked up brightly at the Prince. Brightly, but he was still troubled. He laughed, then, but still the look of trouble remained. But he accepted this chance to talk to someone.

Im glad to meet you, Prince, he said pleasantly. Yes, I can see you dont want to be known. Thats easy to see. Thanks for your offer to help. But I dont see what you can do. Its my own problem. But thanks.

Prince Michael sat down at the young mans side. People often said no to him, but they always said it pleasantly.

Clocks, said the Prince, are tied to the feet of all men and women. I have seen you watching that clock. That face commands us to act, whether or not we wish to act. Let me tell you not to trust the numbers on that face. They will destroy you if they can. Stop looking at that clock. What does it know about living men and women?

I usually dont look at that clock, said the young man. I carry a watch, except when I wear evening clothes.

I know men and women as I know the trees and the flowers, said the Prince, warmly and proudly. I have studied many years. And I am very rich. There are few troubles that I cannot help. I have read what is in your face. I have found honor and goodness there, and trouble. Please accept my help. I can see that you are wise. Show how wise you are. Do not judge me by my torn clothes. I am sure I can help you.

The young man looked at the clock again, and his face grew darker. Then he looked at a house beside the park. Lights could be seen in many rooms.

Ten minutes before nine! said the young man. He raised his hands and then let them fall, as if hope had gone. He stood up and took a quick step or two away.

Remain! commanded Prince Michael. His voice was so powerful that the young man turned quickly. He laughed a little.

Ill wait ten minutes and then Ill go, he said in a low voice, as if only to himself. Then to the Prince he said, Ill join you. Well destroy all the clocks. And women, too.

Sit down, said the Prince softly. I do not accept that. I do not include women. Women are enemies of clocks. They are born that way. Therefore they are friends of those who wish to destroy clocks. If you can trust me, tell me your story.

The young man sat down again and laughed loudly.

Prince, I will, he said. He did not believe that Prince Michael was really a prince. His manner of speaking proved that. Do you see that house, Prince? That house with lights in three windows on the third floor? At six tonight I was in that house with the young lady I am going towas going to marry. Id been doing wrong, my dear Prince, and she heard about it. I was sorry. I wanted her to forget it. We are always asking women to forget things like that, arent we, Prince?

 I want time to think, she said. I will either forget it forever, or never see your face again. At half-past eight, she said, watch the middle window on the third floor of this house. If I decide to forget, I will hang out a long white cloth. You will know then that everything is as it was before. And you may come to me. If you see nothing hanging from the window, you will know that everything between us is finished forever.

That, said the young man, is why I have been watching that clock. The time was passed twenty-three minutes ago. Do you see why I am a little troubled, my torn Prince?

Let me tell you again, said Prince Michael in his soft voice, that women are the born enemies of clocks. Clocks are bad, women are good. The white cloth may yet appear.

Never! said the young man, hopelessly. You dont know Marian. She is always on time, to the minute. That was the first thing I liked about her. At 8:31, I should have known that everything was finished. Im going to go West. Ill get on the train tonight. Ill find some way to forget her. Good nightPrince.

Prince Michael smiled his gentle, understanding smile. He caught the others arm. The bright light in the Princes eyes was softening. It was dream-like, clouded.

Wait, he said, till the clock tells the hour. I have riches and power and I am wiser than most men. But when I hear the clock tell the hour, I am afraid. Stay with me till then. This woman shall be yours. You have the promise of the Prince of Valleluna. On the day you are married I will give you $100,000 and a great house beside the Hudson River. But there must be no clocks in that house. Do you agree to that?

Sure, said the young man. I dont like clocks.

He looked again at the clock above the trees. It was three minutes before nine.

I think, said Prince Michael, that I will sleep a little. It has been a long day.

He lay down on the seat, as if he had often done it before.

Youll find me on this park on any evening when the weather is good, said the Prince. Come to me when you know the day youll be married. Ill give you the money.

Thanks, Prince, said the young man. That day isnt going to come. But thanks.

Prince Michael fell into a deep sleep. His hat rolled on the ground. The young man lifted it, placed it over the Princes face, and moved one of the Princes legs into an easier position. Poor fellow! he said. He pulled the torn coat together over the Princes body.

It was nine. Loud and surprising came the voice of the clock, telling the hour. The young man took a deep breath, and turned for one more look at the house. And he gave a shout of joy.

From the middle window on the third floor, a snow-white wonderful cloth was hanging.

Through the park a man came, hurrying home.

Will you tell me the time, please? asked the young man.

The other man took out his watch. Twenty-nine and a half minutes after eight.

And then he looked up at the clock.

But that clock is wrong! the man said. The first time in ten years! My watch is always

But he was talking to no one. He turned and saw the young man running toward the house with three lighted windows on the third floor.

And in the morning two cops walked through the park. There was only one person to be seena man, asleep on a long park seat. They stopped to look at him.

Its Michael the Dreamer, said one. He has been sleeping like this in the park for twenty years. He wont live much longer, I guess.

The other cop looked at something in the sleepers hand. Look at this, he said. Fifty dollars. I wish I could have a dream like that.

And then they gave Prince Michael of Valleluna a hard shake, and brought him out of his dreams and into real life.

Download activities to help you understand this story here.

Now it's your turn to use the words in this story. Do you feel that you are often in a hurry? How often do you stop to enjoy the world around you? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

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Quiz

Quiz - The Caliph, Cupid and the Clock Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

For Teachers

Download activities to use with this story.





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Words in This Story

prince  n. a male member of a royal family

cab(s)  n. a car that carries passengers to a place for an amount of money that is based on the distance traveled

beating  v. to make the regular movements needed to pump blood

comings and goings  idm. the activity of people arriving at and leaving a place

nervously  adv. done in a way showing feelings of being worried and afraid about what might happen

pleasantly - adv. done in a way that is friendly and likable

hopelessly  adv. done in a way that shows no feeling of hope

cop(s) - n. a person whose job is to enforce laws, investigate crimes, and make arrests


Several world leaders have said that humanitys future depends on efforts to fight climate change. They say the risk of failure could be high for countries attending the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP26.

Six years ago, nearly 200 countries agreed to separate plans to fight global warming in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. On Sunday, leaders will meet in Glasgow, Scotland to take the next step: Do more and do it faster.

Those efforts have not been easy. Except for a small drop because of the COVID-19 pandemic, carbon pollution from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is increasing, not falling.

The United Nations estimated that, between now and 2030, the world will release up to 28 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases beyond the limit set in the Paris agreement.



Everything is at stake

Many scientists say climate change is causing heat waves, flooding, lack of rain and major storms around the world. There were wildfires in Canada and Turkey, flooding in Europe and China, and record heat in Siberia and Californias Death Valley.

Extreme weather also has led to losses of human lives and is estimated to cost the worlds economy about $320 billion a year.

Everything is at stake if the leaders do not take climate action, young Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate said. We cannot eat coal. We cannot drink oil, and we cannot breathe so-called natural gas.

European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said, We are fighting for the survival of humanity. Dr. Maria Neira, director of public health and environment at the World Health Organization, added, The unhealthy choices that are killing our planet are killing our people as well.

Pope Francis will not attend the COP26 meeting. But he said before Fridays meeting with American President Joe Biden, "These crises present us with the need to take decisions, radical decisions that are not always easy." The religious leader added, "...Moments of difficulty like these also present opportunities, opportunities that we must not waste."



Climate change targets

United Nations officials have proposed three targets for negotiations at Glasgow:

Countries must promise to reduce carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030 compared with 2010.

Rich countries should contribute $100 billion a year in aid to poor countries.

Half of that amount must be aimed at dealing with climate changes worst effects.

World leaders have recently admitted some goals may not be met. U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry told The Associated Press: There will be a gap on emission targets. That means the amount of gasses released will not meet limits set by international negotiators.

Under the Paris agreement, nations must reconsider their earlier promises to limit carbon gasses every five years. They are to come up with plans to cut even more and do it faster. This years meeting, which was delayed one year by the pandemic, is the first to include the required plans to set new targets.

In Paris, world leaders agreed to limit the warming of the Earths atmosphere to 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times. But the world has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius since then.

A UN study released in August said the world will cross the 1.5-degree-Celsius mark in the 2030s. That is earlier than some past predictions. The reports scientists said warming has increased in recent years.

It also studied five possible situations that might take place in the future. They are based on how much carbon gas emissions are cut by nations around the world. In three possible situations, worldwide average temperatures will increase by more than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times.

Small island nations in the Pacific Ocean and other poor, at-risk communities said in 2015 that a rise of 2 degrees Celsius would wipe them out.

Our way of life is at stake, said Tina Stege, the climate representative for the Marshall Islands. Our ability to provide our children with a safe and secure future is at stake. She added that island countries do not have higher ground to which they can move their people.



Division among countries

In Glasgow, divisions between nations are big, and trust is a problem, say several U.N. officials and outside experts.

Rich countries like the U.S. and European nations have historically produced the most greenhouse gases. Rich nations are now asking poor nations to cut or end the use of fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas. In return, they have promised  but have not given - $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries switch to clean energy.

China is the worlds largest carbon emitter. The country announced a new reduction target that is not much stronger than its earlier promise. The Climate Action Tracker estimated that even if every other nation cuts emissions by 45 percent and China does not, the worlds total will drop only by 30 percent.

United Nations Environment Program Director Inger Andersen said China and the U.S. are very important. We need these two powers to put aside whatever else and to show true climate leadership because this is what it will take, Andersen told the AP.

Im Dan Novak.

And I'm Jill Robbins.

Seth Borenstein and Frank Jordans reported this story for the Associated Press. Hai Do adapted it for VOA Learning English with additional material from Reuters. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

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Words in This Story

global warming n. the recent increase in the world's temperature that is believed to be caused by the increase of certain gases (such as carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere

greenhouse gases n. (pl.) a number of gasses that trap heat and have been linked to warming in the atmosphere

at stake idiom in a position to be lost or gained

radical adj. very new and different from what is traditional or ordinary

opportunity n. a chance to do something

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Third dose booster shots of Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine were approved for all adults by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Lewiston, ID (83501)

Today

Considerable clouds this morning. Some decrease in clouds later in the day. High 48F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low around 30F. Winds light and variable.
Lewiston, ID (83501)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 47F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low around 30F. Winds light and variable.
Happy Halloween to everyone who celebrates the occasion, especially those with little kids. While my husband, Dan, and I now have grown up children who live far away, we still enjoy seeing the children trick-or-treating in their cool costumes.

But theres a far greater joy that follows this celebration of ghouls and goblins: the beginning of the holiday season.

I always have a great time planning for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve. Happily, the vintners in our wine country region love the holidays, too. There are so many wonderful events, wine tastings, and amazing wine and food events at area restaurants. Im very grateful that our wine-tasting rooms and restaurants all are open this year (do bring a mask to enter any business).

There are still several choices in events on Halloween Sunday, especially in Los Olivos  the little town that can, as I like to think of it. They create many reasons to visit any time of the year, drawing many wine lovers.

For instance, you can join the Halloween costume party at Community Craft. There are prizes for couples that earn the winner dinner and a bottle of sparkling wine for two at Nella at Fess Parker Inn  a sweet prize. Theres another prize where your clever costume can earn you a year of belonging to the mug club or wine club. To make it even more enticing, they are serving complimentary pizza. The event takes place from 6 p.m. until "late night at 2446 Alamo Pintado Ave., near San Marcos Avenue.

Also, there are 16 Los Olivos businesses participating in the scarecrow contest with prizes going to: the best town scarecrow, most humorous, spookiest, best natural materials and best business theme.

Should you prefer a tasting room event with a great patio, think of Zaca Mesa for your Halloween fun. They will be featuring complimentary live music by Keith Cox from noon until 2 p.m. Costumes are not required but are encouraged. Reservations arent required, but it may pay off to call and inquire. The tasting room is open daily from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. for traditional wine tasting by the glass or bottle.

If you're not able to attend this week, they have more live concerts on Nov. 7 and Nov. 14. The live music events are free of charge, so Id suggest grabbing a picnic lunch nearby and purchasing a bottle of wine at Zaca Mesa. Even if theres only two of you, you can take the other half of the bottle home to enjoy later or the day after. If you do take an open bottle home, be sure to safely store it in the trunk of your car.

Zaca Mesa has another wine and food event happening on Nov. 7, Pinot and Paella. The event features their newest label, Tread, paired with paella catered by All Purpose Flower, and music by Agua Santa. The special pairing will be held on the vineyard lawn beside their century-old oak tree. The cost is $55 for Tread wine club members, $60 for Zaca Mesa club members and $65 for the general public. I strongly suggest making reservations for the event.

During the weekend of Nov. 4-7, the Taste of Sta. Rita Hills event is scheduled, offering attendees an opportunity to taste rare wine releases from Sea Smoke. Such wines are not normally available for tasting as there is not much produced during each vintage. They say the wines are in stock for four days only, but they would make great additions to your Thanksgiving table.

According to the winery, the 2019 vintage of Sea Smoke "has hit an even higher consistency and balance." They said, "The 2019 vintage was blessed with a long growing season, which equals more complexity in the grapes."

With a wine as highly prized as this label, a chance to taste before you buy is indeed a rare opportunity.

You can learn more at tasteofstaritahills.com. The tasting room is located at 2923 Grand Ave., Los Olivos, and is open Thursday through Sunday noon until 5 p.m. You can also make an appointment by phone or online. Due to the limited availability of the Sea Smoke brand, they ask that you place orders via email or phone, as the wines are available at the online store due to volume limitations.

Happy fall holidays!
Three people were injured Friday in a multivehicle collision in which the impact forced an SUV to become wedged between a tree and a house near South Western Avenue and West Cook Street.

Santa Maria Police dispatchers received a report of a collision in the 1000 block of West Cook Street shortly before 1:30 p.m., according to Sgt. Paul Flores Jr.

Upon arrival, first responders located the black SUV with severe front-end damage and four other vehicles, including a grey sedan with a damaged passenger side front end and two vehicles with slight damage parked along Western Avenue in front of Perry's Electric Motors.

Santa Maria resident Rick Hill, 61, was driving eastbound on West Cook Street in his green Prius, which also was damaged in the collision.

Hill stopped at the intersection to look both ways before proceeding and said the black SUV ran the stop sign going southbound at a high rate of speed, clipping and completely removing his rear bumper.

"I thought a kid hit me on the bumper with his bike," Hill said, adding the police believe the SUV's female driver suffered a seizure. "I'm just very thankful to Jesus that I didn't get hurt."

The force of the collision caused the SUV to spin 180 degrees into its final resting position between the tree and the house, which had partial damage on its roof and siding.

The female driver of the SUV, her male juvenile passenger and an additional person were taken to a local hospital, according to a female resident who did not want to be identified but is the owner of the home involved in the collision.

Car parts were scattered across the resident's lawn, over a wall and into her courtyard several dozen feet away.

Santa Maria Police Traffic Bureau officials did not respond to a call for comment on Friday.

Several emergency personnel and units, including a truck, engine and battalion commander from the Santa Maria Fire Department, three American Medical Response ambulances, police officers and tow trucks responded to the incident.
Two men were injured in a shooting Thursday on South Curryer Street, followed by a second shooting hours later on North Thornburg Street, according to the Santa Maria Police Department.

The first shooting was reported at about 10 p.m. in the 600 block of South Curryer Street, where officers located two men suffering from gunshot wounds, according to Sgt. Andy Magallon. One victim told police they saw a handgun, Magallon added.

One man was transported via ground ambulance to Marian Regional Medical Center, while the other man was flown to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital via CalSTAR. Neither of the victims were identified.

One man was released from the hospital, while the other was listed in stable condition, according to Magallon.

Detectives and crime lab technicians were called to investigate the scene, according to Magallon, who said the shooting does not appear to be gang-related.

A little more than three hours, at about 1:15 a.m., Santa Maria Police officers were called to a second incident in the 1400 block of North Thornburg Street.

Upon arrival, police did not find any victims but located evidence of a shooting, according to Magallon.

Both shootings are under investigation, although Magallon said there is no evidence at this time that they are related. Detectives are asking anyone with information on either shooting to contact the Santa Maria Police Department at 805-928-3781.
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Entact was the contractor for the project and the project manager was Adam Ewert. He said when dredging bodies of water they find all kinds of things like washing machines, an engine block and lots of man-made trash.

Inman said the most interesting thing found during this dredging was an old Ruger 10/22 rifle which was turned over to the Portage Police Department.

There were also several bowling balls and old bottles, Inman said.

Inman said the multi-use path running alongside the canal is not yet completed. The path has a subbase which will be paved next year. Inman said the city of Portage and WisDOT will handle the paving. There are snow fences installed along the trail to restrict use until it is paved.

At a listening session earlier this month, Portage Mayor Rick Dodd said the dredging is a huge project for the city and a small park will be added near the canal to make it more appealing.

Portage and WisDOT will be asking for bids in the near future regarding the park. It will include paving the path, adding benches and lighting.

Portages former public works director Aaron Jahncke said a major goal of the project was to make the canal more accessible for recreational purposes such as kayaking and other paddling sports.
And one of the Madison connections is visible even if youre just driving by downtown on I-43. There has long been big, splashy mural art with beer themes along this stretch  just this month, Molson Coors refreshed its some 50-foot-tall Leinenkugels mural on the Tenth Street Brewery just a few blocks away. Central Waters commissioned a big logo mural on the side of its building, and its clearly visible from the freeway lanes below. Even at night, the brewerys heron looks out at the city, illuminated from above.

Madison mural artist and woman-about-beer Amy Zaremba contributed to that second-story painting and, while working on the project, came up with the idea for whats arguably now the visual focal point of the refreshed interior.

Before it opened in 2017, Pabst created a kind of wall of backlit beer bottles for the low stage in the churchs former apse at one end of the taproom. By the time Central Waters entered, a few of the panels of lights had failed, and because the lights couldnt be economically replaced, the creation was covered by the stage curtain. Mollica mentioned the conundrum to Zaremba and she came up with the idea to cover the busted panels with a mural. She soon had a sketch of the work that serves as the backdrop to the handful of tables on the stage.
The business will be 50 years old next year, said Renee Farley. Were planning a big celebration then.

Son Aaron works at Farleys as a shop piano technician, and daughter Shannon teaches violin and viola there. Daughter Megan is a nurse at UW Hospital, and daughter Elizabeth lives on the East Coast.

Hallways throughout Farleys House of Pianos are covered with framed photos of some of the many musicians who have played in the Salon Piano Series over the years.

We have a lot of artists ask to play here now, so its harder to choose, Renee Farley said. But also we have repeats, because some of these artists are very popular with our audience. So every now and again we have one of them come back.

One of those repeat artists was pianist Ilya Yakushev, who was so determined to perform again at Farleys that when his flight from New Jersey to Madison was canceled due to a snowstorm, he drove through the night in a rental car and arrived just a couple of hours before performing Rhapsody in Blue for a packed house.

He played magnificently, Renee Farley said. It was just phenomenal.

In this difficult time for the arts, how would you rate the state of the arts in Madison?
Walking everywhere

Every Afghan on base has gotten at least one chance to go through the store, and many have gotten to go a second time, according to Afghans and base officials. Phillips said Fort McCoy personnel are going block by block to hand out coats individually.

Some have already left the base to get resettled into permanent homes across the country. Fort McCoy officials will not confirm how many have been resettled, only that Afghans are leaving on a daily basis.

At 60,000 acres, Fort McCoy is sprawling. Roughly 13,000 Afghans have been staying in one section of the base with rows and rows of more than 250 barracks-style, two-story buildings with white siding and red roofs.

From the barracks to the medical clinic, the laundry building to the cafeteria, Afghans have to walk almost everywhere they go. All of the facilities are in separate buildings across eight neighborhoods.

There are heated tents for when Afghans have to wait outside to get into the cafeteria for food. But despite officials saying in early September that problems with food distribution were addressed, the hours-long lines for food have returned, some said.
BOISE  Idaho has joined a multistate lawsuit against a federal vaccine mandate that could extend to the states colleges and universities.

At issue is the Biden administrations Executive Order 14042, which would require federal contractors and their employees to get the coronavirus vaccine. Since Idaho universities have $89 million in federal contracts, the order applies to campuses.

Tens of millions in university research dollars are at stake, Gov. Brad Little said in a news release Friday evening. This is coercive federal overreach, and it must be stopped.

Idaho Education News reported first on the executive order and its implications for the states universities.

Idahos State Board of Education is a party to the lawsuit.

Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Universities in at least two of these states  Alabama and Kansas  had said the executive order left them no choice but to require vaccines.

The order, scheduled to go into effect Dec. 8, affects all contractor employees, but allows workers to seek religious or medical exemptions.

In a letter to Biden Friday, Little also decried the potential impact on private employers.

Many Idaho businesses of all sizes engage in contracts with the federal government to provide products and services that ensure our country can function properly. Now, business owners who pursued the American dream and worked to fill important needs for our nation are being coerced into policing your vaccine mandates, Little wrote. Some of these Idaho contractors have been in longstanding business relationships with the federal government, and changing their contracts midstream forces them to choose between losing their employees or giving up their business. It is just plain wrong.

The letter does not mention university contracts and research.

Fridays legal development comes only days after movement on the legislative front.

On Monday, Idaho legislative leaders said they would reconvene the 2021 session on Nov. 15  and possibly take up bills to address vaccine mandates.

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The MATCH program is ready to help McDowell residents enroll in health coverage for the 2022 coverage year.

Affordable Care Act coverage open enrollment starts Monday, Nov. 1, and runs through Jan. 15. For the 2022 coverage year, there will be nine insurers offering plans in McDowell County: Aetna, Ambetter, Amerihealth Carnitas, Blue Cross Blue Shield NC, Cigna, Friday Health, Oscar and United Health Care.

Quality plans are more affordable now than ever, with many no-cost and low-cost options available. Thanks to funding from the American Rescue Plan, four out of five marketplace enrollees qualify for a plan $10 or less. All marketplace plans are required to cover essential benefits: ambulatory care, hospitalization, prescription coverage, maternity care, mental health and behavioral health services and more. Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurers cannot refuse coverage because of preexisting conditions, according to a news release.

MATCH has three certified navigators available to provide free unbiased education, outreach, plan preview, enrollment and post enrollment assistance. Appointments are available virtually and in person. To make enrolling more accessible, community partners will be hosting a variety of open enrollment events:

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The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday announced the reorganization and designation of the heads of its three divisions.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape says the National Gold Refinery & Mint Project Agreement signed today is a landmark agreement for the country and a major achievement in the implementation of his Governments Take Back PNG policy.

The project starts today and will establish, for the first time in Papua New Guinea, a downstream processing and value-adding industry for gold, one of the countrys most-valuable natural resource exports, he said.

The project will put Papua Guinea on the world gold map, so it is rightfully recognised in both gold mining and gold refining industries, and in global precious metals and financial markets, as one of the worlds most-important gold-producing countries.

PM Marape said downstream processing of natural resources in PNG, including gold, forestry and fisheries, is the key to our economic future and employment opportunities for citizens and is a key policy of his government.

This has been talked about for decades, but it is my leadership peers in present Government who are now pushing for this major in-country downstream processing project, he said.

It is the first of many to come.

Until now, all the economic and social benefits from refining and value-adding to Papua New Guineas gold, have been exported to foreign refineries and for the benefit of foreign countries.

The project will ensure that we account for all gold produced in PNG and export out finished products for companies and individuals who are in the gold industry.

PM Marape said for the first time all the profits, taxes, new US dollar foreign exchange inflows, employment and related benefits from the refining of gold and precious metals will stay in PNG.

For the first time, PNG will be recognised on the world stage, including by international refined gold regulatory bodies, such as the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), he said.

PNG will become known and recognised as a producer of international standard:

gold and precious metal investment bullion bars,

gold and precious metal legal tender investment coins; and

other refined gold products.

PM Marape said the project will establish four new world-class businesses in the State:

National Gold Refinery  which will refine all of PNGs gold and precious metals and produce international standard gold and silver bullion bars;

National Mint  to mint our own currency and the new National Bird of Paradise legal tender and investment grade gold and precious metal currency coins;

National Gold Bank  to provide dedicated gold and precious metal banking and trading services to the PNG gold mining industry; and

National Gold  to market PNG gold and precious metals, and our value-added bullion bars, investment coins and other products global investors.

This is a high-end value-adding business and for a gold producing nation, we want to move into this space, PM Marape said.

No one has dared to dream this dream, but as a Government fighting to earn more from our resources, this low-hanging economic opportunity is now harnessed .

PM Marape said the State is an equal 50:50 joint venture equity partner in the project from commencement where 30 per cent of State Interest will be passed to our local alluvial miners and landowner companies.

The State also has the right to buy majority or total control of the project at a time into the future as defined in the project agreement with Refinery Holdings who are partners in this project, he said.

Refinery Holdings will be the project manager, operator and financier of the project until the State decides to buy control.

PM Marape said the National Gold Corporation will pay full corporate taxes (currently 30 per cent) on its profits from commencement.

Refinery Holdings will pay full dividend withholding tax on its dividends received from National Gold Corporation,  he said.

The project will generate substantial new dividends and corporate taxes paid to the State  currently projected at approximately US$800 million over the first 15 years of operation.

PM Marape said there would be many jobs and opportunities created by the project.

Up to 200 new jobs will be created during the construction phase of the refining and minting facilities on land leased within the LNG and Petroleum Park, and at Jackson International Airport, he said.

There will be up 350 new tertiary level jobs in the operational phase and there will be significant training and skills transfer to local employees for decades to come.

And there will be the creation of many local ancillary industries, including gold tourism facilities, and long-term supply requirements from local contractors and suppliers.

PM Marape said small-scale, local alluvial gold miners (i.e., landowners) will benefit from the new world-class dedicated gold refinery in PNG.

Landowners can expect to receive better pricing for their gold from the National Gold Refinery and will avoid having to deal with industry middlemen or having to accept the discounted gold price offered by middlemen for their gold, he said.

PM Marape said PNG miners and the economy will benefit from new and substantial foreign currency inflows.

The project and its gold products are priced in US Dollars, he said.

The National Gold Refinery will have an estimated initial US$4 billion per annum gold throughput, and more as gold production increases, every year for many decades to come.

The PNG gold mining industry will benefit from having a world-class, professionally-managed, gold and precious metals refinery in-country and dedicated to servicing all their refining and gold trading requirements.

A local world-class gold refinery means that the time gap between gold production and sale is significantly reduced as unrefined gold does not need to be shipped from PNG to foreign refineries.

This may mean some PNG mining opportunities will now become economic, and it may increase the profitability of existing mines through a reduction in processing cost.

The project also includes arrangements by which current and future PNG gold miners will transition from foreign gold smelting and refining arrangements to refining of all PNG gold and precious metals through the National Gold Refinery.

The State will provide a statutory guarantee of the gold delivery and related obligations of the National Gold Corporation Group to assure PNG gold miners and international banks, investors and gold industry counterparties that their gold and dealings with the Group are safe and secure at all times.

The National Gold Refinery will, by law, provide globally-competitive refining costs, outcomes and benefits for PNG gold miners now and into the future.

The project, and the significant long-term foreign investment in the project by the private sector, demonstrates regionally, and internationally, that my Governments foreign investment policy is effective and that PNG is a mature, stable, and safe investment destination for exploration, mining, and production of gold, and refined gold.

I look forward to work with the investors, our local SME and alluvial gold miners and landowners, as well as those in the big mines to ensure that this refinery and mint is beneficial to all parties in the mining and gold business.





Statement





Next: Mining Jobs at PNG's OK Tedi Mine
The Missoula City-County Health Department released some Halloween safety advice Friday for trick-or-treating and other gatherings.

Local health officials urge parents to keep trick-or-treat gatherings small, encourage physical distancing and wear a mask. They also advise parents against using chemicals to disinfect candy wrappers.

COVID-19 is not primarily spread by surfaces  while it can happen, it is incredibly rare, Health Officer DShane Barnett said in a news release. Trying to clean a candy wrapper with bleach will definitely do more harm than good.

Health officials also caution against large gatherings and parties. If a gathering is happening, the health department said to try and keep it to less than 10 vaccinated people, and to also open windows or ventilate if possible.

Im hoping folks  especially college kids  pick popcorn and scary movies at home over going to a big rager, Barnett said.

Missoula registered 113 new COVID cases on Friday, according to health department data. The county's death toll from the disease is 163 and there are currently 1,576 active cases and 49 people hospitalized.

The county is reporting a 13.8% positivity rate on COVID tests over the last seven days. As of Oct. 25, the county has had 71.72% of its eligible population get at least one dose of the vaccine and 58.49% of the county's total population is fully vaccinated.

Over the past 30 days, 35 people in Missoula County have died of COVID, according to data from the New York Times.

Jordan Hansen covers news and local government for the Missoulian. Shout at him on Twitter @jordyhansen or send him an email at Jordan.Hansen@Missoulian.com

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Southgate Mall in Missoula has obtained a building permit to renovate a space for a new Hobby Lobby mercantile store.

The Hobby Lobby would occupy the 51,000-square-foot former Luckys Market grocery store space, which is currently being used by Missoula County as a vaccine clinic site.

Southgate Malls general manager did not return a request seeking comment on Friday, nor did representatives for Washington Prime Group, the company that owns the mall. A request for comment from Hobby Lobby was also not immediately returned.

The building permit is for renovating the existing space along with the addition of an exterior vestibule and a mezzanine for storage. The total project cost is estimated to be around $2.4 million.

Hobby Lobby is an arts and crafts supplies chain that has stores in Billings, Helena, Great Falls and Kalispell, along with 900 other locations nationwide. It has been involved in several controversies over the years.

In 2012, it filed a lawsuit claiming religious beliefs exempted it from providing emergency contraceptives as part of its employer-provided health insurance. The company won a 5-4 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in the case.

In 2018, a district court in New York ordered the company to return thousands of artifacts that had been looted from Iraq. And owner David Green has been accused of donating to anti-LGBTQ groups.

The Missoula Valley Winter Market, which operated in the old Luckys space last winter, announced recently that their new location will be through the west entrance of the mall.

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Members of Missoula city and county agencies gathered at the courthouse Friday afternoon to honor a handful of criminal justice partners working in the field of domestic violence, building a robust network to go above and beyond in providing support to victims.

The Domestic Violence Professionals Awards event this year recognized 10 individuals across many municipal and county departments, including law enforcement, the county attorneys office and victim support programs that handle domestic violence cases.

YWCA Missoula Executive Director Cindy Weese and Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst opened the ceremony commending Missoulas criminal justice professionals for their vital contributions to the process victims go through in the criminal justice system.

Pabst told the Missoulian more than half of the violent crimes against persons cases the Missoula County Attorneys Office charges involve domestic violence.

It takes up a lot of criminal justice resources to respond adequately to domestic violence, Pabst said. These cases are extremely challenging to investigate and prosecute. Its so important that professionals who work in this field attain a level of excellence.

At the ceremony, Weese mentioned the two domestic violence-related homicides that happened in Missoula recently.

A Sept. 2 incident off Mullan Road near Frenchtown ended in Danielle Johnston losing her life. In the other, Lucille Synek died when she was allegedly run over with a truck by her partner in the WinCo parking lot on Oct. 16.

Even though Ive been working in this field for such a long time, the brutality of those murders staggered me, Weese said. These heartbreaking deaths are reminders that the work we do is so very important and that our tenacity cannot fade.

The first award went to Monica Brooke, a nurse at First Step who has been providing strangulation-specific evaluations since July 2020. Brooke has been critical to the strangulation pilot program, which aims to understands the seriousness of strangulation and its potentially lethal consequences.

Beth Hubble, a University of Montana professor, received the education award. A presenter spoke about how she goes above and beyond in her education about violence against women, men and nonbinary people.

Tawnya Cazier took home the counselor of the year award, with her presenter saying she does outstanding work with survivors of rape, PTSD, grief and trauma.

Connie McDonald received the victim liaison of the year award and Lisa Tipps won for her excellence serving survivors as a social worker.

Two law enforcement officers were honored  Sgt. Zach Sargent from the Missoula County Sheriffs Office and Ben Graupmann from Missoula police.

It was tough to pick just one sheriffs deputy to receive this award, but Sgt. Sargent represents everything the sheriffs office wants for this award, Missoula County Undersheriff Rich Maricelli said.

(Graupmann) is one of the most kind, compassionate officers the city of Missoula could ask to have to respond to a disturbance involving domestic violence, a statement said.

Kate Bernot was honored for her work as a volunteer at the YWCA.

Its very meaningful to receive this award, Bernot said. Its been so fulfilling to volunteer at the Y. Ive learned so much by volunteering. The YWCA does great work.

Brian Lowney, Missoula lead deputy county attorney for the Special Victim Unit, took home the award in the prosecutor category.

Brians work with domestic violence victims is compassionate, honest and safety-focused. He has a keen insight as to how victims' lives are affected by the criminal justice system, said a statement read at the ceremony, adding he treats victims with dignity and respect regardless of their background.

A special award, the Judy Wang Lifetime Achievement Award, was presented by Pabst at the end of the ceremony to Weese for her 30 years of work at the YWCA.

Because of Cindy's unparalleled dedication and inability to turn away, thousands of lives are better, Pabst said.

There are many resources available in Missoula for domestic violence survivors.

The Missoula YWCA provides 24-hour crisis counseling, emergency shelter, transitional housing, mental health counseling, legal support and support groups for victims of crime. Their phone number is 406-542-1944.

The Missoula City-County Crime Victim Advocate Program provides legal advocacy for victims of crimes. Advocates can help you obtain a restraining order, report a crime to police or navigate options available to you through the justice system. They can be reached at 406-258-3830.

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The Missoula City Council will hold a public hearing on Monday regarding the application of a cable company that wants to spend $46 million on a fiber-optic network to build a franchise in Missoula.

The company, TDS Metrocom, wants to compete head-to-head with the cable provider here, Spectrum.

Historically weve never had cable companies compete head-to-head, pursuant to the federal communications law, said city attorney Jim Nugent during an Oct. 20 council committee meeting. This is going to be the first time that youll have direct competition with cable companies.

There were three cable companies in Missoula around 30 years ago, Nugent said. They were encouraged to compete with each other, but they never did and instead served their own geographical neighborhoods of Missoula.

Now, it's just Spectrum, which used to be called Charter Communications.

Anytime a cable company uses the public right-of-way, like alleys, to build infrastructure, the city can take up to 5% of its revenue. That money is used to pay for public-access television, which is called Missoula Community Access Television in Missoula.

Other companies in Missoula deliver internet, television and phone services, but not by using physical lines that are placed in the public right-of-way.

TDS Metrocom is based in Madison, Wisconsin, and provides high-speed internet, television and phone services to nearly 900 rural, suburban and metropolitan communities in the nation, Nugent said. The company has built a franchise in Spokane and started construction recently in Billings on a network there. Now, they want to build a fiber-optic-based network in Missoula.

They would have to use public right-of-way to deliver lines to residential houses and businesses, but once at the property the signal will be delivered wirelessly to set-top boxes. The company believes it would take between 2 to 5 years to build out the infrastructure at a cost of around $46 million, depending on how much subsurface rock they encounter while digging, Nugent said

The city hired a consultant to look at TDS Metrocoms qualifications, including financial statements and past performance. The consultant found that TDS has demonstrated it has had sufficient funding to finance, operate and expand operations in the past.

Based upon the strength of the information provided by Telephone and Data Systems Inc. and the standards for review established under applicable law, we see no basis on which the city can deny the TDS application due to a lack of financial qualifications, the consulting firm Moss & Barnett wrote in a report to the city.

City officials have met with the company to make sure they understand local ordinances, Nugent said. The main concern is that they dont damage tree roots in boulevards and alleys.

The public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday in the city council chambers.

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Three conservation groups have criticized the Madison River Work Groups recommendation to repeal two new rules set to take effect in 2022.

Representatives of the Anaconda Sportsmen, George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited and Skyline Sportsmens Association  representing 2,000 members and supporters  drafted a letter to the Fish and Wildlife Commission on Oct. 26 highlighting their concerns and calling the work groups claims false.

On Thursday the Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to begin the process to repeal two rules. Although dated prior to the meeting, no mention was made of the letter to the commission at the hearing or during testimony.

One of the rules will allow fishing from a boat from Raynolds Pass fishing access site to Lyons Bridge on Saturdays and Sundays from June 15 to Sept. 30 under a trial program.

Another rule will prohibit outfitters and guides from conducting business between June 15 and Sept. 30 between Lyons Bridge and Palisades day use area on Sundays and from Raynolds Pass FAS to Lyons Bridge on Saturdays.

The new rules were created in an attempt to reduce boating and angler traffic on one of the busiest rivers in the state.

If the Work Group does not understand the strong public support for the walkwade and rest rotation sections on the Madison River, then the membership of the Work Group is not representative of the thousands of public commentors that participated in the last exhaustive Madison River rule making process and related surveys, the groups wrote.

The three conservation groups also said they were not notified that the work group was meeting, despite being involved in developing the rules.

The organizations also criticized the idea that there was a lack of support for the new rules, claiming there is overwhelming public support pointing to FWPs own 2019-20 survey as proof.

To repeal the rule, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has to file a request with the secretary of states office, which can only be done twice each month, explained Becky Dockter, FWPs chief legal counsel. Then the agency has to allow 30 days for public comment. Given the timeline, the earliest the commission could address the repeal would be after their scheduled meeting in December.

The new rules are to take effect on Jan. 1.

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ROME (AP)  Leaders of the world's biggest economies on Saturday endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations, a linchpin of new international tax rules aimed at blunting the edge of fiscal paradises amid skyrocketing profits of some multinational businesses.

The move by the Group of 20 summit in Rome was hailed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen as benefiting American businesses and workers.

G-20 finance ministers in July had already agreed on a 15% minimum tax. It awaited formal endorsement at the summit Saturday in Rome of the worlds economic powerhouses.

Yellen predicted in a statement that the deal on new international tax rules, with a minimum global tax, will end the damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation.

The deal did fall short of U.S. President Joe Biden's original call for a 21% minimum tax. Still, Biden tweeted his satisfaction.

Here at the G20, leaders representing 80% of the world's GDP  allies and competitors alike  made clear their support for a strong global minimum tax, the president said in the tweet. This is more than just a tax deal  it's diplomacy reshaping our global economy and delivering for our people.

The agreement aims to discourage multinationals from stashing profits in countries where they pay little or no taxes. These days, multinationals can earn big profits from things like trademarks and intellectual property. These companies can then assign earnings to a subsidiary in a tax haven country.

Briefing reporters midway through the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "There are good things to report here. The world community has agreed on a minimum taxation of companies. That is a clear signal of justice in times of digitalization.

Mathias Cormann, secretary-general of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said that the deal clinched in Rome will make our international tax arrangements fairer and work better in a digitalized and globalized economy.

The minimum rate completely eliminates the incentive for businesses around the world to restructure their affairs to avoid tax, Cormann contended.

On other issues crucial to fairness across the globe  including access to COVID-19 vaccines  the summit on the first of its two days heard pleas to boost the percentage of those in poor countries being vaccinated.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi made a sharp call to pick up the pace in getting vaccines to poor countries.

Draghi, the summit host, said Saturday that only 3% of people in the world's poorest countries are vaccinated, while 70% in rich countries have had at least one shot.

These differences are morally unacceptable and undermine the global recovery, said Draghi, an economist and former chief of the European Central Bank.

French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to use the summit to press fellow European Union leaders to be more generous in donating vaccines to low-income countries.

But advocates of civil society which have held discussions with G-20 officials said suspension of vaccine patents was crucial to increasing access in poor countries.

Canada noted it was both sharing vaccines as well as donating money to develop production in South Africa, which is a G-20 country. Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister, said Canada was increasing its commitment to international vaccine sharing through the COVAX program by donating 200 million doses.

The summit is also confronting two-track global recovery in which rich countries are bouncing back faster.

Rich countries have used vaccines and stimulus spending to restart economic activity, leaving the risk that developing countries that account for much of global growth will remain behind due to low vaccinations and financing difficulties.

Macron has told reporters he expects the G-20 to confirm an additional $100 billion to support Africas economies.

On the urgent problem of climate change, Italy is hoping the G-20 will secure crucial commitments from countries responsible for about 80% of global carbon emissions  ahead of the U.N. climate conference that begins Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, just as the Rome summit winds down.

Most of the G-20 leaders will head to Glasgow.

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, whose efforts to reduce emissions are paramount to combating climate change, were participating remotely in the Rome summit.

But midway through the summit it was the corporate tax rate rule that dominated.

White House officials say the new tax rate would create at least $60 billion in new revenue a year in the U.S.  a stream of cash that could help partially pay for a nearly $3 trillion social services and infrastructure package that Biden is seeking. U.S. adoption is key because so many multinational companies are headquartered there.

But Civil 20, which represents some 560 organizations from more than 100 countries in a network making recommendations to the G-20, was less enthusiastic. The 15% rate is a little more than those (rates) we'd consider fiscal paradises, Civil 20 official Riccardo Moro told reporters following the summit.



Nicole Winfield contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
PARIS (AP)  Britain and France faced calls Saturday to sort out their post-Brexit spat over fishing rights in the English Channel, which threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats and trucks.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the dispute is testing the U.K.s international credibility, while each countries accused the other of being in breach of the post-Brexit trade agreement that Britains government signed with the European Union before it left the bloc.

As the war of words intensified, Britain said it was actively considering launching legal action if France goes through with threats to bar U.K. fishing boats from its ports and slap strict checks on British catches.

If there is a breach of the (Brexit) treaty or we think there is a breach of the treaty then we will do what is necessary to protect British interests, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told British broadcasters in Rome, where he and Macron are both attending a Group of 20 summit.

At stake is fishing  a tiny industry economically that looms large symbolically for maritime nations like Britain and France. Britain's exit from the economic rules of the 27-nation bloc at the start of this year means the U.K. now controls who fishes in its waters.

France claims some vessels have been denied permits to fish in waters where they have long sailed. Britain says it has granted 98% of applications from EU vessels, and now the dispute comes down to just a few dozen French boats with insufficient paperwork.

But France argues its a matter of principle and wants to defend its interests as the two longtime allies and rivals set out on a new, post-Brexit relationship.

The dispute escalated this week after French authorities accused a Scottish-registered scallop dredger of fishing without a license. The captain was detained in Le Havre and has been told to face a court hearing next year.

France has threatened to block British boats crossing the English Channel and tighten checks on boats and trucks from Tuesday if the licenses aren't granted. France has also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands  British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France and are heavily dependent on French electricity.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex appealed to the EU to back France in the dispute, saying the bloc should demonstrate to people in Europe that leaving the Union is more damaging than remaining in it.

U.K. Brexit Minister David Frost called Castex's comments troubling and accused France of a pattern of threats to our fishing industry, to energy supplies, and to future cooperation."

He said if France acted on the threats it would put the EU in breach of its obligations under our trade agreement, and said Britain was actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings," a formal legal process in the deal.

He urged France and the EU to step back.

Many EU politicians and officials regard Frost, who led negotiations on Britain's divorce deal, as intrinsically hostile to the bloc.

Macron, who is scheduled to meet Johnson on Sunday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, defended Frances position and said the fishing dispute could hurt Britain's reputation worldwide.

Make no mistake, it is not just for the Europeans but all of their partners," Macron told the Financial Times. Because when you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility,

Macron said he was sure that Britain has good will to solve the dispute. We need to respect each other and respect the word that has been given," he said.

Johnson said the fishing issue was a distraction from fighting climate change  top of the G-20 leaders' agenda at their meeting, which comes before a U.N. climate conference in Scotland next week.

I am looking at what is going on at the moment and I think that we need to sort it out. But that is quite frankly small beer, trivial, by comparison with the threat to humanity that we face, Johnson added.

Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president and chairman of the northern French ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, said the spat was ridiculous and urged both sides to resolve it.

He told BBC radio that the dispute was over just 40 boats  a drop in the ocean  and that there would be terrible consequences if France carried out its threat of blocking British trawlers from French ports.

If no agreement can be found, it will be a drama, it will be a disaster in your country because the trucks will not cross, he said.



Jill Lawless reported from Rome. Pan Pylas contributed to this report from London.



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In her memoir, "Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds" (published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, a division of ViacomCBS), Huma Abedin, the longtime aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton, writes about her awakening to the workings of diplomacy, the participation of women in government, and how she found a role for herself at the most famous address in the world.

Read the excerpt below, and don't miss Norah O'Donnell's interview with Huma Abedin on "CBS Sunday Morning" October 31!

/ Credit: Scribner

In March 1995, in the middle of my sophomore year [at George Washington University], my mom invited me to join her in New York at the preparatory session for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, which would be held in Beijing that September. She needed an assistant to do what I had done for my father on his trips: make travel and hotel bookings, take notes at meetings, and so on. It had been a decade since the last World Conference on Women, and it sounded like some bureaucratic exercise. My mother's generation had struggled and fought for progress. Wasn't mine the one poised to reap the benefits? I assumed I could do anything I wanted, especially after leaving Saudi Arabia and coming to America. I didn't see it as revolutionary for women to meet to demand the very basic things that I now took for granted.

Yet I was awed the moment I stepped into the lobby of the United Nations, its grand entry hall flooded with natural light from a tall floor-to-ceiling wall of windows. The whole building was teeming with thousands of women. Turn this way and they were speaking Spanish; turn that way and they were speaking Dutch, and French, and Arabic. It felt like a place where things were happening.

The previous World Conferences on Women had resulted in a living document called "The Draft Platform for Action," about broad, far-reaching goals for the advancement of women, while also detailing specific milestones and benchmarks for each country and region. Delegations had come to New York to propose amendments to the document, and they would convene in different committees to consider and edit them, line by line and word by word. My job was to go with my mom and her nongovernmental organization to all these different meetings and take notes on the changes being made, then input them into the document so she and her colleagues could review them. The changes would ultimately be put to a vote, and the amendments that passed would be included with the final draft platform to be ratified in Beijing.

Story continues

It was really exciting. Being there gave me a window into how diplomacy works, how countries have to bend their own priorities and negotiate. It was also an eye-opening education in the ways women were still being treated around the world, not just in the developing world but everywhere. At almost every meeting, my mom would remind her colleagues that nothing would change unless we urged men to the table.

Back at GWU, I ran for president of the Pakistani Students' Association after two guys snickered when someone suggested that I would be an ideal candidate to lead our group. I won. Soon after, I invited the Pakistani ambassador, Maleeha Lodhi, to the university, where she gave a major policy speech about American-Pakistani relations. Our group also organized students to lobby Congress. This small taste of diplomacy and politics felt not just exciting but also right. Almost like a beginning.

Over the course of my junior year, I began talking to friends about an internship for my senior year. To apply to graduate school, I needed some kind of work experience and I didn't have any. My friend Roneith Hibbert told me about her incredible internship at the White House, working for President Clinton's press secretary, Mike McCurry. She sat right behind the podium and blue curtain, where all the administration officials would make media appearances. "I think you'd love it and it would be a great opportunity. I'll pick up an application for you."

I had never dreamed of working in the White House, or even in government. I suspected it might be totally beyond my reach. But I still carried the feeling I'd had as I walked around the United Nations building, and I figured, Well, what do I have to lose?

From "Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds" by Huma Abedin. Copyright  2021 by Huma Abedin. Excerpted with permission by Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For more info:

"Both/And: My Life in Many Worlds" by Huma Abedin (Scribner), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available November 2 via Amazon and Indiebound

Watch a preview clip of Norah O'Donnell's interview with Huma Abedin below:

Blinken says Glasgow summit is launching pad for global climate fight

Open: This is "Face the Nation," October 31

Nature: Undersea Indonesia
Growth is the obvious answer to many folks. However, growth is inevitable and not always a bad thing. A town that does not grow, dies. You see that a lot in eastern North Carolina. Growth also creates more tax revenue to pay for operating the town. Costs of operations continually increase but the tax rate has stayed the same because of the additional tax revenue that growth has created. With no growth, operations costs would continue to increase, we would ultimately have to raise our tax rate to cover those costs. I am fighting hard to make sure that does not happen. As for infrastructure, a lot of people may not realize the majority of Roads are controlled by the State and not the Town. Managing this relationship is complex and it lags in development. We are chartered as a Dillon rule state and not a Home Rule State like South Carolina. This means we cannot charge impact fees for growth. The State DOT has $555M going towards improvements for 150, Brawley, Charlotte Highway, and Williamson Road. We need to hold them accountable for completing this work! Good paying jobs. Industrial jobs should not be our focus. The pay and benefits are not as good as higher-paying jobs in the Science, Technology, and Engineering industries. Crime associated with Growth. This concerns me. When I look around at Towns half our size, or even slightly larger, I see crime rates of 30 to 60% higher than Mooresville. We should feel safe walking around town or to stores at night. We cannot lose focus on this or it will be too late once we let it in. Affordable Housing. People sell land these days for a huge profit. The Developer buys it and unless it does not meet Town Ordnances, it is illegal to deny it. But then in order to offset the cost of the land, they build expensive housing. AND people are paying for it. But what about our Teachers, firefighters, and Police Officers? All the people that care for us and our children? We must find ways for them to afford housing in our Town.
Voters who didnt cast a ballot during early voting for school board and municipal races will get their last chance on Tuesday.

Polls open on Election Day at 6:30 a.m. and will close at 7:30 p.m.

All 33 precincts will be open and voters need to go to their assigned precinct on Tuesday. Those who arent sure which precinct they are assigned to can check on the North Carolina State Board of Elections website at https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/.

If a voter has moved since the last time they voted and havent changed their address, they need to go to the Burke County Board of Elections on Election Day, said Debbie Mace, director of elections for Burke County. The county board of elections is located at 2128 S. Sterling St., Morganton.

Mailed absentee ballots received after 5 p.m. on Election Day will be counted only if they are postmarked on or before Election Day and received by mail no later than 5 p.m. on the Friday after the election, according to the state elections board. Ballots without a postmark must be received by Election Day.

Absentee ballots can be dropped off in person to the county board of elections no later than 5 p.m. on Election Day, the state elections board said.
We were impressed with the regional Smart Start collaborations and the work they have done together to plan for and develop this regional approach, Dr. Susan Mims, interim CEO of Dogwood Health Trust, said. Helping build resiliency for children, families and communities will be a key part of our work moving forward, and research tells us that starting in the earliest years of life is critical to health and wellness throughout our lives. We look forward to seeing the outcomes from this work as the opportunities for children and families to engage in building resilience continue to grow.
The Community Foundation of Burke County has announced the recipients of its 2021 Community Grant Cycle. CFBC awarded $113,096 in grant funds to the following organizations:

American Red Cross$8,000 to provide financial assistance for families affected by home fires in Burke County

Assure The Future$36,000 to provide funding for research and data collection on the state of childhood poverty in Burke County

Big Brothers, Big Sisters$5,000 to support the local Burke County program

Center for Rural Health Innovation$22,236 to add a part-time, bilingual staff member in Burke County to expand case management efforts

Options, Inc.$5,000 to purchase security equipment

Prevent Blindness North Carolina$5,000 to provide onsite screening, education, follow-up and eye-care vouchers for PreK, Head Start and childcare centers in Burke County;

Ronald McDonald House$3,000 to provide financial support to support Burke County families

Southmountain Children and Family Services$12,360 to provide funds to purchase surveillance systems for their Foster Community campus
Although election officials will count ballots for city races in several southwest Montana counties Tuesday night, the courthouse in Butte-Silver Bow will be quiet.

The only chance for a little political drama was out of Walkerville, but once again, the election was called off because there were no contested races.

Annette Bolton will retain her Ward 1 seat on the Town Council, Don Horne keeps his in Ward 2 and Mayor John Ries will keep the gavel when his term expires on Dec. 31 and starts again for another four years.

Ries was appointed as Walkervilles mayor in 2012 and since then, hes never had to wait up for election results. Hes enjoyed being mayor but knew if he didnt run again, its possible nobody in the town of 700 or so would.

Its kind of a sad situation that people just dont want to get involved, said Ries, who was 74 in May when he decided to seek one more term.

Walkerville has its own boundaries, its own mayor and its own town council, having rejected a merger with the rest of Butte and Silver Bow County in 1977. Ries wants to see that independence continue.

I hope we can get some interest going for these positions so we can keep it going, he said.

There are also no elections in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, the only other consolidated city-county government in Montana, but there are city contests in some parts of southwest Montana.

Beaverhead County

There are several local races in Beaverhead County, where a mail-in election will decide four seats on the Dillon City Council and a city judge seat, as well as a contested race for mayor in the town of Lima.

The mayor of Dillon is also on the ballot for voters in that city, but John McGinley drew no opposition in a bid to replace two-term Mayor Michael Klakken, who isnt seeking re-election.

There are eight seats on the council in Dillon representing its 4,300 citizens, and five of those seats are on the ballot this year.

Four are for four-year terms and all are contested. In Ward 1, incumbent Diane Armstrong faces Kimberly Francis; Cameron Haworth faces incumbent Russ Schwandt in Ward 2; There are no incumbents in Ward 3, where Joe Brandon faces Lloyd Lesperance.

In Ward 4, incumbent Mary Jo ORourke is being challenged by Dillon businessman Hank Muntzer.

Muntzer has organized pro-Trump rallies and faces charges tied to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He told the Montana Standard recently he would beat the charges and then file a civil lawsuit. ORourke won her Ward 4 seat as a write-in candidate four years ago and according to the Dillon Tribune, is the most politically progressive person on the council.

There is another Ward 4 seat in play that McGinley gave up with two years remaining to run for mayor. It drew a lone write-in candidate, George Johnston, so he will win if anyone writes in his name.

Incumbent Dillon City Judge Kaylan Minor is being challenged by Paul Pilgrim.

In the small town of Lima, about 50 miles south of Dillon via I-15 and 15 miles north of the Idaho line, Mayor David Olsen faces Kent Craven in a rematch from 2015. Olsen got twice as many votes as Craven that year, 66 to 33.

Two of four seats on the Town Council are up in Lima, too, and the only two candidates will get them because they were only ones to run. They are Jacqueline Sutton and Travis Wilson.

Madison, Jefferson and Granite counties

In neighboring Madison County, there are races in Virginia City, Ennis and Sheridan.

In Virginia City, three seats on the five-member Town Commission are on the ballot and the top three vote-getters among six candidates will get elected. The candidates are Amy Grice, Jon Osborn, Gary Rossow, Ken Julio Shields, McKenzy Shields and Kacey Smart.

The top two vote-getters among five people will win seats on the Ennis Town Commission. The candidates are Jesslyn Dulinsky, Nichole Hankins, Brandi Palmerton, Lisa Roberts and Jason Norman Schroeder.

The scenario is the same for the Sheridan Town Council, where five people are vying for two seats. They are Rahn Abbott, Jonathan Laurin, Emile Sayler, Tamara Todd and Patricia Wang.

In Jefferson County, there are seats up in Boulder and Whitehall.

Russell Rusty Giulio was the only candidate for mayor in Boulder and Drew Dawson drew no city council opponent in Ward 4. The only contested race was in Ward 2, where Stacie St. Clair faces Patricia Lewis.

In Whitehall, Mary Janacaro Hensleigh is the lone name on the ballot for mayor, but Kathleen Fike did file as a write-in candidate, so she can get votes if people write in her name.

Three candidates won alderman seats on the Whitehall Town Council by acclamation because they had no opponents. They are Bill Lanes, Patricia Peterson and Linda Jung. Nobody filed for an open Ward 3 seat, so the council will have to appoint someone.

There was only one contest in Granite County, that for mayor in Drummond. Lawrence Thomas II is challenging longtime incumbent Gail Leeper in that race.

Powell County

Theres a lot going on in Powell County, too, specifically in the city of Deer Lodge, where three people are running for mayor and five seats on the Deer Lodge City Council are up.

Voters chose a new mayor in 2019  retired real estate agent Diana Solle  but it was only to fill the post for two years because previously elected Mayor Zane Cozby resigned. Solle did not run for a full four-year term this year.

There are two candidates on the ballot for mayor Tuesday: Dan Highley, who works at Montana State Prison, and James Jess, a probation and parole officer for the Montana Department of Corrections. Businessman Clifford Kimerly is a write-in candidate.

Nobody filed for a Ward 1 seat for a full, four-year term, but Glory Blue Earth-Highley and Jackie Greenwood are seeking a Ward 1 post that will be on the ballot again in two years.

Leland Hague and Curt Fjelstad are competing in Ward 3, while John Skibsrud is running unopposed in Ward 4 and Robert Kersch is a lone candidate in Ward 2.

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The great-grandson of the legendary Lakota Sioux Chief Sitting Bull has been confirmed as his closest living relative using an innovative new DNA technique applied to hair taken from the Native American leader's scalp lock.

People had tried to question Ernie LaPointe's relationship with Sitting Bull, who was also known as Tatanka-Iyotanka, LaPointe said in a news release. LaPointe wanted to have their relationship confirmed via genetic analysis to put an end to the speculation and allow the final resting place of Sitting Bull's remains to be settled.

Keep scrolling for a listing of places in the U.S. with Native American meanings

The analysis was done using autosomal DNA extracted from genetic fragments in the hair lock, which was in poor condition after being stored for more than a century at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington. It was returned to LaPointe and his sisters in 2007.

Other techniques rely on mitochondrial DNA, which can only trace the female line, or the Y-chromosome in nuclear DNA, which traces the male line. The technique using nuclear DNA couldn't be used because Sitting Bull only had daughters. These types of DNA can also be hard to extract from damaged remains.

"To our knowledge, this is the first published example of a familial relationship between contemporary and a historical individual that has been confirmed using such limited amounts of ancient DNA across such distant relatives," according to the study that published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

It took the scientists 14 years to find a way of extracting usable DNA from a piece of Sitting Bull's hair that was 5 to 6 centimeters (2 inches) long. The technique searches for autosomal DNA in genetic fragments in the body sample. Because we inherit half our autosomal DNA from our father and half from our mother, this means genetic matches can be checked no matter whether the relative is on the father's or mother's side of the family, the news release said.

Study author Eske Willerslev, a professor at the University of Cambridge's department of zoology and the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre in Denmark, said Sitting Bull had long been a hero to him.

"I almost choked on my coffee when I read in a magazine in 2007 that the Smithsonian Museum had decided to return Sitting Bull's hair to Ernie Lapointe and his three sisters," he said in the news release.

"I wrote to Lapointe and explained that I specialized in the analysis of ancient DNA, and that I was an admirer of Sitting Bull, and I would consider it a great honor if I could be allowed to compare the DNA of Ernie and his sisters with the DNA of the Native American leader's hair when it was returned to them."

The researchers said the study opens the possibility for broadening genealogical research, even when only minor fragments of ancient genetic material are available.

Sitting Bull is best known for his victory over then-US Army Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer in the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn. Fourteen years after this battle, he was shot and killed while he was being arrested, the study said.

LaPointe said the confirmation that he is Sitting Bull's great-grandson will allow him to settle questions over the Sioux chief's burial site. People can pay their respects to Sitting Bull at two official gravesites, one at Fort Yates, North Dakota, and one at Mobridge, South Dakota. LaPointe believes his bones lie at Mobridge, a place that has no significant connection to Sitting Bull.

With DNA evidence to back up his status, Lapointe, according to the news release, now hopes to rebury the great Native American leader's bones in a more appropriate location.

***

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With time running out to create two new U.S. House districts, Montanas Districting and Apportionment Commission is scrambling to produce a compromise map.

Republicans and Democrats on the bipartisan commission produced two new maps late Thursday outlining Western and Eastern congressional districts. A final map will have to be produced by Nov. 14, the drop-dead deadline prescribed by the Montana Constitution.

The commission will meet Saturday to hear from the public about two semifinal maps drawn last week that commissioners are moving on from. The goal Saturday is to take public testimony and then settle on a final map, ideally with a determination on Nov. 4, though there are already talks about meeting Nov. 9 to settle the matter.

Whatever map selected on Saturday would be the tentative final map and there would be another public hearing next Thursday, Nov. 4, so the public has time to weigh in, said Commissioner Joe Lamson, one of two Democrats appointed to the commission by the Montana Legislatures minority leadership.

The commission is comprised of four members appointed by the Republican and Democratic leadership of the Legislature, with a fifth member appointed by the Montana Supreme Court.

Its the makeup of the Western District that generated the major sticking points. Republicans have been adamant about including Flathead County in the West District. Likewise, Democrats have spent weeks trying to draw Flathead out, or at least Kalispell and southern Flathead County.

Flathead County by population is the fifth-largest county in the state, but on election nights it delivers the second most Republican ballots, with only the states largest county, Yellowstone, delivering more.

Conversely, Democrats have prioritized keeping Gallatin County in the West. Over three decades, Gallatin has gone from the fifth-largest county in Montana to second and become second only to Missoula County for delivering Democratic votes on election night. Gallatin added 29,000 people in the last 10 years and could easily be the Democrats best performer before 2030.

Republican commissioners have drawn several maps carving out Gallatins liberal core, Bozeman, and sending the city to the Eastern District, while conservative portions of the county are designated to the West.

But the two sides are getting closer. Thursday, Republicans settled on a map that includes Gallatin County and Flathead County in the West, along with the Blackfeet Reservation and portions of Glacier and Pondera counties. The map is a fine-tuned version of one drawn a week earlier, and commissioners Dan Stusek and Jeff Essmann are offering the map as a compromise. The map doesnt draw Lewis and Clark County in the West where the county anchored by Montanas Capitol has been previously.

Democrats late Thursday produced a map that includes Flathead County and also the Blackfeet Reservation. In Gallatin County they offered a twist, sending Bozeman and south Gallatin County to the West and conservative Gallatin Valley, anchored by Belgrade, to the East. The northern portion of the county was also sent east. In another turn, not seen before, Democrats proposed including Helena in the West, while designating the rest of Lewis and Clark County to the East.

Much like the political split between the greater, blue-Bozeman area and red Gallatin Valley, Helena is a Democratic-leaning city flanked by a valley where Republican candidates do well.

There is one more big difference between the latest maps. Democrats include Park County in the West, which has become one of the priorities. Republicans place Park County in the Eastern District.

Commissioners indicated to Lee Montana Newspapers that two similar maps might be as close as they come to a compromise. Republicans still objected to the Democrats' congressional districts and visa versa.

You can draw a map that keeps Park in, follows all the city lines, breaks one more county, but doesnt break a single city limit or single community, Lamson said. I dont know what theyre going to have to yell about, other than its a competitive district map.

Republicans have balked at creating a competitive district since July, arguing that as long as the districts are equal in population and compact, the districts are fine.

Past elections in the Western District drawn by Democratic commissioners have been competitive. Voters in the West favored a Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen in 2020 and Republican incumbent AG Tim Fox in 2016. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte narrowly won the district in 2020. But Democrats have also had success. Democrat Steve Bullock won the West in his 2020 Senate challenge, but lost the state by a large margin to incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines. U.S. Sen Jon Tester won the West in 2018 by 14%. The West elected Republican presidents by a strong margin in 2016 and 2020.

The Republicans argue that their map also produces a Western District thats competitive. Stusek points to the past four U.S. House races in which Democratic candidates carried the West twice. One election further back shows Republicans winning three of the last five House races. In 19 statewide races on the ballot between 2016 and 2020 Democrats won five in the Western District submitted by Republican commissioners.

"None of the last four House races had a clear incumbent. Technically, Gianforte was an incumbent for one year after a special election," Stusek said. "So, you know, you don't really have any clear incumbent who's gonna skew the numbers. It's the race we're drawing. And, you have Democrats winning in that House district in '17 and '18 and Republicans in '16, and '20."

Written public comments may be submitted through the webform at https://mtredistricting.gov/contact/, by email at districting@mt.gov, or by mailing the comments to Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission, PO Box 201706, Helena, MT 59620. Comments received by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 27 will be provided to the commissioners prior to the meeting. Comments received after that time but before Oct. 30 will be given to the commissioners prior to or at the meeting. Comments received on Oct. 30 or during the meeting will be provided to the commissioners prior to their next meeting.

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Milton Serrano Jr. giggled as the parents of the man he murdered gave their victim impact statements.

Serrano, 22, was convicted of second-degree murder and criminal mischief on Oct. 12 in the stabbing death of Chantz Stevens, a former standout athlete in Wilton.

On Friday in the Cedar County Courthouse, Serrano was sentenced to the maximum 50 years on a second-degree murder charge and five years on a criminal mischief charge, to be served concurrently. He will also serve a 10-year sentence for burglary in Muscatine County concurrently.

During the sentencing, Judge Mark Lawson admonished Serrano for statements he made during the presentence investigation.

Serrano was sentenced in Cedar County after the trial was moved to Dubuque County because of the pretrial publicity surrounding the incident.

Serrano was arrested in Muscatine on July 19, 2020, after altercations at a party at 938 Quincy Ave., Clarence, Iowa.

Prosecutors argued Serrano went to the party looking for a fight, and got into two that night. During the first, he told people he had a knife and threatened to stab people. During the second, he stabbed Stevens twice in the abdomen.

Stevens died at the scene.
During the sentencing, Judge Mark Lawson admonished Serrano for statements he made during the pre-sentence investigation, many of which had been read into the record by assistant Cedar County Attorney Adam Blank. These included a question about how he felt about his trial to which he said f--- it.

I was just stunned by the comments that you made in the pre-sentence investigation, Lawson said. I dont think you realize how some of the things you said are going to follow you forever through the prison system. I guarantee that when you come up for parole sometime in the future  and you will if you dont get yourself killed in a fight, which I think is a possibility with you  if you dont have that occur you will come up for parole someday and I dont think you can imagine what effect those comments are going to have the first couple times you come up for parole.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a critic of Donald Trump who is one of two Republicans on the panel investigating the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol attack, announced Friday that he will not seek reelection next year.

The military veteran, who won a long-shot suburban congressional district a decade ago, became one of a handful of Republicans who voted to impeach Trump on the charge of inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. He joins a small but growing list of GOP Trump critics in Congress deciding to bow out.

Kinzinger announced his decision in a video early Friday, saying the time is now to move on.

My disappointment in the leaders that don't lead is huge, he said.

He hinted at other political plans, saying: I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide. I want to make it clear  this isnt the end of my political future, but the beginning.

Republicans are well-positioned to pick up the House majority in next years midterm elections, but the departure of Kinzinger and other more traditional conservatives casts a shadow over the party now led by Trump.
A Raising Canes Chicken Fingers restaurant may be coming to a Napa site originally planned as a Chick-fil-A, according to the developer of the Soscol Square Shopping Center project.

But a Napa City Council decision Tuesday on whether to deny a drive-thru use permit for the restaurant will determine if the Raising Canes remains a tenant for the site, said Doug Porozni, chairman of Ronmor Real Estate LLC.

If there isnt a drive-thru, it isnt coming, Porozni said.

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The drive-thru, one portion of the Soscol Square Shopping Center project, is up for question because it would increase greenhouse gas emissions created by idling cars, according to an appeal letter filed with the city by David Kearney-Brown, co-chair of Napa Climate NOW!

For the same climate-based reasons, the letter also asks the council to consider adopting a moratorium on the construction of new drive-thrus throughout the city.

While the project may meet the City's code requirements, and the CEQA analysts concluded that with mitigations the GHG emissions would be less than significant, we firmly believe that approval of the drive-through component of this project flies in the face of the City's efforts to reduce emissions and serve as a leader in addressing climate change, wrote Kearney-Brown.

The project, planned for a seven-acre site at the intersection of Soscol Avenue and Gasser Drive, includes the 4,970-square-foot restaurant with a double lane drive-thru, a 55,000-square-foot Kohls department store, and a 9,800-square-foot retail building.

The city of Napa Planning Commission approved the project 4-1 in August. Commissioners raised concerns about the impact of the drive-thru on greenhouse gas emissions, but they voted to approve the project after the developer conceded to several other environmental conditions.

Commissioner Bob Massaro cast the sole vote in opposition to the project because of the drive-thru. Massaro said at the meeting that he wanted to see the city work on a policy to ban the construction of future drive-thrus in the city.

I cant in good conscience vote yes with the drive-thru, Massaro said

Napa Climate NOW! appealed the drive-thru portion of the project in August. Then, early in October, the Napa City Council voted 3-1 to delay the decision on the drive-thru to November, with Mayor Scott Sedgley  who said public commenters had convinced him not to move forward with the drive-thru  voting in opposition.

At the time, the councilmembers cited a desire for more information and hope that the appellant and developer could work together.

Porozni said at the meeting that a continuance would give Ronmor a chance to bring a restaurateur to a future meeting to talk about the drive-thru and how it plays into the restaurants business model. He said in an interview that the representative will be present at the Tuesday meeting.

A Raising Canes representative didnt respond to a request for comment by press time. The Louisiana-based company has about 500 restaurants nationwide and has recently made a push to open restaurants in Northern and Central California.

Porozni said that Ronmor would have to reconsider the development project if the drive-thru is denied because the restaurant does a lot to make the project financially feasible. He also said drive-thrus have received greater demand throughout the pandemic, which he said has resulted in a greater desire for drive-thrus from potential tenants of the restaurant space.

Several cities have banned the construction of new drive-thrus for environmental, traffic, and health reasons, according to a report from The New York Times. But, because of the success of drive-thrus during the pandemic, fast food restaurants across the country are revamping drive-thru designs and testing new setups, according to The Times.

Porozni added that its up to the council whether future drive-thrus are ultimately banned, but he doesnt think the Soscol Square Project should be used as the test model for that kind of policy.

We mitigated and added more than we needed to because were sensitive to the climate issue, Porozni said.  But that is our most valuable piece of land in that corner.

Bayard Fox, a member of Napa Climate NOW!, said its the responsibility of Napas constituents to have their voices heard about the importance of mitigating climate change. Fox has previously suggested that other, non-drive-thru business options, such as a Trader Joe's, could work well on the restaurant site, especially if the building is redesigned to use space taken up by the drive-thru in current plans.

Fox said hes trying to appreciate the challenges Ronmor has faced, but that a policy change to mitigate climate change will protect the public at large.

Public policy created by the city and the city council in direct response to their constituency, Fox said. If we dont vocalize our priorities to our City Council, nothing will happen. And the status quo is unacceptable.

You can reach Edward Booth at (707) 256-2213.

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The National Down Syndrome Congress recently honored Christopher Bennett of Napa as one of its 2021 Everyday Hero honorees.

Bennett, who was born with Down Syndrome, has lobbied on local, state and national levels, to bring awareness to Down Syndrome, and he is an avid advocate for inclusion for people with disabilities in the community.

Bennett, who is a full-time employee at Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa, accepted his award virtually during the annual Soiree of Stars, held on Oct. 21.

"It brings me joy to make a difference in the lives of people with Down syndrome," Bennett said. "I'm proud to be honored by the NDSC."

Bennett was previously honored by the NDSC with the Christian Pueschel Memorial Citizen Award in 2018 for his dedication to advocacy and his self-advocacy efforts. His resume of self-advocacy efforts includes participating in the Partners in Policymaking in Sacramento and serving on the Developmental Disabilities Board in Sonoma County. Hes attended lobbying events in Washington, D.C. and he speaks about living with Down syndrome at public events and fundraisers.

The National Down Syndrome Congress, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families living with Down syndrome.

Down syndrome is a genetic disorder. The human body is made of cells that contain 23 pairs of chromosomes. People with Down syndrome have an extra copy of the 21st chromosome, which causes developmental delays.

According to the National Down Syndrome Society, approximately one in every 700 children in the United States is born with Down syndrome, making Down syndrome the most common chromosomal condition. About 6,000 babies are born with Down syndrome in the United States each year.
Armenian Foreign Minister and Otto Luchterhandt discuss Nagorno-Karabakh settlement

Armenian contract soldier dies amid violation of rules for handling weapons

Man, 29, jumps from Yerevan bridge

Armenia MFA confirms PM Pashinyan's readiness to meet with Azerbaijans Aliyev on December 15

Quake shakes coast of Vanuatu

State minister: Nationwide quarantine, specific restrictions planned to be imposed in Karabakh

Artsakh President convenes National Security Service consultation

Opposition MP: Armenia FM stated that Turkey has proposed new precondition: corridor

Armenia military expert: US Embassy warns its citizens to avoid Karahunj-Davit Bek, Kapan-Chakaten road sections

Armenia opposition MP: Air carrier operating flights from Syunik Province cannot have any security guarantees

Singapore is good example for Armenia, says President Sarkissian

Iran seizes foreign ship in Persian Gulf

2 Azerbaijanis injured in anti-tank mine explosion at Karabakh conflict zone

US, Turkey presidential advisors discuss situation in South Caucasus

Synopsys boss pays tribute to Armenian Genocide victims

Russia peacekeepers escort 15 convoys to, from Artsakh in one week

Catholicos Karekin II to Patriarch Kirill: We appreciate your warm attitude towards Armenian Church, people

China fines Alibaba for violating antitrust law

36 new cases of coronavirus reported in Karabakh

UK Premier Johnson considering boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

Artsakh President visits Askeran city, meets with regional capitals youth

President to Russia Patriarch: Armenian people highly value your efforts aimed at achieving peace in our region

870 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

8 injured in tragic accident on Yerevan-Gyumri motorway are discharged from hospital

China, Russia, US agree to promote political dialogue on Iran

Azerbaijan mother, son commit suicide on same day

One pedestrian dies on the spot, other hospitalized after hit by car in Armenia village area

US beauty consultant is accused of killing woman by injecting silicone into her butt

Brazil Amazon deforestation reaches highest level in 15 years

Newspaper: Armenia soldiers are prohibited from filming episodes from their service, posting them on internet

Newspaper: Armenia opposition is forming large-scale resistance network

Armenia President visits National University of Singapore

Gia, wanted by French law-enforcement authorities, found at Armenia's Bagratashen checkpoint

Leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia agree to meet in Brussels

European Council: Pashinyan and Aliyev agreed to establish direct communication line at level of defense ministers

Armenia's Representative to OSCE speaks about Azerbaijan's recent attack at Permanent Council's session

Armenia serviceman Meruzhan Harutyunyan, killed in Syunik Province, was buried at Yerablur Military Pantheon

Armenian News-NEWS.am's special report: Drive from Kapan to Tchakatashen is 150 km instead of previous 8 km

3 Armenian servicemen killed during Nov. 16 Azerbaijani attack posthumously awarded presidential medals

Left-wing trade unions hold protest against Turkey's Erdogan in Izmir

Armenia FM presents situation following Azerbaijani attack during meeting with Lithuanian Seimas Vice-President

Armenia delegation covers Azerbaijan's Nov. 16 attack during online meeting of CSTO PA Permanent Commissions

Armenia PM receives delegation led by Vice President of Lithuanian Seimas

Lavrov, Cavusoglu discuss bilateral ties and regional issues

Karabakh: Azerbaijani side, in Shushi, transfers bodies of 3 Armenian soldiers killed on Nov. 16

NEWS.am daily digest: 19.11.21

Armenian Embassy in Russia: Armenia citizens - mother and child - evacuated from Afghanistan

Georgia refuses to be a part of '3+3' format with regard to South Caucasus

The occupied Hadrut of our days (PHOTOS)

Arabologist: Photo of map of Turkic world shown by Erdogan and Bahceli is simply a gift for Armenian diplomacy

Situation is tense in Armenia's Kasakh, residents protesting against acting village head (LIVE)

Opposition With Honor legislature faction MP: No one knows if Armenia petitioned to Russia for military assistance

Armenia opposition MP: There is a threat that Baku will always get what it wants through use of force

Lavrov is certain that the Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan summit will take place

Ann Linde: OSCE working very closely with Russia to resolve Karabakh conflict

Karabakh FM congratulates newly appointed Abkhazia counterpart

Dollar relatively stable in Armenia

Armenia parliament majority members do not deny possibility of exchange of territories with Azerbaijan

Armenia ruling party MP: Public and competent authorities need to know circumstances behind captures of soldiers

Armenia ruling party MP assures that situation on the border is currently stable

Armenia ruling party MP: Confidentiality of process of preparing for demarcation is strictly necessary

Armenia PM: Citizens of EEU countries will be able to receive loans in all territories of member states

Armenian serviceman, 19, dies in Georgia's Akhalkalaki

Armenia legislature majority faction lawmaker: Russia military intervention is not end in itself

High commissioner: Diaspora is considering ways to help hundreds of Ethiopia Armenians

Opposition With Honor parliament faction: Armenia authorities trying to push territorial losses issue to backburner

Legislature majority faction MP: Armenia authorities do not make any demands on Russia

Opposition Armenia Faction in parliament: Authorities are unable to distinguish between priority and secondary issues

3 more die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Bruno Retailleau: France must support Armenia more firmly against aggressions by Azerbaijan

Armenia parliament majority faction: Border delimitation preparation process will start from point zero

PM: Armenia exports to other EEU countries increased by 27.8%

Armenias Pashinyan: Azerbaijan provocations are aimed at disrupting arrangements reached by trilateral statements

California Armenian couple accused of fraud flee leaving their 3 children behind

799 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Katherine Clark: Azerbaijan must acknowledge and respect Armenian sovereignty

Eurasian Intergovernmental Council enlarged meeting underway in Yerevan

Russia peacekeepers patrol along Karabakh border delimitation line

MOD: According to current data Armenia has 6 military casualties as result of Tuesdays attack by Azerbaijan

Turkish Islamic preachers organization denies reports of his death

Newspaper: What happened to missing Armenia soldiers during recent hostilities?

Armenia MOD dismisses reports about not allowing officers with higher rank than major to go up to combat positions

US virtually completes development of new tactical nuclear gravity bomb B61-12

Newspaper: Officers with higher rank than major not allowed to combat positions during recent hostilities in Syunik

Opposition MP: Granting corridor to Azerbaijan through Syunik Province will be gravest crime against Armenia

US Department of State representative says why Azerbaijan is not invited to Summit for Democracy

Armenian human rights activists to submit letters to ECHR regarding soldiers captured and considered missing

Armenia FM stresses importance of addressable response to Azerbaijan's actions during talk with Greek counterpart

Ex-ruling party official: Armenia authorities found reason for MOD's resignation after his visit to Karabakh

Republican Party of Armenia spokesperson: Nikol Pashinyan gave a confessional testimony in parliament yesterday

Armenia President talks about states' collective responsibility at Bloomberg New Economy Forum

Turkish website reports poisoning of Fetullah Gulen

Armenia FM holds phone talks with Cypriot counterpart, presents situation created after Azerbaijani attack

Mirzoyan, Zas discuss CSTO's possible actions to stabilize situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border, if necessary

Mothers of deceased servicemen demand Armenia PM's resignation

Azerbaijani Armed Forces open fire at tractor in Armenia's Verin Shorzha village

Putin: Events unfolding on Armenia-Azerbaijan border attest to fact that situation has not calmed down in the region

Lithuania supports Armenia's territorial integrity

NEWS.am daily digest: 18.11.21

Ex-ruling party official: Incumbent authorities created deliberately organized chaos in Armenia
The U.S. is considering Turkeys request for the purchase of F-16 fighter jets, AFP reports, citing a U.S. official.

On October 17, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that Ankara would like to purchase cheaper F-16 fighter jets, allocating $1,400,000,000 for the cancelled F-35 deal. However, the U.S. states that the problem with F-35 may be the same problem for any order of an F-16 due to Turkeys purchase of S-400 missile systems from Russia.

Representatives of the US Department of Defense on Wednesday met with Turkish officials in Ankara to solve the problems with F-35, while Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday held talks with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar and stated that the Pentagon acknowledges the needs for modernization of Turkeys military. The request for F-16 might be discussed during the meeting of U.S. President Joe Biden and Erdogan on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow.

Talking about the idea of F-16, Erdogan hinted that Turkey can ask Russia for the fighter jets, if the U.S. rejects the request, but its not clear whether this will have an impact on Washington or not.
YEREVAN.  Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: Aleksandr Fishman, a Russian national, has been appointed Deputy Director of the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine. According to our sources at the plant, from the day of its appointment, it can be said that the Russians have been running the plant, despite the fact that the general director is Indian. And it was Fishman who welcomed, accompanied, and had a private conversation with Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan who visited the plant a few days ago.

It should be reminded that a few days ago it became known that Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko, whose GeoProMining Gold company also owns the Sotk gold mine and the Agarak Copper and Molybdenum Combine [of Armenia], became the owner of 60 percent of the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine. He donated 25 percent of 60 percent of the shares to the RA government.

It is noteworthy that the plant's management did not recognize Syunik [Province] governor Melikset Poghosyan who accompanied Suren Papikyan to the plant, whereas we were told that in the past, all the [Syunik Province] governors had been in close contact with the plant's management, and these contacts contributed to resolving provincial issues. The Indian director publicly inquired who Meliksetyan was, and learned from government officials that he is the provincial governor.
The United States will use every appropriate tool to counter Irans malign influence and activities, including its proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has noted this in a press statement which the State Department has released Friday. The statement continues as follows, in particular:

The United States has designated six Iranian targets  two entities and four individuals  using Executive Orders that address terrorism and WMD proliferation. These targets are linked to Irans UAV activities, including activities that threaten U.S. interests.

Iran-based Kimia Part Sivan Company, Mohammad Ebrahim Zargar Tehrani, and Brigadier General Saeed Aghajani are all being designated under E.O. 13224 for their links to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) UAV activities.

Iran-based Mado Company, Yousef Aboutalebi, and Chief Brigadier Gen. 2 Abdollah Mehrabi are all being designated under E.O. 13382 for their links to the IRGC and its affiliate units.

The IRGC has used and proliferated lethal UAVs to Iranian-supported groups, including attacks on U.S forces and on international shipping.

The United States will use all available tools, including sanctions, to prevent, deter, and dismantle the procurement networks that supply UAV-related material and technology to Iran, as well as the Iranian entities that engage in such proliferation.
Afghanistan is currently experiencing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with the health system and social services at a breaking point, UNICEF's representative in Afghanistan Salam Al-Janabi told Sputnik.

Early this year, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was already one of the worst in the world, with nearly half of the country's populationincluding some 10 million childrenhaving been in need of humanitarian aid, the UNICEF representative said.

"Due to the recent events and the economic shocks the country has been experiencing, more families are pushed to the brink," he said. "More than half of Afghanistan's population is projected to face acute hunger as humanitarian needs grow to record levels. As food insecurity spikes in Afghanistan, so does severe acute malnutrition amongst children under five years old."

Without immediate action, an estimated 1 million children are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the course of this year, and could die, the representative warned.

The UNICEF representative noted that the current humanitarian funding requirement for Afghanistan stands at $192 million.

"This figure will certainly increase as the needs continue to grow. Of the $192 million UNICEF's donors have funded around 70% of the needed support," Al-Janabi said. "We urge donors to maintain their humanitarian and development investments in Afghanistan so that the hard-fought gains over the past decades are not lost."
Three killed as Sudanese march against coup

Protest organisers in Sudan have aimed to stage a "million-strong" march against the military's power grab. Photo: AFP

Sudanese security forces on Saturday killed three protesters during mass anti-coup rallies, medics said, despite warnings from global powers who had urged the military to exercise restraint.



"Two demonstrators were killed in the city of Omdurman by the putschist military council," the independent Central Committee of Sudan's Doctors said in a tweet, adding that one was shot in the head and the other in the stomach.



It later said security forces had shot dead a third protester, also in Omdurman, Khartoum's sister city.



Forces "have fired live rounds at protesters in Omdurman" and areas in the capital, the medics said.



More than 100 people have been wounded in the violence or have suffered breathing difficulties due to tear gas, the committee added.



The latest killings bring the death toll since the outbreak of anti-coup protests on Monday to 12.



Sudan's interior ministry slammed reports of killings on Saturday as "inaccurate" and denied forces had used live rounds.



"Groups of protesters... attacked the police, as well as vital sites, which prompted the police to fire tear gas," the ministry said in a statement.



Saturday's demonstrations came almost a week after the military on Monday detained Sudan's civilian leadership, dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency, leading to a chorus of international condemnation  and warnings against using force.



"No, no to military rule", and "We are free revolutionaries and we will continue the road" of democratic transition, protesters carrying Sudanese flags chanted in Khartoum.



Despite bloodshed throughout the week, organisers on Saturday aimed to stage a "million-strong" march against the military's power grab, similar to mass protests that led to the toppling of autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019. (AFP)
Emanuel B / Shutterstock.com

After sitting at home in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and dipping our toes back into travel in 2021, maybe it's time to think about making a bigger travel splash in 2022. And a great, international one at that.

See: Will Travel See Another Halt Until 2022?

Find: Is It Better To Use a Travel Agent or Plan Your Own Vacation?

Travel experts shared with us their ideas of some of the best-priced places in the world in terms of hotels and food, and GOBankingRates put together a list of 10 international destinations that could provide adventure, ambiance and affordability in the new year.

The destinations range from Mexico to Asia to the Caribbean and beyond, and whether you want beach and relaxation or the outdoors and nightlife, there's something for everyone on this list. Of course, before and after booking, you'll want to stay up to date on COVID-19 protocols and requirements. Read on to learn more about your potential 2022 vacation.

Last updated: Oct. 15, 2021

GeorgePeters / iStock.com

Cancun, Mexico

When it's winter everywhere else in January, the average high in Cancun is 81 degrees. And it has the endorsement of Jeremy Scott Foster, the CEO and founder of TravelFreak, a professional travel and adventure guide.

"Cancun has everything to offer its visitors; it's practically a multi-generational destination from luxury resorts, sandy beaches and fantastic nightlife," he said. "Luckily, it's also incredibly affordable. Where prices are highest during the first week of each month, rates then reduce to approximately $50 [per night] for two people in a three-star resort and $80 in a four-star resort."

From the Pet Sitter to the Tour Guide: Here's Who To Pay During Your Vacation

tommasolizzul / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

If you prefer something less touristy in Mexico than Cancun, head to a different part of the Yucatan Peninsula. You'll enjoy similar weather, as well as plenty of spots for swimming and snorkeling, and experience the local food scene at an affordable price.

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"Cities just slightly off the path of the tourist mecca of Cancun, including Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Merida, offer an incredible variety of activities, exquisite food, and inexpensive lodging," said Wes Jacobs, the founder of Apollo Medical Travel. "Young travelers in groups can consider staying in open bunk hostels for $8 USD a night. Airbnb accommodations in a private room or boutique hotel start at around $25 USD per night."

More: 10 Secret Ways To Find Really Cheap Flights



Emdadul Hoque Topu / Shutterstock.com

India

To Kevin Mercier, a travel blogger, India is the place to visit in 2022.

"I believe India is one of the countries more travelers need to start researching in 2022," he said. "Travelers can find everything from the beautiful mountains, beaches, wildlife tours, to culinary delights and delicious local drinks here. India is also one of the best yet cheapest locations for a romantic vacation."

How affordable? Right now, very affordable given the favorable exchange rate from rupees to dollars.

"Unless you're looking to stay at a five-star hotel or resort, you'll find it hard to spend $50 a day here. You can get by on around $30 in most Indian cities by staying at cheap guest houses instead of hotels. The average price for a single person for accommodation in India is around 1,120 rupees ($15)."

Modern Money Etiquette: Who To Tip When You're Traveling



Eunika Sopotnicka / Shutterstock.com

Kenya

If you've always dreamed of a safari, 2022 might be the year.

"I'd suggest travelers to consider East Africa. You can expect to pay as low as $15 a night for hotel stays and you get so much bang for your buck," said Will Hatton, the founder of travel blog The Broke Backpacker. "You'd struggle to book a place in a 30-bed dorm in Australia for that kind of money, so take your hard-earned money and spend it where it spreads so much.

"Kenya is a very diverse country with many options to choose from. You'll find that most places will offer a safari and the beach and be of a reasonable price."

Learn: How To Save Money on Hotels Anywhere in the World, Any Time of Year

Shutterstock.com

Istanbul

Istanbul, Turkey's largest city in terms of population, has emerged as a destination both for those looking to travel on a budget and for those who have a bit more to spend on vacation, said Sean Lau, a travel expert and travel blogger at LivingOutLau.

"One of the best worldwide travel destinations in 2022 is Istanbul," he said. "As the value of the Turkish lira continues to drop, Istanbul becomes one of the best value-for-money travel destinations. Learn about the captivating history of one of the most influential cities in the world, indulge in delightful Turkish cuisine and discover the gorgeous Turkish handicrafts."

Lau said a luxury hotel won't cost more than $100 a night, with budget hotels available in the $20 range.

Explore: 10 Hidden Hotel Fees That Sneak Up on You



Andrey Danilovich / Getty Images

Lombok, Indonesia

Lombok is an island in Indonesia for the adventurous. Trek to a waterfall in the midst of a jungle, go snorkeling or diving, or climb Mount Rinjani, an active volcano. When you're done with your adventures, stop at Air Kalak Hot Springs to enjoy its medicinal properties.

"For those looking for somewhere cheap, well, Lombok offers a broad choice of just about anything," said James Cutajar, who runs The Travel Deck, a website focusing on Southeast Asia. "Hotels start at around $30 a night and food is just as affordable. For instance, fresh grilled fish including sides won't set you back more than $10."

Helpful: The Top 10 Best Travel Hacks To Save the Most Money

Bruno Ismael Silva Alves / Shutterstock.com

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

"One destination we're seeing a lot of bookings for 2022 already that is very affordable is Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic," said Val Streif, the marketing manager at GetMyBoat, a boat rental app similar to Airbnb. "The Dominican Republic is often regarded as one of the most affordable destinations in the Caribbean, offering budget-friendly travel in a region where many islands only offer expensive luxury resorts and pricey hotels."

The beach destination also "offers a lot of authentic culture and unique experiences, while also providing all the touristy comforts you want on a vacation," Streif said.

Helpful: 13 Insider Secrets From Travel Agents That Will Save You Money

Shutterstock.com

Phuket, Thailand

Phuket reopened to visitors who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in July, with some hotel rooms as low as $1 per night to attract tourists. While the prices might not be that low in 2022, it's still poised to be a bargain, said Luke Charny, the founder of A Chef's Tour, which organizes culinary tours in Asia and Latin America.

Charny picks Phuket as the place to be in 2022 because of quiet beaches, excellent infrastructure for tourists and "some seriously good discounts." He said travelers should be able to get rooms overlooking the beach for $20 a night.

Check Out: 40 Pandemic Airport Secrets Only Insiders Know

LeoPatrizi / iStock.com

Tallinn, Estonia

Henrik Jeppesen, a travel blogger and the founder of Every Country in the World, liked Tallinn so much that he moved there.

"Tallinn has a fantastic old town with well-preserved buildings and it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site," he said. "The best value is one of the monthlong stays at the beautiful contemporary Citybox Hotel starting at just 350 euros (about $405 USD) per month. "If you are looking for a shorter visit, Hestia Hotel Kentmanni is a fantastic hotel in a great quiet location with great offers including breakfast and spa access. Tallinn is a great place to live and a fantastic place to visit. ... Oh by the way, the number one ranked restaurant on TripAdvisor has lunch offers for just 5 euros (about $6) Monday through Friday."

Options: 10 Credit Cards To Consider for Travel Rewards

mareandmare / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Belgrade, Serbia

The Serbian capital city has a mix of historic sites, river views and nightlife. Torben Lonne, the co-founder and chief editor of review guide DiveIn.com, recommends it for its "vibrant atmosphere, friendly people, and cheap food and drinks."

"You can find very good deals for accommodation and rent entire apartments for $20 or $30 per night," he said. "Since Belgrade is very well connected with public transport, you don't have to be located downtown in order to get to all of the attractions easily. Being further away from the city center reduces the prices significantly and allows you to see other parts of the city. When it comes to food and drinks, most of the traditional restaurants are very cheap. ... More importantly, the food is delicious and chefs mainly use quality, organic ingredients that you can also find at one of the farmers markets every day."

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 10 Cheap Worldwide Travel Destinations To Consider for 2022
After an eternally long wait, Denis Villeneuve's Dune is FINALLY HERE.

Warner Bros.

Whatever you say, Lady Jessica.

This is the second attempt at a film adaptation of the novel Dune by Frank Herbert. The first one was released in 1984, directed by David Lynch, and starred Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides.

Universal Pictures

It was originally intended to have at least one sequel, but poor critical reception and box office performance nixed those plans. Between then and now, people are starting to acknowledge that it really wasn't that bad.

Here, for your own critical comparison, are all the differences between Lynch's Dune movie from 1984 and Villeneuve's from 2021:

1. Villeneuve got rid of one of my least favorite aspects of the original Dune: the audible internal monologue for every major character. Thank you, Denis!

Hearing every single thought the characters had was unnecessary exposition and ultimately disrupted the action more than it helped explain anything. Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection

2. Even though narration is nowhere near as prominent in Villeneuve's movie, there is still an opening narration  but this time, it's delivered by Zendaya's Chani instead of Princess Irulan.

Chani's opening monologue is part of one of Paul's dreams, whereas Princess Irulan's in 1984 was just direct exposition delivered to the audience.

3. The Atreides family had a sweet little pug in the 1984 version. There is no pug in 2021's Dune, but there are adorable desert mice.

Universal, Warner Bros.

4. Paul has a closer relationship with both his parents in the 2021 film, which is demonstrated by a couple of extra scenes that weren't in the original.

For example, Paul's conversation with Leto on the cliffs of Caladan, and Jessica's visible anguish while Gaius Helen Mohiam tested Paul, were welcome additions to the movie. Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

5. Speaking of Paul's parents, Lady Jessica? She's an absolute BADASS now.

Not that 1984's Jessica was a slouch, but she was certainly a more passive character than this new version. Rebecca Ferguson absolutely nails it as a more powerful, aggressive, and straight-up cool version of the character. Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection, HBO Max

6. The 2021 movie is sliiiightly funnier than the original.

I only counted about three jokes, and two of them came from Jason Momoa, but it's more than the original had!

7. Thankfully, Baron Harkonnen looks different than he did in 1984.

He's still pretty sinister to look at, but the absence of pustules is a huge improvement. The baron's preferred method of movement is still floating around like a balloon, but I'll admit that the 2021 version makes it look a little more menacing and a little less accidentally humorous. This movie also ditched the signature bright orange hair of House Harkonnen, making its members bald instead. Universal, HBO Max

8. On the subject of the Harkonnens, one change that really scrambled my brain was the fact that the movies pronounce the name differently.

1984: Har-KO-nnen

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2021: HAR-ko-nnen

Maybe this is because I heard it first, but I personally prefer the 1984 pronunciation.

9. Dr. Wellington Yueh is played by Taiwanese actor Chang Chen.

Even though the name Yueh is Chinese, the character was white in both the 1984 movie and the 2000 miniseries. Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection, Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

10. The 2021 movie uses a few different languages, while the 1984 movie used only English.

Dr. Yueh and Paul speak Mandarin to each other, Jessica uses a type of sign language to communicate covertly, and the Fremen use a language called Chakobsa.

11. Stilgar shows up much earlier, which we should all be thankful for because he is played by Javier Bardem.

He comes to visit the Atreideses when they move to Arrakeen, instead of showing up for the first time near the end, as he does in the 1984 version. Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

12. The 2021 version really emphasizes the harsh conditions on Arrakis and how much the Atreideses have to adapt when they get there.

The 1984 movie made it clear that Arrakis was a desert planet, but not how dangerous it was to be outside for even a single moment without a stillsuit.

13. Dr. Liet-Kynes is a woman in the new movie, portrayed by Sharon Duncan-Brewster.

The character is a man in the novel and was played by Max von Sydow in the original movie. Universal, Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

14. Her death plays out differently than in the 1984 movie.

In the 1984 movie, Dr. Kynes was killed by the Harkonnens. In this movie, she sacrifices herself to give Paul and Jessica time to escape the Sardaukar army. She does this by summoning the sandworm to come eat her and the Sardaukar surrounding her.

15. Obviously, the quality of CGI has improved drastically since 1984. As a result, everything in 2021's Dune looks much more realistic and expansive.

It seems almost unnecessary to mention this, but the dragonfly ships in the new movie are just too cool to ignore. With that said, the 1984 movie was really impressive at the time. HBO Max

16. Paul's visions are really, really different in both movies.

My apologies to Lynch, but I did not understand Paul's visions in the 1984 movie at all. They were full of metaphors and symbolism that, without the necessary context of the book, were more confusing than explanatory. Villeneuve's take on the visions was more literal and showed actual events and conversations that Paul might experience in the future. The visions/dreams also make up about 80% of Zendaya's screentime.

17. Duncan Idaho has a much bigger role this time around, and Momoa is great in it.

1984's Duncan had a close relationship with Paul, but Momoa and Timothee Chalamet have great chemistry and more scenes together that really cement the bond between the characters. Duncan also died earlier in the 1984 version, but in this movie he survived the attack on Arrakeen and saved Paul and Jessica in the desert before going out in a sacrificial blaze of glory against the Sardaukar. No one does a battle cry quite like Momoa, and Duncan's final moments gave me chills. Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

18. The new movie had more combat scenes, which is always cool.

Duncan, Gurney, Paul, and Lady Jessica (!!) all kick major butt in this movie.

19. Leto's death scene follows the same plot as the original movie but is different visually.

The 1984 movie saw Leto paralyzed and strapped to a gurney while Baron Harkonnen gloated over him. He then released poison gas that he was hiding in a fake tooth, which only wounded Harkonnen but killed Leto himself. This is what happens in the 2021 movie, except that Leto is naked and seated at his own table, surrounded by Harkonnens who had just infiltrated his house. He manages to kill all of them but the baron with his poisoned tooth, but the scene really illustrates just how badly Leto has been defeated. HBO Max

20. Paul and Jessica spend a much longer time lost in the desert after escaping Arrakeen and work together to survive.

In the original movie, they were found by the Fremen right away, and Jessica was so hysterical over Leto's death that Paul had to keep them alive on his own. HBO Max

21. Jessica and Paul are not immediately accepted by the Fremen, and Paul must fight a duel to the death before they are able to join them.

In the 1984 movie, they were accepted by the Fremen right away. However, there was a deleted scene in which Paul fought and killed Jamis, just as he does in the 2021 version. The 1984 movie actually has a lot of deleted scenes that you can find on YouTube, including a completely different ending.

22. Dune, and Zendaya is only in seven minutes of, and I know we're all upset about it , but I have to tell you: Her character, Chani, is already doing more than she did in the 1984 version.

In just a few shots, 2021's Chani seems knowledgeable, tough, and entirely unimpressed by Paul. 1984's Chani had maybe five lines and was shown doing little besides kissing Paul. Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

23. There are a few characters from the 1984 movie that aren't in the 2021 movie, including the Emperor and Alia Atreides.

The Emperor is mentioned in the movie, and his desire to kill the Atreideses is what drives the movie's conflict, but we never actually see him. Alia is technically mentioned when we learn that Lady Jessica is pregnant, but at the end of the movie, she isn't born yet. Princess Irulan and Feyd-Rautha (who was played by Sting!) are also not in the new movie. The Emperor, Alia, and Irulan are likely to show up in Part 2  that's just my assumption, since they're pretty important in the book  but who knows if we'll see another rock star embody Feyd.

24. "The sleeper has awakened" was an oft-repeated line in the original movie, but nobody says it once in the 2021 movie.

It's not in the novel, either! But it's a meaningful line for Leto and Paul in the 1984 movie, so I was surprised not to hear it at all in the new one. Universal

25. Paul is resentful of the Bene Gesserit prophecy and even lashes out at Jessica because of it, which didn't happen in the 1984 movie.

In the 1984 movie, Paul was worried that he wouldn't live up to the prophecy, but this version of the character dismisses the prophecy as a myth and doesn't believe in it until the very end of the movie. Paul is also tormented by his prophetic dreams and worries that power will corrupt him.

26. The plot of both movies is actually really similar until the ending.

In the 1984 version, there was a two-year time jump after Paul and Jessica are accepted as members of the Fremen. During this time, Alia is born, Jessica becomes the reverend mother of the Fremen, Paul and Chani begin their romantic relationship, and Paul drinks the Water of Life, which gives him powers and the ability to control the giant sandworms. He then reunites with Gurney Halleck and leads the Fremen in a final battle against the Harkonnens and the Emperor, during which Alia kills Baron Harkonnen and Paul defeats the Emperor. Finally, he uses his psychic powers to make it rain on Arrakis and is accepted as the Kwisatz Haderach. On the other hand, the 2021 movie ends when Paul and Jessica join the Fremen. Ultimately, Villeneuve's movie is clearly set up to have a sequel, while Lynch's movie had more of a conclusion. Universal, HBO Max

27. And finally, Jessica says the "Fear is the mind killer" monologue instead of Paul.

Warner Bros.

She repeats it like a sort of prayer whenever she's under duress, such as when her son is being tortured or the aircraft she's riding in is crashing into the sand.
Florida will once gain see an influx of visitors from the Northeast this winter. Roman Stetsyk/Shutterstock

More airlines are adding flights to Florida this winter to meet the demand for leisure travel.

Avelo Airlines, JSX, and Elite Airways will connect the Northeast and Florida in November.

Governor Ron Desantis is praising Florida's low daily average COVID-19 case rate; though, deaths remain high.

Americans still love escaping to Florida for the winter, and airlines are ready to accommodate with new flights to the Sunshine State launching in November.

Three airlines have announced new flights from the Northeast to cities across Florida, offering travelers a variety of options when heading south for the winter. Avelo Airlines, JSX, and Elite Airways will join the busy East Coast air corridor, each with its own unique style and varying degrees of luxury.

Ultra-low-cost startup Avelo Airlines will offer the most flights to Florida of the three, serving the ever-popular destinations of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa, and West Palm Beach from Connecticut's Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport. Introductory fares on the routes start at $49 but customers will have to pay extra for add-ons including baggage allowance and advance seat assignments.

Located 80 miles from New York City, New Haven can attract a mix of travelers ranging from the Connecticut wealthy to cost-minded budget travelers. Avelo just launched flights in April with a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft as part of a new wave of airlines looking to offer a combination of friendly customer service and low fares, as Insider found on the airline's inaugural flight.

Another new carrier to the Northeast will also launch flights to Florida, offering a high-end experience and a price tag to match. Semi-private airline JSX will soon fly between White Plains, New York and Miami with five flights per week starting on November 18.

Fares start at $749 one-way and include the use of private terminals on both ends of the journey, two checked bags, snacks, drinks, and cocktails. JSX's Embraer E135/E145 aircraft feature a mere 30 leather seats with extra legroom and in-seat power offered throughout the cabin.

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Elite Airways, a scheduled passenger carrier that also performs on-demand charter operations, will launch flights between Newark and St Augustine, Florida on November 19. The weekender service will operate on Mondays and Fridays using Elite Airways' fleet of Bombardier regional aircraft.

Fares start at $129 one-way and include complimentary seat assignments, checked baggage, and onboard snacks and beverages. Elite Airways also offers flights between Newark and Melbourne, Florida.

Florida remained a top travel destination even during the worst of the pandemic's second wave in late 2020. United Airlines, for example, added 17 routes to Florida in 2020 from cities across the Northeast and Midwest to capture the new market of leisure travelers heading south.

The combination of year-round sunny weather and a reduced focus on pandemic restrictions increased Florida's popularity as a getaway destination among a segment of the population. Others sought to avoid the Sunshine State, which remained a near-permanent fixture on the travel advisory list of states like New York, for the same reason.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday that the state had achieved a daily average COVID-19 case rate of eight per 100,000 residents, the lowest of any US state. Deaths in the state remain high, however, with the daily average at 123.9, according to New York Times data, making Florida second only to Texas despite 60% of the population being fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Connecticut maintains a similarly low daily average case rate of nine per 100,000 residents while New York has the highest at 19 per 100,000 residents. Both Connecticut and New York lead Florida in vaccination rates but confirmed COVID-19 cases in all three states are trending downward.

The new flights on all three airlines are already available for booking.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Viper rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita. STR New/Reuters

A California man paid off student loans after eating at Six Flags Magic Mountain for seven years.

Dylan started purchasing the $150 annual pass to eat dinner multiple meals at the park every day, he told Mel Magazine.

In addition to paying off his loans, Dylan bought a house and got married.

A 33-year-old California man was able to pay off his student loan debt after committing to eating nearly all his meals at Six Flags for seven years.

The man identified as Dylan started to take advantage of Six Flags Magic Mountain's annual pass in 2014 when he was working as an intern in an office minutes away from the amusement park, WKRC reported.

"You can pay around $150 for unlimited, year-round access to Six Flags, which includes parking and two meals a day," Dylan said in an interview with Mel Magazine. "If you time it right, you could eat both lunch and dinner there every day."

During the first year, Dylan admitted that he doesn't think he "ever went to the grocery store" and acknowledged that the theme park menu, which was made up of burgers, fries, and pizza, "wasn't healthy at all, which was rough" the outlet reported.

Since then, in addition to paying off his student loans, Dylan was able to buy a house and get married, according to reports. The exact amount of his student loan debt wasn't reported.

He estimates that he has eaten over 2,000 meals at the amusement park over the years, paying about 50 cents for each meal, Mel Magazine reported.

After getting married, Dylan said he stopped eating at Six Flags for dinner and on the weekends. However, he still goes to enjoy at least three lunches during the week.

"We just bought a house here, so I'm not really going anywhere," Dylan told Mel Magazine. "As long as they keep changing the menu, I'm happy."

Read the original article on Insider
(R-L) Glover Teixeira of Brazil secures a rear choke submission against Jan Blachowicz of Poland in the UFC light heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 267 event at Etihad Arena on Oct. 30, 2021 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Nothing came easy in his MMA career for Glover Teixeira. He was 19 fights in before he finally made it to the UFC in 2012. He had to work as a landscaper to pay the bills because fighters on the regional circuit rarely make enough money to survive only on their fight-related income.

He was dominated in his first UFC title shot in 2014 by Jon Jones, and when he lost to Corey Anderson on July 22, 2018, in Hamburg, Germany, it was three losses in his last five fights.

But at an age when fighters are moving on to the next stage of their lives, Teixeira reinvented himself and on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi in the main event of UFC 267, captured the UFC title.

He submitted Jan Blachowicz with a rear naked choke at 3:02 of the second round to become the second-oldest champion in UFC history at 42 years, two days old.

It was a long, hard road to the top for one of the sports most humble and self-effacing guys, but he made it look easy on Saturday. He took Blachowicz down 40 seconds into the fight and kept him on his back for the rest of the first round.

In the second, he landed a right hand followed by a left hook that dropped Blachowicz. Teixeira quickly took his back and sunk in the choke.

He went up to UFC president Dana White in jubilation after his win and said, Its been 20 years! Can you believe it? Twenty years!

Teixeira, who is now 33-7, never gave up and opened his mind to new ideas. He went to work at the UFC Performance Institute and changed his training methods to accommodate his age and leave himself at his best for the fight.

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He earned the title shot by reeling off five wins in a row and capped it with his sixth in succession, an amazing victory over a highly regarded champion.

Im breaking the rules at 42 years old and Im going to keep breaking those rules, he said.

Blachowicz, who said, Everything went wrong with me, didnt have much to offer in the bout even though he went off as nearly a 3-1 favorite. Teixeira had warned in the pre-fight that Blachowicz didnt want to go to the ground with him, and that warning was prophetic.

Blachowicz didnt have an answer, though he vowed to be back.

This is not the end of my story, Blachowicz said. My storys not closed. Im not a quitter. Ill be back.

If he needed any inspiration to realize that it is, in fact, possible to rise up, he only needed to look across at the cage at the man who defeated him.

Teixeira was written off many times, but declined to listen to the skeptics. He believed in himself and kept working to make himself better.

I told you I was coming home with the belt and I am, baby! he said gleefully.

And like Blachowicz said, Teixeiras story is not over, either. Hell likely face the dynamic striker Jiri Prochazka next, but no longer will anyone ever doubt him after what hes pulled off.
Argentina's ex-president Mauricio Macri was again subpoenaed Friday as part of a probe ito a wiretapping scandal, after the current president lifted an obstacle to him testifying.

The investigation is looking into allegations that his government spied on relatives of 44 sailors who died in the sinking of a navy submarine in 2017.

Macri appeared in court briefly Thursday to argue he could not testify because he would have to reveal confidential information.

But hours later President Alberto Fernandez signed a decree that lifted those secrecy provisions, allowing his testimony, officials said.

And Friday, Macri once again was summoned to testify again in the case, this time on November 3.

The sub ARA San Juan disappeared in November 2017. When it was found just over a year later, it was at a depth of more than 900 meters (2,950 feet) in the South Atlantic some 400 kilometers off the coast of Argentina.

It had been crushed from an implosion apparently caused by a technical fault. Authorities decided against attempting to refloat it.

Family members of the 44 crew members told investigators they were followed and wiretapped, filmed and intimidated into abandoning any claims related to the incident.

Macri, 62, is accused of ordering the espionage. The judge overseeing the probe has to decide whether to indict him.

If convicted Macri risks between three and 10 years in jail for allegedly violating Argentina's intelligence laws. He led the country from 2015 to 2019.

ls/mdl/dw
The Austin and Dallas school districts said Friday that they would defy a request from Texas state Rep. Matt Krause who initiated an investigation into schools' library books, the Houston Chronicle reports.

The big picture: The Austin school district, one of the largest in the state, was the first school system to disregard the probe set by Krause. Dallas followed shortly after late Friday night, according to the Chronicle.

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The Austin independent school district (ISD) spokesperson Jason Stanford said that a response was unnecessary because "anyone can search our library catalogs."

A Dallas ISD spokesperson said the district would not respond because "the letter is an unofficial request," per the Houston Chronicle.

Driving the news: Krause, the chair of the Texas House Committee on General Investigating, announced on Wednesday that the probe would focus on books that discuss race, sexuality or "make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex."

He included a 16-page list of nearly 850 targeted books that deal with topics such as racism, abortion and homosexuality.

Democrats and Texas education groups have criticized the probe as a "precursor to future censorship," according to the Houston Chronicle.

Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, Round Rock, Northside and Spring Branch ISDs also received Krause's letter, according to the Texas Tribune.

What's next: Schools have until Nov. 12 to respond to Krause's investigation, though the consequences of schools not complying is unclear.

Go deeper: Texas House probes school library books dealing with race and sexuality.

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  The quest by a civil rights pioneer to have her arrest record wiped clean after nearly 70 years after she protested racial segregation has raised the possibility of similar bids to clear the names of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., whose convictions remain on the books in Alabama's capital.

Parks, a Black seamstress and activist who was convicted of violating racial segregation laws after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955, was convicted of violating racial segregation laws. King, who helped lead the resulting Montgomery Bus Boycott, paid a $500 fine after being convicted in 1956 of violating a law banning boycotts.

Parks refused to pay her $10 fine, and she and King went on to become icons of racial justice and the modern civil rights movement. Yet their cases remain on the books in Montgomery, said civil rights attorney Fred Gray, who represented both.

In the case of King, an up-and-coming pastor at the time, efforts to reverse the conviction in court failed, Gray said.

"We might just decide to file a lawsuit on his behalf to have that record expunged," Gray said. The same goes for Parks and others, potentially, he said.

The chief prosecutor in Alabama's capital, Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey, said he would generally support a move to expunge the arrest records of King and Parks, but he'd need to see details of any such request before responding in court.

Bailey and Gray spoke on behalf of Claudette Colvin as she asked a court on Tuesday to remove records stemming her from arrest and conviction after she refused to move to the back of a bus in compliance with racial segregation laws in March 1955 in Montgomery. Now 82, Colvin was a 15-year-old high school student at the time.

My mindset was on freedom, she said after filing the expungement request, which has yet to be decided.

An attorney representing Colvin, Phillip Ensler, said he would support a bid to expunge the court records of other activists from the civil rights movement. But Colvin, who was convicted of assaulting an officer during her arrest and declared delinquent, isn't sure that such an effort would be possible since there was so much injustice for so long.

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That would take a hundred years, maybe 200 years to go through the court system, she said. You could never finish it.

Representatives from The King Center in Atlanta and The Rosa and Raymond Parks Foundation in Detroit, where Parks lived most of her life, did not return emails seeking comment.

Hundreds of people were arrested across the South during civil rights demonstrations in the 1950s and 60s, and its unclear how many would want to remove their arrest records, which many see as a badge of honor. When the city of Birmingham offered mass pardons to people arrested during protests in 1963, many refused.

Montgomery County Circuit Clerk Gina Ishman said expunging court documents removes convictions from defendants' record but generally does not result in the destruction of documents, such as the historical police and court records involving people like Colvin, King and Parks.

Colvin, who left Alabama for New York at age 20, said the conviction never bothered her much, although her family was worried because she never received notice saying her probation had ended. The worst thing about the ordeal was losing high school friends over her act of defiance, she said.

They didn't want to be around me, said Colvin.

___

Reeves is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team.
President Biden and Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, met Saturday to discuss a deal that would sell up to 110 million COVID vaccine doses to African countries.

Driving the news: The agreement between Moderna and the African Union is intended to help countries that are behind on vaccination targets set by the World Health Organization due to access and availability of vaccines.

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The U.S. has already shipped 63 million doses of the vaccine to the AU, according to the White House.

The big picture: The White House said Biden and Tshisekedi met on the margins of the Group of 20 summit held in Rome.

Africa is the region least vaccinated against COVID-19 in the world, with just over 5% of people fully vaccinated, AP reports.

The two leaders also discussed protecting the Congo Basin rainforest, the second-largest tropical rainforest in the world. The global goal is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Go deeper: Moderna to sell African countries up to 110 million COVID vaccine doses

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Biden met Saturday to talk about Iran's nuclear program. (Evan Vucci / Associated Pess)

Facing the possibility of renewed negotiations with Iran in the coming weeks, President Biden on Saturday opened the door to lifting sanctions as part of a diplomatic effort to prevent Tehran from building nuclear weapons.

The offer was made as part of a joint statement with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron. The four leaders met on the sidelines of the G-20 conference in Rome to plan their strategy for dealing with Iran, which has raised alarms by increasing its enrichment of nuclear material.

It will probably be difficult to break a diplomatic stalemate that has persisted on the issue for months, and Biden signaled that he wasn't willing to move forward without commitments from Tehran.

"This will only be possible if Iran changes course," the leaders said in their statement, adding that they were urging Iran's new president, Ebrahim Raisi, "to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency. That is the only sure way to avoid a dangerous escalation, which is not in any countrys interest."

Biden campaigned on returning to the Iran nuclear agreement, which was reached by President Obama in 2015 and abandoned by President Trump three years later. Since then, the U.S. has targeted the Iranian economy with punishing sanctions; Tehran, in turn, has ramped up its nuclear activities.

"We are convinced that it is possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on return to full compliance and to ensure for the long term that Irans nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes," the statement said.

Regional experts said there's no clear path back to the original deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

Vali Nasr, a professor of Middle East studies and international affairs at Johns Hopkins University, doesn't believe the Biden administration has high hopes for negotiations and may no longer view the existing framework as viable.

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The challenge, Nasr said, is maintaining unity with European allies, who are more interested in resuscitating the JCPOA. He said Saturday's meeting shows Biden is "very keen on keeping the Europeans very close to the United States."

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who took office this summer, speaks to his country's parliament in Tehran in August. (Vahid Salemi / Associated Press)

Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security advisor, described the U.S. and Europe as closely aligned, telling reporters Thursday that they would be "all singing from the same song sheet on this issue."

Russia and China, two other participants in the Iranian nuclear agreement, were not included in the joint statement nor Saturday's meeting.

Simply getting back to the negotiating table, let alone reaching a new deal, has been challenging. Robert Malley, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, blamed Tehran for spending months stalling. He said Monday that "its hard to find an explanation, an innocent explanation for why they are taking so long."

A break came Wednesday when Iran's deputy foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, said the nation's leaders have agreed "to start negotiations before the end of November."

No date has been set for resuming talks, and there are doubts in the White House that they will take place.

"We have heard positive signals that they are, but I think we have to wait and see when and whether they actually show up at the negotiating table," Sullivan said.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said he's not surprised that the U.S. would offer to alleviate pressure on the Iranian economy.

Theres no return to a deal if Biden doesnt lift the sanctions," he said.

But the U.S. faces a credibility problem, he said, after Trump pulled out of the original agreement. Parsi said Iran will "want to have binding assurances that the Biden administration will stick to the deal."

Michael Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said Biden should continue Trump's "maximum pressure" strategy, where the U.S. ratchets up punishments until Tehran makes concessions.

However, he said, the Biden administration will probably seek an informal understanding where talks continue and neither side escalates the situation. In such a gray area, U.S. sanctions aren't lifted but are selectively enforced, and Iran doesn't rush toward building a nuclear weapon.

The deal will never come, but there will be informal understandings along the way, Doran said. Its convenient for the Iranians and its convenient for the Americans.

Turmoil in the Middle East has also jeopardized diplomatic efforts. Most recently, Iran has been blamed for a drone attack on a military base in Syria where U.S. troops are based. No American casualties were reported.

Brian Katulis, a senior fellow and vice president for policy at the Middle East Institute, said the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles, drones and proxy forces will make it hard to deal with the nuclear program in isolation.

"In the real world, there's an escalation going on," he said.

Katulis added, "It's not an environment of trust and confidence."

Biden also pressed forward on economic issues during the first day of the G-20 summit.

Participating countries endorsed an agreement for a global minimum tax, a long-sought deal that's intended to prevent corporations from seeking overseas tax shelters.

"This deal will remake the global economy into a more prosperous place for American business and workers," said a statement from Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, who helped forge the deal. "Rather than competing on our ability to offer lower rates, America will now compete on the skills of our people, our ideas, and our capacity to innovate  which is a race we can win."

However, it could prove difficult for Biden to push the policy through a sharply divided Congress by 2023, when all countries are supposed to enact the tax.

The U.S. and European Union also moved to resolve a trade dispute over steel and aluminum tariffs, which were implemented by Trump and left in place by Biden.

Under the agreement, the U.S. will implement a quota system under which the tariffs will be levied on metal imports only exceeding a certain amount. The compromise is intended to alleviate high prices but also leave in place some protection for the American steel industry, which has been squeezed by overseas competition.

In return, the EU plans to drop its own tariffs on U.S. imports.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
By Jeff Mason

ROME (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will warn Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting on Sunday that any precipitous actions would not benefit U.S.-Turkish relations and that crises should be avoided, a U.S. official said on Saturday.

Erdogan earlier this month ordered 10 envoys, including the U.S. ambassador, to be declared "persona non grata" for seeking the release of jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala, though he later withdrew the threat to expel them.

"Certainly the president will indicate that we need to find a way to avoid crises like that one going forward and precipitous action is not going to benefit the U.S.-Turkey partnership and alliance," the U.S. official told reporters.

The official said a meeting between the two leaders may not have happened if Erdogan had expelled the U.S. ambassador. But the issue had been resolved, for the moment at least, he said.

Biden, who is in Rome for the G20 summit, will also discuss Turkey's request to purchase F-16 fighter jets, its defence relationship with the United States and a range of regional issues such as Syria and Libya.

U.S. lawmakers have urged the Biden administration not to sell F-16s to Turkey and threatened to block any such exports on the grounds that Turkey had purchased Russian missile defence systems and "behaved like an adversary".

Reuters reported earlier this month that Turkey had made a request to the United States to buy 40 Lockheed Martin-made F-16s and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.

The alliance between the United States and Turkey, both members of NATO, has come under strain in recent years over policy differences on Syria, Turkey's Russian S-400 missile defence purchase, and human rights.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; editing by Michel Rose, Toby Chopra, Giles Elgood and Sonya Hepinstall)
"Real Time" host Bill Maher sounded the alarm Friday night about next week's Virginia gubernatorial election, which could go to Republicans for the first time since 2009.

Maher began the show's panel discussion by pointing out that Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe "should walk away with it" since President Biden won Virginia by 10 points and McAuliffe previously served as the commonwealth's governor, 2014-2018.

Instead, Maher noted, the race is "neck and neck," with GOP challenger Glenn Youngkin over an issue that Maher reminded viewers he previously warned about.

"I said this months and months ago that the issue in coming elections is going to be what's going on in the schools," Maher said. "Parents vote and they don't like what's going in schools. They feel like they are losing control and this became the issue in this election."

BILL MAHER DEFENDS DAVE CHAPPELLE, KNOCKS CRITICS: EVERYONE NEEDS TO NETFLIX AND CHILL THE F--- OUT

"Trust me, this is going to be a huge barometer-kind of election because if Terry McAuliffe loses, people are gonna understand, 'Yes. Oh, that's right. It is going to be about that,'" Maher continued.

The HBO star then tore into McAuliffe for his infamous debate remark when the Democrat said, "I'm not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions. I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach."

Maher called the McAuliffe comment an "applause line" for teachers but not for parents.

"Just on a political level, f---ing- excuse me," Maher said before curbing his language for his guest, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. "Very stupid, right? Very stupid."

Maher later stressed, "We have to start defining what critical race theory means because it means something to everybody when they hear it."

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TEAM MCAULIFFE EMAILS REVEAL EFFORT TO KILL THIS FOX NEWS STORY

The Atlantic staff writer Caitlin Flanagan responded by arguing the ideology of critical race theory can be taught but "what you cannot do" is "set school policy by the findings of critical race theory."

"You can't rewrite a curriculum because of it and you really cannot treat children in a way that you're pulling them out by race and giving them different messages. And that's what you cannot do. It's happening," Flanagan explained.

"If that's what critical race theory means, if it means separating 5-year-olds by race and telling some you're oppressors and the others you're the oppressed and giving up on a colorblind society and resegregation and racism is the essence of America- then I'm out. I'm out on that," Maher said. "But I'm in on Toni Morrison, I'm in on acknowledging racism still persist."

Flanagan, who stressed that she's a "Democrat," railed against McAuliffe as a "hack politician" who is "siding with the teachers union" because "that's where his bread is buttered."

"He's a rich man who sent all his kids to private schools and he's never in his life had someone tell him 'We're gonna tell your 8-year-old child something you don't want her to know and we're going to keep her for seven hours to do it and you have no control over that,'" Flanagan said. "So it's a big issue and if he loses it, then Democrats are gonna lose. Learn! Run some progressive candidates, run some people who stand for progressive ideas!"
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China on Saturday warned Lithuania and European officials not to disrupt ties over decisions by Taiwan and the Baltic country to open reciprocal representative offices.

China demanded in August that Lithuania withdraw its ambassador in Beijing and said it would recall China's envoy to Vilnius after Taiwan announced that its office in Vilnius would be called the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania.

Other Taiwan offices in Europe and the United States use the name of the city Taipei, avoiding a reference to the island itself, which China claims as its own territory.

Lithuania said earlier this year it planned to open a representative office in Taiwan, a decision that also angered Beijing.

China "resolutely opposes" official contacts between countries that have diplomatic relations with China and authorities in Taiwan, Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement on its website.

"We urge the Lithuanian government to abide by the solemn political commitments made when establishing diplomatic relations with China and not to make irreversible wrong decisions," Wang said.

"The European side should adopt a correct position and prevent interference with the healthy development of China-EU relations."

China's Xinhua official news agency said Wang's comments followed a joint letter from the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission expressing concern over China's criticisms of the representative offices.

(Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editng by Robert Birsel)
As world leaders from 190 nations convene in Glasgow, Scotland for the Climate Change Conference Sunday, leading climate activists are preparing to sit these talks out.

Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who has garnered global attention for her demands on climate reform, has said she will be protesting the talks to draw attention to another issue  vaccine inequality.

TOPSHOT - Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks during a climate strike demonstration of Fridays for Future in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 22, 2021. Photo by ERIK SIMANDER/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images

"Climate justice also means social justice and that we leave no one behind," she wrote on Twitter this week.

UN CLAIMS 2030 GREENHOUSE EMISSION GOALS NOT ENOUGH, WORLD 'ON TRACK FOR CLIMATE CATASTROPHE'

Roughly 30,000 individuals are expected to be in attendance at the climate conference, first reported the Washington Post, but health implications with the continuing pandemic remain a top concern.

Climate activists condemned the conference earlier this year, accusing Western nations of being unsympathetic to vaccine disparities amongst developing nations.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly promised to disperse vaccines to leaders from nations who could not gain access to vaccines on their own, though the U.K. government faced criticism for a disorganized vaccine distribution system, reported the Post.

The United Nations warned global leaders this week that they need to make big, immediate changes to how their nations function if they want to avoid "climate catastrophe."

But Thunberg has opted out of this years conference.

"Nothing has changed from previous years really," Thunberg said in a recent interview with The Guardian. "The leaders will say well do this and well do this, and we will put our forces together and achieve this, and then they will do nothing. Maybe some symbolic things and creative accounting and things that dont really have a big impact."

OBAMA TO ATTEND UN CLIMATE SUMMIT IN GLASGOW

It remains unclear how Thunberg expects policy-based change to happen, but global leaders are using the conference to establish national goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Story continues

The UN this week warned that to prevent global temperatures from increasing above the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold, countries will need to take more aggressive strategies than previously thought.

Thunberg will still make it to Glasgow during the near two-week-long conference.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 30: Pilgrimage groups who have walked to Glasgow are joined by members of the group, Extinction Rebellion as they walk to raise awareness of the climate crisis on October 30, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

On Nov. 5 she will attend a COP26 Climate Strike to express her frustration at the continuing COVID-19 threat in underdeveloped nations  a topic Thunberg has made a major issue in her fight against climate change.

On Friday, Thunberg took aim at the Western media, advising journalists and outlets in developed nations to more heavily report on news south of the equator.

"The climate crisis isnt just about extreme weather. Its about people," she penned in coordination with Vanessa Nakate, a Ugandan climate-justice activist. "And while the Global South is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, its almost never on the front pages of the worlds newspapers.

"You have the resources and possibilities to change the story overnight," they continued. "Whether or not you choose to rise to that challenge is up to you. Either way, history will judge you."
Associated Press

The developer of a $1 billion electric transmission line is suspending construction at the request of Maines governor after she certified election results Friday in which residents firmly opposed the project. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills had urged New England Clean Energy Connect Transmission LLC to stop construction on the 145-mile (233-kilometer) project until legal challenges are resolved. Thorn Dickinson, president and CEO of NECEC, said work will be temporarily halted until a judge rules on a request for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit contending the referendum was unconstitutional.
A 51-year-old Bristol man was arrested and charged with illegal possession of an assault weapon after shots were into a mans car in Bristol, police said Saturday.

Jack Frederick Allen was also charged with illegal discharge of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, second-degree assault, second-degree criminal mischief and second-degree breach of peace, police said.

The incident was reported shortly before 6:30 a.m. Friday when police received emergency calls that shots had been fired on Chestnut Street in the citys West End. When officers arrived, they discovered a parked car that had been hit by gunshots. Officers found the car owner, who said that he had been assaulted by Allen, police said.

Following the assault, Allen arrived back at the scene with a gun and shot into the car, police said.

The Central Region Emergency Response Team  a tactical SWAT team with trained officers from four towns  went to Allens home at 108 South Street in Bristol and found him hiding in the home, police said. He was arrested and taken into custody at around 8 p.m. Friday. During the investigation, police found an assault rifle in Allens vehicle.

He was being held on $150,000 bond and is awaiting arraignment at state Superior Court in New Britain, police said Saturday.

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com.
Amy and Ryan Nolan had a surprise wedding. Emily Wren Photography

Amy and Ryan Nolan had a surprise wedding in May 2021.

They got engaged in August 2020, and they didn't tell anyone for nine months.

Their guests didn't find out they were attending their wedding until they arrived at the ceremony.

There was a spark between Amy and Ryan Nolan the moment they met.

Amy and Ryan Nolan have been together since 2018. Emily Wren Photography

Amy and Ryan, both 27, met at a college graduation party in May 2018. The honoree was Ryan's cousin and a friend of Amy's stepfather.

Amy told Insider that the first time she saw Ryan was when she asked to join a game of beer pong at the party. She said she could tell he was interested in her right away.

"I walked out onto the patio, and I asked if I could play," she said. "Ryan shoved his cousin out of the way so he could stand next to me."

They've been together ever since.

Ryan is a telecommunications lineman and Amy is a PhD student. The couple live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, together.

The couple got engaged in 2020 - but they didn't tell anyone.

They kept their engagement a secret. Emily Wren Photography

Ryan proposed to Amy in August of 2020.

"It was this beautiful moment between the two of us, and no one knew," Amy said of the proposal. "But that was the way we planned it."

"We had talked beforehand about what exactly we'd like our engagement and our marriage and wedding to look like," she said.

The Nolans had watched friends and family members have stressful engagements because of others trying to influence their wedding plans, and they knew they didn't want that.

"We just wanted a lot of privacy during that time," she told Insider.

They planned a surprise wedding for May 22, 2021.

They had a surprise wedding. Emily Wren Photography

Because they decided to keep things secret, almost none of their loved ones knew they were engaged for nine months.

The Nolans decided to tie the knot at the Seroonian Armenian Community Center, which was the same venue that hosted the graduation party at which they met.

The couple told their family and friends they were hosting a casual barbecue for Ryan and his twin sister's birthday to get them to show up at the event.

Story continues

They hired Emily Wren Photography to document the day.

The Nolans worked with a wedding planner to make the surprise nuptials come together.

The Nolans worked with a wedding planner. Emily Wren Photography

Because they didn't have any family or friends who could help them make big wedding decisions, the Nolans turned to Confetti & Co.'s Sara Murray to plan and design their event.

"She had all this advice and guidance for us, so it wasn't stressful," Amy said of Murray, adding that she made the planning experience fun.

"I definitely wouldn't have been able to have that without Confetti & Co. because they had all the expertise," she said. "You don't realize how crazy it is to throw a big wedding without having any experience."

Amy even shopped for her wedding dress by herself.

She picked out her wedding dress on her own. Emily Wren Photography

Amy said she felt a little sad while shopping for her wedding dress on her own.

"I think you have this idea of how your wedding-dress shopping will go, and I always had fun picking out prom dresses with my mom," she said.

But remembering the stress her sister and friends experienced picking out their wedding gowns made her feel better about her decision to pick her dress out by herself.

"Everyone wants to go with you and they love you so much, but you feel so stressed out because you're on display and sometimes your tastes don't coincide with everyone else's tastes," she said.

"So it actually ended up being a really good time," Amy said of shopping by herself. "But for a moment I was like, 'Oh, I wish my mom could be here.'"

Amy chose an off-the-shoulder dress for the surprise wedding.

The bride's dress was from David's Bridal. Emily Wren Photography

The Melissa Sweet dress from David's Bridal had a simple neckline and was covered in lace.

A slit brought modernity to the classic look, and Amy paired the dress with a floor-length veil.

She also changed into a more casual BHLDN dress for her reception.

Bridget Comaskey from Platinum Hair Co. did Amy's hair with extensions from Luxy Hair, and she did her own makeup.

Keeping the event a secret was difficult at times.

Pulling off a secret wedding was difficult. Emily Wren Photography

Because Amy and Ryan have been together for a while, some of their loved ones were curious if they would be getting engaged soon, which made keeping their secret a bit difficult.

"We would see family, and I would take my ring off and I'd be so scared they could see the little indentation from my ring," she said.

Amy even pretended she was frustrated Ryan hadn't proposed yet so her sisters wouldn't be suspicious, even though they were already engaged.

"I started to cultivate this idea to my sisters that I was really annoyed that I didn't have a ring yet," she said. "And I kept complaining, so I think they were scared to ask me."

Her fake anger helped ensure their wedding was a surprise.

The Nolans didn't even send real wedding invitations.

They didn't send invitations. Emily Wren Photography

Since no one was supposed to know the event was a wedding in advance, the Nolans couldn't send invitations to their guests.

MaryKateMoon made an invitation for the couple as a memento.

As Philly Mag reported, 19 people attended the couple's ceremony and 52 came to the reception.

Most guests were clued in on the true nature of the party when they saw Ryan.

Ryan greeted their guests. Emily Wren Photography

As Amy told Insider, Ryan greeted guests outside of the venue in a Generation Tux suit. When they walked inside, they saw their ceremony space set up with flowers from RAM Floral.

It was immediately clear to people that the celebration was more than just a birthday party.

Everyone was surprised, but Amy said her mom had one of the most memorable reactions.

"She thought I was going to be the worst party host ever, because even though I kept this secret, I'm not a very good liar," Amy said. "So she kept asking me, 'What are you going to feed your guests?' And she thought this was just a casual birthday, so I said, 'I'm not sure,' because I couldn't tell her I had a caterer."

"So she showed up with potato salad because she really thought I wasn't going to have any food for our guests," she went on to say. "She saw Ryan in his suit outside and she started crying with her potato salad."

A few people had to be clued in about the wedding before it happened, though.

A handful of people knew about the wedding. Emily Wren Photography

For instance, they told Ryan's parents because they almost missed the wedding.

"Ryan's parents thought this was going to be a 'young person party,' so they were going to keep their original plans of going to the beach," Amy said. "So they found out the surprise beforehand."

Ryan's sister, Dana Nolan, also knew the event was actually her brother's wedding, so she wasn't disappointed the event wasn't her birthday party. She also made the couple's wedding cake.

Amy also made sure her dad brought a suit to the event so he was prepared to escort her down the aisle, as Philly Mag reported.

The Nolans' friend, Dan Wiseman, officiated the wedding.

Amy said that Ryan kept her calm and happy on the wedding day.

Ryan supported Amy throughout the wedding day. Emily Wren Photography

"Ryan was so wonderful to me. He's always wonderful to me, so I don't know why it would be any different on our wedding day," she said.

"He made sure I had hairspray and champagne and that I was doing OK," she went on to say, adding that he asked if she needed anything all day long.

The reception was outdoors.

They served barbecue at the reception. Emily Wren Photography

The reception took place under an EventQuip tent that was filled with rentals from Something Vintage Rentals, Lumos Co. lighting, and flowers.

The Nolans also served barbecue from Mission BBQ, keeping one element of the nonexistent birthday party their guests were expecting.

The reception had a relaxed feel.

They played games. Emily Wren Photography

The reception had no assigned seating, and guests played party games, including cornhole using custom boards embossed with the couple's initials.

The couple also provided coloring materials for kids in attendance at the event.

Nicole Marx of SimplyCole provided signage for the wedding.

Amy said spending time with her loved ones was one of the best parts of the day for her.

Some couldn't attend the wedding. Emily Wren Photography

The couple had many friends and family members present, but there were a few people who couldn't make it.

"I was so happy with how it all turned out, but there were some aunts and uncles who couldn't come because of various reasons," Amy said. "But I think that happens with every wedding; some family members aren't able to make it."

"But other than that, everything was perfect," she added.

Amy and Ryan are glad they had a private engagement.

It was special to privately plan their wedding. Emily Wren Photography

"I think for a lot of couples, engagement can be really stressful because you're getting so much advice and opinions," Amy said.

"We thought it was wonderful to just be able to forge our own plans and decide on our own the way we were going to handle things without anyone interfering," she said.

"He has such a big heart," Amy said of why she loves Ryan.

Amy loves Ryan's heart. Emily Wren Photography

"I love Ryan so much. I love his heart," Amy said.

"He's the very definition of a soft teddy bear that doesn't look like one," she went on to say.

"He's so loving to all his friends and family," she said of her husband.

The Nolans. Emily Wren Photography

"He'll do anything for his loved ones," she said. "So I love that about him."

You can see more of Emily Wren's work here.

Read the original article on Insider
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

At a glance, this falls editions of $aver Magazine, a coupon book mailed to thousands of homes in the greater Charleston, South Carolina, area every few months, looked as innocuous as ever. But people who read the mailer in recent days noticed something new and disturbing amidst its usual barrage of hokey design and special offers.

Instead of ads, one random page sported a banner reading Our American Republic, a disclaimer (The following are only my opinions. You decide and research for truth yourself.), and a wall of typo-riddled text promoting a melange of near-incoherent, wild conspiracy theories, many focused on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

It is obvious that America is under attack. And by our own employees, the government! the rant opens. That our personal freedoms are being stolen and the Constitution being trashed. Everything is upside down!

Among other things, the would-be treatise specifically insists that the IRS is fraudulent and illegal. But the bulk of its focus falls upon official attempts to contain the disease that continues to kill hundreds of Americans every day, and the safe and effective vaccines with the power to prevent much of the suffering caused by this scourge.

The US government and the US military deliberately developed the bio weapon [sic] covid 19 aka wuhan virus, reads another section. My understanding [sic] this bio weapon development began at Chapel Hill University, NC. And then moved over seas and partnered with the communist. And then turned loose on America and the world. [sic] (A spokesperson for UNC Chapel Hill did not respond to a request for comment on this long-debunked conspiracy theory.)

Elsewhere, the unnamed author falsely claims that masks and social distancing are all about stoking fear, that safe COVID-19 vaccines are somehow nefarious or dangerous, and that the entire pandemic is clearly part of a sinister plot to usher in Satans new world government.

Echoing many months worth of fact-free far-right panic, the screed also features baffling half-thoughts on Bill Gatess vaccine advocacy and attempts to equate Americas pandemic response to Nazi policies. Oh, and it includes this gem: Most politicians, both democrat and republican, judges, legislators, election officials, poll workers, law enforcement, military, the fake news media, INTERNET, newspapers  are guilty of treason! The punishment for treason is death!

Story continues

Michigan GOP is Installing Conspiracy Nuts in Critical Swing-State Election Posts

Plenty of Americans have encountered baseless theories like these over the last 20 months. But many readers found their inclusion in the mailer uniquely jarring. Perhaps, David Morris, a College of Charleston sociologist who has studied pandemic misinformation suggests, because they didnt get on Facebook, where they know this stuff exists, or seek it out. It was in a place they wouldnt expect to see it.

Several experts on conspiracy theory dissemination told The Daily Beast that indiscriminate mass mailing is a rare tactic to begin with, and none of them had ever heard of this kind of drivel showing up inside something as mundane as a coupon booklet. Such an approach to spreading outlandish ideas is virtually unprecedented because its unlikely to sway many locals. But it has already triggered backlash against the $avers publisher, David Oser, in the latest bizarre case of pandemic misinformation sowing discord in a community.

Its unclear if Oser, who did not reply to requests for comment for this story, personally authored the unsigned diatribe, just opted to run it, or allowed someone else to insert it into the mailer without his full awareness or engagement. And despite its wide distribution, few people likely actually read the $avers raving editorial, given the fact that most people trash such junk mail on sight, or after a cursory scan. A few locals who did read it told The Daily Beast that they just rolled their eyes, threw the mailer away, and didnt give it a second thought.

Local officials canvassed for comment certainly dont seem too concerned about this specific instance of direct-to-mailbox misinformation. When asked about it, Derrek Asberry of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control gave The Daily Beast a seemingly canned reply:

Conspiracy theories and other forms of misinformation are steering unvaccinated people away from protecting themselves and their loved ones by getting vaccinated. The DHEC has and continues to urge residents to visit credible sources, such as DHEC and CDC websites, for information on COVID and the vaccine.

However, one disconcerted area resident posted about the mailer in a closed group of Charleston-area progressives on hyperlocal social-media platform Nextdoor, sparking a vibrant discussion among a few-dozen locals about how to respond to what felt like the intrusion of extremist ideas into their homes.

One group member, Chris Moore, took it upon himself to create and share a list of companies with ads and coupons in the $aver, as well as their contact information. He said in an interview that he was concerned that they might not have been aware of the mailers conspiratorial turn, and about the damage association with that content could do to their brands, so he wanted to facilitate outreach and raise awareness.

But some Nextdoor group members apparently came in pretty hot with dire warnings.

On the 26th, a man sent me an email, and pretty much stated that my support of this could ruin my business, demanded my public rebuke [of the mailers conspiracy content], and said that he wishes me all the luck in the world, Joe Harrison, the owner and sole operator of Optimal Power Washing, which started running ads in the $aver this spring, told The Daily Beast.

Every business with an ad in the latest edition of the $aver that replied to a request for comment for this story categorically stated they had never seen any editorializing in the mailer before, were not notified about any plans to include the screed before it got sent out, and hadnt even seen it until consumers brought it to their attention. We have been running the same ad for years, and the platform remained consistent, said Robert Word of Holy City Gutterworks. Honestly, I quit reviewing the mailers after I confirmed [early on that] our ads were running as expected.

Low Country Saver

Within an hour of finding out about this, I got on the phone with the publisher, added Chance Nyman, owner and operator of Lowcountry Roofing. I said, Youre not supposed to be into politics. Youre supposed to print ads. Thats how you get paid.

He just thought it was his right to run this, and this is what he believes, Nyman said of his conversation with Oser. I said, I understand that, but I cant be associated with this Ive got people calling me and theyre pretty upset.

Nyman said he decided, while on that call, to end his deal with the $aver, after 15 years of advertising, telling the publisher that his ideas were too extreme for his taste.

Aside from advertisers, no one The Daily Beast spoke to whos tried to call Oser said they had any luck getting a reply. That includes the Charleston Jewish Federation, which took issue with the false and patently offensive equivalence in the $aver rant between the Holocaust and life-saving public health measures. I left a message, explaining that we had received messages from community members who were disturbed by the piece, and that we would appreciate a call back, said the CJFs Brandon Fish, who hopes Oser will retract and never repeat those claims.

While Nyman and a few other businesses seem content to pull their ads from the $aver and walk away, Moores still searching for ways to hold the mailer accountable for spreading misinformation, and in his eyes implicitly defaming dozens of major local businesses. In a post on a legal-advice forum, he asked if anyone knew whether he could report the mailer to any specific authorities. Hes also urged local business owners to sue for breach of contract and possible defamation.

But Anuj Desai, an expert on the intersection of free-speech law and the usage of the U.S. postal system at the University of Wisconsin Law School, explains that the mail is considered a conduit for the free flow of ideas. In other words, the First Amendment protects peoples ability to mail out even baseless conspiracies and falsehoods freely.

Part of the United States Postal Services marketing is that direct mail is a good way to reach a lot of people with your political message, Desai stressed in an interview. He added that this is why those of us in purple states get political mailers full of falsehoods every four years.

If some other law prohibits what youre doing through the mail, like making threats, the USPS cannot stop you from sending that, Desai told The Daily Beast. But authorities might be able to get a warrant to tap your mail, so to speak, for evidence of a potential crime.

However, the $aver never clearly advocated any actual criminal activity; while it called for people to unite and rise up against supposedly sinister forces, it actually took a hard stand against violence. Although its part of an advertising mailer, since its not trying to sell anything, solicit donations, or run any discernible type of scam using the disinfo it pedals, the rant doesnt run afoul of ad regulators either. No legal expert The Daily Beast spoke to was sure advertisers would have a legitimate case against the $aver either; that likely hinges on the exact wording of each ad contract, and wonky arguments about and precedents on reasonable expectations and provable damages.

The only clear recourse for consumers disturbed by the $aver is to request not to receive it anymore, and for jilted businesses is to pull their ads.

Conspiracy theorists and anti-vax misinformation crusaders have made good use of this laissez-faire framework to conduct mass mailing campaigns in the past. But most such campaigns are far more targeted, often towards people campaigners want to intimidate.

According to Amy Pisani of Vaccine Your Family, a pro-vaccination advocacy and education group, direct-mail campaigns trying to convince targeted groups to align with a conspiratorial belief or misinformation cause also tend to be better focused, designed, and argued (albeit using pseudoscience that only sounds authoritative) than the $avers wild hand-waving. These campaigns are rare, though, because over the last two decades its become painfully clear that its far easierand cheaperto spread misinformation to wider malleable audiences using social media.

The $avers Wake Up Sheeple style of evidence-free rhetoric especially plays best in digital echo chambers and amplification channels. Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which tracks pandemic misinformation, actually reads the screed as a bizarre example of malicious actors taking the psychological tricks behind social-media misinformation... and applying them to a pre-digital publication.

This incongruence, alongside the $aver screeds (even by conspiracy-theorist standards) slapdash presentation and weak rhetoric, leads Ahmed and others to suspect it wont gain much traction. However, Morris of the College of Charleston does note that, while Charleston is a pretty progressive city for South Carolina, we obviously have people here with negative views of masks and stuff that might resonate with this.

Even reinforcing the convictions ofor deepening connections betweenstaunch pandemic conspiracy theorists and misinformation agents may pose serious complications to efforts to curb the deadly pandemic.

Low Country Saver

Pisani added that, outside of businesses that specifically cater to conspiracy communities, we almost never see companies double-down on anti-vax or pandemic misinformation in official materials, like the $aver apparently just didbecause its a great way to alienate a huge portion of a general audience. If Id received this, I would probably never open the coupon magazine again, she told The Daily Beast.

Holy City Gutters Word, who said he canceled his longtime deal with the magazine as of Thursday, added, I have 18 employees who work hard and support their families through this business. It would break me if their livelihoods were negatively affected based on the assumption that we support the spread of this information.

No one knows why or how Oser, the $avers publisher, might have decided to publish such a significant and dangerous piece of content. But on the $avers website, which appears as if it has not been updated, aside from new issue uploads, since late 2020, he does note that the pandemic shook his business to its core; massive social and personal upheavals often drive people towards conspiracy thinking.

This falls $aver editions also include an ad for the South Carolina Assembly, a group whose materials claim that American [sic] went off the rails during the civil war and our lawful states were turned into corporations, and that it is the true lawful government of the state. The group did not reply to a request for comment. However, their language echoes that of the sovereign citizen movement, a loose philosophy that holds that the vast majority of laws passed since the mid-19th century are illegitimate. Believers often claim that America is secretly run by foreign corporations, trade supposedly brilliant tricks they believe will make them legally untouchable, and pull dumb public stunts to try to demonstrate their self-perceived constitutional genius.

The $avers editorial rant includes a handful of common sovereign-citizen talking points, as well as a URL, typed out, that leads to a video that features common sovereign-citizen arguments. So, its author and/or publisher may have drifted into a radical community thats goaded him into extreme action.

When I called, he was like, Oh, Im surprised youre calling. I had a lot of people tell me [the article] was greata lot of people liked it, Nyman recalled of his conversation with Oser.

On the call, Nyman added, Oser made it seem like he didnt care if he stayed in business. But later that day, the local business owner said, he got a text from the publisher, stating that reactions to his rant had inspired him to keep on putting out the mailer the way he wants, even if he loses all of his customers.

Nymans not sure how Oser would actually be able to do so, if he loses all or most of his clients. Its not cheap to send out a mailer to thousands of homes four times a year. So the rooferand everyone else in the greater Charleston areawill just have to warily watch their junk mail to see if the diatribe keeps dribbling in.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Michael and Jennifer Spaetti of Salisbury, North Carolina, were both vaccinated last spring as soon as shots became available. But when it comes to their 6-year-old grandson who lives with them, they arent so sure.

As his primary caregiver, they wonder about long-term side effects. He also hates getting shots, guaranteeing that an extra trip to the pediatrician would be tough emotionally.

"I'm not sure. It just seems like it came out so fast," said Jennifer Spaetti. "And we're talking about a child. I feel like it's different for me, but I just I'm not sure. I don't think I know enough about it."

PHOTO: Michael and Jennifer Spaetti of Salisbury, N.C., pose in an undated photo with their 6-year-old grandson whom they care for. (Courtesy Michael Spaetti)

Denise, a mother of two from Columbia, South Carolina, expressed similar concerns. Asked to withhold her last name for privacy reasons, Denise jokes she would feel more comfortable seeing the neighborhood kids get their shots fist, just in case there is some rare side effect that researchers missed.

And as a Black mother, Denise said she worries not enough African American children were represented in the clinical trials.

"My husband is gung-ho," she said. "And Im definitely not opposed to it. But I do just want to wait and see  I want to make the best decision as a parent."

With the first pediatric vaccine for COVID-19 expected to roll out as early as Nov. 3, only 27% of parents with kids ages 5-11 say they will vaccinate them right away, according to the latest poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

MORE: Relief, eager anticipation for many Americans ahead of FDA decision on booster shots

Another 33% of parents with the elementary-aged kids say they want to "wait and see" how it works in others before getting their child vaccinated. And at least two thirds of those parents say they are concerned about potential long-term and serious side effects.

This hesitancy is worrying many health officials, who contend widespread vaccinations in schools will be critical to preventing another surge in cases.

Story continues

They also counter that parents should be much more worried about the virus than the vaccine. Of the 1.9 million kids ages 5-11 who contracted the virus, 8,300 wound up hospitalized. One third of those children hospitalized had no underlying health conditions.

Another concern pediatricians have is that children exposed to the virus are at risk of developing "long-haul" symptoms. While very rare for children, the symptoms such as brain fog, chest pain and debilitating fatigue persist for weeks after exposure.

MORE: COVID long-haulers speak about living with brain fog, rancid smells and crushing fatigue

The vaccine's safety was studied in 3,100 kids ages 5-11 who received the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine in clinical trials last summer. None experienced serious side effects, including the myocarditis that's been seen in a small group of older teen and adult males. Experts say a vaccine's side effects typically occur within two months of getting a shot.

PHOTO: A nurse gives a girl a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Lyman High School in Longwood, Fla., Aug. 9, 2021. (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with independent vaccine and health experts, also have found no evidence that the vaccine could impact a persons fertility and is safe for pregnant and breastfeeding moms.

The CDC also warns that people shouldn't count on prior exposure to the virus. In a study released Friday, the CDC found adults with "natural" immunity through infection were more than five times more likely to develop COVID-19 compared to people who were fully vaccinated.

Still, even vaccine experts say it can be nerve-wracking to make a decision for millions of children based on a study involving only a few thousand kids.

The trial also wasnt as diverse as some experts would like. Of the children participating in the clinical trials, the vast majority of participants  78% -- were white. Six percent were Black, while 21% were Hispanic and 6% were Asian.

Dr. Paul Offit, an adviser to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, who voted in favor of authorizing the vaccine at a meeting this week, said he still supports the rollout because he believed the benefits outweigh the risks.

The FDA authorized the pediatric vaccine on Friday, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expected to sign off next week. Barring any surprises, shots could become available to the public as early as Nov. 3.

The question is when do you know enough? And I think we certainly know that there are many children between five and 11 years of age who are susceptible to this disease who could very well be sick and are hospitalized or die from it, said Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

MORE: More kids are getting sick from COVID. Is it delta?

For its part, the White House is planning to launch a social media campaign to urge parents to vaccinate their kids. To increase trust, federal officials also have pushed to make the vaccine for kids  which is a third of the dosage used in adults and comes in a special orange-capped vial -- widely available in pediatrician offices and pharmacies, rather than relying on mass vaccination sites.

Still, many parents dont want to be rushed.

Paul Ekeoha, a father of four kids in Odessa, Texas, says hes not convinced yet that his kids need it because they seem healthy now and strong. At the same time, hes not opposed to vaccines for other people and said he is open to changing his mind.

"If my hands are tied, and I dont have options, I wouldnt have any objection," Ekeoha said.

Other parents said they would be keeping a close eye on how the rollout goes for pediatric vaccines.

"Probably what I'll do is just wait and see how it goes," said Jennifer Spaetti.

ABC News Cheyenne Haslett, Sony Salzman, Arielle Mitropoulos and Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.

A COVID vaccine for kids is coming. Will parents let them take it? originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Oct. 29EAST HARTFORD  The police department announced Wednesday the installation of a new $570,000 "intelligence center" project that will go live later this year.

Deputy Chief Josh Litwin said the project was paid for by capital improvement funds allocated in the 2021 budget.

Litwin said police would install about 12 cameras in public areas around town to monitor traffic and weather conditions, as well as to help investigate criminal activity.

Detective Jason Smola said a few of the cameras are already up and operational, and much of the hardware is installed for the others, but additional infrastructure work is needed.

"There has been multiple pole locations with cameras on the poles but they're not all live yet," Smola said.

The cameras will eventually be connected to a new intelligence center room located in the department's Public Safety Complex at 31 School St.

Litwin said one of the key points in the project is transparency. All locations for the initial 12 cameras have been published, and any future camera movements or additions will be made know publicly in advance of installation.

Deputy Chief Donald Olson added that the mayor and Town Council discussed the project at public meetings, and residents have been able to sit in and comment on the matter.

"We're not trying to hide the locations," Olson said.

Police will work with the Board of Education and the Public Works Department through this project to assist with traffic near school buildings and to provide snow parking ban information, respectively.

Blue strobe lights will be paired with the cameras, alongside signs indicating that the lights will flash when a parking ban is in effect.

"99.9 percent of the time, that will be a snow ban," Litwin said of the flashing lights.

Litwin said the cameras would not be monitored continuously, but only as necessary in the event of a storm, traffic accident, or criminal activity. The footage would be stored for 30 days, pursuant to state retention standards, unless it's required for evidence.

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Olson said the cameras could also help with motor vehicle thefts, since any information can help investigations, especially as its difficult to solve such cases.

"The areas we have picked are in our hot-spot areas," Olson said, adding that police could pick up information from the cameras, such as license plate numbers and vehicle and suspect descriptions by reviewing crime footage.

Smola said the cameras could also be used for other public safety purposes, like finding missing individuals and monitoring traffic accidents and road conditions.

Olson said departments across the state in towns like Hartford, Enfield, Waterbury, and Wethersfield have set up similar intelligence centers.

"We're just trying to be part of that push," Olson said.

Joseph covers East Hartford and South Windsor. He joined the JI in July 2021. Joseph graduated from the University of Connecticut and he is an avid guitarist and coffee enthusiast.
The claim: Photos show a Kenyan man who became a millionaire after his 73-year-old American bride died

According to a tale on social media, a 34-year-old Kenyan man is now millions of dollars richer after his wealthy American bride died three days into their marriage.

"73-year-old woman allegedly dies during honeymoon three days after wedding, leaving behind multi-million dollar business to Kenyan husband!" reads the text of a meme posted in a Facebook group catered to residents of Lake County, Illinois.

The Oct. 23 post accumulated more than 9,900 shares within one week. Dozens of other Facebook and Instagram posts have shared this story with a photo of a young man and a smiling, older woman.

But the people in the photo are not who the posts suggest they are.

The Facebook post shows a wedding photo of Cheryl McGregor and Quran McCain, an American couple with a large audience on TikTok. Both are alive, and there's no evidence the events described in the post occurred.

More: Fact? Fiction? USA TODAY's experts will check your facts via text

USA TODAY reached out to several social media users who posted the claim for comment.

Posts misuse photo of American couple

The claim traces back to a Sept. 14 post from a Kenyan Facebook page, the Agence France-Presse reported.

The Daily Statesman posted photos of McGregor and McCain with a story about the late American bride "Julia Donson Wachira" and Kenyan husband "Dr. John Wachira." Photos used in posts about the Wachira couple appear in several articles about McGregor and McCain.

On Sept. 5, the Rome, Georgia, couple posted a video of their wedding ceremony on McGregor's TikTok channel, which has more than 1.1 million followers. McCain has more than 380,000 followers on his own TikTok profile.

Since then, recent posts from the couple, including one published Oct. 26, indicate both are alive.

Fact check: Posts falsely claim to show US map in 30 years if climate change isnt addressed

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USA TODAY could find no evidence to support the story about the Wachira couple.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that photos show a Kenyan man who became a millionaire after his 73-year-old American bride died. The photos actually show a Rome, Georgia, couple with a large following on TikTok. Both are alive.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: U.S. couple unrelated to viral tale of 73-year-old's death
Elementary school children in the United States will soon have one more layer of protection to keep them safe from COVID-19.

On Oct. 29, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The move came days after a tense and careful deliberation of its key scientific advisory committee, on Oct. 26, 2021, in which members voted 17-0 to authorize the Pfizer shot, with one abstention.

The next necessary step in the process is for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue its guidance on how to use the vaccine in this age group, based on the FDAs authorization. The CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet on Nov. 2, 2021, and the agencys official recommendation is expected as soon as later that day. Rollout of the Pfizer shots for children ages 5 to 11 will likely begin days after.

Once the CDC issues its recommendation, the 28 million eligible U.S. children in this age group will have the opportunity to receive the Pfizer shot through health departments, medical institutions, doctors offices and pharmacies, as well as school and community-based sites.

The FDA authorization comes after months of pediatric clinical trial investigation involving about 4,500 children ages 5 to 11. Pfizer released new data on Oct. 22, 2021, stating that its vaccine is almost 91% effective at preventing COVID-19 in that age group, with similar tolerability and antibody responses to that seen in older age groups.

Moderna has also released preliminary results showing that its low-dose vaccine is safe and produces a strong immune response in children ages 6 to 11 years. It plans to submit data to the FDA for review soon.

As a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases, I have worked closely on many aspects of the COVID-19 response at the University of Virginia. I have helped care for children with severe COVID-19 and also observed the burden of the pandemic on children and their families. Vaccines, which work by teaching your immune system to make disease-fighting antibodies without giving you the actual disease, have emerged as the most important tool that we currently have to prevent severe COVID-19.

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Heres how the COVID-19 vaccine was tested for efficacy and safety on children and how access to these shots could alter the impact of COVID-19 for American kids.

The risks of COVID-19 in school-age children

The FDA advisory committee openly grappled with the risks and benefits of the vaccine and the weightinesss of the decision for younger children. Ultimately, it concluded that parents should be presented with the option to vaccinate their kids against COVID-19. One committee member  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine expert Amanda Cohn  noted that COVID-19 was the eighth-highest killer of kids in the 5-11 age group over the past year. She pointed out that children are continuing to be hospitalized and to die or otherwise suffer adverse long-term effects from a largely vaccine-preventable disease.

As of Oct. 21, 2021, more than 6 million American children have tested positive for COVID-19. Cases in children rapidly increased during the delta variant surge, which coincided with the opening of in-person school across much of the country. Children now account for a quarter of new weekly cases.

While severe disease and hospitalization from COVID-19 are far more rare in children than in adults, intensive care admission and the need for invasive ventilation do occur in children. There have been over 1.9 million COVID-19 cases in children ages 5 to 11, with nearly 100 deaths.

Rates of COVID-19 hospitalization among children and adolescents rose to the highest rates ever in August and September 2021, with over 8,300 children in the 5-11 age group hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic. Many children hospitalized with COVID-19 have underlying medical conditions, but one-third of them do not.

Additionally, more than 5,200 children have been diagnosed with the rare but serious condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, in the weeks after COVID-19 infection. MIS-C can cause inflammation of the heart, brain, skin, gut and other organs, requiring hospitalization and often intensive care. The syndrome most commonly occurs in children 6 to 11 years of age.

Doctor providing breathing support for child in operating room.

The pandemic has also harmed childrens social, emotional and mental well-being and delayed their education progress. Safe and effective vaccines are one of the most promising ways that children can be protected from COVID-19, prevent spread and have as little disruption as possible in their schooling and everyday life.

COVID-19 vaccine development for children

Before use in the general public, all vaccines go through rigorous phases of testing starting with pre-clinical studies in the laboratory and in animals. Then they must go through three phases of clinical studies in people, allowing investigators and regulators to evaluate the vaccines safety at each stage before moving on to test it in larger numbers of people.

Once a vaccine is shown to be safe and effective in adults, trials move on to children, who may differ in their reactions and immune response to vaccines. Going down stepwise by age, Pfizer studied children ages 12 to 15 before the younger age groups. The FDA expanded its emergency authorization of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to include that age group in May 2021. In adolescents ages 12 to 18, the vaccine was shown to reduce hospitalizations by 93% from June through September 2021.

Even after vaccines are authorized or approved for use, monitoring for safety continues. This allows very rare side effects not seen in large late-phase trials to be detected and investigated. Safety surveillance with the COVID-19 vaccines following authorization in adults and older adolescents ages 16 and up quickly identified a rare increase in inflammation of the heart known as myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccines, particularly in young males. Most patients responded well to supportive care and rapidly improved. Myocarditis can also occur with COVID-19 or as a complication of multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

The Pfizer trial for those under age 12 began with three different doses; ultimately, researchers determined the optimal dosage for children ages 5 to 11 to be one-third of the dose given to adults and adolescents and administered as a two-shot regimen three weeks apart.

No serious side effects related to the vaccine, and no cases of myocarditis were reported. The Pfizer data also showed that the vaccine in that age group seems to provide similar high levels of protective antibody responses to those seen in older age groups. And the antibodies produced demonstrated an ability to neutralize the delta variant.

Next steps

Ongoing studies will continue to follow vaccinated children closely for safety and to provide more insight into the durability of immunity. The results of the Pfizer vaccine trial for the younger two age cohorts, those 2 to 5 years and 6 months to 2 years, are expected later this year. Testing of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines in clinical trials in children is also underway.

Given that the pediatric clinical trial data show the overall benefits outweigh risks in this age group, I look forward to being one step closer to offering the COVID-19 vaccine to newly eligible children and their families if the CDC recommendations make this possible.

[Over 115,000 readers rely on The Conversations newsletter to understand the world. Sign up today.]

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Debbie-Ann Shirley, University of Virginia.

Read more:



Debbie-Ann Shirley 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.
Taliban fighters patrol the streets in Kabul

I feel like "a human being for the first time" in my life, a gay Afghan man has said after arriving in the UK with 28 others from the LGBT community.

The man - who the BBC is not naming for safety reasons - fled Afghanistan, fearing for his life under the Taliban.

The hard-line Islamist group returned to power in August, after US-led troops left at the end of a 20-year presence.

On Friday, a Taliban spokesman told Reuters news agency that the group would not respect gay rights.

"Everything collapsed after the fall of Kabul," the man told the BBC. "I was very depressed. I was counting my days to die.

"Even I was a stranger in my own home and my bed. I felt I was a stranger in my hometown, Kabul."

The Taliban return sparked a mass exodus of people who believed they would be in danger if they stayed, including people who worked closely with the US and its allies, and a number of high-profile women.

Members of the LGBT community are also trying to leave, unsure of their future under the Taliban. The last time the group were in power - between 1996 and 2001 - gay men were reportedly stoned to death.

The community has not lived openly in the 20 years since - like many, the man the BBC interviewed has a wife and child.

"The LGBTI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex] community was a secret underground community, but we knew each other and our network, and if one of us got arrested, they could have found the rest of us," he told the BBC.

"Kabul is not a big city, and with the way the Taliban are ruling the country, it was not that difficult to find high profile LGBTI people. We also heard a couple of people were arrested."

The man's escape was only possible with the help of international LGBT organisations. An initial attempt to leave on evacuation flights out of Kabul airport - past the "terrifying" Taliban guards - failed.

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But almost two months on, having made it to a third country to wait for a visa, the man arrived in the UK.

Officials explained that the UK foreign secretary and UK and Canadian organisations Stonewall and Rainbow Railroad intervened to help the first 29 people.

More members of Afghanistan's LGBT community are expected to leave in the coming months.

Their arrival comes as a spokesman for the Afghan finance minister said human rights would be respected within the framework of Islamic law, but not gay rights. "LGBT... That's against our Sharia law," Ahmad Wali Haqmal said.

For the refugees, it is the start of a new life.

"Britain is a new home for me," says the man. "Everything is new to me here. A new lifestyle, a new language and culture. I am a bit nervous about my future, and I am trying to figure out where to start my new life, but man, I feel safe and free!

"This is amazing."
New Zealand is taking a rare step for foreign travelers to enter its borders. Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

New Zealand is opening quarantine-free travel for vaccinated travelers of Pacific island countries.

Other vaccinated travelers arriving into New Zealand will also be able to quarantine for seven days instead of 14.

Countries like Australia and the US have been left off the quarantine-free travel list.

New Zealand, known for its strict approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, is slowly beginning to let the outside world back into its borders.

Chris Hipkins, the government minister for COVID-19 response, outlined the first steps of the country's reopening in a Thursday press conference, as CNN reported. Pacific Islanders, including those from Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu, will be the first granted entry into New Zealand without having to quarantine upon arrival from November 8.

"It's time we reopened to the world," Hipkins said, as reported by CNN. "We can't remain shut behind the walls of Fortress New Zealand."

Vaccinated foreign arrivals from other countries will still have to quarantine but the period has been reduced from 14 days to seven from November 14, according to Reuters. But even those that endure quarantine won't find the same New Zealand that existed before the pandemic upon their exit.

COVID-19 outbreaks in some areas of the country have prompted officials to issue restrictions on movement and activities, as Hipkins outlined in an October 27 press conference. New Zealand is working towards a 90% fully vaccinated rate for residents before it ends the strictest lockdown measures, according to Reuters.

Australia, with which New Zealand maintains close ties, was left out of the first quarantine-free travel list despite similarly strict policies that have seen states and territories in and out of lockdowns since March 2020.

"On 17 September 2021, the Government suspended quarantine-free travel with Australia for a further 8 weeks," the New Zealand government said. "This is due to the current Delta outbreaks."

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New Zealand will review the status of the travel bubble in "mid-to-late November" but cited outbreaks in both Australia and at home.

Unvaccinated non-citizen travelers will not be allowed into New Zealand from November 1, according to the government. Travelers using Air New Zealand from February 1, 2022, will need to be vaccinated on both domestic and international flights.

It's unclear when New Zealand will open its borders to more countries without a quarantine requirement, including the US.

Hawaiian Airlines and American Airlines were the only two US carriers serving New Zealand prior to the pandemic, offering non-stop flights from Honolulu and Los Angeles, respectively. American had planned to connect Dallas and Auckland, as well as Los Angeles and Christchurch, with new flights in 2022, according to RoutesOnline, but pandemic restrictions saw the flights taken off of the airline's schedule.

And with the slow-going pace of New Zealand fully ridding itself of pandemic restrictions, Americans planning a vacation can expect to hold off a while longer.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ROME  Negotiations on the G-20 summit communique will head into a fourth day on Sunday, as leaders from the worlds leading nations remain at odds on several key issues in the 17-page document.

The United States and Canada are objecting to a reference to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics  requested by Beijing  as a symbol of humanitys resilience and global unity in overcoming Covid-19, according to a diplomat briefed on the negotiations.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland refused to answer a question from POLITICO on the subject at a Saturday news conference. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Officials have now agreed to texts on more than 50 topics, ranging from anti-corruption to gender-based violence. Their most notable achievement, according to a draft text seen by POLITICO: Endorsing global tax reform.

National leaders are set to back a framework global tax agreement reached by their finance ministers on Oct. 13. The draft language will see the G-20 call on all 140 countries involved in the negotiations to swiftly develop the model rules and multilateral instruments needed to implement a global 15 percent corporate minimum tax rate in 2023.

In a win for President Joe Biden  who has designated corruption around the world as a national security threat  the G-20 leaders will strengthen their zero tolerance corruption policy by committing to deny safe haven to corruption offenders and their assets and putting extra effort into prosecuting transnational corruption.

The two most significant outstanding issues in the communique are trade and investment and climate change.

Officials are yet to agree on whether they will commit to fight all unfair trading practices and have been unable to find agreement on specific climate promises. The main holdouts are China, India, Russia and Australia, which object to references to phasing out coal energy.

Leaders will likely acknowledge the key relevance of mid-century net zero emissions plans, and will commit to reduce our collective greenhouse gas emissions across the board, in addition to welcoming a joint German-Canadian plan to deliver $100 billion a year in climate finance from rich countries to developing countries by 2023.

Summit host and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Saturday told the assembled leaders that "multilateralism is the best, in many ways the only, possible answer to the problems we face today, from the pandemic, to the climate, to taxation."

David Herszenhorn and Karl Mathiesen contributed to this report.
Gov. Kay Ivey speaks Friday at the ceremonial ribbon cutting for the University of Alabamas Early Learning Initiative at UA's Gadsden Center.

Gov. Kay Ivey was among those attending Fridays ceremonial ribbon cutting for the Early Learning Initiative Pre-K program at the University of Alabama Center in Gadsden.

ELI, which opened in January, is a program sponsored by the University of Alabama that allows Gadsden children to receive Pre-K classes at no cost to their families. The program currently features two preschool classes with a total of 35 students.

Creating progress in educational outcomes for Alabamas children is not something that can be achieved at the state level alone. Its something accomplished through collective collaboration at every possible juncture, Ivey said during her speech at the event, Theres still a lot of work to be done to ensure that every child in Alabama has a strong start and a strong finish as they travel on their education journey, but days like this show that we are definitely on the right track.

Ivey said the combined efforts of the state and programs such as ELI are helping make incredible strides in building strong starts for Alabama students and preparing leaders for tomorrow and the challenges they will face.

She also recognized the diligent work of ELIs faculty and staff, saying they have worked tirelessly to unite with national and state agencies, organizations and local communities to aid in supporting services provided to children and families on their path to school readiness.

For the governor to be here makes it especially important to use because it helps acknowledge its importance, said Dr. Peter Hlebowitsh, dean of UAs College of Education, Its also a way of disseminating it so that people across the state know what were up to as a college. For the governor to be here makes that message especially profound.

Hlebowitsh said the university began its involvement because We see it not only as a way to work with children, but also to help families and do some outreach in northern Alabama.

He described ELI as a preschool program dedicated to the education of 4-year-olds that has been federally supported by the Alabama Department of Education. Its part of a larger federal effort to try and universalize public education and (offer) support for educating this age group.

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Its beautiful because it (ELI) became a reality through the amazing and, in a way, unlikely gathering of people who are really able to see the good possibilities for a preschool here in the Gadsden area, he added.

ELI also has support from the Alabama School Readiness Alliance and Alabama Voices. The university and these organizations work together to further the research on early childhood education, helping Alabama reach all the National Institute for Early Education Research benchmarks for 15 years in a row.

Right now, the program (Alabamas Pre-K) serves 42% of 4-year olds in the state, but our goal is to support 70% of these students in the state, said the ASRAs executive director, Allison Muhlendorf, Were so excited that we have willing partners like the University of Alabama to have the implementation of these programs.

Secretary of Early Childhood Education Dr. Barbara Cooper speaks at Friday's ceremonial ribbon cutting for the University of Alabamas Early Learning Institute in Gadsden.

One of the biggest benefits the Gadsden area will see from this preschool is a center for high-quality preschool education, said Hlebowitsh.

We hope, right now, to make it bigger and better moving forward, he said. But the preschool is just part of a broader effort that will be housed here at the center that will include other types of services like after school programming and other social services.

Muhlendorf said, We have a long-term study in the state that has been published in the International Scientific Journal that shows that students who went through this First Class Pre-K program were more likely than their peers to read proficiently in the third grade and to be successful in middle school and were less likely to have disciplinary issues, be held back a grade or need costly special education services.

ELI Faculty Sponsor Dr. Alison Hooper hopes the program will give the area a much-needed boost in early childhood development. Its definitely a state priority,'' she said, So we see this as a way that can build on some of the efforts from other departments.

A teacher with her students at the University of Alabamas Early Learning Institute.

Hlebowitsh hopes the program can expand throughout the state at some point; the difficulty will be finding resources and space.

We would love to, he said. We are in Tuscaloosa, and we are lucky to have a building here to work out of, but if we can find similar conditions prevailing in other areas of the state, we would be happy to exploit them and reach out as best as we can.

Another faculty sponsor for ELI, Dr. Cailin Kerch, said this is only the first phase of that goal. We hope to support, in future phases, future growth and access from birth to 4-year-olds, she said.

Hooper said they hope the center can serve as a site for training and support for other programs in the area, as well as teachers past, present and future, inviting them to come and learn and see great things happening.

The program also hopes to have long-term growth in areas outside of the early childhood education realm as well, with goals to support the workforce within the area and the state.

Our initiatives align with different organizations supporting early childhood community and families, including business growth and workforce development, said Kerch, Beyond that, we hope we can support other communities and increase their access to first-class pre-K and, more broadly, high-quality early childhood education.

Dr. Barbara Cooper, Alabamas Secretary of Early Childhood Education, also was present Friday, and said, (Kerch and Hooper) have been instrumental in really supporting this program, not giving up and realizing that we had to do this for the children.

There are no stronger components for Pre-K than the governor and her staff. Theyve been instrumental in continuing to help us make this work and be a priority, said Cooper. We are working to ensure that the Pre-K expansion continues and, most importantly, we are committed to ensuring Alabamas First-Class Pre-K expands incrementally. We will not give up on the quality that we have put in place in our programs here in Alabama.

Cooper said the state took the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to examine and understand the significance of early learning and care within the state. We have to get out to understand what others are experiencing to continue to make it better, she said.

Gov. Kay Ivey helps a student build a house out of blocks at the University of Alabamas Early Learning Institute in Gadsden.

State School Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey said, Were grateful for this partnership and all the great work that this program will have going on. Its so good to be a part of a day where we see people pull together who are invested in the children of this state who say Were gonna get together and get it done.

"I cannot tell you how proud we are to have this program here," Gadsden Mayor Sherman Guyton said, "It is amazing and I know how important it is for a child to receive a good education."

After the ribbon cutting, Ivey was escorted around the center and was introduced to its students and their teachers, allowing her and her staff to see first-hand how these kids were learning and stimulated throughout the day.

These kids are calm because theyre constantly engaged, said Alabama Voices CEO Collier Tynes, Their brains are developing every second that we are talking. Their lower brain, which controls things like stress responses, are calm right now and that means they can get the higher brain to start learning math, reading and critical thinking by kindergarten. Without this, they would be behind, which is why its so important.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Gov. Ivey cuts ribbon at UAs Early Learning Initiative
Image via Hallie Tut

At just 15an age when many of us were preoccupied with raiding our parents liquor cabinetsHallie Tut was shooting professional portaits of rappers like Danny Brown, Lil Yachty, and Post Malone. And the Vancouver-born, Toronto-born photographer and filmmaker has been putting in work ever since. After making a name for herself early on for her vibrant, colour-saturated photography, Tut found herself being tapped by major brands, like Nike Toronto, and production companies, like Director Xs Popp Rok (now known as Fela), for her idiosyncratic vision. After some close mentorship from X (you can actually catch her in the Oprahs Bank Account video), Hallie began directing music videos herself by the age of 18.

Then COVID happened and the music video opps dried up. So, she decided to pivot. And what a pivot: for the last year and a half, shes devoted her time to creating freaky, mind-bending TikTok videos evoking neon-drenched fever dreams. Whats even crazier, the clips have been popping offher hallucinatory TikTok based on Bella Poarchs Build a Bitch has been viewed over 7.3 million times. That feeling when the pandemic makes you weirder but it still works out in your favour.

We chatted with Hallie about working with rappers, making trippy movie magic with an iPhone, and her advice for Canadian creatives looking to break into the industry.

Wild! What was it like meeting Danny Brown?

He definitely wasnt with it at that time, so it wasnt much of a conversation [laughs]. But he gave me a little tour of the bus. Maybe not the smartest move on my part.

I was just hustling, following wherever I could go. Actually, we moved to Toronto while I was still 16, so I sort of lost all of that connection that I was building in Vancouver. So it was like a complete reset.

So how did you manage to rebuild your network in Toronto?

I think the big thing that sparked a career in Toronto was, I knew Nike Canadas headquarters is here and I saw a lot of the artists and creatives, theyd get free shoes from Nike. So I started trying to message those people that they were tagging from Nike Toronto and just sent them pictures I took of my Nikes at home, just saying, You know, if you ever need cool photography for one of your campaigns... I was just shooting my shot. It took about a year, but they finally thought of an opportunity where they could have me be a part of it for Air Max Day in 2018. They wanted up and coming creatives to creative direct the campaign and get inspired by the new shoes, the Air Max 270.

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On the set of that shoot, the guy who was doing the behind-the-scenes video was the executive assistant at Popp Rok, the music video production company that Director X founded. Theyre now called Fela. He just saw something in me there. He said if I ever wanted to come through to the music video studio and see what they do there, that I should drop by. I took that up with them eventually. I think it was just in that same week that they put me on their roster, a little page on their website under Directors. So they just sort of threw me into that world and I had a lot of fun getting these smaller music video jobs through them that really tested my knowledge of filmmaking.

People dont know what they want until they see it. So you have to make it and hope that people will get behind you with it.

It truly pays to shoot your shot! There you go. Who are some of your favorites rappers that youve worked with?

I did this music video with KILLY not too long ago for one of SEGAs songs that he was featured on [Ground Works]. That was a cool project because we shot it with a 360 VR camera. We had the ability to put the camera in the middle of the space and then have them perform over here and then behind you and around, and then connect those pieces together. The camera would move in the same space and they would appear in like five different spots in the same shot. So its a very cool experimental thing.

Oh thats dope! I remember that video.

Yeah, I met them like really early on when I moved here because SEGAs like KILLYs best friend, and SEGA actually lived in the suburbs [in Aurora] where I was living, five minutes out of Toronto. So I would be almost like his chauffeur, driving him down to KILLYs apartment down here, almost every day at one point, and he would just be napping in my car [laughs]. Id just drive down there just to hang out with them. Also, when we were bored, we would just go to the movies or go to the arcade, and after school wed just drive around Aurora in my car.

Image via Hallie Tut

So how did you go from directing music videos to making all these trippy TikToks?

I was still continuing to do music videos and then COVID kind of shut down a lot of production, especially on those lower budget videos where the pandemic safety protocol budget just eats away the entire thing. So since then Ive just been doing my own thing. Thats when I got really into TikTok. Ive seen all Hype House kids in this era, how much theyve grown in the past year. So I thought itd be a cool opportunity to get out on my own and show the type of work that I really wanted to get. With music video direction, the amount of crew and other people working on it just slowly eats away at the vision you have in your head for it. Its like every persons putting in something and if youre not experienced at really communicating what you want it to look like, it doesnt look like what you were thinking at all. Thats where TikTok gave me that opportunity where Im just here at home and theres nobody else to put their own input into it. So it was like the most raw type of work I could do.

Lets talk about that vision youre actualizing on TikTok. Its pretty far-out! The clips are all sort of fever dreams where someones just waking up and looking at their phone, and next thing you know theyre in this eerie alternate dimension. Whats all that about!

I really wanted to figure out a way to show that the experience of being in between real life and the Internet, especially when youre home alone. For me, every day Im home alone and Im making content thats only going to be seen by these people on the Internet. And the persona of me on the Internet is almost like the only thing that matters. Every day when I wake up, its like this world that Im building out that only exists on TikTok or on Instagram. Theres this weird feeling of like, the real me who is here isnt as much of a person as that person is. Millions of people know that version of me and are interacting with those videos on a daily basis and filling in the blanks of what that world is like, where that person lives, and what theyre like. And that person is actually known by so many more people than who actually would know me in real life. I think thats something a lot of kids can relate to, especially in the generation below me. Like, they started out young with an iPad and thats their world.

Im trying to find ways to visualize that. Its turned into this weird fever dream where the skys red and its just this weird place that doesnt really exist.

Damn. Feels like were in that place right now, talking to each other through a screen! Do you make all your videos solely using a phone?

Some of them I do. Ive been pushing being able to do it almost on a phone now because I think thats that last point that I found people still give me the excuse of like, Oh, I need this expensive camera to do what you do. So lately Ive been trying to bring it all on the phone, even trying to edit on it now. Especially for low light on an iPhone 13, I can compare it to my DSLR as far as how its balancing the lighting. Cinematic Mode is actually that last bit that phones were lacking on, where you had a nice lens getting that depth to your shot that you could never really achieve with a phone camera. Now, having that mode on the 13 really helps create those focus points in a way thats very similar to how youd see it in a real film. Its really getting to a point where I could ditch my camera altogether, and that would actually make the filmmaking process so much faster and easier for me, but for people starting out too, because you can edit on your phone and shoot all the content on it.

Whats your advice to aspiring creatives in Canada trying to get their foot in the door?

The biggest thing I can say is if you have a dream person you want to work with, or a specific kind of content you want to be making, dont wait for opportunities to do that for somebody else. Just do it. Just make as much content that expresses who you are and the style you want to be doing at a professional level, and thats going to be whats will give you those opportunities. You need to show your vision before people are going to believe in that vision. I think thats what people forget; theyve got no work under their belt but theyre always out chasing these opportunities to shoot with rappers and shoot for brands. But they dont have anything that shows the type of work they imagine themselves making.

I think no opportunity Ive ever gotten has been like, Oh, we loved what you did for this rapper. We love that music video you directed. We want you to do that for us. Instead its like, We love this weird TikTok video you made by yourself at home for no reason or We like these photos you took of your friends, can you do something in that style for us? Its always just stuff that I forced myself to go do and had this idea and just went and made it. People dont know what they want until they see it. So you have to make it and hope that people will get behind you with it. I think thats the biggest thing.

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A Hmong American Ph.D. candidate studying neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was refused a fellowship after it was determined that she was not from an underrepresented group because shes Asian American.



Model minority myth: In a Twitter thread, doctoral student Kao Lee Yang said she was nominated for the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institutes (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship but was told by a committee that she didnt fit its Racial/Ethnic Underrepresentation criteria.



We are not a monolithic group, she said. While some Asian Americans are academically successful, others like the Hmong, are underrepresented in STEM and academia in general.

Yang asked the fellowship committee and others in the scientific community to name a Hmong American woman neuroscientist: I would love to connect with her if she is out there.

I am an example of the consequences resulting from the continued practice of grouping people with East /Southeast/South Asian heritages underneath the Asian American umbrella, she added.

Yang went on to explain how the model minority myth hurts Asians: But studies making those claims are looking at aggregated data and are treating Asian Americans as a monolithic group.







A letter to #AcademicTwitter: I am a Hmong American neuroscience PhD student who was recently nominated by my institution for the #HHMI Gilliam Fellowship. Today I was told by HHMI that I do not fit their eligibility criteria for "Racial/Ethnic Underrepresentation." 1/12

 Kao Lee Yang (@KaoLeeYang1) October 27, 2021







Underrepresentation in science: Under its eligibility criteria, HHMI defined excluded groups to be persons who identify as Black or African American, Latinx or Hispanic American, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native, and from groups indigenous to the Pacific Island territories of the United States.



Story continues

But it does acknowledge that underrepresentation varies from setting to setting.

Yang pointed out a couple of ways fellowships like HHMI can do better. First, Disaggregate Asian American data in studies. Second, fellowships should broaden perspectives on what it means to be an ethnic/racial minority who is underrepresented in science and how to support underrepresented students.



#AcademicTwitter: Yang has received an outpouring of support from fellow scientists and academics since she first posted her thread on Oct. 27.





I think this is bc the definition of being underrepresented is due to severe exclusion &/or oppression in the US. For instance Black & Indigenous people have been oppressed & most affected in this country for over 400 years. We do need disaggregated data for African, Asian...1/2

 Melise Marie (@Meliseymo) October 27, 2021









Feel free to PM metheres many of us in @AAAStudies who have been arguing to disaggregate data and recognize the ethnic-Asian communities that are under-represented in STEM. Id be happy to write to this founder to help educate them on these issues bc Asian Am ppl are diverse

 Jennifer Ho (she/her/hers) (@DrJenHo) October 27, 2021









Im so sorry this happened to you. There are major disparities b/t East & SE Asian groups & by categorizing us as this monolithic group, it invalidates those differences while still measuring us all with the same 

 Laurie Chin, M.A. (she/her) (@auroralaureaIis) October 27, 2021









The Hmong experience in America is completely different than other Asian experiences. The majority was brought to America due to war and for refuge. We did not originally seek opportunity like many other Asian folks did. Our people has lost alot through assimilation as well.

 Shengy (@seevyeeg) October 28, 2021









Everyone bemoaning the apprent decline of meritocracy should realize that Kao isnt saying she should get the fellowship just for being Hmong. All shes saying is that she should have a chance to compete for a fellowship designed to benefit URMs, since Hmong are URMs.

 Abhijnan Chattopadhyay (@abhijnan) October 28, 2021







Featured Image via Howard Hughes Medical Institute (left), @KaoLeeYang1 (right)

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The case against a former Harwood Junior High School counselor who was accused of an improper relationship with a student has been dismissed at prosecutors discretion.

Shannon Hathaway faced six counts of having an improper relationship between an educator and a student during the 2016-17 school year. Judge David Hagerman declared a mistrial in the case on Sept. 28 in 297th District Court after the jury couldnt agree on a verdict.

Jurors had voted 10-2 that Hathaway was not guilty, according to court officials.

Hathaway, 37, had pleaded not guilty to the charges, denying all claims of a sexual or flirtatious relationship with the former student who accused her. She said the man and his family members who testified against her were liars.

During the trial, a young Dallas County man who was a student at Harwood Junior High in Bedford testified that he had sexual intercourse with Hathaway when he was 17. The alleged incidents came up when the now 21-year-old mans sister alerted two school officials in May 2018.

In his testimony, the former student said he first had sex with Hathaway in 2016 when he, his sister and a friend of his sister spent a night at Hathaways home in Keller.

The young man also testified they had sex at his Euless home and made out in her office and other rooms at Harwood Junior High, making sure they stayed away from school cameras and faculty members. He claimed he decided to break off his relationship with Hathaway after his mom walked in on them in his bedroom.

During Hathaways testimony, she said she had given birth to her first-born children, twins, by C-section in February 2016, breastfed them and would tuck them into bed at night, the Star-Telegram previously reported.

After Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district administrators put Hathaway on administrative leave, she said during the trial, she was advised by an United Educators Association attorney to resign rather than be fired, which she was told was the other outcome. She was arrested and charged a few weeks later after an investigation.

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During the trial, after the jury had left the courtroom, Hathaway said the man and a girl three years his junior began a sexual relationship in spring 2017, the Star-Telegram previously reported. When the girl told Hathaway about it, she made a report in fall 2017. The defense said the report could have been a possible motive for the man making claims about Hathaway.

The case was dismissed on Oct. 19 with a designation of DM14, according to Tarrant County court records. A DM14 designation means the case was dismissed at prosecutorial discretion, although the reasons for the dismissal were not specified.

The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorneys Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

After the mistrial, Chip Lewis, one of Hathaways defense attorneys, said in a email that, Mrs. Hathaway and her family are extremely grateful for the tireless effort and attention the jury gave this case as well as the incredibly fair trial Judge Hagerman provided. While we wish the jury could have reached a verdict, we recognize this was a tough case and hope the State can fully appreciate the jurys message.
By Sakura Murakami, Ju-min Park and Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling LDP defied expectations and held its strong majority in Sunday's parliamentary election, solidifying his position in a fractious party and allowing him to ramp up stimulus.

Kishida's conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) emerged with fewer seats in the powerful lower house than it won in the last election in 2017. But the LDP maintained its single-party majority in a big victory for Kishida, who took power only a month ago.

The result was at odds with expectations and initial exit polls that suggested the LDP, hurt by perceptions it mishandled the coronavirus pandemic, would need to rely on its junior coalition party for a majority.

Kishida, a soft-spoken former banker who has struggled to shake off an image that he lacks charisma, is also likely to be emboldened by the win https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/tightrope-election-may-spell-uncertain-future-japans-new-prime-minister-2021-10-28.

Kishida, who called the election soon after taking the top post, has hewed to traditional policies of the party's right wing, pushing to increase military https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/with-an-eye-china-japans-ruling-party-makes-unprecedented-defence-spending-2021-10-13 spending, but has also promised to address wealth inequality, touting a "new capitalism" that has stoked concern among investors.

In the end, the LDP claimed 261 seats against the 276 it held before the election - an absolute stable majority that will give it control of parliamentary committees and ease passage of legislation, including key budget proposals.

Kishida's publicly stated goal had been for the coalition to keep a majority, at least 233 seats https://www.reuters.com/article/japan-election/factbox-key-numbers-to-watch-in-japan-lower-house-election-idUSL4N2RI1CL, of the 465 in the lower house - although that was widely seen as a lowball target, given the junior coalition partner Komeito had 29 seats before the election. Together the LDP and Komeito secured 293 seats.

Story continues

"The overall trend is in favour of stability. The LDP cleared the hurdles it absolutely had to," said Tobias Harris, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

"We'll see a lot of stimulus," he said.

Japanese stocks cheered the victory, with the Nikkei up 2.38% soon after trade began.

A poorer showing would have heightened expectations that Kishida could follow predecessor Yoshihide Suga in becoming another short-term premier.

The party did take some notable hits, including the loss by its secretary general, Akira Amari, in his single-seat district, and a former economy minister and the leader of one the party's factions, Nobuteru Ishihara, who lost to an opposition candidate in a western Tokyo district.

EXTRA BUDGET TARGETED

Kishida said the administration would attempt to compile an extra budget this year, in what would be a tight schedule.

"I hope to pass through parliament an extra budget this year," he told reporters.

This would involve funding steps to support people hit by the pandemic such as those who lost jobs and students struggling to pay tuitions.

A big winner was the conservative Osaka-based Japan Innovation Party, projected to more than treble its seats and surpass Komeito as the third force in the lower house, after the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

The emergence of the Osaka party as a national force may complicate Kishida's pledge to roll back neoliberal economic policies.

The Innovation Party is "really sweeping the Osaka region. They've emerged as an important conservative bloc," said Yoichiro Sato, a professor of international relations at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. "They are going to block Kishida's new capitalism idea of narrowing the rich-poor income gap."

The usually splintered opposition was united, with only one party - including the widely shunned Japanese Communist Party - facing off against the coalition in most districts.

Some voters - including Yoshihiko Suzuki, who voted for the main opposition candidate in his district and the Communists in proportional representation - hoped the poll might teach the LDP a lesson.

Suzuki, 68 and retired, said the LDP's years in power made it complacent and arrogant, underscored by a series of money and cronyism scandals.

"I hope this election comes as a wakeup call for them," he said. "If it does, the LDP will become a better party, considering the number of talented lawmakers they've got."

(Reporting by Sakura Murakami, Elaine Lies, Irene Wang, Daniel Leussink, Kiyoshi Takenaka, Antoni Slodkowski, Leika Kihara and Yoshifumi Takemoto; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by William Mallard, David Dolan, Angus MacSwan and Lincoln Feast.)
Mayor de Blasio and active and retired NYPD commissioners wont be compelled to testify at a judicial inquiry into city officials neglect of duty surrounding Eric Garners death, a Manhattan judge said Friday.

Lawyers for Garners mother, Gwen Carr, and her allies had asked Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Erika Edwards to reconsider her earlier ruling against having city leaders testify.

Carr and her supporters say city leaders testimony is compelled in light of new revelations that emerged during testimony from the NYPDs internal affairs chief Joseph Reznick, who said disciplinary decisions in the Garner case were made by officials higher up in the NYPD.

But Edwards said Reznicks input did not change her mind.

To me, theres nothing new that came out of the testimony and nothing new in the information that would lead me to believe that their testimony would be appropriate under the circumstances, said Edwards.

Im denying the motion.

Reznick is the most senior NYPD officials to have testified in the inquest, which started Monday.

The Internal Affairs Bureau chief said his unit investigated ex-officer Daniel Pantaleo, who fatally choked Garner, and a sergeant for failure to supervise at the scene, Kizzy Adonis, and then referred those charges to the police Department Advocates Office office for prosecution.

The Department Advocates Office, then headed by former Deputy Commissioner Kevin Richardson, declined to prosecute Pantaleo or Adonis.

Judge Edwards also said she would not make affidavits filed Wednesday by Maya Wiley, the mayors former counsel and chairwoman of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, and Donovan Richards, the Queens borough president and former Public Safety chair, part of the record.

In the affidavits, Wiley and Richards said they had first-hand knowledge the NYPD chain-of-command structures. Wiley said it was customary for the mayor to be briefed and consulted periodically by NYPD brass throughout the process of investigating Garners death.

Story continues

Edwards ruled out top officials testimony after lawyers entered footage of Garner appearing to be dead on the sidewalk immediately after Pantaleo had put him in a fatal chokehold.

The footage, taken before EMS workers arrived, has never been publicly shown, according to Gideon Oliver, one of Carrs lawyers.

Officer William Meems said when he arrived and found Garner non-responsive, he didnt immediately check his airway or pulse rate because he thought Garner might have been feigning illness.

The footage shows Meems rolling Garner onto his back. Garners eyes are open but glazed over.

Edwards will issue no determination at the hearings conclusion. Instead, she will file a transcript of the hearing with the New York County Clerk.
Oxygen

The brutal murder of a nine-year-old girl in 1959 has finally been solved, marking an end to one of Washington states oldest cold cases. Candice Candy Rogers disappeared while selling Camp Fire Mints  a fundraiser for the Camp Fire Girls, a Girl Scout-like organization  in her Spokane neighborhood on March 6, 1959, according to a press release issued by the Spokane City Police Department. Searchers found boxes of mints strewn along the street; it was the only indication of which direction s
A matatu operator calls for passengers late at night in Nairobi, Kenya - Thursday 21 October 2021

In our series of letters from African journalists, broadcaster Waihiga Mwaura looks at how Kenyans are loving their new-found freedom.

Short presentational grey line

The dusk-to-dawn curfew that Kenyans endured for 18 months was revoked last week by the president.

Uhuru Kenyatta chose to announce it on the public holiday when the East African nation remembers the heroes who fought for freedom from British colonial rule.

The country's relief was palpable - and Kenyans online burst into immediate celebrations with amusing memes.

Some of them took a swipe at police officers, suggesting they would be dejected now they would be no longer able to continue their alleged practice of extorting bribes from people at roadblocks set up to enforce the curfew.

Kenya police receiving the news about lifting of curfew #Curfew pic.twitter.com/EQVYWVVrLZ  joe (@oldjade2) October 20, 2021

Medical experts too were pleased - and felt President Kenyatta's announcement was long overdue.

"In this stage of the pandemic, what matters most is not number of infections but their relationship with hospitalisation or death," tweeted Dr Githinji Gitahi, who heads the health charity Amref Africa.

"As has been demonstrated (eg in the UK) most important is not closures, curfews and lockdowns but vaccination."

Huge job losses

The government had found itself under immense pressure to either end the curfew or put up funds to cushion businesses that have found it difficult to operate because of fewer working hours.

Police have put up roadblocks nationwide to enforce a curfew introduced to reduce coronavirus infections

A phone survey conducted by US academics found that out of 2,739 small retailers contacted in and around the capital, Nairobi, the majority were struggling, their businesses suffering, with higher levels of unemployment within their households.

Story continues

To make matters worse, according to those polled, there was little or no assistance from the government, non-governmental organisations or other entities.

Some entrepreneurs unable to make ends meet had to change their focus - some even shifted their base, relocating to countries such as neighbouring Tanzania where there were fewer restrictions.

Many Kenyans have struggled to make a living during the coronavirus pandemic

Those unable to adapt closed. According to the Pubs, Entertainment & Restaurants Association of Kenya (Perak), about 7,500 bars, hotels and entertainment spots have shut down countrywide - with an estimated loss of 250,000 jobs.

There has also been some unhappiness about the double standards at play.

While these Covid-19 mitigation measures were affecting the living standards of ordinary Kenyans, the political class seemed oblivious to the rules.

Politicians continued to hold large rallies and late-night meetings, contrary to Ministry of Health public guidelines and curfew regulations.

Vaccination push

Experts say that it takes 21 days to form a habit, and for a majority of Kenyans the curfew became a way of life - it lasted for well over 500 days.

Until new habits form, it is difficult to say how and if businesses will recover.

Less than 5% of Kenyans have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus

Encouragingly, event organisers and taxi drivers did report increased business over the first curfew-free weekend.

Hoteliers have also noted an improvement in the number of bookings ahead of the festive season.

Yet Perak and others are still concerned - only around 2.8% of Kenyans have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

"Some of them are ready to sponsor free meals and drinks for those who choose to get vaccinated at their joint"", Source: Waihiga Mwaura, Source description: Kenyan journalist, Image: Waihiga Mwaura

They fear that if Kenyans do not take vaccination seriously, then the dreaded curfew or other measures, including lockdowns, could be reinstated after Christmas.

That is why they are asking the government to set up vaccination centres in popular meeting places, such as bars and restaurants, to encourage people to get jabbed.

In fact, some of them are ready to sponsor free meals and drinks for those who choose to get vaccinated at their venue.

When the vaccine rollout began in March, President Kenyatta promised that 10 million Kenyans - about 25% of the population - would be jabbed by the end of the year.

A lack of vaccines was initially behind the slow take-up, but now hesitancy is one of the main drivers stopping people.

So the strategy to target revellers might convince some - and is likely to have more of an effect than public information adverts battling the misinformation proliferating on WhatsApp.

For now Kenyans are just happy that, like the anti-colonial heroes who gave them their freedom - or "uhuru" in Swahili - they too now have uhuru to carry on the business of living at all hours.

More Letters from Africa:

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
A small group of demonstrators dressed as "Unite the Right" rally-goers with tiki torches stand on a sidewalk as Republican candidate for governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin arrives on his bus for a campaign event at a Mexican restaurant in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S. October 29, 2021. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

People with tiki torches posed by Glenn Youngkin's bus in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Friday.

The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump Republican group, later admitted to being behind the stunt.

They said it was to remind Virginians of the 2017 white supremacist "Unite the Right" rally.

A group of people carrying tiki torches turned up to an event for Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Friday, posing in front of his tour bus.

Turns out, they were sent by the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump Republican group.

Video: How Republican convention speeches have changed

The tiki torches were a nod to the 2017 "Unite the Right rally" in Charlottesville, when white supremacists and neo-Nazis marched with tiki torches in hand, with some chanting "Jews will not replace us."

The stunt came the same week a civil trial began against the rally's organizers and days before Virginia's gubernatorial election on November 2.

Local NBC reporter Elizabeth Holmes shared a photo of the group on Twitter, reporting they said something that sounded like: "We're all in for Glenn."

People online quickly began to suspect there was something strange about it, and Youngkin's campaign even accused his opponent, Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, of being behind the stunt.

Vice News identified one of the people in the photo as a "low-level Democratic operative" and said the Lincoln Project admitted it was responsible for the stunt.

"Today's demonstration was our way of reminding Virginians what happened in Charlottesville four years ago, the Republican Party's embrace of those values, and Glenn Youngkin's failure to condemn it," the conservative group said in a statement.

The statement also said if Youngkin "will denounce Trump's assertion that the Charlottesville rioters possessed 'very fine' qualities, we'll withdraw the tiki torches. Until then, we'll be back."

Story continues

It was a reference to former President Donald Trump's remarks that there were "very fine people" on "both sides" at the 2017 rally, during which Heather Heyer was killed when an avowed neo-Nazi drove his car into a group of people.

McAuliffe's campaign condemned the stunt on Friday evening.

"What happened today in Charlottesville is disgusting and distasteful and the McAuliffe campaign condemns it in the strongest terms. Those involved should immediately apologize," Terry for Virginia Campaign Manager Chris Bolling said in a tweet.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The cost of repeat prescriptions for Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for those experiencing symptoms of the menopause will be significantly reduced, the Government has announced.

The commitment was made on Friday afternoon during the second reading of Labour MP Carolyn Harris private members bill in the House of Commons.

Health minister Maria Caulfield said while the Government cannot exempt HRT from prescription charges entirely, they will amend the regulations to reduce the costs and improve access to HRT.

HRT is a treatment to relieve symptoms of menopause by replacing the oestrogen and progesterone hormones the body no longer produces.

Prescriptions cost 9.35 per item in England on the NHS but HRT is free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Campaigners have been calling for the charge to be scrapped altogether with some saying the cost can act as a financial barrier than can put some women off seeking treatment and prices others out altogether.

Previously, some women who have a combination of both progesterone and oestrogen must pay for separate charges. But the change means women would see in real terms savings of up to 205 per year.

Ms Caulfield said: We will do this by reducing the cost of repeatable prescriptions for HRT for women experiencing menopausal symptoms.

So instead of paying for a repeat prescription every month, or every three months, the prescriber can issue a batch of prescriptions for up to 12 months with one signature and one prescription charge.

She added: If a woman currently takes two hormone treatments  oestrogen and progesterone  and receives a repeatable prescription every month, she would currently pay 18.70 each time. Thats a total of 224 every year.

Under the changed system she would pay just 18.70 each year. Thats a saving of 205.

The Government has also announced the creation of a menopause task force which will encourage faster action and join up the dots across the system in order to take a coherent approach to improving support for those experiencing the menopause.

Story continues

Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who spearheaded the private members bill, will co-chair of the task force.

Referring to earlier rhetoric from MPs of a menopause revolution, the minister said: Up the revolution.

In an emotional response, Ms Harris said: Wonderful women thank you. Whats happened today is only the beginning I know, but we can do such great things together because thats what its all about is looking after the women.

Ms Harris also hailed today as a result for women across the country.

Meanwhile, campaigners including MPs and TV personalities such as Davina McCall and Penny Lancaster celebrated the move at a rally outside Parliament.

Davina McCall hailed the announcement (Steve Parsons/PA) (PA Wire)

Davina McCall, who wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the hashtag #MakeMenopauseMatter, also called for more education for healthcare professionals.

She highlighted a lack of medical knowledge in her Channel 4 documentary Sex, Myths And The Menopause, in which she also discussed taking HRT

She welcomed the Governments announcement on HRT prescription charges, calling it a very positive outcome.

She said: The great thing about this is that it isnt a political matter, this is a womens matter and today everybody came together to make the happen.

Women and men, male and female politicians from all parties came together and made a promise.

McCall told the cheering crowd: Its not just menopausal women, its for our daughters for our grannies who didnt have any support at all.

She said she would celebrate with a cup of tea and a chat with a lot of very menopausal women.

Read More

Javid vows improved menopause support as MPs share terrifying experiences

Penny Lancaster: Menopause can be soul destroying

Menopause Bill: Campaigners reveals horror symptoms
"The Greatness of Mexico" exhibition at the Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

Mexico has recovered three ancient artifacts from Italy on Friday, reclaiming the works as part of an ongoing effort to track down and bring back artifacts that have scattered across the world.

The three items  a clay pot adorned with human figures and two ceramic human faces, reports Reuters  were illegally exported from Mexico and bound for an auction. Italy's Unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage confiscated the 2,300-year-old relics and returned them to Mexican officials.

This month, Mexico opened a massive exhibit showcasing 1,525 pre-Hispanic artifacts, reports Smithsonian Magazine, and more than half of them came from recovery efforts like the one concluded Friday. The exhibition, which marked Mexico's 200th anniversary of independence from Spain, was the first time many of the items were displayed in their home country.

Many of the artifacts were returned voluntarily, like the 650 items the Italian government has handed over since 2013. But some came through police seizures abroad, reported The Associated Press. Mexico recently launched a special art crimes unit dedicated to tracking down looted pieces of art, writes Observer, and soon afterwards succeeded in recovering manuscripts related to Hernan Cortes that had been stolen from Mexico's National Archive.

Mexican officials have said stronger regulations on antiquities trade could reduce the incentive to steal artifacts, since so many head to the massive auction markets. "The people who buy these pieces, who traffic these pieces, are criminals. You share responsibility if you buy something stolen," said Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

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NAACP head Derrick Johnson and Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe release open letter asking athletes to avoid Texas due to unfavorable abortion, election and COVID-19 response policies

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson on Thursday published an open letter to professional athletes, urging them to steer clear of signing with franchises from Texas during free agency.

Johnson wrote the letter alongside NAACP Texas President Gary Bledsoe in response to the recent laws that Texas issued in regards to abortion regulations, election restrictions and removing COVID-19 mask mandates.

In March, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order to free the states businesses and residents of COVID-19 restrictions, including removal of the states mask mandate. In May, Abbott signed a bill that prohibits women from having abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, which the U.S. Supreme Court last month denied an emergency appeal from abortion providers and others that sought to block enforcement of the law. In September, Abbott signed an elections reform bill that put in place new restrictions on how and when voters can cast ballots and, including vote-by-mail access, according to the Texas Tribune.

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson speaks onstage during the 51st NAACP Image Awards, Presented by BET, at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on February 22, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images for BET)

Johnson and Bledsoe feel that the new laws have a disproportionate effect on the Black community and have advised that players from major sports leagues, including the NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL and NFL, avoid signing with teams based in the state for their own protection.

As we watch an incomprehensible assault on basic human rights unfold in Texas, we are simultaneously witnessing a threat to constitutional guarantees for women, children and marginalized communities, Johnson and Bledsoe wrote. Over the past few months, legislators in Texas have passed archaic policies, disguised as laws, that directly violate privacy rights and a womans freedom to choose, restrict access to free and fair elections for Black and brown voters, and increase the risk of contracting coronavirus. If you are a woman, avoid Texas. If you are Black, avoid Texas. If you want to lower your chances of dying from coronavirus, avoid Texas.

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Johnson feels that athletes have a big platform and influence on society, and if they take a stand, then others would follow suit.

When all else fails, we must look within and answer the call to protect the basic human rights and democratic values which are fundamental to this country Johnson said. Professional athletes serve as some of our countrys greatest role models and we need them to join us to fight for democracy.

There are nine professional Texas teams between the five leagues: the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets of the NBA, the Dallas Wings of the WNBA, the Dallas Stars of the NHL, MLBs Texas Rangers and Houston Astros, and the NFLs Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans.

In addition, Johnson recently commented on the tomahawk chop gesture used by Atlanta Braves fans. The Braves are currently facing the Astros in the World Series.

Johnson told CNN that he feels that its racially insensitive for fans and players to partake in the gesture during games as many advocacy groups and members of the Native American community have called for it to stop.

Words matter. Images are important. NAACP, we stand in solidarity with the Native American community, Johnson said. No one in this country should be offended because of stereotypical images, naming of teams, gestures. Words matter and we have to look for a future thats inclusive and diverse and stop perpetuating stereotypes of the past.

The post NAACP CEO asks free agent athletes not sign with Texas teams appeared first on TheGrio.
B. Pagels-Minor, left, and Terra Field filed charges against Netflix with the National Labor Relations Union over the company's treatment of the Dave Chappelle controversy. B. Pagels-Minor & Terra Field/Linkedin

Two Netflix employees  one current and one former  filed a labor complaint against the company.

Netflix and co-CEO Ted Sarandos have faced scrutiny over a special from the comedian Dave Chappelle.

The two employees allege facing retaliation from the company for speaking out about the special.

A Netflix employee and a former company staff member have filed a labor complaint against the company, accusing the streaming giant of retaliating against them for trying to speak out against its handling of controversy over the comedian Dave Chappelle's new special.

B. Pagels-Minor and Terra Field filed the unfair-labor-practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board this week, saying Netflix's decision to air the Chappelle special "demeaned" and "endangered" transgender people and significantly affected working conditions at the company.

The Verge was the first to report on the complaint.

The pair said the streamer targeted them for speaking out about Chappelle's special and its anti-transgender comments. Pagels-Minor, a Black trans program manager, organized a Netflix employee walkout and was later fired by the company on suspicion of leaking confidential metrics and financial information about the special and some of the streamer's other projects to Bloomberg. Pagels-Minor has denied the allegation.

Field, a software engineer, was one of three staff members suspended after attending a director-level meeting the streamer says she wasn't invited to, though she was reinstated after the company found no misconduct.

In the statement of charge submitted on behalf of Pagels-Minor and Field, the Bay Area attorney Laurie M. Burgess said Netflix fired and suspended Pagels-Minor and Field "to quell employees from speaking up about working conditions including, but not limited to, seeking to create a safe and affirming work environment for Netflix employees, speaking up about Netflix's products and the impact of its product choices on the LGBTQ+ community, and providing support for employees whom Netflix has treated in an unlawful and disparate manner."

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Both Pagels-Minor and Field signed Netflix employment agreements requiring them to settle disputes in private arbitration; however, the choice to file with the NLRB would help the workers attain collective action, with the goal of sweeping change and accountability for all workers at the company.

"Rights exist to be exercised and defended, and nobody will silence me in my defense of myself, my coworkers, or my community," Field said in a tweet addressing the NLRB filing.

The NLRB is investigating the accusations leveled against Netflix. If the allegations are found to have merit, the NLRB may try to get a settlement or issue a formal complaint on behalf of the employees. Besides settling, Netflix may be forced to take other measures, such as issuing a statement about workers' rights around protected activity, like speaking out or protesting.

Netflix has denied retaliating against the employees.

"We recognize the hurt and pain caused to our trans colleagues over the last few weeks," a Netflix representative told Insider. "But we want to make clear that Netflix has not taken any action against employees for either speaking up or walking out."

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has defended Chappelle and his comedy special in the past few weeks. He initially argued that on-screen content "doesn't directly translate to real-world harm" but walked back those comments, saying he "screwed up."

Chappelle responded to the controversy this week saying he was willing to hear out the trans community but added that he would not be "bending to anyone's demands." In his response, Chappelle praised Sarandos' support and mocked the queer comedian Hannah Gadsby, who tore into Sarandos for defending Chappelle.

Read the original article on Business Insider
New York City public-school enrollment dropped by about 17,000 students this year, with a drop of roughly 64,000 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to preliminary data released by the citys Department of Education on Friday.

The city school district, which is the largest public-school system in the U.S., enrolled roughly 938,000 students in fall 2021 compared with 955,000 the previous year. The district saw a 1.9-percent decline in enrollment this year compared with a 4.7-percent decline in 2020, when districts across the country switched to virtual learning. Large school districts struggled to transition to online classes, and the New York DOE provided iPads to thousands of homeless students to ensure they could participate in remote learning.

However, enrollment in the districts charter schools continued to climb, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in previous years. Roughly 4,000 new students enrolled in charters this fall, compared with 10,000 new students the previous year.

Including charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately managed, there are over a million students enrolled at New York public schools. The DOE has reported declines in enrollment since 2016, with 2020 seeing the sharpest drop, while charter-school enrollment rose from 114,000 total students in 2016 to 143,000 this year.

DOE officials contended that New York was in a better position than other large districts, saying that Los Angeles and Chicago each lost a greater percentage of students.

As the nations largest school district weve been impacted by the nationwide enrollment fluctuation that impacted schools across the country, and this data shows enrollment is stabilizing as we continue our Citys incredible recovery, DOE spokesperson Katie OHanlon said in a statement to the media.

More from National Review
Marianne Ayala/Insider

Anti-robocall technology works, and Congress has mandated that phone companies use it.

These companies have had plenty of time to comply with Congress' mandate, but haven't.

It's time for consumers to reclaim our phones and use them effectively.

Teresa Murray is director of the Consumer Watchdog office at the US Public Interest Research Group.

This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.

You may have noticed you're getting fewer unwanted robocalls about nonexistent car warranties or loans for businesses you don't have. Or that more of the calls you are getting are marked as "potential spam."

This shared national nightmare is finally easing up a bit. Scam robocalls dropped by 29% from June 30 through August 31, according to YouMail, a leading robocall filtering company.

The decline stems from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) more stringently enforcing a new law that requires all phone companies to install sophisticated caller ID technology aimed at blocking unwanted robocalls. Technically, the deadline for phone company compliance was June 30, with more severe repercussions taking effect 90 days later, on September 28.

If by that date, any company hadn't at least told the FCC what it was doing to fight robocalls, then other phone companies were prohibited from connecting phone calls with their networks. That would mean customers of those companies couldn't make calls, although they could still receive them.

That clearly put fear in many phone companies' wallets. Of the companies that had reported their compliance to the FCC as of October 11, about one-fourth had installed the enhanced caller ID verification on their entire network; about one-fourth had installed it on part of their network; and about half hadn't installed the required caller ID technology, but claimed that they were using their own methods to reduce robocalls.

Experts believe scam robocalls will continue to decline, but not necessarily go away. Why? In part because the FCC gave an extension to companies with fewer than 100,000 customers or old-fashioned phone lines that don't use cable or internet. They don't have to comply with robocall-blocking caller ID until June 2023.

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The attorneys general in all 50 states are concerned that robocall crime rings will gravitate to these phone companies that don't have the caller ID technology. You should be concerned, too.

To thwart those criminals, the FCC should move up the deadline for all phone companies to comply with the federal law to no later than June 30, 2022, as proposed by all 50 state attorneys general. For legitimate businesses who say that's too soon, that's nonsense. The law was passed by Congress in 2019; and everyone knew it was coming years before that.

Robocalls started exploding about 15 years ago, when cell phone ownership among US adults hit 70%. Regulators soon began chasing after con artists and telemarketers who were making billions of illegal robocalls each year.

The modern-day robocall became illegal on September 1, 2009, when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) started prohibiting pre-recorded telemarketing calls to any consumers who hadn't agreed to the calls in writing.

But you can only take action against those criminals that you can catch. As spoofed calls - when the dialer manipulates caller ID so that an incorrect number intentionally shows up - became more common, it became more difficult to track down those making calls, especially because many originate from overseas or a difficult-to-trace computer.

Over the years, regulators including the FCC and FTC started trying to crack down on robocalls not only by charging and shutting down illegal operations, but also going after the phone companies that allowed the calls. By 2016, when we got at least 15 million scam robocalls and illegal telemarketing robocalls nationwide, more than 30 of the largest communications and technology companies - including AT&T, Apple, Comcast, Google and Verizon - agreed to work with the FCC. The goal: reduce robocalls, particularly the spoofed calls that tricked so many. The idea of caller ID verification standards came out of this group. Now we're here.

The importance of our phones can't be overstated: They're vital to our safety, our ability to stay in touch with loved ones, our ability to conduct business and more. Phone companies should be doing everything they can to protect their customers. If they won't do it willingly, then regulators should force them to do it.

Until that happens, consumers can take a few simple steps to protect themselves. First, don't provide or confirm personal information on a call you weren't expecting, no matter what the caller ID says. Secondly, don't pay any caller with gift cards or wire transfers. And finally, use multiple scam robocall filters on your cell phone. Many of the best apps are free or cost a dollar or two a month. And some of the apps filter out robo-texts as well.

At the same time, if consumers are continuing to get an unacceptable number of robocalls on their cell phone or home phone (OK, even one is annoying,) then they should ask their phone company what it is doing to protect their privacy and respect their time.

Robocalls have been a real problem for about 15 years. Phone companies now have the ability to squash a large chunk of them. It's past time for us to be able to reclaim our phones and use them the way they were intended.

Read the original article on Business Insider
As we hit the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, we define reparations and the fight for Black equity across the United States

As the federal government gets closer than ever to moving on H.R. 40  a bill that would designate a committee to study racism in America and propose reparative measures  and local, county and state governments across the country make similar moves, we wanted to track the nations progress on making amends for its history of inequity. When the country marked 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre, we looked at, among other things, the loss of Black wealth, housing instability and redlining. We interviewed members of Congress about the federal H.R. 40 battle, and were taking a look at how states like Vermont and California are addressing reparations for their residents. We plan to look at reparations and policing, the role of nonprofit organizations and repair and whats happening at educational institutions. Look for updated content every month.





CHAPTER 4: EDUCATION'S TIES TO SLAVERY, JIM CROW

My enslaved ancestors were sold to support Georgetown

I enrolled at 63 for them. But my story isn't just about that college. It's a national narrative about how we see ourselves as a people. Read more













I sued Harvard to save my slave ancestors' legacy

Tamara Lanier researched her family's history and found cemetery records, census documents and slave ledgers that connect an enslaved African named Renty to her family. A Harvard scientist had ordered Renty's exploitation; the university has held onto the scientist's work, including a half-nude photo. And Lanier wants that photo (which she considers her family property) back, begging the question: Who owns the rights to the pillages of slavery? Read more









Colleges and universities owe Black people restitution. Its long past time to pay.

Education institutions with ties to slavery and Jim Crow crippled the earnings of Blacks for generations. Now, some are leading the way to justice. Read more







CHAPTER 3: EXPLORING PROGRESS STATE BY STATE

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Are reparations being discussed in your area? Find out here.

Research reveals apologies for slavery, task forces but little substantial monetary action. Explore exclusive database, maps

 In North Carolina, some view city reparations as obstacles, not templates. Read more

 How culpable is California, a non-slave state, for its role in slavery? The state embarks on a two-year journey to examine reparations. Read more

 The city of Athens, Georgia, has made strides on reparations. But the former residents of Linnentown want their land back. Read more

 Maryland pardons set example for bipartisanship on racial healing. Read more

 Vermont struggles, experiments with direct payment. Read more

 North Carolina's Buncombe County paves the way to link descendants to deserved reparations. Read more

 Illinois city touted as first is lagging on reparations plan. Read more

CHAPTER 2: HR40 AND CONGRESS

Slavery, trauma and modern America

Lack of empathy and hypervigilance are rooted in Americas slave past, and they are reenforced every time we watch a video of police brutality. That stress is killing Black America. Project editor Eileen Rivers talks about multigenerational trauma and how addressing it is vital to reparations. Read more









CHAPTER 1: TULSA AND THE ERASURE OF BLACK WEALTH

Fighting on two fronts

Tiffany Crutcher's great-grandmother was a victim of the Tulsa race massacre. Her twin brother was shot and killed by Tulsa police in 2016. She's battling for them both. Read more

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: In 'Repairing America' USA TODAY looks at nationwide reparations fight
By Sarah Berman

(Reuters) - Independent directors of Rogers Communications, which is embroiled in a boardroom battle, had criticized former chairman Edward Rogers for trying to "insert himself as the de-facto CEO" and jeopardizing the planned C$20 billion ($16.1 billion) takeover of Shaw Communications, court documents showed on Friday.

Rogers Communications, Canada's largest telecommunications company, is rocked by a family feud, sparking a bitter public battle for control of the board, just as the company is navigating its biggest-ever acquisition. The two rival factions will face off in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Monday where the judge will decide the legitimate board.

The spat was triggered after Edward Rogers, son of late founder Ted Rogers, tried to remove Chief Executive Officer Joe Natale in late September, claiming Natale struggled to turn around the business despite more than four years as CEO.

That put Edward at odds with his mother and two sisters, who backed Natale, and resulted in his removal as chairman of Rogers. Edward Rogers retaliated by using his position as chair of the Rogers Control Trust, the family-owned entity that owns the majority of voting shares in the company, to constitute a new board, which recognized him as chairman.

In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Loretta Rogers said her decision to move a motion to remove Edward Rogers followed media reports that he was trying to remove five independent directors by written resolution, contrary to Ted Rogers' wishes.

The family dispute playing out in public is a rare occurrence in Canada and has caught analysts and investors by surprise, weighed on the company stock and attracted regulator's attention.

The matriarch of the controlling family of Rogers Communications also said the independent directors had sought to create safeguards to prevent Edwards' meddling from damaging the company. She said Edward disregarded all checks and balances in trying to remove independent directors, and without a shareholders meeting and against the business judgment of a majority of the board of directors.

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A spokesman for Edwards Rogers and Rogers Communications declined to comment.

($1 = 1.2392 Canadian dollars)

(Writing by Denny Thomas; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Students of Katie Griggs, aka Guru Jagat, and Harijiwan Khalsa say they ran the Ra Ma Yoga Institute like a cult. Rony Corcos; Skye Gould/Insider

How a white woman in a turban captured a devoted following, spanning continents, for her yoga practice that some former members say was abusive and cultish

On August 1, Guru Jagat - the charismatic leader of the Ra Ma Yoga Institute in Venice, Los Angeles, whose following included celebrities like Alicia Keys and Russell Brand - was reported dead at the age of 41.

The news came at a tumultuous moment: Former devotees of Jagat's teaching were accusing her and her mentor of abusive and manipulative practices and of running a cult. She had also been accused of platforming a Holocaust denier and spreading COVID-19 conspiracy theories.

According to the institute, Jagat died of pulmonary embolism after complications related to her ankle surgery.

The institute is looking to move ahead without its founder. Social accounts tied to Ra Ma and Jagat's inner circle remain active, and sales of its yoga events continue. Even now, it's not clear what kind of accountability exists within the organization.

But what is Ra Ma and who was Guru Jagat?

'How dare you not serve?'

Philipa Hughes thought her dream was coming true when she teamed up with the yoga celebrity Guru Jagat to open a studio on the Spanish island of Mallorca in 2016.

For years, Hughes had wanted her own space to teach Kundalini, a niche form of chant-heavy yoga. That was finally happening through a partnership with the turban-wearing guru named Jagat, whose legal name was Katie Griggs and who like Hughes was white.

For five months, Hughes and Jagat shared a yoga studio that Hughes had rented in the resort town of Palma de Mallorca in relative harmony, with Hughes and her 3-year-old son living in an apartment upstairs. But then, Hughes said, Jagat demanded that she have Hughes' bedroom for herself. Hughes refused.

According to Hughes, one day in August, seven men and women belonging to Jagat's inner circle surrounded Hughes in the studio, as they berated and screamed at her for refusing to give in to Jagat's demand.

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"They went apeshit at me," Hughes said. "They literally rounded me up and they were attacking me, like, 'She's your teacher. How dare you not serve?'"

In that moment, Hughes started to piece together the clues - the around-the-clock working hours Jagat's staff kept, many of them unpaid; the expectation that followers treat Jagat like royalty; the verbal and financial abuse of teachers. Ra Ma Yoga Institute wasn't just a new-agey business with a remarkably devoted team, she thought to herself: It was more like a cult.

"It never dawned on me, that level of where they were at with serving Guru Jagat," Hughes said last year. "They would get calls from her at 3 o'clock in the morning saying, 'Where's my hairbrush?' I didn't get it because I don't do that. I don't serve."

Hughes said she lost more than $20,000 that she invested in the business, including the leases and unpaid time, and that she ended her business relationship with Ra Ma less than a year after it began.

Hughes would learn she was far from the first woman to be drawn in by Jagat's charisma.

More than a dozen of Jagat's former employees, students, and business partners spoke with Insider about what they characterized as a culture of abuse in the Ra Ma community.

The group, they say, allows for the verbal and mental abuse of its followers, has sketchy financial practices, and more recently, has circulated COVID-19 disinformation.

Messages sent to Ra Ma seeking comment for this story were not returned.

As Jagat's enterprise grew in the US and expanded into Europe, many of them said they suspected the problems would only get worse.

Kundalini yoga is a chant-heavy form of the practice that was popularized by Yogi Bhajan, who was accused of sexual misconduct. iStock; Skye Gould/Insider

The 'Yogi Tea' guru

Unlike the more mainstream Hatha or Vinyasa classes that millennial yuppies are known to pop in and out of before Sunday brunch with friends, Kundalini yoga presents a prescriptive lifestyle.

Kundalini yoga was brought to the US in the 1960s by Yogi Bhajan, who died in 2004. It offered codes to live by, and Bhajan's followers - largely white ex-hippies - were thirsty for enlightenment. They called themselves "American Sikhs," though the practice had nothing to do with actual Sikhism.

Followers got up before the sun to meditate and chant Sanskrit mantras for hours. They wore all white, covered their heads with turbans, and followed restrictive diets. There was intense breath work known to make yogis light-headed.

The Kundalini enterprise became known as 3HO - Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization - with a headquarters in LA. It also grew increasingly popular: first with schools and ashrams in New Mexico and India, and then with Bhajan's creation of the popular (and now ubiquitous) Yogi Tea brand, which was bought by East West Tea Company in 1972. As Bhajan's influence grew, he acquired the government-contracted firm Akal Security, as his followers would hand over parts of their businesses to their master, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

After Bhajan's death, some of his students tried to stake a claim as his successor, splintering off from 3HO to build their own studios and followings.

In recent years, followers have painted a darker picture of Bhajan's rise. Many of those followers have come forward, either in the media or on social platforms, with accusations that they were beaten or sexually abused by him. In January 2020, Bhajan's longtime secretary, Pamela Saharah Dyson, published a tell-all memoir, "Premka: White Bird in a Golden Cage: My Life with Yogi Bhajan" that included accusations of rape.

Many others continue to see him as a saint and have publicly called his accusers liars.

Jagat rising

Jagat was widely seen as the most visible heir to Bhajan's movement.

Working alongside her was Harijiwan Khalsa, Bhajan's former student and later Jagat's own teacher. Khalsa, whose given first name is Steve, was dubbed the "toner bandit" by some in the media after being sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a fraudulent scheme involving the sale of copy-machine toner that was never delivered. He is the founder and percussionist of the Grammy-award-winning band White Sun.

He is also known to forcefully defend Bhajan against the abuse accusations. In February 2020, Harijiwan published a 52-minute video in which he sits cross-legged on a stage in front of a room full of people dressed in white garb and says Dyson, Bhajan's secretary, made the accusations simply for financial gain.

A popular Kundalini yoga teacher in LA, Jagat founded Ra Ma Yoga Institute in 2013. Within six years, she had become synonymous with Kundalini yoga on the West Coast.

Hours before Alicia Keys hosted the Grammys in 2019, Jagat reportedly led her in breath work. She and other teachers at Ra Ma have aligned themselves with other wellness-forward celebrities like Kate Hudson and Russell Brand, which elevated Jagat's profile and landed her positive press in outlets like Vogue and People.

Until her reported death, Jagat lived in a relatively modest LA home she rented from a Ra Ma follower and drove a Nissan SUV, members said. But in the rest of her life, they said, she did whatever she could to eat, travel, and live like the Hollywood elite.

"She will only ride business class or first class. She will only stay at five-star hotels," Nicole Norton, whose job it once was to book travel until she quit in 2019, told Insider several months before Jagat's death. "It can't be anything less than."

As Jagat's popularity grew, she became more active online.

Increasingly Jagat used her streaming platform and social accounts to offer advice about topics varying from sex, beauty and motherhood to bizarre diets - like going days or weeks eating only fruits that start with the letter P.

Norton said she still carries some guilt about how she aggressively marketed Ra Ma's costly services to new yogis. After every class, she was expected to hand out pamphlets for workshops or festivals. The cachet of these events grew when students realized they might brush elbows with celebrities like Keys, who attended workshops and events as recently as 2019.

Eventually casual students would graduate from weekend classes to costly teacher-training classes, in-person trips or yatras, and women's programming, Norton said.

Norton said students were told that any problem they had - addiction, mental-health issues, procrastination - could be solved by investing more time and money into Ra Ma events and programming.

If she wasn't pushy enough, Norton said, Jagat would get upset.

"Once we get you to come to Camp Grace, it's really fucking over. You're going to come to whatever workshops we tell you to. You're going to come spend a couple thousand dollars to camp with us," she said.

"Whatever issue you have, we have a kriya or a class that will solve that issue and bring you back for more because we just created this mindfuckery where you think that you're being healed but in reality it's just hypnosis, manipulation, and abuse."

Jagat's classes involved loud music, banging gongs, and short, intense breath work.

As students, and especially prospective teachers, got more involved with Ra Ma, they were encouraged to live their life in accordance with the strict rules Bhajan laid out decades ago.

Senior teachers at Ra Ma boast about their "scientific" approach. But there's scant, if any, evidence of science-based techniques at work.

Jagat's practitioners were told not to wear black because it shrinks their aura and not to wear rings on their middle fingers because it interferes with their connection to Saturn. A former student included footage of Jagat in a TikTok video in which Jagat appears to claim that COVID-19 lockdowns were linked to an "alien war."

Jules Hartley

At workshops held in the US and in Spain, the practice is grueling. Students are taught to wake up around 3:30 in the morning to do chanting exercises and meditation that can last hours, followed by a series of classes or workshops and sometimes free labor.

Some students who couldn't afford the workshops told Insider they were encouraged to attend and then pay off the fees by doing work for Jagat and the studio. Even among those who were able to pay full price for their sessions, volunteer work masqueraded as "seva," or service, and even tithing is encouraged under Bhajan's teachings.

"With the yoga, you get really high. There is a physiological shift that happens and you're kind of spaced out, basically," said the actress Jules Hartley, who is known for her work in shows like "Black-ish," "Fuller House," and "Dear White People" and who studied with Jagat. "Sometimes it's called 'Kundalooney,' and like with any addiction there is a honeymoon period with this."

"During the honeymoon period, you'll do anything," Hartley said.

Rick Ross, the director of the Cult Education Institute, has researched the effects and practices of destructive groups for decades. Over the years, he has received many complaints and concerns from former members of the 3HO yoga community.

Ross said that breath work and intense meditation can make practitioners more susceptible to "undue influence."

"It's important to understand that we can reach a trance state through many pathways, and one way would be through breath work and intense meditation," he said. "And when that's part of a group process, that can be seen as a tool to make people more suggestible, more malleable, and then the leader can manipulate their perception of reality, their feelings regarding the group and regarding their life. And it becomes part of the coercive persuasion process."

Looking for a big break

Hartley, the actress, got involved with Kundalini yoga in 2011, at a time when she was dealing with grief and a dramatic breakup.

A friend had recommended a 3HO-affiliated studio called Golden Bridge.

The grand production of the class got her hooked. By the end of the first class, she had booked 10 more sessions and registered for a Kundalini festival in the desert. She began doing "seva" at Golden Bridge and other 3HO-affiliated studios in LA, sometimes in exchange for discounted classes.

When Ra Ma opened two years later, Hartley was brought on, unpaid, to lead morning meditations, called "sadhana."

Hartley left the Ra Ma and LA yoga circle in 2017, after experiencing a series of panic attacks that she attributed, in part, to the hectic and prescriptive lifestyle of Kundalini.

In teacher training, which is required to get the most updated "downloads," students are taught not to sleep more than four hours a night, Hartley and other former students said.

"They manage to really get this notion out that teacher training isn't this thing you take one time. You take it again and again and again. It was a way for them to bring in more bodies, bring in more people," she said. "That becomes your whole social world."

Sometimes family would ask why she was dedicating so much of her time to yoga, and Hartley said that at the time she believed it's where she would land her big break in Hollywood. Classes were so popular among celebrities that paparazzi would stake them out on weekends, she said during an interview with the Instagrammer MysticalMina in September 2020.

"You know, you wake up at this time of the day, you do this meditation, you take this kind of shower, you eat this, you drink this, you use this on your body," Hartley said. "Everything, down to the tiniest detail, is prescribed by Yogi Bhajan. A lot of us were following that as much as we could."

Breaking point

Norton, too, said she was sleep deprived and overworked during her time at the institute and that calls and text messages from Jagat would come in all day and night. Norton said that if she didn't respond immediately, Jagat would later chastise her in public - a possibility that filled her with anxiety.

According to Norton, it was also common for Jagat to make staff run and do errands.

One day, Norton said, Jagat asked her to pick up her sneakers in another town. She drove there and back. When Jagat decided she didn't like them, she was told to return them. Then when she got back to the studio for the second time, Jagat changed her mind and made her go back to the store to buy them again, Norton said.

"It's a form of manipulation and a form of abuse," Norton said.

When staff traveled with Jagat, former members told Insider, business meetings were often held as late as 2 a.m. and there was no time to adjust to jet lag. During these extravagant trips, employees were expected to pay for their own flights, food, and other necessities, six former staffers told Insider in interviews.

That final trip to Mallorca, in 2019, was Norton's breaking point.

According to Norton, on the last day of that trip, she and other staff were humiliated in the front of the studio because nobody had cleaned Jagat's Airbnb rental,and there was candle wax all over the wall.

The next morning, Norton and a teacher left for the airport at 4 a.m. to take Jagat's bags and wait for her to arrive - only to have Jagat call her shortly before the trip to ask Norton to reschedule her flight so she could sleep in.

Norton had finally had enough.

Ross, the expert on dangerous groups, said that the complaints from staffers like Norton match typical scripts for reinforcing subservient behavior.

"The question is not whether or not the guru is acting in a reasonable and respectful way, but rather, are you willing to respond to orders?" Ross said. "That type of blind obedience is reinforced and expected, so you will be at the airport, regardless of a history of last-minute cancellations or whatever because the important thing is your obedience, your submission to the authority of the group, without question or criticism."

Hartley finally left the group in 2017. She met up with Dyson, the former secretary, who allowed her to read her unfinished book.

"All of us, for years and years and years, were supporting this abusive system of control that all of us got stuck in," Norton said. "I had a really promising modeling career, and then I was working in Hollywood. I probably could have done a lot more with my career there."

The publication of Dyson's book last year, as well as recent efforts to stem cultural appropriation of turbans and other Sikh customs, caused friction within the Ra Ma and Kundalini communities.

Yoga-centric podcasts and social-media pages have started to pop up, sharing the stories of people who have left the community.

'The guru knows your secrets'

Four years after Hartley found Kundalini, Elizabeth Grignon, of Long Island, New York, was introduced to the world through a friend and fellow yoga enthusiast.

At the time, Grignon was looking to deepen her yoga practice and was told that the best way to do that was to take classes in LA with Khalsa, who at one time went by the nonspiritual name Steve Hartzell, and his partner Tej.

"This was where you'd want to be: You'd want to be in LA, you'd want to get your teacher certification, and you'd want to learn from Steve and Tej," Grignon said she believed at the time.

"I was a bookkeeper for my father, and I was earning around $25 an hour and upwards. I quit and went to California to get my teacher training."

Grignon said that before arriving in LA, she knew the Kundalini community was quirky in the sense that they wore all-white garb but had no idea how far it went.

"I knew they dressed weird, but when I saw Steve walk in with five to eight very young women dressed head to toe in white, with turbans and scarves, and nobody was talking, and they didn't look at you," Grignon said of her arrival in LA. "They ushered in this man from his car with a special gong and his special drink. I was like, 'Oh, this is a fucking cult.'"

After she arrived, Grignon said she and her peers were asked to take on spiritual names, instructed to eat or not to eat certain foods, and told to deprive themselves of sleep.

The hours of meditation each day, she said, put her in a trance.

"In private it would be OK, I guess, but when it's in a group setting, it creates a sort of suggestive atmosphere, to be receiving information we now realize is QAnon conspiracy stuff," she said.

Despite being uncomfortable with the programming, Grignon carried on because she felt a teacher-training certificate from Ra Ma would be valued in the yoga world.

In addition to paying more than $3,500 for a yearlong certificate program, she was also encouraged to join the women's leadership program, which was then called Immense Grace.

As a student of gemology who was also working long hours as a student of Kundalini, Grignon told Jagat she couldn't afford the Immense Grace membership, and Jagat invited her to work it off as a bookkeeper for her and the studio.

At the time, the company was two years behind in filing its taxes, Grignon said, and she knew it would be a lot of work, but she took it on because of what she described as a culture of "FOMO" - fear of missing out - on the other programming.

Grignon said that, while working for Jagat, she witnessed Jagat act in a controlling and abusive manner toward staff, ordering them to run around LA to do her errands.

"She's screaming at us because she's leaving her car out front and getting parking tickets because someone isn't moving it to the parking lot fast enough while the assistant is out getting her five beverages all over Venice," Grignon said. "I remember thinking, 'Come to class early, park it in the back, and walk. You're not a princess."

But that's not what is taught in Kundalini.

Rick Ross

Another time, when Grignon was away visiting her family, she said, Jagat called her frantically to say that a manager had quit and that Grignon would need to take over the woman's duties at the studio.

"She said, word for word, 'I will never hire another single mother," Grignon said, adding that she found the comments offensive.

"I was really not having respect for her at this point, but I was sitting here thinking, 'This is real yoga, and I'm going to learn this yoga and get my certification and move on," she said.

Students told Insider that they were led to understand that for whatever amount they served their teacher, the universe would reward them tenfold.

Some Kundalini students, apparently heeding this teaching, sometimes bent over backward for their leaders, handing over parts of their business, gifting, and even tithing their teachers monthly, in hopes that they would see a spiritual return.

And if a demand wasn't met in a timely manner, Jagat would berate the students, sometimes referencing the private, personal trauma she had students share during private one-on-one sessions, Grignon said.

One day, in the middle of the studio, Jagat called out one student by saying her missteps were tied to the abuse she experienced by her mother, according to Grignon.

Another time, Grignon said, Jagat chastened a student for being sick too much, saying it was because the student swallowed the semen of her partner - another member of the group who Jagat knew had a genital condition.

"These are private things that she'd share," one former student said. "This is in the middle of class, and most of these classes are recorded."

Ross said that this kind of behavior is common in dangerous groups, including cults, because it serves to "break" the student, and sensitive information can be used as blackmail against a student who questions the leader's authority.

When members share some of their most vulnerable memories, they are again relinquishing control to the group's leader and are more likely to accept advice about what they need to change about themselves.

"The guru knows your secrets, knows your vulnerabilities. And at another point, they can use that to leverage you, to control you, to manipulate you," he said. "And this is not what yoga is supposed to be about."

The 72-hour rule

It's easy for people outside of Ra Ma to ask, "Why don't they just leave?"

But for those who are in it, it is their whole world, and teachers have excuses for everything, former members said.

The periods of insults and screaming, for example, were called "auric adjustments" and students were taught that they should be grateful and feel privileged to be yelled at because it meant the teachers found you valuable enough to "waste their sound current on you," Grignon said.

When students wanted to go home to see family, Jagat would discourage it, telling them that if they stayed away for more than a few days, everything they learned in Kundalini would be undone.

"She said if you stay there more than 72 hours, your subconscious would be reverted, and you don't want to end up like your family," Grignon remembered once being told. "Obviously at this point, I realized what was going on, and I replied, 'I love my family.'"

Norton, too, remembers the 72-hour rule.

"Everyone fights with their parents, gets annoyed at their parents. They're using that against you," Norton said. "They say, 'If you're with your parents for more than 72 hours, you're going to go back to your childhood patterns, and you've done all this work. Why would you want to do that?'"

Students then start thinking they're not spiritually strong enough to go visit home yet and need to do more kriyas to make sure they can handle being away from the community, Norton said.

Really, though, Norton believes it was Jagat's way of isolating people from their families until they were so deeply integrated into the group that they were less likely to leave.

"If your parents are saying, 'Hey I think you're in a cult' or 'This sounds really toxic,' like my parents said, my initial response was, 'You don't know what you're talking about. You're just trying to trigger me.'"

Setting rules around when members should and shouldn't see their families is a clear indicator that leaders want to control the environment of their followers, Ross said. It's not something that would happen if you were simply a member of a typical yoga studio or gym, he added.

"The way they maintain control is they keep you in a bubble, an echo chamber where you hear what they want you to hear, you see what they want you to see, and their edicts, their ideas, and their program is reinforced by other members under their control," Ross said. "So when a group is that controlling, they see visiting your family or, for that matter, going outside of the group as an interruption in their control."

Senior teachers regularly drill into their students that "this is your spiritual family. This is your karmic sister,'" Norton said. "It's to get you to feel guilty."

Norton said others stay because leaving would mean dissociating from everyone they know and love.

"Once you're in the community, you only know the community. For people who have been in for years, they don't know anyone else, so it's really scary to just leave because you don't know how to act in the world," Norton said.

The fall of sister studios and a $10,000 legal settlement

Grignon and other former staff who spoke to Insider said that Ra Ma has gotten a lot of funding from wealthy investors with Hollywood and cultural connections as well as wealthy students - some of whom, according to old bookkeeping documents provided to Insider, contributed upward of $40,000 a year.

And yet, by the time Grignon took over the books in 2015, the main studio, in Venice, was barely staying afloat, she said.

Jagat, she said, was spending too much on decorative and neospiritual items like crystals and using business funds on her personal expenses, all while her employees were working up to 60 hours a week, with some being paid as freelance contractors on 1099s without health insurance, she said. Other former employees echoed the claims that they were barely being paid, and most of the work they did was in exchange for classes.

But Jagat was still looking to grow the business. She and three business partners had just opened a studio in Boulder, Colorado, and she was talking about opening another in Mallorca, Grignon remembered.

"She's traveling around the world, but the studio can't make money unless she or Steve teaches," she said. "I'm like, 'Why are we trying to open a Mallorca studio when we can't afford the Venice studio?'"

According to interviews and documents obtained by Insider, Jagat's role in the Boulder and Mallorca studio would have mostly been as a figurehead or guest speaker. She would supply the studios with yoga props and let them use her brand while the monetary investment would come from the local partners.

But for Jagat's partners, the frustration was not solely with her. In interviews with Insider, they kept bringing up another name: Harijiwan Khalsa. (Messages sent to Khalsa seeking comment for this story were not returned.)

Hughes, whose partnership with Jagat on Ra Ma Mallorca had ended badly, said Khalsa - whom she had never heard of - arrived with Jagat and took over the grand-opening ceremony and appeared prominently on stage.

"The weirdest thing, the first alarm bell, is that I'm supposed to be her partner all of this time," Hughes said, "and she never mentions that she's got another business partner, Harijiwan. Not once does she mention this teacher."

"The day of the opening, he turned up like he's literally the fucking king, ignores me, walks in, gets onto the stage," Hughes said.

Hughes said the opening was still a success due to the large crowd brought in "pretty much 50-50" by her and Jagat's team.

A week later, though, Hughes was taken off-guard when Jagat demanded that she wire $1,900 - which she estimated was about half of the profits from the opening - to Harijiwan for his role on the day.

"I'm like, excuse me? What? What about all these people who have literally been working 12 hours a day?" Hughes remembers saying, referring to the rest of the Ra Ma staffers who had been on the island working ahead of the opening for very little or no pay.

Hughes said she resisted sending the payment for a few days because it didn't feel right but was repeatedly screamed at by Jagat during several conversations until she did.

"I wasn't really allowed to question it, and that's when I realized I was a muppet, and this idea that she had of having this small little quaint yoga studio in Mallorca, which she painted, wasn't the case," Hughes said. "She had another plan, and I never got paid as the months went on."

After ending her relationship with Ra Ma in August 2016, Hughes learned that another Ra Ma-affiliated studio in Boulder also ended its relationship with Jagat.

Right around the same time Jagat had partnered with Hughes, she had also partnered in February 2015 with three women in Boulder, according to a legal complaint - which ended in a settlement - obtained by Insider.

A well-known yoga instructor in the area, and her two investors, rented a studio and hired an employee, and gave Jagat part ownership in return for her Ra Ma branding and guest teaching at the studio.

But over the next year, Jagat and Harijiwan, who was not part of the studio's agreement, would come to the Ra Ma Boulder studio on several occasions to teach classes and training, collecting more than $8,000, without returning any of it to investors, a lawsuit filed in Boulder County Combined Court alleges.

In June 2016, Jagat settled the lawsuit, agreeing to pay the investors $10,000, and Ra Ma Boulder was dissolved.

People who were still affiliated with Ra Ma Venice in 2016, including several who asked for anonymity, told Insider that it was as if one day the Boulder studio just ceased to exist, and Jagat never mentioned it again. But she continued with new efforts to expand.

A final reckoning

On a Saturday afternoon last winter, several women walking along Stanton Street on New York's Lower East Side popped into the brightly lit studio and browsed its large selection of colorful crystals and sheepskin yoga mats in the gift shop, where books featuring Guru Jagat were displayed prominently.

Framed photos of Yogi Bhajan surrounded the stage.

A friendly yoga instructor who donned vibrantly dyed hair and a tiara didn't sport the traditional Kundalini whites, but rather pink loungewear.

She explained, unprovoked, to the single student she had that afternoon that there had been a rift in the yoga community last year and that whites weren't obligatory - especially in the winter.

The instructor was referring to the cultural fallout the Kundalini community faced in 2020.

As discussions about racism, Bhajan's alleged sexual abuse, and the pandemic bubbled to the surface, some followers started to question Harijiwan and Jagat's teachings.

One former student at the New York studio, Suzanne Geiss, who's part of the New York art scene, said that classes were "packed to the gills" in 2018, when she started taking classes here.

The rhetoric around women's empowerment and the low-pressure vibe drew her in.

But then COVID-19 arrived. In the first few months of the pandemic, Ra Ma was telling followers that they needed to boost their immune system through their practice, but as time when on, Jagat started leaning into David Icke's 5G conspiracy theory, publicly opposing the shutdown, and, at one point, discussing COVID-19 victims as "souls that are choosing to leave the planet," Geiss said.

Ra Ma received more than $50,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans between May 2020 and January 2021, according to public records reviewed by Insider.

By late 2020, sources said, there was also a shift in the kind of speakers Jagat would bring to events.

In December of that year, Jagat invited Icke, a conspiracy theorist, to speak.

Icke, a British former BBC sports presenter, has for years been promoting a bizarre theory that the world is run by a cabal of shape-shifting reptilian beings.

Suzanne Geiss

Branded a "hate preacher," by Jewish advocacy groups like the Community Security Trust, Icke has also spread theories that Jews financially backed Hitler, caused the 2008 financial crisis, and staged September 11.

In May, YouTube deleted his account after he baselessly linked COVID-19 symptoms to 5G mobile networks, in violation of the tech giant's policies. Facebook also deplatformed him for similar reasons.

Geiss said it was Icke's presence, paired with COVID-19 misinformation and language coming from Ra Ma leadership calling Dyson and other Bhajan accusers "liars," that put a bad taste in her mouth.

Icke didn't return a message from Insider seeking comment for this story.

Over the summer, Geiss was alerted to a Ra Ma text-chain conversation, in which someone compared Black Lives Matter protesters in Venice to "cockroaches." When one student expressed discomfort with the comment, Jagat chimed in defending her.

(The redacted chain has since been shared online, and Insider reviewed the unedited messages.)

Geiss said that around this time she learned she was one of the New York studio's top patrons and realized she had to disassociate from the brand.

"I can't give my money to people platforming David Icke," she said. They're "blatantly engaging in cultural appropriation. It was like every bad thing of 2020 they're doing."

Geiss was out. Many others were too.

For devotees, it was a shocking and turbulent time.

"You don't wake up and join a cult," one man who was devoted to Kundalini for nearly a decade said.

As Norton puts it: "For most people, they just give up too much money, and that's how they are affected. But for those who get closer, like me, who were working in it, it becomes very, very abusive."

And now, with Jagat's sudden death, Ra Ma's future is even more unclear.

Tickets for a retreat in the south of France for later this month are still for sale. Harijiwan Khalsa, along with two other senior teachers, are due to headline the event.

Read the original article on Insider
By Michel Rose and Jeff Mason

ROME (Reuters) -The United States, Germany, France and Britain urged Iran on Saturday to resume compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal in order to "avoid a dangerous escalation".

Leaders of the four countries, who are hoping to persuade Tehran to stop enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels, said they wanted a negotiated solution.

"This will only be possible if Iran changes course," U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a joint statement.

"We call upon President (Ebrahim) Raisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency. That is the only sure way to avoid a dangerous escalation, which is not in any country's interest," they said after meeting on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 richest nations.

The four leaders met to discuss Iran while in Rome to attend the G20 summit.

The 2015 nuclear deal unravelled after then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018, prompting Iran to breach various limits on uranium enrichment.

Merkel said she was deeply concerned by Iran's uranium enrichment.

"We are counting on a return of Iran to the negotiating table. But the clock is ticking. Uranium enrichment is occurring in Iran and this deeply concerns us," she said on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.

An EU diplomat said the hint about lifting sanctions as an incentive for Iran to resume talks was "very clear", adding that Western powers should however be ready if Iran continued its policies but had yet to decide at what point they should react if it did.

Talks between Iran and world powers aimed at salvaging the deal, which started in April, are slated to resume at the end of November, the Islamic Republic's top nuclear negotiator said on Wednesday.

Asked as he went into Saturday's meeting when he wanted the Iran talks to resume, Biden said only: "They're scheduled to resume".

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A senior U.S. administration official told reporters the meeting had been suggested by Merkel with the aim of giving leaders an opportunity to review the issues ahead of the resumption of the talks.

"Our conviction is that if the United States and Europe are united and the United States and the entire P5+1 pull together, the diplomatic solution is the best solution to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon," the official said, referring to the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members, plus Germany.

"And so they talked about (...) how we can effectively shape the environment to give diplomacy the best chance of succeeding in the fastest possible timeframe to put a lid back on Iran's nuclear program," the official added.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Michel Rose in Rome; Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke in Berlin; Editing by Elizabeth Piper, Mark Heinrich, Helen Popper, Frances Kerry and Daniel Wallis)
PARIS (AP)  Britain and France faced calls Saturday to sort out their post-Brexit spat over fishing rights in the English Channel, which threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats and trucks.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the dispute is testing the U.K.s international credibility, while each countries accused the other of being in breach of the post-Brexit trade agreement that Britains government signed with the European Union before it left the bloc.

As the war of words intensified, Britain said it was actively considering launching legal action if France goes through with threats to bar U.K. fishing boats from its ports and slap strict checks on British catches.

If there is a breach of the (Brexit) treaty or we think there is a breach of the treaty then we will do what is necessary to protect British interests, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told British broadcasters in Rome, where he and Macron are both attending a Group of 20 summit.

At stake is fishing  a tiny industry economically that looms large symbolically for maritime nations like Britain and France. Britain's exit from the economic rules of the 27-nation bloc at the start of this year means the U.K. now controls who fishes in its waters.

France claims some vessels have been denied permits to fish in waters where they have long sailed. Britain says it has granted 98% of applications from EU vessels, and now the dispute comes down to just a few dozen French boats with insufficient paperwork.

But France argues its a matter of principle and wants to defend its interests as the two longtime allies and rivals set out on a new, post-Brexit relationship.

The dispute escalated this week after French authorities accused a Scottish-registered scallop dredger of fishing without a license. The captain was detained in Le Havre and has been told to face a court hearing next year.

France has threatened to block British boats crossing the English Channel and tighten checks on boats and trucks from Tuesday if the licenses aren't granted. France has also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands  British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France and are heavily dependent on French electricity.

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French Prime Minister Jean Castex appealed to the EU to back France in the dispute, saying the bloc should demonstrate to people in Europe that leaving the Union is more damaging than remaining in it.

U.K. Brexit Minister David Frost called Castex's comments troubling and accused France of a pattern of threats to our fishing industry, to energy supplies, and to future cooperation."

He said if France acted on the threats it would put the EU in breach of its obligations under our trade agreement, and said Britain was actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings," a formal legal process in the deal.

He urged France and the EU to step back.

Many EU politicians and officials regard Frost, who led negotiations on Britain's divorce deal, as intrinsically hostile to the bloc.

Macron, who is scheduled to meet Johnson on Sunday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, defended Frances position and said the fishing dispute could hurt Britain's reputation worldwide.

Make no mistake, it is not just for the Europeans but all of their partners," Macron told the Financial Times. Because when you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility,

Macron said he was sure that Britain has good will to solve the dispute. We need to respect each other and respect the word that has been given," he said.

Johnson said the fishing issue was a distraction from fighting climate change  top of the G-20 leaders' agenda at their meeting, which comes before a U.N. climate conference in Scotland next week.

I am looking at what is going on at the moment and I think that we need to sort it out. But that is quite frankly small beer, trivial, by comparison with the threat to humanity that we face, Johnson added.

Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president and chairman of the northern French ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, said the spat was ridiculous and urged both sides to resolve it.

He told BBC radio that the dispute was over just 40 boats  a drop in the ocean  and that there would be terrible consequences if France carried out its threat of blocking British trawlers from French ports.

If no agreement can be found, it will be a drama, it will be a disaster in your country because the trucks will not cross, he said.

___

Jill Lawless reported from Rome. Pan Pylas contributed to this report from London.

___

Follow APs coverage of Brexit at https://apnews.com/hub/brexit
CAIRO (AP)  Tens of thousands of Sudanese took to the streets across the country Saturday, in the largest pro-democracy protest yet since the military seized control earlier this week.

Three protesters were killed and dozens injured  several by live rounds  as security forces opened fire in several locations, a doctors' union said.

The coup, condemned by the international community, has threatened to derail Sudan's fitful transition to democracy, which began after the 2019 ouster of long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir. Since then, the military and civilian leaders have governed in an uneasy partnership.

Pro-democracy groups had called for protests across the country Saturday to demand the re-instating of a deposed transitional government and the release of senior political figures from detention.

The United States and the United Nations had warned Sudan's strongman, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, that they view the military's treatment of the protesters as a test, and called for restraint.

Burhan has claimed that the transition to democracy would continue despite the military takeover, saying he would install a new technocrat government soon. But the pro-democracy movement in Sudan fears the military has no intention of easing its grip, and will appoint politicians it can control.

Saturday's large turnout is bound to increase pressure on the generals who face condemnations from the U.S. and other Western countries to restore a civilian-led government.

Crowds began to gather Saturday afternoon in the capital of Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman. Marchers chanted Give it up, Burhan, and revolution, revolution. Some held up banners reading, Going backward is impossible.

The demonstrations were called by the Sudanese Professionals Association and the so-called Resistance Committees. Both were at the forefront of an uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in 2019. They are also calling for the dismantling of paramilitary groups and restructuring of the military, intelligence and security agencies.

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All three protesters killed Saturday were shot in Omdurman. One was shot in his head, another in his stomach, and a third in his chest, the Sudan Doctors Committee and protesters said.

The committee, which is part of the Sudanese Professionals Association, said security forces had used live ammunition against protesters in Omdurman and nearby. It said it counted more than 110 people wounded, some with gunshots, in Khartoum, Omdurman and the eastern province of al-Qadarif.

Sudanese police denied using live ammunition and said in a statement that a policeman was wounded by gunfire. They said they used tear gas to disperse groups of demonstrators who allegedly attacked their forces and important positions. The statement did not elaborate.

Elsewhere, security forces fired tear gas at protesters as they attempted to cross the Manshia Bridge over the Nile River to reach Khartoums downtown, said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the professionals association.

No power-sharing mediation with the military council again, he said, marching at an area protest.

Anti-coup protests also erupted in other areas, including the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, Kassala in eastern Sudan, and Obeid, in North Kordofan province, according to activists.

As night fell, plain clothes security forces chased off protesters in Khartoum and Omdurman, to prevent them from setting up sit-ins, activists said. In some neighborhoods, protesters blocked roads with makeshift barricades.

Earlier on Saturday, security forces blocked major roads and bridges linking Khartoums neighborhoods. Security was tight downtown and outside the militarys headquarters, the site of a major sit-in during the 2019 uprising.

Since the military takeover, street protests have been daily. With Saturdays fatal shootings, the overall number of people killed by security forces since the coup rose to 12, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee and activists. More than 280 others were wounded. Troops have fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup demonstrators, and beat protesters with sticks in recent days.

Meanwhile, talks are ongoing to try to mitigate the crisis.

Late Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, met with Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, a coup leader seen as close to Burhan. Dagalo commands the feared Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary unit that controls the streets of Khartoum and played a major role in the coup.

He said the U.N.s transition mission for Sudan is facilitating dialogue between the top generals and civilian leaders. Perthes said this remains the only path toward a peaceful solution to the current crisis.

A Sudanese military official said Saturday that a U.N.-supported national committee began separate meetings with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Burhan to find common ground.

The official said Hamdok demanded the release of all government officials and political figures arrested since the coup. Burhan, the official said, gave an initial approval to release most of the detained, but rejected the release of others, including Khalid Omar, the minister of Cabinet Affairs, saying they face accusations of inciting troops to rebellion.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Meanwhile, the U.N. said it is closely monitoring security forces' response on Saturday.

They will be held individually accountable for any excessive use of force against protesters," said Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Burhan has claimed that the takeover was necessary to prevent a civil war, citing what he said were growing divisions among political groups. However, the takeover came less than a month before he was to have handed some power to a civilian.

Burhan installed himself as head of a military council that he said will rule Sudan until elections in July 2023. Observers say it's doubtful the military will allow a full transition to civilian rule, if only to block civilian oversight of the military's large financial holdings.
NEW YORK (AP)  A federal appeals panel on Friday upheld New York states vaccine mandate for health care workers, rejecting arguments by lawyers for doctors, nurses and other professionals that it did not adequately protect those with religious objections.

The ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reversed a decision by an upstate judge who had temporarily blocked vaccination requirements on the grounds that the mandate did not accommodate religious exemptions.

In a brief order, a panel of three 2nd Circuit judges also upheld a ruling by a Brooklyn judge who had found the mandate constitutional.

The appeals court said a written decision would follow at a later date.

Attorney Cameron Lee Atkinson, who argued before the appeals panel, said late Friday that he's already drafting an appeal to bring to the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier on Friday, that court rejected the appeal of a similar mandate in Maine that also does not allow for a religious exemption.

New Yorks mandate forces an abominable choice on New York health care workers: abandon their faith or lose their careers, he said.

He named three plaintiffs, all nurses, who he said had refused to get vaccinated and refused to buy one-way tickets to hell on the hysteria express.

We remain optimistic that the United States Supreme Court will strike down New Yorks discriminatory mandate as violating the First Amendment, he added.

In a statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, commended the ruling, saying she had pledged to take bold action to protect the health of all New Yorkers.

The appeals judges made clear during Wednesday arguments that they were likely to uphold the mandate.

They ordered a Utica federal judge who had ruled that the mandate violated workers Constitutional rights to change his findings to conform with the appeals decision.

In an August order, the state required at least a first shot for health care workers at hospitals and nursing homes by Sept. 27, and more recently expanded the requirement to include workers at assisted living homes, hospice care, treatment centers and home health aides.

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New Yorks deputy solicitor general, Steven Wu, told the 2nd Circuit on Wednesday that employers can allow religious exemptions when workers agree not to work directly with patients.

Atkinson said Friday that Wu's claim that religious exemptions can be allowed was the state's attempt to try to mend the mandate's flaw on the fly during litigation. He said he had not heard that claim before.

The Christian plaintiffs oppose medical cooperation in abortion as a matter of religious conviction. All of the available vaccines employ aborted fetus cell lines in their testing, development or production, according to court papers, but religious leaders have disagreed over the issue and the Vatican issued a statement last year saying the vaccines were morally acceptable.
ROME (AP)  The U.S. and European Union have reached an agreement to settle their diplomatic rift over Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs, the White House announced Saturday, as President Joe Biden is in Rome attending the Group of 20 summit.

The Trump administration had placed taxes on EU steel and aluminum in 2018 on the claim that the foreign products produced by American allies were a threat to U.S. national security. Europeans and other allies were outraged by Trumps use of Article 232 to justify the tariffs, leading many to impose countertariffs on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced the agreement Saturday. They said that the Article 232 tariffs wont be removed entirely but that some quantity of European steel and aluminum will be allowed to enter the U.S. without tariffs under the deal.

We were able to reach an agreement whereby the EU will drop their retaliatory tariffs (on American goods), Raimondo said. The agreement would ensure that all steel entering the U.S. via Europe is produced entirely in Europe, Raimondo added.

The easing of the tariffs is a key step in unwinding one of Trump's legacies as Biden has tried to reset the U.S. relationship with Europe.

This back-and-forth hurt European producers and raised steel costs for American companies. The tariffs also did not achieve Trumps stated goals of creating jobs at steel mills. The Bureau of Labor Statistics show that jobs in the manufacturing of primary metals did rise slightly, to as much as 389,100 in 2019. But mills shed workers during the pandemic, and employment in the sector is roughly half of what it was in 1990.

The European Union took steps in May to improve relations. On some retaliatory tariffs, the EU temporarily suspended planned increases. This meant that American whiskey faced a 25% tax in Europe, instead of a planned 50% tax. The two sides faced a December deadline to avoid the higher tax rate.

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The summits host, Italian Premier Mario Draghi, in a statement Saturday night expressed great satisfaction  for the tariff accord. The decision "confirms the further reinforcement underway of the already close Transatlantic relations and the progressive overcoming of the protectionism of the last years, he said.

The announcement also was welcomed by Chris Swonger, president and CEO of Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, after what he called three very difficult years of sagging American whiskey exports.

Lifting this tariff burden on American whiskeys not only boosts U.S. distillers and farmers, it also supports the recovery of EU restaurants, bars and distilleries hit hard by the pandemic, Swonger said.
US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday received a Covid-19 vaccine booster shot and urged Americans to follow suit.

"I got the booster shot, and I want to encourage everyone to do the same when you are eligible," Harris said after receiving her third dose of the Moderna vaccine at the White House.

"What we have said from the beginning: It's safe and free," she said.

Harris said that over 90 percent of Americans in intensive care units or who have died of Covid were unvaccinated.

"So lets get vaccinated and we will get through the pandemic," she said.

Many Americans are still resisting vaccinations, with only 58 percent of the population fully immunized. The United States has recorded over 745,000 deaths from Covid-19.

US health authorities have approved booster shots of the Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

The boosters should be administered six months after the second dose to people aged 65 or older, as well as to people aged 18-64 who are either at high risk of severe Covid-19 or with frequent exposure to the virus due to the nature of their job.

Fifty-seven-year-old Harris had received her first two injections in December 2020 and January 2021, according to the White House. She is considered at risk of contracting Covid due to her official duties.

US President Joe Biden, 78, received his third dose of the vaccine in September.

md/bbk
On a Sunday about four months into life under the pandemic-induced lockdown, University of South Florida history professor J. Michael Francis went to an empty campus to check his mailbox.

In it, he found a letter from a Consul General of Spain. King Felipe VI had issued a decree inducting Francis into a Spanish civil order to recognize his work uncovering the early Spanish roots in Floridas history. He would be awarded the Officers Cross, signifying a third class rank in the Order of Isabella the Catholic.

It was dated three months earlier, Francis said. I thought, how horribly rude of me, I havent even responded.

After assuring the king he wasnt ignoring him and sorting through the confusion of the missed message, Francis will receive the honor during a ceremony Thursday at the Spanish ambassadors residence in Washington, D.C.

Francis, the director of the La Florida project, which digitized much of Floridas early history, said hes humbled by the honor and credited the undergraduate students hes led on trips to Spain to examine early archives. He also praised the late philanthropists William and Hazel Hough, who endowed his position at USF and had a passion for making the states history accessible.

Francis said learning about the states early history firsthand is important as political rhetoric surrounding the nations history has heated up. He said he first came to love history as an undergraduate student who took a course in modern Latin American history from a professor who became a mentor to him.

After finishing his doctorate, he was hired at the University of North Florida in 1997. The proximity to St. Augustine, he said, shifted his research interests from colonial South American history to the history of Florida.

The history of the state, he said, is often met with surprise by Floridians and Spaniards, particularly for its diversity.

The oldest documented (Christian) marriage we have is an interracial marriage, he said.

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It was in 1565, long before Jamestown or Plymouth, between a free Black woman and a Spanish soldier, he said. The first documented people of African descent in the state, he said, dated back to Juan Ponce de Leons first expedition to Florida in 1513.

At at a time when The New York Times initiative, The 1619 Project, has sparked a passionate discussion on the nations history, Francis said its important to know that the states history dates back even further.

Floridas early days also saw Spanish, Portuguese, Irish, German, French, Greek and Croatian immigrants, he said. And while it wasnt a utopian community, he said, it was diverse.

This is something you see in the fabric of St. Augustine from the beginning, said Francis, who is based on USFs St. Petersburg campus. Its not a story thats a new narrative.

In February, Francis and his team will launch a new project called Europeans, Indians, and Africans: Lost Voices from Americas Oldest Parish Archive, 1594-1821. It will digitize and translate more than 8,300 pages of early records and documents.

Providing direct access to history is important, he said.

So they can see it for themselves, its not just a historian telling them this, Francis said. Especially now, there is a level of cynicism, of skepticism. Theres a lot of this popular mistrust. At the same time  as historians, as scholars  part of our responsibility is to make material available to the public and make it available in a way thats accessible.

The framing, he said, is also important.

(Its) a complicated history, he said. A history thats not without violence and conflict and some pretty tragic moments. We didnt want to whitewash any of that.

Francis, who recently was appointed to the states historical commission by Gov. Ron DeSantis, said he hopes the new project can be a resource for elementary school teachers.

Students who are working on this period have access to original documentation where they start to think, wait a second. Who wrote this? And for what purpose? And they can start to analyze things and are not just fed what somebody else has written about them, he said.

They can start doing the work historians do and come up with questions of their own.

Its those questions that drive further research, and that research leads us to a better understanding of the past, Francis said. And that better understanding of the past matters. And I think it opens dialogues that are important to have not just among historians, but as a nation and among people.
Afghan evacuees and soldiers play soccer in September at a military camp in Ft. McCoy, Wis. (Barbara Davidson/Pool Photo)

When Taliban fighters hunting for Ahmad Shoaib Durgee knocked on his door in Kabul, Afghanistan, he scrambled to escape with his family of six to reunite with his sister in Sacramento.

Two months after they were flown to the U.S., they remain among 53,200 evacuees held at Ft. Lee, Va., and seven other military camps nationwide.

Durgee, 37, who qualified for a visa because he had worked as a security guard for American officials, says he feels fortunate to have been evacuated to a camp where he doesn't have to live in a tent. But he's itching to leave the military housing. After hearing that those headed to California face longer waits, he changed his requested destination to Richmond, Va., where he has friends.

Each afternoon he looked for his name in Ft. Lees daily stack of departure files, those selected for resettlement.

I ask them, When my turn comes? They say, You will be notified, Durgee said by phone last week.

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August, 124,000 people have been evacuated to the U.S., including 67,000 Afghan allies. Of those Afghans, 10,000 have been resettled with the help of nonprofit agencies in communities across the nation, according to the Biden administration.

A Biden administration official attributes the pace of resettlementto staff shortages, logistics issues and medical problems, including a measles outbreak among some transferred to U.S. camps. Nonprofit agencies tasked with resettling Afghan evacuees say they have been overwhelmed by the influx.

Government officials say they are seeking to increase the pace. But theres no deadline for resettling evacuees waiting at the military camps.

Congress approved $6.3 billion in added funding in September, but resettlement agencies said that has yet to reach them as they struggle to house evacuees. Most still wait in the camps, where Biden administration officials said an additional 30,000 are anticipated to arrive from Afghanistan during the next year.

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Afghans Shahid Ullah Wafa, left, and Wasel Hoshmand of Sacramento are concerned about what is happening in their country and how they can help those left behind. The Afghan community of Sacramento is one of the largest in the United States. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Last month, the administration announced a pilot program that would allow groups of at least five individuals to apply to become "sponsor circles," helping Afghan evacuees to resettle for at least three months. The program would supplement federal resettlement programs run by nine agencies nationwide with several hundred local affiliates.

Were trying to prioritize getting those who were on the longest off the quickest, said Curtis Ried, deputy to former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, whom Biden appointed in September to coordinate Afghan resettlement.

Ried said the focus is resettling Afghans in a way thats effective and sets people up for success.

Afghan evacuees at the military camps have already cleared customs and medical screening, including coronavirus testing and COVID-19 vaccinations. They have been processed by the nonprofit International Rescue Committee and their travel has been arranged by the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations affiliate. Before they leave the camps, Afghans are assigned a resettlement agency at their destination. That agency receives $1,225 from the federal government for each evacuee's initial expenses.

About 3,000 evacuees have left the camps without waiting for help from a resettlement group after they were granted humanitarian parole and vetted, including Afghan American citizens, green card and visa holders, and others with close ties in the U.S., according to the administration. In doing so, these evacuees lose access to the assistance that would have been awarded to the resettlement agency, although theyre still eligible for food stamps, Medicaid and other federal aid. With winter coming, more evacuees  especially those living in tents  were debating whether to leave on their own.





Those who requested to be resettled to states and cities that are already home to many of their fellow Afghans  Maryland, Virginia, Washington and California, particularly Sacramento  have faced some of the longest waits. Thats because U.S. officials have encouraged them to resettle in other states to avoid overwhelming the local resettlement agencies and schools. Some states, such as Oklahoma, have offered evacuees incentives such as free housing (280 Afghan evacuees have been resettled there, according to the Biden administration).

Walid Fazly, 34, said officials at Ft. Lee encouraged his family of 10 (including his wife, three children, parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephew) to resettle in Oklahoma after denying their request to be resettled with his older brother at his home in Austin, Texas.

They said that its because the resettlement agency in Austin cant handle all the cases, he said, and that agencies elsewhere in Texas, California and Virginia were overloaded.

They said either you go on your own or to Oklahoma  thats the only option we can give you, said Fazly, who had worked as a translator and coordinator with U.S. media and Ball State University in Afghanistan. I dont even know where Oklahoma is.

Fazly worried about his father, who had suffered a stroke years earlier, was in a wheelchair and had become despondent at Ft. Lee. After waiting more than 50 days, Fazly decided last month not to wait for a resettlement agency to help him. He bought plane tickets for the family to join his brother in Austin. Within days, he said his fathers mood had improved.

Everybodys complaining about their mismanagement, he said of the resettlement process. Theyre like, You have to be patient. OK, patient until when?

Afghan evacuees watch a soccer game at a camp in Ft. McCoy, Wis., in September. (Photo Pool)

Munira Irzai, 27, a former custodian at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, was evacuated with her husband and 2-year-old son to the Camp Atterbury Army post in Indiana, where 6,200 evacuees remained recently. She said she was told they would be sent to Kansas City, Kan., instead of joining a friend in Sacramento.

They should send us to the destinations we provided, Irzai said through an interpreter.

Irzai, who received a green card last month, said she found a house to rent in Kansas City for $850, but still needs furniture.

I have to go. My son has no warm clothes and the base is getting colder and colder every day, she said.

An evacuee at Ft. Lee who worked at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and with the Marines in Helmand province said U.S. officials told him his family could not be resettled to Alexandria, Va., where he has friends because the resettlement agencies dont have the capacity to process our cases.

The man asked not to be identified because he and his family are still at the Army post. His luggage was lost, so hes spent the last two months wearing two donated sets of clothes. Some evacuees who had worked with the U.S. military were given cellphones with service, he said, but he wasn't. He was still using his Afghan cellphone, which had no service in the U.S. except with Wi-Fi. He said his 7-year-old daughter, traumatized after seeing Afghan soldiers firing automatic weapons at the airport in Kabul, is afraid of troops at Ft. Lee and asks him to hide her from them.

He runs several WhatsApp groups for hundreds of evacuees at various camps. When Congress approved billions in added funding for the evacuation in September, he said, We were all dancing on the bases. They received the money! They are spending the money on us!

But he said evacuees didnt receive additional supplies. He wishes he had gone to Australia, Canada or Germany, where evacuees he knows now have homes and jobs.

They are already starting their lives, he said, while he fields calls from his father in Kabul, who needs money. Our family is in a bad situation on both sides.

He has started to see some of the 900 evacuees at Ft. Lee tell U.S. officials the unimaginable: I would rather be back in Afghanistan.

Resettlement groups in California have been overwhelmed by the influx of Afghan evacuees, still rebounding from years of underfunding during the Trump administration, said Lilian Alba, vice president of immigrant and refugee services at the nonprofit International Institute of Los Angeles.

We were quite surprised and not ready for this level of need. Were doing the best we can with what we have, but the program, its not organized. Theres a big need for resources and funding to resettle this many families, she said.

Alba has four staffers, plans to hire 15 more during the next month and is training volunteers. But shes had difficulty finding bilingual people who can speak Dari and Pashto. An even bigger problem is the cost of living in California, especially housing during the pandemic, as some landlords demand double their normal security deposits and co-signers for leases. Only a few residents have been willing to house Afghan families temporarily, she said.

For the average family, the $1,225 per-person government benefit barely covers the minimum $1,700 rent and security deposit for a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, plus food for the first month, Alba said. Congress has yet to approve monthly cash benefits for evacuees, so those whom Albas group helped apply have been rejected by landlords. Employers like Kroger have offered to hire evacuees for jobs with benefits, but evacuees still must pay initial moving costs.

The money we receive is not enough to cover the actual cost of resettling a family, of staff and operations. Thats why a lot of organizations are not able to assist more people, Alba said.

Afghan boys wait for French fries at a food cart at a park on Aug. 19 in Sacramento. Some were born in Afghanistan. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

She said California resettlement groups have urged federal officials to advise evacuees of the costs, so that they know that if they nonetheless choose to come to California, its not going to be an easy road.

Weve had families staying in hotels for four to six weeks. It is extremely overwhelming to them because they are looking for a home, stability. Many of the families have small children. That is why we are encouraging them not to come to California, she said.

She said the pilot program allowing individual volunteers to resettle evacuees could help, but it could also backfire if volunteers struggle and turn to resettlement agencies for help.

It all circles back to the resettlement agencies and we have to do all of the education. Its not easy to be an advocate for Afghan evacuees, she said. The government needs to be opening up slots for subsidized housing. They need to provide additional funds to organizations so we can staff and train rapidly to help resettle this level of cases.

Rabbi Will Berkovitz, chief executive of Seattle-based Jewish Family Service, said his agency has also been challenged in staffing up as evacuees arrive. His group is still trying to get 170 Afghan families out of the country, including relatives of several youths evacuated to Seattle without their parents. He worries that evacuees released without help from a resettlement agency will end up turning to his group in crisis.

If you put a family with no connections in some other part of the city or state and then you send the kids to a school where they have no background working with these families and cultural sensitivities, youre setting everybody up for failure, he said. Its going to put massive pressure on organizations like mine.

Durgee wanted to leave Ft. Lee on his own for Richmond recently, but he couldnt afford to travel there with his family. He had left Kabul with $400, and was down to $200.

He tries to distract his sons, ages 10 and 9, taking them outside to play in a military tent with toys and bringing them colored pencils. They drew pictures of Taliban soldiers with guns and repeatedly asked whether the Taliban would kill their grandmother back in Kabul.

Mentally, they are not relaxed here. That hurts me a lot, Durgee said.

Recently, he met with military, State Department and resettlement officials and requested mental health services for evacuees. An official supervising resettlement at the camp reviewed his case, found his destination had not been changed from California to Virginia, and promised to follow up. But she didnt tell him when his family would be resettled.

And so, they wait in limbo.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Mumbai: On Ananya Pandays 23rd birthday, Ishaan Khatter wrote a beautiful birthday message for Annie Panini. The two are rumoured to be dating.

Taking to his Instagram handle on Saturday, Ishaan posted gorgeous pictures of Ananya and added a heartfelt birthday message for her on her special day. Happy cake day Annie Panini. May the truth, strength and love always be with you, he wrote.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ishaan (@ishaankhatter)

Fans flooded the post with likes and comments.

Ishanya, a fan wrote.

You guys are so cuteee, another added.

Ananya was recently summoned by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with Mumbai drugs-on-the-cruise case involving Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan. However, she did not appear before the agency on Monday due to some personal commitments.

As per reports, Ishaan paid her a visit at her residence and was even seen buying white and pink flowers on his way to her house.

Ishaan and Ananya have worked together on the film Khaali Peeli, which was released in 2020.

Their dating rumours sparked off when they went to the Maldives together earlier this year.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 Summit interacted with several world leaders including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Among other dignitaries that he was seen greeting and exchanging Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

In a series of tweets the Prime Ministers Office shared several pictures of PM Modi meeting and talking to Ghebreyesus, Guterres and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

One photo captures Modi and Ghebreyesus in a namaste and another shows Modi and Lee Hsien greeting each other in a similar namaste.

Other photos shared by the PMO shows Modi and Biden walking with arms around each other, PM Modi embracing President Macron. In yet another photo, Modi is seen with Justin Trudeau and Boris Johnson.

World leaders meet in Rome for the @g20org Summit, an important multilateral forum for global good. pic.twitter.com/lzSte0d8Ey  PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 30, 2021

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held separate meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis.

PM Modi also invited Pope Francis to visit India during a very warm meeting at the Vatican City which lasted for an hour.

The theme of this G20 meet under the Italian Presidency is centred around People, Planet and Prosperity.

On the sidelines of the @g20org Rome Summit, PM @narendramodi interacts with various leaders. pic.twitter.com/7L3vbpRzUs  PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 30, 2021

The PM is scheduled to arrive at Terme di Diocleziano for a cultural programme later in the evening today followed by a dinner that has been planned for G20 leaders and partner countries.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister is expected to have a meeting with Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the G20 summit besides participating in discussions on Climate Change and Environment and Sustainable Development. There will be a global summit on supply chain resilience, according to the sources.

On Friday, PM Modi met with top European Union leaders and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. They congratulated Prime Minister Modi for Indias excellent progress on the COVID-19 vaccination.

The PM also interacted with members of the Indian community-based in Italy and those who have a close association with India through spheres like academics, spirituality and more.

PM Modi will be in the capital city of Italy till October 31.
The Lewis Central School District has offered incentives and wage increases in positions that have been shown to be difficult to fill. As a district, we will need to continue this trend to hire and retain staff. The wages offered to our current staff need to be competitive to retain our teachers and reassure them that they are the most important part of our budget each year. Teachers need to be listened to so the needs of the teachers are continually met. Just as I care about the academic and social-emotional health of our students, the academic and mental health of the teaching and support staff are just as important. I will continue to support curriculum development, training and learning opportunities for our staff.

Our building secretaries, para professionals, custodians, food service, and bus drivers are also critical employees to the District. Each of these individuals contributes greatly in making the Lewis Central District a great place to work. All of our employees need to have a voice in the district. It is very important that our administrators, superintendent and Board understand the needs of the staff so we can create an environment that is desirable for our employees to continue working. Staff retention in our support staff roles is essential.

Like in our certified teaching positions, the salary and benefits offered for our other positions needs to be competitive and evolving to compensate our employees for the contributions they bring to the district. I have always worked to balance the needs of the District and the wages, benefits and well-being of all our employees during my 15 years on the Board and will continue to support our employees.
As the keynote speaker, Smart shared her story of being abducted and the challenges she faced. She was abducted on June 5, 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah  she was 14-years-old at the time. Smart was taken from her home by knife-point in the middle of the night by her captors.

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I kept on thinking how is this happening to me? Why is this happening to me? she told attendees.

Smart was held captive for nine months and was chained, raped, dressed in disguise to stay hidden and was threatened that if she tried to escape, they would kill her and her family.

Fortunately, she was returned to her family on March 12, 2003.

Following her abduction, Smart said she was worried she would only be remembered as the girl who got kidnapped. She said she would see people staring at her, some people would try and take pictures of her and some would just come up to her and ask if she was Elizabeth Smart.

Its so easy to feel defined by our past experiences, she said.

Smart said she got to the point where she realized it was only the people who didnt know her who thought of her as the girl who got kidnapped. But to her friends, that would be the last thing they would mention about her.
For the last 30 years, my first priority has always been the safety of our community. While there will be a number of restrictions for how our community can spend COVID relief funds, I believe it is important for the City Council to listen to the people who know best what they need ... the citizens of Council Bluffs. In addition to answers from the community via the Councils survey, I will reach out to city employees, our public safety professionals and educators within our schools to better understand their needs and the needs of our citys most vulnerable citizens.

The COVID-19 relief funds were talking about were allocated months ago and have just been sitting there waiting to be spent. As Ive talked to families across town, its become clear to me that our community cannot wait for that relief ... we need it now. Therefore, Ill work with the Council to quickly identify how best to spend these funds to support our community as we transition into the next phase of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The commission has not entered an order finding that Wagner violated the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Act, he said.

Wagner became the challenger to the ballot initiative  which was signed by 196,000 Nebraskans  after Lincoln attorney Mark Fahleson pointed out the measure appeared to violate the state's single-subject rule.

The longtime sheriff told the Journal Star in September 2020 while his name was listed on the lawsuit, he wasn't aware of who paid for it.

Fahleson said he approached Wagner because he knew the sheriff was an opponent of marijuana legalization. However, Fahleson declined to say who paid for the challenge, citing attorney-client privilege, but said that no tax dollars were spent on the litigation.

In a 5-2 decision in September 2020, the Nebraska Supreme Court determined the initiative violated the state's single-subject rule, and it was removed from the November ballot.
SAN DIEGO (AP)  The U.S. Justice Department is in talks to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to each child and parent who was separated under a Trump-era practice of splitting families at the border, a person familiar with discussions to settle lawsuits said Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the government was considering payments around $450,000 to each person affected. A person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press that figure was under consideration but changed, though not dramatically. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.

The discussions continue, and there is no guarantee the two sides will strike agreement.

About 5,500 children were split from their parents under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy, under which parents were separated from their children to face criminal prosecution for crossing the border illegally, according to court filings in a federal case in San Diego. Inadequate tracking systems caused many to be apart for an extended time. The payments are intended to compensate for the psychological trauma.
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Here we are, folks. In less than a week, three area teams will play for a state championship. Back in Lincoln, no less. This whole season has shown us one thing, and its that you never know what to expect, which I think will remain true in these games. As always, take it all in.
A first-draft map that council members will review would make minimal changes to district lines, Planning Administrator Judy Clark said in a council memorandum.

Each ward would retain its current orientation, with Ward 4 mostly north of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Ward 1 would cover the east and south, with Wards 2 and 3 splitting the west.

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City voters elect two council members per ward, with one seat up for election every two years. Seats now held by Council President Jim Nisley (Ward 1) and Councilmen Ty Lucas (Ward 2), Jim Carman (Ward 3) and Ed Rieker (Ward 4) will be on the 2022 ballot.

City officials have contracted with gWorks of Omaha to help redraw ward lines. The proposal would keep each wards population within 5% of the target of 5,848 people based on the latest census, Clark said.

In other business, the council will:

 Hold a discussion about procedures for public hearings. Doyce Williams, 1003 East B St., asked city leaders at the councils Oct. 19 meeting to grant equal time to every speaker, instead of allowing more time for those seeking a particular council action and limiting all others to 3 minutes.

No action will be taken after Tuesdays discussion, according to the agenda.
By the numbers

Highlights of estimated economic impacts on North Platte in 2024 if Sustainable Beef LLC is in full operation by then, based on an analysis for the firms organizers by Creighton University economics professors Ernie Goss and Scott Strain:

Total impacts, 2024

 Economic output (direct and indirect): $1,159,595,233

 Employment: 1,974 (direct at plant, 870; indirect, other businesses, 1,104)

 Labor income (wages, salaries and self-employment income, direct and indirect): $104,123,091

 Estimated taxable value, TIF base (real estate before plant construction): $167,701

 Estimated total taxable value (real estate + taxable personal property): $228,007,772 (2021 valuation: zero, tax-exempt)

 Total property taxes, TIF base (all North Platte local governments): $3,471 (2021 total: zero, tax-exempt)

 Total property taxes, including TIF repayments (all North Platte local governments): $2,499,939 (2021 total: zero, tax-exempt)

 City sales taxes (direct and indirect): $482,447

 Combined property taxes, city and North Platte Public Schools (direct and indirect): $2,348,457

 Taxes, all sources (direct and indirect): $3,753,009

Direct and indirect jobs by industry, 2024

 Sustainable Beef plant: 870

 All other sectors (includes jobs supporting plant or using its products): 560

 Ranching and farming: 196

 Trucking: 111

 Food services and drinking places: 93

 Wholesale trade businesses: 57

 Monetary authorities and depository credit intermediation activities: 36

 Animal production (excluding cattle, poultry and eggs): 33

 State and local electric utilities: 14

 Other animal food manufacturing: 3

 Total: 1,974 (rounded)

Other impacts and notes

 The study estimates $12,323,267 in 2024 economic impact within North Platte from imputed rental activity for owner-occupied dwellings.

 Figures presented here only cover estimated economic impacts within North Plattes city limits. Sustainable Beef also would generate economic impacts in bordering counties and throughout rural Nebraska.

 Estimates were generated by the IMPLAN Multiplier System, an economics software program based on economic inputs and outputs and using multipliers produced by the U.S. Forest Service.

Sources: Goss & Associates, 2021; future tax and valuation estimates based on base figures from Nebraska Department of Revenue, North Platte local governments and Lincoln County Assessors Office)
Before people can receive donations, the church seeks to ensure food is going out to those who need it most, so Young said Auburn UMC vets recipients based on proof of income, proof of rates of residency and if they live in Lee County.

The food bank just (does) wonders for the community, Young said. Giving to the food bank is better off than giving direct to our church  because the food bank knows based on the needs of their agencies who needs what the most.

Young said those who might need assistance from the church may register by visiting the church any Friday morning between 8-11 a.m. for the remainder of the year except for Nov. 26 and Dec. 31. Auburn United Methodist Church is located at 137 S. Gay Street.

The food bank estimates theres about 60,000 food insecure people in its seven-county service area, but Henk said that even the smallest donations of canned goods, cereal, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese among other most-needed foods can help.

Sometimes Ive heard people say, I can only do a little bit and my little bits not really going to make a difference, Henk said. If you break it down and say, I sure cant feed all those 60,000, but my family can help one other family, if each one of us does that we really are able to eliminate hunger.

Those seeking to help Beat Bama this year can donate by locating a donation barrel around Auburn University, around Auburn and Opelika at locations like grocery stores or around Lee County. For monetary donations, people may donate through Venmo to @AUBBFD. The Beat Bama Food Drive began Oct. 1 and runs until Nov. 18.
Johnson said Saturday that Britain's pledge on cutting carbon dioxide emissions was one of the punchiest of any country.

People can see what Britain has done, Johnson said in Rome, where he is attending a G-20 summit. When I was a child, 80% of our power came from hydrocarbons, but by 2035 we will not have any hydrocarbons in our power generation at all. Were the most ambitious country in Europe.

"By 2030, were saying that we wont have hydrocarbon internal combustion engines for new cars. Thats a very, very ambitious timetable.



ROME  U.S. President Joe Biden was greeted by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi after arriving at the Group of 20 summit site in Rome, before joining other world leaders for a family photo.

Biden shook hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he is expected to have a bilateral meeting at the upcoming U.N. climate summit in Scotland, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he met on Friday.
To study Washington County or not to study? That is the question.
OP, please add a cut for the cellphone crowd. TIA and good morning!

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i put the quotes from the actress and costume designer under a cut, lmk if i need to put more under a cut

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Looks good, gracias!

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oh you're a mod now!! congrats!!!

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I loved this movie as a kid.

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I never saw that movie, but that dress still looks familiar. Everything about it was The Style at the time. I'm pretty sure my barbies had a few versions.

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It reminds me of Romy & Michele

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this, motocross, horse sense, stepsister from planet weird, and cadet kelly were my go to's growing up.



i did always want this dress and to go to the art school in cadet kelly

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I loved Motorcross and I remember wanting to cut my hair like hers!

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lol I love the homoeroticism of Motocross:





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I still listen to that song regularly.



Edited at 2021-10-30 01:23 pm (UTC)

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the way i watched cadet kelly 400 times as a kid and didn't realize i was bi until my 20s, smh

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I had such a crush on the guy from Motocross

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Omg, I havent seen this movie since I was 10! Didnt it have its own gloriously 90s rock theme song?



Thanks for the memories OP!

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lool look down :D

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YESSSS!! THAT DRESS WAS ICONIC!!







Edited at 2021-10-30 05:38 am (UTC)

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i have this song in my head all the time

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saaaame

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Omg I am so glad Im not the only one. I probably watched it twice max as a kid but its one of my brains go-to songs to be stuck in my head, except I only know the my date with the presidents daughter part so its just the one line of on repeat.

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why does this song still pop into my head at least monthly?

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MY DATE WITH THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER, OH YEAH 



my friend and i watched this together earlier this year after all these years and it was so fun!

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lmaoo i can hear the song in my head

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my date with her

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not a movie dress, but michelle kwan's powder blue skating outfit from her free skate at the 98 olympics. so simple, so stunning. she was robbed!

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YES that's exactly what it looks like!

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I love that dress and that free skate. Michelle usually had great outfits.

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Came here to comment about Michelle's!



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Edited at 2021-10-30 06:46 am (UTC)

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this is just so angelic, it's perfect!

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I will never not be angry at her getting only silver for that. She deserved gold; she was technically better than Tara Lipinski in every way.

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velvet spaghetti strap dresses were a must for bat mitzvahs that winter

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The Vivianne Westwood from the first sex and the city movie.

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I always feel like a crazy person when people fawn over that dress. I thought it was hideous when I first saw it at 20, and my feelings haven't changed about it at 33. I have an irrational hatred for that wedding dress fabric that already looks old and wrinkled, and something about the pointy bust drives me insane lmao. (And the bust also didn't fit her at all, it was all loose and floppy?)

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I always though the dress was supposed to meant that it was indeed too much for the occasion, it didnt fit because they werent ready to get married? Idk maybe Im overthinking it, but it is Vivianne Westwood after all. The rebellious aspect is always present and I guess thats why I love it so much idk

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I loved that movie and that dress 



It's sad that she felt that self-conscious about the dress even when she's objectively a skinny girl. It shows how even more horrid the industry was back then, any actress who came out of it without an eating disorder is basically a miracle.

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I only remember 'my date with the president's daughter, oh yeah' lmao

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The ever after dress by far

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ontd, what's the one movie dress you would love to have in your closet



Rose's red & black beaded dress from Titanic

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Damn, ppl will write think pieces and articles about any ole thing.

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Clicks need to be achieved, but I'm ready for a think piece about how no American sit com character empties their plate and how it stands for US-centrism and the denial of climate change.

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when the kid leaves for school without touching the beautiful breakfast their mother so painstakingly laid out

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Several gas stations in North China's Hebei Province told the Global Times on Friday that pumps had been empty from days to even a week

China's attempts to defy the laws of supply and demand when it comes to coal is leading to shortages elsewhere in the energy complex

There is one recurring problem with central planning: the greater the level of intervention, the worse and more widespread the unexpected adverse consequences. Just two days ago, when we reported that Beijing had imposed price controls on its coal rationing, we said that the problem with such explicit subsidies which create an artificially low price, is that they don't address the underlying problem (too much demand, not enough supply), but instead accelerate hoarding and lead to a run on the artificially underpriced commodity, forcing spikes in another energy commodity while resulting in an even faster drain of the commodity in question, in this case coal. In essence, it's like a giant geopolitical game of "whack a mole". Well, as we anticipated, in China's attempts to defy the laws of supply and demand when it comes to coal, the world's second-largest economy may have set its people up to relive one of the worst aspects of the 1970s stagflationary wave: gas shortages that have left many gas stations across the country running out of diesel due to supply constraints caused by the surging demand for subsidized coal.





Weeks ago, as China's energy crisis was first unfolding, analysts at Goldman showed a map disclosing the intensity of shortages across China:

Unsurprisingly, as the Chinese economy aggressively reopened from the covid shutdown and as the supply of fossil fuels become scarce amid China's "green" crackdown and supply bottlenecks, demand for thermal power soared to an all-time high.

But while Beijing has sought to conserve coal, diesel, and other critical fossil fuels, consumers and gas stations in China's Hebei Province have been left to deal with the brunt of the shortage. One told the Global Times on Friday that they had been "struggling with empty pumps for days and even a week" as a result of supply constraints posed by the booming demand for coal transportation and factories using diesel to generate electricity. And when there is gas to sell, gas station owners face heavy pressure to ration their gasoline. Related: Oil And Gas Rig Count Rises As Crude Prices Stabilize

Here's more from the Global Times

Several gas stations in North China's Hebei Province told the Global Times on Friday that pumps had been empty from days to even a week. Those who have just acquired supplies face a limited amount of diesel delivery to each customer, in addition to charging them a higher price.

"Each customer can only buy a fixed amount, because there isn't enough at the moment," an employee from a gas station in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei, told the Global Times on Friday. Staff from another gas station said that the diesel price had increased in recent days by 0.2 yuan ($0.03) to 7.22, but they cannot say if the price will continue to rise or there will be any diesel available in the near future.

"The diesel price hike is driven by demand for the booming transportation of bulk cargo, especially coal, which has now entered a peak season, while some factories have also increased their use of diesel to generate electricity to complete orders amid tight power supplies," Han Xiaoping, chief analyst at energy industry website china5e.com, told the Global Times on Friday.

Since China relies on imports for 70% of its crude oil, the country's energy market is particularly vulnerable to exogenous supply shocks that can ripple across the entire Chinese economy, creating gas lines straight from 1970s America.

The good news, according to Han Xiaoping, chief analyst at the Chinese energy industry website china5e.com, is that while gasoline may be scarce, at the very least China will make it through what's expected to be a cold winter. "The tight situation is expected to be a temporary one that will be largely eased after the heating season this winter," Han said.

Sadly, the Chinese won't be alone in that. As for the crisis energy crisis being "transitory" just ask central bankers how similar predictions have played out.

By Zerohedge.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Education

In need of interpreters, OPS looks to its own bilingual students

OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS Karen Soto, a senior at South High School, has been hired by the Omaha Public Schools to serve as an interpreter at parent-teacher conferences. OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS Northwest High seniors Pu Meh, left, and Hser Kmwe are among about 20 OPS students hired by the district to serve as interpreters during parent-teacher conferences. This is the first time that weve really looked at what our students can bring to the table as paid employees of the Omaha Public Schools, said Lisa Utterback, chief student and community services officer for OPS. OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS The Omaha Public Schools have hired about 20 students, including Karen Soto, a senior at South High School, to serve as interpreters to help with parent-teacher conferences. OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS Hser Kmwe, a senior at Northwest High School, works on an iPad. She is among about 20 OPS students who have been hired to serve as interpreters at parent-teacher conferences. OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS Pu Meh, a senior at Northwest High School, works on an iPad. She is among about 20 OPS students who have been hired to serve as interpreters at parent-teacher conferences.

For most of their lives, three Omaha Public Schools seniors have stepped into the role of interpreter when someone needed their help.

Hser Kmwe, who speaks Karen, has helped translate in the grocery store after seeing someone struggle to communicate. She often translates for her parents. The Karen language is spoken widely in parts of Thailand and Myanmar.

Karen Soto translates for her Spanish-speaking family and volunteers to help other parents.

Families in Pu Mehs community often offer to pay her for her help, but the Karenni-speaking senior at Northwest High School has always refused payment.

Im just helping people because even my parents struggled when they first came to America, and I didnt know English, so other people helped my parents, she said. I want to give back to them through helping other families.

Westside to return to a masks-optional policy for older students next month Westside Community Schools joins other Omaha-area school districts in making masks optional for some students.

Facing staff shortages, OPS has turned to these bilingual students and others to interpret when families talk with teachers during report card conferences.

OPS has some full-time bilingual liaisons, but students and their families speak more than 100 different languages. And more than 18,000 students have received English Learner services at some time while at OPS.

Lisa Utterback, chief student and community services officer for OPS, said the district has about 20 students contracted as interpreters to help out at parent-teacher conferences. The students are paid $18 an hour for the work.

Fight between two students at Omaha South sends one to hospital, the other to youth center Omaha police were investigating a fight that took place Wednesday between two students at Omaha South High School.

It is the second time this year that OPS has looked to its student body to help deal with the staffing shortages that school districts and other employers have been experiencing locally and nationally.

This summer, OPS hired high school students to mentor and tutor elementary students during Next Level Learning, the districts summer school program.

This is the first time that weve really looked at what our students can bring to the table as paid employees of the Omaha Public Schools, Utterback said of the recent student hires.

OPS names principals for two new elementary schools opening in 2022 Omaha Public Schools has announced the principals for two new elementary schools opening in August 2022.

Utterback said the student interpreters are going through the same application process and training as non-student contracted interpreters.

To protect the privacy of their classmates and peers, the high school interpreters are helping only with middle and elementary school conferences.

Utterback said communication between teachers and families is vital for them to work together to identify problems, provide any necessary help and celebrate students successes.

The interpreters are getting professional experience, Utterback said, but theyre also bringing their experiences to the conversations.

Some Omaha-area school districts will soon ease masking requirements Papillion La Vista and Ralston will switch from required to recommended masking at their high schools in the next few days.

For Pu Meh, that was understanding that families she was helping wouldnt understand words such as science.

When we went to school in our country, we didnt have science, so we did not know how to interpret science, she said. I would tell them its where they experience stuff because in science I just think of experimenting.

Hser Kmwe, a senior at Northwest, said even if the words were available in Karen, she made sure that the parents understood what their student was doing and learning in school.

When she was in elementary school, a high schooler interpreted for her parents.

I always kind of looked up to her at that time because I didnt really understand English, she said.

Hser Kmwe promised herself that she would do the same thing when she got older.

Papillion-La Vista South rides train theme to first state marching band championship The 140-member band performed "All Aboard!" at Buell Stadium in Millard to earn an uncommonly high score of 90.25, director Joe Homan said.

For Pu Meh, shes providing a service that wasnt available to her own parents.

I wish we were around to help my parents in elementary when they needed help translating or interpreting because they had Burmese interpreters, but my parents didnt really understand Burmese, she said. They spoke a little but not too much. They said they didnt really understand it, and so I couldnt quite help them with that because I was still young.

Pu Meh helped her family some in elementary school until OPS hired a bilingual liaison when she was in middle school.

Soto said some interpreters were available at her school conferences, but most of the time, she was the one to translate for her parents.

OPS Freshman Academies aim to help students navigate high school and beyond The Freshman Academies, intended to help students transition to high school, are the first step in OPS's academies and pathways program, which has been unpopular with some parents and district staff.

Helping families understand the words they dont know in English brought Pu Meh joy. Other families didnt know English at all. Without her help, she said, many of the families would not understand what their kids were doing at school or what their grades were, or be able to ask the teachers questions.

All three seniors hope to continue to use their language skills in their future careers. Soto and Hser Kmwe want to enter the medical field. Soto wants to be an OB-GYN, and Hser Kmwe wants to be a nurse.

Pu Meh wants to become a teacher and return to OPS to teach students and translate at the same time.

Donations sought for hats, scarves, gloves for 20,000 OPS students The Omaha Public Schools Foundation is seeking donations so it can provide 20,000 students with hats, scarves and gloves prior to the arrival of winter weather.

Utterback said OPS will likely continue to tap into the talent within the district and provide similar opportunities to OPS students.

Our young people that have a skill that we need are being trained and paid according to the skill that theyre providing, she said. Theyre getting experience. And the service that our teachers and families are getting, I believe, is second to none.
A jury deliberated 2 hours Friday before finding a former Omaha City Council candidate not guilty of alleged sexual assaults seven years ago.

An Omaha woman accused David Mitchell of having sex with her twice when she was underage, once when she was 14 and he was 21 and once when she was 15. Under state law, it is illegal for anyone 19 and older to have sex with anyone under 16. The woman testified that she was considered slow in school and is categorized as intellectually disabled. She had a guardian overseeing her until last year.

Mitchells attorney, Chicago-area lawyer Michael Cannon, said Mitchell did not have sex with her when she was underage but had sex with her last year, when she was 20.

At the time, Cannon said, Mitchell did not know that the woman was disabled. The attorney said the woman doesnt verbally project signs of disability. When she was 14 and 15, she had been in foster care in the home of Mitchells mother, prosecutors said.

Cannon said Omaha police did little to try to corroborate the womans account and didnt retrieve text messages from 2014. Nothing reliable was found that would have verified her account, Cannon argued. No texts. No witnesses. No sexual assault exams. No simultaneous reporting.
For Pu Meh, that was understanding that families she was helping wouldnt understand words such as science.

When we went to school in our country, we didnt have science, so we did not know how to interpret science, she said. I would tell them its where they experience stuff because in science I just think of experimenting.

Hser Kmwe, a senior at Northwest, said even if the words were available in Karen, she made sure that the parents understood what their student was doing and learning in school.

When she was in elementary school, a high schooler interpreted for her parents.

I always kind of looked up to her at that time because I didnt really understand English, she said.

Hser Kmwe promised herself that she would do the same thing when she got older.

For Pu Meh, shes providing a service that wasnt available to her own parents.
Ernie Chambers joined his daughter Gayla Lee-Chambers on Friday to cut the ribbon on a museum that will be named for him and see his name unveiled on a nearby street sign.

The commemorative street sign is at the corner of Florence Boulevard and Ames Avenue. It declares a portion of the boulevard as Ernie Chambers Sr. Drive in honor of the longest-serving state senator in Nebraska. The former lawmaker represented North Omaha in the Legislature for a total of 46 years.

The planned museum a block away at 4402 Florence Blvd. will tell the story of the firebrand senator, including his legislative history, art and poems. It also will house other art and historical displays. Plans call for a reception area and ballroom, media center and a theater, Lee-Chambers said. It will be called the Ernie Chambers History-Arts-Humanities Museum.

The Omaha City Council approved the street renaming last year.

Lee-Chambers, an entrepreneur and business owner, said at Fridays ceremonies that the street renaming and museum have been a long time coming.

I wanted to do something very special for my father while he is still here and able to see it through his own eyes, she said.
Biden was welcomed to the summit site by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and joined his counterparts for the customary family photo before he went to the opening plenary session on the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery.

Saturday's meeting came several days after Ali Bagheri, Irans deputy foreign minister and chief negotiator for the talks, tweeted that Iran has agreed to restart negotiations by the end of November. Bagheri said a date to resume talks would be announced soon.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday that the U.S. was still trying to determine whether Iran was serious about returning to the negotiations.

We have heard positive signals that they are, but I think we have to wait and see when and whether they actually show up at the negotiating table," he told reporters Thursday aboard Air Force One as Biden flew to Rome.

Sullivan said the leaders would send clear messages to Iran that the window for negotiation is not unlimited.

We, of course, retain all other options to be able to deal with this program as necessary, he said.
Sane politics

Thank you for continuing to publish Jeremy Aspen as he challenges the way we think in todays political climate. There have always been 10% of radicals in both parties that have absurd and untenable beliefs, but the difference today is that 10% is so amplified by social media and political evening entertainers on Fox News and MSNBC that the perception is that the country is in a civil war and on the brink of collapse. This has led to the election of federal representatives that push further toward the fringes with no hope of compromise.

We, as sane Americans, have the opportunity to take back the politics of our country if we turn off these outlets that prey on us for ad dollars and stop demonizing the other side. We need to demand that our news is balanced and not inflammatory, and we need to practice kindness with people across the political spectrum.

A bipartisan representative is not a traitor; they are a politically courageous American.

John Ashford, Omaha

Reverse this change
BLOOMINGTON  Its 10-year-old Hadley Lichauer's job every year to pick her familys costume theme.

Last Halloween, their "Addams Family" characters were greeted by candy slides and distanced trick-or-treating, but this weekend they're hoping to visit more houses for more traditional festivities while dressed as a crew of sea creatures.

I think were kind of hoping that maybe therell be more houses open for them to actually go up to and trick-or-treat at, said Heidi Lichauer of Bloomington, Hadleys mom, who will be dressing as a turtle.

Hadley, in her homemade jellyfish costume, complete with umbrella-bound tentacles, will match her friend Evelyn Fitch, because they both love sea creatures.

I picked a jellyfish because I did a narwhal last year, and I really like underwater creatures, 10-year-old Fitch said. And a jellyfish is my third-favorite animal.

Halloween festivities were limited last fall as many homes kept lights off or tried handing out candy from afar. COVID restrictions limited events, and while infection rates have improved from last year, there are still concerns  making for a second year of changes.

Jason Lichauer, Hadleys dad, who was ready to be a lobster for Sunday, said they saw one house last year with a big fake spider web stocked with candy, and that was kind of cool to see people taking the extra time.

A lot of them watched from the porch and then put the bucket out a little further, so they could see all the trick-or-treaters but still maintain the distance, he said. We saw some people got kind of innovative with how they dispense the candy.

One of Hadleys favorite houses had a chute in the garage, plus they gave out candy and stuffed animals to trick-or-treaters.

However, when Nicole Reinitz-Springborn took her kids out last year, there were the same amount of lights on. The people were out in their driveways handing out candy, she said. There was still lots of door-to-door with allowing the children to reach into the candy bowl and pick whatever kind of candy they wanted.

Reinitz-Springborn, of Normal, said they only saw one candy chute last year, so she doesnt expect much to be different this year, though 6-year-old Bentley and 4-year-old Braven hadnt quite decided which costumes they would wear in the days leading up to the big night.

The trunk-or-treat route

This years Halloween will be very different from last year for Elana Heinonens family, she said, after they had to quarantine last year because her son had COVID-19.

To make it even worse for her son, it was going to be his last year trick-or-treating.

Now 14 years old, he is planning to go out this year, but it will probably be his last. He does not have a costume picked out but will have to pull something together, Heinonen said.

Its probably going to be our last year with a trick-or-treater, she said.

The Heinonens plan to hand out candy, but might be sitting outside to do so. She hopes that will make people feel safer approaching the house, and shes more comfortable with outside activities anyway, she said.

Im thinking Halloween is pretty much outside, she said.

Other Halloween activities, like community trunk-or-treat events, are taking a similar route.

The trunk-or-treat sponsored by Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. was held outside this year, said Willie Holton Halbert with Zeta Phi Beta.

Were very much aware that many people have not been vaccinated and outside is (safer), she said.

The event, held Saturday night, had various organizations giving out candy based on a theme. Many had games or activities to go with the candy.

Zeta Phi Betas theme was a spelling bee, so Holton Halbert had a bee costume and cutout paper bees with the words ready to go.

Itll be a great experience for the children in the midst of chaos, she said.

James Davenport, 9, said he expects trick-or-treating to be a little different and hes excited to get to see more friends and people out  but I dont know since COVID.

Last year, instead of some people having to come up to the door, you just leave the candy outside or something and say take one or two," he recounted, giving his Fortnite Fishstick costume a practice run earlier this week.

What about precautions?

With regard to COVID-19, the Illinois Department of Public Health issued guidance for Halloween, which suggests having candy set out ahead of time as an alternative to traditional trick-or-treating.

The guidance also notes outdoor areas are safer when it comes to preventing COVID transmission.

Trick-or-treating in small groups for a brief duration at each door is highly recommended, as opposed to large groups, according to IDPH.

Those handing out treats should be mindful of frequent and thorough handwashing.

Bloomington police shared safety tips ahead of the holiday as well. Trick-or-treaters should stick to the designated hours and only visit homes with a porch light on. They should also cross streets at traffic signals and crosswalks.

It is also a good idea to carry a flashlight or glow sticks. John Fermon, spokesman for BPD, said it can help to have someone in the group, like an adult, wearing high-visibility gear.

Drivers should be careful and turn on their headlights earlier than they might normally, the departments news release said. They should also slow down and pay special attention for children in residential areas.

It is important to be safe in cars even if just going a short ways, so make sure to wear seatbelts and close car doors, said Brad Park, community services officer for Normal Police Department.

It depends on weather, but Park said he expects more trick-or-treaters out and about this year if the weather stays dry Sunday. He added that it's important to respect those houses that are not participating in trick-or-treat hours.

"If the light's not on, then just move on to the next house," Park said.

Trick-or-treat hours for Bloomington and Normal are 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer.

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PEORIA  A Bloomington doctor was released from custody on 15 federal drug charges for unlawfully dispensing and distributing a controlled substance.

Richard Sabbun, 61, is accused of unlawfully using his provided DEA Number, which health care providers receive as an identifier that allows them to write prescriptions for controlled substances, during his employment as an emergency room physician.

An indictment said he provided prescriptions for controlled substances that were outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose between February 2017 and February 2020 in McLean County and elsewhere in Central Illinois.

A federal grand jury indicted Sabbun in September and the indictment was unsealed Thursday at his initial court appearance.

Sabbun is due back in court Dec. 15.

Contact Kade Heather at 309-820-3256. Follow him on Twitter: @kadeheather

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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoots administration weathered two challenges to its vaccine mandate for city workers Friday: one in court and one in the City Council chambers.

Late Friday, a federal judge shot down an emergency request by Chicago firefighters, paramedics and other city workers to halt city and state vaccine mandates. That ruling came down hours after the City Council voted down a proposal from a group of aldermen to repeal the mandate and remove the power over such measures from the mayor.

The 130 plaintiffs named in the federal lawsuit, mostly Chicago firefighters and paramedics, had asked U.S. District Judge John Lee for a temporary restraining order that would halt the citys requirement that all city workers report their vaccination status or risk being put on no-pay status.

The suit also challenges Pritzkers statewide order requiring health care workers and certain other state employees to be fully vaccinated.

But in a written ruling read aloud in court Friday, Lee said the plaintiffs failed to show that the government orders were irrational or outrageous or violated any of the employees constitutional or religious rights.

Lee said the publics interest in containing the spread of COVID-19 is overpowering and compelling and that he would not second-guess the science that the city and state have relied upon in fashioning their policies.

The judge also said he was duty bound to follow the recent appellate court ruling upholding Indiana Universitys requirement that all on-campus students be vaccinated.

That ruling in August by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was pinned on a Supreme Court case from the early 1900s that found states could mandate residents be vaccinated for smallpox.

While plaintiffs attorney Jonathan Lubin had argued that the Supreme Court ruling was outdated, Lee said it was still the law of the land.

This court cannot ignore the binding precedent of the Supreme Court because the plaintiff thinks it is antiquated, he said.

Lee also noted that Lubins argument that the citys policy was invalid because Lightfoot had imposed it unilaterally was rendered moot by Fridays decision by the City Council to keep the vaccine policy in place.

That decision, by a 30-13 vote of the council, following an impassioned defense of the mandate by Lightfoot and a lengthy debate among aldermen, many concerned that the refusal by thousands of first responders to report their vaccine status was going to hurt public safety.

I know, without a doubt ... the only way we can save lives and put this pandemic behind us is to get people vaccinated, Lightfoot said. This isnt about whether or not we support the police or fire or first responders. Of course we do.

The ordinance is really about power, an attempt to strip her of the ability to manage the workforce as the citys executive, Lightfoot said. She likened the attempt to do so to the opposition Mayor Harold Washington faced from white aldermen opposed to his policies in the 1980s.

She called on aldermen to stop the fearmongering about the possibility of police manpower shortages. Thats not true, Lightfoot said.

Yet Southwest Side Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, said that while he supports vaccines, he worries the mayors mandate is making his neighborhoods less safe because fewer police and paramedics are on the street.

It reinforces my concern the vaccine mandate may have created a public safety blind spot, Quinn said.

And Southwest Side Ald. Silvana Tabares, 23rd, argued the mayors rules fail to make sure workers health care records are secure, and said no alderman knows why Lightfoot has set the rules she has.

We should be able to review, ask questions and vote on the standards, Tabares said.

But Far South Side Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, 10th, said a vaccine mandate keeps workers and residents safe. Putting discipline in the hands of aldermen would lead to chaos between the city and unions representing workers, she said.

Are you willing to make City Council the final judge on every grievance or labor dispute that arises in the city? Im not, Sadlowski Garza said.

And South Side Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, said the pandemic is the No. 1 killer for us right now. Police, firefighters and others city workers need to keep residents safe when they interact with the public, he said.

Lets trust the science, lets make sure we get whats necessary and get past this, Sawyer said.

Lightfoots vaccine rule, which mandated all employees report their vaccine status by Oct. 15 and submit to twice-weekly testing if unvaccinated, has prompted an ugly public standoff between the mayor and Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara.

Cook County Judge Raymond Mitchell heard arguments Thursday on an FOP effort to force arbitration over the vaccine policy, and said he would rule by Monday.

Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.

Firefighters Union Local 2 President Jim Tracy on Thursday said the city had put about 14 paramedics and 12 firefighters on no-pay status for refusing to report their vaccine status. The loss of medics could lead to longer response times for Chicagoans who need the highest level of medical assistance, Tracy said.

A Fire Department spokesperson said no equipment had been taken out of service because of personnel issues.

Also Friday, Lightfoot emailed the City Council to tout the importance of the vaccine mandate. The mayor said 32 city departments are in 90% compliance with the reporting requirement, while Chicago police are up to 72% compliance and the Fire Department staff is at 87%.

In her letter, Lightfoot rebutted public safety concerns over a shortage of officers by noting that several cops who were put on no-pay status subsequently backed down. Only a small number of police have been sent home, Lightfoot said. There were 35 police officers in no-pay status but five have been taken off because they changed their minds and agreed to comply with the rule.

What Lightfoot didnt mention is that the city has been slow to call workers in and put them on unpaid status, which has allowed the city to avoid staffing shortages as the standoff continues.

Lightfoot ended her letter with a plea about the importance of the vaccine.

Every day in Chicago we still see people dying of this dreaded virus and overwhelmingly, the people who are sick in hospitals and clinging to life or worse, dying, are unvaccinated, Lightfoot said.

After the vote, Tabares said she wants everyone to come together for a fair policy and called the meeting a productive discussion.

Im going to continue working, she said.

Tabares also called for more transparency and said she wants to know how the city is picking who gets called in for discipline.

The federal lawsuit against the vaccine mandate continues even though the restraining order was denied. The plaintiffs are still seeking a preliminary injunction, and Lee, the judge in that case, told both sides to submit a brief laying out what the scope of discovery might look like.

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SPRINGFIELD  Former state Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale, had one thing on his mind when he sponsored legislation in 2012 banning sex offenders from participating in holiday events involving children.

I had two young daughters and all I could envision was John Gacy dressed as a clown handing out candy to children, Dillard said, referring to the notorious Illinois serial killer who murdered and assaulted at least 33 people in the 1970s.

It was common sense, he said of the legislation, which passed with no opposition and was signed by then-Gov. Pat Quinn.

Supporters at parole hearing reject 'evil' image of Alton woman who killed babies People have been using words such as "monster" and "evil" to describe Paula Sims since 1990, when the former Alton woman admitted to killing her two baby daughters, Heather and Loralei.

The law, among other examples, bans sex offenders from distributing candy to children on Halloween, being employed as a department store Santa Claus during the Christmas season and dressing as the Easter Bunny before Easter.

But it is perhaps no more relevant than on Halloween, when thousands of children knock on the doors of strangers across the state asking for a trick or treat.

As of now, there are more than 33,000 registered sex offenders in Illinois, including more than 27,000 who committed a crime against a child, according to state data.

Knowing that, law enforcement officials are encouraging parents to be vigilant this Halloween by, among other precautions, checking the state's sex offender registry.

Illinois law prohibits child sex offenders from distributing candy, but searching the sex offender registry is a quick and easy step that adds another layer of protection to ensure families have a happy Halloween, said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul in a statement.

Illinois is one of at least 10 state with such "no candy" laws on the books. Among its bordering states, Iowa and Kentucky have no law restricting sex offenders while Indiana and Wisconsin have programs that monitor sex offenders on Halloween.

Missouri's law goes even further than Illinois, requiring offenders to remain in their homes between 5 and 10:30 p.m. on Halloween night and to post a sign saying "no candy or treats at this residence."

The Illinois law is more vague, stating that sex offenders on parole, mandatory supervised release and probation may have more conditions imposed on them, such as having to stay in their home and keep their porch lights off.

For others, the law often relies on enforcement from local police departments.

In Decatur, the police department has in past years done checks to ensure that sex offenders were in compliance with the law, confirmed Lt. Ed Hurst.

Still, parents are encouraged to be proactive and children are urged to use common sense on Halloween night.

"We always recommend that they go in groups and stay together, have a responsible adults that goes with them in the monitors their activities, wear some light-colored clothing and flashlights are also beneficial," Hurst said.

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SPRINGFIELD  With just enough votes to spare, Illinois lawmakers early Friday morning approved a gerrymandered redistricting proposal that, with Gov. J.B. Pritzkers expected sign-off, will set the states congressional map for the next decade.

The new boundaries have significant consequences for downstate Illinois, which was mostly carved into five districts  three safe Republican seats and two designed to elect Democrats  that placed four of the states five Republican members of Congress into districts with another incumbent.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channhon, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, announced that he would not seek reelection, forgoing a primary against fellow incumbent Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, in a rural district that jigsaws from the Wisconsin border to just south of Bloomington-Normal.

I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide, Kinzinger said in a video released Friday morning. I want to make it clear  this isnt the end of my political future, but the beginning.

An hour later, LaHood, a Trump supporter, announced he was running for reelection.

Later in the day, Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, said he would run for reelection in a district that includes almost everything south of Interstate 70 in Southern Illinois.

Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, a conservative firebrand, also lives in the district, but did not immediately disclose her intentions. She could opt to run in the nearby 15th district, a largely rural Central Illinois district stretches from Iowa to Indiana, picking up outlying areas of Springfield and Decatur and several mid-size towns in between.

Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, lives in the new 15th, but has also mulled running for governor against incumbent Pritzker depending on how the map shook out. On Friday, Davis was mum on his political future.

Rodney will make a formal announcement on his 2022 plans once the Governor signs the redistricting legislation into law, said Davis campaign spokesman Aaron DeGroot.

14 Democrats, 3 Republicans

The political chaos was largely set in motion by state legislative Democrats, who approved a map that divides the state in a way that maximizes the partys partisan advantage.

The proposal would likely result in electing a congressional delegation with 14 Democrats and three Republicans, up from the current 13-5 split. The state lost a congressional seat after the 2020 U.S. Census.

Map drawers took advantage of Democratic gains in the Chicago suburbs as well as declining population in downstate Illinois, the most-heavily Republican region of the state.

There are three districts in Illinois where a Democrat would not have the chance at all, said Frank Calabrese, a political consultant who specializes in Illinois redistricting. So the 16th, 15th and 12th districts are extremely Republican and Democrats are not going to be trying to compete in those districts.

These heavy Republican districts take up most of the rural swaths of downstate Illinois. By the same token, two oddly-shaped districts were drawn to connect the regions Democratic-leaning urban areas.

In Central Illinois, the new 13th district stretches from the Metro East region near St. Louis to Champaign-Urbana, picking up the urban cores Springfield and Decatur in between. President Joe Biden carried the string bean-shaped district by 11 points in 2020.

And the new 17th district takes a C-shape, winding from Rockford to the Quad Cities and down to Peoria and most of Bloomington-Normal, picking up several smaller college and industry towns in between. It goes from a district that voted for Trump twice to one that voted for Biden by eight points.

Downstate Illinois is largely Republican, but you have these cities  mid-sized cities where we're talking about 100,000 to 200,000 people  that have Democratic parts to it because they're college towns, because they have minorities, etc., Calabrese said. So, basically, Democrats tried to connect as many of these mid-size cities as possible.

'Not number one to anybody'

Still, not all cities were kept intact. In Decatur, for instance, the urban core is in the Democratic-leaning 13th district while areas south and west are in the 15th district.

In some neighborhoods on the city's west side, neighbors who live across the street from one another are in different districts.

Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe lamented that being carved into two districts could lead to the city not receiving the attention it deserves.

"You're not number one to anybody," Moore Wolfe said. "People don't even really understand who their congressman is when it's that chopped up. So it's a disservice to the people of Macon County, it's a disservice to the people of Illinois."

In Bloomington-Normal, there is a similar situation, with the new Democratic-leaning 17th district grabbing most of the urban core, including Illinois State University, but the GOP-leaning 16th district getting most of the Twin Cities' western outskirts and some of Normal's northwest side.

This is a theme  downstate urban centers included in narrowly-drawn districts that connect to other urban centers while outerlying areas in each region are included in rural districts that take up the space surrounding those cities.

There are also some urban districts that start in Chicago or the suburbs and extend downstate. Most prominently, the 2nd district, held by Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Matteson, stretches from 43rd Street on the South Side of Chicago to downstate Danville.

"It's almost a kind of civics book case in how not to draw fair maps," said John Shaw, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. "I mean, some of the districts are almost cartoonish in their complexity and their meandering flow."

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, a non-partisan group that seeks to eliminate gerrymandering, has given Democrats' map an "F" grade for partisan fairness.

"Every decade, redrawing the maps is a hugely-charged, very political issue," Shaw said. "This year, I think it has been especially true, in part because so many of the national Democrats have been keeping a very close eye on the state."

A product of 'creative cartography'

Indeed, there was significant pressure on Springfield Democrats from the national party to maximize opportunities in Illinois, one of the few states where the party has complete control of the redistricting process.

Democrats have a fragile majority in the U.S. House and with Republicans controlling redistricting in several key states like Texas and Florida, "the prospect of increasing the Democratic majority by aggressive and creative cartography" in Illinois was enticing for national Democrats, Shaw said.

As a consequence, downstate Illinois has been cut into oddly-shaped pieces.

Up in the Chicago area, Democrats drew a second district designed to elect a Latino. The district, which is about 47% Latino, stretches from the Northwest Side of Chicago to the western suburbs.

State lawmakers had long packed Latino communities on Chicagos Northwest and Southwest sides into one hyper-minority district.

The Southwest Side-based 4th district remains Latino majority and contains the homes of incumbent Reps. Chuy Garcia, D-Chicago, and Marie Newman, D-La Grange.

Newman has already announced her intention to run in the nearby 6th district, which includes southwest suburban Cook County and parts of DuPage County, against incumbent Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove.

Newman was drawn into the district under a previous proposal but was taken out in part to appease Casten.

All other Democratic incumbents were drawn into safe districts. But the 17th district, represented by the retiring Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, could go Republican in a wave year, Calabrese said.

Moore Wolfe, for what it's worth, is trying to make the best of what she considers a disappointing map.

"It looks like one of the districts that will be ours will be a strong Republican district and it looks like the other will be a strong Democratic district," Moore Wolfe said. "And that can work in our favor depending on who's in the White House and who's leading the House of Representatives."

"So I'm going to try and make the best of this," she said. "We will work to make sure whoever is in both of these congressional districts understand what is important to the people of this community. But it is frustrating."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the name of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

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Six-term Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an ardent opponent of former President Donald Trump and his continued leadership of the GOP, announced Friday he would not seek reelection.

Kinzingers announcement came just hours after state legislators passed a new congressional map drawn by Illinois Democrats that put him into a new district with Trump-supporting U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood.

As a country, we must unplug from the mistruths weve been fed. In Congress, Ive witnessed how division is heavily rooted. Theres little to no desire to bridge our differences, Kinzinger said in a video posted on Twitter. And unity is no longer a word we use. It has also become increasingly obvious to me that in order to break the narrative. I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide.

This isnt the end of my political future, but the beginning. Serving six terms in Congress, has been an honor of a lifetime, the Republican from Channahon said.

Kinzinger, one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and one of two GOP members on the House select committee investigating the insurrection, indicated he would be focusing on his One Country political action committee, which is aimed at supporting opponents of the former president.

In the past, Kinzinger had indicated no desire to run for statewide office if ruling Democrats in the Illinois legislature drew a politically adverse district for him. But he said his decision to leave Congress did not mean an end to his political involvement through his PAC.

Theres many Americans that are desperately searching for a better way. They want solutions. Not more problems. They want action, not extremism. They want light, not darkness. And the sooner we do it, the better it will be for the land that we love, Kinzinger said. Now is the time for choosing. Now is the time to work together to be part of the solution.

Kinzinger was elected to the House in 2010, getting support from tea party groups in defeating Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson of Crete. His victory thrust him into rising-star status in the national Republican Party establishment. A U.S. Air Force veteran with missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, he is a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard.

Though he voted with the Trump administrations policies 92% of the time, he became a sharp critic of the former president as Trump geared up for reelection. Kinzinger openly called out his Republican colleagues for backing Trump, including party leadership.

In July, Kinzinger used an expletive when asked about House GOP leader Kevin McCarthys threat to strip him of committee assignments for joining the Jan. 6 panel.

Who gives a s---? Kinzinger said to reporters. When youve got people that say crazy stuff and youre not gonna make that threat (to them, but) to make the threat (to) the truth tellers, youve lost, you know, any credibility.

But it was clear Kinzinger was increasingly becoming a pariah in his own party. With legislative redistricting following the 2020 federal census and Illinois loss of one U.S. House seat, Kinzingers congressional future had remained uncertain.

Early on Friday morning, the Democratic-controlled Illinois legislature approved new congressional boundaries that put Kinzinger into a district with the four-term LaHood of Peoria.

The sprawling district runs from the Wisconsin border south, stretches around the Democratic-leaning urban cities of Rockford, Peoria and Bloomington, and then goes northeast to Morris. The district includes some of the states most Republican  and Trump-supportive  areas.

Shortly after Kinzingers announcement that he wouldnt run, LaHood, who is the national finance chair of the National Republican Campaign Committee, issued a statement announcing his bid for reelection.

In his announcement, Kinzinger recalled telling voters in his first campaign in 2010 that if I ever thought it was time to move on from Congress, I would, and that time is now.

But let me be clear: My passion for this country has only grown. My desire to make a difference is bigger than its ever been, he said. The battlefield must be broader and the truth needs to reach the American people across the whole country.

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Dr Theo Acheampong, an international petroleum economist based in the United Kingdom, is advocating for the immediate removal of taxes on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).



He said it will help cushion consumers who have been saddled with a myriad of taxes on petroleum products making cost of living very expensive.



Countries like France recently absorbed the potential impact of price increment on petroleum products in the short term to avert social upheaval.



Speaking with Kofi Abotsi on Town Hall Talk on Asaase Radio on Friday (29 October), the petroleum economist said: I think the government can do something, and I have advocated that if you look at some of the prices of petroleum products, especially LPG, I dont see why we should be imposing 20% or so tax on it.



A lot of our people use it for cooking and the evidence-based shows that anytime prices of LPG goes up then households substitute with other alternate fuel like charcoal which is not good for the environment.



He added: Government can actually halve or remove the taxes on LPG at least for now to cushion the burden on households and other consumers.



National dialogue

Dr Acheampong further called for a national dialogue on the various margins on other petroleum products.



And then when it comes to other petroleum products like petrol and diesel, I think we need to have conversation on some of the margins and the taxes that are being charged.



The BOST margin that has been increased I think a 100 or 200% since the last two years, so this is before pre-pandemic, we need to have conversation about strategic role of BOST these days they are engaged in other commercial activities, so does that warrant the charge of the margins that is being paid to BOST.









Source: asaaseradio.com









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The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu, has directed the General Legal Council to admit all law students who obtained a pass mark of 50% in the Law School Entrance Examination into the Law School.The First Deputy Speaker gave the ruling today,Friday after Members of Parliament heavily criticised management of the Ghana Law School and the General Legal Council for the continuous frustration of students seeking admission into the Ghana School Law School to be trained as professional lawyers.499 law students who wrote the entrance examination for admission into the Law School were denied admission despite obtaining at least 50 percent in the entrance examination.The Deputy Majority Leader and MP for Efutu constituency, Alexander Afenyo-Markin who raised the issue on the floor of Parliament criticised the Ghana Law School and the General Legal Council of making the study of law in the country frustrating and unattractive through the questionable marking scheme set up for the Law School Entrance Exams.Hon. Afenyo-Markin therefore moved a motion for Parliament to compel the Ghana Law School and the General Legal Council to admit all students who passed the entrance exams.The Minority Whip and MP for Asawase, Mubarak Muntaka described the challenge of gaining admission into the Law school as a matter of public interest which is very worrying.He, therefore, called for a probe by Parliament into the matter.After the discussion by the House on the issue and the motion moved by Hon Afenyo-Markin, the First Deputy Speaker who chaired proceedings of the House put the question on the matter and subsequently gave the ruling that all the law students who passed the entrance exams should be admitted into the Ghana Law School for the 2021/2022 academic year.The 499 Law school students who had attained the 50 per cent threshold in the Ghana Legal Council (GLC) examinations yet had been denied admissions are unlikely to be admitted anytime soon.This is because theres no space at the Ghana School of Law to contain them, President Akufo-Addo said.He noted that the situation is rather unfortunate as the problem has been a persisting one.For the time being, theres no space in the Law School for them, and this is a problem. There are several others before them who unfortunately fell into the same pit. It may be that this group has decided to be more vocal than their predecessors, he said in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on'kokrokoo' programme.The President explained that it is not in the countrys best interest to keep the gates of the Ghana School of Law closed.I think its a decent, reasonable expectation; I will not run away from it. I think its a reasonable expectation to see that this is a good moment for these matters to be resolved, and all I can say is that God willing, by the time I come back here the next year, substantial progress will be made in trying to deal with this.Its unfortunate, I cant pretend that this is a happy coincidence for me at all, on the contrary, Im very disturbed by it, and Im hoping that soon the cooperation of the various stakeholders, the Ghana Legal Council, the Chief Justice himself, Attorney General and myself, well all find a solution to this situation, he said.

Source: Emmanuel Akorli/Parliamentary Correspondent/Peace FM









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President Joe Biden, who was denied communion by a Catholic priest months ago because of his views on abortion laws, has said that Pope Francis told him he should continue to be allowed to receive communion.



The US President met the Catholic Pope at the Vatican on Friday, October 28, to discuss a broad set of topics, including climate change, global poverty, and the distribution of vaccines to fight the coronavirus pandemic.



Biden is the second Catholic president in U.S. history and, months before his election, he made news headlines when a South Carolina priest refused to give him Holy Communion.



This led to a debate as some Catholics said he has a right to receive communion while others said he shouldn't be given communion because of his support for abortion rights.



Following his meeting with the pope, Biden told reporters that the topic of abortion did not come up in their conversation.



"We just talked about the fact that he was happy that I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving communion," Biden said, according to pool reports.



Asked specifically whether Francis said that Biden should keep receiving communion, Biden responded, "yes."



Biden also disclosed that he said a prayer while with Pope Francis and that the pope "said one for me" and blessed the presidents rosary  which he carries in honor of his late son, Beau.



Biden said he did not take communion on Friday and rebuffed questions about whether the pair discussed the U.S. Conference of Bishops during their conversation, calling it a "private conversation."



Bidens meeting with the pope ran for over an hour and is the first leg of Bidens multiday trip to Europe, the second of his 10-month-old presidency. Later on Friday, Biden met with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi at Chigi Palace in Rome.



Watch Biden speak in the video below.























































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A founding member of the New governing Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe, has said the next presidential candidate of the party must be truly democratic and not a pretender.



Though the NPP is yet to announce a date for its presidential primaries, some bigwigs including the Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, Trade Minister Alan Kyeremanteng, and Agric Minister Dr. Akoto Afriyie are reported to have shown interest.



However, the party through its General Secretary has cautioned all aspirants to desist from campaigning as the party hasnt opened nominations.



But Dr. Tamakloe, who is dissatisfied with the governing partys handling of the MMDCE elections, says whoever emerges as the next leader must be one who can take the party back to its founding principles.



Amongst the names that have been mentioned, Ive not seen any of them, but I know them physically. However, I can assure you that this party will go back to its roots because it was formed through the sweat of individuals who have unfortunately passed on.



People suffered for the formation of this party. People died indeed, and I believe strongly that whoever is going to take over this party in the next elections must be a person who is democratic in and out, not a pretender.



Meanwhile, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe also accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of superintending over what he calls an undemocratic election of Metropolitan Municipal, District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).



He alleged the use of NPPs vigilante groups and the prevention of some assembly members from voting as the basis of his accusations.



The experience of violence where the Presiding Member of the Assembly was assaulted, and the Achiase District, was not exempted from this bloody act. An assembly member of this district was also assaulted during the confirmation of the DCE nominee for that District.



Ghana as a country cannot continue like this under this NPP government led by Nana Akufo-Addo. This indicates how unpopular and disappointing the people of this country are against the undemocratic moves of this government. Many of these actions happened in areas where the old nominees were reappointed for the second term.

Source: citinewsroom









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" " A protester holds a guilty sign outside the Courthouse In Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 19, 2021 after a jury found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the killing George Floyd. KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images

The difference between murder and manslaughter, legally speaking, is a fairly distinct one, even if the final result of both of those crimes is the same.

Murder and manslaughter are both, legally speaking, homicide (this from the Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell Law School):

Homicide is when one human being causes the death of another. Not all homicide is murder, as some killings are manslaughter, and some are lawful, such as when justified by an affirmative defense, like insanity or self-defense.

As the LII points out, not all homicide is murder. Manslaughter, with its legally dense and often confusing definitions, isn't murder. True self-defense, considered a legal homicide, isn't murder, either.

But all murder, by definition, is homicide.

As to those differences between murder and manslaughter  misogynistic nomenclature aside  that's a whole 'nother legal quagmire.

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What Is Murder?

The legal definition of murder varies from state to state. Here's the federal definition, from the U.S. Code:

Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.

The whole idea of "malice aforethought"  which encompasses an intention to kill  has been reconsidered and refined by courts and legal scholars over the years. Currently, murder is most often broken down into categories: first-degree murder, second-degree, third-degree and so on.

All sorts of other terms can get thrown into the mix, words like malice and intent, recklessness and premeditation. Generally  again, all states are not the same  this is how it works:

First-degree murder usually, but not always, requires a willful act with premeditation, although the definition of premeditation varies, too. It generally means contemplating the act of murder  planning it in detail or simply thinking about doing it beforehand; intending to do it  and then carrying it out.

Scott Peterson, for instance, was found guilty in 2004 of first-degree murder in the death of his pregnant wife Laci who went missing on Christmas Eve from their home in Modesto, California, in 2002. Scott also was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of their unborn child. (In October 2020, the California Supreme Court ordered the San Mateo County Superior Court to reexamine Scott's convictions because of a tainted juror pool. A new appeals trial is pending.)

Second-degree murder is first-degree murder without the premeditation or intent, but this definition, too, is dependent on where the crime is committed. According to LII, second-degree murder is typically "caused by the offender's reckless conduct that displays an obvious lack of concern for human life." It's often called "felony murder;" that is, murder committed in the act of another felony (in many cases, assault).

Third-degree murder is recognized in only a few states. One of those states is Minnesota, where former police officer Derek Chauvin faced trial in April 2021 for the 2020 killing of George Floyd. In Minnesota, "murder in the third degree" is defined as homicide without intent by acting in a way that is "eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life." It can also be charged for those causing a death in drug-related cases.

Chauvin was charged with, and convicted on, three counts: second-degree murder (murder committed while he was assaulting Floyd), third-degree murder (see above), and second-degree manslaughter (see below).

Important to note: The sentences for those found guilty on murder charges, generally speaking, are more severe than those for manslaughter. The penalty for those found guilty of first-degree murder is the heaviest of all. A conviction on first-degree murder can, depending on the state (or, in the case of a federal offense), be the death penalty.

" " Convicted murderer Scott Peterson is transported to San Quentin Prison death row after he was formally sentenced to death for the murder of his wife Laci and their unborn son. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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What Is Manslaughter?

Manslaughter may be considered a less serious crime than murder, with lesser sentences, but it's equally as grim; it still involves homicide.

Generally, again  yes, definitions change with manslaughter, too, depending on where the crime is committed  manslaughter is murder without intent or "malice aforethought." But it's not that simple.

Manslaughter is divided into either intentional (voluntary) or unintentional (involuntary) manslaughter. Voluntary manslaughter, according to LII, is intentionally "killing another person in the heat of passion and in response to adequate provocation." Involuntary manslaughter is "negligently" causing the death of another person.

So how can someone, then, voluntarily and intentionally kill someone  something that sounds a heck of a lot like murder  yet be charged "only" with manslaughter?

The answer: It's all in the perpetrator's state of mind.

Here's how it works in Minnesota, for an example:

First-degree manslaughter (or, in Minnesota's books, manslaughter in the first degree) occurs when voluntarily and intentionally causing a death "in the heat of passion" when provoked by words or actions that would "provoke a person of ordinary self-control under like circumstances." (A crying child is not provocation in this clause.)

Many other actions (or inactions) may prompt a charge of first-degree manslaughter rather than murder. In Minnesota, those include drug-related actions that result in a death, and punishment of a child that results in a death.

Second-degree manslaughter  we're still in Minnesota  can be charged under several different circumstances. The jury in the Chauvin case found him guilty of second-degree manslaughter because he showed "culpable negligence" when he created "an unreasonable risk, and consciously [took] chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another" by kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes during Floyd's arrest in 2020.

Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter also is charged with second-degree manslaughter for killing Daunte Wright. She faces charges after shooting Wright when she says she intended to instead shock him with her Taser.

Prosecutors work long and hard before deciding what charges to bring. In the Chauvin case, a judge originally threw out the third-degree murder charge only to reinstate it later. The interpretation of the third-degree murder statute is currently being challenged in another case.

Legally speaking, it gets complicated. But in homicide cases, when a person's life and liberty hang in the balance, there may be no other way to ensure that justice is served.

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING Twenty-seven states currently carry a death penalty for first-degree murder, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Capital punishment is OK'd by the military, too, and the federal government. Since 2015, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Colorado and Virginia have abolished the death penalty. Nebraska reinstated it by statewide vote in 2016.
WHITE CREEK  A Pennsylvania man was arrested for allegedly passing a bad check at Hoosick Tire.

State police said 32-year-old Travis R. Fassett, of Meshoppen, paid for new tires using a check, including a $100 tip. When the business went to cash the check, they were advised the bank account for the check was closed.

The alleged incident took place on Oct. 15.

Fassett was also wanted in Steuben County for a similar crime and on an arrest warrant for fourth-degree grand larceny.

He was picked up there and then taken into custody by New York State Police.

Fassett was charged with felony fourth-degree grand larceny and misdemeanor issuing a bad check. He was sent to Washington County Jail.

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Democrat John Reilly is hoping to defeat first-term Republican incumbent Dan Bruno to represent Ward 4 on the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

Reilly said he believes that he would bring a fresh approach to the position.

Republicans have run Warren County for generations and we continue to face many of the same problems today as we did 20 and 30 years ago, he said in an email.

Reilly believes the region needs to develop more workforce housing outside of Glens Falls and Queensbury in order for workers to be closer to their employers. He said places like Bolton Landing are not finding housing solutions for workers.

Companies will not see Warren County as a destination to locate unless this problem is resolved, he said.

Another important issue is increasing the availability of child care, according to Reilly.

Without improved child care options, we will continue to see young families of most income ranges struggle, he said. Young families with two or three children spend years juggling kids, school and work. This is not a new problem, yet we still dont even have a serious conversation about options.

Reilly is also concerned about the property tax burden that Glens Falls property owners face compared to other Warren County towns. He pointed out that a $300,000 homeowner in Glens Falls pays about the same as the owner of an $800,000 Lake George waterfront property on Assembly Point.

He said that people pay a premium to live in Glens Falls and the county Board of Supervisors should examine this imbalance. For example, are Glens Falls property owners paying extra for sheriffs services they do not use, he asked. And the city has a higher percentage of property owned by nonprofit organizations that do not pay property tax, Reilly said.

Reilly is with Reilly Consulting, which provides marketing and management support to businesses in the insurance industry, according to its website.

Bruno did not return a message seeking comment. He serves as a member of the Warren-Washington Industrial Development Agency and is chairman of the Glens Falls Planning Board.

Bruno is a project engineer with his own Highlander Engineering Services firm.

Michael Goot covers politics, crime and courts, Warren County, education and business. Reach him at 518-742-3320 or mgoot@poststar.com.

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8 firearms recovered, 5 Atlantic City men arrested in separate incidents Atlantic City police on Friday announced the arrests of five city men and the recovery of ei

James King James Hemenway, 43, of Morganville, Monmouth County, was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession of MDMA with intent to distribute, possession of psilocybin mushrooms with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine, possession of psilocybin mushrooms, two counts of financial facilitation and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Dale McCord, 44, of Manalapan, Monmouth County, was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession of cocaine, possession of psilocybin mushrooms with intent to distribute, possession of psilocybin mushrooms, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a weapon during drug activity, certain person not to possess a firearm, three counts of possession of a large capacity magazine and two counts of financial facilitation.

Mark Capichana, 54, of Hazlet, Monmouth County, was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, maintaining or operating a drug production facility, possession of cocaine and financial facilitation.
Blackwell also was charged with certain person not to possess a weapon and contempt of court.

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+3 Judge hears complaint vs. Atlantic City GOP candidates about illegal electioneering An Atlantic County Superior Court judge issued an order Friday telling all candidates to beh

The second incident occurred at 12:57 p.m., when members of the SWAT team and Special Investigations Section executed a residential search warrant related to the possession and distribution of drugs in the first block of South Mansion Avenue, police said.

Joaquin DeJesus, 51, was arrested after detectives located in the residence four firearms, including a rifle and a machine gun, more than 32 grams of cocaine and items used in the distribution of narcotics. One of the firearms was reported stolen from Los Angeles.

DeJesus was charged with unlawful possession of a rifle, unlawful possession of a machine gun, two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon while committing a drug offense, possession of a large capacity magazine, possession of hollow point ammunition, receiving stolen property, certain person not to possess a weapon, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public zone and possession of drug paraphernalia.

All five were sent to the Atlantic County jail.
+17 Here's this weekend's fall foliage update in New Jersey Nov. 19 Update: The mostly cool week did provide a spark with vibrant foliage seen in spots.

Under the process, professors were allowed to pick faculty peers, called comparators, who earn more than them and make an argument for why they should earn the same. When faculty submitted their letters, in many cases deans signed off on them, union officials and professors said, but the comparators were later changed by the university. In some cases, the university compared tenured professors to untenured, or female professors to other female professors, or made other unfair comparisons, faculty said.

Rutgers-Camden faculty had accounted for about half of those who asked for salary adjustments.

Rutgers had said in a statement that it distributed $1.2 million in salary adjustments based on a negotiated process and that the adjustments were reflective of a detailed analysis of relevant work-related factors for each person who requested a review to determine if they are being paid on an equitable basis.

During the meeting with faculty, Marchitello, according to Brown, said he was asked to change the comparators and asserted that because the campus was underfunded, it would continue to face financial pressure until the problem is corrected.

Brown wondered if those comments may have contributed to Marchitellos removal.
The decking will be a hardwood called cumaru, Byron said. The wood also is known as Brazilian teak and is grown in northern South America, according to The Wood Database, an online resource. That site indicates the species is not listed as endangered or threatened.

Locally and around the country, the use of another tropical hardwood, ipe, has proved controversial, with rainforest advocates arguing its use contributes to deforestation. That wood has been used on the Atlantic City Boardwalk and at Walt Disney World. Two sections of the Ocean City Boardwalk also have ipe decking, installed decades ago.

In 2008, an Ocean City plan to again use ipe on the Boardwalk drew protests and was later abandoned when deliveries fell through, while the next year, Wildwood saw its own backlash over a plan to use the wood.

With the persistent warning to Watch the tram car, please playing as it rolls along the concrete section, the popular transportation is all but synonymous with a Wildwood visit. According to Byron, the tram cars will continue to run, but will roll along the wooden deck instead of on a dedicated strip of concrete.

It will be safer, he said. As the existing decking expands and contracts at different rates, bike tires sometimes get caught in the space between the wood and concrete sections.
WASHINGTON (AP)  In only a handful of cases has the Supreme Court, where decorative turtles symbolize the deliberate pace of justice, moved as quickly as it is in the fight over the Texas law that bans most abortions. They include some of the most famous disputes of the last 50 years.

The cases being argued Monday could signal how the justices will rule in an even bigger abortion case that will be heard a month later and asks them to overrule the two landmark cases that guarantee a woman's right to an abortion, Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

But abortion is not directly at issue in the Texas cases. Rather, the court will decide whether abortion providers or the federal government can sue in federal court over the Texas law, which has an enforcement mechanism that Chief Justice John Roberts has described as unusual, if not unprecedented.

The high court has so far allowed the Texas law, which effectively bans abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy, to be in effect even as it appears to conflict with the Roe and Casey decisions. Those cases remain the law of the land until the Supreme Court says otherwise.



WHO CAN SUE, BE SUED?
NEW YORK  Rapper Fetty Wap was charged Friday with participating in a conspiracy to smuggle large amounts of heroin, fentanyl and other drugs into the New York City region.

The rapper, whose real name is Willie Maxwell, was arrested Thursday at Citi Field, home of the Mets, where the three-day Rolling Loud hip-hop music festival is taking place. An indictment that had previously blacked out Maxwells name was unredacted Friday to publicly add his name to a case involving five other defendants, including a New Jersey corrections officer.

The fact that we arrested a chart-topping rap artist and a corrections officer as part of the conspiracy illustrates just how vile the drug trade has become, Michael J. Driscoll, a top official with the FBIs New York office, said in a statement.

The indictment charges Maxwell and his co-defendants with conspiracy to possess and distribute more than 220 pounds of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine between June 2019 and June 2020. The scheme involved using the U.S. Postal Service and cars with hidden compartments to move the narcotics from the West Coast to Long Island, where they were stored for distribution to dealers on Long Island and in New Jersey, authorities said.

Ocean County man indicted in drug-induced death An Ocean County man has been indicted in the drug-induced death of another, prosecutors said
Media hides dangers

of Biden administration

The responsibility of the media is to speak truth to power. Having a Democratic president does not absolve them of that responsibility.

President Biden looked straight into the camera and said the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill wont cost anything. But one way to pay for these giveaways is to increase the corporate tax rate. Guess who eventually pays the price -- yep, the consumer.

The secretary of Homeland Security says the border is secure. The DHS website shows that through August 2021 there were 1,472,655 encounters through the Southwest border. And now, the Justice Department is treating parents who are protesting at local school boards as potential terrorists!

One of the first actions of the Biden administration was to stop the Keystone pipeline. Shortly thereafter, the administration allowed the Russian pipeline to be completed. The national average for regular gas at year end 2020 was $2.195; in September 2021 it was $3.175 -- thats a 45% increase in just a few short months. This administration took us from energy independence to having to go with hat in hand to ask the Saudis to increase production.
DREW GETS ANOTHER FINISHER, WHAT'S ADVERTISED LOCALLY FOR RAW MONDAY, BROCK GETS 'FINED' AND MORE WWE NOTES

Advertised locally for this Monday's Raw taping in Providence, Rhode Island is AJ Styles & Omos & Bobby Lashley vs. WWE Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro & WWE Champion Big E.

Last night's Friday Night Smackdown episode featured a segment where WWE Official Adam Pearce fined Brock Lesnar $1 Million Dollars.

The dark match last night following the Smackdown broadcast saw Drew McIntyre & The Street Profits beat Roman & The Usos.

Mike Rome replaced Greg Hamilton as the Smackdown ring announcer last night. It appears he will be doing both Smackdown and Raw, at least for now.

Drew McIntyre debuted a new finishing submission maneuver, the Kimura on last night's Smackdown episode.

Shotzi Blackheart turned heel last night. PWInsider.com reported several weeks back that was the plan.

Next Friday's Smackdown taping will be from Evansville, Indiana at the Ford Center. Nothing has been locally announced for the taping.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Thumbs Up ... to the new construction that's going on in parts of the Quad-Cities. We hear a lot of bad economic news these days, so it's good to see progress.

One notable project, which is expected to get underway by the end of the year, is construction of 185 units of what is called "workforce housing" near the new R. Richard Bittner YMCA downtown.

An Indiana-based developer is doing the project, and as Sarah Watson reported this week, the project is benefiting from state tax credits that limit rents and the incomes of people who can live there. The units are aimed at providing housing for people getting their first jobs out of school and often attract early career teachers and police officers.

Housing is a major need in this community, so we're happy to see this development. It also is happening on a large expanse of property that is near the eastern gateway to the city's downtown, which also is a positive development.

Thumbs Down ... to the Illinois legislators who voted for the badly drawn map for the state's 17 congressional districts on Friday. Lawmakers approved the map in the early morning hours. According to Capitol News Illinois, it was the fourth map to be offered up.
More than 10 workers and family members gathered outside the John Deere Seeding Plant in Moline waving blue and white UAW signs at passing cars with vigor

Picketers were reenergized Saturday morning, reminiscent of the first days of the strike, after hearing they might return to work soon.

Deere & Co. and the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America reached a tentative agreement, according to a press release from the UAW and a post on Deere's corporate page on Saturday.

Wearing lighter jackets in the midday warmth, workers said they are more confident this contract will include the demands they struck over.

"We are always hopeful," one worker said. "We are getting real tired of waiting around."

UAW workers remain on strike through the ratification process.

Workers overwhelmingly voted down the initial tentative agreement on Oct. 10, citing insufficient wage increase and declining retirement benefits.

On day 17 of the strike, Jen Hartmann, director for public relations at Deere, posted at one.deere.com that the second tentative agreement is "a new six-year labor agreement covering approximately 10,100 production and maintenance employees at 12 facilities in Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas.

Chuck Browning, UAW vice president and director of the agricultural implement department, said in a news release that the agreement contains economic gains and highest quality healthcare benefits.

The negotiators focused on improving the areas of concern identified by our members during our last ratification process, Browning said.

The details of the tentative agreement will not be released until members at the covered John Deere facilities have an opportunity to review the terms, according to the UAW release. Members will be notified by their local unions for information about the time and location of meetings and ratification votes.

Deere has also reached a separate tentative agreement with Deere parts facilities in Denver and Atlanta.

The UAW will call for a vote but it is not known when that will take place.
In the spirits world, bartenders are gatekeepers and guides. Curious about gin styles? Pondering the difference between bourbon, rye and blended Scotch? Ready to sample mezcal? Your friendly local barkeep has your back.

For years, whenever Cathead Distillery launched a new product, they would start on premise, in bars and restaurants. Yet when the Jackson, Mississippi, distiller kicked off its campaign for a new bitter orange vodka in March, it went the opposite direction.

Its very different than how we approached releases of the past, says Richard Patrick, who co-founded the small distillery in 2010 with Austin Evans. We approached it for the COVID times of home bartending, and making things simple for people. We wanted something very versatile for folks to enjoy who dont have a lot of training wheels involved in how to make a cocktail.

But Cathead cant deny how this past year has shifted and amplified trends in how, what and where people drink. In addition to the bitter orange vodka, the company captured two trends in one with a sessionable line of 5% alcohol by volume, or ABV, drinks. They created sparkling vodka-based canned cocktails in flavors including cranberry and limeade.

And these types of changes are being seen throughout the entire industry, not just a select few brands. Heres a look at how shopping at your local liquor store may look different these days.

Can that cosmo

A collective social pivot from bar stool to living room couch amplified a trend that was already fizzing before the pandemic. Canned cocktails, ranging from mojitos and mules to fruity spritzes and spiked lemonade, are big and getting bigger.

Were definitely seeing a lot of canned and bottled cocktails, ready to drink, says Kara Newman, spirits editor for Wine Enthusiast magazine. Thats partly an outgrowth of what was going on during the pandemic, this need for things to be outdoors-friendly and portable. There were so many distilleries and entrepreneurs and bar owners that rolled out their own products.

While canned cocktails may be booming, that doesnt mean theyre easy to make. A lot of them are pretty mediocre, Newman says. Some of them are made with a great amount of care, and some arent.

There are a lot of ways for a canned cocktail to go sideways, as Newman wrote in a June story for Wine Enthusiast. Fresh citrus isnt shelf stable, so some makers substitute citric acid. Sometimes the base is different, too. Is that canned margarita made with tequila? Maybe not.

Is it actually the same spirit, or is it neutral grain alcohol or something else? Newman says. Is it wine-based or malt-liquor-based, and its trying to be a beer-garita? Is it made with artificial flavors or citric acid as opposed to lime?

Yet many see promising improvements. Toronto-based wine and spirits writer Kate Dingwall likes brands like LiveWire, which was created by award-winning bartender Aaron Polsky in Los Angeles.

Many bartenders are making their own options, says Dingwall, whos been covering the industry for liquor.com, Eater and Forbes magazine, among others, for about seven years.

Its exciting, Dingwall says. Weve been drinking in parks, weve been drinking on patios, weve been drinking everywhere but bars. The rise of this canned cocktail movement makes it easy to do so.

Cocktail session: no- and low-ABV

Low- and no-ABV cocktails have been hot for a few years, and as people reevaluate habits they picked up drinking in relative isolation, the trend is surging.

Consumers are starting to wake up to the possibilities of the no- and low-ABV moment, Dingwall says. Before Seedlip, which produces nonalcoholic distilled spirits, launched in 2015, we didnt have a lot of options for nonalcoholic drinkers other than, like, Coca-Cola. Which is fine, but it doesnt feel like an adult way to drink at a cocktail bar.

No- and low-ABV drinks can be as basic as bitters and club soda or a wine spritz, or as complicated as any other high-octane cocktail such as a shrub, which is made with fruit-based syrups and preserved with vinegar.

Its way more sophisticated, with more flavors and more formats, Newman says. Its really come a long way from bitters and soda, or a Shirley Temple juice-and-soda-type format.

Pros dont prefer the term mocktails for these fermented and often complex beverages. They are often marketed as spirit-free and zero-proof. Other brands prefer to state their beverages are unleaded, safe for work or cocktail adjacent.

One challenge with low- and no-ABV spirits is that, as Dingwall explains, creating the spirit is just as expensive. The process is tedious. The equipment and bottles cost the same, but consumers have hesitation around, Why do I pay to flavor my drink like alcohol?

Still, Dingwall is encouraged by this trend, and she doesnt see it as only for the sober crowd.

If over the pandemic you hit drinking fatigue, a low-alcohol cocktail that doesnt leave your head spinning is a nice alternative even if you are a drinker, Dingwall says. Its about options, and it ties into our increasing awareness of health and sustainability.

Farm to flask

The word terroir, referring to the soil and climate that can affect flavors based on a growing territory where an item or ingredient is produced, is typically associated with wine. Recently, Newman has begun to see the term associated with spirits too. Were seeing more estate distilleries, she says, making farm to flask, or ground to glass. Theres more of an interest in terroir of certain spirits, in the whiskey sector in particular, an emphasis on the provenance of rye, barley and corn.

She noted Roknar Minnesota rye whiskey from Far North Spirits in Hallock, Minnesota, which has been doing really interesting experiments with rye and where its grown, according to Newman. KO Distilling in Manassas, Virginia, gets all of its rye, wheat, corn and malted barley from Virginia farms. Another innovator is Joe OSullivan, head distiller at Clear Creek Distillery in Oregon. He was one of the first to insist on purchasing apples, pears, cherries and more for his brandies from farms within 50 miles of their still.

The emphasis on terroir ties into a secondary trend of spirits that are sustainably made and distributed with minimal interference, Newman says.

Sometimes that looks like Good Vodka by New Yorks Good Liquorworks, which distills vodka from coffee cherries that would otherwise be discarded. Other distilleries have eliminated plastic or shifted their packaging in other ways. Newman has been seeing more bags in boxes, as well as bottles made out of paper and spirits in large-format cans that weigh less to ship than a heavy bottle.

For example, the St. Agrestis Negroni Fountain uses bag-in-box technology similar to boxed wine. Their 1.75 liter package equates to 20 Negroni cocktails that are made with Brooklyn-based St. Agrestis own housemade amaro.

The only thing to go in your trash is the spout, Newman says. Everything else is recyclable. As were getting closer to having gatherings again, large-format, ready-to-drinks might have legs.

Thank you, next

Some trends are relatively easy to quantify with balance sheets and sales numbers. Others are a bit more esoteric.

Dingwall noted the rise of consumer education, people doing their own research without a bartender or sommelier to guide them through. More people are knowledgeable of what amaro liqueur is, for example. Agave spirits are having a moment. Premium tequilas, like high-end whiskeys, are more popular than ever.

For herself, Newman has enjoyed seeing more acknowledgement of products made by people from various racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and LGBTQIA+ producers with strides made in inclusivity. And shes noticed more bars emphasize Fun with a capital F by serving more elaborate cocktails, organizing pop culture themes and overall vibes that are friendly and not stuffy.

The speakeasy is getting pushback, that sense of formality, she says. Were seeing younger drinkers who didnt come up in that environment who are looking for something that feels approachable.

For Newman, the social element is amplified, and her expectations for presentation feel higher.

I just spent the last year making my own martinis at home. When I go out, I will be glad to order a martini, Newman says. But I want gorgeous glassware, and the whole theater of watching someone make the drink for me, placed in front of me, garnished with pizazz.

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Theyre trying to fix a mandate with a mandate, he noted. What they did that is really frustrating is they said that somebody can decide not to get vaccinated and quit their job and get unemployment. That money is provided by employers. Its frustrating that this is sort of a social, political policy that theyre saying can be fixed by the unemployment trust fund and thats problematic, too. Its more of a political issue than an unemployment issue.

While disagreeing with the Biden administration's plan to mandate vaccines or testing, business organizations in Iowa say Iowas new law puts employers at risk of facing federal penalties for not complying with a federal mandate, potentially exacerbates an already tight job market with an incentive not to work and could cost businesses more if a large number of employees end up qualifying for a jobless benefit that did not exist before.
The newest exhibit at Gallery Six13 is a journey through the mind of a former Butte County rancher, Rodney Bode, who has spent his life grappling with mental illness.

Bodes art is on display in the downtown Rapid City gallery through Nov. 20. The exhibit highlights four decades of 80-year-old Bodes work, which was almost unknown until it was discovered at his ranch last fall.

The collection is about 250 paintings, about 50 sculptures, 40 hand-made knives, said Greg Geiger, who co-owns Gallery Six13 with Jay Pond. He also had all kinds of sketches and four little booklets of poetry, which is kind of enlightening.  We are only showing half of the collection due to the limitations of our gallery space.

Bode is entirely self-taught and before this exhibit was largely an unknown artist. His art shows influences from Picasso, Cezanne, art history, Native American culture, mysticism and religion.

Bodes work falls into the category of outsider art, created by artists who are outside the mainstream art world. Geiger said Bode is the first documented outsider artist in South Dakota.

This exhibit and the sales of Bodes art are a joint effort between Gallery Six13 and Bodes guardian and conservator, Jenny Schmidt of Black Hills Advocate. Bode lives in a care facility in Yankton, and sales of his art will help pay for his care for the rest of his life.

In addition to the exhibit, Rapid City-based filmmaker Randal Iverson has made a short documentary, titled Bode, that will air on South Dakota Public Television in December.

Though Black Hills Advocate typically does not share personal details about their clients, in this instance, Schmidt said Bodes lawyer approved telling his story to raise awareness about Bode and his art.

When we take on the responsibility of caring for a person, we are usually not able to tell their story. But in this case, Rods asset is his art, Schmidt said. We have a duty to liquidate his assets and use those for his care, so in his case, we cant market the art if no one knows about it, so we had to tell his story.

Schmidt said Bode has schizoaffective disorder, a condition that can include delusion, hallucination, disorganized speech and behavior, and diminished emotional expression. His brain also shows the impact of vascular dementia, which leads to irreversible, worsening cognitive changes.

Schmidt learned from his neighbors that Bode and his wife moved from Idaho to South Dakota. They lived on a small ranch they owned near Nisland. Neighbors said Bode had a small herd of Arabian stallions he bred and sold. He also had a llama and a donkey. Bodes neighbors didnt know he was a prolific artist.

Bodes wife, Renee, worked at the Rapid City Post Office. The Bodes mostly kept to themselves, although one of Renees co-workers, Nancy Sullivan, visited the Bodes in 2017. Sullivan took what may be the last known photo of the couple, Geiger said, and she saw much of his art that filled the kitchen, hallways, living room and basement when Renee gave her a tour of the house.

Bode began to decline physically and mentally after Renee died in January 2019.

When she died, he didnt have his anchor anymore, Schmidt said.

Neighbors said his ability to care for himself and his animals diminished and Bode became mentally unstable as his dementia worsened. Ultimately, the Butte County Sheriffs Office had to intervene and contacted Schmidt for help. Schmidt was appointed Bodes guardian and conservator.

When Schmidt visited Bodes house for the first time, Bodes artwork and library were exactly as hed left them, with art throughout the house.

We stumbled on something unique.  He was very much an introvert. He kept to himself and he had his own little world out there. It was not what any of us expected to find, Schmidt said.

Gallery Six13 has been put in charge of cataloguing, storing and selling Bodes work, a find Geiger describes as "hard to believe."

Jay and I drove up (to Bodes ranch) and right away we were met with three really large sculptures, Geiger said. Behind the ranch house is a geodome made out of cement, a cool big old dome, and inside there he had more sculptures and more artwork.  Especially at anybodys ranch in South Dakota, you dont expect to see those things outdoors.

Inside the house, art was lining the hallways and it was on the walls and (lined up) on the floors. We went downstairs and found his studio for painting, and thats where a lot of work was hanging from joists and stapled to the walls and also there was a large pile of archived artwork, Geiger said.

As we walked through, I saw an artist growing his talent. His early faces were a struggle, but later on, he had more ability. And even later, he added narratives and symbolism. Theres a ton of story in this work. We felt wave after wave of excitement, Geiger said.

The gallery created a website for Bodes work, rodneybode.com, where visitors can also view the documentary Bode. In February, Geiger plans to take Bodes work to an outsider artists fair in New York. Christies Auction House will be having an outsider art auction, so Geiger hopes those two events will introduce Bodes work to the New York art world.

When we become ill, we go down a road we might not have planned for, Schmidt said. Thats what happened to Rod. But his exhibit looks incredible, and its an honor to serve him in this way.  Im really tickled to be part of such a unique, cool story. To be able to tell a story of a person and a South Dakota artist has been such a pleasure.

Schmidt and the gallery owners also would like to gather as much information as they can about Bode and his life. Anyone who knows or knew Bode and would like to share more information can contact rodneybode.com or blackhillsadvocate.com.

Freelance writer Kristin Donnan contributed to this article.

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Matt Lanz has always said hes a real Native American and a real cowboy.

I can tell you why because a cowboy and Indian, if they needed it, they had it, and if they didnt need it, they didnt have it, he said. They saved and they worked at it both. They have a kind of a mutual parallel.

Lanz takes the same approach to sculpting  hes in it for the work, for the art and for sharing the stories hes trying to tell.

Lanz said he had a Hunka ceremony in Wagner on the Yankton Reservation in 1989 or 1990. He said it was a ceremony where he was basically adopted and recognized as an honorary member of the tribe. Before that, he lived in Minnesota.

After Wagner, he lived in Spearfish and now lives in a tent between Hot Springs and Custer along Beaver Creek.

Lanz said hes working toward building his own studio along with a small cabin. He said he and his youngest son are building fences, making a corral for four horses and other small additions.

Im respecting the land, Lanz said. All the while that Im doing this, I always keep in mind the 1868 Treaty. This is not my home, this doesnt belong to me.  Im only a good steward.

In addition to a modest studio, Lanz hopes to build a powwow arbor to host an annual powwow. All the while, Lanz is following his passion for art and telling stories, especially Indigenous stories. He hopes to incorporate Indigenous history and culture into pieces throughout the Black Hills, particularly through a project called Sentinels of the Black Hills.

It needed to be done a long, long time ago, he said. Its something that ought to be done, I think, just to balance out the presidents, the governors and of course theres the big huge atrocity of Crazy Horse out there.

Lanz said the sentinels could be scattered throughout the hills and have historical Indigenous figures. He said hed like to honor the Lakota and Cheyenne but would start with Black Elk, which he said would cost between $68,000 and $86,000 for a life-size bronze monument. Other concepts he has would be Conquering Bear, Iron Shell, Two Moons, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Gall and Two Strikes.

All hes missing is a patron, he said.

Ive been at it for so very, very long, he said. Ive just been down and slogged through a very tough and arduous path for it seems forever.

He said the unofficial beginning of the Sentinels is the Water Carrying Woman who will act as an ambassador to the Sentinels. The statue will stand at Moccasin Springs Spa in Hot Springs. Owner Kara Haden commissioned the piece.

 Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com 

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Melina Hatfield recalls discovering a knack she had as a child  a knack thats now blossoming into a talent she can tap to make a living.

I used to take apart old TVs, she said. At least the ones that didnt work. Then Id put them back together.

Hatfield, 18, is among the students in Western Dakota Technical Colleges HVAC and Refrigeration Technology program. Shes beginning studies and work in a field that harbors, according to Michele Seaman, a sprawling array of tasks. Its also a field with only a small percentage of women  something that Seaman, the colleges HVAC/R program director, believes can change.

The colleges website describes the program as involving troubleshooting, problem-solving, customer service, and professional skills in addition to technical HVAC/R skills. Seaman emphasized the problem-solving aspect of the field as she described her own interest.

I am a problem solver, said Seaman, whos directed the program for about a year. When youre out there, its always a mystery. What is going on? What do you need to solve this mystery?

She mentioned a malfunctioning furnace, a broken air conditioner, or a weak refrigerator. Lots of questions emerge from these problems, Seaman said.

What do you need to do? she asked. Whats wrong? Is it electrical? Is it mechanical? Is it customer error? Is it installation error? There are so many facets to this job that you just never quit learning.

After Seaman taught a class to first-year HVAC and Refrigeration Technology students on a recent morning, mixing practical work advice with scientific concepts, students reflected on the studies.

I just wanted to solidify my knowledge a little more, said Raul Rojas, a student in the class who already has work experience. I decided to come here and learn more about the theory of it all.

Seaman acknowledged that the field is heavily populated by men  with Hatfield the only female student in the department. Seaman would like to see more women come into the field, particularly when they discover how varied the work can be.

Its hard for people to get a good comprehension of what this field is, she said. I think a lot of women may see big equipment and heavy ladders.

But extreme physical strength, Seaman said, is not a requirement.

You have to work smarter, not harder, she said. I havent had a back surgery, and I havent had big problems because I dont out-muscle things. I have to outsmart things.

Seaman, who earned a degree in business administration from Bismarck State College, said acceptance into the field wasnt readily available when she started doing the work about 25 years ago.

It was very intimidating, she said. When I first started working, some of the men refused to work with me. So I just asked them when they were quitting, because I wasnt going to quit. They decided they werent going to quit either, so we had to get along.

She added, Once I broke that barrier in the field, the guys that I worked with were like my big brothers. Its hard to break that barrier, but I felt like once I was in the field and they accepted me for who I was, all things were equal.

But she acknowledged that the presence of a barrier at all was something extra that women had to face.

Breaking the barrier sometimes is hard, she said. You have to wonder as a new person breaking those barriers, why has nobody else done it? Why do I think I can do it? You have to have that mentality that I can do it.

She encouraged women to try to work in fields such as this one, where they might find work that lets them thrive.

It might be something that you totally love and you never knew you had the talent for, but youll never know until you put that foot forward and give it a try, she said.

Seaman mentioned the organization Women in HVACR as one place of support. People can find more information at https://www.womeninhvacr.org/.

Seaman has pursued other interests that have helped her to cultivate the sort of mentality she described.

I work with horses, and I am an endurance rider, she said. I already know that I have the ability to work through anything.

Seaman has coordinated the Fort Meade Endurance Ride for five years, and she also started, with her husband, the business L & M Service Specialists, in Rapid City.

For Hatfield, the work outside of class has already begun. Shes working as an assistant at Complete HVAC Service and Installation, in Rapid City.

I like residential work, she said, noting that she enjoys wiring and other intricate tasks. Part of what motivated her to take things apart when she was a child was a desire to figure out just how they worked.

Hatfield said she thinks women might be reluctant to enter the field simply because there are so many more men in it right now  not because of anything related to the work itself.

Thats something she and Seaman are working to change.

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Growing up in Hill City, the four Morris sisters shared one small bedroom, so sharing the large, 5-bedroom, 4-bath home they built together in Rapid City feels a little like coming home again.

The sisters, ranging in age from 60 to 70, are part of a growing demographic of U.S. women who find themselves single later in life. In South Dakota, about 77,000 women are age 65 or older, and approximately 34,000 of them are widowed, divorced or never married, according to the US Census.

Carol Morris Snyder, 67, was widowed in 2016 after 44 years of marriage. Peg Morris Schick, 70, lost her husband suddenly in 2017, just two months after the couple had relocated from their home in the mountains of Idaho to be closer to family in Rapid City.

Their many late-night phone conversations eventually led all the sisters, including Bev Morris, 63, and Donna Morris, 60, (the only one not living in Rapid City at the time) to discuss living together. While on a cruise together in early 2018, the idea blossomed. By June 2019, they were moving into a 3,700-square foot home located on an oversize lot in the Orchard Meadows subdivision just off Highway 44. It has an attached 4-car garage, a large mud room/laundry area, an exercise room, four separate bedroom/bath suites, and a fifth guest bedroom.

What it doesnt have is a single step anywhere. The one-level home, elderly-friendly and handicapped accessible, is where the four sisters expect to live out their lives together.

I Googled floor plans for 5-bedroom homes that were all on one level, said Peg. There arent any. So she took on the job herself. Pegs original blueprint, framed and hanging in one of the homes many hallways, is remarkably unchanged from what Rapid City contractor Daene Boomsma of Boom Construction eventually built for them.

People often tell them, Theres no way I could live with my sisters.

But the Morris sisters say their experience of pooling housing resources and sharing costs has exceeded all their expectations.

I tell my kids, its like magic, Donna said. I get up in the morning, and theres coffee already made. The dishwasher gets emptied, and I didnt have to do it. After so many years of being a single parent and living alone, Donna is still amazed that things get done and I didnt do it all.

I would recommend it, says Bev, Director of Human Resources for Coca-Cola in Rapid City. Housing is so expensive, that if you have people to share expenses with, its great. I really think its going to be the way for more people to go in the future.

Even furnishing and decorating the house was uneventful. The sisters chose paint colors, flooring, cabinetry, bathroom and lighting fixtures all in one day.

The poor guy who took us out on that trip thought he was going to be in for a heck of a day, Carol said. But it went really easy. We all kind of like the same things. It was amazingly easier than any of us expected.

If this seems astounding, just know that three of the four sisters once showed up at a family wedding wearing the exact same dress, just in three different colors.

The big, beautiful home they built together is much more house than any one of the sisters could afford on their own. Carol works as a bus aide for the Rapid City Area School District and Donna, retired from a 40-year management career in manufacturing in Denver, is also employed by the school district. Only Peg, affectionately known as the CFO of the Sisterhood is retired, but fills her days with volunteer work.

They each make a monthly deposit into a joint banking account to pay household expenses. A whiteboard in the kitchen keeps track of grocery needs, and everyone buys and cooks the foods they want. A property agreement covers ownership, resale, inheritance and other issues, should one of them choose to remarry or move away. We all live better, for less money, together, Bev said.

The sisters lead separate lives during the day, but evenings typically find them together in their spacious living room, which houses not one, but two, pianos. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are usually on one of the homes seven TVs while they make dinner. We feel like, collectively, we could clean up on Wheel of Fortune but on Jeopardy, we probably wouldnt do so good, Bev admits.

The sisters credit their success as roommates to the close, loving home where their parents raised seven kids in a 3-bedroom, 1-bath home in Hill City. They grew up cleaning rooms at the family-owned Cozy Motel, so they share similar housekeeping standards. Bev likes to vacuum and dust. Donna loves to organize cupboards. Keeping the kitchen clean is her domain. Carol and Peg do floors and everyone cleans their own bathroom. I admit to a certain amount of OCD, so the others know not to take offense when I come through a room straightening pillows and arranging coffee tables behind them, Bev said.

Sharing a home means they have built-in social, emotional and medical support systems, too. Peg says sudden widowhood was made more bearable with sisters. If my husband would have died while we were living in the isolated mountains of Idaho, it would have been a whole different story for me.

Their story now is one about four sisters who came back together to share a home once again. And this time, they each get their own bedroom.

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The campus of the South Dakota Mines in Rapid City is being evacuated due to a bomb threat, according to a news release.

Those being evacuated are being instructed to meet at the Main Events Center Building on the Central States Fairgrounds.

The Rapid City Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies are investigating the bomb threat made to the campus, according to a news release from the Rapid City Police Department.

"While no evidence of a real threat has been located at this time, all precautionary measures are being taken to ensure the safety of the campus as well as its students. This includes a precautionary evacuation of the university campus," the release states.

"Additionally, specialty law enforcement units have been called to the area to assist with the investigation of this threat."

Officials at SD Mines announced at 9 p.m., Friday that students would not be able to return to student housing tonight. They said if students need off campus housing, they have secured several beds at Camp Rapid.

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" " The pumpkin pie we know and love today isn't quite what it was when people first started using pumpkins as fillings in the Middle Ages. istetiana/Getty Images

Holidays in the United States just aren't as comforting or festive without pumpkin pie. (And honestly, where would Starbucks be without its pumpkin spice lattes?) But, think about this: Pumpkin pie is a pie. Filled with squash. Who in the world decided to fill a pie with a squash?

The history of how pumpkin pie became so popular is a story that smashes together medieval traditions, indigenous food from Africa and the Americas, and the most sought-after goods of ancient trade routes through Asia and the Middle East.

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The Pie's Past

But first let's start simply with the pie, which was more popular during the Middle Ages in Europe than it is in the U.S. today, according to Ken Albala, professor of history at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He's also author of more than 25 books about food and food history, including "Food in Early Modern Europe." "There were a lot of pies, fruits, meat, fish, vegetables," Albala says in an email.

In medieval times, pies looked much different than the ones we know today. And people didn't eat the crusts. (Heartbreaking!) Instead, pie crusts were made of a dough that was thick and bland  not flaky and buttery  and were most often single-use food serving vessels. Medieval pies, Albala explains, were made freeform without a pie plate, so they stood higher than what we're used to seeing in pies today. "[The people] poured hot gelatinous gravy into a hole at the top to keep air out," Albala says. "And often, but I don't think always, [they] broke open the pie and scooped out the contents, throwing away the crust."

But that ended around the 15th century and people stopped tossing out crusts. When European settlers arrived in North America, eating pie crust became normal and a very important part of life. Food was scarce, especially during winters, and eating pie crust became a great way to stretch small amounts of food to feed hungry people. By the 17th century, eating "a slice" was the way to savor pie.

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Pumpkin Pie Filling

As for the filling: In Medieval Europe, there was no pumpkin. Instead, Europeans made pies with gourd fillings, favoring varieties that originated in Africa. Thanks to the Columbian Exchange  the exchange of plants, food, animals, microbes, people and culture brought about by the European visits to the North and Central America  Europeans got their first taste of pumpkins. While it took years for them to warm up to some foods from North, Central and South America (things like potatoes and tomatoes were considered poisonous), they took to pumpkins quickly because they were similar to the gourds, with better flavor.

"Pumpkin pie as we know it is fundamentally medieval," Albala says. "Pumpkin spice is a classic medieval combination."

And the spice combination that we today associate with autumn, comfort and longer lines at coffee shops? In the Middle Ages, it wasn't just used for squash pies. A similar spice combination was used in everything during that time period. Not only did it taste good, those same spices were also considered a status symbol that wealthy people used to flaunt their riches. Sugar was rare, too. If you could offer guests a feast featuring spices, sugar and vegetables from the New World, you were rolling.

"You find the cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg combo everywhere up into the 16th century," Albala says. "By then they were often combined with sugar, too. There are standard and 'poudre fort' combinations that are spicier with pepper, sometimes grains of paradise. But what we think of as pumpkin spice goes into most recipes, until French haute cuisine in the 17th century begins to banish them to the end of the meal, along with sweets."

Here's a very early recipe for pumpkin pie  then called "pumpion pie"  published in the British cookbook, The Accomplisht Cook, from 1685:

"Take a pound of pumpion and slice it, a handful of thyme, a little rosemary, and sweet marjoram stripped off the stalks, chop them small, then take cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and a few cloves all beaten, also ten eggs, and beat them, then mix and beat them all together, with as much sugar as you think fit, then fry them like a froise, after it is fried, let it stand till it is cold, then fill your pie with this manner. Take sliced apples sliced thin round ways, and lay a layer of the froise, and a layer of apples with currants betwixt the layers. While your pie is sitted, put in a good deal of sweet butter before your close it. When the pie is baked, take six yolks of eggs, some white-wine or verjuyce, and make a caudle of this, but not too thick, but cut up the lid, put it in, and stir them well together whilst the eggs and pumpion be not perceived, and so serve it up."

" " Baking pumpkin pie during the Thanksgiving holiday has become almost as traditional as the holiday itself. GMVozd/Getty Images

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Colonists Claim Pumpkin Pie

Ultimately, by the 18th century, the British lost their love for pumpkin pie and began to negatively associate pumpkins with Native Americans. They instead preferred apple, pear and quince pies, which they considered more sophisticated.

But at the same time, colonists in America began to make pumpkin pie on their own. "American Cookery" by Amelia Simmons is considered by food historians to be a kind of "culinary Declaration of Independence" from England. It's the first cookbook ever written by an American featuring ingredients indigenous to America and published in America. Simmons' recipe for pumpkin pie:

"One quart stewed and strained pumpkin, 3 pints cream, 9 beaten eggs, sugar, mace, nutmeg and ginger, laid into paste No. 7 or 3, and with a dough spur, cross and checquer it, and baked in dishes three quarters of an hour."

Simmons' recipe is very close to what we recognize today as traditional pumpkin pie, with one exception: Her recipe calls for a top crust. By the early 1800s, pumpkin pie became a single crust pie  and a mainstay of American cuisine and Thanksgiving feasts.

Now That's Sweet If you prefer your pie the morning after Thanksgiving with a cup of coffee, you're upholding another American tradition. Up until the late 19th century, people regularly ate breakfast pie, including flavors like pumpkin and apple. Breakfast pie was on hotel and restaurant menus and held a regular spot on the breakfast menus in the homes of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes.
The companys goal is to provide fresh produce that uses water more efficiently, that does not need to be shipped thousands of miles to store shelves, and that will have a longer shelf life than most other products due to shortened storage time.

The other co-founders of Greenswell Growers are Doug Pick, the president and CEO of Feed More, the hunger relief agency that operates Virginias largest food bank, and John May, a retired technology industry professional and president and CEO of the Center for Innovation and Development in Kilmarnock.

Greenswell Growers is in discussions with six retail businesses to sell its leafy greens at stores, Metzgar said. The company also will donate 5% of its production volume to Feed More to supply its food banks, which serve 29 counties and five cities in central Virginia.

This whole company started because Chuck [Metzgar] and I wanted to provide better food to the food-insecure population of central Virginia, Pick said.

Feed More provided about 42 million pounds of food in 2020, Pick said. That was up from 32 million in 2019, largely because the pandemic increased the number of food-insecure people from about 162,000 people to about 241,000 in the region that Feed More serves.
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The VDH has emphasized its commitment to adopting these strategies throughout the rollout, but Balkrishnan said knowing the immediate impact of them is incredibly difficult without monitoring the infection and hospitalization rates in low-income neighborhoods with higher concentrations of Black and Latino people.

They just need to be particularly reinforced in areas where there are high-risk populations and populations which potentially could just slip away, he said. All of these departments are clearly understaffed and underfunded, but I think its about time that we start doing that across different districts.

Other concerted efforts Balkrishnan said could make a difference include public health departments having programs in place specifically geared toward populations with less access to resources and medical care that do not idle as mass efforts such as community vaccine centers are underway.

Without doing so, Balkrishnan said, theres a decent chance the widening gap of risk between the least vaccinated and most vaccinated will overlap with a widening crack in disparities.

Logan Anderson, spokesperson for the VDH, said the agencys primary focus continues to be reaching those who have yet to get their first dose as they face the highest risk of severe disease.
Chesterfield Countys attempt to redraw its district lines has drawn criticism from residents and the countys Democratic Party, who say the changes unfairly give incumbents on the Republican-controlled Board of Supervisors an easier path to re-election. County officials and the boards only elected Democrat, whose district is likely to gain more Democratic votes in the process, say accusations of gerrymandering are unfounded.

Redistricting is legally required every 10 years after the latest census data is released to ensure the county is sliced up into similarly sized pieces so a vote in any district carries similar weight.

Now home to 364,00 people, Chesterfields population shot up nearly 15% in the past decade  an increase of nearly 50,000 people  growth largely driven by an influx in residents of color.

In the proposed redistricting plan, presented to the Board of Supervisors last month, all but one of the countys five districts is being adjusted.
Last week, the Youngkin campaign rolled out an ad featuring a mother who sought to ban the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved by Black author Toni Morrison from Fairfax County Public Schools.

The woman in the ad, Laura Murphy, says Youngkin supports parents ability to opt their children out of school content they find too explicit. At the time, Murphy said she wanted the book removed altogether until the district put in place new policies related to explicit material. The ad attacks McAuliffe for vetoing a bill when he was governor that would have allowed parents to block their children from reading books in school that contain sexually explicit material.

The ad doesnt mention Morrisons novel, but a Washington Post article from 2013 includes an interview with Murphys son, who read the book as a student, calling the book disgusting.

Beloved, which is at times violent, details the gruesome plight of former slaves after the American Civil War through the eyes of a Black woman.
The Grace Place Apartments faulty elevators were a daily worry for Jesse Williams.

The 60-year-old is paralyzed below the waist and relies on a wheelchair. So the elevators were the only way for him to get to the eighth-floor apartment he has called home for more than six years in the nearly century-old high-rise at the corner of North Fourth and East Grace streets.

Earlier this year, the buildings elevator broke down midtrip, trapping him for about an hour. It was the third or fourth time it had happened, he said. On another occasion, the elevator wouldnt budge from the ground floor, stranding him in the lobby. He called 911, and the fire department came to try to fix it, he said.

Last week, Richmonds fire marshal and city code inspectors deemed Grace Place unsafe for residents. Forty-two of the 58 units were occupied at the time. Williams was one of dozens displaced with little notice, and given only a few hours to pack belongings. He left with one change of clothes. Medical supplies he needs and an electric wheelchair he was in the process of getting fixed are still locked in his apartment.

I got put out of my own place, he said in an interview. Thats unfair to a person in a wheelchair.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex will begin fining shipping companies if they let cargo containers stack up as the nation's busiest twin harbors deal with an unprecedented backlog of vessels.

The Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor commissions voted Friday to implement a 90-day container excess dwell fee that sets time limits on how long containers can stay at marine terminals.

About 40% of all shipping containers entering the U.S. come through the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. The number of ships waiting to unload has risen to record volumes.

As of Friday, there were 153 ships at anchor, berthed or loitering"  cruising while awaiting dock space  and more than 100 of those were container ships, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, which monitors port vessel traffic.

Ships anchored at the complex have well over a half-million containers on board, officials said. They hold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of toys, electronics, clothing and furniture.

Were going through a significant crisis, Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, told that harbor commission on Friday.
McAuliffe staffers promoted a reporters tweet about the groups appearance, using it to attack Youngkin and suggesting that those holding the torches were his supporters.

Youngkin staffers accused the McAuliffe campaign or Virginia Democrats of being involved, drawing disavowals.

What happened today is disgusting and distasteful and we condemn it in the strongest terms. Those involved should immediately apologize, McAuliffe campaign manager Chris Bolling said in a statement.

The Democratic Party of Virginia issued a statement saying neither the party nor its coordinated partners and affiliates had anything to do with the events at the campaign bus stop.

The Lincoln Project then weighed in, saying it was behind what it called a demonstration.

The Youngkin campaign is enraged by our reminder of Charlottesville for one simple reason: Glenn Youngkin wants Virginians to forget that he is Donald Trumps candidate, the group said of the former president.
Wilder and his former secretary of education, Jim Dyke, wrote a letter to Northam in June asking him to commit $50 million in federal emergency money to each of the states HBCUs, including the private institutions.

Northam and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly did not allocate money to the institutions from the $4.3 billion it received under the American Rescue Plan Act, but all five have received almost $300 million in direct federal aid from the act and two other emergency packages passed by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Northam and the Democratic assembly also have pumped up state funding for Virginia State and Norfolk State  an additional $7 million each in this years budget and more than $15 million between them last year.

The whole notion of the General Assembly not supporting our Black colleges and universities is totally a lie, said House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian, D-Prince William, a Black minister who is the first African American to lead the budget committee. Its very misleading and its very disappointing.

Torian also faults Youngkin for campaigning against the teaching of critical race theory in public schools because he said its not part of the curriculum for K-12 in Virginia. Its a total lie, he said.
When I arrived home and saw the news, I was just as shocked and horrified as everyone else to see that people had entered the Capitol. It was a tragic day, and one we wont soon forget.

A U.S. House panel is investigating the Capitol insurrection, in which hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump  in an effort to prevent certification of the election of President Joe Biden  broke into the Capitol. They repeated Trumps false claim that he won the election, in what became a deadly riot.

In August, Lockhart criticized McGuires presence at the Capitol that day, saying it is grounds for voters to replace him in office.

Lockhart said in an interview Friday that constituents want answers from McGuire before the Tuesday election so they can make an informed decision.

They have so many questions and he has not answered a single one, she said. My hope right now is that he clarifies this, his actions, before the election.
Michael McDermott has been clean from using drugs or alcohol for nearly 30 years, and hes spent much of that time as an advocate for those like him in recovery.

He shares helpful information on the website of FAVOR  Faces and Voices of Recovery of Virginia (favorva.org).

On his website is a chart he made showing monthly EMS response data for overdoses in Virginia by jurisdiction from January 2017 to November 2020.

He got the Microsoft Excel data three separate times from the states Office of Emergency Medical Services, part of the Virginia Department of Health. And the trends showed overdoses going up between 2017 and 2020  evidence, McDermott says, that what the states doing to combat substance abuse isnt working.

But McDermott said he hasnt been able to get the same data this year.

He said he spent months going back and forth on the phone and email with the Office of Emergency Medical Services, where the associate director eventually told him theyd get him the 2021 data by Sept. 30.
In early March, I learned I was seven weeks pregnant. By the end of the month, I had found out that I had miscarried and undergone treatment that I did not know had been unsuccessful. The story of this treatment  and the subsequent months of confusion as I tried to get pregnant again  is intimately bound up with many womens accounts of their own abortions, and it speaks directly to the latest abortion restrictions emerging in the United States.

Unlike many people who experience miscarriage, I didnt have any pain or bleeding to indicate what had happened. I didnt find out about the miscarriage until after my routine first trimester ultrasound at around nine weeks, after which my doctor called to tell me that the embryo that would have become a fetus was too small for what it should be at nine weeks, and it didnt have a heartbeat  all of which was consistent with miscarriage. Id had what doctors call a missed or silent miscarriage, a condition in which the fetus does not form or has died, but the mothers body does not expel the tissue.
A cornerstone of our American democracy is a free, fair and secure election process. Regardless of your party affiliation, you need to be assured the process encourages eligible voters to vote and that their choices are accurately recorded and counted.

Thousands of Virginians passionately defend this cornerstone. More than 133 certified registrars who follow 470 pages of Virginia election law operate year-round to ensure it. And when election season comes around, another 15,000 Virginians join the process as poll watchers, precinct captains and other roles.

These are your friends and neighbors  people you see in the grocery store, or at church or while walking in your neighborhood. They are trained and retrained to be on the front lines of the election to ensure a free and fair process with an accurate outcome decided by the majority of voters. They show up and work hard to protect your vote and the collective wishes of your community.

These guardians are the front line of a process that the Virginia Department of Elections has in place to ensure your elections are not susceptible to subterfuge. These are your defenders of democracy.
In that moment, I knew I had an advocate and needed to feel empowered to advocate for myself. He was the first of many managers I have had at CIA who always have ensured I had the tools necessary to do my job. That day, I also began to internalize an idea the CIA embraces  that our agencys mission to protect the United States is too important for people to be unable to do their jobs because of accessibility concerns, unequal access or discrimination. Diversity and inclusion efforts enable our mission.

Unlike my early days as an intern, though, I now fully embrace what it can mean to be a disabled officer at CIA. I am one of the leaders of Wayfinders, a CIA resource group dedicated to improving accessibility and educating the workforce about disability issues. Our group holds workshops at which officers from across the agency can ask questions about what it is like living and working with a disability. CIA also is advancing its strategic goal to become an Employer of Choice through a renewed commitment to improving workplace accessibility.
Weve reached the top 10 because so many Virginians have worked so hard for so long, Northam said in a statement. Its something we can all be proud of. Vaccines will soon be available for children, and thousands of adults are getting boosters. This is all great news.

State-level vaccination successes are worth highlighting. But the duration and severity of this pandemic will not be decided within the commonwealths borders or on a list of U.S. state rankings. At all levels of government, COVID vaccine messaging must pivot away from being an arms race and toward global collaboration.

On Oct. 25, The Financial Times reported on the failures of COVAX, a public-private partnership designed to deliver equitable access to all countries. The Times noted that low-income countries have received 9.3 vaccines per 100 people (7.1 through COVAX), versus 155 doses in wealthier nations.
There are numerous industry guidelines in place to assure the safe use of real guns as props on the sets of TV and film shoots.

Firearms, even those modified not to accommodate real bullets, are checked and rechecked before they are handed off to actors, who should then check the weapons themselves. An armorer or someone with special training should always have custody of the guns and oversee their handling. No real bullets should ever be used on a set.

But those guidelines only work if they are followed meticulously. And there is evidence that they werent on the set of the movie Rust, where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was tragically killed this month when actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun that he and others on the set believed held no live ammunition.

Since guns pose such a profound danger and post-production special effects can create the look and sound of a gunshot, its time for Hollywood to voluntarily stop using real guns  no matter how modified they may be.
Harry Wilson, a senior political analyst for the Roanoke College poll, said Tuesday could end up being a very late election night or even week.

Turnout, turnout, turnout. With both candidates claiming more than 90% of the votes from their party, it is a question of who votes, said Wilson, senior political analyst for the Roanoke College Poll. Youngkin leads among independents, so McAuliffe needs to turn out more Democrats.

Virginia Democrats have done that for several elections in a row, but the significant enthusiasm gap suggests they may not be able to do it in 2021.

The poll showed Democrats holding slight leads in the other major Virginia races.

Del. Hala Ayala, D-Prince William, leads her Republican opponent and former Del. Winsome Sears 46% to 44% in the race for lieutenant governor.

Attorney General Mark Herring leads Del. Jason Miyares, R-Virginia Beach, 46% to 45% in the attorney general race.

The poll results include other key figures on potential voters themselves and candidate ratings.

Forty-nine percent of Republicans say they are extremely enthusiastic about voting, compared with 32% of Democrats, according to the poll.
I made clear on my feed in other tweets that homophobia was wrong and certainly not something I believe in or support. I was engaging in a clear back and forth dialogue with my many followers about not exposing children to any kind of sexualization in Comic Books. Including heterosexuals, and I even mentioned Christian characters not being appropriate as well, Nelson wrote. Any fair and complete reading of my entire Twitter thread on October 11th, shows that to be the absolute truth.

What has happened at CNU over the past weeks has been disappointing to me. We are now the next college in the spotlight for cancel culture, she wrote.

Nelson said in her letter that she was hurt because the students were hurt. Though shes tried different ways to communicate with faculty and staff, she feels the events unfolding at CNU have gone too far. She read a story on Fox News Wednesday about Honeycutts petition calling her comments racist and homophobic. Nelson said she was shell-shocked and said thats where she had to draw the line.
" " There are two kinds of plutonium: reactor-grade and weapons-grade. rigsbyphoto/Shutterstock

On Aug. 25, 2012, about 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) away from the sun, the NASA probe Voyager 1 left the heliosphere, boldly going where no object had gone before. By crossing that boundary, Voyager 1 traveled beyond the solar system and entered interstellar space, a historic first.

Look at the bottom row of a (traditional) periodic table and you'll find the element that made this cosmic adventure possible: plutonium.

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What Is Plutonium?

First identified in the 1940s, plutonium has been used for both creative and destructive purposes. The late physicist John Goffman once called plutonium "the element of the lord of hell." A linguist might be inclined to agree.

But first a bit more about this element. Every atom of plutonium contains 94 protons. By contrast, there are only 92 protons per uranium atom and 93 in each neptunium atom.

Since those two elements were both named after the ancient gods  and planets  Uranus and Neptune, plutonium got the same treatment.

"Plutonium was discovered by Glenn Seaborg and co-workers at Berkeley Laboratory (CA) in late 1940," says Peter C. Burns, a chemist at the University of Notre Dame, in an email.

Ten years earlier, astronomers had observed a new dwarf planet near Neptune. To honor the Roman god of the underworld, it was dubbed "Pluto." And plutonium derives its name from that heavenly body.

Originally, Seaborg and company were able to produce plutonium by using a cyclotron particle accelerator at Berkeley. With this device, particles called "deuterons" were fired at a uranium sample. The experiment created a small amount of neptunium, which then became plutonium through a decaying process.

The first weighable plutonium sample was created at the University of Chicago Aug. 20, 1942. By that point, some parties had recognized the element's military potential.

Plutonium atoms always come with 94 protons. But the neutron count can vary, and chemists refer to these variations as "isotopes." Uranium has isotopes as well. One of these, called uranium-235 (U-235), was soon identified as a potential fuel source for atomic bombs. Shortly after its discovery, plutonium entered the conversation as another way to power nuclear weapons. The Atomic Age was about to begin.

Today, for all practical purposes, there are two kinds of plutonium: reactor-grade and weapons-grade. Plutonium was the key ingredient behind "Fat Man," the nuclear bomb that decimated Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945, killing tens of thousands of people and effectively ending World War II.

" " The Trinity explosion, seen here 16 milliseconds after detonation, was the first nuclear explosion on Earth. It had a plutonium core. Los Alamos National Laboratory

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Plutonium and Weapons

Plutonium used for military purposes is recovered from uranium fuel that has been irradiated for two to three months in a plutonium production reactor. It takes about 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of nearly pure plutonium-239 isotope (Pu-239) to make a bomb. That type of bomb requires 30 megawatt-years of nuclear reactor operation, with constant fuel changes and reprocessing of the 'hot' fuel, according to the World Nuclear Association. That's why "weapons-grade" plutonium is made in special reactors that increase the concentration of the higher isotopes of plutonium.

The first atomic bomb explosion on Earth took place July 16, 1945. It was in New Mexico, and it was strong enough to be felt 100 miles (160 kilometers) away. It was part of the Manhattan Project's top-secret "Trinity Nuclear Test" at the Alamogordo Bombing Range. The device in question had a plutonium core; no uranium-based nukes were deployed for the experiment.

Subsequently, the U.S. dropped a U-235 nuclear bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima Aug. 6, 1945. Three days later, the U.S. dropped a second bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" on Nagasaki. Just like the weapon tested in New Mexico that summer, the Nagasaki bomb relied on plutonium.

"[It] will never be known for certain how many people died as a result of the atomic attack on Nagasaki," reports the U.S. Department of Energy's official website. According to their best estimate, "40,000 people died initially, with 60,000 more injured." Over the coming months and years, the ultimate death total may have climbed to 140,000 or more. The Nagasaki Peace Park hosts an annual ceremony to honor their memories every August.

The biggest issue today with the weapons-grade plutonium stockpile is what to do with it. The U.S. is estimated to currently have 96.6 tons (87.7 metric tons) of plutonium  and a storage problem. Much of it is currently stored in a building at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

" " A Malmstrom Air Force Base missile maintenance team removes the upper section of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a Montana missile site. The section was picked at random for a test launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, in August. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman John Parie

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Plutonium and Power

Today more than one-third of the energy produced at nuclear power plants comes from plutonium. The United States, however, doesn't have any facilities that rely on plutonium for energy.

The most common plutonium isotope formed in a nuclear reactor is Pu-239, which is created by neutron capture from depleted uranium (U-238). When fissioned, Pu-239 can have as much energy as enriched uranium (U-235), which is also used in nuclear weapons.

Historically, another plutonium isotope, Pu-238, was used to power the batteries in some commercial pacemakers. Those medical devices went out of style as lithium-powered alternatives hit the market.

But in the final frontier, plutonium remains a valuable commodity.

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Plutonium and Deep Space

"The most significant, lesser-known use of plutonium is for power generation during space exploration," Burns says. "Plutonium-238 emits a lot of heat when it undergoes radioactive decay, and this heat can be used in a thermoelectric generator to produce electricity."

Pu-238 has many qualities that make the isotope very attractive to engineers working for space agencies. For starters, you don't need much of it to generate a whole lot of heat, which can then be converted into electricity.

Then there's the half-life, a metric that tells you how long it'll take half of the atoms in a given radioactive isotope to decay and transform into something else. With a respectable half-life of 88 years, Pu-238 can keep rovers and space probes running for decades on end.

Far away from the sun, in places where the star's rays are weak and dim, solar-powered satellites aren't going to perform that well. Meanwhile, Mars rovers that depend on sunlight (like the now-defunct Opportunity Rover) have to contend with the dust from passing storms that can smother their panels and impede battery function.

For these reasons, Pu-238 is a great fit for both Martian and deep-space exploration. So far, Pu-238 has powered at least 30 U.S. space vehicles. The Perseverance Rover that touched down on the Red Planet in February 2021 has a generator fueled by Pu-238. So do far-flung spacecrafts like Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which have been touring the solar system ( and beyond) since 1977.

" " This illustration shows the position of NASAs Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes, outside of the heliosphere, a protective bubble created by the Sun that extends well past the orbit of Pluto. Both are powered by plutonium. NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Plutonium and Toxicity

Plutonium is radioactive, though you'll likely never be exposed to it. Robert M. Hazen at the Carnegie Institution for Science says there "are no natural sources" of plutonium. "It has to be made through breeder reactors, so all plutonium in use on Earth is human made," he explains via email.

It can be released into the environment, though, via an industrial plant, or from a container, however the levels of plutonium in air, water, soil and food are extremely low. However, if you are exposed, it would likely be through breathing in radiated aerosols or skin contact. And many factors will determine whether exposure will harm you, including how much, how long and how you came in contact with the plutonium.

When you breathe it in, some plutonium will get trapped in your lungs and will move to your bones and liver. If you swallow it via food, a trace amount can also spread to your bones and liver. If you touch plutonium, very little  if any  will enter your body, but it can burn the skin that came into contact with it. So while it is a radioactive element, plutonium is far from being "the most toxic substance known to man," as activist Ralph Nader once proclaimed.

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING Glenn Seaborg became the first person to ever have a newfound element named after him during his lifetime when seaborgium  Element 106 on the periodic table  was christened in the 1990s.
 Notably high-profile cases now the focus of parole decision-making | Main | California Supreme Court turns back broad challenge to state capital procedures 

August 26, 2021

Might Oklahoma really try to move forward with seven executions over the next six months?

The question in the title of this post is prompted by this new local article headlined "Oklahoma AG requests execution dates for seven state death row inmates." Here are the basics:

Oklahoma Attorney General John OConnor late Wednesday asked the Court of Criminal Appeals to set execution dates for seven death row inmates, including Julius Jones. The action comes after the state put the death penalty on hold following the 2014 botched execution of Clayton Lockett, the 2015 execution of Charles Warner using the wrong drug, a review of the protocol and litigation. OConnor asked that Jones execution date be set for Oct. 28. Jones, who has waged a public relations campaign claiming innocence, is set for a Sept. 13 commutation hearing before the Pardon and Parole Board. However, with the OConnor filing seeking an execution date, that could change to a clemency hearing a later date, said Tom Bates, Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board director. The board has scheduled a meeting for next week to discuss the potential resumption of executions and the scheduling of clemency hearings. Jones was convicted of the 1999 murder of Edmond businessman Paul Howell. OConnor asked the court to set a Feb. 10 execution date for James Allen Coddington, who was sentenced to death for the 1997 killing of Albert Hale in Oklahoma County. He also requested that a Dec. 30 execution date be set for Donald Anthony Grant. He was sentenced to death for the 2001 murders of Del City motel workers Brenda McElyea and Suzette Smith. An Oct. 7 date was requested by John Marion Grant Grant, who was sentenced for the 1998 killing of Gray Carter, a prison kitchen worker at the Dick Connor Correctional Center in Hominy. Wade Greely Lay, sentenced to death for the 2004 killing of a Tulsa security guard Kenny Anderson, was petitioned to be sentenced on Dec. 9. The court was also asked to set a Jan. 20 execution date for Gilbert Ray Postelle. Postelle was convicted at trial of killing four people in 2005 outside a trailer in Del City. He received the death penalty for two of the murders. A execution date of Nov.18 was requested for Bigler Jobe Stouffer. Stouffer was sentenced to death for the 1985 killing of Putnam City teacher Linda Reaves.

I believe there have only been four state executions nationwide since the start of the pandemic nearly 18 months ago, so I am inclined to assume that this request for multiple execution dates over the next six months from the Oklahoma AG is mostly a symbolic effort primarily intended to signal the AG's eagerness to move forward with executions and to keep capital proceedings moving along. But when former US AG William Barr announced his intent in 2019 to restart federal executions after a long delay, I underestimated just how effectual a motivated AG could be in getting the machinery of death back in action. So stay tuned.

August 26, 2021 at 12:42 PM | Permalink

Comments

A bit ironic that the state where a key Supreme Court case showing the justices (including Kennedy) was not in the mood to take very seriously the idea that lethal injection can be problematic (only more firmly later on in an opinion by Gorsuch) arose out of Oklahoma.

Only a bit -- repeatedly, these cases rejected by the Supreme Court turn out to not result in an execution. The state courts or some other state action results in blocking the execution. Here, we had an extended moratorium.

As Prof. Lain recently noted, time has not made lethal injection seem much more reliable overall. But, since 1990, Oklahoma executed over 100 people. So, yes, I can see them wanting to get back into the execution business. 3-5 executions seem possible.

Next up anyway is Texas, next month.

Posted by: Joe | Aug 26, 2021 8:25:13 PM

I could have sworn the death machinery there was already running in high gear. After all, they had 14 more COVID fatalities just in the last 48 hours or so. Then you also have the thousands of recent new cases. So throwing in another 7 deaths from executions just seems like gilding the lily at that point. But I guess it gives an idea of what the state views as its biggest priority.

https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-reports-more-than-4100-new-covid-19-cases/37406568

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/education/2021/07/23/oklahoma-governor-kevin-stitt-rules-out-school-mask-mandates-not-planning-covid-emergency-order/8071575002/

Posted by: kotodama | Aug 27, 2021 11:01:35 AM

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A Street Feast event (Street Feast)

The entrepreneur behind London street-food festival phenomenon Street Feast today pledged that none of its high-profile backers would lose out from the operators financial collapse.

Culinary stars including Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Heston Blumenthal were among 300 investors in the venture, which was founded by Jonathan Downey in 2012.

Gary Lineker, restaurant critic Giles Coren, and Wahacas Thomasina Miers have also been named as shareholders in the liquidators report published this week.

Downey initially sought backers to fund creation of a world-leading food market on the site of historic Smithfield General Market in Farringdon.

When that plan ran aground, he and his team pivoted to picking up leases on derelict and disused spaces in London, transforming them into urban arenas hosting Instagram-friendly pop-up food festivals.

At its height, Street Feast was a millennial touchstone with hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and annual revenues above 12million.

It hosted regular events featuring DJ sets, cocktail bars and a roster of independent stalls serving dirty burgers, bao buns, fusion tacos and global street food.

But papers filed to Companies House show the company, since renamed 100 Clifton, crashed last autumn with debts of around 2.1 million including unpaid salaries, rents and tax, with cash in the bank of 52,000.

Downey said: A lot of our backers were already rich and successful and werent investing for financial gain but were giving us their support as we tried to create something great for London.

(Daniel Lynch)

Sadly because of Covid that didnt happen, but nobodys going to get burned."

Street Feasts industrial-chic venues included Hawker House in Canada Water; Giant Robot in Canary Wharf; Model Market in Lewisham and Dinerama in Shoreditch.

But the business, like thousands across the UK, was knocked sideways by the pandemic and the chaotic stop-start reopening of the hospitality sector that followed.

Story continues

Downey said he lost eight years of his life and a paper fortune pegged at 25 million from the collapse but nevertheless intends to revive the concept once the threat of further lockdowns has fully lifted.

Jonathan Downey

With the majority of Street Feasts sites now back in the hands of their landlords, and the founders bruised by their experience, it is possible this will be outside the capital.

The Incipio Group is turning the Giant Robot site into a City version of its Pergola restaurant concept while Dinerama is being developed into a 12-storey hotel and office block.

The liquidators report shows big name backers also include chefs Yotam Ottolenghi, Gizzi Erskine, Bill Granger, Jose Pizarro and Stevie Parle; food critics Tom Parker-Bowles and Marina OLoughlin; and Polpo founders Russell Norman and Richard Beatty.

Downey said the majority of investors backed the company through the governments start-up accelerator the Enterprise Investment Scheme, with much of the outlay covered by tax relief and failure protection.

He said: The business was killed because of the lockdowns and government restrictions. We also had some very difficult landlords.

Some of them have now brought in new operators, a bit like a cuckoo taking over someone elses nest.

He added: Dinerama was a car park. It was 12000 sq ft of concrete. We got a licence, planning permission, spent a million pounds building that site.. then some other company gets to take it over because we can no longer operate due to Covid restrictions.

Weve been completely screwed over. But well be back.
Good day Helaine and Joe:

I have two pieces I would like information about  approximate age, origin and estimated value. One is a rocking chair; the other is a small cabinet.

Many thanks,

D. G.

Dear D. G.:

Sorry, Charles Dickens, this is a tale of two pieces of furniture, not of two cities.

The first piece is a French-style cabinet with a brass gallery and two doors. One door has a scene of a sedate yet slightly coy-looking woman standing under a tree. The facing door has a lad in a Renaissance era hat playing a flute while dancing or strutting.

The quality of the painting is decorative and not meant to be the work of a master artist. Both pictures have brass surrounds, and painted flowers are around the brass frames." The cabinet has cabriole legs with brass caps and is in the Louis XV style. It is supposed to resemble a piece made in France in the 18th century, but it was not made at that time.

It is a type of furniture often called Vernis Martin after a type of lacquer or japanned surface used by the Martin brothers, who were named Vernisseurs du Roi (or Varnishers to the King) by Louis XV. The Martin brothers  Guillaume, Etienne-Simon, Robert and Julien  were essentially trying to imitate Chinese lacquer with European-themed subjects.

Their wares  and those who imitated them  ranged from snuff boxes to carriages, and their decoration style persists to this day. Despite all the damage to the veneer we see around the bottom of the doors and the apron that might suggest great age, this piece is probably first quarter of the 20th century  circa 1920  and was made as a reproduction for decorative purposes. Where it was made is the question.

The examples that were actually made in France at this time are generally marked Made in France, so this very well may be an American creation made in Michigan, Illinois or some other furniture-making locale. It is antique or nearly antique, but it is viewed as an elegant piece of decor by stuffy old purists like us. Vernis Martin furniture tends to bring good money when sold and this cabinet, even with its condition problems, should be valued in the $1,200 to $1,600 range.

This brings us to the rocking chair, which we believe started out life as an armchair and had the rockers added later. We cannot be sure because we do not have a good side view, but in the photograph we have, the legs look shortened. This is not uncommon. In our view, this is an elegant chair with added rockers. And we feel this is a little like putting roller skates on your 100-year-old great-grandmother.

We like this piece, despite our opinion about the rockers, and feel it started out life as an English Edwardian armchair circa 1900. There was probably a matching piece at one time. As with the cabinet, the painted design is decorative rather than artistic. But it is charming and should be valued in the $450 to $600 range.

(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson have written a number of books on antiques. Do you have an item youd like to know more about? Contact them at Joe Rosson, 2504 Seymour Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917, or email them at treasures@knology.net. If youd like your question to be considered for their column, please include a high-resolution photo of the subject, which must be in focus, with your inquiry.)

2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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A great job and a strong credit score should qualify you for the best terms on a car loan. But if you are not careful, you still could end up paying far more than you need to.

According to two new studies from Consumer Reports magazine and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), what you pay to finance your car might not depend as much on your finances as you might hope. Both studies found rates for auto financing range widely, even for those who qualify as less risky customers.

While a number of factors are at play, the findings raise troubling questions about how equitably the car-loan industry is treating its diverse population of customers. Consumer Reports concluded that dealers and lenders may be setting rates not only based on risk  standard loan underwriting practice  but also partly what they think they can get away with.

The magazine, which is also an advocacy group, is calling on the CFPB to investigate that possibility, and is also urging consumers to sign a petition asking the agency to do that. While it may be a long time before auto lenders  and other institutions  correct their flaws, in the meantime there are steps you can take to make sure you get the best possible rate.

Refinancing Your Auto Loan Could Lower Your Monthly Payments An auto refinance loan is a secured loan used to pay the existing balance on a current car loan.

Similar customers, differing rates. What gives?

Some of the disparities the studies found in rates are stark, even for comparable borrowers buying the same or similar cars. Consumer Reports cites two $18,000 loans by GMs financing arm to similarly well-qualified California buyers to buy 2017 Chevrolet Traxs. One buyer received a rate of 4.1%, the other a whopping 14.1%.

The CFPB report focused on buyers with subprime credit and found the APRs charged to those less qualified customers varied from 10% to more than 20%.

To some extent, according to the CFPB study, disparities in how similar customers and loan applications are treated can be credited to the type of lenders they visited, along with such factors as how financially prepared the particular place is to absorb losses from loan defaults.

But Consumer Reports concluded those hard factors go only so far to explain the differences across the marketplace. Data on car-loan buyers is scarcer than for those who get mortgages, whose race, age, and sex are tracked by the federal government.

But the magazine says research suggests race plays a role in the terms of car financing. A 2021 study co-published by Erik Mayer, assistant finance professor at Southern Methodist Universitys Cox School of Business, found that nonwhite borrowers pay more on average for auto loans than similarly situated white consumers.

Daily Money

Every day we publish the latest news, stories, and content on the financial topics that matter. This is your daily guide to all things personal finance.

What the findings mean for car loan shoppers

Both Consumer Reports and the CFPB say further research is required to better identify the underlying reasons for the unpredictability in what consumers may pay for car financing. Until that work is done, heres how to best protect yourself when shopping for a car loan.

Get pre-approval before you shop

While the dealer will invariably pitch you financing, even for a used car, dont make it the only place you shop for a loan. We recommend getting pre-approved for a car loan of up to a certain amount even before you begin to kick tires at dealerships. The dealer may eventually be able to offer a better deal on financing, but having a loan secured ahead of time gives you a strong starting point for getting the best deal.

Even if you have no pre-approval yet, consider telling the salesperson you plan to get one. And in advance of beginning to shop, research the current range in APRs and other loan terms being offered to borrowers like you, so you can credibly say youve looked into rates and look forward to seeing the best offer from this salesperson.

Negotiate the loan terms, and be clear on where they settle

As Consumer Reports notes, studies show that many borrowers dont know they can negotiate the terms of a loan or that they should do so. Also, be sure youve clarified the terms, and seen them in writing, before you sign on the loan. Consumer Reports cites a case of a borrower who made clear she could afford a payment of only $350 a month, only to receive a first monthly bill of $428. Sure, negotiations for a car and its financing may be a little more challenging at the moment, due to a shortage of vehicles for sale and high prices, but it is always worth trying to do so.

Show youve done your homework

You of course cant change your race or other attributes that may unduly influence salespeople. But showing savvy about the car-loan process and current loan rates can help reduce any perception that youre an easy mark for being overcharged.

As you sit down to talk loan terms, consider letting would-be lenders know upfront of the research youve already done. If youre armed with a pre-approval from another lender, have it in hand and let the sales rep know you do  even if you dont yet reveal its rate.

All other things being equal, the more informed you look as a customer, the lower the chance youll be perceived as a neophyte  and the higher the chance of getting a fair rate for your loan.

Refinancing your car loan could allow you to save money on interest, lower your monthly payments, or potentially both. Get the peace of mind you're looking for by refinancing your auto loan and freeing up you monthly budget. Click below to get started.

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This article originally appeared on Money.com and may contain affiliate links for which Money receives compensation. Opinions expressed in this article are the author's alone, not those of a third-party entity, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed. Offers may be subject to change without notice. For more information, read Moneys full disclaimer.

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More than 10 workers and family members gathered outside the John Deere Seeding Plant in Moline, Ill. waving blue and white UAW signs at passing cars with vigor

Picketers were re-energized Saturday morning, reminiscent of the first days of the strike, after hearing they might return to work soon.

Deere & Co. and the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America reached a tentative agreement, according to a press release from the UAW and a post on Deere's corporate page on Saturday.

Wearing lighter jackets in the midday warmth, workers said they are more confident this contract will include the demands they struck over.

"We are always hopeful," one worker said. "We are getting real tired of waiting around."

UAW workers remain on strike through the ratification process.

Workers overwhelmingly voted down the initial tentative agreement on Oct. 10, citing insufficient wage increase and declining retirement benefits.

On day 17 of the strike, Jen Hartmann, director for public relations at Deere, posted at one.deere.com that the second tentative agreement is "a new six-year labor agreement covering approximately 10,100 production and maintenance employees at 12 facilities in Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas.

Chuck Browning, UAW vice president and director of the agricultural implement department, said in a news release that the agreement contains economic gains and highest quality healthcare benefits.

The negotiators focused on improving the areas of concern identified by our members during our last ratification process, Browning said.

The details of the tentative agreement will not be released until members at the covered John Deere facilities have an opportunity to review the terms, according to the UAW release. Members will be notified by their local unions for information about the time and location of meetings and ratification votes.

Deere has also reached a separate tentative agreement with Deere parts facilities in Denver and Atlanta.

The UAW will call for a vote but it is not known when that will take place.

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SIOUX CITY  Bob Michaelson has outraised and Shaun Broyhill has out-spent each of the nine candidates running for the Sioux City school board.

Michaelsons campaign has raised almost double the next highest competitor. Michaelsons campaign received donations of $4,045 with most donations $100 or less, as of Thursday.

Shaun Broyhill has the most self-loaned funding at $2,000 and the most total expenditure at $3,752.21.

All school board members are required to submit an accounting of their campaign finances, including donations, loans and expenditures, five days prior to the election. Campaigns that raise less than $1,000 do not have to submit disclosure forms.

Here is a breakdown of each candidate's financing as reported in their disclosure forms:

Shaun Broyhill received contributions of $3,752.21 through Oct. 28, including $2,000 he self-loaned. Broyhill also gave $1,200 of in-kind contributions to his campaign for campaign signs.

A majority of Broyhills $3,283.83 expenses went towards the purchase of a voter list. The purchase of checks, postcards, mailers and radio ads made up the remaining expenses. His campaign reported $468.38 remaining cash on hand at the end of the period.

Jan George received contributions of $2,520 through Oct. 28, including $290 he self-loaned and $100 from his brother Karl George.

George has received an endorsement and $300 donation from the Western Iowa Labor Federation. School Board member Dan Greenwells wife, Gyna, also donated $300 to Georges campaign.

Georges $1,984.67 in expenses went towards campaign signs, advertising and bank charges for checks. His campaign reported $535.33 cash on hand at the end of the period.

Amanda Gibson received $1,655 in contributions through Oct. 28, $100 self funded and $50 from her cousin Amy Nilles.

She reported zero expenditures.

Bob Michaelson received $4,045 in contributions through Oct. 28.

His campaign spent $1,367.29 on advertising and campaign merchandise. He reported $2,677.71 remaining cash on hand at the end of the period.

Joshua Potter received $1,905 in contributions through Oct. 28, $100 self-funded and $200 from his broth-in-law Grady Keil.

His $825.44 in expenses were spent on campaign signs and advertising. Potter reported 41,079.56 remaining cash on hand at the end of the period.

Perla Alarcon-Flory, Chad Krastel, Michael Bushby, Arthur Ryan Baker have not submitted final disclosure reports.

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SIOUX CITY -- Incumbent Dan Moore is the only Sioux City Council candidate to pick up endorsements from the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce and the largest union representing city workers.

Meanwhile, retired teacher Bob Michaelson and the Rev. Joshua Potter were the lone Sioux City school board candidates to win backing from the Chamber and the largest union representing the school district's employees.

The Chamber's Good Government Committee endorsed Moore, incumbent Alex Watters and first-time candidate Ike Rayford for the three open council seats in Tuesday's election.

The Affiliated Sioux City Municipal Employee Union Local 212 AFSCME/Iowa Council 61, which represents more than 350 unionized workers in the city's operations, field services, technical and clerical positions, has endorsed only Moore.

The Sioux City Professional Fire Fighters Association - I.A.F.F. Local 7, which represents the city's unionized firefighters, has endorsed Moore and Watters.

The Western Iowa Labor Federation, a coalition of 500 state and local AFL-CIO labor councils, is backing Moore, Watters, and first-time candidate Matthew OKane, according to posts on its Facebook account.

In the race for three open seats on the Sioux City school board, the Western Iowa Labor Foundation also has endorsed first-time candidates Jan George and Amanda Gibson.

The Sioux City Education Association, which represents the district's teachers, endorsed retired teachers George, Michaelson and Potter, pastor at the First Assembly of God.

The Chamber endorsed Potter, Michaelson and Perla Alarcon-Flory, the lone incumbent seeking another term Tuesday.

The nine candidates running for school board also include Arthur Ryan Baker, Shaun Broyhill, Michael Bushby and Chad Krastel.

With only two incumbents running for three open seats, the council is guaranteed to have at least one new member.

The Journal's Dolly Butz and Dave Dreeszen contributed to this story.

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SIOUX CITY -- Amy Solsma has never seen so many pumpkins spring up from the ground in the 22 years that she has operated Solsma's Punkin Patch, near Sanborn, Iowa.

"It's the best year that I've had. It's just incredible," said Solsma, who estimates her yield to be in the thousands.

Severe drought, which gripped Siouxland for much of the summer, has hurt other crops, but pumpkins have thrived, according to local farmers.

Solsma, who grows 70 varieties of pumpkins, gourds and squash on 10-acres, said her pumpkins got off to a rough start amid the dry June weather. She said she had to replant a couple times, as birds were eating the seeds. Then, on June 16, she said it rained.

"We just got really timely rains this year. We're very blessed again," she said.

When the drought hit in June, Alan Hoefling, who owns Hoefling's Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze in Marcus, Iowa, had to water his pumpkin seeds twice. When the rain finally came, the farm's 50 varieties of pumpkins, 15 varieties of squash and 75 varieties of gourds grew wonderfully, according to his wife, Geralyn Hoefling. The Hoeflings consider this year's crop among their best in the 25 years that they have been in business.

"The pumpkins just took off," Geralyn Hoefling said.

Kathy Wagner, who operates Harvest Hollow Pumpkin Farm in Le Mars, Iowa, said she was "utterly amazed" when she walked into her field and saw some varieties, which would normally weigh 5 or 6 pounds, looking like 10 or 12-pound pumpkins.

"They just did really well," said Wagner, who said pumpkins only need water when you plant them and when they flower. "Pumpkins obviously like the dry. Our worst years are the wet years, because then you're dealing with squishy stems and stuff molding in the field and things like that. When the leaves went down, I was really amazed at the number of pumpkins that were out there. We have 2 acres and it was solid jack-o'-lanterns out there."

Decoration or food

Hoefling's Pumpkin Patch has pumpkins that are small, large and flat in hues of orange, white, green and yellow. Some are speckled.

"The odder the shape or color is, the more attractive it is for people," Geralyn Hoefling said.

Solsma said flat stackable pumpkins, called "Cinderellas," which come in a variety colors, are among her most popular. When picking out a pumpkin, she said the main thing you want to watch out for is damaged skin.

"If you can keep the skin intact, they'll last much longer," she said.

What's trending in pumpkins changes from year to year, according to Wagner, who raises 30-some varieties. Besides flat pumpkins, she said customers are drawn to "One Too Many," a variety with a lacey look, which turns blue-green and white, or, yellow and white, as it ripens.

"There's also one that's kind of like a blush -- a peach and a green together. It's just a real pretty color," she said.

Whatever variety you chose, Wagner said it needs to be free of blemishes, not squishy and have a strong stem. When you get home from the pumpkin patch, she recommends wiping the pumpkin down with a bleach and water solution to kill any bacteria that might be on it.

If you don't plan to cut the pumpkin into a jack-o'-lantern, after you're done using it as a decoration, Wagner said you could store it in a cool basement and eat it later. She said pumpkins are "great to cook with" and can be used in a savory dish in place of acorn squash. Pumpkins also pair well with pork, according to Wagner.

"Especially right now when there seems to be shortages of everything at the grocery store and people are looking for a way to save on food, pumpkin is a great food source that has a lot of vitamins in it," she said. "I still pull things out in early spring that I've kept all through the winter. There's a lot more staying power to them than people realize."

Journal reporter Caitlin Yamada contributed to this story.

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SIOUX CITY -- Incumbent Sioux City Council candidate Dan Moore leads the field of four council hopefuls in both fundraising and spending ahead of Tuesday's election, according to documents filed with the state.

Under state law, candidates for public office are required to file reports if they raise or spend at least $1,000 during the reporting period.

As of Oct. 28, Moore, who is vying for one of three open seats on the five-member council, had raised $7,935 from contributors. Fellow incumbent Alex Watters was second with $4,350, followed by first-time candidates Ike Rayford, $4,325, and Matthew O'Kane, $3,984.

Moore, who is seeking his third council term, also spent the most on his campaign, reporting $5,401 in expenditures, according to the report. Rayford spent $1,919, Watters $1,866, and O'Kane $1,733.

Watters received $500 from the Sioux City Professional Firefighters Association Local No. 7 and $100 from the Western Iowa Labor Federation COPE Fund. The Western Iowa Labor Federation also gave O'Kane $300 from the fund. The rest of the candidates' contributions came from individuals or families.

The largest donations included $1,500 Moore received from longtime local developer Ritch LeGrand. Lewis Weinberg, who led the development of the Warrior Hotel, gave Watters' and Moore's campaigns $1,000 each.

Watters also received $1,000 from Dustin or Gretchen Cooper. O'Kane received $1,031 from his father, Jim O'Kane, while Rayford received $500 from David Bernstein. Bernstein also contributed $500 to Watters' campaign and $250 to O'Kane's campaign.

Rayford received $1,000 in loans and contributed $500 to his own campaign, according to the report.

Some elected officials also made donations to some of the candidates' campaigns. State Sen. Jackie Smith, D-Sioux City, contributed $20 to O'Kane's campaign.

Sioux City Council seats are elected at-large and are officially nonpartisan.

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ROME (AP)  Nearly five months after President Joe Biden declared America is back on his first presidential visit abroad, the president's challenge now that he's back in Europe is convincing the world that America is here to stay.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Advocacy groups and voters sued on Friday to block the North Carolina General Assembly's timetable to pass new boundaries for legislative seats next week, saying Republicans are breaking rules designed to ensure Black voters can elect their favored candidates.

The North Carolina NAACP, Common Cause and four individuals filed a lawsuit i n Wake County court challenging the legislators' refusal to consider racial data or evaluate the presence of racially polarized voting in the state before considering map proposals. Avoiding such activity means it's impossible to follow the state constitution and the legal recipe set by the state Supreme Court in the 2000s to make sure House and Senate districts comply with the U.S. Voting Rights Act, according to the lawsuit.

The result of this fatally flawed process is one that will be harmful to voters of color, Allison Riggs with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, the plaintiffs lead attorney, told reporters. Even with plain instructions set out by the state Supreme Court, she added, Republicans got it wrong and have stubbornly refused to look at race-based data and analyze parts of the state where voting patterns divided by race have worsened.

The plaintiffs want a judge to immediately stop the current process, demand that the recipe be followed and delay the General Assembly primary set for March 8 until at least May to give legislators and voters more time.

The litigation came about as General Assembly members have been drawing maps over the past three weeks and held public hearings this week. Lawmakers were expected to begin debating and voting on specific plans starting Monday. They want to enact boundaries based on 2020 census figures for the two legislative chambers and for the U.S. House delegation by the end of next week. Candidate filing is currently set to begin Dec. 6.

Republicans filed additional plan proposals Friday that if approved likely would heavily favor the GOP to extend their current legislative majorities in each chamber and have a good chance to win at least 10 of the 14 U.S. House seats the state will have starting with the 2022 elections.

The GOP-controlled House and Senate redistricting committees voted in August to prohibit racial data  such as the percentage of minorities on voter registration rolls and within the voting-age population of a certain county or proposed district. They argue that maps drawn in the late 2010s that courts signed off on didn't use such data, and that judges have found there isn't enough voting polarization by race to be necessary to review.

We did not look at race, and the courts did not criticize us for that, said Sen. Paul Newton, a Cabarrus County Republican and co-chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, in a recent interview. So as we walk now into 2021, why would we do anything different?

But without successful litigation, the plaintiffs lawyers wrote, the votes of Black residents will be diluted and their power weakened.

Lawmakers supposed race-blind redistricting process is rigged to reduce the strength of our votes, silence our voices, and negate decades of struggle and sacrifice for fairer maps, state NAACP President Deborah Dicks Maxwell said in a news release. The lawsuit doesn't challenge the congressional map process, which isn't covered by the state Supreme Court rulings from the early 2000s identified in the litigation.

House Redistricting Committee Chairman Destin Hall of Caldwell County, a lawsuit defendant along with Speaker Tim Moore, Senate leader Phil Berger and others, called the litigation in a tweet another iteration of the Democrats' strategy to sue to win more seats. The Democratic Party or a party official isn't listed among the plaintiffs, however.

I stand firmly behind our process and look forward to fighting against this ludicrous lawsuit, Hall said in a news release.



Associated Press/Report for America writer Bryan Anderson contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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RENO, Nev. (AP)  A Nevada rancher suing to block construction of the largest lithium mine in the U.S. says the governments environmental assessment of the project relies on a baseline set by a consultant for the mining company with a conflict of interest that trivializes potential harm to water resources and wildlife near the Oregon line.

Bartell Ranch LLC wants a U.S. judge to order the Bureau of Land Management to provide documents, contracts and internal communications with all third-party consultants the agency used to reach its conclusion that Lithium Nevada Corp.s mine wont affect threatened species or significant scientific, cultural or historic resources.

The ranch filed a lawsuit in February challenging plans for the Thacker Pass mine it says would rob the ranch of its precious water rights.

The case has been consolidated with lawsuits subsequently filed in U.S. District Court in Reno by conservation groups and tribes alleging the mine would destroy critical sage grouse habitat and damage sacred tribal lands that were the site of a massacre in the 1860s.

The bureau hired its own independent consultant, ICF International Inc., to prepare the scientific foundation for a 2,700-page environmental impact statement required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

But it includes 1,300 pages of studies on groundwater pumping that established the models and baseline created by Tyler Cluff, a hydrogeologist in Reno for Canada-based Piteau Associates, according to the motion the ranchs lawyers filed last week.

They say Cluff currently is serving as an expert for Lithium Nevada in a separate water right protest proceeding in which hes relying on much of the same data and work he did for the mines final environmental impact statement.

This unusual relationship between a third-party contractor for the NEPA analysis, Piteau, and LNC suggests that Piteau was not working for BLM on the FEIS in a neutral and independent capacity, but rather, was working directly for LNC, the motion states.

Piteau didnt respond to emails and phone messages seeking comment.

The ranchs lawyers say theyre seeking an order to obtain the documents because the bureau and Piteau have refused their requests to collect data at Piteaus test wells and monitoring locations or turn over field data. They say its created a shroud of secrecy over the basis for the mines approval.

The entirety of the water resources analysis appears to have been entrusted to Piteau Associates, who appears to have worked mostly, if not exclusively, at the direction of LNC, the motion said. It said the bureau didnt verify Piteaus field work and simply assumed it was reliable.

Bartells own hydrogeologist strongly disputes the baseline water quantity and quality, and forage conditions.

Piteau could have inputted faulty data into the models to generate a particular baseline and model outcomes to benefit their employer LNC, it said. BLMs decision to trust the NEPA process to parties like Piteau who may have a financial stake in the approval of the (mine) raises the specter of bad faith.

The new filing seeks to add the field studies and samples to the courts administrative record, which currently contains Piteaus final reports and analysis but excludes nearly all drafts and communications from Piteau.

The environmental baseline is so insufficient that actual baseline conditions are hidden.

The bureau has until Nov. 5 to respond to the latest filing.

A Justice Department lawyer representing the agency said in an email to the ranchs lawyer last month the bureau wasnt provided any field reports and relied on those contractors baseline reports, which are included in the EIS.

BLM has the expectation that contractors with appropriately credentialed staff will provide accurate data and conclusions in a professional manner, Leilani Doktor wrote in the email attached as an exhibit to the ranchs motion.

Lithium Nevada said in its latest filing last week that BLM fully analyzed and ensured compliance with water quality standards and appropriately adopted adaptive management. It said earlier that the bureau conducted a comprehensive review based on its experience and expertise, public comment and extensive data collected ... over years in coordination with state and federal environmental agencies.

Doktor said the bureau considers the documents sought by the ranch internal and deliberative material exempt from the administrative record. Third-party contracts are exempt because they are not materials considered during the decision-making process.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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KENOSHA, Wis. (AP)  A timeline of key events before and after Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people during a night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year:

Aug. 23, 2020  An officer responding to a reported domestic disturbance shoots Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back as Blake was leaning into his vehicle. Bystander video captures the shooting, which left Blake partly paralyzed. Neighbors march to the Kenosha County Public Safety Building, where they face officers in riot gear.

Aug. 24  Police fire tear gas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at the courthouse. Crowds destroy dozens of buildings and set more than 30 fires. Gov. Tony Evers calls in the National Guard. The man who shot cellphone video of Blake's shooting says he saw Blake scuffling with officers and officers shouting Drop the knife!, but that said he didnt see a knife in Blakes hands.

Aug. 25  Blakes lawyer says Blake is paralyzed from the waist down. Blakes family calls for calm. Calls go out on social media, including on a page run by the Kenosha Guard, for people to take up arms and help defend the city from thugs. Demonstrations are held for a third night, with gunshots heard and people seen carrying long guns and other weapons. Shortly before midnight, two people  Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26  are shot dead and a third, Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, is wounded.

Aug. 26  Authorities say they are seeking a possible vigilante seen on cellphone video opening fire with a rifle. Police in Illinois announce the arrest of 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, which is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from Kenosha.

Aug. 27  Rittenhouse is charged with multiple counts, including homicide and attempted homicide.

Aug. 31  At a news conference the day before he visited Kenosha, President Donald Trump is asked if he condemned Rittenhouses actions. He says: You saw the same tape as I saw. And he was trying to get away from them, I guess; it looks like. And he fell, and then they very violently attacked him. And it was something that were looking at right now and its under investigation. But I guess he was in very big trouble. He would have been  I  he probably would have been killed.

Sept. 1  Trump visits Kenosha and blames domestic terror for the violence. He makes no mention of Blakes shooting by police and calls the violent protests anti-American.

Sept. 3  Joe Biden, the Democrat running against Trump, visits Kenosha. He meets with Blakes family members, speaks with Blake by phone and leads a community discussion.

Sept. 24  In a TV appearance and social media posts, Rittenhouses attorneys say his client acted in self-defense but was also a courageous defender of liberty and a patriot who exercised his right to bear arms amid rioting. They claim Rittenhouse is being sacrificed by politicians who want to strip citizens of the right to defend their communities.

Sept. 25  At a hearing in Illinois, Rittenhouse's attorneys ask for more time to fight his extradition to Wisconsin. They later say in documents that sending Rittenhouse to Wisconsin would turn him over to the mob.

Nov. 2  A Wisconsin court sets Rittenhouses bail at $2 million. Conservative groups have been raising funds for Rittenhouse, who easily amasses enough for bail.

Nov. 20  Rittenhouse posts bail and is released. Hours later, one of his attorneys tweets a picture of Rittenhouse with actor Ricky Schroder, who the attorney says donated to Rittenhouse.

Jan. 5, 2021  A Wisconsin prosecutor declines to charge Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey, who is white, in Blakes shooting, ruling that Blake had a knife and the officer had a reasonable self-defense claim. Subdued protests follow.

Feb. 3  Prosecutors ask for a new arrest warrant after Rittenhouse failed to tell the court of an address change. Rittenhouses attorney says death threats drove his client into an undisclosed Safe House. Judge Bruce Schroeder later denies the request.

Nov. 1  Jury selection begins in Rittenhouses trial.



Find APs full coverage of the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse at: https://apnews.com/hub/kyle-rittenhouse

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  U.S. governors want a seat at the table as international leaders prepare to gather in Scotland at a critical moment for global efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions and slow the planet's temperature rise.

At least a half dozen state governors  all Democrats  plan to attend parts of the two-week United Nations' climate change conference in Glasgow, known as COP26. Though states aren't official parties to talks, governors hold significant sway over the United States' approach to tackling climate change by setting targets for reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to renewable energy.

Take California, where Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to halt the sale of new gas-powered cars in the state by 2035, a move aimed at accelerating the nation's transition to electric vehicles. Or Washington, where Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee backed legislation requiring the state's electricity be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Governors can do a lot," said Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institute. When they're talking to people on the sidelines and sharing policies and ideas and helping to demonstrate the commitment of the U.S. as a whole, there's quite a bit that they can do."

Governors slated to attend are Inslee, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Hawaii Gov. David Ige, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. All six governors are part of the U.S. Climate Alliance, an effort started by Inslee and former Govs. Jerry Brown of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York in 2017 as the Trump administration backed away from U.S. climate goals. The alliance plans to announce ambitious" new climate commitments in Scotland, though it hasn't shared specifics.

Newsom announced Friday he would participate virtually due to unspecified family obligations. California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis will instead lead the state's delegation, which includes more than a dozen lawmakers and top administration officials.

All eyes will be on Glasgow, with the world asking the question: What are we doing to do about (climate change)? Kounalakis said. And California has answers.

Other states sending officials include Maryland and Massachusetts, which have Republican governors.

Few U.S. states are as influential as California, which is home to nearly 40 million people and would be the world's fifth-largest economy if it were its own nation. It's led the nation in vehicle emissions standards, was the first state to launch a carbon pollution credit program known as cap-and-trade and has set some of the nation's most ambitious goals on reducing emissions.

It's the nation's seventh-largest oil producing state, though Newsom officials say the state has six times as many jobs in clean energy as it does in the oil industry. Newsom has made strides to lower demand and eventually end production, but some environmental groups say he's got to act significantly faster.

Several other state leaders heading to Glasgow also come from places that rely on oil and gas production as a key piece of the economy. New Mexico's Lujan Grisham travels to the climate conference as she juggles competing pressures from environmental activists and the fossil fuel industry while running for reelection in 2022.

New Mexico is one of the top oil states. Amid surging oil output, Lujan Grisham has pushed to rein in leaks and emissions of excess natural gas by the industry and signed legislation that mandates and incentivizes New Mexicos own transition to zero-emissions electricity by 2045.

We  as a state, as a nation, as a planet  must go further by pursuing bold, equitable and just climate solutions. I am looking forward to this significant opportunity for collaboration and action at the global level, Lujan Grisham said in a recent statement.

In March, Lujan Grisham wrote President Joe Biden, asking to exempt New Mexico from an executive order halting gas and oil production on federal land. Oil field royalties, taxes and lease sales account for more than one-quarter of the state's general fund budget, underwriting spending on public schools, roads and public safety.

Edwards of Louisiana, a state that's suffered significant flooding and damage from hurricanes, plans to promote his state as a hub for clean energy projects. He's set a goal to cut the state's net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, though his administration is still putting together a strategy document for reaching that goal.

No state in our nation is more affected by climate change than Louisiana, but its also true that no state is better positioned to be part of the solution to the problems facing our world," he said recently.

The governors will participate on panels through the U.S. Climate Alliance alongside members of the Biden administration. They'll also participate alongside 65 subnational governments in announcing dozens" of new commitments on Nov. 7. The panel will also focus on politics that can turbocharge greenhouse gas emissions reductions," according to an alliance press release.

Governors and mayors around the world do not believe we should rely just on our federal governments," Inslee, of Washington, said during a Thursday news conference.

It's critical for U.S. and world leaders to move from planning to implementation of aggressive climate strategies, said Katelyn Sutter, senior manager for U.S. climate at the Environmental Defense Fund.

We need policy to back up pledges to reduce emissions," she said. Thats where a state like California, and now Washington and others that have momentum moving forward, can really be impactful."

As for California, Newsom administration officials said they hope to demonstrate that tackling the climate crisis can be good for the economy and that pollution targets should be made with historically underserved communities in mind. The administration recently proposed banning new oil wells within 3,200 feet (975 meters) of homes, schools and hospitals, and Newsom has directed the state's air regulator to develop a plan to end oil production by 2045.

We can help push national governments to increase their ambition," said Lauren Sanchez, Newsoms senior adviser for climate.



This story has been corrected to say the Republican-led states sending representatives are Maryland and Massachusetts, not Maryland and North Carolina.



Associated Press writers Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, N.M., Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La., and John O'Connor in Springfield, Ill., contributed reporting.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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DES MOINES -- Iowa business leaders are concerned that expanding exemptions from workplace COVID-19 vaccination requirements  and protecting jobless benefits for those who refuse to follow a mandate  may result in unintended consequences or added costs related to the surprise changes enacted by the Iowa Legislature and signed into law Friday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The swift arrival of House File 902 and its passage during Thursdays one-day special legislative session added to the frustration and confusion that Iowa employers already were facing due to vaccination mandates that now are in conflict with the new state requirement that they exempt employees who claim a medical or religious exemption.

Mike Ralston, president of the Iowa Association of Business & Industry, said his organizations more than 1,500 member companies representing 330,000 working Iowans have had a mixed response with some instituting vaccine mandates for their employees and others opposed  but most feeling whipsawed by conflicting state and federal approaches that restrict their flexibility in dealing with different circumstances and get in the way of businesses trying to operate as they think is best for their employees.

Were disappointed by the bill, and Im not sure disappointed is strong enough, said Ralston of the legislation that became law in about 24 hours.

Theyre trying to fix a mandate with a mandate, he noted. What they did that is really frustrating is they said that somebody can decide not to get vaccinated and quit their job and get unemployment. That money is provided by employers. Its frustrating that this is sort of a social, political policy that theyre saying can be fixed by the unemployment trust fund and thats problematic, too. Its more of a political issue than an unemployment issue.

While disagreeing with the Biden administration's plan to mandate vaccines or testing, business organizations in Iowa say Iowas new law puts employers at risk of facing federal penalties for not complying with a federal mandate, potentially exacerbates an already tight job market with an incentive not to work and could cost businesses more if a large number of employees end up qualifying for a jobless benefit that did not exist before.

Overall, we need to do be doing everything we can to encourage people to stay within the workforce, said Joe Murphy of the Iowa Business Council. While we understand what theyre trying to do, it does begin to create some confusion between all the rules and regulations that businesses then are expected to abide by. And when some of those rules and regulations are contradictory, that puts businesses in a difficult position. Were still evaluating the total effect of this. Its law now so well move forward the best way possible.

Reynolds, who signed the bill into law Friday effective immediately, called it a first step but a major step forward in protecting Iowans freedoms and their abilities to make health care decisions based on whats best for themselves and their families. This legislation also gives employees the assurance that they will still receive unemployment benefits despite being fired for standing up for their beliefs.

The GOP governor took the action on the same day that Iowa joined nine other states in a lawsuit challenging President Joe Bidens vaccine mandate for all workers employed by a federal contractor, which is one-fifth of the nations workforce.

As Ive stated publicly numerous times, I believe the vaccine is the best defense against COVID-19 and weve provided Iowans with the information they need to determine whats best for themselves and their families, but no Iowan should be forced to lose their job or livelihood over the COVID-19 vaccine, the governor said in a statement.

Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, said legislators learned from an anti-mask mandate they enacted for Iowa schools  which was halted for now by a federal judge  to take a different tact with a wide-open forced-acceptance waiver that would have the effect of allowing freedom-loving Iowans to tell the Biden administration to get off their backs. He said the bill is a partial answer that says in cases where the federal government doesnt specifically exclude waivers or exemptions, state law can apply.

Critics of the bill, which passed the House 68-27 and the Senate 45-4, said it will not protect the jobs of Iowans fired for refusing to comply with COVID-19 vaccination requirements and ultimately could place a financial burden on businesses that will pay the cost of the state changes.

It seems to us that the new law is a leap in the dark for employer liability to the trust fund, said Ralston. Should a federal mandate prove more onerous than compliance with the new state mandate, the effect could be huge. Yesterday the Legislature monetized the cost of Iowans choosing not to be vaccinated and placed that cost on business.

Sen. Jim Carlin, a Sioux City Republican who is seeking the 2022 GOP nomination to the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Chuck Grassley, said the federal government has put Iowans in a no-win situation by threatening they will lose their jobs if they refuse to comply with a COVID-19 vaccination mandate, but now HF 902 has given them some options in dealing with concerns they have raised.

They have no choice, no self-determination and until the Biden administration has to guts to make this law so the state of Iowa can challenge it in court, were in limbo. Were stuck and they have no place to go, Carlin said. This gives our people some options and a fallback position.

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ROME (AP)  The Latest on the Group of 20 summit taking place in Rome:

ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he unsuccessfully pressed President Xi Jinping to increase Chinas carbon-cutting goals ahead of a key United Nations climate change summit.

China released an updated version of its climate targets this week, promising to hit net-zero carbon emissions by 2060 and to have carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2030.

Johnson told reporters that he pushed Xi to move the peak to 2025 when the two men spoke by phone on Friday.

I wouldnt say he committed on that, Johnson said as he flew to Rome for a G-20 summit. On Sunday Johnson will host world leaders, though not Xi, at the two-week climate conference in Scotland.

Johnson said Xi explained about Chinas heavy dependence on coal power, and Johnson said that he replied that the U.K. had cut its own coal reliance from 40% of energy in 2008 to 1% today. Johnson said China should embrace technology to speed the transition to green energy.



ROME  U.S. first lady Jill Biden says she and Brigitte Macron, her French counterpart, sipped wine together as if they were sisters.

The women spent about an hour Friday getting better acquainted at an Italian restaurant in Rome.

Their husbands, President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, were meeting elsewhere in the city to ease tensions that flared after France felt blindsided by a U.S.-U.K.-Australia military deal.

The leaders are in Rome to attend the Group of 20 nations summit.

Upon leaving the restaurant, Jill Biden said the meeting with Brigitte Macron was wonderful.

She added: Its nice, two friends together, just like sisters.



ROME British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has arrived in Italy for a Group of 20 summit with a stark message: modern civilization may crumble like Ancient Rome if world leaders dont act to curb climate change.

Johnson told reporters on his plane that Romes ruins are a fantastic reminder, a memento mori for us today  that humanity, civilization, society can go backwards as well as forwards, and when things start to go wrong they can go wrong with extraordinary speed.

After the two-day G-20 meeting, Johnson is set to host a two-week U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

Johnson will urge G-20 leaders to act more quickly, saying the worlds rich countries, which grew wealthy from using the fossil fuels that promote global warming, must bear the brunt of fighting climate change.



ROME  France has donated 67 million vaccine doses to the worlds poorest countries, making it the second country after the United States to have given the most to the UN-backed COVAX vaccine initiative.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that France has met its commitments regarding vaccine donations, which have benefited over 45 countries, including around 30 in Africa. France has pledged to donate another 60 million doses by mid-2022.

The announcement comes as health and finance officials who gathered ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Rome warned of a two-track pandemic recovery, with COVID-19 vaccine shortages and spending gaps slowing poorer countries from bouncing back after the pandemic.



ROME  Health and finance officials who gathered ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Rome warned of a two-track pandemic recovery, with COVID-19 vaccine and spending gaps slowing poorer countries from bouncing back.

Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund, said Friday that efforts to speed vaccinations were short $20 billion needed to pursue a goal of 40% of the world vaccinated by years end and 70% by the middle of next year.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the increasing divergence between developing and developed countries would be a major strategic risk for the rest of the world.

The ministers decided to create a G-20 joint task force to ensure efforts to combat the pandemic and prevent future ones are adequately funded.

The G-20 has supported the UN-backed COVAX initiative, which has failed to alleviate dire shortages in poor countries. Summit negotiators have been focusing on efforts to strengthen local health resources, vaccine supply chains and vaccine production in less prosperous countries.



ROME  Prime Minister Boris Johnson tried to calm stormy waters over fishing with France as he flew to Rome for a G-20 summit, where he is due to meet French President Emmanuel Macron.

France is one of our best, oldest, closest, allies, friends and partners, he told reporters. The ties that unite us, that bind us together are far stronger than the turbulence that currently exist in the relationship.

Calling Macron a friend, he said that people on either side of the Channel may be trying to stir up disharmony between the U.K. and France, but I dont think Emmanuel shares that perspective.

Im puzzled about whats going on, Johnson said. He said there appeared to be an implicit breach of the legally binding Brexit divorce treaty in Frances threats  and reiterated Britains willingness to respond to any French sanctions.

We will stand by to take the appropriate action, he said. Any infraction of that agreement, by France or any other partner, is something we would obviously need to respond to.



ROME  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the upcoming climate summit in Glasgow may not provide the boost for global efforts to fight climate change that many are hoping for.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a G-20 summit in Rome, Guterres said there is a serious risk that Glasgow will not deliver.

He said that despite updated climate targets by many countries, we are still careening towards climate catastrophe.

Guterres said there are serious questions about some of those pledges and noted that collectively they wont be enough to keep the global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius, the target set in U.N. talks on fighting climate change.

He said G-20 leaders in Rome, whose countries are responsible for most of the worlds global greenhouse gas emissions, have an opportunity to put things on track for the Glasgow talks, which will begin as the Rome summit ends.



VATICAN CITY  U.S. President Joe Biden has arrived at the Vatican for a private meeting with Pope Francis.

The worlds two most notable Roman Catholics plan to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and poverty.

Biden and his wife Jill arrived at the Vatican in an unusually long motorcade of more than 80 vehicles, owing in part to Italian COVID-19 restrictions on the number of people sharing a car. A dozen Swiss Guards stood at attention in the San Damaso courtyard of the Apostolic Palace to greet them.

Biden is in Rome for the Group of 20 summit.



VATICAN CITY  South Korean President Moon Jae-in has given Pope Francis a statue of a cross made with barbed wire from the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.

Moon, a Catholic, called on Francis on Friday before the start of the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

The Vatican, which didnt allow independent media in the audience, said Francis gave Moon a medallion replicating Berninis original plan for St. Peters Square. The design envisages the two main colonnades of the piazza embracing humanity in the church.

South Korean presidential officials had said they expected Moon and the pope to discuss a possible papal visit to North Korea since Francis had previously expressed a desire to do so if it becomes possible. Moon first floated the idea of a papal visit to the North in 2018 when he revealed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had said the pope would be enthusiastically welcomed in the officially atheist North.



ROME  Italy is deploying 5,300 extra troops and police officers, curbing public transport and sealing off a whole neighborhood of Rome to keep the peace during this weekends Group of 20 summit.

Police were out in force already Friday as leaders began arriving, and schools in the Italian capital canceled afternoon activities so students could get home before most roadblocks were set up. Protests and demonstrations were planned throughout the weekend.

The main security zone was around the Nuvola cloud-like convention center in Romes Fascist-era EUR neighborhood. But other areas were being cordoned off at different times depending on where the leaders were, including around the presidential palace and even the Trevi Fountain.

COVID-19 economic recovery and climate change are the two main issues being discussed by the leaders of the worlds 20 biggest economies, who are gathering in Rome before heading to Glasgow, Scotland, for the U.N. climate conference.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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PARIS (AP)  Britain and France faced calls Saturday to sort out their post-Brexit spat over fishing rights in the English Channel, which threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats and trucks.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the dispute is testing the U.K.s international credibility, while each countries accused the other of being in breach of the post-Brexit trade agreement that Britains government signed with the European Union before it left the bloc.

As the war of words intensified, Britain said it was actively considering launching legal action if France goes through with threats to bar U.K. fishing boats from its ports and slap strict checks on British catches.

If there is a breach of the (Brexit) treaty or we think there is a breach of the treaty then we will do what is necessary to protect British interests, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told British broadcasters in Rome, where he and Macron are both attending a Group of 20 summit.

At stake is fishing  a tiny industry economically that looms large symbolically for maritime nations like Britain and France. Britain's exit from the economic rules of the 27-nation bloc at the start of this year means the U.K. now controls who fishes in its waters.

France claims some vessels have been denied permits to fish in waters where they have long sailed. Britain says it has granted 98% of applications from EU vessels, and now the dispute comes down to just a few dozen French boats with insufficient paperwork.

But France argues its a matter of principle and wants to defend its interests as the two longtime allies and rivals set out on a new, post-Brexit relationship.

The dispute escalated this week after French authorities accused a Scottish-registered scallop dredger of fishing without a license. The captain was detained in Le Havre and has been told to face a court hearing next year.

France has threatened to block British boats crossing the English Channel and tighten checks on boats and trucks from Tuesday if the licenses aren't granted. France has also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands  British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France and are heavily dependent on French electricity.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex appealed to the EU to back France in the dispute, saying the bloc should demonstrate to people in Europe that leaving the Union is more damaging than remaining in it.

U.K. Brexit Minister David Frost called Castex's comments troubling and accused France of a pattern of threats to our fishing industry, to energy supplies, and to future cooperation."

He said if France acted on the threats it would put the EU in breach of its obligations under our trade agreement, and said Britain was actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings," a formal legal process in the deal.

He urged France and the EU to step back.

Many EU politicians and officials regard Frost, who led negotiations on Britain's divorce deal, as intrinsically hostile to the bloc.

Macron, who is scheduled to meet Johnson on Sunday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, defended Frances position and said the fishing dispute could hurt Britain's reputation worldwide.

Make no mistake, it is not just for the Europeans but all of their partners," Macron told the Financial Times. Because when you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility,

Macron said he was sure that Britain has good will to solve the dispute. We need to respect each other and respect the word that has been given," he said.

Johnson said the fishing issue was a distraction from fighting climate change  top of the G-20 leaders' agenda at their meeting, which comes before a U.N. climate conference in Scotland next week.

I am looking at what is going on at the moment and I think that we need to sort it out. But that is quite frankly small beer, trivial, by comparison with the threat to humanity that we face, Johnson added.

Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president and chairman of the northern French ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, said the spat was ridiculous and urged both sides to resolve it.

He told BBC radio that the dispute was over just 40 boats  a drop in the ocean  and that there would be terrible consequences if France carried out its threat of blocking British trawlers from French ports.

If no agreement can be found, it will be a drama, it will be a disaster in your country because the trucks will not cross, he said.



Jill Lawless reported from Rome. Pan Pylas contributed to this report from London.



Follow APs coverage of Brexit at https://apnews.com/hub/brexit

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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While then-Vice President Mike Pence was in a secure room as rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, an attorney for President Donald Trump knew just who to blame for what was happening that fateful day in Washington: Pence. John Eastman wrote an email to Greg Jacob, Pences chief counsel, detailing that the vice president was to blame for the ongoing violence because he refused to block the certification of the election, reports the Washington Post. The siege is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so that the American people can see for themselves what happened, Eastman wrote to Jacob.

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Jacob included the shocking quote from the email he received while he was hunkered down with the vice president in a draft opinion piece he wrote later that month. Jacob ultimately chose not to publish the piece but the Post got a copy of the draft. Eastman displayed a shocking lack of awareness of how those practical implications were playing out in real time, Jacob wrote. Eastman confirmed he sent the email but insisted he wasnt blaming Pence for the violence.

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Eastmans role in pushing the lies of widespread election fraud shows how he had become one of the most influential people in Trumps orbit by the end of his presidency. He wrote two legal memos outlining how Republicans could reject Joe Biden the presidency. Democrats and even some Republicans have said that Eastman essentially wrote a blueprint for a coup by detailing the steps Pence could take to make sure Trump stayed in office. Eastman has been trying to distance himself from the memo, saying it has been taken out of context. But the email to Jacob suggests he was serious. Plus, Eastman said in a radio interview on Jan. 2 that Pence could throw the election to the House of Representatives if he had courage and spine, CNN reports.

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In his draft opinion piece, Jacob characterized Eastman as part of a cadre of outside lawyers who had spun a web of lies and disinformation. He even suggested action should be taken against the likes of Eastman and Rudolph Giuliani. Now that the moment of immediate crisis has passed, the legal profession should dispassionately examine whether the attorneys involved should be disciplined for using their credentials to sell a stream of snake oil to the most powerful office in the world, wrapped in the guise of a lawyers advice, he wrote in the draft piece. The House committee that is investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has said it plans to subpoena Eastman.
The University of Florida has said that three of its faculty members are not allowed to give testimony for plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit that challenges the states new law that restricts voting rights, which has been strongly championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The public university told the three political scientistsDaniel A. Smith, Michael McDonald, and Sharon Wright Austinthey could hurt the interests of the institution by assisting plaintiffs in the case. The move, which raises questions about academic independence and freedom of speech, is extraordinary, and some analysts say it is likely unconstitutional.

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The university told the three professors their testimony could pose a conflict of interest to the executive branch and that may very well hurt the school. As UF is a state actor, litigation against the state is adverse to UFs interests, school officials said. Lawyers for the plaintiffs are trying to figure out whether DeSantis was involved in the decision to prevent the professors from testifying. But DeSantis insists that all communications regarding the law are protected from disclosure because they involve discussions about legislation.

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It seems this is the first time the University of Florida has forbidden its professors from testifying in a lawsuit. And experts tell the New York Times, which was first to report the news, that they know of no other instance in which a professors testimony has been restricted in this way. The university does not exist to protect the governor, Robert C. Post, a Yale Law School professor and expert on academic freedom, tells the Times. It exists to serve the public. It is an independent institution to serve the public good, and nothing could be more to the public good than a professor telling the truth to the public under oath.

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A lawyer for the plaintiffs said that the reasoning used by the university to prevent the professors from testifying goes against the core of what the University of Florida should stand for in terms of academic freedom. Lawyers representing the professors have vowed to file a lawsuit against the university if it doesnt change its stance. The effort to question DeSantis on the issue suggests lawyers for the plaintiffs think the governors close ties to the university may have played a role in the decision. The head of the universitys board of trustees, Morteza Hosseini, is a big donor to the Republican Party.
https://sputniknews.com/20211029/major-loophole-means-us-unlikely-to-honor-promise-to-treat-assange-humanely-journalist-says-1090330419.html

'Major Loophole' Means US Unlikely to Honor Promise to Treat Assange Humanely, Journalist Says

'Major Loophole' Means US Unlikely to Honor Promise to Treat Assange Humanely, Journalist Says

As the US government's efforts to extradite Wikileaks founder and editor Julian Assange resumed this week, Shadowproof managing editor Kevin Gosztola noted how... 29.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-29T23:50+0000

2021-10-29T23:50+0000

2021-10-30T00:02+0000

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assange

uk

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With the hearing that press freedom advocates have hailed as the trial of the century' once again underway in London, journalists, human rights observers, and activists alike tuned in this week to hear arguments over whether the US governments claim that Julian Assange will receive decent treatment in US prison will convince a British court to hand over the man described by his attorneys as the CIAs most prominent critic.If convicted, Assange faces a maximum sentence of 175 years. The Justice Department alleges the Australian citizen violated the US Espionage Act of 1917 by conspiring to obtain and publish documents exposing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hes been held in Britains high-security Belmarsh prison since 2019, under conditions widely condemned by human rights organizations and which the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer has characterized as a concerted effort to eventually break his will, after spending the previous seven years receiving political asylum in Ecuadors embassy in the UK before the right-wing government of Lenin Moreno delivered him to British authorities.All that could change soon, as the US looks to downplay worries that Assanges mental health could reach a breaking point if he ends up in US prison and convince Vanessa Baraitser, the judge overseeing the case, to reverse her January finding that Assanges extradition would be oppressive by reason of mental harm. This week, US lawyers insisted they had issued binding assurances that Assange would not be subjected to harsh Special Administrative Measures, would receive adequate mental healthcare, and would be eligible for transfer to an Australian prison if convicted in the US. But Assanges lawyers said such qualified and conditional promises are meaningless.Once bitten, twice shyShadowproof managing editor Kevin Gosztola also has serious concerns about the credibility of the US governments commitments. Hes closely followed the US governments attempts to imprison Assange for years, and he points to previous unfulfilled Bureau of Prison promises as evidence theres a major loophole in this assurance.Gosztola says the US promise not to subject Assange to Special Administrative Measures is similarly hollow because the CIA gets to advise the Attorney General on making that decision.In September, Yahoo News cited numerous CIA sources who say the agency kept Assange under strict surveillance and plotted to kidnap or even assassinate him, seemingly confirming last years bombshell report by The Grayzone detailing how the CIA utilized Spanish surveillance firm UC Global in various plots to kill or kidnap the Wikileaks publisher and spy on his associates.Assanges lawyers say the story shows Assange has grounds for fearing what will be done to him should he be extraditedand again Gosztola concurs, describing the revelation as the most important aspect of all of this when it comes to the CIA and the diplomatic assurances and what would likely happen to Assange if he was brought to the US. He says the extensive plots against Assange show that the CIA is not just interested in Assange. Its much more nefarious than that. Theyre sketching out plans to kidnap, poison. Theyre doing these things like trying to steal wikileaks staff or associates electronic devices.Such efforts, he says, go beyond the typical purview of a security agency and into the realm of things that we are very familiar with if you know your history of the security state going back to the 60s when they were targeting Latin American leaders and people in Africa for assassination it has all the hallmarks of that history when youre talking about what they did to Assange.Corporate media snoozes as press freedom under attackWith the fate of press freedom hanging in the balance, and the revelations about the extent of the CIAs harassment of Assange still fresh in the public memory, prominent human rights organizations are speaking out against Assanges extradition. On October 18th, a coalition of mainstream groups including the ACLU, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders cautioned that the proceedings against Mr. Assange jeopardize journalism that is crucial to democracy, and urged the US Department of Justice to drop the charges, citing a precedent created by prosecuting Assange [that] could be used against publishers and journalists alike, chilling their work and undermining freedom of the press.But despite this dire warning, mainstream news outlets have been hesitant to voice support for Assange, often seeking to distance themselves from Wikileaks controversial disclosures. Recent Nobel prize winner Maria Ressa may have best expressed this attitude when she told Time Magazine in 2019 that the wholesale dumping of Wikileaks actually isnt journalism, suggesting that Assange should have withheld documents in the interest of national security.For Gosztola, nothing could be further from the truth. If youve been reading the Facebook papers in the past week, the Pandora papers, the Panama papers, these are all projects that used the model fundamentally pioneered by Wikileaks, of taking documents and engaging in what they called at the time, scientific journalism--the belief that having primary source materials makes it possible for people to see essentially the work that journalists are doing and to have greater benefit.In fairness, recent reports about CIA plots and the agencys attempts to influence Assanges extradition case have reignited mainstream interest, Gosztola says.Now today, you have journalists in the establishment media who I think recognize that what was in the Yahoo News report was of a lot of significance, he acknowledges, noting that we saw more journalists tune into the appeal hearing than even the extradition hearing in September 2020. But at the end of the day, they still do not feel willing to classify Julian Assange as a journalist.Though the two-day appeal by US lawyers against the extradition denial has concluded, for Assange, theres still no end in sight.We dont know when the high court of justice is going to rule; it could be a couple months or maybe even longer before we have any decision on the appeal, Gosztola explains. And given that the losing side is likely to appeal the result to the Supreme Court, he says it's very possible that Assange continues to be in Belmarsh high-security prison for another three or four years without any approval of the extradition.And with the question of whether Assange will be extradited now hinging almost exclusively on his mental health, Gosztola says the Wikileaks founder finds himself in a somewhat sadistic situation.

https://sputniknews.com/20211028/uk-hight-court-to-take-time-to-decide-on-assange-extradition-appeal-1090286469.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211029/roger-waters-warns-future-of-all-of-us-hangs-upon-julian-assange-extradition-court-ruling-1090309073.html

vigilante The USA hates to be humiliated and becomes hysterical until they get their revenge and reinstate it's power. Assange has humiliated the CIA and the USA. They can't forget that . They will harass him until they crush him. The USA is not a normal country , it is lead by arrogance, greed and infantilism. 5

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https://sputniknews.com/20211029/not-so-long-in-the-tooth-how-uk-queen-manages-to-keep-her-smile-so-pearly-without-dentures-1090329152.html

Royal Teeth Secrets: How Did UK Queen Manage to Keep Her Smile Bright at 95 Without Dentures?

Royal Teeth Secrets: How Did UK Queen Manage to Keep Her Smile Bright at 95 Without Dentures?

Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne for 69 years, which makes her the longest-serving monarch in British history. And the fact that the queen's... 29.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-29T23:33+0000

2021-10-29T23:33+0000

2021-10-29T23:37+0000

queen elizabeth ii

dentist

queen

uk royal family

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uk

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Every year, we see the British monarch all across the UK, across all media dazzling with her shining teeth, but how does she keep them so white and straight at 95? Well, we all know that teeth have a tendency to deteriorate over time, so it is perfectly reasonable to assume that at this age, the head of state probably relies entirely on dentures.Expectations that the queen's smile would have deteriorated at this point in her life also stem from the fact that her mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, was known for having poor teeth in her later years.But no! Queen Elizabeth II, contrary to popular belief, has all of her own teeth and does not wear dentures, as the monarch herself insists.There is still, however, no consensus in the media whether the teeth are completely hers or the queen had a treatment done to give them that pearly sheen.Back in 2019, Matthew Rose, a restorative dentist at The UK Centre Hove & Hayward's Heath, told the Express newspaper that Queen Elizabeth must have had dental work done because her teeth were so white.As per Rose, Her Majesty appears to have all of her own teeth, although she is likely to "have had dental work carried out such as crowns and veneers to help improve their appearance over the years as they do look in good condition for someone of her age."The following year, the queen visited Royal National ENT and the Eastman Dental hospitals to commemorate the opening of the new buildings.A teaching nurse offered her a dental wire brace to examine during her tour. And it was during that time, when the queen reportedly admitted that she "had wires, luckily a very long time ago." She resumed her tour by speaking with a ten-year-old on the ward who was having braces fitted, and assured the boy that she thought "it is worth it, in the end."But how does the effect last for so long? Well, according to the UK's North West Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations (RFCA) message from 2016, a reservist colonel has been given the role of honorary dental surgeon to Her Majesty, making her dentist team of two highly professional stomatologists responsible for all the procedures and needed checkups.Now it is no surprise that Her Majesty has such a great smile that continues to captivate admirers wherever she goes, thanks to this professional assistance, as well as an obviously meticulous personal dental routine the queen must follow on a daily basis, topped off with a little bit of cosmetic work now and then.

Thomas Turk Them Reptilians have long lasting ivories. ''Reptilian Gods And Current Events  David Icke Dot-Connector Videocast'' 1

Charlie McD They're not hers. They go out at night and steal them off the poor in London. True this. 1

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https://sputniknews.com/20211030/afghanistan-among-worlds-worst-crises-social-services-on-brink-of-collapse-unicef-says-1090331608.html

Afghanistan Among Worlds Worst Crises, Social Services on 'Brink of Collapse', UNICEF Says

Afghanistan Among Worlds Worst Crises, Social Services on 'Brink of Collapse', UNICEF Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Afghanistan is currently experiencing one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises, with the health system and social services at a... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T00:04+0000

2021-10-30T00:04+0000

2021-10-30T00:04+0000

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children

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"Afghanistan now is amongst the worlds worst crises and the needs are growing by the day," Al-Janabi said. "In addition to the growing malnutrition crisis and food insecurity, the health system and social services are on the brink of collapse."Early this year, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was already one of the worst in the world, with nearly half of the countrys population - including some 10 million children - having been in need of humanitarian aid, the UNICEF representative said.Without immediate action, an estimated 1 million children are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the course of this year, and could die, the representative warned.UNICEF underscored that without urgent action, the humanitarian situation will continue to deteriorate in 2022. The representative noted that the current humanitarian funding requirement for Afghanistan stands at $192 million."This figure will certainly increase as the needs continue to grow. Of the $192 million UNICEFs donors have funded around 70% of the needed support," Al-Janabi said. "We urge donors to maintain their humanitarian and development investments in Afghanistan so that the hard-fought gains over the past decades are not lost."The Taliban* came to power in Afghanistan in mid-August, causing the US-backed government to collapse. The group then set up a new government, led by Mohammad Hasan Akhund, who served as the foreign minister during the previous Taliban rule and has been under UN sanctions since 2001.*A terrorist organization banned in Russia

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https://sputniknews.com/20211030/arab-league-urges-against-further-escalation-of-lebanese-gulf-row-1090342625.html

Arab League Urges Against Further Escalation of Lebanese-Gulf Row

Arab League Urges Against Further Escalation of Lebanese-Gulf Row

Openly critical remarks made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi targeting the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen against the Houthi rebels... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T12:06+0000

2021-10-30T12:06+0000

2021-10-30T12:07+0000

yemen

saudi arabia

league of arab states

news

houthi rebels

gulf cooperation council (gcc)

michel aoun

ahmed aboul gheit

arab league

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The League of Arab States (LAS) has urged Gulf countries against taking measures over remarks made by a Lebanese minister regarding the Saudi-led coalition's military actions in Yemen that might further exacerbate ties with Beirut. In a Saturday statement quoting Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the regional multi-national organization appealed to Gulf countries "to reflect on the measures proposed to be taken...in order to avoid further negative effects on the collapsing Lebanese economy", as the latter reels under the impact of a crippling crisis.The statement comes as critical comments from Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi about the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen against the Houthis fueled a growing row between the two Arab states. Kuwait has given Lebanon's charge d'affaires 48 hours to leave the country and recalled its ambassador from Beirut for consultations in protest over the remarks. The decision followed similar moves by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Furthermore, an Arab diplomatic source was cited by Sputnik as saying Riyadh was considering breaking off diplomatic relations with Beirut. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which also comprises Qatar and Oman, similarly condemned Kordahis remarks. The row erupted after a video surfaced of George Kordahis appearance on an Al Jazeera-affiliated youth show. The August-dated footage shows Kordahi describing the actions of the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states in the war in Yemen, where the group of Sunni states and local militias is fighting an insurgency by the Zaidi Shiite Houthi movement, controlling the capital and most of northern Yemen, as "aggression". The Information Minister had said that the Houthi militias actions were in self-defence, they were not the aggressors, while the Saudis' seven-year war effort was "futile" and it was "time for it to end." In his defence, Kordahi later stressed that the comments were made in an interview on 5 August, before his appointment to the ministerial post. He also insisted he had no intention of offending Riyadh or Abu Dhabi, while Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati emphasised that Kordahi's words did not reflect the official position of Lebanon on Yemen. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on 29 October that he would chair an emergency ministerial meeting on Saturday "to search for opportunities to overcome regrettable differences." Lebanese television reported that Habib had asked Kordahi to "do the right thing" and step down from his post.

Preterist-ADSeventy The Arab League doesnt like that Russia is going to cooperate with Lebanon and provide satellite images of the Israeli nuclear missile attack on the port of Beirut in August 2020. 1

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https://sputniknews.com/20211030/boris-no-trudeau-appears-to-hold-uks-pm-back-as-he-charged-at-macron-in-g20-photo-1090351499.html

Boris, No! Trudeau Appears to Hold UK's PM Back as He Charged at Macron in G20 Photo

Boris, No! Trudeau Appears to Hold UK's PM Back as He Charged at Macron in G20 Photo

World leaders gathered at the G20 summit in Rome on Saturday, where about a dozen health workers joined them in a shared "family" photo of the G20 leaders, as... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T21:25+0000

2021-10-30T21:25+0000

2021-10-30T21:25+0000

france

g20

viral

uk

world leaders

summit

fisheries

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/0a/1e/1090352528_0:28:3071:1755_1920x0_80_0_0_9359f902da893b641ccdab2e1f722dca.jpg

When British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20 conference, he appeared to be held back by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, just as the leaders were setting up for a group photo.As the Channel fishing row heats up, Macron and Johnson faced each other in person, and Trudeau appeared to be holding Johnson's arm as they made their way onto the platform in one amusing photograph. The shot made it appear as if the two world leaders were set to clash amid the escalating tensions brought on by the fishing dispute. However, Macron sure does look relaxed watching Johnson coming at him in that manner, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen directed Johnson to his spot.Earlier, Johnson warned that the UK might trigger legal action in the post-Brexit trade pact as soon as next week. Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Jean-Charles de Gaulle has written to von der Leyen, requesting her support for a strong new position against the UK. Paris has vowed to boost checks on British boats, implement a "go-slow" policy with customs arrangements in port Calais, prohibit UK fishing vessels from docking in French ports, and raise energy rates in Jersey. The French are demanding that the UK issue more fishing licenses to French fishermen so that they can enter British waters.Johnson and Macron met with US President Joe Biden and German acting Chancellor Angela Merkel in Rome on the summit's first day to discuss Iran's nuclear program, and are set to meet one-on-one during the conference on Sunday.When asked if he felt like he was again in the same situation as when he and Macron argued over Brexit at the G7 meeting earlier this year, Johnson said he was not concerned and that he had "bigger fish to fry," according to British media reports.During repeated post-Brexit spats with the British government, the French president said he had "never created pointless controversy." He claimed there was "no tension" over fisheries, but emphasized that the topic was vital to both parties. Despite the continuous squabbles and blame-shifting, Johnson and Macron both emphasized their close personal ties and met face to face at the G20 summit. As they came for the leaders' "family photo" at the opening of the summit, the two also shared a "mock hostile fist-bump."

https://sputniknews.com/20211030/johnson-says-french-threats-unjustified-as-macron-calls-fishing-row-a-test-of-uks-credibility-1090347506.html

R Bell A picture paints a thousand words.  its a clown show. The West votes for fools and fools are what we get. The new century i 13

4Justice The air of arrogant, egoistic, narcissistic and moronic people in this room must be so thick you could cut it with a knife. It would be like shutting yourself in a broom closet with a bunch of chain smokers. No sane person could endure it. The little emperors and empresses having a jolly good time while their respective Romes are burning. 13

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Kirill Kurevlev

france, g20, viral, uk, world leaders, summit, fisheries
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/clumsy-biden-strokes-macrons-ego-1090342358.html

'Clumsy' Biden Strokes Macron's Ego

'Clumsy' Biden Strokes Macron's Ego

US President Joe Biden indulged Frances national hurt feelings by meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of the G20 summit this weekend in Italy. 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T11:49+0000

2021-10-30T11:49+0000

2021-10-30T11:50+0000

joe biden

emmanuel macron

columnists

aukus

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The American leader was hosted by Macron at the French embassy in the Vatican, which in diplomatic terms is seen as deference to France.Biden didnt go as far as making a direct apology for the acrimonious row with France that blew up last month after the US cut Paris out of a 55 billion submarine contract with Australia.That move had infuriated Paris which denounced it as a stab in the back. France then recalled its ambassador to the United States in protest, the first time that happened in over 250 years of bilateral relations.In his meeting with Macron, however, all seemed to be smoothed over. There was a lot of touchy-feely fist bumping and shoulder massaging and declarations of ardent alliance.I want to make it clear, France is an extremely, extremely valued partner, said Biden with Macron suitably smiling, having had his ego stroked from the American leaders patronage.On the actual submarine contract, Biden said: What we did was clumsy, it was not done with a lot of grace.The US president gave the impression that it was an innocent oversight whereby France was not consulted about the switch by Australia to buy American submarines instead of French ones which Canberra had contracted to do as far back as 2016.That feint of oversight is far from the truth. Despite Bidens attempt to soothe French sensibilities, there was nothing clumsy about the US move to oust France in the Asia-Pacific. It was a deliberate bid for power projection.The formation of the new military pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States  known as AUKUS  is a bid to project military power more directly towards China.Beijing certainly viewed it that way and condemned the reckless incitement of tensions in the region by Washington and its British and Australian partners.France, and the European Union more generally, is seen by Washington as being too soft on China. Macron and other EU leaders have been reticent about adopting the US line of a more strident containment policy towards China. The signing of a landmark investment deal between the EU and China last year and the growing trade relations between the two has irked Washington.Frances more ambivalent attitude towards China in which Beijing is viewed as a commercial partner despite geopolitical differences is not acceptable to Washington. The Americans are pushing a zero-sum policy of hostile containment towards China, a policy that has been pursued with consistency under Obama, then Trump and now Biden.The United States saw an opportunity to hit French and European softness on China by kicking its 55 billion submarine contract with Australia. And Australian premier Scott Morrison, being the pliable politician that he is, was all too willing to do the American bidding.Losing 55 billion in revenue and naval jobs is no small thing. For all Bidens seeming appeasement of Macron there was no mention of how France might be compensated. The bottomline is hard cheese.Aside from the money involved, the US contract with Australia now entails supplying nuclear-powered hunter-attack submarines rather than the French-designed diesel-electric vessels. The American subs will be able to patrol the South China Sea for longer periods and have stealth capability. They could also potentially be adapted to launch nuclear missiles as well.In other words, the AUKUS pact is not just about grabbing a lucrative contract and side-lining the soft French in Asia-Pacific. Its about projecting a more provocative military stance towards China.Emmanuel Macron appears like a pathetic flunkey. He used the same touchy-feely ingratiation with former President Trump in the belief that he was somehow earning special respect from the White House. Likewise with Biden, the French leader appears to be overcome with bonhomie and a sense that he is back in the White House fold.For me, its the future we need to look at, the French president added.From stab in the back to pat on the shoulder. France, as with the rest of the EU, has no autonomy or backbone when it comes to US policy. Even with a 55 billion kick in the coffers, Macron is easily appeased by a few crumbs of American indulgence.The French leader likes to spout about European independence and forming a European Army separate from the United States and NATO. Thats all a pile of hollow bravado by a Napoleon-complex marionette.

https://sputniknews.com/20211029/what-we-did-was-clumsy-biden-calls-france-an-extremely-valued-partner-in-wake-of-aukus-fallout-1090320139.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211029/australias-defence-minister-says-macrons-anger-over-aukus-botched-sub-deal-due-to-looming-election-1090306360.html

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joe biden, emmanuel macron, columnists, aukus
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/coalition-of-us-states-sue-biden-admin-to-halt-vaccine-mandate-for-federal-contractors-1090335104.html

Coalition of US States Sue Biden Admin. to Halt Vaccine Mandate for Federal Contractors

Coalition of US States Sue Biden Admin. to Halt Vaccine Mandate for Federal Contractors

President Biden's plan to curb COVID-19 spread has faced harsh criticism in Republican-ruled states and in some cities as well, where police officers... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T03:44+0000

2021-10-30T03:44+0000

2021-10-30T03:44+0000

us

vaccination

covid-19

missouri

mandate

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At least 20 US attorneys general are suing the Biden administration in a bid to block vaccine mandates for federal contractors and federally contracted employees.The lawsuit, filed on Friday and led by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, accuses the administration of 12 counts of violations, including overreaching its federal authority by usurping the states police powers, breaching the Procurement Act, the 10th Amendment, and the principles of federalism.Citing the ongoing supply chain crisis in the United States, Schmitt has argued that the mandate could further aggravate the situation and trigger workforce shortages in the country.The lawsuit argues that the mandate issued through Executive Order 14042 is unconstitutional.Neither Article II of the U.S. Constitution nor any act of Congress authorizes defendants to implement their vaccine mandate. The power to impose vaccine mandates, to the extent that any such power exists, is a power reserved to the States, it says.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is among those who have joined the motion.His state has been one of the most zealous opponents of mandatory COVID-19 regulations. In mid-October, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting all vaccine mandates by any entity.

Thomas Turk Time for lawyers to get together, and totally ban the clotter injection. It KILLS. ''Forbidden knowledge. Medical Bombshell: Pfizer Vax Attacks Human Blood Creating Clots Under Microscope'' and it does NOT prevent. ''NaturalNews. Israel's covid vaccine efficacy data faked: Group of Israeli scientists blow the whistle with "severe concerns," warn FDA about covid "vaccines." Bloody shambolic, eh? 4

Charlie McD Bravo  1

3

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us, vaccination, covid-19, missouri, mandate
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/covid-19-economic-crisis--climate-are-the-big-issues-for-g20-to-wrestle-with-says-cambridge-prof-1090343018.html

COVID-19, Economic Crisis & Climate Are the Big Issues for G20 to Wrestle With, Says Cambridge Prof

COVID-19, Economic Crisis & Climate Are the Big Issues for G20 to Wrestle With, Says Cambridge Prof

As leaders of the Group of 20 are taking part in the blocs Rome summit, experts point at key challenges that are on the agenda. 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T12:06+0000

2021-10-30T12:06+0000

2021-10-30T12:06+0000

pandemic

climate change

g20

rome

g20 summit

economic crisis

covid-19

cop26

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According to University of Cambridge Assistant Professor Tristen Naylor, who is Deputy Director of the G20 Research Group London, there is a staggering lack of coordination between bloc members on issues, such as response to the pandemic.Sputnik: Your group has been following G20 summits for many years. What are the main differences between the Rome meeting and the previous events?Tristen Naylor: Well, first and foremost, this is the first time in two years, when finally the G20 is getting together in person despite the ongoing pandemic. This is an opportunity, finally, for these leaders, for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19, to see one another in person. That matters a great deal in global summitry. That said, there are many key leaders who are not here this weekend and I think that's going to cast a shadow over what's going to happen.Sputnik: Lets talk about the agenda. Your organisation has just published a briefing book explaining the main topics of this summits agenda. In your opinion, which issues are most important for G20 leaders and governments in 2020?Tristen Naylor: Well, principally, there are three major crises that the G20 is having to wrestle with right now: the COVID 19 pandemic, the economic crisis it ushered in, and, of course, climate change. And these themes keep coming up time and time again. And that's no surprise. Why? Because these are world-defining crises that the world's most important economies simply must address.Sputnik: The summit is being held under the motto People, Planet, Prosperity. In many G20 countries we see massive protests against the ways in which governments handle the pandemic. Do you think that these governments are really on the same page with their own people?Tristen Naylor: I can't comment on any particular governments approach domestically, but certainly what we've seen internationally is a staggering lack of coordination on the response to the pandemic and particularly as concerns vaccines. This weekend is an opportunity for G20 leaders to finally meaningfully and substantively coordinate on action, to respond to the pandemic and see us through, hopefully, the end of it.Sputnik: Planet is another pillar of the summit and climate-related issues are being discussed. We also see protests dedicated to these issues, even here in the red security zone, close to the summit venue. Why is there all that pressure on the leaders?Tristen Naylor: Simply put, we are running out of time to respond to the possibility of catastrophic climate change, irreversible climate change. This is our last opportunity this weekend to really make headway before the COP summit in Glasgow next week. The world is watching the leaders and the world is expecting the leaders to step up and make something of this moment.

https://sputniknews.com/20211030/police-force-away-protesters-blocking-access-to-g20-summit-venue-in-rome-reports-say-1090340903.html

Thomas Turk So poorly informed! COVID. He has NO clue the injection does NOT work. ''Natural News. A group of 57 scientists, doctors and public health policy experts from around the world has released a report questioning the supposed safety and efficacy of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines. This international group of experts is calling for an immediate end to all mass vaccination programs'. 0

Thomas Turk And.. zero clue about climate . What does he teach.. needlework or cooking? There are 3 basic climate science principles: -1) Climate science is in it's absolute infancy.-2)The climate is so complex it is impossible to model or predict. -3)The inherent complexity ensure it will always be changing and nothing man does impacts that. Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is the highest its been in nine years, increasing more than 30% from last year, while the Antarctics level is well above normal. Most years the Arctic loses ice, but this year ice extent has increased more than 77,000 square miles. Thats according to the Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facilitys High Latitude Processing Center. The Antarctic interior recorded its coldest April-to-September this year since records began in 1957. According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC), the average temperature at the US Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station was minus 60.9C for the six months. 0

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pandemic, climate change, g20, rome, g20 summit, economic crisis, covid-19, cop26
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/damascus-slams-turkish-parliaments-decision-to-extend-military-presence-in-syria-iraq-1090346693.html

Damascus Slams Turkish Parliament's Decision to Extend Military Presence in Syria, Iraq

Damascus Slams Turkish Parliament's Decision to Extend Military Presence in Syria, Iraq

On Tuesday, Turkey's parliament ratified a motion to extend authorisation for cross-border "counterterrorism" operations in Syria and northern Iraq for two... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T14:27+0000

2021-10-30T14:27+0000

2021-10-30T15:43+0000

middle east

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Syria condemns "in the strongest possible terms the decision...by Turkey's parliament to renew the so-called 'authorisation' to the head of the Turkish regime to send military forces to Iraq and Syria for a period of two years," a source in the Foreign Ministry has told the semi-official Syrian Arab News Agency.The source went on to suggest that the Security Council's lack of action has allowed Turkey to "persist in its crimes and aggressions against Syria" to "continue to occupy Syrian lands and to impose demographic change, Turkification," and engage in the "perpetual occupation" of these areas. The source called on the Security Council to "exercise its mandates and powers by condemning all the aggressive practices of the Turkish regime against the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic." The diplomat also urged the international community to force Ankara to compensate the Syrian state for actions taken against Syrian civilians, infrastructure, public and private property, natural resources and the nation's historical heritage.On Tuesday, Turkey's parliament extended permission for the government to use the country's armed forces in Syria and Iraq until October 2023. The decision was supported by the ruling Justice and Development Party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as the nationalist National Movement. The opposition Kemalist Republican People's Party and the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party opposed the extension.Turkey has concentrated troops in areas of northern Syria in recent days and is reportedly preparing to launch a new offensive against Kurdish forces. Unnamed officials told Bloomberg on Wednesday that Ankara plans to launch an operation to take control of two-thirds of Turkey's border with Syria and clear it of Kurdish militants.Earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the United States and Russia of failing to fulfil their obligations in Syria and clearing areas bordering on Turkey of Kurdish militias. On 21 October, Erdogan also threatened to use heavy weapons against the Syrian Army amid tensions over Idlib, the wayward Syrian province occupied by terrorist remnants and pro-Turkish forces.In recent weeks, Syrian government forces and allied militias reinforced the Tel Rifaat area in the northern Aleppo countryside in anticipation of a possible offensive by Turkish forces and/or its allied "Free Syrian Army" formations.On Friday, Turkish forces reportedly fired artillery at two villages in Aleppo amid escalating tensions.Turkey conducted three major military operations in northern Syria between 2016 and 2019 on the pretext of fighting Daesh (ISIS)* and Kurdish formations.Ankara has also launched a series of interventions into northern Iraq going back to 1992, with the latest missions, dubbed "Operation Claw-Lightning" and "Claw Thunderbolt," kicking off in April and seeing air and artillery attacks and the deployment of Turkish paratroopers and commandos against Kurdistan Workers' Party fighters.Along with its operations in Syria and Iraq,Turkey has been involved in a number of other regional and extra-regional conflicts, deploying troops to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, providing military and arms support to the Tripoli government in Libya, sending military assistance to Azerbaijan in that country's recent war against Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, and engaging in a maritime dispute with Greece and Egypt over maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.Along with the Turkish presence in northern Syria, parts of the country are occupied by US forces (situated in the country's oil and foodstuffs-rich northeast and at the at-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan), and Israel (the Golan Heights). Damascus has repeatedly called on all foreign forces illegally stationed in the war-torn nation to vacate immediately, and has vowed to use every available means to restore the country's territorial integrity.* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

https://sputniknews.com/20211011/erdogan-says-turkey-sick-and-tired-of-terrorist-attacks-in-syria-will-eliminate-the-threats-1089842886.html

Charlie McD Turkish terrorists! 8

md101 The slamming should be done on the battlefield. Kick the invaders out !! 5

4

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Ilya Tsukanov

Ilya Tsukanov

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Ilya Tsukanov

middle east
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/ecuadorian-authorities-seize-15-tons-of-cocaine-arrest-20-people-1090335424.html

Ecuadorian Authorities Seize 1.5 Tons of Cocaine, Arrest 20 People

Ecuadorian Authorities Seize 1.5 Tons of Cocaine, Arrest 20 People

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Ecuadorian police and prosecution seized 1.5 tons of cocaine meant for New Zealand from a warehouse in Guayas province in a joint... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T03:29+0000

2021-10-30T03:29+0000

2021-10-30T03:34+0000

latin america

colombia

cocaine

ecuador

police

crack cocaine

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"One thousand five hundred and forty-six kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride, five vehicles, a container and 20 arrests are the results of the operation carried out in Pascuales," the Ecuadorian police said on Twitter.The busted warehouse was located near a highway in Guayas province, home to Ecuador's main port, Guayaquil. The drugs were supposed to be sent to New Zealand hidden in a banana shipment, the prosecution said.Ecuador faces a severe drug trafficking problem, which has only grown over the recent years. Before, international criminal gangs used the country as a middle point for cocaine shipments from Peru and Colombia, but now, small laboratories started to pop up in the north of Ecuador. Domestic consumption and distribution of drugs has also increased.In 2021, Ecuadorian authorities, with the support of the United States, have seized record 146 tons of cocaine, compared to 120 tons a year prior, and 79 tons in 2019.Earlier in the week, authorities installed a new radar in the province of Manabi to track illegal aircraft, and yet another will be installed in the coastal province of Santa Elena soon. President Guillermo Lasso proposed to the parliament a bill that will allow to shoot down planes that do not obey orders from the air force in order to combat drug trafficking.

vot tak "The drugs were supposed to be sent to New Zealand hidden in a banana shipment, the prosecution said." ... The current Ecuador shutting down the previous zio-quisling businesses. I mean those that backed the disgusting organised crime criminal who sold out Assange. 0

WhatTheFishIsThis Windfall won't be wasted .. some goes into the bonfire for publicity + poor junkies, and the rest sold to CIA. Neat solution. 0

2

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latin america, colombia, cocaine, ecuador, police, crack cocaine
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/elevated-threat-issued-in-northern-virginia-on-halloween-weekend-amid-daesh-attack-rumors-1090331892.html

Elevated Threat Issued in Northern Virginia on Halloween Weekend Amid Daesh Attack Rumors

Elevated Threat Issued in Northern Virginia on Halloween Weekend Amid Daesh Attack Rumors

Officials with Northern Virginia police departments say they are aware of rumors circulating on social media about possible terrorist attacks at malls this... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T00:21+0000

2021-10-30T00:21+0000

2021-10-30T00:21+0000

us

virginia

threat

terrorist attack

officials

halloween

daesh

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An elevated, highly specific threat against Northern Virginia this Halloween weekend will increase police presence at major shopping areas in the city, according to Mike Valerio, a journalist with WUSA9, who confirmed the news on Twitter Friday.A spokesperson for the FBI Washington Field Office on Friday afternoon said the agency had no comment."However, we would remind you the FBI takes all potential threats to public safety seriously and we take all appropriate steps to determine the credibility of any information we receive," the spokesperson said in an email shared by Valerio on Twitter.The rumors begin after an alleged screenshot of what appeared to be a law-enforcement email alerting the public of a potential Daesh* attack by a cell in Northern Virginia circulated on social media. The attack was said to potentially take place within the next 72 hours, specifically targeting a shopping mall center in the Alexandria or Woodbridge area.The threat, according to federal officials, was received earlier in the week, causing a high degree of concern.Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said Friday that his department is stepping up police presence over the weekend at malls, shopping centers and along major transportation hubs  as his detectives work to corroborate the information.Prince William County Police Master Officer Renee Carr said the department is aware of the information circulating and will "provide additional information when we are able."The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office issued a statement saying the information was limited about the possible threat and was not specific to the county.*Terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries

vot tak An israeli alert to their own to hunker down ahead of a planned false flag terrorist attack? Remember the 9/11 warnings. Or just more fake news? 3

Barros US civil war on the way... 2

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us, virginia, threat, terrorist attack, officials, halloween, daesh
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/five-people-killed-in-shootout-in-nightclub-in-panama-city-police-say-1090332567.html

Five People Killed in Shootout in Nightclub in Panama City, Police Say

Five People Killed in Shootout in Nightclub in Panama City, Police Say

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Five people were killed and six more were injured in a shootout between local gangs at a Panama City nightclub, national police... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T00:34+0000

2021-10-30T00:34+0000

2021-10-30T00:34+0000

weapons

police

gangs

shooting

panama

nightclub

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"Unfortunate events took place this morning in the Espacio Panama night club, during which five people were killed and six were injured. The events were the result of a confrontation between criminal gangs," Ricaurte De La Espada, Panama national police commissioner, said on Twitter.The police have already arrested two people and seized a car and weapons allegedly linked to the incident in the club, the commissioner added.

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weapons, police, gangs, shooting, panama, nightclub
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/former-lebanese-prime-ministers-seek-information-ministers-dismissal-amid-diplomatic-row-1090344965.html

Former Lebanese Prime Ministers Seek Information Minister's Dismissal Amid Diplomatic Row

Former Lebanese Prime Ministers Seek Information Minister's Dismissal Amid Diplomatic Row

BEIRUT (Sputnik) - Former Lebanese prime ministers addressed Information Minister George Kordahi on Saturday with a joint request to step down amid the... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T13:31+0000

2021-10-30T13:31+0000

2021-10-30T13:31+0000

middle east

lebanon

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"Former prime ministers Fuad Siniora, Saad Hariri, and Tammam Salam condemned the positions going beyond the limits of political and diplomatic norms, which were spoken out by Information Minister George Kordahi... Primarily, the mentioned minister is required at least to realize what his stance has led to and how it has damaged the national interests of Lebanon, in connection with which he must hand in his resignation as soon as possible," the joint statement read.Siniora, Hariri, and Salam noted that further presence of Kordahi in the cabinet of ministers poses a threat to relations between Lebanon and Arabic nations and to the interests of Lebanon and the Lebanese people.On Friday night, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that Kordahi must "make a necessary decision" regarding the conflict with Saudi Arabia, which had expelled the Lebanese ambassador from the country and recalled the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon for consultations. Bahrain and Kuwait followed Saudi Arabia by ordering Lebanese envoys to leave.Earlier in the week, Lebanese media published extracts from Kordahi's interview to Al-Jazeera, where the minister called the actions of the Arab coalition in Yemen "aggression" and said that the Houthi rebels were forced to defend themselves. Kordahi later noted that these words were said in August, before he was appointed minister. The official also said that he did not want to offend Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Mikati said that Kordahi's words did not reflect the official position of Lebanon on the Yemeni issue.

Preterist-ADSeventy Lebanons asking Russia to provide satellite images of the Israeli nuclear missile attack on the port of Beirut in August 2020 started it all. 1

vot tak All 3 of the ex-pm are israeloamerican quislings 0

3

lebanon

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middle east, lebanon
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/frances-macron-dismisses-suggestion-that-russia-responsible-for-europes-energy-price-crunch-1090348098.html

Frances Macron Dismisses Suggestion That Russia Responsible for Europes Energy Price Crunch

Frances Macron Dismisses Suggestion That Russia Responsible for Europes Energy Price Crunch

On Monday, the US State Department accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon, and urged Germany to consider sanctions against Russia over the price crunch... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T15:45+0000

2021-10-30T15:45+0000

2021-10-30T17:28+0000

france

emmanuel macron

europe

russia

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French President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed the suggestion that Russia is responsible for high energy prices in Europe.Asked whether he felt that Russian gas giant Gazprom had too much power over Europe, Macron insisted that its not a matter of whether were too dependent on a company or not, its how we create alternatives. And the only alternatives are to have European renewables and of course, European nuclear.Macron said he believes its unlikely for energy prices to be reduced significantly over the short term, with the main task now being to avoid interruption in supply and a further rise in rates ahead of winter. To this end, he urged more coordination between energy producing countries and energy consuming nations to soften the economic blow on households and prevent a supply breakdown.The French presidents comments come in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putins instructions to Gazprom on Wednesday to boost gas volumes at underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in Austria and Europe after Russias own USGs are filled up by 8 November.Putin stressed that Gazprom has already made up for shortages in energy supplies in Europe caused by declining US and Middle Eastern gas exports, and reiterating that the situation on the energy market remains unstable, with gas reserves at Europes USGs estimated to be at a lower average volume than at any point in the past five years.Gas prices in Europe surged to nearly $2,000 per thousand cubic meters (ptcm) in futures trading on European exchanges in early October amid shortages caused by a perfect storm of factors, and remained above $1,000 ptcm in Friday trading after jumping over 400 percent from around $250 ptcm in January 2021.Russia has increased deliveries to Europe by 15 percent this year even as other suppliers, including the United States and Middle Eastern producers, have diverted up to eight billion cubic meters of gas to more lucrative markets in Asia.Competition with Asia, poorer than expected returns on investment in alternative sources of energy such as wind and solar power, the unusually cold winter and spring of 2020-2021, and market speculation have all played a role in causing the current energy shortages.However, Washington and its allies blame Russia for the crisis. On Monday, State Department advisor for global energy security Amos Hochstein accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon against Europe, and encouraged Germany to impose sanctions on Russia.Accusing Russia of politicising Nord Stream 2, Hochstein also stressed that the US has not changed its position that this was a pipeline that probably should never have been built, and [that] it was not commercially driven.Hochsteins claims have been echoed by German Green Party co-chair Annalena Baerbock, who recently accused Russia of playing poker with gas deliveries and deliberately reducing supplies amid soaring demand.Germany, the projects main European beneficiary, has repeatedly stressed that Nord Stream 2 is an economic project, and slammed previous US moves to sanction, sabotage and otherwise try to block the projects completion. The Trump administration successfully delayed Nord Stream 2s construction for over a year via sanctions. The Biden White House has since dropped restrictions against the projects Switzerland-based operator, citing the need to improve US-German relations post-Trump.Nord Stream 2 is technically complete and prepared to start pumping gas from one of its twin pipelines. However, it now awaits European and German regulatory approval, with the Greens  likely to be part of the next German coalition government along with the Social Democrats and the Free German Democratic Party, threatening to hold up its certification until the spring of 2022.

https://sputniknews.com/20211027/putin-instructs-gazprom-to-start-boosting-fill-of-ugs-facilities-in-austria-germany-1090257440.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211025/us-urges-germany-to-consider-sanctioning-russia-over-gas-supplies-1090199074.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211029/austrian-energy-giant-omv-reveals-when-nord-stream-2s-second-line-will-be-ready-to-pump-gas-1090324845.html

Alba1970 so essentially the hold up is the Germany Green party meanwhile the EU is screaming for more gas supplies from Russia .... just goes to show how insane the Germans are all they need to do is certify Nordstream 2 and there problems are as good as solved .. and the real problem is the dwindling of supplies is coming from the middle east and America ... yet Russia gets the blame 6

r8106990 Of course everyone knows about it except those who hate Russia : ) 4

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france

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Ilya Tsukanov

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Ilya Tsukanov

france, emmanuel macron, europe, russia
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/g-20-putin-urges-countries-to-speed-of-recognition-of-covid-vaccines-1090341903.html

G-20: Putin Urges Countries to Speed Up Mutual Recognition of Covid Vaccines

G-20: Putin Urges Countries to Speed Up Mutual Recognition of Covid Vaccines

Russia has developed three vaccines against the coronavirus, including Sputnik V - the world's first vaccine. Sputnik V has been approved for use by 70... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T11:09+0000

2021-10-30T11:09+0000

2021-10-30T13:54+0000

vladimir putin

vaccine

g20

sputnik v

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged countries to speed up the mutual recognition of one another's coronavirus vaccines.Putin urged the World Health Organisation to speed up the process of the prequalification of new vaccines and other preparations against Covid - including the testing of their quality, safety and effectiveness. The faster this takes place, the easier it will be to restore the functioning of the global economy, including the especially hard hit tourism sector, he said.Putin stressed that Russia's Sputnik V vaccine has proven its high safety and effectiveness, and has been approved for use in 70 countries with a combined population of over 4 billion people.Putin also suggested that mechanisms for the modernisation of vaccines should be developed in a "systematic and prompt" manner, given mutations in the coronavirus, to keep them effective. The coronavirus, according to the president, will continue to "pose a danger for a long time".The Russian president stressed that Moscow has always welcome and will continue to welcome the efforts of G20 countries to support the world's poorest nations, and said that the sustainable development of the global economy would be impossible without these issues being addressed. "Recently, developed nations themselves, including G20 states, have faced inequality and poverty. It's important to deal with this problem through economic and budgetary policy measures," he said.Russia's Covid VaccinesAccording to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RFID) figures, over one hundred countries have now approved entry to travelers who received the Sputnik V vaccine. However, the United States and many members of the European Union are not among them. Last month, an informed source told Reuters that EU regulators would be unlikely to make a determination on whether to approve Sputnik V until at least the first quarter of 2022, citing "missing data." The World Health Organization also continues to study the Russian medication.Along with Sputnik V, which is an adenovirus virual vector vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia has developed and approved the use of two other anti-Covid preparations. These include EpiVacCorona, a peptide-based preparation created by the VECTOR virology and biotechnology research center outside Novosibirsk, and CoviVac, a traditional inactivated virus-based preparation developed by the Moscow-based Chumakov Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune-and-Biological Products.The Gamaleya Center is currently working on and testing Sputnik M, a nasal vaccine designed for use on children and teens. As in other nations, the proposal to vaccinate children against Covid remains under debate by health officials, given their strong natural immunity against the virus. A recent poll by Sputnik's Russian-language sister agency found that 64 percent of parents were against vaccinating their children, with 21.6 percent supporting the idea.

https://sputniknews.com/20211028/rdif-welcomes-israels-recognition-of-sputnik-v-vaccine-1090288722.html

NCC-1701 Have to agree with that. It has nothing to do with Russians not taking it as over 60 countries use it. It is purely a political/economic decision which shows the EU's priorities. So much for caring for the welfare of its citizens. 1

NCC-1701 Purely a political/economic reason, nothing to do with Russians not taking it. Many EU citizens don't trust the approved ones but are FORCED to take it, so this is not a measure of trust. 1

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vladimir putin, vaccine, g20, sputnik v
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/ghislaine-maxwells-brother-claims-she-has-been-physically-abused-questions-chances-of-fair-trial-1090340287.html

Ghislaine Maxwell's Brother Claims She Has Been 'Physically Abused', Questions Chances of Fair Trial

Ghislaine Maxwell's Brother Claims She Has Been 'Physically Abused', Questions Chances of Fair Trial

Ghislaine Maxwell, the 59-year-old daughter of media mogul Robert Maxwell, was in a relationship with the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in the... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T10:23+0000

2021-10-30T10:23+0000

2021-10-30T10:23+0000

ghislaine maxwell

jeffrey epstein

uk

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Ian Maxwell, brother of jailed British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, has raised concerns over whether the woman accused of being the tycoons pimp would receive a fair trial. She is charged with grooming and sex trafficking girls for the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell, who himself was acquitted of fraud alongside his brother Kevin in a high-profile 1996 trial, blamed US authorities for waging a "disinformation campaign" against his sister as he spoke in a Sky News interview. Ian Maxwell suggested that as a result of the targeted campaign, his sisters reputation has been "comprehensively trashed". 'Physical Abuse' Maxwells older brother believes that prison officers in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, have "physically abused" his sister, subjecting her to treatment that is a "fundamental abuse of human rights" specifically "designed to break her".The former girlfriend of sex felon Epstein has been incarcerated since her July 2020 arrest on charges that she procured underage girls for the tycoon to sex-traffic and, purportedly, joined in the abuse. She has pleaded not guilty. Jeffrey Epstein died at a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, with his death ruled a suicide. In late April, Maxwell's lawyers, who have repeatedly complained about her conditions in jail and made several applications for bail, which were denied, released an image which appeared to show the woman with a black eye. Epsteins ex-lover told her lawyers the bruise might have resulted from her efforts to shield her eyes from the light when the guards come to check on her every 15 minutes, including during purported "night time surveillance". Commenting on that incident, Ian Maxwell said: Maxwell's defence previously claimed their client had lost hair and over 15 pounds in body weight during her incarceration. Referring to the billionaire Epsteins death behind bars as a glaring example of the failure of the US judicial system, Ian Maxwell, who has always been adamant his sister is innocent, insisted she was being made to take the fall. Maxwell argued that his sister's treatment while awaiting trial has made it more difficult to prepare her defence. He deplored the fact that all applications of bail had been denied, whereas in high-profile cases of such individuals as Harvey Weinstein, Derek Chauvin and Bernie Madoff the pre-trial bail had been granted. "It's designed to break her That is just unjust. It is a fundamental abuse of human rights. And I find that quite shocking, said the man, who suggested his family would mount a legal challenge, saying: We are going to take it to the UN. Take it from me. America has to be held to account, and it will be." A spokesperson for the US Federal Bureau of Prisons was cited as saying: "We are committed to ensuring the safety and security of all inmates in our population, our staff, and the public.The BOP takes allegations of staff misconduct seriously and consistent with national policy, refers all allegations for investigation, if warranted." Prosecutors have cited the womans citizenship in three countries and significant wealth (she is the daughter of disgraced publishing billionaire Robert Maxwell, who officially died of drowning in 1991) as factors as why bail should be refused. Ghislaine Maxwells final pretrial hearing is 1 November. Oral questioning of prospective jurors will begin in mid-November, with opening statements scheduled for 29 November.

Question All He would be credible if he stood for Julian Assange 1

Rade Stojkovic Now they all of a sudden know what abuse is! 1

5

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ghislaine maxwell, jeffrey epstein, uk
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/is-china-to-blame-thousands-of-fish-die-as-indian-river-suddenly-turns-black-1090342757.html

Is China to Blame? Thousands of Fish Die as Indian River Suddenly Turns Black

Is China to Blame? Thousands of Fish Die as Indian River Suddenly Turns Black

Officials warned locals not to eat the fish from the waterway because it may be harmful to their health. 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T13:05+0000

2021-10-30T13:05+0000

2021-10-30T13:05+0000

china

fish

river

arunachal pradesh

dead fish

india

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Photos showing thousands of dead fish floating on the Kameng River after its water suddenly turned black on Saturday have emerged online, triggering outcry from locals in the village of Seppa in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.After investigating the river, officials from the district's fisheries found a high level of total dissolved substances (TDS)  a measure of the dissolved combined content of all inorganic and organic substances present in a liquid in molecular, ionised, or micro-granular suspended form  which they believe blackened the river and suffocated the fish. Locals claim the dangerously high level of TDS is due to construction activities by China across the border. The TDS in the Kameng River was recorded at 6,800 mg per litre  much higher than the normal range of 300-1,200 mg per litre, District Fisheries Development Officer (DFDO) Hali Tajo said.Tapuk Taku, an Indian politician from Arunachal Pradesh, has appealed to the government to immediately set up an expert committee to find the cause of the poisoning. In 2017, the Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh's Pasighat district also reportedly turned black. At that time, Congress politician from Arunachal Pradesh  Ninong Ering  blamed a massive tunnel project in China and appeal to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene. The construction work diverted water from Arunachal Pradesh's Siang district to the Xinjiang province in China's Taklamakan Desert. However, Beijing denied the allegations.

Alba1970 India pumps more waste and toxins into it's waterways than any other country in the world ... India is the worlds biggest polluter dozens of trucks filled to the top daily dump plastics and other waste materials into their rivers ... more than likely this is due to waste dumping by Indians they really are a backwards people 10

Alba1970 it tells you how backwards Indians are ... during the covid 19 surge in India Indian men were covering themselves in cow dung to fight covid 19 and thousands threw themselves into the Ganges in the belief the river would purify their bodies and even Indian scientists agreed with it 9

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china

arunachal pradesh

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china, fish, river, arunachal pradesh, dead fish, india
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/johnson-says-french-threats-unjustified-as-macron-calls-fishing-row-a-test-of-uks-credibility-1090347506.html

Johnson Says French Threats 'Unjustified' as Macron Calls Fishing Row a 'Test' of UK's Credibility

Johnson Says French Threats 'Unjustified' as Macron Calls Fishing Row a 'Test' of UK's Credibility

France has threatened the UK with a series of sanctions unless progress is made in the post-Brexit fishing rights dispute. 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T16:42+0000

2021-10-30T16:42+0000

2021-10-30T16:43+0000

europe

france

boris johnson

emmanuel macron

g20 summit

fishing rights

uk

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that French threats over post-Brexit fishing licences are "completely unjustified."Johnson earlier did not rule out invoking a dispute settlement process allowed under the Brexit deal terms.For her part, von der Leyen tweeted that the European Commission was "intensively engaging for finding solutions" on both the fishing row and the Northern Ireland issue.Shortly thereafter, British Brexit Secretary David Frost took to Twitter to slam comments made by French Prime Minister Jean Castex in a letter to the European Union suggesting the 27-member bloc should demonstrate there is "more damage to leaving the EU than to remaining" as "very troubling."In a series of tweets, Frost wrote: "I would like to set out where things stand between the UK and the EU on fisheries and related issues, and why recent French rhetoric and threats, potentially leading to a breach by the EU of its Treaty obligations, are such an important matter for us. We have been in talks with the EU Commission for weeks on fisheries licensing & have granted 98 percent of applications. We do so in good faith & are fully delivering on our TCA obligation  to license vessels which can prove they have actually fished previously in our 6-12nm limit.""This is all the more so as the threats made by France this week to our fishing industry, to energy supplies, and to future cooperation, eg through the Horizon research programme, unfortunately form part of a pattern that has persisted for much of this year. As I set out yesterday to Maros Sefcovic, these threats, if implemented on 2 November, would put the EU in breach of its obligations under our trade agreement. So we are actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings as set out in Article 738 of the TCA," Frost continued.His comments followed an interview by French President Emmanuel Macron to the Financial Times, in which he said that the ongoing dispute over fishing rights was a "test" of the UK's credibility. The French president then claimed he himself had never created pointless controversy during multiple post-Brexit rows with the British government. He insisted that there was "no tension" over fisheries but stressed the issue was important to both sides.Despite the ongoing bickering and blame-shifting, both Johnson and Macron emphasised their close personal ties, and came face-to-face during the G20 summit in Rome on Saturday. The two are said to have shared a "mock combative fist-bump" as they arrived for the leaders' "family photo" at the start of the summit.Macron and Johnson are scheduled to hold a meeting on Sunday on the sidelines of G20  both are expected to defend the interests of their respective countries.France has threatened the UK with sanctions, saying it will ban British fishing boats from unloading in French ports, carry out additional licence checks on UK vessels, tighten controls of trucks, and reimpose customs and hygiene controls, and hinted at the possibility of hitting Britain's power supplies if no progress is made in the fishing conundrum. Tensions further escalated after France seized a British trawler on Thursday, allegedly for operating without a license, after London refused to issue more licences for French fishing boats. In response, UK Environment Secretary George Eustice accused France of "inflammatory language" and did not rule out blocking French vessels from landing their catches in the UK in retaliation.

https://sputniknews.com/20211029/two-can-play-at-that-game-uk-promises-retaliation-if-france-escalates-post-brexit-fishing-row-1090318240.html

4Justice It's heartbreaking to see these scumbags distracted by a fishing issue when they could be devoting their evil time to helping the US bully and sanction other countries around the world. There's so much more work to be done, regime changes, destroying other countries and their economies. Come on guys, let's get it together. 1

TruePatriot Part of the discussion needs to recognize that there is a rule of "proportionality" in the signed agreements. A few boats haven't gotten licenses, and it's not clear if a) the applied, or b) met the stated criteria. What France is threatening is well beyond proportional and I would say it's part of Macron in front of a tough election trying to win, or perhaps not lose, points. What both need to do is bring their positions to the table and sit down and sort it. 1

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europe, france, boris johnson, emmanuel macron, g20 summit, fishing rights, uk
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/kuwait-recalls-ambassador-to-lebanon-for-consultations-1090340777.html

Kuwait Gives Lebanese Envoy 48 Hours to Leave Country, Recalls Its Ambassador for Consultations

Kuwait Gives Lebanese Envoy 48 Hours to Leave Country, Recalls Its Ambassador for Consultations

On Friday, the Lebanese TV channel MTV reported, citing a source, that all countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) are... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T10:22+0000

2021-10-30T10:22+0000

2021-10-30T10:54+0000

middle east

yemen

saudi arabia

kuwait

lebanon

diplomatic expulsions

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Kuwait has given Lebanon's charge d'affaires 48 hours to leave the country and recalled its ambassador from Beirut for consultations in protest over remarks made by a Lebanese minister regarding the Saudi-led coalition's military actions in Yemen.The decision followed similar moves by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, with an Arab diplomatic source telling Sputnik that Riyadh was considering breaking off diplomatic relations with Beirut.Meanwhile, according to the Lebanese TV channel MTV, which quoted its own source, all countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) are ready to cut diplomatic relations with Lebanon in the near future, too.The foreign ministries of the Gulf countries have all summoned the ambassadors of Lebanon and handed them notes of protest. The diplomatic row has erupted following remarks by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi, who described the actions of the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states in Yemen as "aggression" in an interview to Al-Jazeera. Kordahi also said that the Houthi rebels were forced to defend themselves, and that the Yemen war was pointless.Kordahi later stressed that the comments were made in an interview in August, before his appointment as Information Minister. He also said that he had no intention to offend Riyadh or Abu Dhabi, while Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati emphasised that Kordahi's words did not reflect the official position of Lebanon on Yemen.Mikati has called on Kordahi to think about the national interests and resign, Lebanese broadcaster LBC reported.Mikati, who is on a working trip outside the country, expressed regret over the current spat between Beirut and Riyadh and said he hoped that the differences will be resolved and Saudi Arabia will revisit its decision to recall the ambassador from Beirut. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib will chair an emergency ministerial meeting on Saturday to find ways out of the conflict.

https://sputniknews.com/20211029/saudi-arabia-reportedly-gives-lebanese-ambassador-48-hours-to-leave-kingdom-1090322228.html

mandrake Let the putrid arabs have a hissy fit and do the biddings of the jews in palestine - question is what the bribe is to make the idiot act in concert like they do. Nuke for mohammed bin salman by slime jared kushner or something worse. Hezbollah is indeed a pebble in the arab shoe! 3

The_Man Kordahi has spoken the truth and if I were him, I would absolutely NOT backtrack on this or make excuses. The war is aggression and a slaughter and the Saudis need to understand this and get the F out of Yemen, pay it war reparations and concentrate on getting drunk in London and New York in their expensive penthouses! Saudi America is a 'has-been' country and if it were not for its oil, the West would not give 2 shits about it. So, KUDOS to Kordahi for telling it how it is! 2

3

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middle east, yemen, saudi arabia, kuwait, lebanon, diplomatic expulsions
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/lebanon-hopes-to-calm-tensions-with-gulf-countries-foreign-minister-says-1090343400.html

Lebanon Hopes to Calm Tensions With Gulf Countries, Foreign Minister Says

Lebanon Hopes to Calm Tensions With Gulf Countries, Foreign Minister Says

BEIRUT (Sputnik) - Lebanon is hoping to soon resolve tensions with the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia, in particular, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T12:14+0000

2021-10-30T12:14+0000

2021-10-30T12:14+0000

middle east

lebanon

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"Lebanon is hoping to soon resolve the crisis with the Gulf countries and reiterates its commitment to the responsibilities it has before the Arab world and Saudi Arabia, in particular," the minister told reporters after an urgent government meeting.A US representative was present at the meeting, as the United States could help resolve the situation, the minister said.Regarding a potential resignation of the government, Bou Habib noted that ministers had to continue their work and could not leave the country without the government.The tensions were ignited by the recently published excerpts from an interview of Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi, who criticized Saudi Arabia's involvement in the Yemeni conflict. On Friday, a Saudi state-run broadcaster announced that Riyadh was recalling its ambassador to Lebanon for consultations and asked the Lebanese ambassador to leave the country within 48 hours. Bahrain and Kuwait have also asked Lebanese ambassadors to leave within 48 hours. Riyadh is even considering severing diplomatic relations with Lebanon, a diplomatic source told Sputnik.

Preterist-ADSeventy Lebanon, through no fault of their own, heightened tensions when it asked Russia to provide satellite images of the Israeli nuclear missile attack on the port of Beirut that occurred in August 2020. All videos of the mushroom cloud that were sent to YouTube were immediately deleted in order to protect Israel. An explosion of ammonium nitrate fertilizer cannot make a 600 diameter crater in solid granite. Only a nuclear explosion can do that. 1

1

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middle east, lebanon
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/new-delhi-says-pope-francis-accepted-modis-invitation-to-visit-india-1090349559.html

New Delhi Says Pope Francis Accepted Modi's Invitation to Visit India

New Delhi Says Pope Francis Accepted Modi's Invitation to Visit India

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) - Pope Francis has accepted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to visit his country, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T17:54+0000

2021-10-30T17:54+0000

2021-10-30T17:55+0000

news

narendra modi

pope francis

visit

india

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The invitation was extended earlier in the day as the two held a meeting in Rome. Modi is currently on a visit to Italy to participate in the G20 summit."You have given the greatest gift, I am looking forward to visit India, Pope told ... Modi," the diplomat said at a press briefing in Rome.The Indian prime minister described the meeting with the pontiff as a "very warm" one, adding they discussed a wide range of issues.The last papal visit to India was made by John Paul II in 1999. In 2016, the sides were negotiating Pope Francis' visit to India the following year, but Indian Catholic Church leaders failed to convince Modi to invite him.

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news, narendra modi, pope francis, visit, india
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/photos-chinas-carrier-based-stealth-fighter-based-on-fc-31-makes-first-appearance-1090333449.html

Photos: Chinas Carrier-Based Stealth Fighter, Based on FC-31, Makes First Appearance

Photos: Chinas Carrier-Based Stealth Fighter, Based on FC-31, Makes First Appearance

New photos circulating on social media bear a close resemblance to Shenyangs FC-31 test aircraft, but a number of clues point to the jet photographed being... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T01:08+0000

2021-10-30T01:08+0000

2021-10-30T01:08+0000

china

naval aviation

stealth fighter

fc-31

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/0a/1e/1090333058_0:0:2467:1389_1920x0_80_0_0_1eb97d86897eec30d57d6abc9f90fa63.png

Is it a bird? No, its a plane! And it seems to be Chinas forthcoming carrier-borne stealth fighter.The photos of a fluorescent green fighter jet with a J-11 chaseplane circulating on social media seem to pretty definitely show an aircraft based on the FC-31 thats been adapted for carrier operations. A close-up image clearly shows a catapult launch bar and wing fold lines, neither of which land-borne aircraft have any use for.According to Naval News, the flight took place at Harbin Aircraft Industry Group test facility in the northern Heilongjiang Province.Little is known about the aircraft, which has been provisionally called the J-35 by observers. Its unclear how it got that name, but it seems likely its because of accusations that China stole information about Lockheed Martins F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. While the FC-31 and its newer derivative seem superficially similar, in reality they are very different aircraft, as Sputnik has reported.It seems more likely the new jet will be named J-21, since the newest Chinese fighter in service is the J-20, Chinas other fifth-generation aircraft.However, the forthcoming Type 003 aircraft carrier, a much larger flattop with electromagnetic aircraft catapults, will be able to fling aircraft off the flight deck with much greater speed, allowing it to launch heavier and slower aircraft than its predecessors.However, the FC-31 was notably absent a tailhook, which aircraft use to land safely on aircraft carriers, meaning at least that jet at that time was not testing its ability to fly from a ship.Another hint came this past March, when Shenyangs WeChat teased that it would be boosting research and testing on a new stealth aircraft and its related technologies this year. While it again declined to name the aircraft, the post included a photo of an FC-31.What appeared to be photos of a two-seater variant of the J-20 also appeared earlier this week. Observers remain skeptical, but if the photos are legitimate, it would be the first two-seat version of any fifth-generation fighter. A second pilot could have a number of uses, from dedicated weapons officers to piloting instructors, or even managers of drone swarms.

TruePatriot They need to do some test laps in and around Taiwan where there, no doubt, will be some very soiled nappies. 5

vot tak I suspect China's 5th gen aircraft don't crash if the ground crew washes them in "the wrong way". 5

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china, naval aviation, stealth fighter, fc-31
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/president-biden-meets-with-the-pope-and-assange-extradition-appeal-continues-1090329424.html

President Biden Meets With The Pope, and Assange Extradition Appeal Continues

President Biden Meets With The Pope, and Assange Extradition Appeal Continues

On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan and co-host John Kiriakou discussed current events, including Attorney General Letitia James announcing... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T10:58+0000

2021-10-30T10:58+0000

2021-10-30T10:58+0000

london

radio

us

hhs

mexico

media

border

wikileaks

the backstory

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President Biden Meets With The Pope, and Assange Extradition Appeal Continues On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan and co-host John Kiriakou discussed current events, including Attorney General Letitia James announcing her run for Governor, and ex-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo charged with a sex crime.

GUESTAndrew Arthur - Former Immigration Judge, Center for Immigration Studies | Biden Administration Proposing Money for Migrants, Zero Tolerance Policy, and The Biden Administration Border PolicyTaylor Hudak - Journalist & Editor with AcTVism Munich | Julian Assange, UK Courts, and The Deep State Prosecution of Julian AssangeIn the first hour, Lee and John spoke with Andrew Arthur about the news of the Biden administration giving illegal aliens four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the vetting process for Afghan refugees, and progressive Democrats upset with Joe Biden. Andrew discussed the 'kids in cages' narrative and how President Trump handled the situation. Andrew talked about the poor vetting process for the Afghan refugees and the continued failures of the Biden administration.In the second hour, Lee and John spoke with Taylor Hudak about journalism, on the ground reporting from the Assange trial, and the UK judges criticizing the evidence against Assange. Taylor spoke on the growing coverage of the Julian Assange case and the UK police filming protestors. Taylor discussed the physical appearance of Julian Assange and the Yahoo report on the CIA plans to kidnap Julian Assange.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com

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london, radio, us, hhs, mexico, media, border, wikileaks, the backstory, 
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/prince-andrew-slams-frivolous-baseless-lawsuit-by-sex-assault-accuser-seeking-another-payday-1090336563.html

Prince Andrew Slams 'Frivolous, Baseless' Lawsuit by Sex Assault Accuser Seeking 'Another Payday'

Prince Andrew Slams 'Frivolous, Baseless' Lawsuit by Sex Assault Accuser Seeking 'Another Payday'

Virginia Giuffre, one of the most outspoken accusers of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, claims that not only was she a victim of his sex trafficking... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T05:38+0000

2021-10-30T05:38+0000

2021-10-30T05:38+0000

news

society

ghislaine maxwell

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jeffrey epstein

virginia roberts giuffre

uk

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Embattled Prince Andrew has made bombshell accusations against the woman who filed a frivolous civil lawsuit against him in a sexual assault case in September. The royal claims money-hungry Virginia Guiffre (nee Roberts), is profiting from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, according to court documents filed in a US District Court in Manhattan and cited by the Daily Mail. Furthermore, his legal team, which was acting in line with the court-imposed deadline to respond to Giuffre's suit  accused the alleged Epstein victim of helping the late pedophiles former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, recruit girls for their sex trafficking ring. In the filing made on 29 October, attorneys for Prince Andrew reiterated he "unequivocally denies Giuffre's false allegations against him." Innuendo Prevailed Over Truth Virginia Guiffre, 38, filed a civil lawsuit against the embattled Duke of York in September, alleging she was trafficked out by the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with the Queens son on three occasions when she was 17, and a minor according to US law. The first time was purportedly at the London townhouse of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's alleged madam, or pimp. Maxwell is currently in jail, charged with grooming and sex trafficking girls for the financier. The second time, in early 2001, was supposedly at Epstein's New York mansion, and the third time was on the tycoon's private island in the Caribbean. The formal allegations against the Duke of York are battery and infliction of emotional distress. However, the royals defence urged a US judge to dismiss the lawsuit on Friday, calling the baseless claims no more than an attempt to achieve another payday. They also pointed to the undisclosed sum that the woman received through a settlement with the Epstein Victims Compensation Fund (EVFF), reportedly worth overall more than $121 million. The court motion cited by the outlet states that Epsteins abuse of Giuffre does not justify her public campaign against Prince Andrew. It adds that Guiffres pattern of filing a series of frivolous lawsuits against numerous high-profile individuals shouldnt be tolerated, as it continues to irreparably harm many innocent people. According to Prince Andrew, Guiffre deliberately stirred up a media frenzy resulting in the fact that sensationalism and innuendo prevail over truth. Money-Hungry Sex Kitten The team leading Prince Andrews defence also cited a story published in the New York Daily News in 2015 that claimed Giuffre also was trained to and did, in fact, recruit other young women into Epsteins sex trafficking ring. A purported ex-lover of the now-married mother-of-three Giuffre claimed he would drive her to Epstein's Palm Beach mansion and she would have like nine or 10 girls she used to bring to him".Furthermore, former friends of Virginia Guiffre are cited as claiming that the woman who has long peddled the notion that the financier was using her as a sex slave was, in fact, a money-hungry sex kitten who luxuriated in the lavish lifestyle her situation provided her with. Attorneys for Prince Andrew urged that the lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre be dismissed as violating the terms of a settlement agreement she concluded in 2009 with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, where she conceded to a "general release" of claims. The secret agreement purportedly releases lawyers, employees, agents and heirs from liability in connection with the Epstein case. Last month the attorney similarly claimed the clause absolves his client, slamming the lawsuit as baseless, non-viable and potentially unlawful. The exact wording of the clause has not been released publicly. Virginia Guiffres legal team, who agreed earlier to share the Epstein settlement agreement with the royals legal team, insisted it would be irrelevant to the case against him. In another development, Prince Andrew's 2019 Newsnight interview and its inconsistencies will reportedly be used in the civil lawsuit against him, according to Guiffres lawyer Sigrid McCawley, managing partner at US firm Boies Schiller Flexner, cited by The Telegraph.McCawley claimed the shocking interview was very helpful and added that the Duke of Yorks ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and daughters Beatrice and Eugenie may be subpoenaed to question his alibi, reported the outlet. Prince Andrew had dismissed all allegations against him in the November 2019 car crash BBC interview where he tried to defend his friendship with the late tycoon Jeffrey Epstein. The Prince denied Virginia Roberts Giuffres claims during the interview, saying that he had no recollection of ever meeting the woman and suggesting that an existing photo showing the two of them together might have been doctored. I don't know who would have advised him to do that, it was a very wrong move on his part to expose himself in that way, McCawley is quoted as saying. When responding to his accusers claims, Prince Andrew had stated in the BBC interview he could not have had sex with her in 2001 because he was out with his daughter at Pizza Express in Woking. He also claimed that a medical condition he developed after being shot at during the Falklands War left him unable to sweat after the then-17 year-old insisted that the two of them had danced together and he had been sweating profusely. Soon after the interview, the disgraced royal was forced to permanently resign from all his public roles. Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019 after being charged with multiple child sex offences. His death was officially ruled a suicide. According to a US court document dated October 25, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan set the deadline of mid-July of next year for the submission of all evidence in the current civil sex assault case, including a potential deposition from Prince Andrew.

Gone And you, pervert, understood a girl is willing to be a prostitute for you, you royal dickness? 3

Wayne Johnson It seems rather obvious that Virginia Roberts Giuffre was a willing participant who worked with Ghislaine Maxwell to recruit other girls into the world of prostitution. Why hasn't she been arrested too? 2

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https://sputniknews.com/20211030/queen-elizabeth-on-very-good-form-uk-pm-johnson-says-1090343562.html

Queen Elizabeth 'On Very Good Form,' UK PM Johnson Says

Queen Elizabeth 'On Very Good Form,' UK PM Johnson Says

The 95-year-old monarch has been advised by her doctors to rest more and avoid official visits for the next two weeks. 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T14:00+0000

2021-10-30T14:00+0000

2021-10-30T14:00+0000

boris johnson

news

queen elizabeth ii

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who gives the monarch a weekly update every Wednesday, said that Queen Elizabeth II is on "very good form." This comes after earlier this month, the Queen was advised by doctors to rest and avoid official visits for at least the next two weeks following her overnight stay in hospital for an unspecified illness (not coronavirus-related). The Queen, who is known for her strong health, rarely misses her official public duties, despite her age. But recently, she was forced to cancel a visit to Northern Ireland and will miss the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow next week. However, she has recorded a video address for the COP26 delegates.

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boris johnson, news, queen elizabeth ii
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/russian-fleet-monitoring-us-navy-destroyer-in-black-sea-1090338787.html

Russian Fleet Monitoring US Navy Destroyer in Black Sea

Russian Fleet Monitoring US Navy Destroyer in Black Sea

On Friday, the US Sixth Fleet said that a destroyer, the USS Porter, was transiting to the Black Sea in order to operate with its NATO allies. 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T08:10+0000

2021-10-30T08:10+0000

2021-10-30T08:45+0000

world

black sea

uss porter

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107981/73/1079817397_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_89f490764bd3d1a4b8b76afdb4c98d01.jpg

The Russian Black Sea Fleet is monitoring the USS Porter, a guided missile destroyer, which entered the Black Sea, the national defence control centre said Saturday.Earlier, the US Navy said in a statement that its Sixth Fleet and Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO are beginning operations in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that the alliance has increased its presence in the Black Sea because of its strategic importance. In turn, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said later that NATO is seeking to turn the region into a confrontation zone, and that this is very dangerous.

Barros Always vigilant with the US mass murder country. 15

Alba1970 America has no place being in the Black sea .... it's trying to harass Russia .... how would America react if Russia sent a destroyer to Havana ?? i bet it wouldn't go down well in Washington ... the Americans are rank hypocrites 12

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world, black sea, uss porter
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/shah-rukh-khan-fans-gather-in-support-as-son-aryan-walks-out-of-jail-1090338493.html

Shah Rukh Khan Fans Gather in Support as Son Aryan Walks Out of Jail

Shah Rukh Khan Fans Gather in Support as Son Aryan Walks Out of Jail

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's 23-year-old son Aryan and his friends were arrested by India's Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on 3 October for alleged... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T08:37+0000

2021-10-30T08:37+0000

2021-10-30T08:37+0000

celebrity

narcotics

drugs

celebrity scandal

bollywood

shahrukh khan

banned drugs

celebrity gossip

india

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Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan (SRK), has walked out of jail after getting bailed out in the drugs-on-cruise ship case. The return of starkid Aryan Khan prompted scores of fans to gather in support at the Khans' bungalow Mannat (Prayer) in Mumbai on Saturday.When Aryan walked out and stepped inside the car to return home with his father SRK and mother Gauri Khan, there was a traffic snarl and chaos as fans flocked to the site.A few minutes before Aryan's homecoming, a Hindu Monk, dressed in religious attire, was seen sitting outside Mannat and chanting prayers for Khan junior and his family.Holding banners which read "Welcome Home Aryan Khan", fans outside SRK's residence cheered, burst firecrackers, and played drums in celebration.Twitterati also rejoiced Aryan's release from jail with heartfelt messages and extended support to SRK and his family.After being tipped off about the cruise party, the NCB conducted a raid on 2 October and arrested Aryan and his friends Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, among others, the next day.They had repeatedly been denied bail and were sent to jail on 8 October for allegedly possessing and consuming drugs on a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai. Aryan's lawyer has denied that his client possessed or consumed drugs.On Thursday, Bombay High Court granted them bail under 14 conditions.

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celebrity, narcotics, drugs, celebrity scandal, bollywood, shahrukh khan, banned drugs, celebrity gossip, india
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/sudanese-military-released-several-detained-officials-including-health-minister---reports-1090334641.html

Sudanese Military Released Several Detained Officials, Including Health Minister - Reports

Sudanese Military Released Several Detained Officials, Including Health Minister - Reports

DOHA (Sputnik) - Sudanese military authorities have released a number of previously detained officials, including Health Minister Omar al-Najib, Al-Arabiya... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T02:15+0000

2021-10-30T02:15+0000

2021-10-30T02:15+0000

sudan

coup

military

officials

state of emergency

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The Sudanese military on Monday morning detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and several other members of the government. The commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also heads the Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council, declared a state of emergency and dissolved the country's government.On Tuesday, it was reported that Hamdok and his wife returned to their capital residence.The United States and the European Union have since called on the Sudanese military authorities to release all those detained. Commenting on the matter, al-Burhan told Sputnik that a legal commission will make decisions on the fate of the detainees in Sudan.

https://sputniknews.com/20211029/sudans-leader-al-burhan-says-new-prime-minister-to-be-technocrat-1090301860.html

sudan

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sudan, coup, military, officials, state of emergency
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/tiny-island-nation-facing-lockdown-after-reporting-first-covid-19-case-since-onset-of-pandemic-1090346665.html

Tiny Island Nation Facing Lockdown After Reporting First COVID-19 Case Since Onset of Pandemic

Tiny Island Nation Facing Lockdown After Reporting First COVID-19 Case Since Onset of Pandemic

Around 32 percent of people in Tonga are fully vaccinated against coronavirus, while 49 percent have had at least one dose, according to Our World in Data. 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T15:02+0000

2021-10-30T15:02+0000

2021-10-30T16:48+0000

tonga

covid-19

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The Pacific island nation of Tonga is staring down the barrel of a potential lockdown next week after reporting its first COVID-19 case since the onset of the pandemic  after a visitor from New Zealand tested positive on Wednesday. Prime Minister Pohiva Tuionetoa warned that should the infection spread, the tiny nation of 106,000 people, namely the country's main island Tongatapu, would be locked down next week.Up until now, the isolated kingdom was among only a handful of countries that have managed to maintain zero COVID-19 cases. Earlier this week, a tourist arrived in Tonga on a flight from Christchurch, New Zealand and later tested positive for the virus. According to the prime minister, the traveller was among 215 passengers who had arrived on the same flight and had quarantined in a hotel.It's understood that the person had been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer jab, and New Zealand's Health Ministry stated that they had tested negative before taking off from Christchurch.According to Our World in Data, some 32 percent Tongans are fully vaccinated against, while 49 percent have had at least one dose of a vaccine.

eddie Sorry Tonga but they have plans for you. They will leave no group of people untouched. 6

Skarefu the vacine is the killer. 5

8

tonga

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tonga, covid-19
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/trump-slams-biden-for-allegedly-mulling-450k-payments-to-migrants-as-us-turned-into-dumping-ground-1090338047.html

Trump Slams Biden for Allegedly Mulling 450k Payments to Migrants as US Turned Into 'Dumping Ground'

Trump Slams Biden for Allegedly Mulling 450k Payments to Migrants as US Turned Into 'Dumping Ground'

Former President of the United States Donald Trump joined The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show on 29 October to discuss topics such as Truth Social, the new... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T07:09+0000

2021-10-30T07:09+0000

2021-10-30T07:09+0000

joe biden

donald trump

news

us

migrants

mike pence

us customs and border patrol

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Former President Donald Trump has dismissed as not even believable" the ludicrous, in his opinion, idea considered by the Joe Biden administration to pay $450,000, and more, per person, to illegal migrants who were separated from their families at the southern border for psychological trauma.When asked by the hosts to weigh in on Joe Bidens efforts to undo what his predecessors administration did to secure the border, Trump said: The crisis on the US-Mexico border has turned into one of the Biden administrations biggest debacles. GOP officials have blasted the Democratic POTUS for creating a humanitarian and national security crisis as he rushed to undo Trumps tough immigration policies, while Central American leaders, including the presidents of Mexico and Guatemala, have accused Biden of effectively encouraging migrants and human smugglers to make the dangerous trek to the US with his policies and statements. The 45th Presidents remarks came in response to a report from the Wall Street Journal, stating that payments of "around $450,000 a person in compensation" could be issued to immigrants affected by Trump's zero-tolerance immigration policy in an effort "to resolve lawsuits filed on behalf of parents and children who say the government subjected them to lasting psychological trauma". Trump, however, touted immigration court battles his administration had successfully won. The ex-President also commented on the huge latest caravan of mostly Central American migrants trekking across southern Mexico seeking to reach either Mexico City or the US border. People in the caravan appeared to be carrying large banners and signs, some of them including President Bidens name on them, and others demanding peace and justice and safe haven from repression. Earlier, former Vice President Mike Pence also commented on the Journal's report, saying it was "totally unacceptable" that the Biden administration would consider making payments that could total "hundreds of millions of dollars" to migrants, which, according to the Journal's sources. Members of Congress have been criticising the reported payments, too. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, a Navy SEAL veteran, tweeted that Biden wants to pay illegal immigrants $450,000 for their hardship while breaking our laws." Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in an interview for Fox News, stated: Think about this: youre going to pay people half a million dollars who broke the law. At the same time, the Biden administration is getting ready to raise taxes on the hardworking American families of this countryit makes absolutely no sense Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tweeted the report was unacceptable.This comes as on 22 October, US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) announced that its agents had registered over 192,000 migrant encounters in the month of September, with the total number of encounters in fiscal year 2021 topping 1.7 million. These figures surpass the previous record of 1.64 million set in the year 2000. Furthermore, US Border Patrol recorded 557 Southwest border deaths during the fiscal year, which ended September 30 - more migrant deaths than in any prior year on record, according to data shared by the agency on 28 October.

https://sputniknews.com/20211029/purely-political-45-gop-reps-angry-over-reports-biden-wants-to-pay-each-separated-migrant-family-1090330039.html

mandrake Gag him and lock him away for ever, hes a danger to the future of the world, just like the jews in palestine are a danger to the world and need to be dealt with, harshly! 5

itchyvet After destroying many South American countires with their constant interference and imposing ILLEGAL sanctions upon them causing havoc and destruction, the people's abandon their homelands seeking better opportunities and leave for the U.S. which they believe, will offer them a better life. On arrival they discover the U.S. Govt is no no better that what they have just left, and refuses to accept them. Some would call it the pigeons coming home to roost. The U.S. Govt is guilty as hell of causing these refugees, so it's way past time, when the pay for their crimes. 5

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Svetlana Ekimenko

joe biden, donald trump, news, us, migrants, mike pence, us customs and border patrol
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/uae-reportedly-withdraws-its-diplomats-from-lebanon-over-ministers-yemen-war-remark-1090346903.html

UAE Withdraws Ambassador From Lebanon Over Minister's Yemen War Remark

UAE Withdraws Ambassador From Lebanon Over Minister's Yemen War Remark

Relations between Lebanon and the Gulf countries have soured following comments by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi, who criticised Saudi Arabia's... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T14:36+0000

2021-10-30T14:36+0000

2021-10-30T15:26+0000

middle east

united arab emirates

lebanon

diplomats

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The United Arab Emirates has withdrawn its ambassador from Lebanon for consultations and advised its citizens not to travel there, the Foreign Ministry said. This comes after earlier in the day, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said that Beirut was hoping to ease tensions with the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia.Tensions boiled over after Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi criticised Saudi Arabia's involvement in the Yemeni conflict. Riyadh responded by recalling its ambassador to Lebanon for urgent talks and asked the Lebanese ambassador to leave the country within 48 hours. Bahrain and Kuwait followed suit and asked the Lebanese ambassadors to leave within 48 hours.Earlier this week, Lebanese media published extracts from Kordahi's interview with Al-Jazeera, in which he described the actions of the Arab coalition in Yemen as "aggression" and called the war in Yemen pointless. He also said that Houthi rebels were forced to defend themselves. Later, Kordahi noted that he made the comments in August before he was appointed minister, and said that he didn't mean to offend Saudi Arabia and the UAE.Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati emphasised that Kordahi's words do not reflect Lebanon's official position on Yemen.

https://sputniknews.com/20211030/kuwait-recalls-ambassador-to-lebanon-for-consultations-1090340777.html

The_Man Good - the Emirati Zionists can go f*** themselves! As can the Bahrainis, Kuwaitis and Saudi Americans! I'm talking about their respective governments and not the citizens. Kordahi - Well done man! 3

Milko Ansah-Johnson The crimes of UAE & KSA in Yemen. 2

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Sofia Chegodaeva

middle east, united arab emirates, lebanon, diplomats
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/uk-france-reportedly-in-last-ditch-talks-on-post-brexit-fishing-licenses-to-avert-chaos-at-ports-1090344382.html

UK, France Reportedly in Last-Ditch Talks on Post-Brexit Fishing Licenses to Avert 'Chaos at Ports'

UK, France Reportedly in Last-Ditch Talks on Post-Brexit Fishing Licenses to Avert 'Chaos at Ports'

PM Boris Johnson earlier vowed to do "whatever is necessary to protect British interests, voicing apprehension that the EU-UK trade agreement may have been... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T13:44+0000

2021-10-30T13:44+0000

2021-10-30T13:44+0000

france

boris johnson

emmanuel macron

g20 summit

post-brexit

fishing rights

uk

cop26

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London and Paris are believed to be holding last-ditch talks this weekend to hammer out a solution to the post-Brexit fishing rights issue that has soured relations between the two countries, reported The Guardian. The head of the ports of Calais and Boulogne, Jean-Marc Puissesseau, was cited as warning of imminent disaster if Paris were to follow through with its recent threats to impact cross-Channel trade amid the demand that London grant more licenses to French fishermen to access British waters.He revealed that he had already received instructions to stop British boats from being unloaded in Boulogne from 2 November Tuesday. Furthermore, border authorities at Calais were under orders to enforce tougher controls on lorries carrying goods, he added. It is believed the latest round of talks is focusing on what level of data might be accepted for issuing fishing licences to French boats and other enhanced flexibility on the contentious issue to avert fallout at the ports on Tuesday.On Friday, reports suggested the European Commission was to propose to London a round of negotiations over the issue on the weekend, with a fishing industry source cited by Reuters as saying: Johnson-Macron Faceoff As UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson gears up to face French President Emmanuel Macron in Rome at the G20 summit, he earlier underscored that the UK will retaliate if cross-channel freight is disrupted because of the fishing row. Speaking in the Italian capital on Saturday, Johnson was cited by Sky News as confirming his government would not rule out formal action under the post-Brexit trade and cooperation agreement if France was seen to have breached its terms. No of course not, I dont rule that out. But what I think everybody wants to see it cooperation between the European allies, he said, adding that his government would do what is necessary to protect British interests.The French president, Emmanuel Macron, however, insisted the fishing row dispute was a test of the UK's credibility, telling the Financial Times:Johnson and Macron are to meet one-on-one at the summit on Sunday. France-UK Fishing Row Spirals France earlier argued that the UK and the Crown Dependency Channel Island of Jersey had refused dozens of French fishing boats licenses to operate in their territorial waters. Accusing the UK of having issued 50% fewer licenses to French boats than it was supposed to in line with previously concluded agreements upon withdrawal from the EU bloc, Paris has been lobbing threats at London.The intimidation ranged from promises to block its ports and carry out security checks on British vessels to reinforced controls of lorry traffic and customs if London failed to issue more fishing licences. It even went as far as to fine two British boats and detain a UK scallop dredger, "Cornelis Gert Jan", escorting it to the Port of Le Havre on Thursday. France also threatened to hike up tariffs on energy bills in Jersey. The UK side has responded by denouncing the disappointing and disproportionate threats made against the UK and Channel Islands. Commenting on the rhetoric coming out of Paris, UK Environment Secretary George Eustice warned that London could respond in a proportionate way."George Eustice explained in a series of interviews that the UK had issued licences to 1,700 vessels, including 750 French fishing boats, which amounts to 98% of applicants. The remaining ones purportedly could not prove they had fished in these waters previously. Both Jersey and UK authorities have since repeatedly said they are open to any further evidence from applicants of having operated in their waters before.

TruePatriot Part of the discussion needs to recognize that there is a rule of "proportionality" in the signed agreements. A few boats haven't gotten licenses, and it's not clear if a) the applied, or b) met the stated criteria. What France is threatening is well beyond proportional and I would say it's part of Macron in front of a tough election trying to win, or perhaps not lose, points. What both need to do is bring their positions to the table and sit down and sort it. 1

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Svetlana Ekimenko

france, boris johnson, emmanuel macron, g20 summit, post-brexit, fishing rights, uk, cop26
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/us-e3-express-grave-concern-about-irans-nuclear-programme-say-up-to-tehran-to-change-course-1090348999.html

US, E3 Express 'Grave Concern' About Iran's Nuclear Programme, Say Up to Tehran to 'Change Course'

US, E3 Express 'Grave Concern' About Iran's Nuclear Programme, Say Up to Tehran to 'Change Course'

Irans Foreign Ministry blasted Washington on Friday over new sanctions targeting the Islamic Republics drone industry, suggesting the restrictions contradict... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T16:49+0000

2021-10-30T16:49+0000

2021-10-30T18:58+0000

france

britain

united states

iran

germany

joint comprehensive plan of action (jcpoa)

iran nuclear deal

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President Joe Biden and the leaders of the three Western European JCPOA members France, Germany, and the UK have alleged that Irans nuclear activities pose a threat to international security.The communique alleged that Tehrans enrichment activities had no credible civilian need, but were important to nuclear weapons programmes, and went on to accuse the country of reducing cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. We agreed that continued Iranian nuclear advances and obstacles to the IAEAs work will jeopardise the possibility of a return to the JCPOA, the statement warned.European leaders praised President Joe Bidens clearly demonstrated commitment to return the US to full compliance with the JCPOA and to stay in full compliance, so long as Iran does the same, and said that a return to the agreement remained possible and could be done quickly.The four leaders added that they were committed to continuing to work closely with the JCPOAs other signatories  Russia, China, and the European Union, in resolving this critical issue.The US-E3 communique comes a day after the US Treasury slapped new sanctions on Iran targeting four individuals and two companies associated with the countrys drone programme over the alleged export of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles abroad.Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh slammed Washington over the new restrictions, suggesting the situation reflects the completely contradictory behaviour of the White House, [which] speaks of its intention to return to the nuclear accord and continues to impose sanctions.The drone-related sanctions are the latest in a series of over 1,000 restrictions imposed on Iran by Washington in recent years, targeting everything from the countrys oil and gas exports, to the Middle Eastern nations efforts to procure food and medical supplies abroad. In addition to affecting Iran itself, the restrictions also threaten foreign nations, including US allies, and warn them not to do business with the Islamic Republic on penalty of financial and regulatory punishment.The sanctions come amid months of efforts by Tehran and Washington to kick-start JCPOA negotiations in Vienna, which have been stalled since June. On Wednesday, Irans top nuclear negotiator announced that the country would be ready to rejoin the Vienna talks sometime next month. The same day, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration still believes its possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on a return to mutual full compliance with the nuclear deal.Before nuclear negotiations were frozen, Iran and the US each agreed in principle on the need for Washington to lift its crushing sanctions in exchange for an Iranian return to the uranium enrichment and stockpiling limits outlined by the JCPOA. However, the two sides disagree on which country should take the first step, with Tehran suggesting that America lift its illegal sanctions, and Washington saying the Islamic Republic must return to full compliance on enrichment.Additionally, Iran has also expressed concern about US efforts to add a clause into the JCPOA on Irans missile programme and its regional activities. After unilaterally pulling out of the nuclear agreement in 2018, President Donald Trump similarly suggested the creation of a better deal including Irans missiles and regional policies. Tehran vocally rejected these overtures, stressing that its conventional missile programme is its main deterrent against foreign aggression, and emphasising that its foreign policy would not be dictated by foreign powers.The Islamic Republic has long maintained that it does not have and has never had any plans to build a nuclear weapon, or any other weapons of mass destruction. The country eliminated its chemical weapons stocks in the mid-1990s before joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, and never used its arsenal during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988, in spite of repeated Iraqi chemical attacks against Iranian troops and cities.

https://sputniknews.com/20211029/iran-says-new-sanctions-contradict-us-claims-about-seeking-to-return-to-nuclear-deal-1090323720.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211028/message-in-hebrew-iranian-general-says-enemy-plot-to-wreak-havoc-in-tehran-foiled-1090282219.html

Gen Soleimani Tehran is only doing what any independent country would do against the hypocrisy of the West and injustice to it's 84 million people. Take the sanctions off, release Iran's stolen assets and then ask Iran nicely to come to the meeting. When you promise you got to deliver - the art of negotiation! 6

Rade Stojkovic Jesus, I wonder what will they think of next! Iran is not complying! If I am not mistaking, agreements contain obligation for all parties, not just one of them! And what is USA doing there, they are not part of the agreement! 5

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france, britain, united states, iran, germany, joint comprehensive plan of action (jcpoa), iran nuclear deal
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/weekly-news-roundup-assange-lawyers-bring-up-cia-assassination-plot-biden-bill-collapsing-1090332153.html

Weekly News Roundup; Assange Lawyers Bring up CIA Assassination Plot; Biden Bill Collapsing

Weekly News Roundup; Assange Lawyers Bring up CIA Assassination Plot; Biden Bill Collapsing

President Biden's economic agenda is on the ropes after corporatists strip it of nearly all meaningful social reform 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T10:57+0000

2021-10-30T10:57+0000

2021-10-30T10:57+0000

julian assange

nicaragua

sudan

guinea

facebook

the critical hour

build back better

radio

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Weekly News Roundup; Assange Lawyers Bring up CIA Assassination Plot; Biden Bill Collapsing President Biden's economic agenda is on the ropes after corporatists strip it of nearly all meaningful social reform

Ray Baker, political analyst and host of the podcast Public Agenda, joins us to wrap up the important stories for the week. Facebook is under attack as a "whistleblower" that is highly connected to US intelligence agencies pushes a narrative of government censorship. Julian Assange faces the wrath of the US, Nicaragua stands up against the US regime change push, and Antony Blinken steps on China's Taiwanese red lines.Dr. Linwood Tauheed, associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri- Kansas City, joins us to discuss the economic stories for the week. The left flank of the Democratic Party refuses to sign onto Biden's stripped-down legislation, economic growth slows to 2%, and the weekly jobless numbers are in.Dr. Iyabo Obasanjo, professor, epidemiologist, veterinarian, and the daughter of former Nigerian President Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, joins us to discuss the US empire in Africa. The US empire seems connected to recent coups in Guinea and Sudan. The coup plotters in Guinea were trained by US soldiers, and the US envoy met with the plotters in Sudan just hours before they arrested the prime minister.Dr. Colin Campbell, a Washington, DC, news correspondent, and Gary Flowers, host of The Gary Flowers Show on radio station Rejoice WREJ-AM 990, come together to talk politics. Disgraced former New York governor Andrew Cuomo has been charged with a criminal offense related to one of the allegations of a sexual offense. Also, we discuss Julian Assange and Biden stripping social programs from his Build Back Better bill as the war budget increases.Ted Rall, political cartoonist and syndicated columnist, and Margaret Kimberly, editor and senior columnist at Black Agenda Report, join us to discuss this week's important stories. There are new allegations of miscreant behavior against the 2016 Clinton campaign as they pushed falsehoods about Trump-Russia ties. Also, the Facebook whistleblower is outed as a likely intelligence operative, the Assange hearing concludes, and the US regime change machine fires up in Cuba once again.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com

Truth 101 U.S. Constitution, by giving freedom of the press to the rich and powerful, it has made it impossible for the poor to ever have the freedom to be heard. 0

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sudan

guinea

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julian assange, nicaragua, sudan, guinea, facebook, the critical hour, build back better, , radio
https://sputniknews.com/20211030/why-bidens-clumsiness-might-prompt-france-to-seek-greater-strategic-autonomy-for-europe-1090345429.html

Why Biden's 'Clumsiness' Might Prompt France to Seek Greater Strategic Autonomy for Europe

Why Biden's 'Clumsiness' Might Prompt France to Seek Greater Strategic Autonomy for Europe

US President Joe Biden met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on 29 October and admitted that his administration acted "clumsy" while handling the... 30.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-30T14:58+0000

2021-10-30T14:58+0000

2021-10-30T14:58+0000

france

vatican

joe biden

emmanuel macron

world

europe

us

asia & pacific

opinion

brexit

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Commenting on his negotiations with Joe Biden in the French Embassy to the Holy See, Emmanuel Macron said that he and the American president "clarified together what we had to clarify." The French leader further noted that "what really matters now is what we will do together in the coming weeks, the coming months, the coming years."In September, Australia tore up a submarine deal with the French worth $90 billion to acquire nuclear-powered subs technology from the US and UK. In response, Paris recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia (but not the UK) in what international media called an "unprecedented" move. France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian denounced the backroom deal as a "stab in the back," adding that it was wrong for allies to behave with "such brutality, such unpredictability." For his part, French EU Affairs Minister Clement Beaune linked the botched deal to France's growing mistrust in Brits: "Basically we see it with Brexit, we see it with the AUKUS project," highlighted Beaune.Deception & Failed ExpectationsAlthough the French appear to be rightly outraged and are likely to remain angry for some time, "Biden handled it right this time," suggests Dr. Michael OHanlon, the Brookings Institutions director of research in foreign policy and adjunct professor at Georgetowns Centre for Security Studies.Given that the core interests of Washington and Paris are fundamentally aligned when it comes  in particular  to the Sahel, Middle East, NATO and Russia they were destined to come to compromise, according to him. Still, he predicts that it will take time to repair relations. Biden's apologies about a so-called misunderstanding or clumsy diplomacy "wont really do a great deal to mend the relationship," argues Joseph Camilleri, emeritus professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne and one of Australia's leading international relations scholars, specialising in France-US relations.For Paris, the more pressing thing is that it were excluded from the deal in a way the French government believes was unacceptable, the professor underscores, adding that the loss of a lucrative contract was secondary.Yet another issue is failed expectations, according to Camilleri. The "clumsy" AUKUS deal came after Trump's presidency, which frustrated many of Washington's European allies and EU members, including France, who were expecting that Biden's victory would bring "grown-ups" back to the White House.However, now "they are thinking that maybe the way Trump dealt with them was not quite an aberration, but even with Biden now as president, there is a sense of an Anglo-club in which Western Europe will be regarded as a second-class citizen," the professor emphasises."Given Biden's promises of a new inclusive multilateralism that would improve the American image after four years of Trump's America First unilateralism, I think the affair will augment French/European skepticism about American promises, whether made by Republican or Democratic leaderships," echoes Hall Gardner, professor of international politics at the American University of Paris.Macron's Concept of 'Strategic Autonomy'Macron is likely to act as if his relationship with the POTUS never took a dive following his latest meeting with Biden, and he will definitely use the affair "to press the Europeans into forging a more politically 'autonomous' European defence capability," Gardner underscores.During the February 2021 Munich Security Conference, the French president placed a great emphasis on Europe's "strategic autonomy." He also suggested that NATO's new blueprint should involve "a dialogue with Russia," although it comes in contradiction with the Pentagon and NATO's new doctrines, which see Moscow and Beijing as their new major challenges. Furthermore, Macron insisted that "it's time for [Europe] to take much more of the burden for our own protection," in a reference to the much-discussed issue of an EU Army.Apparently, as "compensation" for Washington's "clumsiness," Biden could allow Macron to push ahead with his plans and "make it easier for the Europeans to develop a more autonomous defence capability, but one that is still linked to NATO," suggests the professor. Still, Gardner insists that what's needed is not a new European arms build-up, but a change in American strategy.He argues that full trust between the US, France, and the rest of Europe can only be achieved "once the US and Europe begin to implement a common transatlantic strategy for global peace and sustainable development.""Otherwise, trust between all the major power blocs will continue to deteriorate," Gardner concludes.

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https://sputniknews.com/20210221/msc-2021-us-of-today-no-longer-the-one-of-the-cavalry-is-coming-in-europes-eyes-analysts-say-1082143247.html

IronForge Murica-WDC, GBR-London, and ISR-TelAviv run their Hegemony. FRA and AUS are Vassals; and AUS are clearly owned by the Murica-GBR Axis as a Commonwealth Asset. 0

IronForge AUS are Buyer-Slaves of the Murica-GBR-ISR Axis MIC, Hosts to Axis Military Forces+Bases, AUS Navy+NukeSubs Vassals to Axis Carrier Strike Group Fleet Ops. FRA will never gain ground in MIC over Axis Lands. 0

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Ekaterina Blinova

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Niki Hill dominated her two-year-old pacing filly foes to add a Breeders Crown title to her near-perfect resume during the Friday freshman finals at The Meadowlands.

"I think it was a statement from start to finish," said Chris Ryder of his trainee's impressive winning effort.

Niki Hill was on the move early, leaving from post seven and bypassing a spot at the pylons to take over command through a :26.2 first quarter from the quick-leaving elimination winner Queen Of Success (Andy McCarthy).

"She's got a high cruising speed and I didn't want to get her jammed up and start her up again," said driver Dexter Dunn of his winning move. "She likes to roll and I wanted to take luck out of the equation. I thought I had the best filly in the race and drove her like that and she did the rest. She's a great filly."

After finishing second by less than a length in her first defeat last week, Niki Hill led with authority through a half in :54.4 and three-quarters in 1:23.1 before extending her lead by nearly five lengths through the stretch to score in 1:51 over the sloppy track. Sea Silk (Chris Page) finished up in second off an overland trip from post 10, overtaking Treacherous Dragon (Tim Tetrick), who was flushed first-up from fourth down the backstretch.

"I was super proud of her tonight," said Ryder. "Last week, we had a little bit of a hiccup and she tied up a little bit and just a few minor issues but she was herself tonight."

Sent postward as the 3-5 favourite, Niki Hill returned $3.40 to win.

Bred by Stephen Dey of Allentown, New Jersey, Niki Hill was a $155,000 yearling purchase at last year's Lexington Selected Sale. The daughter of two-time Breeders Crown champion Always B Miki out of Road Bet is now seven-for-eight with the lion's share of the $600,000 purse lifting her bankroll to $684,541 for owner Tom Hill of Lancashire, U.K. Her victories include the Shes A Great Lady Stakes and International Stallion Stakes.

Ryder said after today's huge effort the connections will take it week by week with the freshman filly, who could compete in the Kindergarten and Three Diamonds.

Dunn picked up his second consecutive victory in the Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Pace after driving the Nifty Norman-trained Fire Start Hanover in last year's event.

All the recaps from Friday's opening night of Breeders Crown finals can be found in the 2021 Breeders Crown News Centre.
Sent postward as the 6-5 bettors' choice, Spicey P delivered on his pari-mutuel promise with a 7-1/2-length romp in the $25,600 final of the Ontario Sired Autumn Series for two and three-year-old pacing colts on a rainy Friday night (Oct. 29) at The Raceway at Western Fair District.

Leaving from the middle of the gate, Spicey P led all the way for driver Colin Kelly, posting fractions of :28.4, :58.4 and 1:27.1 before pulling away from the rest of the field to score in 1:57.4 over the sloppy track. Two-year-old gelding Unlaced (Alfie Carroll) followed back in second-place while Drowns The Whiskey (Natasha Day), who suffered interference before the start resulting in a refund, avoided a breaker at the top of the stretch as he was maneuvered to the passing lane and edged out the first-over traveller, Ricottabkiddinme (Anthony Haughan), for third.

A leg one winner on October 15, Spicey P paid $4.20 to win the final.

The Up The Credit-Sydney Seelster gelding now has three wins and three second-place finishes from 14 races this year after going winless in three rookie starts. He is trained by Chris Matthews and owned by Jessica Breese Karn, Desmond Scott, Gary Lyons and Stephen Byers.

Kelly also drove 3-5 favourite Casimir Swamp Girl to a 1:57.2 front-end victory in the $10,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred 3 Pace, keeping Buttermilk Hanover (Robert Shepherd) at bay with Temagami Seelster (Lorne House) following from the pocket in third. The popular five-year-old Up The Credit mare, who is now six-for-14 this year, paid $3.20 to win. Kyle Bossence trains the career winner of 24 races and $142,301 for owner William Pendleton.

Driven by Scott Wray, 4-1 second choice Lefkada rallied three-wide down the backside and into the stretch then held off the late-closing Jayport Hi Class (Greg Dustin) in the $11,000 Preferred 3 Trot for trainer Jack Wray, who also co-owns with Thomas Wray and Peter Charlton. The five-year-old E L Titan mare notched her third win this year from 16 starts and her 12th victory lifetime, pushing her bankroll just over $170,000. The winning time was 2:06.4 for 1-1/16-mile finale.

To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Western Fair Raceway.
This week's edition of Rewind takes a trip back in time some 42 years ago to 1979. Robert Smith recalls one of those many great days (actually in this case nights) from the beloved old Greenwood track in Toronto. His story remembers that year's Canadian Pacing Derby, always one of the real highlights of every summer racing season.

On the evening of Saturday, August 11, 1979 a few race fans originally headed for Greenwood Raceway may have changed their plans after battling traffic. However a lot of people stuck to their guns for the evening and created the second largest crowd ever recorded at the "Downtown Track" as it was often called. Traffic was often at a standstill along Lakeshore Boulevard leading up to first post time as a whopping 17,826 fans made their way in to see Abercrombie in particular. Just a week earlier this horse had recorded the fastest race mile in the history of harness racing when he toured the Meadowlands track in 1:53 for driver Glen Garnsey. Apparently they thought another record breaking performance could be in the offing.

A field of eight of the swiftest pacers on the planet were entered in the $100,000 Canadian Pacing Derby that even included one three-year-old, Maple Lanes Strike. A number of other top rated performers were entered as well in the event that was for three-year-olds and older. Perhaps overlooked in the field despite having a tremendous season thus far was a five-year-old named Try Scotch. A son of My Scotch Bret by Bret Hanover, he was at his season's best at this time. Despite all of the accolades involving the others in the field the capacity crowd had come to see Abercrombie.



Try Scotch and driver Shelly Goudreau reach the Greenwood wire a winner with just one other horse in the winning photo. Finishing second was Le Baron Rouge and driver Robert Samson (Photo courtesy of the Standardbred front cover) Try Scotch and driver Shelly Goudreau reach the Greenwood wire a winner with just one other horse in the winning photo. Finishing second was Le Baron Rouge and driver Robert Samson (Photo courtesy of the Standardbred front cover)

Shelly Goudreau, driver of Try Scotch, had a pretty clear view of the big race that everyone was talking about from the previous week when Abercrombie set the new all-time record at The Meadowlands. He had set the entire pace and finished a bang-up second after all. Apparently his strategy for this race had not changed and despite starting from sixth position he was intent on using the same plan of attack.

Just before reaching the quarter mile marker, Goudreau had Try Scotch on top and soon began to set his own pace albeit an amazingly "slow" one for a field like this. He chugged through fractions of :29.2, 1:00 even to the half, and on to the 3/4 pole in 1:29.2. From here he urged his charge on to a 28 second last quarter with plenty in reserve. At the wire he held a one-length lead over second place finisher Le Baron Rouge for Robert Samson while the heavily favoured Abercrombie was a disappointing 2-1/2 lengths back in third. Try Scotch was the winner in 1:57.2 in what observers called "a mild upset."

This edition of the famed Canadian Pacing Derby was the 16th in a row to be held at Greenwood. It also marked the first time that the purse had reached the $100,000 mark having risen $10,500 from the previous year when it was won by Dream Maker owned by Antonio Chiravalle and driven by 34-year-old Ron Waples. The winning time of 1:57.2 by Try Scotch was not a record as the mile of 1:56.1 set by the aforementioned Dream Maker the previous year remained intact.

It was his eighth win in 13 starts, good for season's earnings of $207,000. Although it was still relatively early in the racing season, Try Scotch was starting to get some recognition for aged pacer of the year honours. This horse was purchased in a private deal for a paltry $10,000 by his current majority owner Tom Crouch three years previous to this time. Later at a party Crouch (reportedly after a few cocktails) entered into a conversation with a couple of friends who expressed an interest in buying at least a share in a horse. Couch told them "I've got one I'll sell you." He ended up selling a portion of the horse to Steven Newcom and Craig Mahlstedt, both of Illinois.

Following the race the smiling young 31-year-old Goudreau soon became every reporter's dream as he began to issue a few quotable quotes. "I was looking for the little horse (meaning Abercrombie), but I couldn't find him tonight. I was glad I couldn't see him too." On a more serious note he said, "To win this race is the highlight of my career. I really wanted to win this one!". Goudreau was modest in his assessment of the horse when he quipped "he's always a good horse but just peaking this year."

Results Of The 1979 Canadian Pacing Derby



The above chart shows the order of finish. Horses are listed in order of post position with their finish shown further to the right. The above chart shows the order of finish. Horses are listed in order of post position with their finish shown further to the right.

Memories Of Shelly Goudreau



Shelly and his father "Smilin' Fred" Goudreau. This is undoubtedly one of my all-time favorite photographs and every time I see it I feel the same about it. Shelly and his father "Smilin' Fred" Goudreau. This is undoubtedly one of my all-time favorite photographs and every time I see it I feel the same about it.



A trunk from the stable of Shelly Goudreau (Photo courtesy of Ken Fitzgerald) A trunk from the stable of Shelly Goudreau (Photo courtesy of Ken Fitzgerald)

Quote For The Week: "If you think God is far away...Guess who moved." Seen recently on a church sign near here.

Who Is It?

Can you correctly identify this young fellow? The soft hat tells me that this picture may not have been taken too recently. Let us know your answer.

Who Else Is It?

Can you identify this gentleman? He wore a variety of caps and hats during his career in the sport. (Photo courtesy of Can. Sportsman)
The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission has dismissed a complaint filed against Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner related to his successful challenge of the medical marijuana petition drive.

John Cartier, an attorney who worked with Nebraska Families for Medical Cannabis, asked the commission in April to review whether Wagner violated state law by not disclosing who paid legal fees for the petition challenge.

Both Cartier and Wagner said the complaint had been dismissed.

State law requires elected officials to report any gift more than $100 in value on a Statement of Financial Interests, which is filed annually with the state office responsible for administering election laws.

Cartier said the commission found the legal fees for the challenge were not considered a gift because Wagner had not solicited the money.

Complaints made to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission are not made public unless the subject of the complaint invokes the right to do so or the commission enters an order finding a violation occurred, said Executive Director Frank Daley.

The commission has not entered an order finding that Wagner violated the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Act, he said.
Voters will be able to elect new city council members on Nov. 2. Mayoral candidate Richard Boyer is running unopposed and is therefore conside
Many health officials have warned against ivermectin's use for COVID-19, saying that it could cause harmful side effects and that there's little evidence it helps. The drug is not listed by the Japanese government as an approved medicine to treat the coronavirus, according to the Japan Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency's list of medical products approved for COVID-19. The same list shows that the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines all remain authorized under Special Approval for Emergency use in the country.

The false assertion that ivermectin gained approval for use among COVID patients in Japan emerged in August after Haruo Ozaki, the chairman of the Tokyo Medical Association, said at a news conference that the drug may have benefits for COVID patients but needs to be studied further. Some people online misinterpreted this as an endorsement of the drug and mischaracterized Ozaki as a government official. But the Tokyo Medical Association is an independent organization. It is not a government agency and does not reflect the official stance of the Japanese Ministry of Health. While Japan did suspend the use of about 1.63 million doses of the Moderna vaccine in August after contamination was found in unused vials, it did not totally stop administering the vaccine. The Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines were unaffected. Japan has recorded more than 20,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 650 deaths in the past month, though daily new cases have seen a steep decline from when they surged around the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. Experts say an effective vaccine campaign, widespread use of face masks and subdued nightlife could be credited with the decline. About 70% of the population is fully vaccinated.
Britney Spears posted a photo on a helicopter and informed that she had arrived on a private island. The respective post was made on her Instagram.

And in the photo posted on the internet, the 39-year-old American pop star has posed in full view against the background of the aforesaid chopper.

Also, she posted a short video showing beautiful landscapes during the flight.

"Arriving on a private island its nice here but waaaayyy too hot," she wrote as attachment to this post, which already has received more than a million likes.

Spears, however, did not say the purpose of her visit.

According to the Daily Mail, the pop star is thought to have touched down in Ladyville, Belize, at the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport, before traveling to a private island.

Her fans wished Britney a good rest.

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Aug. 31  At a news conference the day before he visited Kenosha, President Donald Trump is asked if he condemned Rittenhouses actions. He says: You saw the same tape as I saw. And he was trying to get away from them, I guess; it looks like. And he fell, and then they very violently attacked him. And it was something that were looking at right now and its under investigation. But I guess he was in very big trouble. He would have been  I  he probably would have been killed.
The Longview City Council passed a preemptive resolution Thursday night to assure residents they have no intention of creating a local income tax.

The resolution proposed by Chet Makinster and Mike Wallin prohibits the imposition of a local income tax in the event a local income tax is determined legal and permissible by state courts or the Legislature. The measure passed without opposition by the rest of the council.

The resolution is not in response to a specific proposal, as Washington still has no statewide income tax and no city has successfully implemented one on its own. Seattles attempt to tax high-income residents was rejected by the Washington State Supreme Court in 2020, though the ruling left the possibility of a flat income tax on the table.

Wallin said the proposal was a reaction to worries the state Legislature might take actions during the upcoming session to make it easier for cities and counties to enact flat income taxes.

We are trying to make clear to our residents and businesses that we expect stability, Wallin said.

Makinster and Wallin both said the current tax base in Longview, along with last years revenue surplus, should be used to fund projects instead of creating a new tax. Makinster also cited voters long history of rejecting attempts to enact an income tax at the statewide level.

Councilwoman Ruth Kendall voted for the resolution, but questioned whether it was necessary to take up the resolution right now.

I find it highly unlikely that, at the local level, we would be in the position to bring an income tax forward, Kendall said.

Similar resolutions to oppose theoretical income taxes have been passed in Battle Ground, Kennewick, Spokane Valley and a handful of other Washington cities over the last two years.

Earlier in Thursdays meeting, the City Council held a public hearing about recent spending of Community Development Block Grants and CARES Act funding. City planner Adam Trimble outlined how the city apportioned more than half a million dollars for rental and utility aid, small business grants, housing rehabilitation and other local improvements.

Councilmember Christine Schott reported progress on organizing community partners to address homelessness. Schott said earlier Thursday had been the first sit-down meeting among the Salvation Army, Love Overwhelming, the Cowlitz Family Health Center and other organizations that coordinate services for residents of the Alabama Street camp.

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iPhone 13 Diwali photography tips: A few weeks ago, we scrutinized the iPhone 13 Mini and the iPhone 13 Pro Max, and both of them left us impressed with their camera prowess. In fact, the iPhone 13 Pro Max with its bigger camera sensors was trading blows with our crop-sensor DSLR camera in terms of quality. Hence, this Diwali, it would be wise to give those camera on your iPhone 13/iPhone 13 Pro some workout.

Diwali 2021 photography on iPhone 13/iPhone 12

Here are some tips from professional photographers , all explaining how you can get the best snaps from your iPhone 13 or iPhone 12 during the festival of lights.

Making the camera comfy in tricky low light situations

The bigger sensors on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max are a boon for dealing with low light situations during Diwali. (Amritanshu Mukherjee / HT Tech)

Diwali photography is all about dealing with challenging low light situations and this is where you need to nail the angles as well as manage exposures. Gursimran Basra, an artist who uses the iPhone 13 Pro Max for his point-n-shoot photography shares the following tips.

- To capture beautiful low light photos, it is extremely important to keep your iPhone stable to get the maximum sharpness out of the phone.

- Its also important to look for light angles which makes the photographs bright and lit up. Trying various angles can be useful here.

- The manual control over the exposure while shooting in the low light conditions helps to keep the photograph crisp and sharp.

- Lastly, do not zoom while shooting in the low light as it may distort the pixels.

Playing with darkness and exposure

iPhone 13 Mini (Amritanshu Mukherjee / HT Tech)

Anurag Banerjee, another photographer using the iPhone 13 Pro Max for his daily photography stresses on playing with darkness to get nicer contrasts, and keeping it all steady.

- The steadier the camera, the better the night mode image. If you don't have a tripod for your device, look for places to keep your camera or where you can support your hands for minimum shakes.

- Use blacks and darkness to your advantage. Especially while making low light portraits, try having a lot of contrast in the frame so that your subject stands out even more.

- Expose your image wisely. When shooting in low light, there can be many parts of your image that aren't receiving the right amount of light and can appear grainy. Be sure to look out for where the light is good and structure your composition around such points.

Composing the Hum Saath Saath Hai family photo

iPhone 13 Pro Max (HT Tech)

Joshua Karthik, a phone geek and a photographer, also shares tips on composition while shooting Diwali portraits, or group photos of family members.

- The joy of a great Diwali photo lies in the way our families enjoy these moments, so look for compositions that frame your family beautifully with light and colour.

- Use the ultra wide lens with confidence in low light for getting more action in a unique perspective.

- The cinematic video mode in low light is great for Instagram/Snapchat stories. If youve invited friends over for dinner, switch over to cinematic mode and get even better looking video of the festivities at home.

- Night Mode is like cheat code for fantastic low light photos, and it works best if your subject isnt moving around much. Ask family and friends to pose and hold that smile for just a second, and youll get gorgeous portraits even in very low light.

- Get family in for a group shot. Make sure youve got colour in the frame, and get everyone to smile on cue
The term metaverse" is the latest buzzword to capture the tech industry's imagination  so much so that one of the best-known internet platforms is rebranding to signal its embrace of the futuristic idea. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's Thursday announcement that he's changing his company's name to Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta for short, might be the biggest thing to happen to the metaverse since science fiction writer Neal Stephenson coined the term for his 1992 novel Snow Crash.

But Mark Zuckerberg and his team are hardly the only tech visionaries with ideas on how the metaverse, which will employ a mix of virtual reality and other technologies, should take shape. And some who've been thinking about it for a while have concerns about a new world tied to a social media giant that could get access to even more personal data and is accused of failing to stop the proliferation of dangerous misinformation and other online harms that exacerbate real-world problems.

WHAT IS THE METAVERSE?

Think of it as the internet brought to life, or at least rendered in 3D. Zuckerberg has described it as a virtual environment you can go inside of  instead of just looking at on a screen. Essentially, it's a world of endless, interconnected virtual communities where people can meet, work and play, using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps or other devices.

It also will incorporate other aspects of online life such as shopping and social media, according to Victoria Petrock, an analyst who follows emerging technologies.

Its the next evolution of connectivity where all of those things start to come together in a seamless, doppelganger universe, so youre living your virtual life the same way youre living your physical life, she said.

WHAT WILL I BE ABLE TO DO IN THE METAVERSE?

Things like go to a virtual concert, take a trip online, view or create artwork and try on or buy digital clothing.

The metaverse also could be a game-changer for the work-from-home shift amid the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of seeing co-workers on a video call grid, employees could join them in a virtual office.

Facebook has launched meeting software for companies, called Horizon Workrooms, to use with its Oculus VR headsets, though early reviews have not been great. The headsets cost $300 or more, putting the metaverse's most cutting-edge experiences out of reach for many.

For those who can afford it, users would be able, through their avatars, to flit between virtual worlds created by different companies.

A lot of the metaverse experience is going to be around being able to teleport from one experience to another, Zuckerberg says.

Tech companies still have to figure out how to connect their online platforms to each other. Making it work will require competing technology platforms to agree on a set of standards, so there aren't people in the Facebook metaverse and other people in the Microsoft metaverse, Petrock said.

IS FACEBOOK GOING ALL IN ON THE METAVERSE?

Zuckerberg is going big on what he sees as the next generation of the internet because he thinks it's going to be a big part of the digital economy.

Critics wonder if the potential pivot could be an effort to distract from the company's crises, including antitrust crackdowns, testimony by whistleblowing former employees and concerns about its handling of misinformation.

Former employee Frances Haugen has accused Facebook's platforms of harming children and inciting political violence after copying internal research documents and turning them over to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

They also were provided to a group of media outlets, including The Associated Press, which reported numerous stories about how Facebook prioritized profits over safety and hid its own research from investors and the public.

IS THE METAVERSE JUST A FACEBOOK PROJECT?

No. Other companies talking up the metaverse include Microsoft and chipmaker Nvidia.

We think theres going to be lots of companies building virtual worlds and environments in the metaverse, in the same way theres been lots of companies doing things on the World Wide Web, said Richard Kerris, vice president of Nvidias Omniverse platform. It's important to be open and extensible, so you can teleport to different worlds whether it's by one company or another company, the same way I go from one web page to another web page.

Video game companies also are taking a leading role. Epic Games, the company behind the popular Fortnite video game, has raised $1 billion from investors to help with its long-term plans for building the metaverse. Game platform Roblox is another big player, outlining its vision of the metaverse as a place where people can come together within millions of 3D experiences to learn, work, play, create and socialize.

Consumer brands are trying to jump on the trend, too. Italian fashion house Gucci collaborated in June with Roblox to sell a collection of digital-only accessories. Coca-Cola and Clinique have sold digital tokens pitched as a stepping stone to the metaverse.

WILL THIS BE ANOTHER WAY TO GET MORE OF MY DATA?

Zuckerbergs embrace of the metaverse in some ways contradicts a central tenet of its biggest enthusiasts. They envision the metaverse as online cultures liberation from tech platforms like Facebook that assumed ownership of peoples accounts, photos, posts and playlists and traded off what they gleaned from that data.

We want to be able to move around the internet with ease, but we also want to be able to move around the internet in a way were not tracked and monitored, said venture capitalist Steve Jang, a managing partner at Kindred Ventures who focuses on cryptocurrency technology.

It seems clear that Facebook wants to carry its business model, which is based on using personal data to sell targeted advertising, into the metaverse.

Ads are going to continue being an important part of the strategy across the social media parts of what we do, and it will probably be a meaningful part of the metaverse, too," Zuckerberg said in a recent company earnings call.

Petrock she said shes concerned about Facebook trying to lead the way into a virtual world that could require even more personal data and offer greater potential for abuse and misinformation when it hasnt fixed those problems in its current platforms.
Online shopping has been with us for many years. The World Wide Web opened up to the commercial world back in the mid-1990s. However, the web itself has been displaced to a large degree by social networking and online life ...

Mar 04, 2021 0 0
A week after a lawyer representing one of three men on trial for murder in the death of an unarmed, jogger complained about Black pastors in the courtroom, hundreds came from around the country and held a rousing prayer rally in front of the Glynn County Courthouse.
NOT A COINCIDENCE: The city plans to increase the use of random scanning in schools after five guns were found in a two-day period. There were 25 percent fewer School Safety Agents than usual, a problem which the head of the union that represents the Agents previously called on the city to address out of concern that schools would be left vulnerable because of the understaffing.
KEARNEY  University of Nebraska President Ted Carter will be the featured speaker for the upcoming Warner Lecture Series presented by the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Carter will discuss Higher Education in the 21st Century during the event, scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday. Nov. 2, in the Miriam Drake Theatre inside UNKs Fine Arts Building. UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen will provide the introduction. The event is free and open to the public.

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Hosted by the UNK College of Arts and Sciences, the Warner Lecture Series was launched in 2017 to address important issues in Nebraska and recognize the service of Charles J. Warner and his son Jerome Warner, two prominent former state senators who played a significant role in UNKs history. Funding for the event is provided by the Chancellors Office and College of Arts and Sciences.

Carter began his term as the eighth president of the University of Nebraska on Jan. 1, 2020. He serves as chief executive officer of the NU system, responsible for overall university operations and the implementation of Board of Regents policies and goals.

Nearly 51,000 students are currently enrolled across the NU system, which includes four campuses plus the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.
As of 8 p.m. Thursday, 33,400 city workers remained unvaccinated. The city said it would provided updated vaccine rates on Saturday.

The fire department said it was prepared to close up to 20% of its fire companies and have 20% fewer ambulances in service while changing schedules, canceling vacations and turning to outside EMS providers to make up for expected staffing shortages.

The department must manage the unfortunate fact that a portion of our workforce has refused to comply with a vaccine mandate for all city employees, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who had COVID-19 in January, said his department was sending reminders to workers whose records indicated they hadnt yet received a shot and that NYPD vaccination sites will remain open all weekend. Shea said thousands of officers whove applied for medical and religious exemptions will be allowed to work while their cases are reviewed.

Nearly 1,000 officers were vaccinated on Friday alone, the NYPD said, rushing to meet the deadline for the mandate and an extra incentive: workers who get a shot by Friday will get $500.
A registered sex offender from California, who was living in her vehicle outside of an Indiana hospital, was taken to jail after officials discovered she had left her 1-year-old son in the unlocked vehicle for nearly an hour while visiting her hospitalized boyfriend, police said.

Shanelle Carlson, 35, faces felony counts of neglect of a dependent and failure to register as a sex offender, according to police in Porter County, Indiana.

Police say they were called to Northwest Health Porter Hospital at about 10 a.m. Thursday and were told security found the baby in a car seat in the rear passenger area of the vehicle.

The front passenger door of the vehicle was secured by a ratchet strap, and the locking mechanism appeared to be broken, police said. The vehicle was described by police as a 2013 Ford Escort Goldline Camper.

Hospital officials told police Carlson had been causing disturbances on the second floor of the hospital for the past couple of days when she would visit her boyfriend, who was a patient, the incident report states.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced this week that the states unemployment rate continues to decrease in comparison to last year, with a statewide September 2021 unemployment rate of 5.5%.

While the department hailed the rate as good news, some employers in Southern Illinois still are struggling to find workers despite the reported 4.8% unemployment rate in the Carbondale-Marion Metropolitan Area.

"While today's data shows us how much has improved across the state over the last year, we know there is still room for further recovery and to get people back to the workforce," Illinois Deputy Governor Andy Manar said Thursday in a news release accompanying the latest figures.

Despite the gains, some business leaders have pointed to a $300-a-week federal unemployment supplement program keeping workers from returning to their jobs.

Half the states cut off such benefits in June or July, even though the program was set to run through the first week of September. In those 27 states, the number of people working or looking for a job hasn't increased more than those that kept the program running.

The supplement and two other federal emergency unemployment programs ended nationally Sept. 6., but America's labor shortage persists as the number of job openings and hires decreased in the month of August, according to data released Oct. 12 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Some analysts point to advanced child tax credits, savings from stimulus payments and previous unemployment payments as reasons individuals have not returned to the workforce.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker steadfastly defended extended $300 unemployment benefits when surrounding states cut them off prematurely and state business groups urged him to follow suit.

Our job here is to make sure were creating jobs and helping people to rebuild the lives they had before the pandemic, and so were not going to pull the rug out from under people, Pritzker said in May.

Still, the help wanted signs seem to be a sign of the times.

'A lack of employees'

Jobs are never ending right now, explained Mikeala Crutcher, field support manager for StaffQuick, a staffing agency with more than 20 Illinois locations. We just cant find really qualified associates for all of the different jobs. We have all kinds of openings where we could people to work  people that want to show up and work.

That is the problem, according to Tom Wolf, owner of four area Dairy Queen locations, including the three in Marion.

Fully staffed, he would have as many as 50 employees. But he cannot remember when he was fully staffed.

Were regularly running five to eight or more people short, he said. Weve actually closed stores several times for a week to ten days at a time, and one for three months because of the pandemic and a lack of employees.

Wolf said he has moved employees from one location to another to cover staff shortages and explained one of his Marion locations closed recently because of an equipment failure. He is keeping it shuttered until he can find enough employees to open again.

He said even when he hires people, a work ethic seems to be missing.

The problem is not just a shortage of employees, it is a shortage of employees who show up for their shifts.

'A critical shortage'

John Otey retired as a business service manager for the Illinois Department of Employment Security in 2020. He has watched employment trends in Southern Illinois for more than two decades.

He said the current job market concerns him.

The first thing that comes to my mind is we are experiencing a critical shortage in all areas of the labor force, Otey said. It doesnt matter if its skilled labor, crafts labor, retail or food service. All you have to do is drive around Southern Illinois and see the Help Wanted signs, he said.

He explained that the unemployment rates may not tell the full story.

Its based on people who are eligible to draw benefits. It does not count people who are ineligible for benefits because theyve run out unemployment benefits," he said.

Otey said those who gave up in looking for work  or decided not to return to work  are not included in unemployment numbers as well.

StaffQuicks Crutcher said she believes some of the lack of job seekers can be attributed to the type of work people are seeking.

I think right now, a lot of people are looking for work-from-home positions. When the pandemic happened, a lot of positions became remote and people got comfortable with that, she said. I think thats one of the bigger obstacles were up against right now.

Otey said it seems not as many people are looking for employment right now. For example, attendance at job fairs is a fraction of what it used to be, he said.

Whether people are satisfied being paid to stay home, or if there just are not enough job seekers, the bottom line is there are some critical shortages, he said.

Consumer demand

The shortages cut across industries. As e-commerce booms, trucking companies are wrestling with fewer drivers, more deliveries, and congestion at pick-up points.

American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a Monday news release that there is a shortage of 80,000 drivers in America, an all-time high for the industry. That number could grow to 160,000 drivers by 2030.

In Illinois, 97% of trucking companies are lacking workers to transport goods, Matt Hart, executive director of the Illinois Trucking Association, told The Pantagraph this week. The association surveys its members on a monthly basis, he said.

Consumer demand has been up 30% this year, said Hart. As people are wanting more and more stuff delivered, we just do not have the capacity for that large of an increase.

He added, The biggest challenge right now is that there are no available drivers. Our companies are advertising for drivers and theyre not getting any response.

'Become creative'

To attract job seekers, employers are forced to become creative.

We are seeing a lot with attendance bonuses right now, where if people show up and work, they are getting those, Crutcher said.

Otey said employers may need to tighten their budgetary belts and pay more to attract more people.

They are going to have to potentially raise some of their wages to appeal to them or maybe you do something a little extra for their benefit package  something that might not cost a lot but be seen as something useful, he added.

His suggestions include everything from employee recognition to small gifts, but he cautioned employers to not sweeten the pot for new hires, while ignoring existing and long-term team members.

Wolf said he has resorted to new ways of posting job announcements  including inserts with drive-through orders featuring QR codes and social media posts.

Despite all the bad news, some industries are having no trouble attracting applicants. Doug Rash, director of network operations and engineering for the Harrisburg-based Clearwave Communications, said his company has a surplus of candidates for many open positions.

We actually have a pretty steady stream of applicants, especially for our in-house construction side, he explained. With the downturn of the coal mines, there are all of these hard-working folks looking for jobs.

Rash said the company has, at any given time, 50 to 100 quality applicants in the queue waiting for the next job opening.

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PERU  In response to a letter sent this month by state Rep. Kambium Buckner, Peru Police Chief Robert Pyszka said that investigators with the multi-jurisdictional unit gave all files in the case of Jelani Day's death to the FBI.

The Day family is continuing to ask for the FBI to take over as lead investigator in the case. Pyszka said the FBI has told the unit they will assist them in all matters, but they will not take charge of the case.

Buckner's letter requested that specialized resources, skills and attention are needed in the investigation and Pyszka's department should allow Illinois State Police to provide that.

Pyszka in a statement said he understands the pressure Buckner is fielding. However, the chief said he disagreed with statements Buckner wrote in his letter, including "unsettling discrepancies and inconsistencies including the analysis of surveillance video and the securing of the crime scene among other issues."

He also told The Pantagraph on Friday that investigators are still reviewing surveillance videos in the case.

Pyszka said the state representative has not reached out to him to discuss his concerns of inconsistencies and discrepancies in the investigation.

The chief also said the unit has contacted the FBI several times, with the most recent being early last week. Additionally, he said an independent autopsy report conducted by the Day family has not been yet been furnished to the unit.

"As far as the other claims concerning the investigation, I cannot comment as it is an ongoing investigation," Pyszka stated in the statement.

Results of the investigation's autopsy report were announced Monday by the LaSalle County Coroner's Office, indicating Day's cause of death was drowning. The report, received by The Pantagraph by a Freedom of Information Act request, stated forensic pathologists found no evidence of assault or altercation, or sharp, blunt or gunshot injury on Day's body, which became severely decomposed in the Illinois River.

Forensic Pathologist Scott Denton said it's unknown how Day went into the water.

Day's aunt, Terri Davis, told The Pantagraph Wednesday that the investigation's autopsy results have not changed her family's assertions that Day's life was taken by someone without his permission.

A march calling for Justice for Jelani Day was held Tuesday in Peru. The late student's mother, Carmen Bolden Day, led troops of supporters to where her son's car, clothing and body were found, also noting the distance between all three.

She said Tuesday that "none of this stuff adds up."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has also drawn parallels to the Emmett Till case, where a Chicago teen was killed in 1955 in Mississippi.

Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter: @BrendanDenison

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The devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Illinois students was writ large this week, with the states recently released school report card showing steep declines in academic achievement and 1 in 5 students statewide reported as chronically absent during the 2020-21 school year.

Illinois State Board of Education Superintendent Carmen Ayala said the preliminary Illinois School Report Card assessment data from last school year illustrate the significant impact of the pandemic and remote learning on student attendance, enrollment and academic achievement.

The report card includes data from student assessments delivered last spring at around 90% of Illinois schools, and taken by roughly 70% of students, ISBE spokesperson Jackie Matthews said.

The state-level data is preliminary as it does not yet reflect all districts, and on Nov. 1, school districts will get access to the school and district aggregate data for a correction period, Matthews said.

Unlike in previous years, the state is releasing the data in two batches, with the district-specific data slated for publication Dec. 2. The testing window last spring was extended because of the pandemic, running from March 15 through May 28, and some districts opted to conduct testing this fall.

We have witnessed both tragedy and heroism in our schools over the past year. ... Students and educators have lost so much and lived and learned through unthinkable obstacles, but loss is not the whole story, Ayala said.

We know we have a steep road ahead of us to help students regain skills in math and reading, and we are confident that we have the funding, supports, and talent in our schools to climb that hill, Ayala said.

Among the most troubling findings in the state report card from the 2020-21 school year are higher rates of chronic absenteeism, lower rates of ninth graders on track to graduate, and steep declines in the percentages of students across grade levels attaining proficiency in math and English language arts, ISBE officials said.

One in five Illinois students was chronically absent last year, missing 10% or more of the school year, with or without a valid excuse  a 21% increase from 2019, officials said. Illinois has roughly 4,000 public schools and enrolls around 1.8 million students.

Preliminary spring testing data also shows far fewer students met grade-level standards in English language arts and math, with the results of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness taken by students in Grades 3 to 8, and the SAT, taken by 11th grade students, showing nearly 17% fewer students met grade-level standards in English language arts in 2021 than in 2019.

Around 18% fewer students met grade-level standards in math, with larger decreases in proficiency among younger students, who officials said may have struggled more to engage in remote learning than their older peers.

In addition, the rate of ninth grade students on track to graduate dipped 5% from 2019 to 2021, which officials said reflects an increase in students receiving failing grades.

The last school year started with fewer than 10% of Illinois students learning fully in-person, with an increasing number of students returning to school buildings as the year progressed, and a full return of in-person learning at schools statewide this fall, officials said.

Still, the state report card reported nearly 70,000 fewer students enrolled in Illinois public schools, including a roughly 10,000 decline in students attending Chicago Public Schools.

While prior years enrollment trends would have anticipated a roughly 1% decrease in student enrollment in a typical year, officials said the 2.5% drop is attributed to the pandemic, and similar to enrollment declines in other states.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement that the states 2021 report card shows the tremendous challenges the pandemic has created for school-aged children the world over.

As we move forward, helping our children process this experience and restoring their learning must sit at the heart of every action, he said.

Pritzker said he has been working hand-in-hand with school administrators across the state to ensure the $7 billion dedicated to renewing K-12 learning for Illinois students properly addresses this long period of disruption and devastation.

The annual, federally mandated student assessments were waived in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic abruptly shut down schools in March 2020.

Last spring, the Illinois State Board of Education and more than 700 Illinois superintendents asked the U.S. Department of Education for another testing waiver for 2021, but their requests were denied. President Joe Bidens Department of Education said the data is critical to understanding the magnitude of the pandemics impact on student learning.

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Only 27% of college graduates work in a field related to their college major. Yet 30% of college students change majors at least once.

Denmark Technical College in Bamberg County is on a mission to change that and more. We aim to connect students to their fundamental purpose by aligning their aptitudes with their education and ultimately careers. When students have purpose and know what theyll excel at, we can address students not pursuing the right majors and show them apprenticeship, internship, and career opportunities available right here in town.

Local opportunities are critical. The U.S. Census shows the population in South Carolina communities steadily shrinking over the past three decades. In Bamberg County alone, the population declined by 16.7% from 2010 to 2020. Often, its when a community lacks local education opportunities that population decline begins. And once the population declines, the economy follows, and industries then relocate and take needed jobs with them.

Without colleges, high school graduates leave. Without jobs, others cant afford to stay. They leave for larger cities, like Greenville, Charleston, or Columbia, or leave the state. The loss of talent hurts rural economies and further increases population and industry loss.

DTC is changing the dynamic for students and local employers by aligning education and industry. DTC starts by using science to empower students to make the best-fit career choices. These arent their parents choices or, like me, the choice of an English major because they were good in English class.

Its the students aptitudes that guide the choice. DTC offers the YouScience Discovery aptitude assessment to all applicants before they even set up their first class schedule. Discovery uses psychometrically valid exercises to find proven aptitudes.

Once students complete the assessment, they see careers theyre naturally inclined to do well at and therefore will enjoy doing. They see careers they may have never thought of or receive validation on a path theyve already chosen. They also see local employers seeking those aptitudes and skills for apprenticeships, work-based training, and permanent roles.

The assessment and working closely with DTC counselors to better understand their results and develop their educational pathways ensures students make informed decisions about their futures. DTC is in its second year of using the YouScience platform and is already seeing a decrease in the number of students changing majors.

The routes students uncover arent always, and dont have to be traditional four-year degrees either. Some DTC students go on to pursue those degrees. Others dont.

NPR ran an article just this week about the decreasing need to have a four-year college degree to earn a good living. It pointed out a Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce study that found that people without bachelors now often earn more than people with them.

Bamberg Country has strong alumni from DTC who are doing phenomenally well, who are entrepreneurs and who came through DTCs technical programs.

The YouScience platform lets us connect students to both traditional and technical pathways and connect their strengths to in-demand, well-paying technical careers. DTC uses Precision Exams by YouScience certifications to offer students identified as naturally talented for technical pathways access to more than 200 industry-recognized certifications. Certifications give students an advantage in the job market and are matched to the aptitudes uncovered by YouScience Discovery.

Precision Exams by YouScience helps DTC ensure the standards taught in our classrooms meet, if not exceed, what industry  local industry  needs today. Were developing the talent industries need to thrive right here in Bamberg County. And were offering students a quality educational experience with innovative career guidance that keeps them home for their post-secondary schooling too.

DTC is working to partner with industry as well, so that it sees we have needed graduates right here and moves in or stays. There are groups like Southern Carolina Alliance and Ready SC and other groups also working directly to make sure that happens. Even Congressman James Clyburn helped by working with the Savannah River nuclear plant to create opportunities for students at historically Black colleges and universities, including DTC.

At the core of DTCs mission as an HBCU is keeping students, education and industry here. The YouScience identity formation and career exploration lets us meet students where they are and take them where they need to be as the perfect starting point.

Edson Barton, CEO of YouScience, shared with me, DTC is really fulfilling the YouScience promise of aligning how individuals, education and industries achieve success.

Its a promise DTC shares. At the end of the day our mission is about nurturing the whole student to help them find happiness and satisfaction in their lives. The YouScience platform helps us do that for students starting day one. And if we can help students, we can help Bamberg County evolve and grow and do our part to help the community thrive.

Dr. Willie L. Todd Jr. is president Denmark Technical College.

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The grand opening of the new, $9.2 million Orangeburg County Library and Conference Center was celebrated by both young and old on Friday morning.

The long-awaited, state-of-the-art facility at 1654 Russell St. is equipped an art studio, computer lab with 48 computers, meeting rooms, outdoor amphitheater, walking track and more.

The facility's adjoining conference center, complete with a breezeway and separate parking area, can seat about 400 and accommodate approximately twice as many standing.

Tours of the 50,000-square-foot facility were provided for the community members who turned out for its dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Daniel Bozard, 8, was among them. He was joined by his mother, Alyssa, of Orangeburg.

"I like the whole thing. I like where we can read and get education and learning. I hope to do reading," said Bozard, a student at Dover Elementary School in North who also likes art.

His mother was equally excited about the new facility.

The facility itself is wonderful. The creativity of all the colors. They're very bright, and you've got your art room and different stuff to keep the kids busy. I like that. Kids need books. It's a special part of their future, she said.

Anya Bonnette, a librarian at Robert E. Howard Middle School in Orangeburg, was also delighted with the facility.

I think this is a tremendous opportunity for our students. I'm a middle school librarian. So access is a big thing. What we try to get our students to see with the library is their future. This space will change the way they look at things, change the way that they connect to people, Bonnette said. It'll help them to see how they can have an impact on the community as well.

She said, "Hopefully, they'll say, All right, change starts with me. I can do it right here. It is the center of our community. I'm excited. I'm excited for my kids to come in, and it's state of the art. They deserve something that reflects the 21st century.

South Carolina State University Interim President Alexander Conyers said he is thrilled the new facility is within walking distance of the university.

We are super excited for the county of Orangeburg and for the city of Orangeburg for this phenomenal facility. We all know that a rising tide lifts all boats, and this will certainly lift South Carolina State University and our students, Conyers said.

This is a magnificent facility, and it's in walking distance from our campus, as well as Claflin's campus. I'm glad they chose this location, and our students look forward to utilizing this facility to help them matriculate through South Carolina State University, he said.

Columbia-based Studio 2LRO was the architect for the project, while Orangeburg-based O'Cain Construction served as the general contractor.

Wendell McCoy, project manager with O'Cain Construction, attended the grand opening with his young son and was happy that the project was successfully completed.

It was a great project to be a part of. We knew the importance of this building and this facility to the community of Orangeburg. We were very excited to build this facility, McCoy said.

He continued, With COVID hitting just shortly after breaking ground here, it presented all kinds of challenges, but I think the end product is going to be something that will be sustainable for the citizens of Orangeburg County and the City of Orangeburg for many years to come. Hopefully, it's the heartbeat for the revitalization of Russell Street moving forward.

Orangeburg resident Glenda Middleton was also excited to be in attendance at Friday's grand opening. She attended with her husband, Alonzo.

It's good to be here. I didn't want to miss the opening day. I want to do the tour, Middleton said.

Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young was among the many government officials from the city, county and state who converged upon the conference center for Friday's grand opening.

The whole point of this project and the significance of it was to have downtown to be vibrant again. It starts with this center right here. ... We're striving to give this community what it deserves. They deserve the best, and that's what we're going to try to bring them, Young said.

The location has a lot to do with it so we can collaborate with the colleges and universities that we have that are cornerstones of education in our community, Young said.

He also touted the county's partnership with the city in making the facility a reality.

This is also a collaboration with our good friends with the City of Orangeburg. They donated a million dollars toward the project. ... We do work together, Young said.

He said, We deserve a place to educate our youth and give them the ability to learn, read and then go out and serve our community.

Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler also touted the city's continued partnership with the county.

We have a strong partnership. We've all got one goal in mind," Butler said.

Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright thanked city, county and other officials who made the facility's construction a reality and read a letter from Sixth District Congressman Jim Clyburn.

In addition to providing improved access to technology for the community and improved access to library materials, this facility will also serve as a catalyst to the revitalization of downtown Orangeburg, Clyburn stated in his letter.

Clyburn thanked Young and Orangeburg County Library Director Anna Zacherl for their vision, dedication and hard work in making the project a reality.

The new library has already become a demonstration to other rural communities throughout South Carolina on how these facilities need to transform themselves to broaden the horizons of their citizens by continuing to bring new opportunities to students, job seekers and those working to improve their health outcomes," Clyburn said. The congressman said hes looking forward to hosting an event in the new conference center.

The Rev. J.P. Sibley, pastor of New City Fellowship in Orangeburg, dedicated the facility with a prayer for continued unity within the community.

Sibley said he hopes the library will be, a place for all people.

We pray that this will be a place for unity, he said.

The library's first full day of operations will be from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1.

Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow "Good News with Gleaton" on Twitter at @DionneTandD

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The Orangeburg Area Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation Inc. invited the public to Walk a Mile in My Shoes, and the public responded.

More than 100 walkers turned out last month for an event, which raised more than $11,000 for the foundations work.

I'm still jumping up and down. God is good. If you do things for the people and do it in the right way, God will continue to bless you, foundation Executive Director Isaac Ike Haigler said.

I give all the credit to him. He's allowed us to carry this foundation for 47 years, and I hope he allows us to make it stronger and make it better, he said.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the foundation to hold a drive-thru event last year to raise funds to address growing needs among individuals living with the debilitating disease.

This year it was able to once again hold a walk. The event at Edisto Memorial Gardens Centennial Park drew 130 walkers who helped break the silence surrounding the incurable and sometimes-painful blood disorder.

This was the eighth year the event has been held.

Haigler said the funds raised are appreciated and that the event would not have been a success without the support of the community.

The campaign raised $11,500 as of Oct. 27, with money still coming in.

Were just blessed to have it. I thought the event was very successful, Haigler said.

The Orangeburg Area Sickle Cell Foundation garnered the support of several individuals and organizations, including Islam Temple No. 3 of Orangeburg and Islam Temple No. 4 of Aiken, to support the foundations work. Islam Temple No. 3 donated $1,000 and Islam Temple No. 4 donated $2,000.

Everything else comes from different businesses, organizations and people, Haigler said.

He said the foundation has also received proclamations from the city and county, which designated September as Sickle Cell Awareness Month and Sept. 25 as Sickle Cell Day in Orangeburg.

The event included other special features, including Pat Funderburk, community outreach manager at the Regional Medical Center, who performed blood pressure and glucose checks. There was also an appearance by Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell and the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Offices bike team, who lead this year's walk.

The support I got this year was outstanding, much more than what I expected. Throughout the pandemic, the community has really supported us. I can't do it without the community and their support, Haigler said.

This year, patients have got to stay in more, with utilities, medication and transportation costs going up. So this is so beneficial. We've been in the system for 47 years, and I've been with the foundation from day one. I've seen the growth, participation and support from far and near, including North Carolina and Virginia, he said.

The nonprofit foundation serves Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun and Orangeburg counties. Its services include genetic counseling, emergency patient assistance, testing, referrals and community education, including health fairs.

The foundation office is normally open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

For more information on the foundation or to make a donation, call the office at 803-534-1716 or mail: Orangeburg Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation Inc., P.O. Box 892, Orangeburg, SC 29116.

Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow "Good News with Gleaton" on Twitter at @DionneTandD

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CHESTERFIELD, S.C. (AP)  A South Carolina lawyer involved in a half-dozen state police investigations has been cagey about his assets and should have to hand over control of his money to independent representatives so that he does not engage in further fraud, an attorney told a judge Friday.

Attorneys in three different civil cases have said they fear Alex Murdaugh is trying to hide millions of dollars they could possibly collect in their lawsuits. They said he could shift money between unknown accounts and potentially sell off property and a boat after he turned all his affairs over to his surviving son, Buster Murdaugh.

Murdaugh's lawyer said he hasn't been found responsible in any of the civil suits and has insurance to cover if he is required to pay damages. Attorney John Tiller added that if Murdaugh loses control of his assets, that would open the door for similar things to happen in countless other cases if the person who sues thinks the defendant doesn't have enough insurance.

They are long in facts and innuendo but they are short on the law, Tiller said during a hearing in a Chesterfield County courthouse.

Circuit Judge Daniel Hall said he would rule sometime around the middle of next week. Alex Murdaugh remains in the Richland County jail without bond, and Buster Murdaugh was not in the courtroom.

The lawyers said Alex Murdaugh could be hiding inheritance from the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in an unsolved shooting at the familys home in June or from his fathers death from natural causes a few days later.

They also said because Murdaugh has been part of a legal empire in tiny Hampton County, South Carolina, he could have other money coming in from any number of sources.

Murdaughs father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all elected prosecutors in the area. The familys law firm has won multimillion-dollar verdicts over the past century.

Since the June shootings of his wife and son, state police have opened six investigations into Murdaugh and his family ranging from stolen money to insurance fraud for trying to arrange his own death.

Hall was hearing just one case Friday  a lawsuit by the family of Mallory Beach, a 19-year-old woman killed in a 2019 boat crash. Prosecutors said Paul Murdaugh was drunk and driving the boat. The lawsuit said his father knew he was drinking without being 21 and his brother let him borrow his license to buy the alcohol.

The Murdaugh family refused to comply with legal requirements like revealing the value of their assets even before things started to unravel in June, said Mark Tinsley, a lawyer for the Beach family.

If they dont have any money, what would be the harm of enjoining him from spending it? Tinsley said. Hes living pretty well for someone with no assets. He has a crisis manager."

Lawyers in the other two lawsuits said they expect similar rulings in their cases. A man on the boat who said the Murdaugh family tried to falsely pin him as the boat's driver has also sued along with the family of Murdaugh's late housekeeper Gloria Satterfield. The Murdaughs said she died after a fall in the family's home in 2018.

Murdaugh has been charged with pocketing nearly $3 million worth of insurance settlements that was supposed to go to Satterfields estate.

Prosecutors have accused Murdaugh of illegally diverting the money to his accounts. They said he then paid off a $100,000 credit card bill, transferred more than $300,000 to his father and $735,000 to himself.

The lawsuits noted well over half the settlement money remained unaccounted for in the prosecution's presentation.

Lawyers in the other two cases said the Murdaugh family is also fighting hard against them. What does your common sense tell you? If you had nothing to hide, you would turn it over, said Eric Bland, a lawyer for the Satterfield family.

Murdaugh, 53, was first arrested Sept. 16 and was accused of trying to arrange his own death so Buster Murdaugh could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. That same day, the father signed a power of attorney for all his affairs over to his son, according to court records.

The motions in the three lawsuits include several documents: a photo of Buster Murdaugh that lawyers said was taken in October at a Las Vegas casino; a nearly $1 million mortgage that a property owner paid off to Alex Murdaugh; an online listing asking $114,000 for Murdaughs boat; and a nearly two-year-old unpaid tax bill that could lead to the auction of Murdaughs beach home on Edisto Island.

In addition to the investigations into the stolen insurance money and the insurance fraud, state police continue to investigate the shooting deaths, millions of dollars missing from Murdaugh's former law firm that was founded by his great-grandfather, a 2015 hit-and-run death and whether Murdaugh and his family obstructed the investigation into the boat crash.

Murdaugh insists he had nothing to do with the June deaths of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22. Murdaugh said he returned to their rural Colleton County home to find them shot to death. Tight-lipped state police have neither named any suspects nor ruled anyone out.

Murdaugh remains in jail without bond on the charges he stole money from his late housekeeper's estate. A judge handling the Murdaugh criminal cases last week asked for a report on his mental state before considering whether to set bond.

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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A group of employees at a northern Wyoming coal plant are speaking out against the vaccine mandate.

Roughly 20 workers from Gillettes Dry Fork Station participated in a protest outside the power plant on Tuesday, an organizer told the Star-Tribune. Already feeling ostracized by the Biden administrations push to phase out coal, some power plant staff dont trust President Joe Biden and are wary of his efforts to vaccinate most of the American workforce.

Its not that we want to protest and cause problems, we just feel like weve been backed into a corner by the current administration, said the worker, who was granted anonymity to avoid the possibility of retaliation. Its not about so much the vaccine as it is the mandate.

The Dry Fork protest was held on the first day of a special legislative session convened in opposition to the federal vaccine mandate.

State lawmakers began calling for the special session in September, after Biden signed an executive order requiring COVID-19 vaccination  or weekly testing  for employees at companies with at least 100 employees.

Less than 40% of the states population is fully vaccinated, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. The state is considered the most vaccine hesitant in the nation.

We were talking at work about the legislators meeting this week, and just felt that we should put something together really quick to let the legislators know that we need their help, the states help, to protect us from the federal government, the worker said. So we decided to do a little protest and try to get it out there, to the legislators, that we want the states protection.

The Dry Fork Station is operated by Basin Electric Power Cooperative. The electricity distributor has been offering vaccine clinics since vaccines became available, and is encouraging employees to bring questions and comments about the vaccine to the company, said Tracie Bettenhausen, a media representative for Basin Electric.

There is currently no vaccine mandate in place at the Dry Fork Station. Its not yet clear whether, or when, a mandate may be federally instituted, Bettenhausen said.

Weve been consulting with our own legal counsel and other utilities and union leadership to determine what exactly we will need to do to comply with the potential requirements and timeline of the executive order, she said. So, you know, questions we get, were able to answer as we understand better how the executive order would apply to our employees.

The protesters arent waiting on the details. Concern is growing among staff at other Wyoming coal plants, potentially giving rise to many more demonstrations, the worker said.

It caught on, and now more and more people are starting to stand up, they said. Hopefully it keeps going until were heard.

The next protest will be held at Laramie River Station, a much larger Basin Electric coal plant located near Wheatland, on Nov. 5.

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The Casper Christmas Parade is expected to make a comeback this year after a minor detour in 2020.

Last years parade was reworked into a Christmas festival after only 10 floats entered. Ordinarily, the parade has some 60 to 65 floats. Instead of the usual procession down city streets, entries were put on display at David Street Station during Caspers annual tree lighting.

But this years organizers aim for the 2021 parade, scheduled for Nov. 27, to return in full swing.

The Casper Area Chamber of Commerce is heading up the event for the first time. The theme is Christmas and holiday movies, the chamber announced Wednesday.

With a month to go, much of the parade is still in the planning stages, said Kim Coleman, marketing and communications manager for the chamber.

Were kind of learning as we go, Coleman said.

The chamber is prepared to modify or rework plans, depending on public interest, she said.

The parade will begin on West Yellowstone and Second Street, and travel east to Beech Street.

The deadline to enter floats is Nov. 12. Registration details and other information can be found at casperchristmasparade.com.

Amid last years surge in COVID-19 cases, organizers took extra measures to make the event safer  ditching plans to give out free cookies and hot chocolate, for example.

Now, COVID-19 infections are surging yet again, although cases numbers have begun to fall of late. The Wyoming Department of Health reported a record number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations on Oct. 21. Since then, hospitalizations have trended downward.

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The statistics are startling, to be sure.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Wyoming prisons continues to grow. The most recent round of testing found 222 active cases. That means around one in every 10 people in the states prison system is currently infected with the virus.

But more important than the statistics are the people those numbers represent.

As COVID-19 continues to hit correctional facilities nationwide, incarcerated people and their families across the country and here in Wyoming have been on amplified alert for months and months.

At the onset of the pandemic, health officials referred to the United States overcrowded prison systems as petri dishes and warned that they could be a significant source for spreading the virus. They were right. Even with vaccines available, the main advice given by health officials  wash your hands and keep at least 6 feet apart  is difficult to do in an already crowded correctional facility staffed with people coming in from the outside.

Those living within the system know this to be true.

Wyomings response to COVID-19 in its jails and prisons earned the state a failing grade from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Prison Policy Initiative, according to a 2020 report.

While some states have released non-violent offenders from jails and prisons in hopes of decreasing the populations in the facilities. Gov. Mark Gordons office has not. Despite having ample time and information to take the steps necessary to heed the warnings of public health experts, Wyoming has refused to adequately address the threat that the COVID-19 pandemic poses in our states jails and prisons.

Mass incarceration was a major public health crisis before the outbreak of COVID-19. But this pandemic has pushed it past the breaking point.

The U.S. is the largest incarcerator in the world, with just 4% of the worlds population and 21% of its incarcerated population. About 40% of all incarcerated people suffer from at least one chronic health condition, such as asthma or diabetes. This means the U.S. faces a unique challenge in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and is likely facing a much higher death count than models based on data from other countries predict.

For more than a year, the ACLU of Wyoming has been urging state officials to heed public health experts advice and develop an evidence-based, proactive plan for the prevention and management of COVID-19 in Wyomings jails, detention centers, prisons, ICE facilities and detainee transportation.

What we got instead was a plan that was overly broad: Anyone entering a Department of Corrections facility would be screened. Visitation and volunteer programs were temporarily suspended and attorney and legal visitations were restricted.

Meanwhile, we keep hearing from people currently living in prison, jail or a pre-release center, or from family members who reached out on behalf of their loved ones.

They are scared for their lives. They are concerned that more isnt being done to protect them from outbreaks. They are worried that they are being forgotten about. They feel emotionally abused by how they are being treated. And they feel powerless in their situations.

Were doing what we can to best advocate for our friends and neighbors. But its time for Wyoming to take action. To do more.

Gov. Gordon should utilize his clemency powers to decrease incarcerated populations and create a culture in which transparency, safety and the health of all people are paramount concerns.

Antonio Serrano is the advocacy manager of the ACLU of Wyoming.

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Lately, the United States has been experiencing troubling shortages of consumer goods. Everything from groceries and paper supplies to electronics and automobiles are suddenly in short supply. Shipping disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic  including a record 100 trans-oceanic cargo ships waiting to enter the Port of Los Angeles  are contributing to a crisis that proves America has become far too dependent on imports. The solution is obvious: the U.S. must start manufacturing more goods and materials at home.

There are two root causes of the current goods shortage. The first is that big-box retailers are waiting on shipments of finished products from China and other countries. The second is that U.S. producers are sitting idle, waiting on imported raw materials and supplies needed to manufacture finished goods. Theyre simply stuck waiting on overseas deliveries of everything from metals and plastics to pharmaceutical ingredients and semiconductors.

It doesnt have to be this way, however. While some domestic producers remain dependent on China, other U.S. manufacturers are actually thriving right now. Thats because theyve wisely opted to source all of their materials from domestic American mills, machine shops, and foundries.

A good example is Sherrill Manufacturing in upstate New York  the last U.S. manufacturer of kitchen flatware. Despite the current market disruption, Sherrills sales are up almost 20% this year  in part because its competitors are still waiting on supplies from China and Vietnam. Sherrill doesnt have that problem, though, since it sources all of its materials domestically  including steel from Pittsburgh and Tennessee, and buffing compounds from Ohio and New York. As a result, Sherrill keeps making kitchenware  and employing dozens of U.S. workers  while big-box retailers wait for deliveries of lower-quality flatware from China.

Similarly, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. experienced troubling shortages of many essential medicines. Thats because America now depends on China and India to supply the ingredients needed to manufacture many generic medicines. In fact, China now controls roughly 90% of the inputs that U.S. pharmaceutical companies need to make many generic antibiotics and other life-saving medications.

This is an intolerable situation. Its past time to rebuild all levels of U.S. manufacturing. Doing so can help to reduce a dangerous dependence on adversarial nations like China  and ensure that, in the event of another pandemic, the U.S. doesnt face more shortages of everything from face masks and medicines to medical equipment.

Its past time for Washington to rethink this import dependence. That means embracing tariffs to strengthen key industries and also implementing federal policies to reduce Americas overvalued dollar  something currently making U.S. exports too expensive.

The real story of Americas goods shortage is that, for too long, many policymakers have short-sightedly championed cheap imports as a cure-all for the economy. But that needs to change, if Americans are to enjoy safe, ongoing access to the products they rely on every day.

Michael Stumo is CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America. Follow him at @michael_stumo

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JACKSON  Troy Koser was inspecting the remnants of a tick ball that clung to a blade of grass.

Thats just what it sounds like. The Montana State University Ph.D. ecology student was documenting a cluster of diminutive blood suckers, in this case the nymph form of winter ticks, a species that specializes in parasitizing ungulates, especially moose.

On a walk through the woods, this tick ball, which consisted of four nymphs no larger than the point of a tack, would be 100% imperceptible to the average passerby. But Koser and a field technician, Logan Hartlaub, who accompanied him, knew where to look. Marking tape was tied around a twig nearby from when theyd encountered the same tick ball in the past. They were expecting ticks would be here again, and they were also simultaneously fascinated by the subject of their years-long scientific inquiry.

The weirdest thing is that something this small can kill a moose, Koser said.

One winter tick latched onto its host would do little damage, save for ingesting a wee bit of blood. But for moose the problem is there are often legions of them.

The highest number Ive ever seen, from a paper, is more than 100,000 ticks on one moose, Koser said. On the moose that Ive found here, theres only a couple thousand that Ive found. We dont get any of those huge numbers that they see out East.

Nevertheless, winter ticks are still of concern to the hundreds of Shiras moose that dwell in Jackson Holes corner of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Moose here have not fared particularly well, and the Jackson Herds numbers are 70% below the Wyoming Game and Fish Departments objective and down even more from historic highs in the 1980s.

There are likely a confluence of factors contributing to the lower population, like depleted habitat, predation changes and warmer temperatures that moose dont thrive in. Until now, nobody has studied how winter ticks factor into the equation.

Im not finding quite as many as people out east have found, Koser said. But maybe our moose are so small and they already have other stressors, that even a small or moderate number of ticks could be an issue for them.

Unlike elk and deer, moose do a poor job of eliminating the pint-size parasite while grooming themselves. The ticks grow considerably as they advance through their life stages, and eventually there are thousands of - to -inch-long arthropods sucking their blood. In 2017, Grand Teton National Park research found that moose in the Jackson Herd were losing significant amounts of late winter hair due to the ticks. Pity mangy moose? Blame it on winter ticks.

Kosers work also sets out to determine how winter ticks will be impacted by climate change, which is reducing how far Jackson Hole thermometers plunge and depleting local snow cover in the fall and spring. To answer that question hes recording microclimate data for where hes finding and not finding ticks, which means hes logging the temperature, wind speed, humidity and weather.

Now in the second year of field surveys, Koser hasnt drawn any definitive conclusions. One theory hes investigating is that winter ticks will fare better with less snow. In particular, when the snowpack melts off earlier, tick eggs and larvae will survive better.

But some of Kosers scientific peers are looking into alternative hypotheses. One is that drought  made more likely due to climate change  will hit tick populations hard by desiccating eggs and larvae and causing them to die. Perhaps that will counteract positive effects from the loss of snow cover, he said.

The process of looking for winter ticks out in the environment is slow, steady and methodical. Last fall Koser and his collaborators walked over 22 miles a month and found over 7,000 winter ticks. They were most numerous in grassland, but the researchers also found good numbers dwelling in non-willow shrubs and willows.

Five days a week this fall, Koser and Hartlaub are out in places like Buffalo Valley, Pacific Creek, the Gros Ventre River corridor and even near residential areas along the west bank of the Snake River. They walk 16 different 250-meter-long transects a day while dragging pieces of cheap synthetic cloth that Koser picked up at Joann Fabric. Their routes are subjective, following game trails that moose would be most likely to walk along. Every few steps they stop to inspect the cloth to see if they picked up one of the tiny nymphal ticks, which are often perched up questing on vegetation and waiting to find a host. Although the ticks are truly tiny in the fall, a touch of red gives them away contrasted against the off-white cloth.

There is not much more winter ticks are capable of. Theyre not exactly breaking intelligence records.

Most insects have the ability to take in stuff in their environment and do something about it, Koser said. But winter ticks are kind of remarkable. When stuff like this is happening  its raining, its snowing, its windy  they dont do much. They dont respond to environmental stimuli.

After engorged female ticks shed off their ungulate hosts in the spring, they lay eggs. The larvae are basically dormant for the entire summer, but once deer, elk and moose start rutting the nymph-size parasites are activated and find vegetation to cling onto. When they find a host the process restarts.

Koser kind of happened into tick research. He completed his masters degree in tick collection methods at the University of Georgia. His Ph.D. in Bozeman is funded through the National Climate Adaptation Science Center, which is enabling him to execute the first-ever ecological survey of ticks in the Yellowstone region. Game and Fish and the U.S. Geological Surveys Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center are also collaborating.

Theres a chance, someday, that Kosers findings will be able to help out the moose who host the winter ticks hes studying. His data will give wildlife managers insight into where ticks are most numerous  and likely to become more numerous in the future. Perhaps, he said, that will help managers make decisions about which moose habitats should be prioritized.

Back at the sight of the broken-up tick ball near Pacific Creek, Hartlaub explains how they collect the ticks that make their way onto the drag cloth.

They use NeverHair.com lint rollers.

He grabs an example of one of the old bagged sticky papers from his pack, and there on the glue were nine different winter ticks.

We had one that had 580 ticks on it, Hartlaub said. I get to count these at night. This is my job.

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THE murder toll continues to rise following the shooting deaths of three men in separate incidents between Thursday evening and yesterday morning.

The killings took place in Laventille, San Juan and Freeport.

Two of the victims have been identified as Aaron Thomas and Nathaniel Phillip, while the victim in the Freeport incident remained unidentified up to yesterday evening.
The pre-election splurge by the PNM-led Tobago House of Assembly (THA) draws attention to constitutional loopholes that should be addressed.

Here is an administration which went in with a comfortable majority for the election which was held in January this year and came out in a dead heat with the challenger party.
Editor's note: This video contains graphic language. Cellphone video taken by Justice of the Peace Adam Watters of his confrontation with a man outside the judge's home. Watters fired a shot at the man's feet. Watters said the man was stalking him and his family. The Pinal County Attorney's 

A Pima County judge took the witness stand, then took the Fifth at a court hearing held to decide if he was acting as a government official when he made death threats and fired a warning shot that landed inches from an unarmed man he suspected of stalking him.

I am invoking my right to remain silent, Justice of the Peace Adam Watters replied when asked under oath to describe what happened on the street outside the judges home on a Sunday afternoon in February.

Watters decision to keep quiet at an Oct. 27 evidence hearing thwarted a defense lawyers attempt to have the stalking suspects arrest thrown out on constitutional grounds.

Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Tom Fink, assigned from a neighboring county to hear the case, ruled that the limited evidence available without Watters testimony did not prove Watters was acting in a law enforcement role when he forced the man from his car at gunpoint and threatened to shoot him in the head before firing in his direction.
So far, the county has ordered 11,400 pediatric doses. Once the vaccine arrives, distribution will start after CDC authorization.

I do want to moderate our expectations, Garcia said. He doesnt expect all the countys children in this age range to show up for a vaccine in the first week or the first month of the rollout.

We are prepared to serve every single one of those children who come to us, but I believe that we will continue to see some degree of hesitation, he said, although he is confident many parents will choose to vaccinate their kids.

Most parents now have had the vaccine themselves and it will be exactly the same vaccine except in a third of the dose, Garcia said.

The countys Health Department will offer the shot to children at five schools per day once the vaccine is available here. The vaccine will also be offered at vaccine clinics on weekends, and there will be a homebound vaccination program for children not in school. Consent forms for parents and guardians will be provided for the shot.
Chambers noted that while the inspector's office has the responsibility to approve a reclamation plan, its officials claim they have no authority to deal with issues fundamental to reclamation, like protection of water.

"For a regulator, unless the level of responsibility is matched with a similar level of authority, the regulations are meaningless," Chambers said Friday.

Up to three open

pits are possible

Hudbay officials have said the company's drilling on private land has found copper deposits on the Santa Ritas' west slope that are potentially rich enough grades to support up to three open pits.

They have also said it's likely they'll be mining the west slope before they mine the Rosemont Mine site on the east slope. That's due in large part to the extended delays at Rosemont because of two federal court rulings involving several issues halting mine construction. One ruling and part of the second ruling is under appeal.

Hudba Minerals, in response to questions from the Star, have said they won't make a formal decision to mine the west slope until finishing their drilling work at the site and completing a preliminary economic analysis of its value. The latter will happen in the first six months of 2022, they've said.
The number of recorded Border Patrol encounters with migrants at the southern border is higher than ever, but many experts say that doesnt necessarily mean there are more people coming to the U.S. than ever before.

The high number is misleading for a few reasons, including a high percentage of people crossing more than once and fewer people crossing undetected.

That said, many experts also agree that rising levels of violence and worsening economic and political situations, exacerbated by both the pandemic and in some cases climate change, are driving more people from their homes, from Mexico all the way to Brazil.

The number of times Border Patrol agents encountered migrants in the U.S.-Mexico border region in fiscal year 2021, which wrapped up at the end of September, was the highest on record going back to 1960. There were more than 1.7 million encounters, compared to about 458,000 in 2020, 977,500 in 2019, and 521,000 in 2018, both at ports of entry and on land in between.

In the Tucson Sector, which covers 262 miles of border from the Yuma County line to the Arizona/New Mexico state line, the number of encounters is the highest since 2010, at about 191,200. There were nearly 66,100 in 2020 and 63,500 in 2019.
McAuliffe staffers promoted a reporter's tweet about the group's appearance, using it to attack Youngkin and suggesting that those holding the torches were his supporters.

Youngkin staffers accused the McAuliffe campaign or Virginia Democrats of being involved, drawing disavowals.

What happened today is disgusting and distasteful and we condemn it in the strongest terms. Those involved should immediately apologize," McAuliffe campaign manager Chris Bolling said in a statement.

The Democratic Party of Virginia issued a statement saying neither the party nor its coordinated partners and affiliates had anything to do with the events at the campaign bus stop.

The Lincoln Project then weighed in, saying it was behind what it called a demonstration.

The Youngkin campaign is enraged by our reminder of Charlottesville for one simple reason: Glenn Youngkin wants Virginians to forget that he is Donald Trumps candidate," the group said of the former president.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP)  Arrest probably wasn't in the cards for a self-proclaimed fortune teller whom authorities say scammed a Southern California woman out of $50,000 by claiming to cure her of parasites and her family of a curse.

Andres Pena Meneses, 31, of Riverside was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of grand theft and theft by false pretenses but was freed after posting $57,000 bail, according to a Police Department statement.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Meneses had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

A police statement said Meneses  a Colombian national who had a 2019 conviction in Chicago for posing as a phony faith healer"  advertised his Riverside fortune-telling business under the name Carlos."

According to police, a woman who went to Meneses to have her fortune read this summer and was told she had parasites that Carlos" removed for a fee of several hundred dollars.

Meneses later contacted the woman and told her that her family was cursed and her children were in danger, police alleged.

'Through his false pretenses, the victim ended up paying Carlos' over $50,000, according to the statement.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP)  Incomplete demographic information that Nevada prison officials provided lawmakers preparing to redraw the state's political maps is prompting questions and frustration two years after the Legislature passed a law to count incarcerated residents in their home communities during the once-in-a-decade redistricting process.

The data gap suggests Nevada's efforts to end so-called prison gerrymandering are far from complete as lawmakers prepare to implement a recently passed ban of the practice for the first time later this year.

Here we are, in 2021, with half of the people that we arent being able to identify. Thats problematic to me because I would like to see everyone counted, state Sen. Roberta Lange, a Las Vegas Democrat, said in a Wednesday hearing.

Most states count inmates as part of the population where their prisons are located. Detractors say the practice, known as prison gerrymandering, artificially inflates the population and voting power of rural, mostly white prison towns at the expense of minority communities disproportionately incarcerated. In Nevada, where 51% of the population is white, 58% of the prison population is Black, Latino, Native or of Asian descent.
Alec Baldwin has spoken publicly for the first time on camera about the cinematographer he fatally shot on the movie set of Rust, calling her a friend and saying he is in constant contact with her grieving family.

She was my friend," Baldwin told photographers Saturday on a roadside in Vermont. We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened. The video was distributed by TMZ.

Investigators believe Baldwins gun fired a single live round that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.

Baldwin was joined by his wife, Hilaria, when he spoke to photographers and she filmed the exchange with her smartphone, often trying to get her husband to stop talking. Baldwin said he was speaking out so that the photographers would stop following his family.
Five years ago: The third powerful earthquake to hit Italy in two months spared human life but struck at the nations cultural identity, destroying a Benedictine cathedral, a medieval tower and other beloved landmarks.

One year ago: A day after Walmart said it had removed ammunition and firearms from displays in U.S. stores because of civil unrest in some areas of the country, the retailer said the items had been restored to displays because the unrest had remained isolated. Full House actor Lori Loughlin reported to a federal prison in California to begin a two-month sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scandal. A Connecticut prosecutor said Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel would not face a second trial in the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley; he had served more than 11 years in prison before being freed in 2013.

Todays Birthdays: Movie director Claude Lelouch is 84. Rock singer Grace Slick is 82. Songwriter Eddie Holland is 82. R&B singer Otis Williams (The Temptations) is 80. Actor Joanna Shimkus is 78. Actor Henry Winkler is 76. Broadcast journalist Andrea Mitchell is 75. Rock musician Chris Slade (Asia) is 75. Country/rock musician Timothy B. Schmit (The Eagles) is 74. Actor Leon Rippy is 72. Actor Harry Hamlin is 70. Actor Charles Martin Smith is 68. Country singer T. Graham Brown is 67. Actor Kevin Pollak is 64. Rock singer-musician Jerry De Borg (Jesus Jones) is 61. Actor Michael Beach is 58. Rock singer-musician Gavin Rossdale (Bush) is 56. Actor Jack Plotnick is 53. Comedian Ben Bailey is 51. Actor Billy Brown is 51. Actor Nia Long is 51. Country singer Kassidy Osborn (SHeDAISY) (sh-DAY-zee) is 45. Actor Gael Garcia Bernal is 43. Actor Matthew Morrison is 43. Business executive and former presidential adviser Ivanka Trump is 40. Actor Fiona Dourif is 40. Actor Shaun Sipos (SEE-pohs) is 40. Actor Tasso Feldman is 38. Actor Janel (juh-NEHL) Parrish is 33. Actor Tequan Richmond is 29. Actor Kennedy McMann is 25.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Tigray forces say they are pressuring Ethiopias government to lift a months-long blockade on their region of around 6 million people. Thousands of people have been killed since the war began in November 2020 after a political falling-out between the Tigray forces, who long dominated the national government, and the current government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The Tigray fighters have taken the war into Ethiopias neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, moving south through Amhara toward the capital, since recapturing much of their region in June.

We dont want to be in charge. We dont want Abiy to take an entire nation down with him, either, Getachew said. The prime minister has urged all capable citizens to war.

The U.S. statement on Saturday called on the Tigray forces to halt their advances in and around Dessie and Kombolcha, withdraw from Amhara and Afar and not to use artillery against cities.

The U.S. urged both sides to begin cease-fire negotiations, saying there is no military solution to this conflict which it said has cost countless lives. It also said it continued to be alarmed by reports of the deliberate denial of humanitarian assistance in Tigray, where the United Nations has reported a de facto humanitarian blockade.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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The ruling has subsequently been applied to the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Quapaw tribes.

The Attorney Generals Office emailed the city on Aug. 17 to ask it to consider writing an amicus brief for the states effort to have the McGirt ruling reviewed, according to records obtained by the Tulsa World through the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

The city filed its friend of the court brief in Oklahoma V. Castro-Huerta, which the state hopes to use as the vehicle to challenge McGirt.

We hope an amicus brief would give the Supreme Court an on-the-ground perspective on how McGirt is playing out in Tulsa, on both the criminal and civil side, wrote Oklahoma Solicitor General Mithun Mansinghani.

Three days later, on Aug. 20, the city notified the AGs office it would file an amicus brief, city officials said Friday.

The amicus brief was not our idea. The AG asked, Bynum said last week. In evaluating whether or not we would agree to the request and submit a brief, the deciding factor for me was the number of concerns raised by (the Tulsa Police Department).
Of the remaining cases, 49 are still under review and 85 were declined, in part because some do not involve crimes on the Cherokee Reservation or Indian offenders, or have been taken by federal prosecutors the tribe said.

City of Tulsa officials, in their own friend of the court brief filed last week with the city of Owasso, claimed that it had referred more than 1,100 cases to the Muscogee and Cherokee nations for prosecution and yet its officers had yet to be subpoenaed to testify in any of those cases.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. issued the following statement in the tribes news release concerning the filing of the brief:

Gov. Stitt could have spent the months since the McGirt decision working with tribes and local partners to keep Oklahomans safe. Instead, he has not only refused to accept the Supreme Courts ruling but has prioritized overturning the decision over solutions that would actually protect public safety.

Our brief today demonstrates that the governors attacks on tribal sovereignty are inconsistent with the law and factually baseless. We hope the court will see through this blatantly political effort, reject the states petition, and put an end to the dangerous uncertainty and instability created by the states refusal to work with tribes.
A suspect in the Friday morning shooting of a Pottawatomie County sheriffs deputy was later found dead near his home, where his estranged wife was found dead inside, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation reported.

Multiple local, state and federal law enforcement agencies began searching for Braedon Chesser, 27, on Friday after he shot at a deputy about 8 a.m. while the deputy was responding to a domestic violence call at Chessers residence near Austin Drive and Patterson Road in Bethel Acres, a town near Shawnee.

The Shawnee News-Star reported that the deputy was shot seven times, and Bethel Public Schools went on lockdown while the search was ongoing.

The deputy was treated for multiple gunshot wounds at an Oklahoma City hospital, the OSBI said, and a search across the Oklahoma City metro area began. An emergency alert about Chesser possibly being armed and dangerous was sent to people in the Oklahoma City area.

About 5 p.m., Chesser was found dead in the woods about 100 yards from his house, and law enforcement officers found the body of his estranged wife, Sarah Chesser, 25, inside the home, the OSBI said.
TOKYO -- Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, the Japanese partner for Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, is preparing to seek regulatory approval for a roll out in Japan early next year, its top executive said on Friday.

Novavax delayed filing for U.S. approval to the end of this year, and Politico reported this month that the Maryland-based company has faced production and quality problems. The drugmaker filed for conditional authorisation to British regulators on Wednesday and with Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration on Friday.

"We will need to assess whether the package that has been filed in the UK, for example, will satisfy the Japanese authorities," Takeda CEO Christophe Weber said in an interview ahead of the Reuters Total Health conference, which will run virtually from Nov. 15-18.

"I think this is what will happen in the coming weeks and months," he said, adding he believed it would be ready in time to help with Japan's booster shot programme, which is set to start by the end of this year.

Takeda is setting up to make the vaccines "as soon as the product is approved," he said.

Takeda has said it can make 250 million doses of Novavax's protein-based vaccine at its Hikari plant in western Japan, and has contracted to sell 150 million to the Japanese government.

Japan has largely depended on the mRNA-type shots of Pfizer Inc/BioNTech and Moderna Inc in its vaccination effort, which has fully inoculated 71% of its population.

Takeda has been a major part of that push, acting as the importer and distributor of 50 million Moderna doses this year, with contracts for the same amount next year.

COVID-19 vaccine expenditures in Japan could reach about 1.37 trillion yen ($12.1 billion) in the next five years, according to health data firm IQVIA Holdings, and Takeda has a sizable first-mover advantage.

But numerous hurdles remain. Takeda and Moderna recalled 1.63 million doses in Japan after the discovery of metal contaminants in some vials, a problem traced back to a production partner in Spain.

"Manufacturing processes are always very complex in the case of vaccines," Weber said.

"That's why there's been so many supply issues with vaccines since the beginning of COVID-19, because it's not an easy process."

($1 = 113.5900 yen)
Read what is in the news today:

Society

-- Police in Hanoi have arrested and initiated legal proceedings against a 44-year-old woman for impersonating as a police officer to appropriate more than VND20 billion (US$872,308).

-- One person was killed while two others were injured after a car crashed into multiple motorbikes traveling on the opposite side in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province on Friday night.

-- Authorities in the central province of Quang Nam have decided to reopen non-essential businesses such as massage parlors, clubs, bars, karaoke shops and movie theaters in low and medium-risk COVID-19 transmission areas.

-- Police in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong have arrested 12 men involved in a violent knife fight that broke out last Sunday and resulted in four serious injuries.

-- Interprovincial passenger bus routes between Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho City have reopened from Friday after months of suspension due to COVID-19, according to the Can Tho City Department of Transport.

-- Trung Vuong COVID-19 Treatment Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City has established an intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients to maintain the medical care for these patients while protecting those seeking other treatment services at the infirmary.

-- A 75-year-old woman from the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong has faced legal charges after 17 iguanas were found inside her house.

Lifestyle

-- A mandarin hat of the Nguyen dynasty fetched VND16 billion ($697,846) at the Spanish auction house Balclis on late Thursday night.

Education

-- College and univerisity students aged 18 and older in southern Long An Province have been allowed to go back to school from November 1, while K-12 students will continue the online learning until November 30.

World News

-- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years, making it the first COVID-19 shot for young children in the U.S., Reuters reported on Friday.

-- Over a dozen LGBT Afghans reached the UK after interventions from foreign minister Liz Truss and gay rights organizations, according to Reuters on Friday.

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The Ministry of Health recorded 5,227 more coronavirus cases in Vietnam on Saturday, as well as 2,204 recoveries and 64 fatalities.

The latest cases, including three imported and 5,224 local infections, were logged in 50 provinces and cities, the health ministry said, noting that 2,293 patients were detected in the community.

Ho Chi Minh City recorded 1,042 of the domestically-infected cases, Dong Nai Province 679, Binh Duong Province 665, Bac Lieu Province 404, Kien Giang Province 298, An Giang Province 231, Tien Giang Province 223, Tay Ninh Province 203, Soc Trang Province 190, Dak Lak Province 146, Long An Province 106, Can Tho City 95, Hanoi 56, Khanh Hoa Province 26, Ba Ria-Vung Tau 25, and Da Nang two.

Vietnam had confirmed 4,889 locally-acquired infections on Friday.

The nation has documented 910,782 community transmissions in 62 out of its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave emerged on April 27, 815,519 of them having recovered from the respiratory disease.

Ho Chi Minh City is the biggest hotbed with 431,101 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 232,386, Dong Nai Province with 65,091, Long An Province with 34,665, Tien Giang Province with 16,422, Dong Thap Province with 9,678, Khanh Hoa Province with 8,973, Da Nang with 4,967, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with 4,628, and Hanoi with 4,589.

Vietnam found only 1,570 locally-transmitted infections in total in the previous three waves.

The health ministry announced 2,204 recoveries on Saturday, elevating the total to 818,336.

The toll has surged to 22,030 deaths after the ministry recorded 64 fatalities on the same day, including 30 in Ho Chi Minh City and 13 in Binh Duong Province.

Vietnam has detected 915,603 infections since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit it early last year.

Health workers have given more than 80.5 million vaccine doses, including 1,588,192 shots on Friday, since vaccination was rolled out on March 8.

Almost 24 million people have been fully inoculated.

Health authorities target to inoculate at least two-thirds of a population of nearly 98 million people against COVID-19 by the first quarter of next year.

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An elderly woman in Vietnams Central Highlands province of Dak Nong has been prosecuted for buying and keeping 17 iguanas in captivity, local judicial authorities have reported.

The prosecution had been served on D.T.L., a 75-year-old woman residing in the provinces Cu Jut District, for violating regulations on protection of endangered, precious and rare animals, the districts Peoples Procuracy said on Friday.

With such a charge, the old woman is going to face a jail term from 10 to 15 years, as prescribed in Article 244 of the Vietnamese Penal Code, according to the agency.

L. committed the offence in December 2020 when she bought five iguanas for VND2.5 million (US$110) from a strange man, who was offering her 17 such wild animals, the indictment said.

After the deal, the man asked L. to keep the remaining 12 iguanas at home for him and said he would come back soon to take back the animals.

L. agreed at the mans request, but he did not return.

The woman had since raised all 17 iguanas, weighing 27kg in total, until the illegal captivity was discovered by local forest protection unit.

When a forest ranger team was conducting an inspection at L.s residence, she was absent from home, and the team seized all the iguanas as her relatives failed to show any documents related to the animals.

When being asked about the iguanas, L. said she had bought them with the intention of setting them free.

These animals were determined by authorities to have scientific name Varanus nebulosus, which belong to the group of endangered and critically endangered species under a government decree issued in 2019.

Earlier on July 15, the provincial administration slapped fines totaling VND1 billion ($48,300) on two local women for buying and capturing eight iguanas weighing 17kg in total.

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Vietnamese interpreter Nguyen Thi Ngoc has received the 2021 Hope Award for Migrant Workers for her contribution to the settlement and counseling of migrants in South Korea earlier this month, according to The Korea Times.

The Hope Center for Migrant Workers, a Seoul-based humanitarian non-government organization, gave the award to Ngoc, whose South Korean name is Bak Jeong Yeon, at the Busan Foreign Residents Center on October 21.

The center has annually presented the Hope Award for Migrant Workers to an activist of foreign nationality for devoting to migrant labor rights since 2020.

Ngoc, a Vietnamese marriage migrant in South Korea, began Vietnamese-South Korean interpretation for migrants in 2012 at Link, a translation center for foreign nationals.

She now handles 3,000 to 4,000 cases of counseling and interpretation a year concerning labor, health and settlement issues for migrants at the Busan Foreign Residents Center, while educating foreign workers on how to fight for their rights in the East Asian country.

When I first came to South Korea 13 years ago, I didn't speak Korean at all, Ngoc told The Korea Times over the phone.

I was lucky enough to study South Korean for the first two years, but most migrant workers cant.

They are far away from their homes and families, as well as alone when in trouble or illness.

So I want to stay by their side and help in any way that I can.

In 2016, Ngoc helped to defend a group of Vietnamese fishermen who were accused of murder on a deep-sea fishing vessel and detained under investigation.

Through countless visits to a Busan prison, Ngoc provided a thorough and detailed interpretation to human rights lawyers in Seoul to successfully prove the Vietnamese fishermens innocence.

I contacted the Vietnamese fishermen repeatedly, via phone calls, letters and prison visits.

Sometimes, I would bring them books to read and encourage them not to give up.

Ngoc also shared with the South Korea-based English-language daily newspaper about the other times when she helped her countrymen protect their rights.

A family member of a client sent me a box of Vietnamese treats with a handwritten thank-you letter, she said.

Mrs. Bak Jeong Yeon has greatly contributed to publicizing the issue on migrant fishermen's labor rights and making legal improvements, read a letter of recommendation by Kim Jong Chul, a human rights lawyer from the humanitarian legal counsel APIL obtained by The Korea Times.

In several in-depth interviews and investigations of their poor working conditions, Mrs. Bak has given us decisive help.

In her acceptance speech on October 21, Ngoc thanked her fellow migrants and activists.

This award is for all migrant workers who refuse to tolerate mistreatment and discrimination and reach us for help, the Vietnamese woman said.

This award could make me look special and unique, but there are a lot of activists who are better than me are working hard to help migrants across the country, she added.

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Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/Photos Getty Images

Strange things are afoot in the D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility aka the D.C. Jail, where about 40 of the more violent Jan. 6 insurrectionists are being held.

The men are housed in a separate unit from the other inmates, awaiting trial. These men engage in a number of activities, singing the Star Spangled Banner every night at 9 p.m. sharp and even drafting a handwritten prison newsletter.

These seemingly small, communal actions of incarcerated men awaiting trial are exactly how other radical groups organized and forged their identity in prisons. Some of these groups then became effective forces that have challenged armies and governments.

Furthermore, by mixing the hardcore ideologues with others who may be wavering in their anti-democratic feelings under adverse conditionsand by not giving them an offramp for their beliefsthe D.C. jail might inadvertently be the petri dish for a future American terror group.

ISIS Used a U.S. Prison as Boot Camp

Prisons are well-known incubators for terrorists. As Ive written in my book Disruption: Inside the Largest Counterterrorism Investigation in History, prisons can be the venue where blood-bonds are forged and grievances are nurtured. Once released, former prisoners can unleash their ideological violence. During his sentence, the ideologically committed terrorist can also influence and recruit among a rotating series of candidates, drawing them into his violent ideology.

Numerous individuals who had carried out terror operations in Europe had been turned from rootless, run-of-the-mill criminals to something much worse while incarcerated. For example, one of the brothers who carried out the 2015 Charlie Hebdo magazine attack, Cherif Kouachi, was radicalized during a 20-month stint in a French prison by an al Qaeda operative in the same facility. Another man in the same prison, Amedy Coulibaly, synchronized his attack on a kosher supermarket following the Charlie Hebdo massacre, killing a police officer and slaughtering four shoppers. A number of the 2003 attackers who struck trains in Madridthe worst terror attack in Europe in memorywere radicalized in Spanish prisons while serving time for petty offenses.

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Perhaps the most notorious example of wide-scale radicalization occurring right under the authorities noses occurred in Camp Bucca, a large U.S.-run prison facility in the south of Iraq during the occupation. This place became a notorious finishing school for jihadis, since the hardcore ideologues ruled the prison yard for years without their American overseers paying much attention. Once those individuals left Camp Bucca, many maintained their new friendships and networks, becoming not only attackers but also talent scouts, fundraisers, trainers, and quartermasters.

The Camp Bucca detention center. David Furst/AFP via Getty

Indeed, many men who formed the Islamic States core spent years incarcerated at Camp Bucca, including its now-deceased leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and several members from its leadership council. One former detainee told Al Jazeera that U.S. officials did little to stop the radicals at the camp. Extremists had freedom to educate the young detainees, he said. I saw them giving courses using classroom boards on how to use explosives, weapons and how to become suicide bombers. The same dynamics appear to be in play in Egypts prisons, where Islamic State ideologues are recruiting new members to the cause.

Radical groups even exploit prison sentences as symbolic acts in their greater struggles. A jail sentence paradoxically provides a degree of gravitas to a subset of individuals, easing their way to recruit new people on the outside to the cause. Adolf Hitlers stint in Landsberg Prison following the Beer Hall putsch became an important ideological touchstone for the Nazis. Most senior Irish Republican Army men passed through British prisons and came out as its heroes for the causeor its martyrs, like Bobby Sands, who died on hunger strike. Palestinians celebrate Palestinian Prisoners Day every April 17, cementing the time spent by terrorists and non-terrorists alike in Israeli prisons to a larger ideological struggle.

Rioters laying siege to the Capitol on Jan. 6. Lev Radin/Pacific Press via Getty

Which brings us back to the Jan. 6 insurrectionists in the D.C. jail. Some indeed might have realized the error of their ways. But those who might want to turn away from Jan. 6-style radicalization in the D.C. jail may be at greater risk inside the facility, since they are housed with the people dedicated to deepening their ideological commitment. In late October, a federal judge released Thomas Sibick, accused of assaulting Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Fanone and stealing his badge and radio, from the jail to await trial at his parents home in part to escape the others. But the social pressure on those still in detention to remain loyal to Trump and to the cause must be great, especially when surrounded by like-minded, violent individuals. Mixing the committed ideologues with the less-committed, and letting the former run their unit in the way they want without much interference is precisely how radical groups supercharge their power.

Are prison authorities meticulously monitoring the Jan. 6 folks activities? Probably not. D.C. Jail suffers from many other problems, such as overcrowding, staff shortages, and overall poor living conditions. In any case, its unlikely the U.S. is doing much to stop these recruiting and ideological indoctrination efforts. A few years ago, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York noted that there were few deradicalization programs or initiatives in place that are targeted to rehabilitate extremists and help them re-enter society as lawful individuals. And this recruiting is certainly occurring in American prisons right now: For example, one federal inmate in a Texas prison in October 2020 was sentenced to an additional 300 months for actively recruiting other inmates to the Islamic State.

Its hard for a radical ideology to exist for long without committed human infrastructure. But weve seen that multiple federal politicians publicly support the insurrectionists, calling them political hostages who are being persecuted for their beliefs. Former President Donald Trump wrote in September, Our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest concerning the Rigged Presidential Election In the end, however, JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL! There have also been small rallies on their behalf as well as a letter-writing campaign by Trump supporters. Those committed to the Jan. 6 insurrection are on both sides of the prison walls and in the halls of Congress.

Thus, between the identities strengthened inside a correctional facility, and the obvious slice of political support outside it, we may be seeing the emergence of a new, radical groupwith a national network and skilled ideological operativesready to menace the streets of America in the years to come.

It may turn out that a future fighting force cut its teeth not on the Capitol Hill grounds on Jan. 6, but inside the guts of a jail a few miles away and a few months later.

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Europe's EV battery strategy threatened by supply chain gaps, Eramet says FILE PHOTO: Nissan Leaf battery sent at Sunderland factory

By Gus Trompiz and Gilles Guillaume

PARIS (Reuters) - Europe is still not investing enough in the supply chain for electric vehicle batteries and this could leave its planned gigafactories short of coveted minerals, French mining group Eramet said.

Eramet is struggling to attract investment from its home region to process its overseas nickel, lithium and cobalt reserves into battery materials and may have to turn to non-European players, Pierre-Alain Gautier, its head of corporate affairs and partnerships, said.

Electric vehicles are a key plank of European Union plans to cut emissions. The bloc is trying to reduce reliance on battery supplies from Asia through projects with Europe-based car makers and battery specialists.

However, European auto companies are reluctant to invest in battery material production, focusing instead on procurement contracts, Eramet's Gautier said.

"There's a risk of gigafactories being empty of materials by 2025-2030," he told Reuters, noting the importance of public funding to trigger investments.

"We need investors. Ultimately if we find partners that are Chinese, Argentine or American, we'll sign with them even if the supply will go to America or elsewhere."

Europe is already constrained by a scarcity of chemical groups capable of refining minerals into cathode materials, he added.

Germany's BASF is one company with such capabilities and it has partnered with Eramet to study the refining of nickel and cobalt from an Eramet-operated mine in Indonesia, a first link in the battery supply chain.

Indonesia's huge, competitively priced nickel resources are expected to cover the vast majority of global battery demand and would be indispensable to European projects aiming for 600 gigawatt hours in battery capacity by 2030, requiring around 450,000 tonnes of nickel, Gautier said.

Europe should not be concerned about relying on Indonesia provided it secures access to supply, he added.

Story continues

While promising a lower carbon footprint, planned nickel production in Finland, some of which has been earmarked by car maker Renault, would only offer some 30,000 tonnes, he said.

The emissions drawback of the coal-fired power used in Indonesia could be offset along the production chain, for example through the choice of processing technology, Gautier said.

Eramet's historic nickel operations are in New Caledonia but the French Pacific territory's capacity to meet burgeoning battery demand is being limited by high costs and social unrest, according to Gautier.

The French group estimates it could cover 20% of the EU's nickel requirements in 2030, along with 25% of the bloc's lithium needs and 12% of its cobalt demand.

It is aiming to relaunch a lithium mine project in Argentina in the coming months, which it suspended for financing reasons at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Gautier said.

(Reporting by Gus Trompiz and Gilles Guillaume; editing by Pratima Desai and Kirsten Donovan)
(AP)

Londoners have been warned to be alert to thwart the threat of a pre-Christmas extremist attack in the capital as Cressida Dick described the killing of Sir David Amess as a chilling reminder of the continuing terrorist danger.

The Met Commissioner, writing in the Standard, said it was vital that members of the public showed the bravery to report suspicious behaviour, regardless of who it involved, and that tipping off police would save lives rather than ruin them.

She said one reason was that the number of terror investigations underway by police and MI5 was at record levels.

She added that another was that many of the plots had a connection to London - meaning that they were focused on targets in London, involved extremists from the capital, or both.

We recently saw in Essex yet another terrorist attack with the terrible murder of Sir David Amess MP, and with it, a chilling reminder that the threat of terrorism is very real, the Commissioner said today in an article for this newspaper.

So its vitally important that Londoners continue to be alert and vigilant.

 This is particularly true as we continue to enjoy regaining our freedom in the run-up to Christmas. if you see or hear anything suspicious then I urge you to report it to us.

Dame Cressidas comments came as she and the City of London Police Commissioner Ian Dyson attended a ceremony in the capital to honour police, paramedics, other emergency service workers, and members of the public for their courage in responding to the Fishmongers Hall attack on 29 November 2019 in which two people, Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt were stabbed to death by the freed terror convict Usman Khan.

He was shot dead by armed officers who ran up to him despite seeing the apparent suicide belt he was wearing, but might have killed more if he had not already been confronted by members of the public and a plain clothes policeman who wrestled Khans knife from him. Dame Cressida said that members of the public could help prevent further attacks by showing a different form of courage in raising the alarm about suspect behaviour.

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Bravery has many forms and we also need people to have the courage and confidence to report something to us that might feel wrong or seem suspicious, she said.

Counter Terrorism investigations across the UK remain at record levels, with more than 800 live investigations and 31 foiled plots since 2017. A significant proportion of that activity has a connection to London.

The killing of Sir David, who was fatally stabbed outside the Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea earlier this month, has been classed by counter-terrorism police as an Islamist attack. Ali Harbi Ali, a 25-year-old Londoner has been charged with the MPs murder.

Apart from the Fishmongers Hall murders, other terrorist attacks to have the capital in recent years include the attack at London Bridge and Borough Market in June 2017 in which 11 people were killed and the Westminster attack earlier the same year, which claimed five lives. There was also the Streatham attack of 2020 in which two people received knife injuries before armed police shot dead the attacker Sudesh Amman, another convicted terrorist who had been released from prison a short time before.

The dangers of a pre-Christmas attack were highlighted most vividly by the murders in Berlin In December 2016 which led to 13 deaths after a Tunisian jihadist drove a truck into one of the citys famed Christmas markets.

Read More

Dame Cressida Dick: We must all remain vigilant to terror threat

Minister says she would have complied with Sarah Everards killer

Met to apologise to the family of murdered sisters for below standard response
Storyful

Stargazers in North and South America marveled at the night sky in the early hours of November 19 as the longest partial lunar eclipse in hundreds of years began.NASA information about the eclipse says it occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so the Moon passes into Earths shadow.The moon may appear to turn red as the only sunlight reaching the Moon will have passed through Earths atmosphere. The phenomenon is also being called a Blood Moon and a Beaver Moon.The event was scheduled to last more than three hours and twenty-eight minutes. NASA said that there hasnt been a longer partial lunar eclipse since 1440, and there wont be a longer one until 2669.Raul Jr Salazar posted this footage showing the moment from his vantage point in Barranquilla, Colombia. Credit: Raul Jr Salazar via Storyful
New details have emerged regarding plans for China to build a paramilitary base for Tajik forces in Tajikistan. Much remains unclear, particularly with regard to what Chinese and Chinese-built security infrastructure already exists in Tajikistan, but also about the latest developments. At the same time, any and all movement in this space draws considerable attention not just in the region but from further abroad, The Diplomat writes.

On October 13, the Tajik news site Asia-Plus ran a story citing an exchange of letters between China and Tajikistan in which the Chinese side agreed to provide 55 million renminbi (around $8.5 million) for the construction of a paramilitary base under the Tajik Ministry of Internal Affairs. The letters had been sent to the Tajik parliament for approval. They reportedly outlined the project, to include 12 buildings. The Chinese side, the report said, would undertake responsibility for the survey and design, providing equipment (including office furniture and computers) and direction to engineering and technical personnel. Asia-Plus did not report on the planned location of the base.

According to one report, the facility would be constructed in Ishkashim district in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province (GBAO), Tajikistan. The base would belong to Tajikistans Ministry of Internal Affairs and all equipment and machinery imported from China for it would be exempt from customs duties. According to another report, an apparent facility will be built near Shaymak, a village in Murghab district. There are rumours that Chinese troops had been in the area since at least 2016. The 2019 Washington Post report noted that the Chinese forces present appeared to be from the Peoples Armed Police (PAP) rather than the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA).

Dushanbe and Beijing have consistently denied the existence of the Shaymak facility, although satellite imagery shows new facilities constructed next to an old Soviet base. The area is close to the tri-border shared between Chinas Xinjiang, Afghanistans Wakhan, and Tajikistans GBAO. Chinas initial interests stem from a combination of protecting its Belt and Road Initiative in the Central Asian region and beefing up security in Xinjiang. It also fits into a narrative of steady expansion, with new facilities and reports back in 2019 of agreements for Chinese assistance in expanding existing border security facilities in Tajikistan.

The Taliban (prohibited in Russia) return to power in Afghanistan was taken in stride by Chinese officials, who elicited promises from the Taliban to not allow Afghan soil to be used by those threatening China, particularly Uyghur extremists. Even back in 2015, the Afghan government under Ashraf Ghani sought Chinese help in getting Pakistan to push the Taliban to the negotiation table in part by turning over Uyghur militants. Six years later, Beijing is singing the same tune and continuing to engage with Tajikistan on security matters.
More Armenians are getting vaccinated against COVID, but the numbers remain the lowest in the region and the country is going through its worst wave of the disease yet, Eurasianet writes.

According to the most recent government data, at most 7 percent of Armenians are fully vaccinated against COVID. That compares to 22 percent in Georgia, and 42 percent in Azerbaijan. And Armenias real numbers are in fact likely lower than that, as a significant portion of those who have gotten vaccinated in the country are visitors.

But Armenias pace is picking up: The number of those who have gotten their first shot is double that of the fully vaccinated, apparently in reaction to a new government mandate that requires employers to demand from their employees either a proof of vaccination or regular negative PCR tests.

Nevertheless, the number of registered new infections has reached more than 2,000 per day and the deaths due to COVID have been breaking domestic records, with highs of as many as 57 deaths in a day recorded in the last week. More than 6,000 Armenians have now died of COVID, in a population of under three million.

There have been nearly no COVID-related movement restrictions in the country since the beginning of the pandemic, and the government has signaled that it does not intend to implement strict ones even now. "There are countries that are returning to lockdown. Armenia won't have a lockdown, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at an October 28 cabinet meeting. Instead, we have to toughen the restrictions, maybe even making wearing masks outdoors mandatory.

The employee vaccine mandate is the most significant step that the government has taken toward stemming the spread of the disease, and October 14 was the first day that employers were supposed to start enforcing the new rules. A visit by Eurasianet to Polyclinic 22 in Yerevan on that day found a mob scene, with doctors trying in vain to enforce social distancing rules on the large numbers of people who showed up to get vaccinated.

Many Armenians prefer to get vaccinated at polyclinics rather than the mobile clinics the Ministry of Health has set up around Yerevan and other cities. In Yerevan, those clinics are particularly crowded with foreigners, especially Iranians, who come for the relative ease of getting the jab in Armenia.

The vaccine in highest demand in Armenia is now the Chinese-produced Sinopharm, partly because it has a shorter wait time between doses (28 days) than the other vaccines on offer. There also is a widespread belief that Sinopharms side effects are weaker than those of the other vaccines.

Sputnik V and AstraZeneca also have been available in Armenia since May, and Armenia also has recently gotten supplies of Moderna. The latter was developed at a firm led by diaspora Armenian Noubar Afeyan, which has given it somewhat of a popularity boost among Armenians. But reports that the vaccine also is linked to heart problems among young adults has dampened enthusiasm.

At Polyclinic 22, supplies of Sinopharm ran out quickly and doctors told people hoping for that vaccine to return on November 1, when they expected to receive more supplies. One 60-something man, Samvel (who didnt give his last name), had been waiting outside the door of the clinic for three hours when a clinic worker came out to tell him: Mr. Samvel, please go home, we only have 25 doses of Sinopharm and more than 50 people in line ahead of you. But he was undeterred: If I come on November 1, can you guarantee that I wont have to wait for hours? I dont think so. He ended up waiting anyway and so many ahead of him in line got discouraged that he got his shot in the end.

On October 18, the Health Ministry announced it was importing a further 200,000 doses of Sinopharm, and four days later it said it was receiving a donation of 620,000 doses of Moderna.

In spite of the vaccine shortages, the government announced on October 26 that it was lifting restrictions on foreigners getting the vaccines; previously visitors had to prove that they had been in the country for at least 10 days to get inoculated.

Under the new employment regulations, the government can make random checks on places of employment to make sure that employees have either proof of at least one dose of a vaccination or a recent negative PCR test. The fine for individuals who violate the rules ranges from about $40-$80, for companies it is $250.

Its not clear how many employees have yet to be vaccinated. The Ministry of Health has recorded about 200,000 people fully vaccinated in the country and 400,000 with one dose, but it doesnt distinguish between Armenian citizens and foreigners in those numbers. The country has more than 600,000 legally employed people, according to government statistics, and the Armenian Statistical Service and the World Bank have estimated the number of unregistered workers in the country at between 300,000 and 700,000. Its unclear to what extent these workers will be subject to the mandate.

As in many other countries where various forms of vaccine mandates have been introduced, some in Armenia are taking shortcuts. On October 13, the National Security Service announced that it had identified more than 700 people with fake vaccination certificates in the second city of Gyumri. Ten doctors have been charged in the case.

As of October 28, there were 3,100 people in Armenia hospitalized with COVID, of those 97 percent had not been vaccinated, Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan said at the cabinet meeting. About 90 percent of the hospitalized had contracted the especially aggressive Delta variant of the disease. Of the 3,100, half are in critical condition, and of those 99 percent had been unvaccinated. Two hundred more infected are waiting to be hospitalized because there arent enough beds, she added.

Some hospitals have reported ventilators for COVID patients breaking down from overuse, and patients who need them having to do without. At the Vedi Hospital in the Ararat region, of 85 COVID patients only one of them  who had been vaccinated  didnt require oxygen, deputy hospital director Samvel Khachataryan told RFE/RL.

Universities had opened for in-person classes this school year but on October 27 they moved back to online-only. Schools have extended the already-scheduled fall break for another week in response to the growing outbreak.

Meanwhile, there are regular scandals of senior officials and other elites openly flouting social distancing and other COVID regulations. President Armen Sarkissian hosted participants of a conference, the Armenian Summit of Minds, indoors at his residence; photos of the event showed none of the dozens of people wearing a mask, including Avanesyan, who regularly advocates for even vaccinated Armenians to wear masks. Current regulations require everyone to wear a mask in indoor places.

Anti-vaccine sentiment also remains widespread; Pashinyan tried to mitigate it by sharing his own familys experience. "There are questions regarding the effectiveness of the vaccines; I want to bring a personal example, he told the October 28 cabinet meeting. Six people in my family are vaccinated, except for the two underaged kids. Recently my 14-year-old daughter caught the virus. But nobody else in my family got it despite finding out late and having been in intensive contact with her. Still, he added: We [vaccinated] could also get the virus. The protection is not 100 percent."
The ceremony of handing over school buses to representatives of educational organizations was held at the central square of Makhachkala, the website of the Ministry of Education of Dagestan informs.

In total, in the framework of the order of the government of the Russian Federation, the republican schools received 116 units of school transport, they were purchased at the expense of the federal budget.

The chair of the Dagestan People's Assembly Committee on Education and Science, Elena Pavlyuchenko, said that the new buses are a wonderful gift not only for students but also for parents and schools.
The Group of 20 (G20) leading industrialized nations begin a two-day summit in Rome on Saturday with climate action and the COVID-19 pandemic set to dominate the talks, Deutsche Welle informs.

The G20 bloc, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for more than 80% of the world's gross domestic product, 60% of its population and an estimated 80% of carbon emissions.

German caretaker Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend the talks along with US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, among others. Some other leaders such as Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping are taking part via video link.

According to Deutsche Welle, as well as the pandemic and its consequences, the ministers are expected to discuss efforts to speed up the global economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, address soaring energy prices and supply chain bottlenecks, which have affected a number of key industries worldwide.
The candidates from the ruling Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party, according to its data, gain a landslide victory in the local elections in 18 out of 20 municipalities, the party chairman, Irakli Kobakhidze, said.

"The National Movement candidates gained almost 50% in two municipalities, and the" evil "has a chance to win," Sputnik Georgia quotes him as saying.

In this regard, Kobakhidze urged those who had not yet voted to come to the polling stations in order to prevent the UNM from winning.

A stage has been set up near the office of the ruling party, where the results of the exit polls conducted by the Imedi TV channel will be shown. Then the celebration will take place.
The chairman of the Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze said that the currently starving president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, intends to feign the deterioration of his health.

"We have information that today, when elections are held, he is going to pretend that he feels bad in order to evoke emotions from his supporters. But his simulation is doomed to failure, no matter how Saakashvili tries today, it will not be successful," Sputnik-Georgia quotes the chairman of the party as saying.
The police handed over to the investigation department of the Russian IC in Ingushetia a criminal case initiated on the fact of an accident in Nazran, resulted in death of a woman and a baby, the press service of the Russian IC informs.

On October 29, a 34-year-old driver of a VAZ-2115 car drove into the oncoming lane on the Kavkaz federal highway and collided with a KamAZ. His 36-year-old wife and newborn baby died as a result of the collusion.

The driver himself and his 8 minor children received injuries, abrasions and bruises. They were provided with necessary medical assistance.
Giuli Alasania, the mother of the former president of Georgia and head of the Executive Committee of Ukraine's Reforms, Mikhail Saakashvili, thanked President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for supporting her son.

I want to say thank you for providing my son with an opportunity to return to Ukraine, which he loves so much, Alasania said in an interview with the editor-in-chief of the GORDON media site Alesya Batsman.

She said Zelensky is helping her son a lot. I am so grateful to him for that," the politician's mother added.
In 2016, Vietnam was the 8th destination but in 2019 the country ranked 4th out of 40 destinations for short-term courses and internships for Australian students in the Indo-Pacific, including regions in Asia, following China, India and Indonesia.

Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Ly, Vietnamese lecturer at Deakin University (Australia).

This information is the result of a study funded by the Australian government, conducted by Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Ly, Vietnamese lecturer at Deakin University (Australia) and her colleagues. According to Professor Ly, Vietnam can export education, especially in the field of short-term internship, and can export long-term courses for bachelor's and master's degrees in Vietnam in the next 5-10 years.

Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Ly, 46, is a female Vietnamese scientist with the highest number of international publications in the field of social sciences, based on Scopus data, who has been honored by Forbes Magazine as one of the 50 most influential women in Vietnam. In late 2020, she received the Noam Chomsky Award for achievements in research and profound influence on promoting cross-national research collaboration.

Her research interests focus on internationalization of education, international students, student mobility (especially Indo-Pacific students), and employment of international students after graduation and higher education in Vietnam.

VietNamNet talks with Prof. Ly about these topics.

Vietnam became the 4th destination for Australian students for short courses and internships. Does this represent a migration trend of international students or does it demonstrate the potential of Vietnam's "educational export"?

Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Ly: Being a favorite destination for Australian students shows both the mobility trend of international students and the potential of Vietnam.

If in the past, Australian students often went to developed countries such as the UK, Canada, the US, etc., in the past 5 years, with the support of the host country as well as the development of diplomatic, economic and political relations with Asian countries, they began to realize the importance of sending students to Asian countries to study.

The fact that the Australian government provides scholarships or financial support for its students to study short-term courses in Asian countries also plays an important role in promoting this trend.

As a result, Asia is gradually becoming a preferred destination for short-term courses and internships for Australian students, more than traditional destinations such as Europe and America.

For Australian students, coming to study and practice short-term courses in Asia will help them learn more than English-speaking destinations because they have the opportunity to be in a completely different environment from Europe and America - which is very familiar. The challenge in the new environment will be a condition for them to develop their cultural and language ability as well as specialized knowledge.

In that favorable trend, Vietnamese universities are also quite agile and know how to seize opportunities when they begin to expand and develop international cooperation with foreign universities, thereby creating student exchange programs, encouraging and attracting foreign students to study and do short-term internships in Vietnam.

Is Vietnam attracting Australian students due to its low cost?

Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Ly: Australian students come to Vietnam not entirely because of the low cost. Through surveys, we found that what they often mention is that Vietnam has a very dynamic developed economy and society and a stable and safe living environment. They want the opportunity to learn and experience in such an environment.

They also want to have the opportunity to immerse themselves in and learn about the culture of Vietnam. They also see Vietnam as an important partner of Australia. If they have the opportunity to study and learn experience in Vietnam and especially know about Vietnamese culture, it will be more favorable for their future work and life in Australia.

Another group said that they came to Vietnam in the hope that their learning and working experiences there would give them the opportunity to work in Vietnam.

In your opinion, what is the key to making it easier for Vietnamese universities to integrate and attract international students?

Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Ly: I think the facilities, quality of education, experience and initiative in developing partnerships with foreign universities to open short-term courses and internships are important, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Currently, a number of universities, especially non-public ones in Vietnam, have set up quite stable and flexible relationships with businesses, which allows them not only to open short courses for international students, but also to organize internships in association with the businesses with which they cooperate.

On the other hand, in the context of the pandemic, any university with a developed online teaching system will have a lot of conditions to cooperate with international schools. Schools with a good online learning platform can create courses through online collaborative learning between Vietnamese and foreign universities or in the form of online internship or online cultural exchange.

You have talked a lot about the potential for short-term courses, but what about long-term courses?

Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Ly: While the potential to attract students to long-term courses isn't as appealing as short-term courses, there's still a lot of promise, especially in the context of Covid-19.

Previously, the popular destinations of Asian students were countries such as the UK, USA, Australia, and Canada. With the current epidemic situation, many families in Asia are gradually changing their views on studying abroad.

Traveling away from home or to another continent becomes more difficult for students. Therefore, countries such as China, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. see this as an opportunity to attract Asian students to study in their countries.

In addition, there are often very few Government scholarships for long-term courses. At that time, the tuition and living costs become their concerns. In fact, Vietnam has the advantage that the cost is quite cheap compared to other countries in the region.

The quality of courses is also a factor that international students have to consider when choosing study destinations in Asian countries. The quality of the course, the reputation of universities will be the important factors they have to see when they make decision to choose Vietnam as the destination.

How can we build Vietnam into a popular and sustainable destination for Australian students in particular and international students in general?

Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Ly: In countries that have succeeded in making themselves destinations for international students, one of the policies introduced is to combine the education sector with other sectors such as trade, diplomacy, tourism and communication.

Therefore, I think it is necessary to consider promoting Vietnam as a promising destination for international students. This is the mission of many sectors, not only the education sector.

Universities need to cooperate with each other in a more unified and synchronous manner, to jointly build a "brand" for Vietnams education.

For example, it would be very beneficial for universities if instead of competing with each other in recruiting international students, they would work together to promote Vietnamese universities and the country of Vietnam as a promising destination.

In order to have better cooperation between schools, it is necessary to establish an association, for example, the Association for Internationalization of Education of Vietnam. That association will act as an agency to support Vietnamese universities and share experiences and strategies to promote Vietnamese universities in a synchronous manner.

However, all the diplomatic and media support is not sustainable if Vietnam does not have the capacity to provide study abroad services, including housing services and integration support for international students, and quality courses as well.

Therefore, it is important for universities to consider internationalizing teaching and learning methods as well as internationalizing student experiences to improve the quality of their courses.

It is necessary to mobilize funds from domestic and foreign organizations as well as universities revenue sources to support projects and initiatives promoting quality and internationally recognized training programs.

Thuy Nga

VN woman - only Asian lecturer in English teacher education at Australia university At an interview for the post of lecturer at Flinders University, Ngo Tuyet Mai, when asked why the university should choose her, said in addition to her knowledge and experience, she also has empathy and understands international students.
Fifteen households were displaced early Saturday after a fast-moving fire destroyed a building at the Abbey Glenn apartments, 700 S. Fourth St., Waco Fire Department officials said.

Firefighters were dispatched to the downtown apartment complex at 12:43 a.m. on a report of an outdoor air conditioner unit that had ignited, Battalion Chief Shon Cavett said. Arriving a few minutes later, firefighters called for reinforcements as they saw that the blaze quickly traveled up the vinyl-sided wall and into the attic, he said.

Firefighters checked the 16-unit building to ensure that everyone evacuated, while others battled the blaze with three aerial trucks, knocking the fire down around 2:30 a.m., Cavett said.

It burned the entire roof of the building, and 75% of the second floor collapsed into the first floor, he said. The building was a total loss, but no injuries were reported.

As the units burned, some residents gathered in a vacant unit at one of the complexs 10 other buildings to keep warm. Others sheltered in a city bus that was brought in, or booked hotel rooms for the rest of the night. The Red Cross arranged emergency shelter and aid to residents on Saturday.
I think McLennan County did very well throughout the redistricting process, Holland said. I am pleased and I think they are an improvement over the old system. If you look at our congressional district, Waco doesnt have to split its influence. Waco is the new center of influence for District 17 and I think that will work well for McLennan County. I am pleased that Doc got West back and I think Waco will be a major influence in the new House District 13 and Waco wont have to play second fiddle to Bryan-College Station as it did in HD 12.

The main change for Anderson, who has represented the Waco area since 2004, is that District 56 again will now include West in northern McLennan County. Kacal, whose rural District 12 was shifted more to the south and east, will no longer represent West.

I think in general the redistricting process went pretty well, Anderson said. The main thing, as always, was we tried to make sure it was a transparent and fair process and I think it went well in that regard.

West Mayor Tommy Muska said Kacal helped West navigate bureaucratic channels in the wake of the devastating April 2013 fertilizer plant explosion and his leadership will be missed.

I am disappointed that we lost a fine legislator, but we have had Doc before and Doc is a great person and a great, seasoned representative, Muska said. Kyle was with us for the explosion, and for the past 10 years, he has done a fine job. But we will be fine. We have already been in contact with Docs office and we will work with whoever the great state of Texas puts us with.

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On the way to attending U.S. Army War College Speights was promoted to colonel. He went to school for a year before he was deployed to Afghanistan. He went to Kabul from July 2011 to July 2012.

His job included mentoring Afghanistans army, and he traveled the nation visiting various Afghan units. We were in the first stages of building the Afghan army, he said.

His second job was working for a one-star British officer, coordinating the recruitment, training and equipping of the Afghan army. He traveled from end to end of the country. Its one of the most beautiful countries in the world, he said.

At times, it could be scary because he would be the only American within hundreds of miles, but he was safe with the Afghanistan army.

Speights returned to the States and additional leadership duties, retiring as colonel on June 30, 2018, after serving nearly 35 years. Among his many achievements, he earned a Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals and the Legion of Merit. He also earned three masters degrees.

He moved to China Spring. He and his wife, Norricia, were married on May 7, 1990. Together, they have two children and three granddaughters.

He credits his success in the Army, in part, to his wife.
Waco Fire Chief Gregory Summers, who attended the ceremony and provided the fire chiefs challenge to the graduating class, said that bringing diversity to the forefront of the department is an important part of the work he wants to do in Waco.

It means that the department is open to equity and inclusion and our recruitment efforts reflect that, Summers said, adding that visibility of the fire department in the community and expanding its reach across programs in Texas are important to bring the department to the attention of potential recruits.

Of 207 sworn fire department employees, 81 are at the firefighter rank. Aside from the chief, firefighter is the only rank that can be hired, Summers said. In the firefighter rank, roughly 3.7% are African American, 7.4% are Hispanic and 1.3% are Asian American. The rank of firefighter is currently made up of 85.1% white males.

According to Summers, there are people of diverse backgrounds serving in other parts of the department.

We have Hispanics who are apparatus engineers and Hispanics who are probably captain and lieutenant but we dont count those we cant hire in at those positions, Summers said.
The litigation came about as General Assembly members have been drawing maps over the past three weeks and held public hearings this week. Lawmakers were expected to begin debating and voting on specific plans starting Monday. They want to enact boundaries based on 2020 census figures for the two legislative chambers and for the U.S. House delegation by the end of next week. Candidate filing is currently set to begin Dec. 6.

Republicans filed additional plan proposals Friday that if approved likely would heavily favor the GOP to extend their current legislative majorities in each chamber and have a good chance to win at least 10 of the 14 U.S. House seats the state will have starting with the 2022 elections.

The GOP-controlled House and Senate redistricting committees voted in August to prohibit racial data  such as the percentage of minorities on voter registration rolls and within the voting-age population of a certain county or proposed district. They argue that maps drawn in the late 2010s that courts signed off on didn't use such data, and that judges have found there isn't enough voting polarization by race to be necessary to review.
To add insult to injury, the L.A. ports just announced a new fine system for containers that remain at the ports too long, even though there arent enough trucks on the road to transport the containers. Additionally, Bidens impending vaccine mandate would worsen the nations labor shortage.

So how do we fix this crisis?

The first step is to recognize that the government is causing much of the problem  and new government restrictions wont fix it. Without those regulations, the market would have been able to respond more quickly to the rising number of ships, additional workers and shifts could have been implemented, and 24/7 would mean what it says. With fewer restrictions, available trucks would be able to come from neighboring states to get containers and goods out of the overloaded ports  and into the hands of frustrated Americans.

The California ports should start running 24/7 today. The federal government and California should remove labor and environmental regulations that disincentivize work and make it more difficult for goods to get from the ships to our shelves. And they certainly should refrain from imposing new ones that make it worse.

This crisis is proof that government bureaucrats and government-controlled unions cannot, and often will not, change course when the market demands it. It is time to remove the red tape for the long term to both solve the current crisis and prevent future ones.

Tori K. Smith is a columnist for The Heritage Foundation.
Farm equipment manufacturer Deere & Co. reached a tentative labor agreement Saturday with the United Auto Workers union.

But a UAW strike that began Oct. 14 will continue -- and details of the proposed contract will not be released -- while workers study the terms of the agreement in advance of a vote.

The pact would cover more than 10,000 production and maintenance workers at 12 Deere sites in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas.

The strike began after UAW workers overwhelmingly rejected an initial proposed contract that would have delivered immediate 5% raises for some workers and 6% for others depending on their positions at Deere factories. The pact also called for 3% raises in 2023 and 2025.

After the first deal was rejected, UAW negotiators focused on improving the areas of concern identified by our members, said Chuck Browning, director of the unions farm equipment department.

The U.S. economys unexpectedly strong rebound from last years brief but intense coronavirus recession has created labor shortages -- and handed workers more leverage to demand higher pay and better benefits.
Farmers put in countless hours planting and caring for crops, however they may not realize that what they plant could reap benefits for the community after harvest time. While most people think of making charitable contributions in the form of cash, farmers may consider benefitting their community with a gift of grain.

Donating a gift of grain is a simple, tax-wise way for farmers to make a difference in their local community. By giving grain to the cause close to their heart, farmers support an organization doing great things in their community and can avoid including the sale of the grain in their farm income. Although a charitable income tax deduction is generally not available, the significant benefit is the avoidance of declaring it as income. The cost of growing the crops is deducted, which typically results in saving self-employment tax, federal income tax and state income tax. Benefits can be had even if one does not itemize the deductions and takes the standard deduction. Farmers considering a gift of grain are encouraged to first discuss this option with their tax advisor.

The simplest way to give a gift of grain is to let the organization know of the intended gift. The gift should be from unsold crop inventory with no sale commitment made prior to the gift. The crop is then taken to the grain buyer and the seller tells the buyer how much grain he/she would like to put into an account set up by the organization of choice. The grain buyer then notifies the organization which sells the grain and receives the sale proceeds.

Farmers can work with the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa to enrich their community and receive additional tax benefits. Making a gift of grain through CFNEIA create long lasting benefits that can go directly to a nonprofit organization, or the gift can be used to start an advised fund that allows the individual or family to recommend grants to nonprofits annually. The value of the grain can be used to start an endowed fund that will create charitable impacts forever.

Gifts of grain to endowment funds with a qualified community foundation, like CFNEIA and its affiliate foundations, are eligible for a 25% state tax credit on the total value of the gift through the Endow Iowa Tax Credit Program. All qualified donors can carry forward the tax credit for up to five years after the year the donation was made. More information about Endow Iowa can be found at www.cfneia.org/endowiowa.

Crops are the livelihood and life of our local farmer. Farmers prepare, plant and nurture, and the crops grow. Thats what the Community Foundation does with the charitable gifts entrusted to us.

More information about gifts of grain and other charitable giving strategies can be found at www.cfneia.org.

Laurie Everhardt is director of development at the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa. The Foundation manages over $133 million in assets and has granted over $101 million to organizations since 1956. Contact: leverhardt@cfneia.org or 319-243-1352.

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CHESTERFIELD, S.C. (AP)  A South Carolina lawyer involved in a half-dozen state police investigations has been cagey about his assets and should have to hand over control of his money to independent representatives so that he does not engage in further fraud, an attorney told a judge Friday.

Attorneys in three different civil cases have said they fear Alex Murdaugh is trying to hide millions of dollars they could possibly collect in their lawsuits. They said he could shift money between unknown accounts and potentially sell off property and a boat after he turned all his affairs over to his surviving son, Buster Murdaugh.

Murdaugh's lawyer said he hasn't been found responsible in any of the civil suits and has insurance to cover if he is required to pay damages. Attorney John Tiller added that if Murdaugh loses control of his assets, that would open the door for similar things to happen in countless other cases if the person who sues thinks the defendant doesn't have enough insurance.

They are long in facts and innuendo but they are short on the law, Tiller said during a hearing in a Chesterfield County courthouse.

Circuit Judge Daniel Hall said he would rule sometime around the middle of next week. Alex Murdaugh remains in the Richland County jail without bond, and Buster Murdaugh was not in the courtroom.

The lawyers said Alex Murdaugh could be hiding inheritance from the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in an unsolved shooting at the familys home in June or from his fathers death from natural causes a few days later.

They also said because Murdaugh has been part of a legal empire in tiny Hampton County, South Carolina, he could have other money coming in from any number of sources.

Murdaughs father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all elected prosecutors in the area. The familys law firm has won multimillion-dollar verdicts over the past century.

Since the June shootings of his wife and son, state police have opened six investigations into Murdaugh and his family ranging from stolen money to insurance fraud for trying to arrange his own death.

Hall was hearing just one case Friday  a lawsuit by the family of Mallory Beach, a 19-year-old woman killed in a 2019 boat crash. Prosecutors said Paul Murdaugh was drunk and driving the boat. The lawsuit said his father knew he was drinking without being 21 and his brother let him borrow his license to buy the alcohol.

The Murdaugh family refused to comply with legal requirements like revealing the value of their assets even before things started to unravel in June, said Mark Tinsley, a lawyer for the Beach family.

If they dont have any money, what would be the harm of enjoining him from spending it? Tinsley said. Hes living pretty well for someone with no assets. He has a crisis manager."

Lawyers in the other two lawsuits said they expect similar rulings in their cases. A man on the boat who said the Murdaugh family tried to falsely pin him as the boat's driver has also sued along with the family of Murdaugh's late housekeeper Gloria Satterfield. The Murdaughs said she died after a fall in the family's home in 2018.

Murdaugh has been charged with pocketing nearly $3 million worth of insurance settlements that was supposed to go to Satterfields estate.

Prosecutors have accused Murdaugh of illegally diverting the money to his accounts. They said he then paid off a $100,000 credit card bill, transferred more than $300,000 to his father and $735,000 to himself.

The lawsuits noted well over half the settlement money remained unaccounted for in the prosecution's presentation.

Lawyers in the other two cases said the Murdaugh family is also fighting hard against them. What does your common sense tell you? If you had nothing to hide, you would turn it over, said Eric Bland, a lawyer for the Satterfield family.

Murdaugh, 53, was first arrested Sept. 16 and was accused of trying to arrange his own death so Buster Murdaugh could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. That same day, the father signed a power of attorney for all his affairs over to his son, according to court records.

The motions in the three lawsuits include several documents: a photo of Buster Murdaugh that lawyers said was taken in October at a Las Vegas casino; a nearly $1 million mortgage that a property owner paid off to Alex Murdaugh; an online listing asking $114,000 for Murdaughs boat; and a nearly two-year-old unpaid tax bill that could lead to the auction of Murdaughs beach home on Edisto Island.

In addition to the investigations into the stolen insurance money and the insurance fraud, state police continue to investigate the shooting deaths, millions of dollars missing from Murdaugh's former law firm that was founded by his great-grandfather, a 2015 hit-and-run death and whether Murdaugh and his family obstructed the investigation into the boat crash.

Murdaugh insists he had nothing to do with the June deaths of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22. Murdaugh said he returned to their rural Colleton County home to find them shot to death. Tight-lipped state police have neither named any suspects nor ruled anyone out.

Murdaugh remains in jail without bond on the charges he stole money from his late housekeeper's estate. A judge handling the Murdaugh criminal cases last week asked for a report on his mental state before considering whether to set bond.



Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

A climate coalition led by University of New Mexico students is amplifying calls for the institution to address climate change by divesting from fossil fuel companies.

UNM Leaders for Environmental Action and Foresight (LEAF) and more than 60 faculty and alumni, state lawmakers and climate groups submitted a legal complaint to state Attorney General Hector Balderas on Tuesday.

The complaint alleges that the University of New Mexico Foundations investments in fossil fuel assets violate its legal obligations as a charitable organization supporting the universitys mission and its guiding principles of thoughtful stewardship of  cultures and environment.

The industries promote environmental destruction and social injustice, according to the groups.

Emily Phan, a UNM LEAF leader and biochemistry student from Albuquerque, said she wants the university to take meaningful action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Higher educational institutions should be protecting their students, and encouraging them to do better in the world, Phan said. Were hoping that (the foundation) decides to pretty much funnel their money into literally anything else besides fossil fuels.

Students hosted a rally on UNM campus on Friday to advocate for renewable energy investments.

The UNM Foundations Consolidated Investment Fund, or endowment, is currently valued at $579 million.

Indirect energy investments make up about 5.6% of the fund, or $32.5 million.

The Foundation is closely listening to student concerns, said Gabe Gomez, a UNM Foundation spokesperson. We appreciate our students thoughts and engagement on issues of such great importance, and certainly, climate change is one issue we all care about deeply.

State Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, a former UNM law professor, said divestment should be part of a full court press strategy to adapt to climate change.

In New Mexico the way were going to experience (the climate crisis) is water, said the Albuquerque Democrat, who signed Tuesdays complaint. We dont have enough water. There are water rights on paper that there simply is no wet water for.

UNM Regent Sandra Begay said at a May board meeting that she supports the climate advocacy efforts, but said changing the investment portfolio could be a long process.

Its going to be a hard lift, to be quite honest, Begay said.

The University of California system and several Ivy League schools have divested from fossil fuel interests.

Before Harvard decided this fall to sell its fossil fuel assets, students had filed a legal complaint to the Massachusetts state attorney general.

Just because (divestment) is difficult, doesnt mean you shouldnt do it, Phan said. It would take some work, and it would be hard, and it wouldnt get done within a year. But I love this school, and I think that we are very capable of doing hard things.

Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal.
LAS CRUCES  A school bus drivers strike in Las Cruces is over after one day  at least for now.

Union officials said drivers and attendants agreed to return to work Friday after not reporting for work Thursday to staff bus routes for Las Cruces Public Schools due to a dispute with the bus service management company.

The union officials' statement said the employees wanted to demonstrate their willingness to find solutions to contract issues and honor their commitment to students.

However, the statement also said further disruptions to student transportation could occur if an agreement can't be reached with Student Transportation Services-New Mexico.

Union members have voiced concerns about pay, treatment of employees and safety of buses and equipment.

The company has said it was bargaining in good faith and that progress was made.

Bus driver shortages have strained schools across the state, as education officials struggle to hire and train more workers. Some offer free training, signing bonuses and other perks for new employees.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Legislative analysts say New Mexico failed to meet federal reporting requirements outlining the states use of federal stimulus funding, though it isnt clear theres any legal consequence.

An annual report submitted by the state Department of Finance and Administration didnt contain information addressing seven of the 11 minimum reporting requirements sought by the U.S. Treasury Department, according to analysts for the Legislative Finance Committee.

New Mexicos seven-page public report, in fact, was actually shorter than the 11-page federal template and instructions for what it should contain.

Sen. George Munoz, a Gallup Democrat and vice chairman of the LFC, said the lack of reporting reflects a broader concern  that New Mexico wont make prompt, effective use of the $1.75 billion provided under the American Rescue Plan Act.

We cannot set ourselves up for failure, Munoz said this week after hearing from legislative analysts.

Debbie Romero, the Cabinet secretary who leads the Department of Finance and Administration, said the report covered only the first five months of funding under the American Rescue Plan Act.

We are still building the programs and initiatives to roll out all the funds, which will be better reflected in the coming quarterly reports, she said in a written statement. We continue to follow the federal governments guidance and maintain communication as that guidance evolves. Currently, we are not at risk of losing funds.

In testimony at the state Capitol, Catherine Dry, a program evaluator for the Legislative Finance Committee, the research and accountability arm of the Legislature, said other states submitted more robust annual plans.

Colorado even established a recovery office, her report said, to coordinate across state agencies and establish performance measures for how the funds are used.

New Mexicos slimmed-down report, Dry said, leaves the public and federal government with less information about how the state is using its money and may hamper accountability.

But she didnt suggest New Mexico was in any danger of federal sanctions.

I dont believe there are consequences for failed compliance, Dry told lawmakers.

The federal instruction packet and template for the annual report encourages states to tailor the report to reflect their needs. But it also directs states to address specific topics, such as how their plans promote equity among different demographic groups, using qualitative and quantitative data.

There are also questions on labor practices, serving residents with limited English proficiency and evaluating the effectiveness of programs.

The LFC report said New Mexicos reporting didnt include information on future plans for using the funds, promotion of equitable outcomes, use of evidence and other topics.

The report covers activity through July 31 and was due Aug. 31. Annual reports are due each year through 2027.

The report comes as some legislators and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration remain at odds over who has authority to allocate federal stimulus funds. The governor contends the federal funding is within her purview and not subject to appropriation decisions by the Legislature.

The issue is now before the state Supreme Court. Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen, and Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, filed a petition asking the court to bar Lujan Grisham from allocating the roughly $1.1 billion that hasnt been spent yet.

New Mexicos Recovery Plan includes an executive summary stating that the state is committed to ensuring that the ARPA funds are focused in high-risk areas where crime and public health are most in need.

The report captures spending through July 31, but not anything since then.

It details about $63 million in funding issued to local governments and explains that almost $657 million in federal money was used to replenish the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

Another $8.4 million went to the Vax 2 the Max sweepstakes campaign to distribute $100 incentives to residents who got vaccinated at certain times and established a cash lottery for vaccine recipients.

The result of this initiative is a higher number of vaccinated residents of the state, as well as boosting the economy as the funds are used locally by residents for necessary items, the state Recovery Plan said.
ROME  Leaders of the worlds biggest economies on Saturday endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations, a linchpin of new international tax rules aimed at blunting the edge of fiscal paradises amid skyrocketing profits of some multinational businesses.

The move by the Group of 20 summit in Rome was hailed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen as benefiting American businesses and workers.

G-20 finance ministers in July had already agreed on a 15% minimum tax. It awaited formal endorsement at the summit Saturday in Rome of the worlds economic powerhouses.

Yellen predicted in a statement that the deal on new international tax rules, with a minimum global tax, will end the damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation.

The deal did fall short of U.S. President Joe Bidens original call for a 21% minimum tax. Still, Biden tweeted his satisfaction.

Here at the G20, leaders representing 80% of the worlds GDP  allies and competitors alike  made clear their support for a strong global minimum tax, the president said in the tweet. This is more than just a tax deal  its diplomacy reshaping our global economy and delivering for our people.

The agreement aims to discourage multinationals from stashing profits in countries where they pay little or no taxes. These days, multinationals can earn big profits from things like trademarks and intellectual property. These companies can then assign earnings to a subsidiary in a tax haven country.

Briefing reporters midway through the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: There are good things to report here. The world community has agreed on a minimum taxation of companies. That is a clear signal of justice in times of digitalization.

Mathias Cormann, secretary-general of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said that the deal clinched in Rome will make our international tax arrangements fairer and work better in a digitalized and globalized economy.

The minimum rate completely eliminates the incentive for businesses around the world to restructure their affairs to avoid tax, Cormann contended.

On other issues crucial to fairness across the globe  including access to COVID-19 vaccines  the summit on the first of its two days heard pleas to boost the percentage of those in poor countries being vaccinated.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi made a sharp call to pick up the pace in getting vaccines to poor countries.

Draghi, the summit host, said Saturday that only 3% of people in the worlds poorest countries are vaccinated, while 70% in rich countries have had at least one shot.

These differences are morally unacceptable and undermine the global recovery, said Draghi, an economist and former chief of the European Central Bank.

French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to use the summit to press fellow European Union leaders to be more generous in donating vaccines to low-income countries.

But advocates of civil society which have held discussions with G-20 officials said suspension of vaccine patents was crucial to increasing access in poor countries.

Canada noted it was both sharing vaccines as well as donating money to develop production in South Africa, which is a G-20 country. Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister, said Canada was increasing its commitment to international vaccine sharing through the COVAX program by donating 200 million doses.

The summit is also confronting two-track global recovery in which rich countries are bouncing back faster.

Rich countries have used vaccines and stimulus spending to restart economic activity, leaving the risk that developing countries that account for much of global growth will remain behind due to low vaccinations and financing difficulties.

Macron has told reporters he expects the G-20 to confirm an additional $100 billion to support Africas economies.

On the urgent problem of climate change, Italy is hoping the G-20 will secure crucial commitments from countries responsible for about 80% of global carbon emissions  ahead of the U.N. climate conference that begins Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, just as the Rome summit winds down.

Most of the G-20 leaders will head to Glasgow.

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, whose efforts to reduce emissions are paramount to combating climate change, were participating remotely in the Rome summit.

But midway through the summit it was the corporate tax rate rule that dominated.

White House officials say the new tax rate would create at least $60 billion in new revenue a year in the U.S.  a stream of cash that could help partially pay for a nearly $3 trillion social services and infrastructure package that Biden is seeking. U.S. adoption is key because so many multinational companies are headquartered there.

But Civil 20, which represents some 560 organizations from more than 100 countries in a network making recommendations to the G-20, was less enthusiastic. The 15% rate is a little more than those (rates) wed consider fiscal paradises, Civil 20 official Riccardo Moro told reporters following the summit.

___

Nicole Winfield contributed to this report.
ROME  President Joe Biden said Saturday that nuclear talks with Iran would resume as he and European leaders warned Tehran that accelerated and provocative nuclear steps it has taken will jeopardize its return to compliance under a 2015 nuclear agreement.

Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and Britain met as Iran continues to enrich uranium to near-weapons-grade levels. The leaders are trying to revive the 2015 deal and restore Irans program to where it was under the pact, which kept the Islamic republic at least one year away from the potential to field a nuclear weapon.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Biden, Germanys Angela Merkel, Frances Emmanuel Macron and Britains Boris Johnson expressed our determination to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.

The leaders shared our grave and growing concern that Iran has accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps after it halted negotiations on a return to the nuclear agreement, formally known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

They also warned that Irans nuclear developments and restrictions on international monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency will jeopardize the possibility of a return to the deal.

As the leaders posed for photos before the closed-door talks, Biden was asked when he would like the stalled negotiations with Iran to resume.

Theyre scheduled to resume, he said, in what appeared to be the first public confirmation by the U.S. of a resumption in negotiations.

Iran has yet to commit to a date to return to nuclear talks being held in Vienna but has signaled it will do so next week with a target of late November for resuming the negotiations. The U.S. and others have expressed skepticism about Iranian intentions.

The U.N.s atomic watchdog has said Iran is increasingly in violation of the nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from. The U.S. has participated indirectly in talks aimed at bringing both Washington and Tehran back into compliance. Those talks in Vienna have been on hiatus since June, when Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took power.

Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union remain part of the deal.

We call upon President Raisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency, the leaders said in their communique. That is the only sure way to avoid a dangerous escalation, which is not in any countrys interest.

The four leaders met Saturday while in Rome for the Group of 20 summit, the first stop on Bidens five-day foreign trip. Hes also attending a U.N. climate conference in Scotland.

Biden was welcomed to the summit site by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and joined his counterparts for the customary family photo' before he went to the opening plenary session on the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery.

Saturdays meeting came several days after Ali Bagheri, Irans deputy foreign minister and chief negotiator for the talks, tweeted that Iran has agreed to restart negotiations by the end of November. Bagheri said a date to resume talks would be announced soon.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday that the U.S. was still trying to determine whether Iran was serious about returning to the negotiations.

We have heard positive signals that they are, but I think we have to wait and see when and whether they actually show up at the negotiating table, he told reporters Thursday aboard Air Force One as Biden flew to Rome.

Sullivan said the leaders would send clear messages to Iran that the window for negotiation is not unlimited.

We, of course, retain all other options to be able to deal with this program as necessary, he said.

Saturdays meeting came after American officials blamed Iran for a drone attack on a remote U.S. outpost in Syria. Officials said Monday the U.S. believes Iran resourced and encouraged the attack, but that the drones were not launched from Iran.

No deaths or injuries were reported as a result of the attack.

In retaliation, the U.S. Treasury Department on Friday announced new penalties against two senior members of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps and two affiliated companies for supplying lethal drones and related material to insurgent groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Ethiopia.

At the summit, Biden pushed for progress toward his goal of establishing a global 15% corporate minimum tax, the White House said, even as his domestic effort to raise the business rate to that figure was stuck in limbo in Washington.

He also was expected to discuss measures to ease a global energy supply crunch that has fueled rising prices, imperiling the global economic recovery. On Sunday, Biden planned to host an event on strengthening supply chains around the world as factories and ports have struggled to deliver goods because of the pandemic.
Emily James has spent the past decade in the floral industry and now she will soon be opening her very first storefront location with the opening of Florecita Flowers.

Florecita Flowers is set to open in November at 4770 Montgomery NE near San Mateo.

Born out of its sister company, Floriography Flowers, Florecita first launched in 2018 as an event company aimed at providing high-end floral arrangements at more affordable prices than its sister company.

Though the company will soon be operating out of a storefront location, James said she had not envisioned a retail shop and originally intended to keep her business as a primarily events-oriented company.

But pandemic-related disruptions of the event industry and lease issues at her former industrial location made her rethink her operations.

James said she started looking for a new location and saw that brick-and-mortar flower shops were seeing success during the pandemic.

So many people were sending flowers to each other because they couldnt meet or were celebrating special occasions from afar socially distanced, so they were calling their local flower shops nationwide, she said.

James said the shop allowed the company to have an alternative revenue source since much of the companys revenue used to come from events.

Like most retail florists, James said Florecita Flowers will allow customers to shop online and in-person, and will offer a variety of premade floral arrangements.

However, unlike other florists, Florecita only sells American-grown flowers based on seasonality, meaning that you may not always be able to walk in and pick up a dozen red roses on a whim.

James said her staff will be readily available for consultations so guests will leave with a bouquet of their liking.

We will make you the most beautiful thing out of what is in season and what is available to us from our suppliers at that time, she said.

Many of the flowers are also grown in New Mexico.

James said that at any point the company is working with six to 10 New Mexico-based vendors.

Our No. 1 priority is supporting and cultivating strong locally grown flower farms, she said. She said it was important for the company to support local floral farmers since her original company, Floriography, launched as a floral farm based in Las Cruces.

The exciting part for us was we started off as a farm so we understood how important it is to buy locally, she said.

James said she is excited to transition into a retail shop since it will allow her company to connect more with the local community  right now much of her work on the event side of the business comes from out-of-state clients.

She said local customers can get flowers on a regular basis just to celebrate life, either mundane or really important moments.

There are also plans for the company to eventually offer hands-on learning experiences like workshops and floral collaborations like cake decorating using flowers.

In addition to flowers, the shop will also sell gifts made by local artists, makers and apothecaries.

For more information, visit florecitaflowers.com.
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The Indian actor has died in hospital at the age of 46 after he was taken to intensive care after suffering a massive heart attack while working out in his gym.

Oct 30, 2021

AceShowbiz - Puneeth Rajkumar has died aged 46.

According to the Times of India, the actor was hospitalised following a massive heart on Friday (29Oct21) morning, where he passed away.

It's been reported Rajkumar was working out in his gym when he collapsed suddenly. He was later admitted to Vikram Hospital and was receiving treatment in intensive care when he died.

"Immediate advanced cardiac life support measures were initiated for resuscitation. In spite of prolonged advanced &aggressive measures, patient continued to be non-responsive and asystolic. Panel of medical experts extended all efforts to save him. He was declared dead at 2.30pm," read a statement from the hospital.

The star, who is the son of legendary Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar, real name Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj, recently wrapped work on "James" with director Chethan Kumar and was to begin shooting "Dvitva" with Pawan Kumar.

His most recent release is "Yuvarathnaa", also starring Sayyeshaa, Dhananjay, Prakash Raj, Diganth, and Sai Kumar.

PM Narendra Modi paid tribute in the wake of the actor's passing, "A cruel twist of fate has snatched away from us a prolific and talented actor, Puneeth Rajkumar. This was no age to go. The coming generations will remember him fondly for his works and wonderful personality. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti."

Fellow actor Ani Kapoor tweeted, "Shocking & extremely sad #PuneethRajkumar. Sending my heartfelt condolences & prayers to the family"

Abhishek Bachchan penned, "Heartbreaking news! Gone too soon. #PuneethRajkumar. My condolences to his family and his fans. You will be missed."
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The team behind CBS' 'The Late Late Show with James Corden' are reportedly working on the new Kardashian/Jenner show following the conclusion of 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians'.

Oct 30, 2021

AceShowbiz - Kim Kardashian is enlisting James Corden's "Late Late Show" team to make her family's new series.

The star is creating a new show for streaming service Hulu following the end of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" in June (21), and Kim is said to have "personally" asked production company Fulwell 73 - of which James is a full partner - to work on the new programme.

"Kim personally came to Fulwell to ask them to produce their new series," a source told Britain's The Sun newspaper. "She saw how everything James touches seems to turn to gold and knew they needed people with fresh ideas on board, so she reached out."

"Since KUWTK ended, the whole Kardashian family has felt the pressure to do something bigger and better, so there's a lot riding on the new series. They're confident they are in safe hands."

But James - who became a full partner in the firm in January 2017 - won't be part of the production team on Kim's hotly-anticipated new series because he is too busy.

"James isn't going to be involved in producing the series because he is really busy with everything he has going on, primarily hosting The Late Late Show," the insider added.

Work is said to have started on the Kardashians' new show and it is expected to cover Kim's sister Kourtney Kardashian's recent engagement to Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.

In addition to co-producing "The Late Late Show with James Corden" alongside CBS, Fulwell 73 - which was set up in 2005 by lifelong friends Ben Winston, Leo Pearlman, Ben Turner, and Gabe Turner - also worked on the recent "Friends" reunion special.

The superstar family will be in good company with the firm, as Fulwell 73 has previously made shows with the likes of Justin Bieber, Robbie Williams, Jimmy Carr, One Direction, Michael McIntyre, and Jack Whitehall.
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The former 'Friends' actor has reportedly landed a major deal to tell the story about his life and Hollywood career in an upcoming autobiography due next year.

Oct 30, 2021

AceShowbiz - Matthew Perry is to release an autobiography.

The "Friends" alum, who's getting ready to release his very memoir, feels it's time for him to tell his own story "directly from the horse's mouth."

He told People magazine, "There has been so much written about me by others in the past. I thought it was time people heard it directly from the horse's mouth. In this case, the horse's mouth being me."

Deadline was the first to report that Matthew had signed a seven-figure deal with Flatiron Books, a division of Macmillan, for the upcoming memoir.

The publication doesn't yet have a title and it will be released late next year (22).

Megan Lynch, the publisher of Flatiron Books, will edit the autobiography, and told Deadline, "We need humour, we need catharsis, and we need to agree on something - and Matthew's extraordinary story, told in his inimitable voice, is that thing. Matthew's book has unrivalled potential to bring people together, which feels especially galvanising right now, a time of isolation and division."

It's not yet known how much of Matthew's life his book with cover, but earlier this year he reunited with his "Friends" co-stars - Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer - for a long-awaited special on HBO Max.

The special revealed a number of behind-the-scenes secrets from their time on the show and showed the actors reminiscing about being a part of the hit series.

Speaking before the special aired, Matthew spoke about the lasting legacy of the show, saying, "It was a character-driven funny, not timely funny. They didn't make timely jokes. They didn't make jokes about O.J. Simpson. They made character-driven jokes about people - and people are going to come back time and time again and watch that."
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A new investigation into the dog-smuggling case involving the 'Aquaman' actress in 2015 when she was still married to Johnny Depp has been launched by officials Down Under.

Oct 30, 2021

AceShowbiz - Australian officials have reportedly launched a perjury investigation into Amber Heard's 2015 dog-smuggling drama.

The "Aquaman" star ignored the country's quarantining laws when she took her Yorkshire Terriers Pistol and Boo Down Under, and she was accused of breaching biosecurity regulations.

She avoided prosecution and possible charges by making a public apology, during which she blamed a lack of sleep for the oversight.

Her claims were questioned during her ex-husband Johnny Depp's U.K. libel trial against The Sun in 2020, when the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star's former estate manager, Kevin Murphy, told London's High Court the actress had ordered him to lie under oath after she flew her pets into Queensland on a private jet without filling out the proper paperwork.

DailyMail.com sources claim Australian officials at the nation's Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment quietly reopened the case and they have enlisted the help of FBI agents to track down witnesses in the U.S.

Sources claim Amber could be charged with perjury the next time she sets foot on Australian soil - and that carries a maximum of 14 years behind bars.

"She could just ignore the whole thing and never go back, but a huge number of movies are shot in Australia, including Aquaman, the movie for which she's most well-known," an insider says. "Alternatively, Amber could go back there and face her detractors. That's often her style. It's pretty evident by now that she's not one for backing down in the face of legal threats."

In her video apology in 2016, Heard said, "Australia is free of many pests and diseases that are commonplace around the world. That is why Australia has to have such strong biosecurity laws. I'm truly sorry that Pistol and Boo were not declared. Protecting Australia is important."

At the time, she was facing two charges of illegal importation of an animal and a possible 10-year prison sentence. Heard pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of falsifying an immigration document and paid a hefty fine. Her lawyer, Jeremy Kirk, told the authorities the paperwork had "slipped through the cracks" and that there was "no attempt to deceive."

Last year, Murphy told London's High Court in a written statement he had warned Amber about Australia's strict animal entry rules, stating, "I also explained to Ms. Heard several times the fact that trying to take the dogs into Australia without completing the mandatory process was illegal and could result in very harsh penalties, including euthanizing the dogs."

"When I expressed that I was extremely uncomfortable with this, Ms. Heard said to me, 'Well I want your help on this... I wouldn't want you to have a problem with your job'... It became very apparent that Ms. Heard was threatening my job stability unless I co-operated with providing a declaration that supported her false account for the Australian proceedings. Because of this I felt extreme pressure to co-operate, despite knowing this would involve being untruthful."
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The 'Tupac Back' rapper takes to his Instagram Stories to share videos of his confrontation with the pilot, who makes the allegation only seconds after he steps on the plane.

Oct 30, 2021

AceShowbiz - Meek Mill has just had an unpleasant experience during his latest travel on a plane. The Philadelphia rapper has blasted a pilot for being "racist" after he and his friends were accused of smoking weed on a private jet even before they departed.

The "Amen" hitmaker claimed he just stepped on the plane when the pilot confronted them. He captured their intense argument on camera and made use of his Instagram Stories to share the clips on Friday, October 29.

In the first video, the 34-year-old star was heard telling the pilot, who stood next to him, "So you just said we were smoking on the plane. We just came on here 30 seconds ago." The pilot said his claim wasn't baseless, because he allegedly "smelled it."

Meek continued to challenge the pilot, "Where were gonna smoke it when we just stepped on here 30 seconds ago?" The pilot eventually rest his case and returned to his cabin to fly the plane, but not before the "Ima Boss" spitter had some words to say to him. "You act like a real racist right now. What the f**k is wrong with you?" he shouted.

In the caption of the first video, he described what happened. "He asked was we smoking weed on his plane We just got on 20 seconds ago  Racist p***y slowed my whole day up???" he wrote. "I need to book a plane in NYC ASAP!! His energy from when we walked up I knew he racist!" He went on claiming, "Just look what company is this jet under."

Meek didn't mention where he was headed to, but earlier that day he posted a Story about taking a jet to attend a party. "Lets go to the A tonight on some jets for @mrrugs Black party .. put some bands up we out!!!!" he wrote in his previous Story.

Meek Mill posted about taking a jet to attend a party.

It's unclear though if the confrontation on the plane happened before or after he went to the party.
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The 'Papa Don't Preach' hitmaker is called out for her insensitive and 'inappropriate' new saucy photos recreating the scene of the 'Some Like It Hot' actress' 1962 death.

Oct 30, 2021

AceShowbiz - Madonna has come under fire for her insensitive new saucy photoshoot. The "Material Girl" songstress was dubbed "gross" after she recreated Marilyn Monroe's 1962 death for a magazine photo session.

For her new V Magazine cover shoot, the 63-year-old teamed up with photographer Steven Klein. The cover photo saw Madonna laying face down on a mattress, exposing her bottom. Meanwhile, in another photographs, the "Like A Virgin" artist covered her body with a white fluffy coat. Some prescription pill bottles could also be seen on her nightstand.

Marilyn's death was ruled a "probable suicide" after she was found dead at her home. At that time, it's reported that the medical examiners found drugs in her system which were several times over the lethal limit.

Shortly after the photos were released, many social media critics took issue with the photos, accusing Madonna of "glamorizing" Marilyn's suicide. "For some morbid and eerie reason, Madonna decides to re-create Marilyn Monroe's death bed," wrote one, with another responding, "Yuck. Gross and inappropriate."

"This isn't cool. Glamorizing suicide is the only takeaway once the shock factor wears off," another critic tweeted. A separate Twitter user added, "Must be sad to still need so much attention. And this is so gross." In the meantime, another person chimed in, "She always had a creepy fascination with Marilyn."

Madonna's 1984 music video for "Material Girl" was based on Marilyn's performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in 1953's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." The "Papa Don't Preach" songstress also played Marilyn during a "Saturday Night Live" sketch in 1985 and dressed up as the "Some Like It Hot" actress in a sparkling strapless gown for an Oscars afterparty in 1991.



Of the magazine cover photo, Steve, the photographer, said that the images were inspired by Bert Stern's "The Last Sitting" photoshoot with Marilyn, which was conducted just six weeks before her death. "When I sent Madonna the photos, she was really taken by the incandescent fragility of Marilyn at that moment in her life," he explained.

"We decided to find a hotel suite and try to capture the liaison between a star and the camera, the mystery and magic of this creative collaboration," Steve added. He then pointed out that he and Madonna were "not interested in recreating the images exactly but more importantly, [they] wanted to explore the relationship between photographer and subject. Both the friendship and the artistic process and how art can imitate life and vice versa."
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In a video shared by the 'Icy Girl' hitmaker and the 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' star, the two ladies have an intense stare down on a rooftop as the raptress transforms into the superheroine.

Oct 30, 2021

AceShowbiz - Saweetie has channeled her inner vigilante for Halloween. Paying homage to Halle Berry's "Catwoman", the rapper transformed into the superheroine in a video with the actress' help.

The clip posted on both Saweetie and Halle's social media accounts on Friday, October 29 opens with someone dressing in the Catwoman costume strutting her stuff on the rooftop. The Oscar-winning actress says in voiceover, "You see sometimes I'm good, but sometimes I'm bad, but only as bad as I wanna be."

It's then revealed that Saweetie is behind the Catwoman costume, leaving Halle puzzled. "What the hell is going on here?" the Storm of the "X-Men" film series asks as she comes out from the door, to which the 28-year-old femcee replies, "I'm just trying to get out here and get these coins."

The two then have an intense, yet hilarious stare down, with Saweetie bending down to stress her point. Halle then acknowledges, "I know that's right," quoting Saweetie's famous catchphrase. Saweetie cheekily responds, "And never, ever wrong," before walking off.

In her post, Saweetie captioned the video, "had to put on for the best Catwoman to ever do it @halleberry." Halle, meanwhile, gave the raptress a seal of approval as writing on her own post, "there's enough room for more than one Catwoman @saweetie."

Saweetie's transformation into Catwoman comes on the heels of a fan's Twitter that read, "I'm sorry but Halle Berry ate her Catwoman role up, idk why ppl hate that movies, it's camp. I love it." The fan referred to Halle's 2004 film "Catwoman". Seeing the love, the actress replied, "I'm seeing all the Catwoman love, everybody. Where were you guys 17 years ago."

"Catwoman" isn't one of Halle's best movies, receiving overwhelmingly negative reviews. When asked by Variety earlier this month if she would ever reprise the role, she said, "Probably not," adding, "I think I'm good."
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In a new statement, Buckingham Palace shares that the 95-year-old monarch has been advised to continue to take a rest for two more weeks after her hospitalization last week.

Oct 30, 2021

AceShowbiz - Buckingham Palace has offered a new update on the health of Queen Elizabeth II. In a new statement which was released on Friday, October 29, the palace shared that Her Majesty was advised to continue to take a rest for two more weeks after her hospitalization last week.

"Following on from their recent advice that The Queen should rest for a few days, Her Majesty's doctors have advised that she should continue to rest for at least the next two weeks," the statement read. "The doctors have advised that Her Majesty can continue to undertake light, desk-based duties during this time, including some virtual Audiences, but not to undertake any official visits."

It was also stated that the Queen "regrets that this means she will be unable to attend the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday, 13th November." The new update concluded, "However, it remains The Queen's firm intention to be present for the National Service of Remembrance on Remembrance Sunday, on 14th November."

Prior to this, Queen Elizabeth II was said to be spending Wednesday night, October 20 in hospital after canceling a trip to Northern Island on her doctor's orders. According to Buckingham Palace officials confirmed the next day that the 95-year-old monarch had returned to home after "preliminary investigations" into a health condition.

"Following medical advice to rest for a few days, the queen attended hospital on Wednesday afternoon for some preliminary investigations, returning to Windsor Castle at lunchtime today, and remains in good spirits," Palace officials said in a statement issued on Thursday.

The exact reason behind The Queen's hospitalization is currently unknown. However, a royal source reveals the Queen stayed in hospital overnight for practical reasons, noting that it didn't relate in any way to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, it was said that Prince Harry was feeling "helpless" and went into "panic mode" after learning of the Queen's hospital visit. The Duke of Sussex, who has been residing in California alongside wife Meghan Markle and their son Archie since stepping down as senior royal family member in early 2020, allegedly "felt helpless being 5,000 miles away in Montecito."

The source added that Harry "has been checking-in non-stop with her." The price allegedly also still "feels guilty about not saying goodbye" in person to his grandfather Prince Philip, who died in April, and doesn't want it happens again with his "beloved grandmother."

"[He] would never forgive himself if the same thing happened with his beloved grandmother," the informant reveals. It is also said that the younger brother of Prince William is "hoping to go back home for Christmas with Meghan, if not before so that she can finally get to meet [her great granddaughter] Lilibet and see [great grandson] Archie again."
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The '19 Kids and Counting' patriarch, who served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003, announces his run for Senate one month after Josh failed to dismiss his legal case.

Oct 31, 2021

AceShowbiz - Jim Bob Duggar won't let son Josh Duggar's child porn case stop him from getting back into politics. On Friday, October 29, the "19 Kids and Counting" patriarch announced that he's running for Arkansas State Senate District 7.

The 56-year-old shared the announcement on Facebook. "I am honored to announce my candidacy for Arkansas State Senate District 7. Northwest Arkansas is my lifelong home. It's where my wife Michelle and I have raised our 20 children. It's where we've grown our small businesses. It's where we've built a life centered around our faith, family, and friends," he first penned.

"I'm running for State Senate because these are unprecedented times in our nation," the TLC personality added. "Out-of-control bureaucrats have put politics over common-sense policy with government mandates that force people to choose between earning a paycheck and violating their personal rights and beliefs. The foundational principles that have made our nation great are under threat like never before."

"Now more than ever, we need a bold voice that is pro-family, pro-business, pro-gun and pro-life," Jim, who served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003, concluded his message. "It's time for conservatives to demand courageous leadership that puts Arkansas families, jobs, and our constitutional liberties first. I look forward to being your voice in the Arkansas State Senate."

Jim shared the announcement just one month after a judge denied four out of five of Josh's attorney's motions to suppress evidence and get his child pornography case dismissed. The requests included a motion to suppress statements that Josh allegedly made to federal agents during the course of their investigation.

The 33-year-old TV personality was taken into federal custody in late April, but he got released on bond in the following month. In June, his legal team requested that the original trial date of July be pushed back to February 2022, but a judge only granted an extension of four months. The trial is now scheduled to begin on November 30.
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Ivana Trump is mourning the death of her fourth husband Rossano Rubicondi who passes away at the age of 49 following a reported yearlong battle with an illness.

Oct 31, 2021

AceShowbiz - Ivana Trump's fourth husband Rossano Rubicondi has died.

The Italian actor and television personality has passed away at the age of just 49, his friend Simona Ventura confirmed on Friday (29Oct21).

Simona - who is an Italian television presenter - wrote on Twitter, "Rossano Thanks for the journey we made together, for the good times and the bad, and also the tears and laughter, so many, and everything that we did together. Farewell. RiP. (sic)"

At the time of writing, the cause of Rossano's death is unknown, but one Italian publication suggested he had been ill for a year prior to his passing.

Rossano dated Ivana - who has three children, Donald, Jr., 43, Ivanka, 39, and Eric, 37, with her second husband and 45th U.S. president Donald Trump - for six years before the pair tied the knot in 2008.

Rossano and Ivana divorced less than a year after getting married, but they went on to have an on and off relationship for a decade until they finally called it quits in 2019.

Despite their split, the pair remained friends and last saw each other in August this year when they enjoyed a dinner together in New York.

"It's not a 24-7 marriage, but we're both enjoying it!" Ivana said of their relationship back in 2009.

Meanwhile, in the wake of Rossano's death, Ivana told PEOPLE, "I'm devastated."

Rossano, who was 23 years Ivana's junior, reportedly went on to marry Milu Vimo in 2011. Rumor has it, they were still married at the time of his death.
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Crew members blame guitar technician Francis Stueber's death and Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons Covid-19 diagnoses on insufficient safety measures during the band's tour.

Oct 31, 2021

AceShowbiz - Members of Kiss' crew are blaming the lax COVID-19 safety protocols laid down by touring production bosses for the death of a guitar technician.

Francis Stueber, who had worked with Kiss frontman Paul Stanley since 2002, lost his battle with the virus earlier this month (17Oct21) while quarantining in a Detroit, Michigan hotel room.

And now three of his fellow crew members are telling Rolling Stone insufficient safety measures led to several people, including Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons, getting sick.

"Every day during the shows, we weren't tested - and there are so many unknowns," one anonymous crew member told the publication. 'Did we super-spread this? Did we spread this thing from city to city?' "

A production executive has refuted the allegations, telling Rolling Stone all crew members were required to present vaccination cards and wear masks backstage and catering was separated between local employees and touring crew members while people who tested positive for COVID were sent to hotels to quarantine.

But the crew members claim masks were not always worn properly and tests were not administered on a regular basis. Some crew members have also accused the production team bosses of actively discouraging COVID testing.

Production manager Robert Long vehemently denies the allegations, stating, "If you wanted a test, we'd supply it. If you wanted to get tested, if you felt symptoms, if you think someone might be sick, please raise your hand. We had thermometers on every bus, sheets to write down temperatures every morning, mask boxes, and sanitizers everywhere. People were getting tested every other day; we ordered tests regularly. I'm not going to not test people; I take this s**t seriously."

Kiss issued a statement following Stueber's death, addressing the crew members' allegations, which read, "Our End of the Road World Tour absolutely had COVID safety protocols in place that met, but most often exceeded, federal, state, and local guidelines, but ultimately this is still a global pandemic and there is simply no foolproof way to tour without some element of risk."

Stanley and Simmons both tested positive in August and early September, forcing Kiss to postpone a handful of dates.

Paying tribute to his late guitar technician, Stanley wrote, "My family loved him as did I... I'm numb."
CHICO, Calif.- Bacio Catering is hosting a pesto fettuccini dinner fundraiser on Saturday, Nov. 6.

The event was created to help the Soroptimist International of Chico.

Between 11:00 a.m and 2 p.m. at Bacio Catering on 1903 Park Ave. in Chico, you can pick up a fall bistro bag.

Each bag contains the ingredients to make two servings of the Bacio Catering specialty fettuccini.

Made with house-made pesto, served with your choice of Sous Vide Bistro steak or marinated chicken. Served with a side of garlic bread and chocolate treat from Shubert's Ice Cream & Candy.

You have to register online by Oct. 30th to assure Bacio Catering can make enough food.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from health care workers in Maine to block a vaccine mandate that went into effect Friday. Three conservative justices noted their dissents.

The state is not offering a religious exemption to hospital and nursing home workers who risk losing their jobs if they are not vaccinated. Only New York and Rhode Island also have vaccine mandates for health care workers that lack religious exemptions.

Both are the subject of court fights and a court has allowed workers in New York to seek religious exemptions while the lawsuit plays out.
For Diwali 2021, Snapchat encourages its community to share their light for the world to see. Its the sharing of hopes and dreams for the year to come, the sharing of ageless traditions passed down through generations and sharing the love and passion for colour and life.

Snapchat is all set to make Diwali celebrations brighter by introducing several new AR Lenses, cameos, stickers , games, Bitmojis to usher in the festival spirit.

On using Snapchats AR powered lens that activates based on wishes & greetings, your screen will light-up with firecrackers promising to elevate your Diwali experience. Adding to the festive mood, Snapchatters will also get to experience a custom Diwali design to Snap Map that will feature lanterns and fireworks!

Commenting on the special festive offerings, Durgesh Kaushik, Head of Market Development, Snap Inc., India, said, At Snap, we are focused on localizing the app experience for our Snapchatter community in India. Last year, Indian Snapchatters viewed our Diwali AR experiences over 430M times and this year we have introduced a range of exciting creative tools for our community to engage with. This year, our theme for Diwali is about sharing your light for the world to see and we hope the immersive experiences that we have created will make this Diwali really special for you and your loved ones.

In the run-up to Diwali, Snap has also launched new Bitmojis around popular Diwali delicacies along with custom Hindi Bitmoji Stickers. The community will have access to hyperlocal geofilters across 20 cities in India to celebrate Diwali within local neighbourhoods, popular shopping streets, landmark locations and more. Snapchat has also introduced mini-occasion specific Lenses to celebrate all 5 days of Diwali- Bhai Dooj, Govardhan Puja, Dhanteras, and Chhoti Diwali and can also use a Diwali-themed version of the highly-popular Cartoon Lens.

Thats not all; Snapchatters will also have access to a fun and celebratory Desi Music playlist on Sounds allowing you to add music to your Snaps. Giving all gamers a Diwali twist,  Color Together game on Snap has launched four Diwali special sketches skin that users will be able to play.

With Snapchat there is something for everyone - whether it is showcasing individual creativity or uniquely celebrating with friends and family. Snapchat creates a unique and fun filled festival vibe on its platform for every festival. Diwali being one of the biggest festivals celebrated in India - Snapchat innovates every year with new and fresh concepts like Diwali themes takeovers that helps bring its community closer together.
This festive season, WATCHO, the new and fast-growing OTT platform from Dish TV India Limited, Indias leading DTH Company, celebrates the beauty of relations as it introduces its new family drama series, Papa Ka Scooter. The adorable family drama is here to take you through a beautiful and emotional journey of a middle-class family. Gear up for a sneak peek into the lives of incredibly relatable characters as it premieres on WATCHO on October 30, 2021. The series will premiere in the Hindi language.

Directed by Mehran Amrohi, the series is about a middle-class family living in Banaras, and their beloved scooter dulaar. The film encapsulates the various interlinked aspects of relationships and small towns, that they dont only form intimate relations with humans but there is also an emotional attachment to household objects. Produced by Faqhrul Husani, Mehran Amrohi, Nagesh Rai, the new web series stars Sukesh Mishra, Bhoomi Shukla, Rishabh Rai, and Rushi Tyagi.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Sukhpreet Singh, Corporate Head  Marketing, DishTV & WATCHO, Dish TV India Ltd, said, At WATCHO, we aim to bring snackable and relatable content to our viewers. With this new series, we wanted to provide content that people can relate to and connect with on an emotional level. Papa Ka Scooter is a story that will strike a chord with our viewers, as it captures the beauty of emotional attachments, not just with humans. As we expand WATCHOs slate of series, we are excited to share this beautiful story with our audience.

Bringing in a unique assortment of snackable content cutting across all genres, WATCHO offers many original shows including web series like Aghaat, Cheaters - The Vacation, Sarhad, Mystery Dad, JaalSaazi, Titli-Current Maarti Hai, Its My Pleasure, 4 Thieves, Love Crisis, Ardhsatya, Mortuary, Chhoriyan, Rakhta Chandana. There are also original influencer shows like Look I Can Cook, Bikhare hain Alfaaz, etc. to name a few. Available across screens (Android & iOS devices, Dish SMRT devices, D2H Magic devices, and Fire TV Stick) and at www.watcho.com, WATCHO presently provides over 35 plus original shows, 150 plus exclusive plays, and 100 plus live channels in Hindi, Kannada, and Telugu regional languages.
Pickrr has extended its the festive spirit by launching the new ad campaign 'Khushiyon Ki Tarakki'. Conceptualized by its in-house team, the company has come up with a captivating ad in its own unique way to appeal to the native sentiments of celebrating the festive together.

The beautiful film encapsulates how Pickrr's logistics services has been enhancing the lives of small businesses in India. The ad opens with a heart-warming scene where a small girl is waiting for her father to fulfil his promise on Dussehra. The ad underlines the frustration of a business owner who is caught in daily business operations, unable to spend time with loved ones, missing out of memorable experiences.

The short video beautifully captures the essence of how business owners can simplify logistics operations and scale business by signing-up with Pickrr.

Pickrr's Co-founder & CMO Rhitiman Majumder said : "We are delighted to have created this heart-touching short story 'Khushiyon Ki Tarakki' that beautifully resonates with our overarching values; delivering growth to our partners by simplifying logistics. The campaign is based on an insight that SMB owners end up missing out on family time as business hours increases during festive season. We work as a virtual supply company for all our sellers making sure families come together and celebrate the festivals.
Award-winning marketer recognised in Adgullys Indias Powerful Influencers List 2020, Rajasekar KS, launched a book recently, How to Read Your Husband Like a Book, to help couples enrich their relationship. The book was published by Leadstart, Mumbai.

For the last eight years, he has been in the matchmaking industry with the Indian online matrimony leader, BharatMatrimony, where he spearheaded projects, including the launch of happymarriages.com, India's guide to a happy marriage, the Happy Marriage Workshops attended by over 30,000 people and a Happy Couples program that included over a 1500 interviews with newly married couples.

Talking about the launch, the author said, Actually, an incident during my college days in 1989 triggered the idea for the book. An aunt in the neighbourhood was telling me one day, Why is your uncle non responsive when I want to discuss something, on weekends its difficult to get the TV remote from him, and hes forgetful of important things This set me thinking. It cropped up now and then, but the pandemic focused my attention on couples who were suddenly forced to be together 24/7, not by choice. Although I began writing in 2015, I completed it during Covid.

In a world where the husband-wife relationship is good fodder for stand-up comedy, this easy-to-read book offers fresh insight into the inner workings of a husbands mind.



Through humorous nuggets and simple illustrations, this book explains how a husband thinks, what makes him respond the way he does, his reaction to certain situations that crop up in married life and what a wife can do to avoid friction and get her own way.



So, all newly married women out there and even those who've been married for years and losing hair thinking about why they forget your birthday, leave wet towels on the bed, don't notice your new hair style, watch TV when you talk to them  pick up this book and laugh your way through marriage! Husbands, it's time to laugh at yourselves!

The book is available on Amazon https://www.amazon.in/Read- Your-Husband-Like-Book/dp/ 9354582524/
Rural fintech company Spice Money has launched a new brand campaign for Diwali called Dil Se Diwali, to highlight and celebrate the significant strides rural India has made in the adoption of the digital payments ecosystem. Having started with an idea to empower rural citizens financially & digitally, today, Spice Money is moving towards becoming the most admired Rural FinTech brand in the country. Through the brand campaign, Spice Money celebrates every Indian rural citizen and its vast network of over 7 Lakh Adhikaris across 18,500+ pin codes who are helping millions of Indians with digital transactions.

The campaign is launched through a digital TVC that ties together the spirit of Diwali traditions with the transformation brought in by digital payments perfectly. It portrays a Kirana store decked in lights and diyas with customers coming in to withdraw, deposit, and transfer cash. The shop owner (merchant/entrepreneur) helps these customers out with an Aadhar-enabled Payment System (AePS) - a simple process that involves a customers identity verification to digitally transfer the requested amount from their bank account, enabling the merchant to provide it in the form of cash to his customers. In the film, since the mobile is an enabler to facilitate all kinds of digital payment transactions, it is equated to the 'Lakshmi ' that is presented on a Diwali pooja thali and Dakshina that is offered to the priest.

Spice Money CEO Sanjeev Kumar said: Spice Money has a strong presence in rural India and has been persistently encouraging rural citizens to become self-reliant by joining the extensive Spice Money network. Spice Money Adhikaris (merchants/entrepreneurs) not only illuminate their own lives but also spread cheer into the lives of the local rural communities by extending banking and financial services to them, expanding the reach of digital and financial inclusion in India. This Diwali, with the Dil Se Diwali campaign, we are celebrating all the merchants using digital payments and the remarkable feat of rapid expansion of digital payments that are bringing dhan into the lives of Bharat.

Spice Money has been driving the digital and financial services to Bharat through their vast Adhikari network that covers 95% of Indias rural pin codes and serves over 20 million customers every month.
One of Indian cinemas most successful filmmaker - SS Rajamouli and the countrys largest cinema exhibitor PVR have entered into a first of its kind association of all time for the highly-anticipated action drama RRR featuring Ram Charan, NTR Jr, Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt, scheduled to release on 7th January, 2022 world over.

For the first time in the history of world cinema, largest multiplex chain operator  PVR has decided to alter their brand identity and logo to the movie name RRR. Starting today, PVR will now be referred to as PVRRR. Announcing the same, filmmaker SS Rajamouli and Ajay Bijli  Chairman & Managing Director PVR Ltd have unveiled the new PVRRR logo in front of the gathered media and spoke about this unique and never-heard-before movie association.

Post the logo unveil, the PVR team launched the special PVRRR promo which will be played in all PVR multiplex chains across the country. The media personnel were taken in for a huge surprise, as they witnessed a special teaser of Indias biggest action drama RRR. Needless to say, the impressive teaser was highly appreciated by the media fraternity with whistles, cheer and uproar.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Ajay Bijli, Chairman and Managing Director, PVR Ltd, said, RRR is one of the biggest, most expensive and greatly anticipated movies of 2022. We are proud to be associated with this larger-than-life spectacle, helmed by SS Rajamouli and considered to be yet another game-changer in the movie business. I am sure this initiative will be able to generate good buzz for RRR and build huge anticipation among the movie buffs.

Echoing the same sentiment, Mr. SS Rajamouli added, I am really happy that theatres are reopening, as I believe the magic of cinema is truly enjoyed in theatres. We are happy that RRR will be releasing in cinemas in January next year and to announce the same what better way to associate with PVR which is now PVRRR.

Set in pre-independence India, the film is a fictional take on the younger days of celebrated freedom fighters, Komaram Bheem and Alluri Seetharamaraju. The biggest multi-starrer of India features, Ram Charan, NTR Jr along with Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt. The project is helmed by SS Rajamouli, who was also the mastermind behind the record breaking Baahubali series.

PEN Studios has bagged the theatrical distribution rights across North India and have also bought the worldwide electronic rights for all languages. Pen Marudhar will be distributing the film in the North Territory.

RRR will hit the screens worldwide on 7th January, 2022.
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday defended the execution of a Paris-based Iranian journalist whose death triggered widespread condemnation in France and around the world.

Iran hanged Ruhollah Zam on Saturday after a court found him guilty of corruption on earth, a vague but serious charge that often is used to punish alleged espionage or an attempted government overthrow.

European countries have the right to comment, but Zam was executed upon a courts ruling, Reuters reports Rouhani told a televised news conference. I think its unlikely that this will hurt Iran-Europe relations.

Zam ran an opposition news site and Telegram channel with more than 1 million followers, which, according to The Associated Press, published embarrassing information about the regime as well as the locations of anti-government protests in 2017.

He was living in self-imposed exile in Paris, but for unclear reasons traveled to Iraq in 2019 where an Iranian news outlet said he was captured by the Revolutionary Guards and forcibly taken to neighboring Iran. Authorities released a video after his arrest showing a blindfolded Zam in a car apologizing for his actions.

In what Reporters Without Borders called a grossly unfair trial, Zam was sentenced to death in June, and last week a court rejected his appeal.

In protest of Zams killing, France and several European Union member states pulled their ambassadors from the Europe-Iran Business Forum scheduled to take place virtually this week. Iran responded to their criticism by summoning the envoys of France, where Zam had lived, and Germany, which currently holds the EUs rotating presidency.

The execution also drew condemnation in the United States, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling it barbaric.

The U.S. strongly condemns Iran's unjust, barbaric execution of Ruhollah Zam, Pompeo tweeted Tuesday. Zam exposed the brutality and corruption of the regime, which has killed or arrested more than 860 journalists in its 41-year reign of terror.

Jake Sullivan, President-elect Joe Bidens choice for national security adviser, called Zam'ss execution another horrifying human rights violation by the Iranian regime.

Iran is also holding Habib Chaab, a Swedish-based Iranian opposition figure who was reportedly abducted by an Iran-backed network while visiting Istanbul in October. Tehran has accused Chaab of orchestrating an attack on a military parade in the city of Ahwaz that killed 25 people in 2018.
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How we respond to crises often tells us a lot about the motivations of the parties involved in making public policy solutions. For instance, Donald Trump chose a federalist-style response to Covid-19 that allowed localities to target policy in a manner that best suited local constituents. It would be disingenuous to suggest that there was no personal motivation involved in his decision and that at least, in part, his administrations response was built around protecting the record economy that he had built.

Similarly, his opponents focused primarily on driving the fear that would keep voters home, destroying the economy, and justifying mass mail-in balloting on a national scale. Perhaps this provides clues to an ulterior motivation by policymakers within the scientific community who stifled debates about Covid-19s origins?

Early in the pandemic, many curious observers noted the first cases proximity to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China. Official voices made a concerted effort to discount this proximity and deflect to a likely natural origin of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. They insisted that the first cases originated in bats consumed in traditional Chinese dishes that were sold at the public market down the street from the WIV. The media and scientific bodies quickly squelched any insistence otherwise about the viruss origins. Yet, in hindsight, these responses seem a matter of obfuscation.

One of the first papers to publish on the origin of Sars-CoV-2 was The proximal origin of Sars-Cov-2, published in Nature Medicine in March of 2020. The papers authors asserted that the viruss genome pointed to a natural and not a lab manipulated origin.

Following its publication, the press and government bodies quickly moved to promote its thesis and squelch any contentions to the contrary. For the most part, no dissenting voices were heard within the US media complex. Any allusions to alternative theories were chalked up to conspiracy. Considering we were in the throes of preparing for the virus to proliferate in America, there was very little time to debate the issue. Given the general publics inexperience in virology, they couldnt be expected to decipher the papers assertions anyway.

Not long after this paper was published, a Duke-trained Ph.D. pathologist named Christopher Martenson published a video response. In his video, Martenson highlights an article from a Russian epigeneticist named Yuri Deigin. On April 22, 2020, Yuri Deigin self-published an article on medium.com titled Lab-made? Sars-CoV-2 Genealogy Through the Lens of Gain of Function Research. It is this article that Martenson walks the viewer through and he explains how the Nature Medicine article on the origin of Sars-CoV-2 actually debunks itself on several occasions.

Primary among Deigins assertions is the fact that there are no cataloged close genetic relatives to Sars-CoV-2 in whole, but there are disparate identical relatives in parts. This suggests a recombination event rather than mutations over time.

Of note is one specific site on the virus, which is the spike protein. On the protein, there is something called a polybasic furin cleavage site insertion, which the Nature Medicine paper suggests has an unknown purpose. Deigin points out that not only is the purpose known to scientists but also that it would serve to enhance the viruss binding capability to the human ACE2 receptor. In laymens terms, inserting this polybasic furin cleavage site would allow a bat coronavirus to bind more effectively to a human cell.

In his article, Deigin highlights that not only have scientists manipulated these bat coronaviruses in the recent past but also that the Wuhan Institute of Virology specialized in this skill and, in the years preceding Covid-19, published numerous times about creating successful coronavirus chimeras or hybrids. This process is known as Gain of Function research, which sees scientists intentionally pass viruses through a cell in order to combine them with other viruses.

Through this process of recombineering, viruses gain bits of genetic material from other viruses that give them new abilities. Whats more, the United States taxpayer has funded this specific research at the WIV via National Institute of Health grants to an organization called the EcoHealth Alliance, something that even Newsweek magazine had to concede.

When government scientists like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) faced accusations of funding Gain of Function research (previously banned in the United States), their initial reaction was to issue blanket denials. When called before the Senate, Dr. Fauci has consistently denied the nature of the NIHs research as Gain of Function. More recently, the NIH has confirmed the Gain of Function nature of the grants to the EcoHealth Alliance, and Dr. Francis Collins has resigned from his position as Director of the NIH.

So, did Sars-CoV-2 come out of the WIV or from a public market across the street? It is doubtful whether the public will ever have a definitive answer on this but, under Occams Razor, the most plausible explanation is, at a minimum, a lab leak at the WIV. Even the authors of the Nature Medicine paper cited above noted this in their private communications with the NIH.

The fact that the part of policymakers funding this type of research violently deflected this contention suggests a good bit of CYA has been involved. Freedom of Information Act releases highlight how involved parties communicated to steer the public messaging around Covid-19 and to promote a natural origin theory. If the lab leak theory were to be proven true, parties within both the United States as well as China would prove culpable.

When it comes to public policy around Covid-19, the establishment has opted for a paternalistic response that says dont ask questions. This lack of transparency and deference to top-down dictates are a few in a series of blunders that have irreparably damaged trust for many on public policy issues.

For those who are skeptically inclined, they can only wonder at the complete lack of intellectual curiosity the general public has shown about Covid-19s origins. They have unquestioningly adopted the official policy prescriptions on all things Covid, no matter how many times the official policymakers have shifted to diametrically opposite positions from those they first held. As we approach two years of this disease in the wild, can we now have the intellectual curiosity to question how it is weve arrived here? Intellectual honesty demands it.

Brian Parsons is a digital marketing consultant by trade, a proud husband and father, saved by grace, and an unabashed paleoconservative. You can follow him at WithdrawConsent.org or find his weekly opinion column in the Idaho State Journal. Gab, MeWe, email

Photo by Isaac Quesada on Unsplash

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Despite the happy face the legacy media are putting on the first day of President Biden's European trip, his customary level of hypocrisy and incompetence is showing through the P.R. gloss.

Start with the spectacle of a leader intent on demonstrating "leadership" on climate issues (as in throwing away billions of taxpayer dollars on useless, expensive, and harmful measures to curtail emissions of CO2) parading into Rome with an 85-car slow-moving motorcade, after four giant jets carried the party to Fiumicino Airport via transatlantic flights. China's President Xi Jinping, in contrast, will be attending the G-20 Summit in Rome today via video link, sparing the atmosphere many tons of CO2 for transportation. To be sure, China is building coal-fired electricity generation facilities at a breakneck speed, but he gets bragging rights on conserving energy compared to Biden's extravagant emissions.

Joe and Dr. Jill had hoped for a lot of live TV time with Pope Francis to kick off Friday's round of events, but

[t]he Vatican on Thursday abruptly canceled the planned live broadcast of U.S. President Joe Biden meeting Pope Francis, the latest restriction to media coverage of the Holy See that sparked complaints from White House- and Vatican-accredited journalists. The live broadcast of Biden's Friday visit was trimmed to cover just the arrival of the president's motorcade in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the revised plan reflected the "normal procedure" established during the coronavirus pandemic for all visiting heads of state or government. (snip) Cancelled was the live coverage of Biden actually greeting Francis in the palace Throne Room, as well as the live footage of the two men sitting down to begin their private talks in Francis' library, at which time the cameras would have stopped running. The Vatican said it would provide edited footage of the encounter after the fact to accredited media. Bruni didn't say why the Vatican had originally announced fuller live coverage only to dial it back on the eve of the visit.

Rumors were that the Vatican feared Joe bringing up the issue of his receiving Communion despite endorsing abortion on demand, putting the Holy Father on the spot. Whatever the motives for the Vatican, after the private meeting, Joe was free to make his own claims:

President Biden told reporters on Friday that Pope Francis had called him a "good Catholic" and said he should keep receiving communion, an unexpected development that appeared to put a papal finger on the scale in a debate raging in the United States' Roman Catholic Church over whether the president and other Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be denied the sacrament. In response to reporters who asked if Francis had told him during their private 75-minute audience at the Vatican whether he should keep receiving communion, Mr. Biden replied, "Yes." Asked to confirm Mr. Biden's remarks, Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesman, said the Holy See limited its comments to the news release about subjects discussed during the meeting and added, "It's a private conversation."

In other words, the Vatican would neither confirm nor deny the account offered by Biden.

Next on the agenda were meetings with the president and prime minister of Italy, the host country, described by the New York Times as "drama-free."

Such was not the case for the next and final public item on the agenda: a meeting with France's President Macron. The body language and public words spoken by the two men were relatively cordial.



Photo credit: YouTube screen grab.

During the press availability, Macron said, ''this is very much the beginning of a process of trust, of confidence, which we're building together.'' When asked by a reporter if the relationship between the two nations had been repaired following France's temporary recall of its ambassador over America elbowing France out of a huge contract to build a fleet of submarines for Australia, Biden fessed up:

Well, the answer is: I think what happened was  to use an English phrase, what we did was ''clumsy.'' It was not done with a lot of grace. I was under the impression certain things had happened that hadn't happened.

Such a public confession of being uninformed about what his government was doing with regard to a key ally could hardly have been reassuring to Macron  or to American citizens, for that matter.

But what Macron said after the meeting amounted to a rebuke of Biden's behavior and unease as to whether he would really follow through:

''Trust is like love: Declarations are good, but proof is better,'' Macron said.

That's about as close to ''put up or shut up'' as leaders of allied countries get in public statements.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
The 1931 Frankenstein movie cemented the monster firmly into American culture. The original had many sequels using the same monster, including Bride of Frankenstein, but the one that should have ended the sequels was the 1948 comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. However, new modernized versions have been released in one variation or another almost every year since then.

Now it appears that the Democrats are about to attempt the resurrection of a different, but even more frightening Frankenstein-type monster. This one is a postmodern gender-fluid monster the left will never let stay dead. On October 21, Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia, emailed the following warning about the Dems' plans to release their monster sequel:

Halloween must be right around the corner because progressives in Washington, D.C. are trying to reanimate, by any means possible, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Just this morning [October 21, 2021], the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing on the ERA. Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) opened by arguing that since the Constitutionally-required 38 states (75%) have ratified, at one time or another, the ERA, then it should currently be part of the Constitution. Never mind that when the Senate approved the ERA in 1972, it gave states a deadline of 10 years to ratify, and only 35 had done so by the deadline. Never mind that even before the 1982 deadline hit, five states voted to rescind their ratification. So when Virginia's General Assembly, over intense opposition from The Family Foundation, voted to become the 38th state to ever ratify the ERA, those five rescissions only effectively made it the 33rd state to approve ratification. (And just a few months ago, North Dakota became the sixth state to rescind its ERA ratification.) Our very own [Virginia] attorney general, Mark Herring, has been front and center as one of three attorneys general (along with Illinois and Nevada) fighting in the courts to get the ERA ratified. Herring calls his work to get the ERA in the Constitution "one of my greatest honors as Virginia AG. We encourage you to reach out and remind your member of Congress, especially if he or she is currently disposed to supporting the ERA, that far from helping Virginia women, the ERA would effectively:  Guarantee that women would be subject to military conscription and combat roles (a change that Congress is actively considering now)  Invalidate alimony protections  Eliminate the disposition toward women in maintaining custody of their children in divorce proceedings  Accelerate the elimination of separate men's and women's public restrooms.

In January 2020, when the Democrat majorities first took total control and turned Virginia blue, one of their first priorities was to have Virginia become the 38th state to "ratify" the then long-dead and buried ERA. Never mind that several states had withdrawn their earlier ratification both prior and since then, so Virginia's effort was good only for virtue-signaling to the Democrats' leftist base. Nonetheless, after Virginia's vote to ratify, the first openly transgender person to be elected to the Virginia General Assembly was so excited that he got the first 24 words of the ERA tattooed on his left arm  in blue ink, of course. At the same time, Virginia attorney general Mark R. Herring (D) promised his full support to force it into the U.S. Constitution.

Although Virginia's 2020 ERA plan fizzled out, it is back again. This potentially disastrous sequel is neither harmless nor funny like the 1948 movie featuring the original Frankenstein's monster. This time, thanks to Victoria Cobb's tireless organization, we have proof that Herring and other Dems are trying to bring it back to life once again by any means necessary.

Herring is up for re-election, and, fortunately, this time he faces Jason Miyares (R), an experienced, solid law and order candidate. In addition, the damage to public education from the left's obsessive woke gender and race-baiting ideology has been exposed nationwide thanks in large part to the concerned parents in Loudoun County in what was solidly left-leaning northern VA.

Virginia GOP voter turnout on November 2 is critical for halting production on the left's next sequel.

Image: Famartin via Wikimedia Commons.

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I recently attended my 50th high school reunion. While it's interesting seeing kids you knew in high school as old folks (look at your H.S. yearbook picture, and then look in a mirror), our reunion in the Time of COVID had some truly unique aspects.

The head of the Reunion Committee (all kudos to someone willing to take on that thankless task) sent out reunion info and included some COVID comments. They included the state guidelines:

SAFETY CONCERNS FOR THE REUNION * ... staff are all vaccinated and will be masked * Illinois rules require masks indoors save when eating or drinking * If you are up to date on COVID shots, consider a booster before the events

The comments also included this:

We plan on a safe event. The ... staff are vaccinated and will be masked. We are asked to wear masks when not eating or drinking. For myself, I had the booster yesterday. If you are currently up to date on your COVID vaccination, you can get a booster[.]

Since the staff at the reunion site were vaccinated and wearing masks, the logic of how the reunioners wearing masks part-time protects the vaccinated, masked employees escapes me.

Since the reunion was in a Democrat stronghold with the normal (for a police state) COVID rules, logic is irrelevant. In Wonderland, COVID rules are what the Queen says they are.

Fortunately, the reunion crowd followed Gavin Newsom's French Laundry COVID protocols, and it wasn't a super-spreader event. Everybody appeared to have a pretty good unmasked time.

"Wear masks part-time" was only part of the reunion memo. The instructions also included a positive statement pushing boosters.

While I am sure that the head of the Reunion Committee's heart was in the right place, I thought this was totally inappropriate. Regardless of COVID views, bringing that debate into a 50th reunion misses a critically important point.

Most of human existence can be summarized by the famous phrase from Hobbes's Leviathan that life is "poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Not for us.

We have had physical wealth (i.e., access to food, medicine, energy, plumbing, information, mobility, rule of law, etc.) that our forefathers couldn't have imagined. The poorest Americans have physical wealth that kings would envy. And we don't even notice.

While physical wealth is hugely important, I would argue that psychological wealth may be the greater gift.

I define psychological wealth as having many more positive-weighted life experiences than negative. If we aren't the psychologically wealthiest people who ever lived, it is our fault.

Historically, up to half of all children died before age five. In one Boston, Indiana family, a cholera epidemic killed the parents and seven of their nine children in weeks. Imagine being the surviving kids or the adults who buried nine of their dead relatives. There was no "Love in the Time of Cholera."

What would it do to your head if you watched half your siblings die by age five and then watched your parents die crippled and in pain in their twenties? Death here, death there, death everywhere. And you know that fate awaits you and your kids! People's minds must have been truly messed up, almost from birth.

Fortunately, my reunion mates and I have experienced virtually none of that. We did well for ourselves. We also did great for the world.

Life expectancies for billions of people have roughly doubled since I was getting kicked out of high school for discipline problems. That is the greatest improvement in the human condition in history.

For you Critical Race Clowns, if you want to blame the current world conditions on racist White Americans...thank you. We are proud that we doubled the life expectancies of the world's poorest people "of color." What have you clowns done?

While saving countless other lives, my fellow grads have had almost a "psychological free ride through life." Our lives have been anything but "poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

Back to the reunion. Adding COVID politics to the reunion is a distraction. We are incredibly blessed just to be here.

Graduating high school, an immense societal resource commitment on nonproductive people, was rare until relatively recently. It was something only rich societies could afford.

Living an additional fifty years after high school is historically incredibly rare. The reunioners' time since graduating is probably twice the average human life expectancy before the rise of Western civilization.

How huge is the difference in psychological wealth, knowing you have a good shot at being 70 versus dying in your twenties?

Our focus at the reunion, and in our lives, should be on celebrating the joy and amazement of our incredibly rare lives while we can  not booster debates.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, this article is not about my high school reunion. It is about all of us living our lives, even in the time of COVID. We are living the greatest lives that have ever been lived in human history, and if that isn't the first thing we tell ourselves every morning, we're fools!

Image via Pexels.

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No, not I.

Whether in history or in current events, we often read of horrible crimes, committed by horrible people. If it so happens, as too rarely it does, that the miscreant is caught, then we call for his punishment. Let him pay for the crimes he has committed. Who could feel sorry for such an evildoer? Why does he even get a defender? The victim has suffered; let the one who inflicted such pain feel it himself. If he begs for mercy, then show him the same mercy he had for the one he tormented.

There, it is done, and now we can all get back to our normal lives, knowing that if we cannot further help the victim, at least we have imposed justice on the criminal. He deserves no compassion, not after what he did. And if someone says we judge him too harshly, let us respond by saying that if I were ever to perform so foul a deed, then judge me as well, for never would I do such a thing.

Consider the Holocaust, the genocide of millions of innocent people, under the most cruel and inhumane conditions. There were many thousands who were not directly involved but stood by and did nothing. Are they not also guilty?

A very few courageous and moral people did the right thing. They risked their lives, and even the lives of their families, including their children, to hide Jews from the Nazis. Sometimes they were caught. The Nazis had no mercy, killing not only the Jews but also those who hid them, killing even their small children in their sight.

It makes one's blood boil. How could anyone be so cruel?

But they were, and I am so grateful that neither you nor I could ever do such a thing.

Why did they?

They also were people  educated, church-going, Bible-reading, honest in their dealings. Why, then, did they wantonly kill, whether directly or indirectly, Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, and others? This proves that they were not like us. We would never do such things!

Dr. Jordan Peterson (University of Toronto) was speaking as a psychologist and educator when he said that, yes, we would have. Had we been Germans in the 1940s, we would have been raised in the same culture as they were, been exposed to the same propaganda, faced the same coercion. To be sure, we would have felt guilty, as many Germans did  reluctant, hesitant. In time, however, we would have gradually weakened, and we would have given in to at least some degree  enough of a degree to convict us, if not in a court of law, at least in the highest court in the universe, where God Almighty judges us.

King David, in the Old Testament, was outraged by the report of a crime involving a rich man, who had stolen and butchered the beloved pet lamb of a poor family for a feast. When the king heard of the lamb, he demanded that the culprit be brought to him to be punished. But King David had earlier caused the death of one of his loyal warriors, in order to steal from him his beautiful wife. The prophet Nathan then pointed to David, saying, you are the culprit (2 Sam. 12:7).

It was only then that King David's eyes were opened to his own sin, to the dark recesses of his sinful soul, and he wept in repentance.

It is not that we should neglect to judge and punish those convicted of crimes according to the law. It is our duty to do so. Nor may we trust those who have proven, by their actions, that they are not worthy of trust.

But when we hold ourselves up as being inherently better than those we despise, including slave-holders of a previous century, it is then that we commit the moral error. As Spurgeon once said, we must not resent it when we discover that others hold a low opinion of us, for we are even worse than they think we are.

Image via Max Pixel.

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It is sad that it seems every day we read another dire forecast from the U.N., Kerry, Biden, the teenager Greta, or someone else on climate change, and right now is always the last chance to act. Every solution involves the government confiscating a huge amount of money from taxpayers and then the U.S. transferring huge sums to other countries to resolve the problem. Every solution involves Americans giving up their freedom and way of life while destroying the oil industry.

What you don't see in these dire forecasts are any scientific data from the last 150 years that directly link the U.S. population, coal, and oil use to temperatures, sea levels, or storm activity  because there are none. Facts haven't mattered for a long time when most of the media, government bureaucrats, Hollywood, and other Democrats are campaigning for their radical leftist agenda to destroy America.

China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other oil-producing countries aren't required to destroy their countries as America is. They are special. They promise they will act decades down the road even though we are told the threat is imminent and existential.

We have been hearing these dire, existential threat forecasts for decades, and every time, we have only a few years left to solve the problem. Forecasts say the icecaps will soon be gone and coastal cities will soon be under water. Such forecasts have been 100% wrong, but none of that matters. They just repeat it over and over until the public, especially the children, are indoctrinated. Facts don't matter.

The only forecasts that deviated from the mantra were in the 1970s, when somehow the Earth had cooled so much that much of the Earth was going to be destroyed, and billions would die soon, from the coming ice age. The fact that the Earth cooled for over thirty years while oil use, CO2, and the population were all rising rapidly shows factually that there is no link, but to all the leftists pushing the agenda, these scientific data make no difference.

People who tell the truth that the climate has always changed cyclically and naturally are called climate change deniers to intentionally mislead the public and silence them. People who continually make false predictions are somehow called pro-science and truth-tellers. Maybe we should coin a term for people who continually repeat the same things, over and over again, no matter how wrong they are. We can call them "climate change liars."

Then, after most of the media repeat the same talking points endlessly, with no evidence, they take a push poll that shows that the majority of the public believes the propaganda they have spread like manure. Then they use these polls to justify passing the massive slush funds for radical leftists. It is not at all different from spreading lies about Russian collusion or hiding Biden in the basement while pretending he was a moderate.

Majority in US concerned about climate, new poll finds

About 6 out of 10 Americans also believe that the pace of global warming is speeding, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. As Biden struggles to pass significant climate legislation at home ahead of next week's U.N. climate summit, the new AP-NORC/EPIC poll also shows that 55% of Americans want Congress to pass a bill to ensure that more of the nation's electricity comes from clean energy and less from climate-damaging coal and natural gas.

Considering all the dire forecasts on climate change, maybe some facts could lower the temperature.

Steven Koonin, a physicist at the Department of Energy in the Obama administration, authored a book titled Unsettled, What Climate Science Tells Us, What it Doesn't, and Why it Matters.

Somehow the book did not get much coverage even though the media continually report on climate change.

It would be helpful if the media covered all sides of the climate issue.

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While Joe Biden was out making a fool of himself in event after event across Europe, Kamala Harris was doing her best to match him back home.

Get a load of her performance out on the campaign trail with Virginia's flailing Democrat gubernatorial candidate, Terry McAuliffe:

She is so bad at this pic.twitter.com/C4YHFriaRp  The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) October 30, 2021

How embarrassing.

Notice that she's getting little response from her crowd, which presumably is a big friendly Democrat-voting crowd.

Why is she doing this?

Quite possibly because she has nothing else to do. Biden didn't seem to invite her to the global warming summit he was heading for in Europe  the one with 85 cars in his entourage. Europe, recall, is that one place Kamala has never been to  and she likes the "fun jobs" as well as the general luxe life of Instagram. I'm betting she would have liked to be on that tour, which had the added benefit of few political risks for her. Biden had room for 85 cars, and reportedly around 800 people on that tour, but no room for her? Interesting.

So she was left home to campaign, and for a flailing candidate who's looking more and more likely to lose the election, assuming that the polls are correct and, come Election Day, no cheating ensues with the ballots.

So she puts on the jocular act even as nobody claps. I give her credit for not asking for claps, as Joe Biden, plagiarizing Jeb Bush, has done. But it still was an embarrassing performance.

Why is Kamala's performance so annoying that not even Democrats are clapping for her?

It's the same reason many of Hillary Clinton's speeches fell flat  the common problem of phoniness.

What's phony about Harris laughing and cackling, asking voters to get out and vote for McAuliffe?

It's that phony "down home," "tarnation" rural black Southern cadence she throws out for the voters as she laughs fake laughter and urges them to go vote. Nobody believes that's her real accent. Nobody believes she's just a down-home Southerner getting ready to pop some apple pie in the oven as she asks everyone to get out and vote. And no one believes she's pealing her laughter out of happiness. She's just putting on an act, a poorly played one.

Hillary Clinton used to do the phony Southern black accent, too, and it only made voters loathe her more than they already did. Kamala repeats it, going off the lemming cliff behind her instead of learning from Clintons' example  that that is exactly what bombs with voters.

Kamala Harris, recall, hasn't got a rural or Southern-culture bone in her body. She's not Southern. She's from California, a rich part of California, and spent her working career in tony San Francisco. She's not even black as other black people are; she's half black and has no African-American roots such as what's recognized here. She's the daughter of two immigrants, one from Jamaica and one from India, and was largely raised only by her Indian mother in Canada. If she wanted to do a Southern black cadence, she can only come across as phony.

Now, if she wanted to do an Indian speech cadence, or a Jamaican speech cadence, either of which would also be phony, she'd be on slightly stronger ground, given that she has roots in those places. She doesn't do that because they don't sell votes; she prefers to go with the fake Southern black-cadence act. (In places like Jamaica, she wouldn't even be considered black.) But nooo, she puts on the phony Southern black cadence and tells voters to get out and vote for her because she's supposedly so like them.

No wonder it falls flat. As one wag on Twitter noted, she's like a stand-up comedian who's unable to read a room and bombing with the audience. It goes to show that audiences can't be fooled by fakery. Too bad she still doesn't seem to know it.

Image: Twitter screen shot.

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For too long, progressive Democrats have been using Orwellian tactics to challenge traditional American values, to change the political narrative, to alter the culture of our nation, and indeed, to corrupt the meanings of words. By way of an analogy to Orwell, consider some of the ways in which progressives twist reality:

Necessities are a right

Liberty is license

Freedom is dependency

Diversity is strength

When words lose their proper meaning, discourse becomes impossible, and it therefore becomes incumbent upon conservatives, adults, to regain control of the language. Liberty is not license, and freedom does not follow from dependency.

Let us acknowledge that certain things are basic human necessities, such as shelter, food, clothing, and medical care. Does this mean that these things are basic human rights? Absolutely not; it means they are basic human responsibilities. A warm home is neither a right nor a privilege; it is a personal responsibility. Clothing is neither a right nor a privilege; clothing is a personal responsibility.

Is your tummy growling? Get a job and buy some food. Food and medical care are not rights; they are not privileges; they are personal responsibilities.

Liberty-loving citizens need to reclaim the narrative, do away with the notion of privilege, and reframe the argument around right and responsibility.

Individual liberty does not mean that one has license to engage in any behavior one chooses. We have public obscenity laws because one can express oneself without cursing. We have indecency laws because there are few who wish to see that cellulite and those jelly rolls, and we certainly don't need more distracted drivers. Societies adopt laws that reflect their morals and historically gained wisdom.

Western civilization is the result of the synthesis of Judeo-Christian morality and Greek philosophy and reason, and this is reflected not only in this nation's founding documents, but in the genius of those who blazed the intellectual trail to the United States Constitution: Socrates, Plato, Augustine, Calvin, Hobbes, and Locke. Tradition, culture, and the morality they bear should not lightly be discarded. Patriotic citizens need to properly discern between liberty and license and reclaim the narrative.

Upon passage of the (un)Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, Nancy Pelosi launched into a speech about how artists, and others with no marketable skills, would be free to pursue their passions because they wouldn't have to worry about their health care expenses. They would still be artists with no marketable skills, but by gum, they'd have health care.

Now the progressive left wants to provide everything from free daycare to free college to free adult diapers. Dependency is not freedom; the true path to freedom is motivation. Let's reclaim the narrative.

Divide, division, diversity...hmm. Multiculturalism and diversity are not, by definition, unifying principles: if they were, our coins would say "E Pluribus Plus" rather than "E Pluribus Unum." The idea of the melting pot and a united nation is lost if one comes to this nation but refuses to become a member of our society and instead chooses to bring the wreckage of his homeland to our shores. The infamous Ilhan Omar once stated that we need to dismantle this system. Excuse me, Rep. Omar, but you abused this nation's immigration laws to get here, got elected to the House of Representatives, engaged in behavior that would have gotten you stoned to death behind the mosque in your homeland, and you want to dismantle my nation? As I recall, Somalia has been dismantled for several decades, if it ever even was in one piece.

It is well nigh past time for patriots, those who cherish traditional values, those who cling to their God, their guns, and their Bibles, to stand up. When someone states that a man can get pregnant, say no. When someone states a boy can be a girl, say no. When someone states our diversity is our strength, say no. When someone states social dependency means freedom, say no. When someone states you are privileged for making responsible decisions, say no. Let's reclaim the narrative.

Graphic credit: Leo Reynolds CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.

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If the notion that the Alec Baldwin shooting on the set of Rust in Santa Fe County, New Mexico served as a fitting metaphor for this year, the New York Times put that to rest when it posed the question: "How did a gun that contained a fatal projectile get into the hands of an actor who believed it was safe, when an array of safeguards should have made that impossible?"

The same could be said for those "safe and effective" vaccines that are now universally understood as not preventing the spread of COVID.

The gun used by Baldwin was handed to him by the film's assistant director, David Halls. He had taken the gun off a cart, where it was placed by the movie's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. When Halls gave the gun to Baldwin, he told the actor the gun was "cold," which means safe to use, with no live ammunition.

Isn't this just fitting for a year when we, like Alec Baldwin, are assured that the thing they want to give us is "safe"?

We're constantly being told the vaccine rushed through the development and approval process is safe and effective. Should we be surprised that it doesn't even prevent vaccinated people from getting or spreading COVID?

Vaccinated people are dying from breakthrough cases, yet authorities insist that it should be mandated and people should be coerced into getting it.

Just as Baldwin's film crew walked off the set hours before tragedy, thousands and thousands of health care workers are refusing to get vaccinated and are willing to walk away from jobs and careers they love in the process. Many more across all sectors and across the country have followed suit.

Teenagers not even at risk for COVID are experiencing serious adverse effects from the vaccine. Yet health officials continue to beat the drum, telling us these situations are "extremely rare."

Aren't killings on movie sets extremely rare? Is that acceptable?

The truth is, as more and more young people get vaccinated, the numbers of those adverse incidents are on the rise.

As of September 24, 2021, over a month ago, the VAERS system for reporting vaccine side-effects counted 752,803 adverse reactions to the vaccine. And that's just what has been reported.

That's quickly moving away from the "extremely rare" classification.

Scientists and doctors who raise concerns are silenced on the internet. They are bullied by their professional associations. Politicians and government bureaucrats are making decisions for individuals that doctors typically help patients make in private consultation, one on one.

Employers, with no understanding of individual employees' personal situations, are cookie-cutter mandating a drug with no long-term history. The government is doing the same. An entire ecosystem of coercion is in place to force resistant populations to inject something they don't want and, thanks to superior natural immunity, millions don't need.

It's almost as if Gutierrez-Reed were making health policy for the nation. But she's not. It's almost as if an assistant movie director with no understanding of the risks were giving us the shot, assuring us it's safe. But he's not.

This is no movie set. The people in charge aren't inexperienced creatives.

Yet the people in charge have accelerated protocols beyond the norm. They're making decisions that are not informed by long-term trials and treating implementation as a trial unto itself.

All the time, we're being assured that the jab is not only "safe and effective," but required.

It almost feels as if we have a gun to our heads, doesn't it?

Tim O'Brien is a veteran corporate communications consultant and crisis communicator who operates O'Brien Communications in Pittsburgh. Twitter: @OBrienPR.

Images: Stockvault/Pixabay

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The most popular words of pro-abortion and pro-choice advocates are perhaps "My Body, My Choice." On the surface, it makes sense and sounds rational and reasonable. In fact, it's so sensible that even anti-vaxxers are using it to talk about their bodies and their choices. Don't we all make decisions related to our bodies, especially medical decisions?

The person who composed or created that slogan hit it big, and credit is due for such a commonsense, clever phrase. It seems difficult to debate. How could anyone challenge such a recognized personal decision with a response, such as "no, you don't have that right" or "no, your body is not open to your choice"?

Wouldn't such a person or response be widely ridiculed? After all, we all make decisions about having surgeries for appendicitis, cancer, broken bones, cysts, and even benign tumors. "My Body, My Choice" certainly applies to these.

At the same time, however, the patient contemplating the procedure usually discusses the details with the surgeon. If it's surgery for a broken bone, the doctor will discuss how complex the break is, that he plans to insert a pin, and the estimated length of time to recuperate. If it's surgery for cancer, he may tell a patient how he intends to extract or excise the cancerous growth, what the recovery will be like, and what outcome to expect. Will it lengthen the patient's life, or is it just a stopgap procedure to improve temporary well-being? After all, it requires the patient's consent because it is the patient's body and the patient's choice.

It's different when it's an abortion. When a woman is considering an abortion, does a physician or surgeon clearly explain the procedure? It's doubtful that the abortionist explains to the patient that he will crush the skull of the alleged glob of tissue inside her uterus to suck the brain out. And does he explain that the alleged glob will be dismembered to remove it  that is, that he will cut off its legs or arms before extracting the rest of the glob?

Again, it's highly doubtful that an abortionist would allude to either scenario  much less describe them  when speaking to a woman deciding whether or not to have an abortion, isn't it? Surely, after such a gruesome explanation or description, she might recognize that the alleged glob isn't merely a glob after all; it's a body  another person's body. It's not really her body.

Therein lies the crux of whose body and whose choice. Abortion doesn't dismember the woman's body or crush her skull open to suck her brains out. Those practices are aimed at another vulnerable human being: the baby carried in her womb. That person's heart is beating, his arms and legs moving, and perhaps his thumb is in his mouth. He feels pain.

In fact, surgeries to correct a problem are done while the baby is still in the mother's uterus. Does anyone perform surgeries on undesirable or unwanted globs of tissue? It may not be fully formed yet, but it is growing and changing just as the rest of us did and continue to do throughout life.

What does all this mean? It means the most popular slogan "My Body, My Choice" can, and should, be challenged and debated. The procedures utilized to achieve an intentional abortion (in French and, perhaps, other languages, natural miscarriages are medically called abortions) are brutal, horrific, and painful to the body and person a woman carries in her womb. Such procedures cannot be considered good; they are pure evil against the objects of abortions.

Isn't it time to parse the slogan, not grammatically, but physically? Isn't it time to turn the focus from a woman's body to the real body being aborted?

Legalizing the brutal snuffing out of innocent, dependent, vulnerable lives cannot be viewed as good; it is evil, costing millions of lives. The major factor separating abortion from birth is defined by one word: "wanted" or "unwanted." Not even an "unwanted" baby deserves such a fate.

Image: Protective hands by hhach. Pixabay license.

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How to interact with the Democrats in our lives is an issue many Republicans have wrestled with for some time. Frequently we maintain a "no fly zone" when it comes to discussing politics with Democrat friends and family members, often by unspoken mutual agreement. We prioritize the relationship and do not want to damage it because of political differences  there are other bonds through which we maintain our connection. A February 2020 Pew report bears out this approach: almost half of all adults in the U.S. have stopped discussing politics with someone.

Less cordial interactions, however, are not uncommon. According to the May 2021 American Perspectives Survey conducted by the Survey Center on American Life, 15 percent of the American public has ended a friendship over politics, with liberals almost three times as likely to sever ties as conservatives (28 percent vs. 10 percent). The survey does not include information about rifts between family members over politics. However, anecdotal evidence based on personal experience indicates that the number of people severing family bonds because of political differences has increased as well.

Until recently, I had only known other Republicans with Democrat friends or family members who had severed relationships with them because of politics. This situation changed when, out of the blue, almost a year after the 2020 election, a close relative sent a profanity-filled text attacking me because I am a Republican who voted for President Trump. This person called me an "idiot," "moron," "douche bag," "Repubutard," and "dips---," and told me I should not seek to communicate again if I liked President Trump. This individual's opinion that President Trump was a "liar" and the Republican party was a "pack of liars" was given as the reason I should not vote or register Republican. However, no examples of the supposed lies were provided. We had never discussed why I am a Republican or my reasons for voting for President Trump. We had not discussed politics in years. My sense of our unspoken contract was we had agreed to disagree and get along. My previous text was "Miss you. When can we get together?"

After recovering from my initial shock, my first question was, "What do Democrats hope to achieve by such behavior? Do they think insulting and cutting off Republican friends and family will make us change our political views?" One might think a better approach would be to keep communication channels open, discuss differences of opinion, and explain the reasons they support Democrat policies and actions. Democrats who are secure in the positions of their party should welcome discussion and be able to provide reasoned arguments substantiated by truthful facts. Instead, despite their claims to abhor bullying, many Democrats engage in it  unabashedly subjecting Republicans to unfounded accusations and ad hominem attacks and dismissing them as deplorable. Who would want to be affiliated with people who engage in such behavior? When Democrats abuse and reject Republicans in this way, is there a reason for Republicans to keep them in our lives?

For myself, the answer is yes. There are planes of experience and shared perspective other than politics that connect us and through which we can appreciate each other's humanity. Therefore, I will endeavor to keep communication channels open with my relative. However, this individual has damaged my sense of this individual's identity and harmed the once-close bond between us, making me question what type of relationship is possible with someone who is willing to summarily discard another human being.

Image: DNC.

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A sixteen-year-old student has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the San Diego Unified School District, arguing that the district's mandate for COVID vaccination violates her religious freedom. The Thomas More Society, a law firm that specializes in religious freedom challenges, is representing the young lady, who is identified as Jill Doe.

Her challenge to the vaccination mandate just got a lot harder. Yesterday, the FDA approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for kids aged 511.

Pfizer's vaccine has been linked to neurological conditions, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and hemorrhagic stroke. Teenage boys are at increased risk of inflammation of the heart muscle after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

These events are rare, and small children would get low doses of the vaccine. Presumably, the FDA advisers feel that the risk of the vaccine is worth the reward of the dubious immunization. After all, booster shots are already being called for, less than a year after the first rollout of the Pfizer vaccine, due to waning immunity against COVID.

Nothing daunted, some are already calling for widespread vaccination for young children. Laura Blaisdell, M.D., MPH, writes in MedPage Today that doctors need to advocate for vaccinating small children. She shrugs off concerns about long-term side-effects with the declaration that such side-effects are seen in a matter of months, not years.

That may be true for genuine vaccines, but the Pfizer shot is not a true vaccine. It's mRNA gene therapy and this is the first time this technology has been widely tested. We can't really know what effects mRNA gene therapy will have on children until they grow up and start having children of their own.

Dr. Blaisdell is also blithely unconcerned about the newness of mRNA vaccines. She believes that, after millions of doses, Pfizer mRNA vaccines are not new. Millions of doses is a large number, but Dr. Blaisdell is confusing quantity with length of time. All those doses were given in a matter of months. That is hardly long enough to determine if mRNA gene therapy is actually safe in the long run.

Dr. Blaisdell points out that vaccination against diseases like polio is already mandated. Perhaps Dr. Blaisdell should have a talk with Martha Lillard, one of the last polio survivors to be stuck in an iron lung. In the 1940s, more than 30,000 people were disabled from polio every year. Martha has been living with an iron lung for almost 70 years. She was never able to wean herself off and must sleep in her big metal box every night.

Death, disability, and lifelong dependence on technology to breathe are reasons to take a chance on a vaccine that may have deadly side-effects. COVID rarely affects young children, and when it does, they usually recover after minimal symptoms with no lingering effects. It's just not worth risking children's health with experimental gene therapy to prevent a disease that is generally no worse than the common cold.

Pandra Selivanov is the author of Future Slave, a story about a 21st-century black teenager who is sent back in time and becomes a slave in the Old South.

Image: Children in iron lungs before the Salk vaccine.

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In one of the dirtiest tricks ever, The Lincoln Project (a collection of hard-left people masquerading as "Republicans") and Democrat activists conspired to paint Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate now leading in the Virginia gubernatorial race, as a magnet for White supremacists. Thankfully, the hoax was quickly exposed, meaning that it should reflect worse on Democrats than Republicans. Were it not for the internet, though, this vicious dirty trick could have caused lasting harm to Youngkin's candidacy and opened the way for the execrable, racist, parent-hating Terry McAuliffe to get a second term as Virginia governor.

The day-long saga started when journalist Elizabeth Holmes tweeted a photo showing "men" who pulled up in front of Glenn Younkin's campaign bus, saying, "We're all in for Glenn." Wearing white shirts and khaki pants, with Tiki torches in their hands, they were obviously intended to look like the White supremacists at Charlottesville in 2017:

Had anyone looked closely at the photo, they might have noticed something a bit peculiar about these White supremacist men:

Yup, there's a Black guy there and a White woman. Something's fishy, right?

Thankfully, the internet sleuths were instantly on it. They soon determined that one of the people looked like a Democrat operative named Camden Layton, who quickly protected his Twitter account from prying eyes. Of course, Eric Swalwell, without looking closely at the picture, fell hard for the hoax. Frankly, if he can't spot a Chinese spy, who really expects him to balk at calling a Black man a "White supremacist"?

With the whole narrative falling apart, the sleazy, man-boy-loving Lincoln Project proudly confessed that it put together the stunt:

Lincoln Project claims credit for the "white supremacist" stunt at Youngkin's campaign event today. pic.twitter.com/h18Sfk5AUC  John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) October 29, 2021

Thats when more confessions of complicity began. Lauren Windsor, who describes herself as "Agnostic. Bisexual. Fashionista. Hapless romantic. Progressive pugilist swamp-slayer" and who literally wraps herself in the American flag, identified herself as the (ahem) brains behind the operation:

In my capacity as a communications consultant, I worked w @ProjectLincoln to coordinate today's Youngkin action in Charlottesville. I join them in the fight to defend our democracy from rightwing extremists and call for Glenn Youngkin to denounce Trumps very fine people.  Lauren Windsor (@lawindsor) October 29, 2021

With Younkin surging, this is all that the Democrats have got: trying to paint Younkin as another Donald Trump and using the stale "fine people" hoax to do it.

Glenn Greenwald, who is swallowing larger and larger doses of red pills as the Biden "presidency" wends its way through the growing wreckage of America, expressed his outrage on Tucker Carlson:

Tucker Carlson & @ggreenwald React To Democrats, The Media & The Lincoln Project Pushing A Hate Hoax False Flag Ahead Of Virginia Governors Race



Glenn: "Racism is now their little toy. Their little weapon that they get to exploit and play with any time they want." pic.twitter.com/VuYoZuQ4Xx  The Columbia Bugle  (@ColumbiaBugle) October 30, 2021

I like Greenwald's point that the same people who created and pushed this hoax are the ones who constantly shout out "fake news," "misinformation," and similar phrases to justify shutting down conservatives to give Democrats and their fellow travelers complete control over the flow of "news" and other information in America. From there, Greenwald makes the exceptionally good point that, even as Democrats deny the possibility that January 6 could have been a false flag event at which the FBI and other Democrat operatives created a faux "insurrection," they (the Democrats) freely traffic in...a false flag event.

It's to be hoped that this latest leftist hoax was exposed quickly enough that it didn't create a false narrative that Glenn Youngkin is a White supremacist. Instead, the swift debunking should tell people that Democrats are morally corrupt people who use claims of racism to manipulate the public. They do not deserve ever again to be allowed near political power.

Image: Close-up of the false flag operation. Twitter screen grab.

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Maine has a regulation requiring large numbers of health care workers to get the COVID-19 vaccines or be barred from working. The regulations allow exemptions for medical reasons but refuse them for religious reasons. Eight people who object to the vaccines' connection to abortion sought an emergency injunction so that they wouldn't be forced to choose between a vaccine that offends their religious principles or losing their right to practice medicine. Justices Barrett and Kavanaugh joined with the leftists to deny this injunction. In truly insulting fashion, Barrett wrote a short concurrence that is pure legal gibberish.

To understand how nonsensical Barrett's one-paragraph statement is, it's worth first reading Justice Gorsuch's dissent, in which Justices Thomas and Alito joined. After stating the facts, Gorsuch makes some simple, clear points:

A baseline for an injunction is the likelihood of success on the merits. Gorsuch holds out the promise that the petitioners are likely to succeed on the merits because the Maine regulation is deliberately discriminatory against religion, something that manifestly violates the First Amendment.

States can engage in actions that discriminate against religion if the state's acts are generally applicable and manifestly neutral. Even if the state's acts don't comport with one or another of those tests, they may still squeak by a strict scrutiny analysis if the state can be shown to have a compelling state interest and to have used the least restrictive means possible to achieve that interest.

In his brief analysis, Gorsuch points out that Maine did not deny that it was discriminating against religious people, so the question became one of compelling state interest. In the case of the regulation, Maine contends that the regulation is to protect (1) patients, (2) health care workers, and (3) the entire health care infrastructure because of too many sick employees, as well as (4) limiting the risk of outbreaks within health care centers. This all ignores the fact that vaccinated people are COVID-catchers and COVID-carriers. However, for purposes of the opinion, Gorsuch accepted these claims as true.

Gorsuch agreed that the state has an interest in protecting patients and health care workers, but he pointed out that Maine cannot claim that people unvaccinated for health reasons are safer to be around than people unvaccinated for religious reasons. The same logic applies to the possibility of too many employees getting sick, breaking the system: there's no evidence that unvaccinated religious people are more likely to break the system than those unvaccinated for health reasons.

Gorsuch also attacked the appellate court for engaging in "an error this Court has long warned against," which was giving way too much credence to Maine's position. That error led to a ruling against the petitioners, necessitating the request for an injunction.

There's more, but here's the gist: the applicable, longstanding law shows that Maine discriminates against religion without any good reason for doing so, meaning that the petitioners are likely to win. Gorsuch's short dissent is a thoughtful, powerful statement about the controlling facts and the applicable law, not to mention the irreparable harm to people forced to decide between a vaccination against their faith and the destruction of their careers while waiting months or years for the Supreme Court to act.

And then there's Barrett's nonsensical concurrence with the leftists' denial of injunctive relief. She states correctly that injunctive relief requires a preliminary determination that the petitioner is likely to succeed when the full case comes before the Court. While she understands that this means looking at the facts and law, she also says the Court ultimately has the discretion to say no. If it does say no, it doesn't have to bother making a preliminary analysis about the facts and law. Because this is a case of first impression, she implies, the Court shouldn't be rushed.

That, my friends, is garbage. As Gorsuch ably showed, the case is actually a very simple one, almost excessively so. Maine has discriminated against religion and has done so without any compelling reason. A first-year law student could figure this one out. You've got irreparable harm and a likelihood of success, but Barrett says it's just too hard to be rushed, so people's lives should be destroyed in the meantime. She doesn't care that people facing imminent destruction of their livelihoods or their core values is the reason injunctive relief exists.

What Barrett wrote was lazy and stupid. I thought better of her. The best I can do is assume that writing this type of garbage is the Supreme Court justice equivalent of blinking T-O-R-T-U-R-E with her eyes, as Jeremiah Denton did when the Viet Cong forced him to do a propaganda film.

For people who stood up to the torture of their Senate confirmation hearings, Barrett and Kavanaugh have proven to be weak-minded squishes. Like Chief Justice Roberts, they'll be conservative about things of limited interest and always side with the leftists on the big things.

Image: United States Supreme Court justices; dunce cap added by Andrea Widburg. Public domain.

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Before the arrival of the Europeans, log jams formed by the accumulation of fallen trees and driftwood on rivers and streams were a common phenomenon across North America, but none was as enormous as the one that existed on the Red River. At its peak, this log jamknown as the Great Raftextended for 165 miles (265 km) clogging the lower part of the river in what is now Northwest Louisiana and Northeast Texas.

The Great Raft began forming sometime around the beginning of the last millennium. Periodic flooding of the Red River dislodged great number of trees from the rivers flood banks that was made up of easily erodible soil. The trees filled the river and formed a series of intermittent log jams that stretched for miles. Each spring brought a fresh supply of logs and the raft grew until it was more than a hundred miles long. Pieces of the raft sometimes broke up and floated downstream, but new logs and debris that got added to the upper end kept the raft at a nearly constant length of between 130 and 150 miles. The jam also forced water over the banks and into the valley creating numerous large and deep lakes. Some of these lakesCaddo, Cross, Wallace, Bistineau, and Black Bayoustill exist and are known as Great Raft Lakes.

Photo credit: Noel Memorial Library, LSUS

The Caddo Indians, who lived along the Red River, were greatly benefitted from this phenomenon. Every spring, as the river uprooted trees and added to the raft, it left behind fertile, open fields where the Caddos grew crops. The log jam also ensured that the Caddos remain untouched by Europeans for another 150 years before a Spanish expedition made contact with them in 1691.

When the Freeman-Custis Expedition went exploring the Red River in 1806 looking for its headwaters, before they were turned back by Spanish troops near Oklahoma, they encountered the almost impenetrable mass of the Great Raft on the river north of Natchitoches. Freeman described it as a concentration of cedar, cottonwood, and cypress trees covered in bushes and weeds so thick that a man could walk over it in any direction.

The first effort to clear the river was made in 1833 by Captain Henry Miller Shreve of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Shreve had recently cleared the Mississippi river of a similar but much smaller log jam using a new invention he called the "snag steamboat". By 1838, Shreve had removed the Great Raft enabling steamboats from New Orleans to sail all the way up the Red River to the newly founded city of Shreveport, named after Shreve. From there, boats found their way across a series of raft lakes till they reached Jefferson, which soon become one of Texas' most important port cities.

A snag boat designed by Captain Henry Miller Shreve

Keeping the Red River free of logs, however, became a continuous effort that kept the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers busy for the next 30 years. Finally in 1872, the Corps, led by Lt. Eugene Woodruff, began in earnest to open up the Red River once again. Woodruff had in his arsenal the dependable snag boat that Shreve had invented and successfully used to clear the river earlier, and a new tool not available to Shreve thendynamite. Woodruff blew up the logs, dredged the riverbed, created reservoirs, and constructed dams. The work progressed fast. Unfortunately, Woodruff contracted yellow fever and died in Shreveport in August 1873, a few months before the project was completed.

Although the river was finally open for navigation, the geology of the Red River valley was changed forever. Many lakes and bayous that the river created disappeared. Only those protected by dams remained.

Despite the millions of dollars spent in dredging the river and in locks and dams, river navigation began to decrease within a decade with the arrival of a new and superior mode of transportation railways. By the half of the next century, only local rock barges traversed the Red River.

Photo credit: Noel Memorial Library, LSUS

Photo credit: Noel Memorial Library, LSUS

Photo credit: Noel Memorial Library, LSUS

Photo credit: Noel Memorial Library, LSUS

Photo credit: Noel Memorial Library, LSUS

Photo credit: Noel Memorial Library, LSUS

Sources: Invasives Watch / Red River Historian
(Image source from: Aajkitaazanews.com)

Aryan Khan Reaches Home:- Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan has been arrested in a drugs case and he has been in jail for four weeks. His bail plea was rejected multiple times and Aryan Khan is finally out on bail. The Bombay High Court granted bail on Thursday evening but he wasn't released as the jail authorities of Arthur Road jail did not receive the bail documents from the Bombay High Court. All the formalities are completed this morning and Aryan Khan is out of jail after four weeks.

#WATCH Aryan Khan released from Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail few weeks after being arrested in drugs-on-cruise case pic.twitter.com/gSH8awCMqo  ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2021

Shah Rukh Khan himself along with his lawyers visited the Arthur Road jail to bring his son Aryan Khan back home. The celebrations began in Mannat and Gauri Khan is quite happy. Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha are granted bail in the case. Aryan Khan has been asked to submit his passport and he will have to attend before NCB every Friday. The youngster has been asked not to stay in touch with anyone who are involved in the drugs case. His mobile phone was seized and his WhatsApp chats are traced. A heap of fans gathered near Shah Rukh Khan's residence Mannat and the bungalow was decorated with lights after Aryan Khan was granted bail.
(Image source from: Reuters.com)

Aryan Khan To Be Released Tomorrow: Bail Conditions:- Bollywood Superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan has been arrested in a drugs case and he has been spending time in jail for the past three weeks. Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan are left in a stage of deep shock with his arrest. The Bombay High Court has been hearing his bail plea for the past three days and he was granted bail with several restrictions. The bail order is yet to be received by the officials of the Arthur Road jail and Aryan Khan is expected to be released tomorrow. Though he was expected to be out today, the orders delayed the release of Aryan Khan.

The youngster should appear before the Narcotics Control Bureau on every Friday told the court. His passport needs to be surrendered before the special court immediately after his release. Aryan Khan should appear before NCB on Friday in person between 11 AM and 2 PM. He should not establish any communication with the other co-accused or the people involved in the case. Aryan Khan should not attempt to influence the witnesses or tamper the evidence told the court. He also should not make or issue any public statements about the proceedings that are pending before the special court. The Bombay High Court asked Aryan Khan to co-operate for the investigation of the NCB. Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan will be present at the Arthur Road jail before the release of Aryan Khan.
Puneeth Rajkumar To Be Cremated With State Honours Today:- Kannada young Superstar Puneeth Rajkumar passed away yesterday and the entire nation mourned his demise. All the celebrities offered their condolences through social media. Puneeth Rajkumar suffered a massive heart attack yesterday and he was announced dead by the doctors of Vikram Hospitals in Bengaluru. The government of Karnataka alerted the state and tight security is imposed. His mortal remains are taken to his home and are placed in Kanteevara Stadium last evening. His fans reached the stadium in lakhs to pay their last respects for Powerstar of Kannada cinema.

The last rites of Puneeth Rajkumar will be held this evening and he will be laid to rest next to the memorial of his father in Kanteevara Studios. Puneeth Rajkumar 's daughter who is studying in USA is on her way and she will reach Bengaluru this evening. The last rites will be performed with state honours this evening after her arrival. Several actors from Telugu cinema rushed to Bengaluru for the last respects of Puneeth Rajkumar. All the top actors of Kannada film industry visited the mortal remains of Puneeth Rajkumar yesterday. A star who is gone so soon. Puneeth Rajkumar has two films lined up and he is producing two new films that are yet to be announced. His last release was Yuvaratna in Apirl this year. Rest in peace Puneeth Rajkumar.
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U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) is seen via Zoom addressing the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce from Washington, D.C., on Friday morning.
Hundreds of activists and European politicians have descended on Glasgow on a specially chartered climate train ahead of the Cop26 conference.

The Rail to the Cop train arrived in the city on Saturday evening carrying around 300 climate activists, and 170 others.

Prior to boarding in London, some passengers had busked at Euston station where many of the activists had arrived after taking the Eurostar across the Channel.

Their train had travelled through the Netherlands and Belgium before linking up with the Avanti West Coast train to Glasgow.

Activists joined delegations from Europe on the train (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

Some had travelled from as far afield as Poland and Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.

Lukas Kiefer, 25, a student from Germany who helped organise the journey, said the train companies the activists collaborated with think in a very different way to activists.

But, at the same time we all agree that train mobility is the future of mobility for a huge amount of people, if its cheap and if its feasible for everyone, he said.

So I would say that one big demand from us is that subsidies dont go into the aviation industry. For example, in Europe 43% of all airports need subsidies from the government because otherwise they could not run because theyre just too expensive.

For us these subsidies need to go into the train tracks so that people can travel cheap on fast trains all over Europe, because thats the only way to deal with the emissions of the aviation industry.

World leaders will hold talks in Glasgow at the start of next week (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

The activists were joined by ambassadors, MEPs and delegations from the governments of the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Germany.

In a speech on board, Joao Vale de Almeida, the EUs ambassador to the UK, said the fight against climate change is a common ground between Brussels and London.

We have our issue and differences, some of them are right now on the screen on my phone, he said. But the climate is one areas in which we can seriously contribute to address global problems.

Raffaele Trombetta, the UK ambassador for Italy, which is co-hosting the conference, said: Glasgow is going to be one of the key moments in the history of our two countries, and the history of humanity.

Eurostar chief executive Jacques Damas said: The climate train is a symbol of partnership between rail operators and a show of commitment to meet growing customer expectations when it comes to sustainable travel.

Avanti West Coast managing director Phil Whittingham said: By uniting with operators across the continent, the climate trains journey illustrates the ease of travelling between countries, providing customers with a sustainable alternative.

The climate train was initiated by Youth for Sustainable Travel, a non-profit, and Dutch rail infrastructure manager ProRail.
Katharine Birbalsingh has been labelled 'Britain's strictest headteacher'. (Getty images)

Boris Johnson's social mobility tsar  once dubbed Britain's strictest headteacher  has defended herself after being criticised for saying that all children are born with "original sin".

In response to a Tweet that read "We are all born 'bad'", Katharine Birbalsingh wrote: "Exactly. Original Sin.

"Children need to be taught right from wrong and then habituated into choosing good over evil.

"That requires love and constant correction from all the adults in their lives over YEARS.

"Moral formation is a good thing."

However, the outspoken educator attracted an immediate backlash, facing criticism for implying that all children are born 'bad'.

Birbalsingh's tweet said children should be 'habituated into choosing good or evil' (Twitter)

MSP Neil Gray wrote: "This is the opposite of my world view.

"Children are not born bad. Children are born good and I would suggest trauma, poverty, ACEs & negative influences of adults are what drive negative behaviour into adulthood.

"We must nurture & protect our children not stigmatise them from birth."

Raj Unsworth, chair of the Multi Academy Trusts and a campaigner for equality in education, said: "Children are not born bad, they are a product of their environment.

"Basic Christian teaching does not teach us children are born bad."

And human rights lawyer Professor Jessica Simor QC labelled Birbalsingh's comments "appalling".

However, the headteacher defended her comments, writing: "Or maybe I meant human beings are flawed, not perfect. So we have to teach kids right from wrong."

The Michaela Community School promises a 'private school ethos with no fees' on its website. (Google Street View)

Birbalsingh, the founder and head of Michaela Community School in north London, is notorious for her high expectations of student behaviour, proudly declaring that she is "doing it differently".

Year 7 pupils at her school are taught how to sit properly on a chair, how to walk to lessons quickly in single file, and how to concentrate on the teacher, to instil good behaviour as soon as they arrive. New students must keep their shirts tucked in and pick up crumbs from the floor after eating as part of a boot camp, which teaches pupils how to behave in the Michaela way.

The 48-year-old first attracted attention in October 2010 when she criticised the British education system at the Conservative Party conference, speaking in support of the party's education policies.

Referring to a "culture of excuses, of low standards... a sea of bureaucracy... and the chaos of our classrooms", the outspoken education expert told the conference: "My experience of teaching for over a decade in five different schools has convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that the system is broken, because it keeps poor children poor."

In January 2020, Birbalsingh said that children used the "race card" when in disputes with teachers, and warned parents to take their children's claims of "racism" with a pinch of salt when disciplined at school. She also claimed that young black students were being held back from success in school by teachers who "are scared of being called racist" if they discipline them.

This October she was made the chairwoman of the governments Social Mobility Commission.

Accepting the role, she said: From education, to early years in the home and onto the world of work, improving social mobility is more vital than ever, and I look forward to taking up this important role.

My immediate priorities will include developing a sound evidence base from which change can flow.

According to Christianity.com, original sin is the "Christian view of the nature of sin in which humanity has existed since the fall of man" and is the idea that all humans have the sin of Adam and Eve inside them.
Labour has accused the Chancellor of picking womens pockets with his Budget, claiming it will leave females almost 50 billion worse off.

Analysis for the Opposition by the House of Commons Library suggests Rishi Sunaks Budget, combined with other recent policy changes, will leave women 48 billion poorer.

Shadow equalities secretary and party chair Anneliese Dodds called the findings scandalous.

In workings shared by the library, it estimates that 39.3 billion of the hike in national insurance contributions announced last month to 1.25 percentage points from April to help fund the NHS and social care will come out of womens budgets.

Women will bear 51% of the costs involved with reducing the pension triple lock to a double lock for a year from 2022/23, it said.

The 15.5 billion bill for the change will leave women pensioners an average of 2,500 worse off than they would have been over the next five years, Labour said.

A further 161 million will be deducted from womens incomes after the move to push back the pension credit to housing benefit merger date from April 2023 to the same month in 2025.

Ms Dodds said: Its scandalous that this Conservative Government is picking womens pockets at a time when so many are still picking up the pieces from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Women needed a plan to tackle the growing cost of living crisis, to remove the enormous tax burden on working people and for growth to boost the economy.

What they got was an out of touch budget that cut taxes on banks, frequent flyers and champagne but left women a whopping 48 billion worse off over the next six years.

The lack of any actual equality impact assessment in this Budget tells you all you need to know about this Governments priorities. When it comes to the Conservatives, equality isnt one of them.

The party said the Budget raid on womens finances came at a time when women are continuing to struggle with the hugely unequal impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Women were more likely to be furloughed, more likely to lose income to home-school, and more likely to work in sectors that are expected to see the slowest economic recovery from the crisis, Labour said.
Real progress must be achieved soon in the negotiations to find a solution to the issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol, Boris Johnson has told the European Unions top official.

Downing Street said the Prime Minister told European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen during their meeting on the margins of the G20 in Rome that a fix was needed rapidly to prevent further disruption in Northern Ireland.

The UK and EU have both put forward proposals to address the dispute over the protocol, the part of the Brexit divorce deal negotiated by Lord Frost and signed by Mr Johnson aimed at avoiding a hard border with Ireland.

The terms effectively kept Northern Ireland in the single market, creating a border down the Irish Sea between Great Britain and the fourth nation of the UK  a situation that has angered Unionists and hit the UKs internal market.

But while Brussels has put forward reforms for reducing checks and red tape, London has continued to reject them due to the dispute mechanism role being insisted for the European Court of Justice  a red line for Brexit minister Lord Frost, who has set a December deadline for the protocol talks.

Issuing a readout of the Saturday talks in Italy, a Number 10 spokeswoman said: The Prime Minister welcomed the constructive talks which have taken place and are continuing between the UK and the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Meeting with @BorisJohnson in the margins of #G20. We talked about #COP26, as well as the negotiations on the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol and licensing for fishing boats. @EU_Commission is intensively engaging for finding solutions.  Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 30, 2021

He noted, however, that substantial gaps remain between our positions, including on the issue of governance, and noted that real progress must be achieved soon.

The Prime Minister underlined the need to agree solutions rapidly to safeguard the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and reduce disruption to families and businesses in Northern Ireland.

Lord Frost similarly spoke of a substantial divide between the two sides after meeting with commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic in London on Friday in a bid to thrash out a solution on how to overhaul the Brexit agreement.

Reform measures put on the table by the EU would see an 80% reduction in checks envisaged for retail agri-food products arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain, with customs paperwork slashed by half.

Here is the UK Government statement after today's talks with @MarosSefcovic. We will meet again next week. pic.twitter.com/azA59LsbKy  David Frost (@DavidGHFrost) October 29, 2021

The proposed changes also remove the prospect of certain British produce, including Cumberland sausages, being banned from export to the region.

The EU has also offered to legislate to ensure no disruption to the supply line of medicines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, in a move Lord Frost has welcomed.

However, the measures put forward by the bloc do not offer any concession on a key UK Government demand, the removal of the oversight role for the ECJ.

Discussions on the protocol will continue next week, with Mr Sefcovic, Lord Frost and their teams due to meet in Brussels on Friday November 5.
A Satanist whose work is believed to have influenced double killer Danyal Hussein has finally been removed from YouTube.

Hussein, 19, killed sisters Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, in a vicious knife attack in a Wembley park after making a blood pact with a demon.

On Thursday, he was jailed for life at the Old Bailey with a minimum term of 35 years for the brutal attacks.

In an agreement signed in blood, Hussein had pledged to a demon King Lucifuge Rofocale to sacrifice six women in six months to win the Mega Millions Jackpot.

Since his Old Bailey trial, it emerged he had been an active member of online forum, Becoming a Living God, set up by American E A Koetting, a proponent of black magic.

Parts of Husseins pledge bore striking similarities to works by the author who promoted himself to some 200,000 followers on Facebook and YouTube.

After being contacted by PA news agency earlier this month, Facebook removed Koettings page and Instagram account for violating its Dangerous Individuals and Organisations policies.

YouTube said it was carrying out a review and on Saturday, videos posted by Koetting had gone from the site and the account had been closed.

Sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman were murdered by Hussein in a park in north London (Met Police/PA)

In her sentencing remarks on Thursday, Mrs Justice Whipple had referred to Husseins motivation and the demonic pact.

She told him: I am sure you performed these murders as part of that bargain for wealth and power.

As bizarre as the pact seemed, it was part of his belief system, she added.

She told Hussein: You committed these vicious attacks. You did it to kill. You did it for money and a misguided pursuit of power.

Previously, Professor Matthew Feldman, director of the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right (C4ARR), said Koetting had written about blood sacrifices to become rich, attractive, and powerful  and even named the same demon, Lucifuge Rofocale.

In one book, Koetting associated himself with an American cell of the notorious British Order of Nine Angles (O9A), said to be a Nazi-occultist group linked to a string of recent terrorism prosecutions.

In a YouTube video, which had been viewed more than 17,000 times, Koetting discussed human sacrifice.

He said: When you destroy the victim there is a release, a massive explosion of power and energy.

If you can harness that and push it towards a goal, its powerful beyond most other forms of magic. Its the blackest magic without a doubt.

Danyal Hussein being arrested by police (Met Police/PA)

Later, he added a caveat that he does not advocate harming anyone to cover myself legally.

Following Husseins sentencing, Hope Not Hate renewed its call on the Government to ban O9A.

Nick Lowles, chief executive of the antifascism campaign group, said, Danyal Hussein was influenced by a man associated with the Order of Nine Angles before he launched his attack. This is yet another reason why the Government must move to ban this nazi-occultist group.

Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman had their lives stolen by this murderer, and the ideology which propelled him. Their families lives have been devastated.

The Order of Nines Angles appearance in the story of these horrendous murders is shocking but shouldnt be surprising. We have been warning of their promotion of terrorism and sexual violence, and called on ministers to act by banning the group. The Order of Nine Angles is determined to promote and inspire terrorism. They must be banned.

The Home Office said that the Government does not routinely comment on whether an organisation is, or is not, being considered for proscription.

PA news agency has previously contacted E A Koetting for comment.
Bella Hadid has a message in the wake of reports about Zayn Maliks fight with Yolanda Hadid.

The model, who is the sister of Gigi Hadid, took to her Instagram Story on October 28 to share a message reading, I can do nothing for you but work on myself. You can do nothing for me but work on yourself.

While Bella did not tag anyone in the post, it raised eyebrows for many fans, who saw it as a possible response to the recent drama in her family. They also noted that Bella, who was previously following the One Direction alum, no longer followed the star on social media. Her brother, Anwar, who previously praised the "PILLOWTALK" singer, also unfollowed him.

Bella Hadid via instagram stories. pic.twitter.com/eU4vD64h9j  Hadid Brasil (@gbhadidbrasil) October 28, 2021

Earlier this week, TMZ reported that Gigis partner Malik, with whom Gigi shares her 13-month-old daughter Khai, allegedly struck her mother Yolanda and hurled profanities at her.

Malik denied the claims in a statement, but said he did not contest the assault allegations in order to restore us to a peaceful family environment that will allow for me to co-parent my daughter in a manner in which she deserves.

Malik must now complete 90 days of probation for each count for a total of 360 days, as well as take anger management classes and participate in a domestic violence program. He cannot have further contact with Yolanda.

Bella Hadid unfollowed Zayn Malik amid reports about him and Yolanda Hadid. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/FilmMagic)

Gigi and Malik have reportedly split following the ordeal, which occurred about a month ago in Gigis house in Pennsylvania. Since the incident, the new mom issued a statement through her representatives, asking for privacy at this time.

It was just earlier this week that Bella shared a message about how much she adored spending time with her niece Khai.

"I want to be with the baby and I want to wake up early and be there," Bella told E!'s Daily Pop. "I never knew that I could have this much joy in my life. She's the biggest gift. Our family has changed in the best way for the better."

Video courtesy NBCUniversal
Elvis has reentered the building.

The Elvis Presley bust that made international headlines after it was mysteriously stolen from an Illinois bar last weekend has been returned after the pub made a plea on social media, the Journal Star reported Friday.

Elvis has left the building, Jimmys Bar, in West Peoria, about 77 miles north of Springfield, said Wednesday on Facebook. Please bring him back whoever took him. No questions asked.

A bust of Elvis Presley complete with a shamrock cap and beads stands guard as bartender Tom Eckstein mixes a drink for a St. Patrick's Day partier Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at Jimmy's Bar in West Peoria, Ill.





A bust of Elvis Presley complete with a shamrock cap and beads stands guard as bartender Tom Eckstein mixes a drink for a St. Patrick's Day partier Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at Jimmy's Bar in West Peoria, Ill. (Matt Dayhoff/)

The plea  and widespread attention from the Washington Post, The Associated Press, and more, gathered in a Thursday post captioned, #JusticeforElvis  must have worked.

By Friday morning, though Suspicious Minds hadnt quieted, Jimmys Bar had a gleeful update, just in time for Halloween weekend.

Elvis is back! the bar posted, along with a snap of the returned bust flanked by two small pumpkins and a pot of flowers. Faith in humanity restored.

The bust, which has long acted as the mascot at Jimmys, was discovered to be missing last Sunday, according to the Journal Star.

Employees Molly Schiefling and Maeve Ardis were the ones to announce the busts return, after they found it on the porch Thursday night, according to the outlet.

Jimmy Spears, who owns the pub, told the paper that the return was due to: The story. It went viral.
Owosso, MI (48867)

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The minority population such as Hindus would not be safe under the rule of the Awami League, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

For Prime Minister Modi and for India, Bangladesh is not merely just another neighbouring country. It is a land which he has visited himself and which has an old connection. (Representational image: AP)

Fifty years ago when India was gearing up to wage the Liberation War that would deliver linguistic freedom to hundreds of thousands of Bengalis living in the then East Pakistan, no one would have imagined that the land of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would one day be polarised by communal flames, that too within decades, to witness one of the most heinous attacks on the religious freedom of Bengali Hindus during the peak of their main festival, the Durga Puja.

The violent attacks on the Durga Puja celebrations as well as on Iskcon temples across Bangladesh recently bear the ominous warning that the country has undergone a obscurantist change as much water has flown in the river Padma. (The Ganga, after flowing into Bangladesh, is known as the Padma.) That the minority population such as Hindus would not be safe under the rule of the Awami League, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, cannot be a concern only for India, which is the biggest home for the Hindus in the world.

It also throws light on how the rapid radicalisation of Muslims, as had been advocated by a section of the political class, including the ruling dispensation, has turned Bangladesh into a major contributor to the quiet rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Indian subcontinent, which has borne the brunt of terrorism time and again in the past. Extremist outfits like the Jamaat ul Mujahideen Bangladesh and its dark shadow have made deep inroads into the rural areas of the country to make it a hard-line Islamic state.

This unprecedented development triggered repercussions in India like a wildfire for obvious reasons. The ruling BJP, which brags about championing the cause of Hindutva, lost no opportunity in portraying how vulnerable Hindus have become outside the country, while making the loudest possible outcry globally. It also pointed fingers at the silence of several other Opposition political leaders, including Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, who is known to politically champion the cause of Muslims and is also known as a good friend of Sheikh Hasina.

However, the top leaders of the BJP, including the members of the Union Cabinet, have not been at all vocal on the issue. This is reflected in the muteness of its main faces in the government. Starting from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Union home minister Amit Shah to external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, all have stayed away from lending their voice to their partys clamour for justice to the Hindus of Bangladesh. The external affairs ministry, in fact, responded to the situation by just sending out a stern message of concern to Bangladesh at the diplomatic level.

This is perhaps a rare occasion in the past seven years of BJP rule when the party and its government did not appear to be on the same page, at least in public. While many in the party and beyond keep on guessing the reasons for this, bilateral relations, others feel, have emerged as the main obligation for the sake of the countrys long-term interests. To the BJP and the RSS, the nation has always come first and on top above all in the agenda. There is no doubt that Prime Minister Modi and Mr Shah are the products of the same ideology. What they choose to do is, therefore, bound by the government they run.

The pivot of their stand lies in Azaadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav, a year-long celebration that has been underway across the country to mark its military victory over Pakistan fifty years ago that led to the birth of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971. It may be noted that Mr Modi himself launched the celebrations in 2020 to uphold and consolidate Indias deep bonds with Bangladesh which, apart from being hit by radicalism, is also being avidly wooed by China for its expansionist dreams.

This year-long event is due to conclude on December 16 this year, when the top political representatives from Bangladesh are also expected to participate. Any critical reaction by the Prime Minister on a specific and untoward issue across the border would have certainly worsened the mood in the run-up to the grand culmination of the celebration in the national capital. Had he broken his silence, it might also have become a point of discord in the long run diplomatically between the two nations, especially after Sheikh Hasina has harshly condemned the communal violence herself, and launched stringent action against the offenders.

For Prime Minister Modi and for India, Bangladesh is not merely just another neighbouring country. It is a land which he has visited himself and which has an old connection politically, economically and culturally with India, above anything. That is why when Hindus came under attack there, the Prime Minister also averted a diplomatic crisis like a statesman by dealing with the situation at the governmental instead of at the party level.
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Graveside services for Dorothy Clarice "Dottie" Cross 86, of Athens have been scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday November 22, 2021 at Oaklawn Memorial Park with Bro. Cody Craig officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of Autry's Carroll-Lehr Funeral Home. Mrs. Cross passed away November 18
Mamma mia! After Dominic Cooper's fifth car is targeted by thieves, the film star takes to a https://t.co/4wpRnDynBI  The Latest Celebrity News 24/7 (@MuNow21) October 29, 2021

Photos of the actor and budding car collector show that hes maybe opting for fewer wheels, at least when it comes to running errands around London. Dominic Cooper has been photographed buying flowers while riding the recently introduced fourth generation of the GoCycle foldable e-bike, described as one of the lightest and most compact e-bikes designed for the city.Its not uncommon for celebrities to partner with e-bike manufacturers in order to promote a newly released model: Justin Bieber, Robert Downey Jr. and Prince Harry have done it for Rad Power Bikes, Robin Wright for Specialized, and A$AP Rocky for Super73 , to name just a few. Its a win-win type of situation, as long as the celebrity is willing to put in the extra work: the brand gets exposure, and the celebrity gets street cred, publicity, a new bike, and a good workout.With Cooper, things could be different: thieves stole four of his cars in just one year, and hes only been able to recover one . That would be the 1978 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 that police retrieved from a junkyard after it went missing, but Cooper never got back a Range Rover, a vintage Austin Healey, and a Jaguar XF. Thieves also broke into and damaged his Jaguar F-Type You could say that Cooper is cursed as a car owner, and that hes turned to two wheels as a means to avoid said curse. Whether this is a paid partnership or not, hes made a fine choice: his latest ride is the GoCycle G4 folding e-bike, which was introduced in March this year and is priced between 3,399 / $3,999 and 4,999 / $5,999, not including accessories. The G4 comes with an upgraded and more powerful G4drive front-hub motor, carbon fiber one-sided fork, new tires, improved connectivity, and a clean look thanks to hidden wiring and cables. The lightest and most expensive model weighs just 16.3kg (36 pounds) and is incredibly compact when folded down, which means its the perfect city e-bike. You can even carry it up the stairs to your apartment with one arm or, at the very least, Cooper can.
What youre looking at in the main pic of this piece (click photo to enlarge) is a C-5 Galaxy flying out of the same place these winged beast usually call home, the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. An Airman 1st Class flying in an undisclosed plane nearby, at a slightly higher altitude, managed to snap a photo of it, showing to the world the up side of the plane, a look just as impressive as all others when it comes to this particular beast.The Galaxy was flying to a date with a KC-135 Stratotanker with the 121st Air Refueling Wing, flying out of Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Ohio as part of an exercise that eventually saw the C-5 connect with two of these flying gas stations.The C-5 is one of the oldest military transport airplanes in operation. It was born all the way back in the 1970s, but it is presently at the center of a massive modernization effort conducted by Lockheed Martin. Coming out the other end of this process as the C-5M Super Galaxy, the airplane is likely to be kept into service for at least three more decades.The thing will get new engines and avionics, but the overall capabilities in terms of cargo will remain about the same. The Galaxy can take off weighing as much as 920,000 lbs (417,305 kg), with the plane itself tipping the scale when empty at 380,000 lbs (172,365 kg).
ECU

Almost 120 years have elapsed since Johann Schulte designed the very first Triumph motorcycle, which employed a 2.25-bhp Minerva engine and a bicycle frame. When the Great War broke out in 1914, the Brits were already assembling around 4,000 civilian bikes per year, with a further 30,000 copies of the military-spec Type H Roadster being delivered to the Entente Forces during WWI.After the conflict had ceased in 1918, Triumphs annual production figures continued to surge, reaching approximately 25k units by the late 20s. As of 1937, the Coventry-based manufacturer unleashed the iconic Speed Twin  a 500cc, 27-bhp predator thats been developed by Edward Turner, weighing in at just 361 pounds (164 kg). Needless to say, these machines were extremely advanced for their time, and thousands of copies have been ordered by Londons law enforcement institutions.With the Second World War on Britains doorstep, Triumph opened a new facility in Meriden to meet the increasing demand for battlefield-bred motorcycles. In total, a whopping 50,000 specimens were produced for military use between 1939 and 45. As we fast-forward to 1955, we find Johnny Allen setting a land speed record of 193 mph (310 kph) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, where he piloted the legendary Devils Arrow streamliner powered by a modified 650cc Triumph mill.Three years later, Edward Turners revered Triumph Bonneville T120 debuted at the Earls Court Motorcycle Show, with the first production variants arriving in dealerships for the 1959 model-year. In spite of the companys painful decline during the mid-seventies, the Bonneville nameplate simply refused to be discontinued for good, so a fresh incarnation emerged from the firms Hinckley headquarters back in 2001.Today, the Bonnie is still alive and well, featuring several upgrades and liquid-cooled engines with 64 or 79 ponies on tap, depending on the trim. However, the custom marvel well be examining below started with an air-cooled Bonneville T100 from Triumphs lineup, which has been overhauled by the Chinese moto shamans over at Luo Haos Beijing-based Mandrill Garage.To kick things off, the Mandrill specialists removed the bikes standard bodywork in its entirety, along with the handlebars, airbox, and exhaust. With these items discarded, the crew proceeded to unlock some additional oomph by installing a set of free-flowing K&N air filters and a neat two-into-one exhaust system from Zard. To make sure the new components will work harmoniously, a thoroughremap has also been performed.Next, the stock wheels were deleted to make way for lighter aluminum alternatives from Kineos inventory, wearing high-grade Roadtec Z8 rubber developed by Metzeler. As far as the creatures bespoke outfit is concerned, the Bonneville flaunts a slim front fender, seamless upholstery, and a unique alloy gas chamber with SportClassic vibes, as well as a handmade cafe racer-style tail section that sits on tthe revised framework.A healthy dose of extra stopping power is made possible thanks to premium front brake rotors and four-piston Brembo calipers. Up front, the original telescopic forks  which are held in place by CNC-machined triple clamps  have been rebuilt using an assortment of top-shelf internals, while the rear suspension setup was honored with state-of-the-art piggyback shocks from Ohlins. Bonnie s cockpit comes equipped with Motogadgets groovy Chronoclassic gauge and a fresh pair of LSL clip-ons, featuring bar-end mirrors, Brembo levers and Domino grips.The Motogadget experts are also responsible for supplying the m-Blaze blinkers that flank the headlight. As we glance rearward, were greeted by bolt-on foot pegs, LED turn signals, and an aftermarket chain guard. For the finishing touches, the head-turner's swingarm and tubular steel frame were coated in a tasty layer of blue paint. The bodywork was enveloped in a silver base, which is accompanied by a blue stripe that runs from the front fender to the tail.
From animal-like machines to so human-like ones that scare custom officers, these robots are likely to haunt your dreams.The idea of robotic canine units that could help the troops during combat or various missions has been around for a long time, with U.S. Army researchers looking into the best ways of developing energy-efficient four-legged autonomous systems. Even Boston Dynamics famous Spot participated in military exercises in 2020. But the other robo-dog that joined it, called Vision 60, would evolve into something downright scary.A robot that can not only run and sprint, but also fire a gun, is something to be feared. Earlier this year, Ghost Robotics Vision 60 was equipped with a rifle, for the first time. The SWORD Defense Systems Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle (SPUR), developed by SWORD Defense Systems, is a remotely-operated precision fire weapon, chambered in a 6.5 mm Creedmoor, able to operate day and night.Of course, this robo-dog is not enabled to open fire on its own, and every decision is made by the human operator, but it probably wont be long until killer robots gain even more power. Controversy over lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) continues on an international level, and theres a real chance that robots and drones could become more dangerous soon.Either way, the image of robo-dogs firing in the night is a nightmarish one, for sure.Another four-legged robot that could star in our nightmares is inspired by a cheetah, this time. Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) wanted to create a robot that would be able to tackle uneven, unknown terrain, adjust its gait, and reach further than any other four-legged robot. The MIT cheetah looks cute at first glance, but did you see that thing do a backflip?This leaping robotic feline is innovative because it combines two separate systems  one that processes the real-time data from the robots video camera and one that transforms that input into instructions for what the next movement should be. The result is a robot with increased speed and agility that could handle emergency response missions in the future in various types of environments, such as wooded areas.Keep in mind that that is just the mini version of the future robotic cheetah that will be even stronger and more agile.If four-legged robots cant get to you, then youre likely to be spooked by this humanoid head that can mirror your facial movements, trying to express feelings. This creepy disembodied head is capable of showing anger, fear, joy, surprise, sadness, or disgust  the basic human emotions.The funny thing is that it was designed to build trust between humans and robots by being more relatable than a blank-stared typical machine. Lets hope that the final result of the researchers at Columbia Engineering is going to be better than this because, so far, EVA inspires anything but trust with those creepy facial movements.It took five years to develop EVA, which was presented in May 2021 at the ICRA Conference. Cables and motors act as the robots artificial muscles that can mimic human facial expressions. To be able to respond, EVA was shown hours of video footage of its own various expressions so that it could learn to connect them with specific muscle motion. Then, it learned to read actual human expressions from a camera and mirror them.Although its admirable that scientists are trying to make robots friendlier, something is chilling about a human-mimicking robotic head.You might think that being the worlds first humanoid robot artist would be enough fame for one robot, but that wasnt the case with Ai-Da , who recently made headlines for the most unexpected reason. Her eyes (with built-in cameras) and her modem made border guards in Egypt suspect her of planning to do more than paint while visiting the country, for an art exhibition. Ai-Da was seized for being a potential spy.Created by well-known art dealer Aidan Meller, together with a company called Engineered Arts, Ai-Da uses her eyes, her artificial intelligence developed by the Oxford University, and her special arm, to draw. She also makes an impression with her ultra-realistic look and ability to talk. After this incident, Ai-Da will inevitably be known as the robot that was suspected of being a spy. After all, its not too often that an official statement says that The Embassy is glad to see that Ai-Da the artist robot has now been cleared through customs.Whether just funny or hiding a deeper significance in terms of our fears and how the world is changing, this robots trouble with border patrol could also show the potential danger of ultra-realistic humanoid robots if they are used for evil.
This is because the car not only was originally exported to Japan and then returned to the States, but it also survived a tornado and is now back with so many original parts.First and foremost, the car left America for Japan immediately after rolling off the assembly lines, according to a listing on Petes Classic Cars , the garage in charge of selling the Mustang. A navy service man brought the Ford back to the United States in 1998 or 1999, with a new title obtained in 2001.The car, however, was parked inside just when a tornado hit Dallas. It wasnt completely wrecked, but it did end up with some damage caused by objects that were flying around inside the garage. The roof, the driver door, and the driver rear quarter panel were all hit, though some fixes have already been made since then.The Mustang was eventually parked in a garage until recently, and now it is seeking another chance from someone whos willing to give it a full restoration.The photos pretty much speak for themselves, so the Mustang doesnt come in a tip-top shape, though theres plenty of good news that makes it a solid find. For example, the original 390 (6.4-liter) V8 developing 320 horsepower is still under the hood, and according to the garage, it still runs and drives okay, though its still described as a yard driver requiring more fixes.Theres obviously some rust, but this isnt necessarily surprising given the car has been sitting for so long.So is it worth a second chance? It probably is, but only if youre ready to spend big on it. The asking price for this Mustang is $31,500, and you can check it out live in Dallas, Texas.
kW

If youre unfamiliar with the concept, Kei cars (or light automobiles) made up the smallest highway-legal passenger cars allowed on Japanese roads. The category was codified by the Japanese government in 1949 after the end of World War II to spur sales and car markets.Sold only in Japan and exported outside the country only to Australia - and of all places, Cyprus - less than 3,000 Mighty Boys were actually sent overseas between 1985 and 1988. A manual transmission version of the truck sold in Australia for just under AUD5,800 (less than $4,400 in 1988 money), and that made it the cheapest car you could buy down under at the time.The Mighty Boys were classified as commercial vehicles in Japan and Australia, which meant they also qualified for much lower taxes levied on such vehicles. As a result, the Mighty Boy never sold much in Japan and was never replaced with new models by Suzuki. Still, they are the subject of a dedicated group of enthusiasts in Japan.They arent particularly interesting aside from what modders have done with them , and this one is interesting indeed for that very reason. There may be just 300 to 400 of them left in Oz, so this one is a rarity in other ways.This Mighty Boy is beastly as it holds a 6-liter V8 fuel-injected engine and cranks out 440 whp (324), weighs over 1,200 pounds (550 kilograms), and can absolutely smoke off a set of tires.While the factory versions of the Mighty Boy were powered by a dainty 543cc three-cylinder transverse-mounted engine - and produced just 31 hp (23 kW) and 32 pound-feet (Nm) of torque, this hot rod makes lots, lots more power.Its amazing that the entire truck stays in one piece under the kind of load this engine delivers, but it seems that it does.
One of the icons of Halloween is of course the pumpkin. Otherwise a benign fruit, it gets turned into the stuff of nightmares each October, with more or less talented hands carving away the thick shell to create monstrous orange-yellow faces, some with teeth, others with evil grins.Also known as jack-o'-lantern, these creations are said to have originated in Ireland centuries ago, and gained notoriety in the U.S. thanks to Washington Irvings 1820 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, where one of the characters, having lost their head, had a pumpkin for one.Now, all of us humans suffer from something called pareidolia , Its not a disease, or an affection, but the tendency of our brains to see familiar images and patterns where there are none. So, put Halloween, pumpkins, the orange-yellow Sun of our planet, and pareidolia in one basket, and what you get is this amazing, solar system-scale nod to this weekends celebration.What youre looking at is an actual image of our Sun. It was captured back in 2014, in October of all times, by the Solar Dynamics Observatory , a piece of hardware orbiting 35,789 km (22,238 miles) away from Earth and studying the Sun since 2010.As per NASA , which once again brought the image back into focus as Halloween approaches, what were looking at are the active regions of the star at that time, giving it the appearance of a jack-o'-lantern.To us, it looks more like pareidolia at play, trying to help our brains make sense of an object in space well probably never fully understand.
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The life of influential Cuban poet and writer Jose Lezama Lima, who was heralded by the Cuban Revolution only to be silenced later for homoerotic writings and critiques of the regime, is celebrated in a film premiering this Friday.

The big picture: The VOCES/PBS documentary Letters to Eloisa is told through the haunting letters written by Lezama to his sister in exile, narrated by Alfred Molina.

Details: Born in 1910, Lezama became a well-known poet and founded an influential literary journal, Origenes.

He led a group of Cuban intellectuals speaking out against Americas modernizing influence and corruption prevalent in Cuba during the 1940s and 1950s.

When Fidel Castro came to power, he saw it as the triumph of Cubas finest aspirations.

Yes, but: The film shows the repression and censorship Lezama faced after initially being celebrated by Castro's government.

The documentary also includes the voices of authors who were inspired by Lezama or knew him personally, such as Peruvian-Spanish novelist Mario Vargas Llosa.

The documentary was partially filmed by Adriana Bosch thanks to a fundraising campaign. Bosch, also from Cuba, was a producer of the Peabody-winning series "Latino Americans."

The intrigue: Lezamas monumental novel "Paradiso," originally published in 1966 but then taken off bookshelves when he was ostracized by the Castro government, has just been re-edited in Spanish.

"Paradiso" describes, uninhibitedly, the main characters many sexual dalliances with both men and women. The uproar over it made him have to go into hiding.

At that time, Castros regime was rounding up gay men and sending them to labor camps.

Influential friends outside of Cuba helped Lezama survive his confrontation with the revolutions leaders.

Don't forget: Despite numerous invitations to collect literary prizes and speak at conferences, Lezama was not allowed to leave the island and remained a virtual prisoner in his Havana home for a time. His pain fills the pages of letters to his sister, Eloisa.

"Letters to Eloisa" is scheduled to begin airing on most PBS stations on Friday and will be available for streaming on pbs.org and the PBS Video app.

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Why it matters: As demand rises well beyond pre-pandemic levels, the system is facing burned-out providers and staffing shortages, and even more people who need care arent getting it.

Americas mental health crisis began long before the coronavirus pandemic did, but a year and a half of loss, stress, isolation and treatment disruption has only increased the number of Americans struggling with their mental health.

Americas mental health crisis began long before the coronavirus pandemic did, but a year and a half of loss, stress, isolation and treatment disruption has only increased the number of Americans struggling with their mental health.

Why it matters: As demand rises well beyond pre-pandemic levels, the system is facing burned-out providers and staffing shortages, and even more people who need care arent getting it.

The big picture: Mental health care was already inequitable and in short supply before the pandemic.

But the number of people reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression skyrocketed during the pandemic and has remained high.

Substance use has increased as well, and an alarming number of children and adolescents are showing up in emergency rooms seeking mental or behavioral health treatment.

"The pandemic has created an extraordinary sense of loss in many people's lives, and it's created abrupt change with great uncertainty about when that change is going to end. And that has really turned many peoples lives upside down," Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in an interview.

Driving the news: A group of children's health care organizations this month declared a national emergency in children's mental health.

The Biden administration this month released a set of recommendations for schools and providers on how to support students with behavioral health needs. It also put out a new overdose prevention strategy.

Meanwhile, many state psychiatric facilities are short-staffed and running out of beds, Kaiser Health News recently reported.

State of play: Not everyone will bounce back once the stress of the pandemic fades.

"The pandemic has been a source of trauma for many people, and when you think about it in that context, the effects of trauma take time to resolve," Murthy said. "And they dont always resolve on their own  they dont always resolve by removing the source of the trauma."

"As things start to get normal, the full brunt of the trauma theyve been through starts to surface in their lives, and they have to deal with that," he added. "So thats why I think this is the right time for our country to have a conversation about mental health."

What we're watching: Plenty of people who are struggling with anxiety or depression will be OK if they learn effective coping skills or gain access to treatment.

But public experts fear that if left unaddressed, some people's mental health struggles will only get worse.

"All mental illness tends to make people more vulnerable to addiction, partly because people find that a lot of these medications and substances that can be addictive are helpful in dealing with the mental health issues theyre having," said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

And not everyone has equal access to care. In fact, some of the same people hit hardest by the stresses of the pandemic  like low-income families or people of color  may be most at risk of not getting the mental health treatment they need.

The bottom line: We may be exiting the worst part of the coronavirus pandemic, but we're just beginning to grapple with the subsequent mental health epidemic.
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New study shows 50% decrease in Texas abortions since Sept. 1, not the 85% predicted by providers
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This much is clear about San Francisco's plan to withdraw itself from Kern County oil production: It isn't going to be cheap. Question is, who
Brenda Ruth Street Mitchell, age 71, of the Peapatch area of Jewell Ridge, VA, went home to be with our Lord and Savior on Friday, November 19, 2021 at home on Peapatch surrounded by her loving family. She was born and raised in Whitewood, VA and was a daughter of the late Arthur Street and 
Chances for Northern Lights Rise Along Washington, Oregon Coast

Published 10/29/21 at 5:46 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Seaside, Oregon)  A Geomagnetic Storm Watch is in effect for much of the planet for October 30  31, after a significant flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) occurred on the sun yesterday in the early morning.

Translation: there are some decent chances to see the Aurora Borealis as far south as northern California. With mostly clear skies over the next two nights on the Oregon and Washington coast, those areas will be in prime position to spot the northern lights. However, Sunday looks to be cloudy in the region, so a Halloween Aurora Borealis sighting will be unlikely on the beaches.

Scientists say it is the strongest solar flare that was shot out of the sun during this recent cycle of sun activity.





The sheer power of this storm of ions bodes well for not just seeing it on the Oregon coast and Washington coast, but maybe spotting it with the naked eye and without the aid of cameras.

Analysis indicated the CME departed the Sun at a speed of 973 km/s and is forecast to arrive at Earth on 30 October, with effects likely continuing into 31 October, said the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA).

The one area that won't get to see this is the southern Oregon coast, where the forecast is for cloudy skies over the weekend evenings.

Jim Todd, astronomy expert with Portland's OMSI, is excited about the possibilities of three nights worth of ionic display.

Looking at the predictions, chance of seeing the Northern Lights for Oregon (mid latitude) indicates 5% for Friday, Oct 29; 45% for Saturday, Oct 30; 40% for Sunday, Oct 31, Todd said. Weather forecast for the Willamette Valley is favorable with partly cloudy skies during the night. The waning crescent moon will be a nonfactor. Checking the predictions before heading out.

Todd said it's important to get away from city lights if you're going to look for this, which makes the northwest coastlines excellent places to look.

See Oregon Coast Weather - Washington Coast Weather

Oregon Coast Beach Connection recommends heading to high vantage points with no major blockage to the north. Look for the high gravel pullout just south of Yachats, Cape Foulweather near Depoe Bay, Anderson's Viewpoint just south of Cape Lookout State Park, Cape Disappointment at Ilwaco, or the viewpoints just south of Cannon Beach. The long, flat stretches of the southern Washington coast will also be prime.

Best bet is to take a digital camera (DSLR or advance smartphones) on a tripod and take 3 to 5 seconds exposures towards the northern horizon, Todd said. If the picture shows some shades of green to red curtain-like images, chances are the auroras are active. Sometimes the auroras low and faint above the northern horizon, not visible to the naked eye. Auroras can last for few minutes or few hours.

As for timing, that's a difficult one to pin down.



Graphic courtesy Solarham.com

The K index near 7 indicates some active auroras are possible after sunset through sunrise, Todd said. Keep in mind, the strongest levels could be during the day, so timing and strength determines the night time visibility.

This solar flare was an X-1 flare, the highest classification there is, and it created a G3-class solar storm  also the highest classification.

The sun's heavy solar flare cycle is still approaching its peak, which it will reach in 2024, Todd said.

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Not All Oregon Coast Beaches Recovered from Last Winter's Erosion

Published 10/28/21 at 6:26 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast)  Last year's gargantuan wave action during the 2020/21 winter season left its scars and marks in most portions of the state's beaches. Dunes were chomped on and chopped up. Cliffs were cut into. One oceanfront home was declared unsafe after the ground gave out, pipes were exposed not far away, and in Cannon Beach rarely-seen bedrock poked out from beneath the sands. King tides that occurred in November, December and January happened to coincide with raging storms, creating a perfect storm of erosional conditions. (Above: Devil's Kitchen area of Bandon in January 2021: wave action ate away large chunks of cliffs. Courtesy tbowspencer / CoastWatch)

With this year's La Nina on track to create similar batterings of shoreline, this may be a tense situation in some areas.

Normally, sand levels bounce back during the summer, which creates conditions favorable to depositing sand rather than take it away. Dunes get puffed up again, more dunes are created where low-sloped beaches were in winter, and cliffs shrink in height as the sandy floor gets higher beneath them.



(Above: Devil's Kitchen area at Bandon this summer, still showing erosion signs. Courtesy CoastWatch's tbowspencer)

However, this past year saw some areas not getting buffeted up again as much as they normally do. Bandon's Seven Devil's area is one prime example, where CoastWatch volunteers filed reports back in January showing some eye-popping changes to the beach. In August, the volunteer that goes by the handle tbowspencer noted their mile had not built back up nearly as much as before.

In fact, erosion may have continued over the summer.

Late August along Mile 99 shows noticeably lower sand dunes than in previous years, they said. Both Johnson and Crooked Creeks are at very low levels less than 2 inches deep as they enter the ocean. There is more erosion of the bluff along the east bank of Johnson Creek, with large gorse roots exposed.

This may leave some beaches more vulnerable to this winter's harsh tidal conditions.

Jonathan Allan is a geologist with the Newport office of Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI).

In general recovery has been slower this year with most beaches only now hovering around average conditions of recovery, while some areas e.g. Pacific City, Neahkahnie Beach, Rockaway Beach, Agate Beach (Newport) currently show less sand when compared with past years, he told Oregon Coast Beach Connection.

Allan said that last season produced the third largest excursion (movement) of the mean shoreline position since our records began, which was around 1997.

Curiously, maximum winter storms last year along the Oregon coast were actually a little lower than previous seasons, clocking in at 26 feet, Allan said. Other recent years saw individual storms exceeding wave heights of 33 feet.

However, on average the winter waves during the 2020/21 season were above average in height relative to past seasons, he said.

Allan said recovery of the beaches over the year has varied greatly between areas, with some bouncing back well.

Why haven't the others bounced back? Is this a climate change effect?



Manzanita last year: sharp drops at the dunes (courtesy Barb Gould)

No, it is not, Allan said. It's a fairly normal, cyclical thing. Where climate would come into play is if these trends continued for many years or decades.

Why some areas are not recovering is complicated, as Allan put it, and there's a few reasons.

One: some areas are not getting the right wave conditions. More swell-oriented waves that are transporting sand onto beaches from sand bars are needed.

Two: Length of time for those conditions. You have to have the right swell conditions occurring over a sufficient amount of time to loose sediment onto shore instead of taking it offshore.

Three: there could simply be not enough sand just offshore of an area to replenish what was taken away. Maybe the sand eroded away into the deeper ocean, he said.

Four: sand moves in three dimensions, not two. It doesn't just move offshore and onshore. Oceans also move sand up and down along beaches, north and southward.

It could take a few seasons or multiple seasons of quieter conditions to allow sand to move back onto that beach, Allan said.

Manzanita is one spot that looks normal again  but isn't. Last year, those high dunes were starkly shaved off in many areas, creating sudden drops of three to ten feet, actually making for dangerous spots to run if you weren't paying attention.

This summer, the dunes seem to have recovered their shape at least. Those abrupt walls have crumbled and sloped, according to Seaside geologist Tom Horning.

However, Horning said that beach has been changed since last year, but you can't see it with the naked eye.

The beach at Manzanita is narrower and steeper than before last winter's high tides, he said.

Sands were mapped and measured here four years ago, finding some 250 feet of sand between the bluffs and to a certain point near the tideline.

After January 10, 2021, we made our own topographic maps using drones, and found the beach had gone from 250 feet down to 110 feet, he said. So where did all that sand go? It got swept out to sea.

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Washington Coast Clam Dig Dates Announced, First Nov. 3

Published 10/27/21 at 5:56 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Westport, Washington)  The Washington coast's patchwork of available razor clamming spots has just widened a bit, with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) approving the next round of digs. The first are kicking off Wednesday, November 3. (Photo courtesy WDFW)

Meanwhile, along the Oregon coast, all razor clamming is open from the California border through to the area's most prolific region at Clatsop Beach.

The opening for the Washington coast comes after officials with the Washington Department of Health determined that marine toxin levels remain low, and the clams continue to be safe for human consumption.

WDFW shellfish managers estimate that so far this season, diggers have harvested an estimated 2.3 million clams during 126,250 digger trips.

WDFW's Dan Ayres said that diggers should be aware of which beaches are open and which are not. These alternate, as normally Copalis Beach or Mocrocks Beach is open on a given day, with the other beach closed.

We've had some confusion with people thinking that all these beaches are open for every dig, but that isn't the case, Ayres said. If you plan to visit Copalis or Mocrocks, be sure your intended destination is open on the day you want to dig.

See the list below for information on which beaches are open each day.

Overall, it's been a very successful season so far, and we hope it continues throughout 2021, Ayres said. These digs help bring millions of dollars into coastal communities, and offer people a fun, healthy way to get outdoors with a low barrier to entry.

Following local safety guidelines can help keep it fun and healthy as COVID remains a concern across Washington, and managers continue to urge diggers to be respectful of local residents and communities.

The following digs were approved, along with the low tides and beaches:

Nov. 3, Wednesday, 6:16 P.M.; -0.3 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

Nov. 4, Thursday, 7:01 P.M.; -1.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

Nov. 5, Friday, 7:46 P.M.; -1.6 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

Nov. 6, Saturday, 8:33 P.M.; -1.8 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

Nov. 7, Sunday, 8:23 P.M.; -1.6 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

Nov. 8, Monday, 9:16 P.M.; -1.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

Nov. 9, Tuesday, 10:13 P.M.; -0.6 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

Nov. 10, Wednesday, 11:16 P.M.; 0.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

Most successful digging occurs between one and two hours before the listed time of low tide. No digging is allowed before noon during digs when low tide occurs in the afternoon or evening.

The open beaches along Washington are Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks, and Copalis. Each of these have increased limits through the end of 2021, with recreational harvesters can now keep 20 clams instead of the usual 15. Each digger's clams must be kept in a separate container, and all diggers must keep the first 20 clams they dig, regardless of size or condition.

WDFW has tentatively scheduled additional digging dates later in 2021  details can be found at wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfishing-regulations/razor-clams. All tentative dates are dependent on final marine toxin testing, which usually occurs about a week or less prior to each set of openings. WDFW will announce additional dates in 2022 in mid-December after reviewing harvest levels and projections.

All diggers age 15 or older must have an applicable fishing license to harvest razor clams on any beach.

Licenses, ranging from a three-day razor clam license to an annual combination fishing license, are available from WDFW's licensing website at fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/login, and from hundreds of license vendors around the state. WDFW recommends buying your license before visiting coastal beach communities for this razor clam season.

To learn more about razor clam abundance, population densities at various beaches, and how seasons are set, visit wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfishing-regulations/razor-clams#management.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife works to preserve, protect, and perpetuate fish, wildlife and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish, wildlife, and recreational and commercial opportunities.





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VATICAN CITY (AP)  South Korean President Moon Jae-in gave Pope Francis a statue of a cross made with barbed wire from the demilitarized zone separating the Koreas and told him Friday that a papal visit to the North would help create momentum for peace" on the peninsula, officials said.

Moon, a Catholic, called on Francis before the start of the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

The Vatican, which didnt allow independent media in the audience, said the talks touched on the role of the Catholic Church in promoting dialogue and said hopes were shared that joint effort and good will may favor peace and development in the Korean Peninsula, supported by solidarity and by fraternity."

Ahead of the visit, South Korean presidential officials said they expected Moon and Francis would discuss a possible papal visit to the officially atheist North, since Francis had previously expressed a desire to visit if it becomes possible. The Vatican made no mention of a possible trip in its statement Friday and none is currently believed to be under consideration.

Moon first floated the idea of a papal visit to the North in 2018 when he revealed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had said during a summit between the Korean leaders that the pope would be enthusiastically welcomed.

Kim then was actively engaging in diplomacy with Seoul and the Trump administration in an effort to leverage his nuclear programs for an easing of U.S.-led economic sanctions. But the diplomacy derailed and the North also cut off cooperation with South Korea while expressing frustration over the Moon governments inability to wrest concessions on its behalf from Washington.

Moon told the pope on Friday that if he does get an opportunity to visit North Korea, it would create a momentum for peace in the Korean Peninsula and that South Koreans have huge expectations (for a papal visit to the North), said Moon spokesman Park Kyung-mee.

Park said Francis told Moon that he would gladly visit the North if he receives an official invitation, so that he could help the Korean people and contribute to peace. He described the people of the two Koreas as brothers who share the same language.

During the exchange of gifts, Francis gave Moon a medallion replicating Berninis original plan for St. Peters Square. The design envisages the two main colonnades of the Vatican piazza embracing humanity in the church. He also gave him copies of some of his main texts, including one outlining his vision for greater human fraternity.

Moons statue of a cross was made with barbed wire from the DMZ. An accompanying note, written in Spanish, said his hope was that the spikes and iron used to make the barbed wire could be used instead as a symbol of peace.

I pray devotedly that this cross sprouts deep roots and that peace may flourish, the note said.

___

Tong-Hyung Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Advocacy groups and voters sued on Friday to block the North Carolina General Assembly's timetable to pass new boundaries for legislative seats next week, saying Republicans are breaking rules designed to ensure Black voters can elect their favored candidates.

The North Carolina NAACP, Common Cause and four individuals filed a lawsuit i n Wake County court challenging the legislators' refusal to consider racial data or evaluate the presence of racially polarized voting in the state before considering map proposals. Avoiding such activity means it's impossible to follow the state constitution and the legal recipe set by the state Supreme Court in the 2000s to make sure House and Senate districts comply with the U.S. Voting Rights Act, according to the lawsuit.

The result of this fatally flawed process is one that will be harmful to voters of color, Allison Riggs with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, the plaintiffs lead attorney, told reporters. Even with plain instructions set out by the state Supreme Court, she added, Republicans got it wrong and have stubbornly refused to look at race-based data and analyze parts of the state where voting patterns divided by race have worsened.

The plaintiffs want a judge to immediately stop the current process, demand that the recipe be followed and delay the General Assembly primary set for March 8 until at least May to give legislators and voters more time.

The litigation came about as General Assembly members have been drawing maps over the past three weeks and held public hearings this week. Lawmakers were expected to begin debating and voting on specific plans starting Monday. They want to enact boundaries based on 2020 census figures for the two legislative chambers and for the U.S. House delegation by the end of next week. Candidate filing is currently set to begin Dec. 6.

Republicans filed additional plan proposals Friday that if approved likely would heavily favor the GOP to extend their current legislative majorities in each chamber and have a good chance to win at least 10 of the 14 U.S. House seats the state will have starting with the 2022 elections.

The GOP-controlled House and Senate redistricting committees voted in August to prohibit racial data  such as the percentage of minorities on voter registration rolls and within the voting-age population of a certain county or proposed district. They argue that maps drawn in the late 2010s that courts signed off on didn't use such data, and that judges have found there isn't enough voting polarization by race to be necessary to review.

We did not look at race, and the courts did not criticize us for that, said Sen. Paul Newton, a Cabarrus County Republican and co-chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, in a recent interview. So as we walk now into 2021, why would we do anything different?

But without successful litigation, the plaintiffs lawyers wrote, the votes of Black residents will be diluted and their power weakened.

Lawmakers supposed race-blind redistricting process is rigged to reduce the strength of our votes, silence our voices, and negate decades of struggle and sacrifice for fairer maps, state NAACP President Deborah Dicks Maxwell said in a news release. The lawsuit doesn't challenge the congressional map process, which isn't covered by the state Supreme Court rulings from the early 2000s identified in the litigation.

House Redistricting Committee Chairman Destin Hall of Caldwell County, a lawsuit defendant along with Speaker Tim Moore, Senate leader Phil Berger and others, called the litigation in a tweet another iteration of the Democrats' strategy to sue to win more seats. The Democratic Party or a party official isn't listed among the plaintiffs, however.

I stand firmly behind our process and look forward to fighting against this ludicrous lawsuit, Hall said in a news release.

___

Associated Press/Report for America writer Bryan Anderson contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (AP)  Lawyers for a British socialite are trying to put conspiracy theories and other topics a galaxy away in front of a jury that will decide if she helped Jeffrey Epstein abuse teenage girls, prosecutors told a judge Friday.

The government and defense lawyers submitted arguments to the judge who will preside over the November trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, who has been incarcerated since her July 2020 arrest on charges that she recruited teenage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse and sometimes joined in the abuse.

She has pleaded not guilty. Epstein died at a Manhattan lockup in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

The final pretrial hearing is Monday. Prospective jurors will fill out questionnaires later in the week and oral questioning of them will begin in mid-November. Opening statements are scheduled for Nov. 29.

In Friday's submission, prosecutors claimed the defense planned to create a side show with extraneous subjects.

They said conspiracy theories the defense wants to introduce at trial include claims about the government's motives for charging Maxwell, supposed evidence relating to the Minor Victims' consent, statements Maxwell has made, evidence of other abuse not involving Maxwell and proof that Maxwell prevailed in civil litigation.

These topics are far afield  a galaxy away  from the questions of fact to be resolved by the jury. The Government is concerned that the defense plans to exceed its limits and, therefore, has moved to preclude the defense from arguing them or offering evidence of them, prosecutors wrote.

Defense lawyers countered that prosecutors were trying to improperly obtain advisory rulings from the judge and were trying to prematurely, and unconstitutionally, force Ms. Maxwell to reveal defense theories, strategies, and cross-examination.

They said it was too soon to limit evidence because the judge lacks the necessary facts to make intelligent rulings.

The lawyers wrote that prosecutors were seeking to preclude evidence or arguments that the accusers consented to sexual contact. They argue that certain evidence from accusers who were underage at the time of the alleged sexual abuse may be admissible.

They said the age of consent for sexual contact purposes varies depending on the state and nation.

New York defines a minor as a person under the age of 17; Florida considers it under the age of 18; the United Kingdom under the age of 16; France under the age of 15; and New Mexico does not have a specific age of consent statute but criminalizes all sexual contact of a minor under the age of 13 when coercion or force is involved, the lawyers said.
BEIRUT (AP)  Syria's air defenses responded Saturday to missiles fired from Israel toward suburbs of the capital Damascus, wounding two soldiers, the Syrian military said.

Syria's state news agency SANA quoted a statement by an unnamed military official who said the air defenses shot down several incoming surface-to-surface missiles from northern Israel just before noon, which also caused damage in the area.

Israel carries out raids on Syria mostly during nighttime and rarely comments on individual attacks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor from the Syrian opposition, said the missiles hit northwest of Damascus, killing five Iran-allied militiamen. The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said it was not clear if those killed were Syrians or foreigners.

There was no official word on deaths.

The Observatory said the target was a shipment of weapons and ammunition heading to Lebanon. It had earlier said that the areas hit contain arms depots for Lebanon's Hezbollah group, and positions of the Syrian military and Iran-backed militias.

Saturdays strikes came days after Syria accused Israel of carrying out an attack in the countrys south, without offering details.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against Iran-linked military targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Israel has acknowledged it is targeting bases of Iran-allied militias, such as the powerful Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. It is going after arms shipments believed to be bound for the group. Hezbollah is fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assads forces in the civil war.

Israel views Iranian entrenchment on its northern frontier as a red line, and it has repeatedly struck Iran-linked facilities and weapons convoys destined for Lebanons militant Hezbollah group.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  U.S. governors want a seat at the table as international leaders prepare to gather in Scotland at a critical moment for global efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions and slow the planet's temperature rise.

At least a half dozen state governors  all Democrats  plan to attend parts of the two-week United Nations' climate change conference in Glasgow, known as COP26. Though states aren't official parties to talks, governors hold significant sway over the United States' approach to tackling climate change by setting targets for reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to renewable energy.

Take California, where Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to halt the sale of new gas-powered cars in the state by 2035, a move aimed at accelerating the nation's transition to electric vehicles. Or Washington, where Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee backed legislation requiring the state's electricity be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Governors can do a lot," said Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institute. When they're talking to people on the sidelines and sharing policies and ideas and helping to demonstrate the commitment of the U.S. as a whole, there's quite a bit that they can do."

Governors slated to attend are Inslee, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Hawaii Gov. David Ige, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. All six governors are part of the U.S. Climate Alliance, an effort started by Inslee and former Govs. Jerry Brown of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York in 2017 as the Trump administration backed away from U.S. climate goals. The alliance plans to announce ambitious" new climate commitments in Scotland, though it hasn't shared specifics.

Newsom announced Friday he would participate virtually due to unspecified family obligations. California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis will instead lead the state's delegation, which includes more than a dozen lawmakers and top administration officials.

All eyes will be on Glasgow, with the world asking the question: What are we doing to do about (climate change)? Kounalakis said. And California has answers.

Other states sending officials include Maryland and Massachusetts, which have Republican governors.

Few U.S. states are as influential as California, which is home to nearly 40 million people and would be the world's fifth-largest economy if it were its own nation. It's led the nation in vehicle emissions standards, was the first state to launch a carbon pollution credit program known as cap-and-trade and has set some of the nation's most ambitious goals on reducing emissions.

It's the nation's seventh-largest oil producing state, though Newsom officials say the state has six times as many jobs in clean energy as it does in the oil industry. Newsom has made strides to lower demand and eventually end production, but some environmental groups say he's got to act significantly faster.

Several other state leaders heading to Glasgow also come from places that rely on oil and gas production as a key piece of the economy. New Mexico's Lujan Grisham travels to the climate conference as she juggles competing pressures from environmental activists and the fossil fuel industry while running for reelection in 2022.

New Mexico is one of the top oil states. Amid surging oil output, Lujan Grisham has pushed to rein in leaks and emissions of excess natural gas by the industry and signed legislation that mandates and incentivizes New Mexicos own transition to zero-emissions electricity by 2045.

We  as a state, as a nation, as a planet  must go further by pursuing bold, equitable and just climate solutions. I am looking forward to this significant opportunity for collaboration and action at the global level, Lujan Grisham said in a recent statement.

In March, Lujan Grisham wrote President Joe Biden, asking to exempt New Mexico from an executive order halting gas and oil production on federal land. Oil field royalties, taxes and lease sales account for more than one-quarter of the state's general fund budget, underwriting spending on public schools, roads and public safety.

Edwards of Louisiana, a state that's suffered significant flooding and damage from hurricanes, plans to promote his state as a hub for clean energy projects. He's set a goal to cut the state's net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, though his administration is still putting together a strategy document for reaching that goal.

No state in our nation is more affected by climate change than Louisiana, but its also true that no state is better positioned to be part of the solution to the problems facing our world," he said recently.

The governors will participate on panels through the U.S. Climate Alliance alongside members of the Biden administration. They'll also participate alongside 65 subnational governments in announcing dozens" of new commitments on Nov. 7. The panel will also focus on politics that can turbocharge greenhouse gas emissions reductions," according to an alliance press release.

Governors and mayors around the world do not believe we should rely just on our federal governments," Inslee, of Washington, said during a Thursday news conference.

It's critical for U.S. and world leaders to move from planning to implementation of aggressive climate strategies, said Katelyn Sutter, senior manager for U.S. climate at the Environmental Defense Fund.

We need policy to back up pledges to reduce emissions," she said. Thats where a state like California, and now Washington and others that have momentum moving forward, can really be impactful."

As for California, Newsom administration officials said they hope to demonstrate that tackling the climate crisis can be good for the economy and that pollution targets should be made with historically underserved communities in mind. The administration recently proposed banning new oil wells within 3,200 feet (975 meters) of homes, schools and hospitals, and Newsom has directed the state's air regulator to develop a plan to end oil production by 2045.

We can help push national governments to increase their ambition," said Lauren Sanchez, Newsoms senior adviser for climate.

___

This story has been corrected to say the Republican-led states sending representatives are Maryland and Massachusetts, not Maryland and North Carolina.

___

Associated Press writers Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, N.M., Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La., and John O'Connor in Springfield, Ill., contributed reporting.
Bipartisanship in Washington D.C. is about as rare as Bigfoot sightings these days, but it hasnt completely disappeared. Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz  both conservative Republicans  have joined with several Democratic senators to support a bill that would tighten up financial disclosure requirements for federal judges.

This bill would close a glaring loophole in these requirements that was exposed recently by the Wall Street Journal. It would require federal judges to submit periodic reports for certain kinds of securities transactions to make sure that they recused themselves from cases where they might have a financial interest.

The Journal reported that some judges were not disclosing all of this information. Even though it was technically legal, it raised ethical questions that the judges clearly should have avoided. Legislation called the STOCK Act has required this kind of disclosure for elected officials, but some securities transactions for judges were excluded for reasons never explained.

Thats not right, and it shouldnt take an investigative report by a newspaper to make that clear.

This legislation would subject federal judges to the same disclosure requirements of other federal officials so we can be sure litigants are protected from conflicts of interest and cases are decided fairly, Cornyn said. A fundamental pillar of our justice system is the right to a fair and impartial trial. Litigants need confidence that they will receive an unbiased hearing free from outside influence and based only on the facts and the law.

This bipartisan bill, The Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act, would require that federal judges financial disclosure reports be made available online for all taxpayers and analysts to examine. It would also require federal judges to submit periodic transaction reports of securities transactions in line with other federal officials under the STOCK Act.

A bill like this shouldnt get tied up in the usual Washington politics. Again, all it does is extend the same kinds of reporting requirements to federal judges that other high-ranking officials are already supposed to follow.

If senators as different in philosophies as Ted Cruz and liberal Democrat Jon Ossoff of Georgia can agree on that, this change is valid. And if they could agree to work together on other issues in the public interest, that would be even better.
Bedford, PA (15522)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 44F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Overcast. Low around 30F. Winds light and variable.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (center) holds up the gavel for the ASEAN chairmanship during the online closing ceremony of the 2021 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, via a live video conference in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, Oct. 27, 2021.

Cambodias unusually sharp rebuke of Myanmars military regime this week, before the kingdom assumes the leadership of ASEAN for 2022, raises pressure on Phnom Penh to maintain the firm stance taken by the regional bloc against the junta in recent months, analysts say.

With Brunei, the 2021 ASEAN chair as host, leaders of member-states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations opened its annual summit online on Tuesday without Myanmar, which stayed away to protest its junta chief, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, being barred from the meeting.

In an unprecedented move earlier this month, ASEAN foreign ministers excluded the coup leader from the summit, saying he had backtracked on agreements on accepting a special envoy and talking with opponents, during an emergency meeting of ASEAN leaders about Myanmars post-coup crisis in April.

During this weeks summit, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen spoke critically of Myanmar, according to Reuters news agency, saying that ASEAN had not expelled the country from the gathering, but that the Naypyidaw junta had abandoned its right.

Now we are in the situation of ASEAN minus one, he said. It is not because of ASEAN, but because of Myanmar, said the strongman who has ruled Cambodia since 1985 and led his country into the bloc in 1999.

Hun Sen was handed the ASEANs chairmans ceremonial gavel from Brunei on Thursday, the same day his office shared a Twitter commentary that pointed to a softer line toward Myanmar by ASEAN. The 10-nation bloc has a reputation for placing internal comity and unity over discussing the internal affairs even of errant member states.

Cambodia should set up an ad hoc taskforce to work with Myanmars conflicting parties quietly or through back-door diplomacy to share lessons and experiences of peacebuilding and win-win policy implementation for Myanmar, said the commentary by the government-affiliated Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP).

Helping to resolve the political crisis in Myanmar is not an interference in the internal affairs of the country, but an expression of ASEAN solidarity and mutual assistance based on mutual respect for sovereignty, it said.

When the Khmer Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA) asked him why the prime ministers office had linked to the AKP commentary, Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said the piece was purely the personal view of an official from the Royal Academy of Cambodia and it did not reflect the governments position.

It is too early to say anything, the spokesman said, adding: Hun Sen will try his best to resolve Myanmars crisis.

Phay Siphans comments followed a Reuters report that Cambodian Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn said that Cambodia would keep up pressure on Myanmars junta to open a dialogue with its opponents.

Nine months after the militarys Feb. 1 coup, security forces in Myanmar have killed 1,220 civilians and arrested at least 7,049, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners  mostly during crackdowns on anti-junta protests.

Myanmar military ruler Min Aung Hlaing presides over an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021. [Reuters]

Constructive engagement

ASEANs foundational principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of its members allows the bloc to turn a blind eye to abuses committed by its member-states, who can act with relative impunity, critics have long held.

The group is no stranger to troubled dealings with Myanmars military, or with coups among members, including in Cambodia.

Myanmar was admitted into ASEAN along with Laos in an expansion of the group in 1997 that was supposed to include Cambodia, but Phnom Penhs accession was derailed by Hun Sens coup against his partner in the countrys shaky coalition government formed after decades of war.

ASEANs approach to the military regime in Myanmar in the 1990s and the first decade of this century -- a period of overturned elections, atrocities, and economic mismanagement  was known as constructive engagement and was widely criticized as enabling the generals to prolong their destructive rule.

Some analysts are confident that Cambodia can maintain the uncharacteristically strong stance ASEAN took in barring Min Aung Hlaing from the 2021 summit.

Sihasak Phuangketkeow, the former permanent secretary of Thailands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a webinar on Thailand and the Myanmar Crisis on Wednesday that he is very optimistic that Cambodia will continue, what ... ASEAN has been doing  and Im sure that well see more activism on the part of Cambodia.

[I]f Myanmar decides to turn their back on ASEAN, and well have a situation like we had at the summit, where ... we will be missing a very important member of the ASEAN family, Sihasak, who is also the former Thai ambassador to Japan, told the gathering, hosted by the ISEAS Yushof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

In the end, theres only so much that we can help with Myanmar unless Myanmar decides to help itself first.

Sihasak said he believes that ASEAN was too complacent about developments in Myanmar, and even defended the country for quite a long time.

And I think its difficult for us to continue defending Myanmar at all costs, really, he said.

Seng Sary, a Cambodian political analyst, told RFA that Cambodia must ensure that it has the backing of all ASEAN members as it seeks a resolution to the situation in Myanmar.

ASEAN members think of different benefits [to membership] and have different political agendas. The bloc must resolve the issues through mutual respect, he said.

This report was produced by the Khmer and English services of Radio Free Asia, with which BenarNews is affiliated. Subel Rai Bhandari in Kathmandu and Shailaja Neelakantan in Washington contributed to it.
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.
CLAIM: Dr. Anthony Faucis experiments include one that magnified terror in the brains of monkeys and subjected them to frightening stimuli.

THE FACTS: A tweet that circulated widely across platforms this week falsely suggested a study decried by animal activists was among Faucis experiments, despite the fact that the nation's top infectious disease expert had no part in the research, nor did the institute he directs, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Reading through Faucis experiments and the one I find most alarming is the use of an acid to destroy a region of monkeys brains to magnify terror, read the tweet, first posted by the conservative commentator Candace Owens. They then simulated images of spiders and tormented them with fear. Human DNA is 97% identical to apes. Why fund that research?

In reality, the research mentioned in the tweet was conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health, a division of the National Institutes of Health that is separate from the one Fauci heads.

Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is not involved and has never been involved in this study, NIMHs press team said in an emailed statement. Additionally, the study was not funded by NIAID.

NIMH also disputed the framing of the tweet, saying that while the study did use lesioning techniques to alter the brains of monkeys, it was critically important research to learn more about brain circuits that help with emotion expression and regulation. In the 2019 study, researchers used injections of acid to target areas of the brain in rhesus macaques. They then observed the monkeys responding to a fake rubber snake, a fake spider and neutral stimuli. The study authors said their work provided insights into the neural regulation of defensive responses to threat and inform the etiology and treatment of anxiety disorders in humans.

While the study in question found monkeys with the lesions had an increased defensive response to threat, other research has found that brain lesions blunted or had no effect on emotional threat responses in monkeys. Several animal activist groups and federal lawmakers have publicly criticized this research and other studies involving monkeys at the NIH.

Unvaccinated FEMA employees arent replacing noncompliant health care workers CLAIM: Workers with the Federal Emergency Management Agency are not required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but are being used to replace 

Responding to such criticism, NIMH defended its use of the primates, saying, monkeys are critical for studying these brain circuits because their brains are structurally and functionally similar to human brains. NIMH added that animals used in its research are protected by laws, regulations and policies that are intended to ensure a commitment to animal welfare. Owens did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Her tweet followed scrutiny of several experiments using dogs  some of which were funded in part by the Fauci-run NIAID.

 Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed this report with additional reporting by Associated Press writer Sophia Tulp in Atlanta.
Trays of printed social security checks wait to be mailed from the U.S. Treasury's Financial Management services facility in Philadelphia on Feb. 11, 2005. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming refugees resettled in the U.S. receive $2,125 per month from the government, while Social Security recipients only receive an average of $1,400 per month. Refugees receive no such monthly payment.
An off-duty Massachusetts state trooper faces criminal charges and has been fired after he drove under the influence and lost control of his vehicle, which led to a fatal crash with a motorcyclist
Top federal health officials have given the thumbs up to trick-or-treating this year. Health experts say the activity is relatively safe, since it takes part largely outside. As for those candy wrappers? Don't worry too much. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also acknowledged earlier this year that COVID-19 is overwhelmingly spread through air, not surfaces. Surface transmission is not the main route by which SARS-CoV-2 spreads, and the risk is considered to be low, the agency wrote in April.
Community News Editor / Librarian

Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989.
HOSPITAL PRICE ANALYSIS

Getting an MRI? Depending on what hospital you go to in the region, the price can vary by $3,000
Of the 900 Afghan evacuees expected to resettle in Massachusetts, around 60 may become new Berkshire County residents. Local veterans and community groups are working with a Springfield-based resettlement agency to welcome and support asylum-seekers.
Rep. Silvio Conte, R-Mass., laughs while wearing a pig nose and ears in 1983 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Conte, according to his press secretary, was wearing the articles as his way of complaining about pork barrel spending after the House approved a $119 million spending bill for 43 new water development projects.
Jim Shulman, a Pittsfield native living in Ohio, is the author of Berkshire Memories: A Baby Boomer Looks Back at Growing Up in Pittsfield. If you have a memory of a Berkshire baby-boom landmark, business or event youd like to share or read about, please write Jim at jesjmskali@aol.com.
The Eagle editorial board has endorsed Lynette Bond for election as mayor of North Adams.
Spearfish, SD (57783)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A shower of rain or wet snow possible. High 42F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 29F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.
Spearfish, SD (57783)

Today

A shower or two possible this morning with partly cloudy skies for the afternoon. High 42F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low 29F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
LEWISTON - Are you having a hard time keeping track of all the trunk-or-treats and other various local Halloween events? We have compiled a list of all the local Halloween events for kids (and adults) happening that we are aware of, organized by city.

If we are missing an event or you would like to get our event added to the list, contact us through Facebook Messenger.

*Please note that this article is updated daily. Subject to change*

LEWISTON/CLARKSTON

6th Annual LC Valley Habitat For Humanity Pumpkin Patch (Clarkston)

The 6th Annual LC Valley Pumpkin Patch is taking place from October 10 to October 31 from 10:00am to 6:00pm daily. The patch features over 3,000 pumpkins and gourds of all sizes. There will also be youth activities, games and photo opportunities.

Located on the lawn of the Clarkston United Methodist Church at 1242 Highland Avenue in Clarkston.

Spookin Boos' Haunted House (Lewiston)

The Clarkston High School Theatre Program will hold their Spookin Boos' Haunted House at the Lewiston Elks Lodge!

Friday, October 29 (6-10pm)

Saturday, October 30 (6-10pm)

Sunday, October 31 (230-9pm)

Fun for all ages! Bring the family. Tickets are $5 for those aged 13+, and are $3 for those 12 and under.

Lewiston Civic Theatre Presents: The Addams Family Musical (Lewiston)

The Lewiston Civic Theatre program presents: The Addams Family Musical, directed by Larry Goodwin. (Rated: PG-13)

Friday, October 29 (7:30-10:00pm)

Saturday, October 30 (7:30-10:00pm)

Sunday, October 31 (2:00-4:30pm)

Tickets are $19 for adults, $16 for seniors/veterans, $14 for students and $11 for children. Purchase tickets at www.lctheatre.org or by calling (208)746-3401.

Location: Old Lewiston High School Normal Hill Campus (1114 9th Avenue)

W.W.C.C Trunk-or-Treat (Clarkston)

On Friday, October 29, 2021, Walla Walla Community College will hold a Trunk-or-Treat event in the front main parking lot of the Clarkston campus! The event will be held from 4:00pm - 7:00pm. Masks and social distancing will be required. *Location* 1470 Bridge Street.

Asotin County Family Aquatic Center Boo Bash (Clarkston)

On Friday, October 29, 2021 from 6:30 - 8:30pm, gear up for all hallows eve with the Asotin County Family Aquatic Center Boo Bash!

This event will feature games, crafts and a cupcake walk! Scare-factor: LOW. Price is $9.099 per family, all ages are welcome.

Nez Perce County Historical Society Costume Contest (Lewiston)

On Saturday, October 30 between 10:00am - 4:00pm, the Nez Perce County Historical Society is hosting their first annual Costume Contest for kids and teens between the ages of 1-17.

Eligible contestants who are dressed up will receive free admission and will be entered in a drawing with the chance to win a mystery prize basket. Our winner will be drawn at random the next day.

Pumpkin Palooza (Lewiston)

On Saturday, October 30, the 11th annual Beautiful Downtown Lewiston Pumpkin Palooza returns from 12:00pm - 4:00pm! This is a FREE community event!

Clarkston Eagles 3936 Kids Halloween Party (Clarkston)

On Saturday, October 30 from 1:00-3:00pm, the Clarkston Eagles 3936 will host a Kids Halloween Party featuring trick-or-treating, games, prizes and candy!

Located at 505 Maple Street.

Brock's Towne Square Adult Trick-or-Treating and Costume Bash (Lewiston) (ADULTS)

On Saturday, October 30 from 6:00pm to midnight, Brock's Towne Square will host at Halloween event with Adult-trick-or-treating and a Costume Bash! Located at 504 Main Street.

Anyone over 21 that is in a costume will receive a mini bottle or alcohol. Also, anyone who brings a can of food for a local food bank donation will receive $2 any item (up to 10 items total). Costume contest will begin at 11:00pm.

MJ Barleyhoppers Halloween Costume Party (Lewiston) (ADULTS)

On Saturday, October 30 MJ Barleyhoppers will host their annual Halloween Costume Party contest. Enter the contest between 7:30-11:30pm, and winners will be announced at Midnight.

Corner Villa Here for the Boos Halloween Party (Lewiston) (ADULTS)

On Saturday, October 30, the Corner Villa will host a 'Here for the Boos' Halloween Party for adults. Costume prizes and drink specials all night long.

Located at 2110 14th Avenue.

Wrangler Bullroom Halloween Costume Party (Lewiston) (ADULTS)

On Saturday, October 30, at 9:00pm the Wrangler Bullroom will host a Halloween Costume Party. $100 cash prizes will be given out to the best female costume, best male costume and best couple. Prizes for 2nd and 3rd also.

Loated at 750 21st Street.

Gamers Edge Trunk-or-Treat (Lewiston)

On Sunday, October 31, from 3:00-5:00pm, come join the Confluence Valley Ghostbusters for a trunk-or-treat event at Gamers Edge in Lewiston!

New Ground Alliance Church 4th Annual Trunk-or-Treat (Clarkston)

On Sunday, October 31 from 5:00 - 7:00pm, New Ground Alliance Church is inviting you to its 4th annual Trunk-or-Treat! Located at 817 Libby Street.

Vehicles will be decorated in creative ways by their owners, and children will trick or treat from trunk to trunk filling their bags with candy. You may even see a Llama and an Alpaca!

Crosspoint Alliance Church Fall Fest (Lewiston)

On Sunday, October 31 from 6:00-8:00pm, Crosspoint Alliance Church is inviting you to Fall Fest! This FREE community event will be a great time for families to gather and for kids and teens to have an evening of fun!

Dozens of vehicles will be lined in the parking lot for a Trunk-or-Treat, and there will also be games, inflatable and warm drinks!

2021 Hillside Harvest Fest (Lewiston)

On Sunday, October 31 from 5:00-8:00pm, Hillside Church is inviting you to their 2nd Annual Harvest Festival! Located at 1519 Ripon Avenue.

This is a safe, fun and faith focused event. There will be a trunk or treat, bounce houses, snacks and other games for the whole family to enjoy!

Clarkston Wesleyan Church Trunk-or-Treat (Clarkston)

On Sunday, October 31, the annual Clarkston Wesleyan Church Trunk-or-Treat is back from 6:00pm - 8:00pm.

Located at the Clarkston Wesleyan Church (1108 Elm St).

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COLFAX

Trick-or-Treat Main Street (Colfax)

On Friday, October 29, come on down and Trick-or-Treat on Main Street in Colfax from 3:00pm - 6:00pm!! Hosted by the Colfax Chamber of Commerce.

Colfax Eagles 2317 Halloween Costume Party (Colfax)

On Friday, October 29, the Colfax Eagles 2317 will host a Halloween Costume Party beginning at 9:00pm.

Scaryokee, music, dancing, and food! Cash prizes available for best costume. Entry fee is a can of food or cash donation.

Located at 217 N Main Street.

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GRANGEVILLE

13th Annual Idaho County Sheriff's Office Trunk-or-Treat (Grangeville)

On Sunday, October 31, 2021, from 3:00pm - 5:00pm, the Idaho County Sheriff's Office will host their 13th annual Trunk-or-Treat event.

This event is FREE, and the Trunk-or-Treat will take place in the back parking lot of the Idaho County Courthouse (320 W. Main Street, Grangeville.)

Advanced Welding & Steel Haunted House (Grangeville)

On Sunday, October 31 from 4:00-7:00pm, Advanced Welding & Steel is once again hosting their haunted house, and this time its bigger and scarier than ever! This FREE community event will also have an entry for smaller kids that is not as scary.

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MOSCOW

Moscow Eagles Lodge Haunted House (Moscow)

The Moscow Eagles Lodge is hosting their Haunted Lodge fundraiser! Doors open at 7:00pm and close at midnight. Admission is $5 ($2 off with canned food donation).

Friday, October 29 (7:00pm-midnight)

Saturday, October 30 (7:00pm-midnight)

Sunday, October 31 (7:00pm-midnight)

Located at 123 N Main Street.

Moscow Chamber of Commerce Downtown Trick-or-Treat (MOSCOW)

On Friday, October 29 from 3:00-6:00pm, join the Moscow Chamber of Commerce for a scary good time at their Downtown Trick-or-Treat!

Moscow Farmers Market Halloween Costume Contest (MOSCOW)

On Saturday, October 30, all are welcome to participate in this years Moscow Farmers Market Halloween Costume Contest by visiting Friendship Square between 9:00am and 12:00pm and taking a selfie to enter for a chance to win best costume in one of three categories.

This years costume categories include Best Group/Family, Best Adult (18+), and Best Youth (17 and younger).

The Plant Bar & Grill Halloween Party (Moscow)(ADULTS)

On Saturday, October 30 at 9:00pm, come down to The Plant Bar & Grill for a spooktacular Halloween party for Adults. There will be a costume contest and goulish drink specials!

Real Life on the Palouse Trunk-or-Treat (MOSCOW)

On Sunday, October 30 from 4:00-7:00pm, Real Life on the Palouse will host a Trunk-or-Treat event in the Eastside Marketplace Parking Lot located at 1420 S Blaine St.

This event is open to all ages and is a safe, family-oriented gathering with games, costumes, hot cocoa and tons of candy. Please no overly scary or gory costumes.

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OROFINO

Trick-or-Treat Rocking the Street

On Friday, October 39 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, join the Clearwater County Chamber of Commerce for their FREE community event, Trick-or-Treat Rocking the Street! Located on Johnson Avenue in Orofino.

Local business owners and community organizations will be giving out treats, so wear a costume!!

**Please remember to practice social distancing when possible**

Lodge at River's Edge Spooktacular Halloween Party (Orofino)

On Saturday, October 30 from 6:00pm to midnight, the Best Western Lodge at River's Edge will host its first annual 'Spooktacular' featuring music, drinks, costume prizes and fun!

Tickets are $10 per person and can be purchased at the door.

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POTLATCH

4th Annual Potlatch Elementary PTO Trunk-or-Treat

On Saturday, October 30 from 6:00-9:00pm, the Potlatch Elementary PTO will host their 4th annual Trunk-or-Treat.

New this year! We will be partnering with the group that is fundraising for the new Cody Hendrix memorial skate park that will be at the Scenic 6. Beginning at 4 they will be hosting a kids carnival at the elementary school. There will be hotdogs, chips and drinks for sale. As well as pumpkin painting and bouncy houses! They will also be having a haunted house at 630 Elm Street beginning at 7pm 9pm will be designated for ages 12 and over for the haunted house.

The carnival and haunted house will have a small fee

Location: Elm Street (Street will be blocked off).

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PULLMAN

Zelda's Pet Grooming 4th Annual Dog Trick-or-Treating (Pullman)

On Saturday, October 30 from 6:00-9:00pm, Zelda's Pet Grooming will host their 4th annual Dog Trick-or-Treating event!

Dress up your pups and stop by for 2 photo booths, tons of dog treats and more!

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UNIONTOWN

Colton/Uniontown Community Trunk-or-Treat

On Saturday, October 30 from 4:00-7:00pm, come down to the south side of the Dahmen Barn Field parking lot in Uniontown for a community trunk-or-treat event! Wear a costume!
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Wisconsin residents affected by PFAS contamination say the Biden administrations recently announced strategy to address harmful forever chemicals doesnt go far enough and highlights the need for state standards. But industry officials argue state regulators should wait for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set federal drinking water regulations.

The EPA recently announced a broad plan to address perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances that have been found in products like non-stick cookware, firefighting foams and food packaging. The chemicals dont break down easily in the environment and have been linked to serious health conditions, including kidney and testicular cancers, thyroid disease and fertility issues.

The EPAs plan would set federal drinking water standards in the next two years for two of the most widely studied PFAS chemicals: PFOA and PFOS. The strategy also seeks to prevent PFAS releases into the environment and speed along clean up and disposal of the chemicals at military and industrial sites.

What it will all come down to for states and for communities like ours are tangible action, said Kayla Furton, supervisor for the Town of Peshtigo.

Furton, who is a mother of three, is among many residents that have been affected by PFAS contamination stemming from Tyco Fire Products fire training facility in Marinette. While she feels federal action is long overdue, Furton said its a step in the right direction that underscores the need for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to set standards for PFAS, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

Not only do I think that the DNR needs to continue in the rulemaking process (to set standards), but Wisconsin needs to enact meaningful actual legislation pertaining to PFAS, said Furton.

The DNR is in the process of crafting groundwater, drinking water and surface water standards for a mix of PFAS chemicals. State health officials have proposed a combined groundwater standard of 20 parts per trillion for PFAS chemicals that include PFOA and PFOS. The EPA has set a federal health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion, which is unenforceable.

The states largest business lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, said in a statement that the state agency should pause its rulemaking and let the EPA set a national drinking water standard.

WMC has consistently stated that regulation of PFOA and PFOS is warranted based upon the scientific evidence, and WMC believes a national standard is preferable to a patchwork of conflicting state standards, said Scott Manley, executive vice president of government relations for WMC.

WMC has filed two separate lawsuits challenging the DNRs authority to regulate PFAS in the absence of state and federal standards. The group has also lobbied for changes to PFAS regulations in emails to Natural Resources Board chair Fred Prehn, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Environmental groups like Clean Wisconsin argue a complementary approach between federal, state, local and tribal governments is needed to address the chemicals.

This isnt a case where the federal government is stepping up and so the state can step back, said Scott Laeser, water program director for Clean Wisconsin.

While the DNR is encouraged by federal action, the agency doesnt plan to wait for federal PFAS regulations. The agencys spokesperson, Sarah Hoye, noted states oversee groundwater standards  not the EPA.

Our groundwater standards regulate what is protective to discharge to groundwater, but also what are the cleanup levels once groundwater is impacted, said Hoye in an email. They provide private well owners and bottled water companies the standard for what we believe is protective for humans to consume.

Hoye highlighted that it will be years before the EPA finalizes standards, adding that the DNRs process offers businesses and communities certainty now over limits needed to protect public health.

Other states like neighboring Michigan have already set their own PFAS standards in groundwater and drinking water. Activists emphasize that federal standards are necessary as the Department of Defense has pushed back against state efforts to test and clean up PFAS at military sites. That includes Laura Olah, who lives near the Badger Army Ammunition Plant near Baraboo.

Most (DOD sites) have not completed investigations, said Olah, executive director of Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger.

In Wisconsin, military sites like Fort McCoy have reported extremely high concentrations of PFAS, recording levels as high as 120,000 parts per trillion. The Wisconsin National Guard has been taking steps to address PFAS contamination at Volk Field near Camp Douglas, Truax Field in Madison, and General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee.

The federal government is now conducting cleanup assessments at 700 DOD and National Guard sites nationwide. Under the EPAs plan, the agency will designate certain PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law or Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or CERCLA. That will allow the agency to force polluters to pay for and clean up contamination, including at DOD sites where the military used firefighting foam that contains PFAS.

In a statement, Wisconsin National Guard spokesperson Maj. Joe Trovato said they have and will continue to follow the process for PFAS remediation under federal law.

The CERCLA process is driven by federal law and associated funding is prioritized based on site investigations nationwide, wrote Trovato in an email. We will continue to adhere to the CERCLA process and will remain actively engaged with each step and with our partners at the local and state level to keep the process moving forward.

Despite the EPAs sweeping strategy to address PFAS, both Furton and Olah say its disappointing that the agency has not moved to regulate PFAS as a class of chemicals. PFAS represent thousands of individuals substances, most of which have not been studied.

Itll be centuries before we would ever set standards, which is really discouraging because EPA allowed all of these PFAS compounds to be on the market, saying they were safe, said Olah. But, the report that they issued says we have very little information.

Scientists argue research supports regulating PFAS as a class. Industry has long opposed the approach, including WMC. Manley said the business group is encouraged the EPA is acknowledging that each PFAS substance has unique characteristics and that each PFAS compound has a unique public health profile.

The EPA says its doing research to understand similarities and differences between PFAS chemicals and whether to address groups of the chemicals through regulation.

Olah would also like to see more testing of public water supplies for the presence of PFAS, noting most of Wisconsins roughly 11,000 water systems havent been tested. In July, the DNR said 90 public water supplies had been tested for the chemicals.

The EPAs plan calls for all water systems serving 3,300 or more people and 800 smaller public water supplies to collect PFAS samples beginning in 2023, but it relies on significant funding from Congress. Olah fears the plan targets larger systems and leaves people served by small rural water utilities without the ability to gauge their risk of exposure.

Industry, municipal and water groups in Wisconsin have pushed back against efforts to test for and regulate PFAS. Gov. Tony Evers proposed funding for testing and 11 new positions to address the chemicals in his budget, as well as a $10 million grant program for communities. Republican lawmakers on the states budget-writing committee stripped most of Evers proposals from the 2021-23 budget.
Studies have shown a reduction in the efficacy of vaccines with newer variants. As the world moves towards boosters doses, the efficacy of the COVID vaccines is becoming a concern. According to researchers from the University of Oxford, UK, and the countrys Office for National Statistics, Pfizer/BioNTechCOVID-19 vaccine efficacy fell to 90 per cent, 85 per cent, and 78 per cent after 30, 60, and 90 days, respectively, and AstraZeneca vaccine efficacy dropped to 61 per cent by 90 days with the Delta variant. There are ongoing studies for booster doses but certain governments and vaccine manufactures have advocated for booster doses. Booster doses can become a burden for nations when some are struggling to obtain vaccines for first and second doses.

With the second wave of COVID-19 in the rearview, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has surpassed the 100-crore milestone on October 21, 2021. On this historic achievement, in a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the countrymen and expressed gratitude to the countrys scientific community and health professionals for working towards achieving this stupendous feat.

India has been adding more vaccines to its armoury to beat COVID-19. The Drug Controller General of India has granted emergency use authorisation to vaccines manufactured by Serum Institute India (Covisheild), Bharat Biotech (Covaxin), Zydus Cadila (ZyCoV-D), Moderna (mRNA-1273), Gamaleya (Sputnik V), and Johnson & Johnsons (Ad26.COV2.S).

The vaccines have been effective in protecting those who have been vaccinated from death and hospitalisation with severe bouts of COVID-19 infection. But as time has progressed since the approval of the vaccines globally there have been several cases of breakthrough infections, amongst those who have been fully vaccinated. Then there have been cases reported, of deaths of those who were fully vaccinated (two doses) and also cases where fully vaccinated individuals were admitted with severe cases of COVID-19 infections. The vaccines as far as the data is concerned have been protecting against the virus.

Efficacy of the vaccines with newer emerging variants is another issue of concern. The SARS-COV-2 virus has mutated since it was first reported from Wuhan in China, also known as the Wuhan virus which caused the first wave globally, followed by the second wave with the Delta variant in India. Globally there have been reports of emerging variants as the virus tends to mutate quickly. The mutating characteristic of the virus has impacted the efficacy of the currently approved vaccines and the number of cases that are being reported has seen a steep incline. Several countries are struggling with the rise in the number of cases even after a majority of their population has been vaccinated.

Developed nations pushing for booster doses

Countries like the UAE, France, the US, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Israel are providing booster shots to the vulnerable population. Countries like India, Singapore, Switzerland, and several other countries are mulling over the third dose (booster shot). The World Health Organisation is yet to release a statement on the booster dose, but more variants emerging and the efficacy of vaccines reducing due to the emerging variants could probably change in due course.

According to the fourth serosurvey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) approximately 67 per cent of the population surveyed had developed antibodies for COVID-19.

The results of the survey were made public after the second wave had peaked in India, at the time the vaccination drive hadnt gained a lot of momentum as citizens were skeptical to get vaccinated. India has completed nine months of the worlds largest COVID-19 vaccination drive but still, there are no approved tests to check for the efficacy of the vaccines or if antibodies have developed in those who have been vaccinated.

The only data that is available on the efficacy of the vaccines is based on the clinical trials that were conducted when the vaccine was being tested to check whether it was effective against the coronavirus variant at the time. The ICMR has approved antigen tests to check if an individual has had prior exposure to the coronavirus or not.

Even experts believe that antibody tests to check for the antibodies cannot determine if an individual is protected against COVID-19 or not, or there is no gold standard to gauge the efficacy of the vaccines. This raises a lot of questions as there is a gold standard to determine whether an individual is infected with COVID-19, but there are no approved tests globally to check the efficacy of the vaccines that have been administered.

Pharma majors manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines had conducted clinical trials to determine the efficacy of the vaccines and shared figures on the efficacy of the vaccines once the clinical trials were complete. However, there have neither been any follow-ups, nor have the manufacturers addressed this important piece of information.

Big pharma monopoly

COVID-19 cases are escalating and a very large population, especially in Low and Low Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) remains vulnerable as the governments of these nations havent been able to procure vaccines. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have sold over 90 per cent of their vaccines so far to rich countries, charging up to 24 times the potential cost of production. mRNA-type vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have been developed through public funding to the tune of $8.3 billion.

Analysis of production techniques for the leading mRNA suggests these vaccines could be made for as little as $1.20 a dose. COVAX has been paying, on average, nearly five times more. COVAX has also struggled to get enough doses and at the speed required, because of the inadequate supply and the fact that rich nations have pushed their way to the front of the queue by willingly paying excessive prices.

An analysis done by the Peoples Vaccine Alliance firms Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are charging governments as much as $41 billion above the estimated cost of production. Earlier this year according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism pharma major Pfizer/BioNTech was accused of bullying Latin American countries to provide them with sovereign assets as a guarantee against the cost of any future legal cases.

Anna Marriott, Health Policy Manager, Oxfam, United Kingdom said, Pharmaceutical companies are holding the world to ransom at a time of unprecedented global crisis. This is perhaps one of the most lethal cases of profiteering in history. Precious budgets that could be used for building more health facilities in poorer countries are instead being raided by CEOs and shareholders of these all-powerful corporations.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, UNAIDS, Uganda, shared, I see lives being saved in vaccinated countries, even as the Delta variant spreads, and I want the same for developing countries. It is criminal that the majority of humanity is still facing this cruel disease unprotected because pharma monopolies and super-profits are being put first.

Efficacy and affordability

Studies have shown a reduction in the efficacy of vaccines with newer variants. As the world moves towards boosters doses, the efficacy of these vaccines is becoming a concern. According to researchers from the University of Oxford, UK, and the countrys Office for National Statistics Pfizer/BioNTechCOVID-19 vaccine efficacy fell to 90 per cent, 85 per cent, and 78 per cent after 30, 60, and 90 days, respectively, and AstraZeneca vaccine efficacy dropped to 61 per cent by 90 days with the Delta variant. There are ongoing studies for booster doses but certain governments and vaccine manufactures have advocated for booster doses.

Earlier in the year the Government of India (GoI) had fixed the prices at Rs 200 per dose (without taxes) for Covishield and Rs 295 per dose (without taxes) for Covaxin which have been revised over the months and the current rates being Rs 780 for Covishield, Rs 1,410 for Covaxin, and Rs 1,145 for Sputnik V (approved by Drugs Controller General of India in April 2021) was approved in private hospitals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address on June 7, 2021, stated that free vaccines would be available to all those who wanted them from June 21, 2021, but there have been major hurdles in obtaining free vaccines. Government vaccination centres across India have had to shut down their vaccination drive on several occasions due to the shortage of vaccines.

Recently Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO in an address in Budapest expressed disappointment on the approval of booster doses by countries that have excess stock of the COVID-19 vaccines, while many poorer countries are struggling to administer their citizens with the first and second dose. He said, Some countries are administering booster doses to people who are already fully vaccinated, while many people in the poorest countries are yet to receive a single dose, including health workers, older people, and other vulnerable groups."

Ghebreyesus further commented, "Thats why I have called for a global moratorium on booster vaccines until at least the end of September, to allow those countries that are furthest behind to catch up.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health Organisation has also echoed similar sentiments. She is opposed to the idea of booster doses as several countries are suffering from acute shortages of COVID-19 vaccines.

In August 2021, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairman, Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune along with 7000-8000 employees of SII were administered the third dose of Covishield. Dr Poonawalla had also expressed concerns about the reduced efficacy of vaccines after six months post the second dose. A month after Dr Cyrus Poonawallas statement, Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India, Pune has expressed that a third booster dose would be unethical as various countries have not been able to administer two doses to those who are eligible. He commented "The third dose of vaccine is not right, at least till significant part of the other countries get two doses and then, of course, we look into third dose or an annual booster shot or something like that, at a media interaction along with Kiran Majumdar Shaw, Chairperson, Biocon after the announcement of the strategic partnership forged between Biocon Biologics Ltd (BBL) and the Serum Institute Life Sciences (SILS). He also clarified his fathers statement about a booster dose by mentioning that it may be required by the population that has weakened immunity.

Poonawalla commented, Maybe some very vulnerable sections, immuno-compromised people could do with some booster shots. There is no evidence to show Covishield requires a third dose.

Addressing the issue of booster doses in the future, Priya Abraham, Director, National Institute of Virology, Pune mentioned, Studies on booster dose have been going on overseas and at least seven different vaccines have been tried out for booster dose. Now, the WHO has put a stop to it till more countries catch up with vaccination. This is because there is an alarming vaccine gap between high-income and low-income countries. But, in future, recommendations for boosters will definitely come.

How wise is the 3rd dose?

The GoI hasnt approved a booster dose yet but SIIs initiative to provide booster doses to its employees and several countries approving a booster dose there is a possibility of a booster dose being approved in the future. This also highlights the issue of affordability of the vaccines that have been approved. Lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 have impacted economies globally and driven millions into poverty. Third-world countries have been facing issues with the availability and affordability of COVID-19 vaccines. Booster doses can become a burden for nations when some are struggling to obtain vaccines for first and second doses.

Prabhat Prakash

prabhat.prakash@mmactiv.com
Democrats on Friday were caught staging a false flag to boost Terry McAuliffe's struggling campaign ahead of the Virginia gubernatorial election.

These men approached @GlennYoungkins bus as it pulled up saying what sounded like, Were all in for Glenn. Here they are standing in front of the bus as his campaign event at Guadalajara started.@NBC29 pic.twitter.com/l681ejyBjc  Elizabeth Holmes (@holmes_reports) October 29, 2021



The stunt was immediately called into question as one of the "white supremacists" was a black guy.





The labor shortage is real pic.twitter.com/EoUMvupbIR  Battle Beagle (@HarmlessYardDog) October 30, 2021



Multiple of the "white supremacists" were quickly exposed as Democrat operatives and the whole hoax blew up in their face.





Lauren Windsor, a left-wing political operative dubbed the "Democrats' answer to James O'Keefe," has admitted to helping organize the alt-right hoax rally in Charlottesville. Before the hoax was exposed, she had pretended to be surprised at the photos. pic.twitter.com/HD7ETsRK0b  Andy Ngo  (@MrAndyNgo) October 29, 2021



The hoax was amplified by Terry McAuliffe's campaign (they probably organized it):





.@CharlieOlaf, social media manager for @TerryMcAuliffe, a Democrat running to be VA governor, was one of the people who helped promote the fake alt-right protest involving hired Democrat operatives. The stunt was meant to damage Republican @GlennYoungkin. https://t.co/KsPRR1W5Ts pic.twitter.com/U0WnjjyWnG  Andy Ngo  (@MrAndyNgo) October 29, 2021













The people quickest to spread the Democrat alt-right protest hoax in Charlottesville, Va. are those who work for @TerryMcAuliffe. @christinafreund, campaign spokesperson, & comms staffer @jengoodman75 are tip of the iceberg. https://t.co/2BMh892Tdt https://t.co/U5RjUQ9YbB pic.twitter.com/Y3gMTple6J  Andy Ngo  (@MrAndyNgo) October 29, 2021



















McAuliffe's campaign tried to distance themselves from the hoax after amplifying it all day:





The @TerryMcAuliffe campaign now condemns the fake alt-right Charlottesville, Va. rally organized by Democrat operatives after its staff had spent all day amplifying and spreading the hoax stunt. The hoax was meant to damage Republican @GlennYoungkin. https://t.co/IpXP4je405  Andy Ngo  (@MrAndyNgo) October 29, 2021

Statement on Glenn Youngkins bus stop earlier today: pic.twitter.com/Hw0svCAW9W  Andrew Whitley (@AndrewWhitleyVA) October 29, 2021



The Lincoln Project stepped in to act as the fall guy:





Lincoln Project claims credit for the "white supremacist" stunt at Youngkin's campaign event today. pic.twitter.com/h18Sfk5AUC  John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) October 29, 2021



So, is anyone going to get banned from social media for this hoax?





How many professional disinformation NGOs and journalists will focus on the fact the Virginia Democrats spent the day spreading an election hoax of planted fake neo-Nazis designed to tarnish their opposition just before an election?  Lee Fang (@lhfang) October 29, 2021



Are there going to be any congressional hearings into this election interference?



Is anyone going to be subpoenaed?



We all know the answer.



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The Central Intelligence Agencys record of retaliation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, including reported plans to kidnap or assassinate him, was focused on during the second day of the United States governments appeal hearing.

It was part of the Assange legal teams effort to convince the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom of the gravity of the risks, which Assange would face if they overturn a district judges decision and allow extradition.

Mark Summers QC, one of Assanges attorneys, contended this was the first time the U.S. had sought the assistance of a U.K. court in obtaining jurisdiction over a person that a U.S. government agency had planned to poison or assassinate.

That is worthy of an investigation in relation to the assurances, Summers added, referring to the pledges involving how they would treat Assange. The U.S. government offered these assurances with the hope of salvaging their case.

On January 4, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser concluded it would be oppressive to extradite Assange to the U.S. because of his mental health condition. However, she kept him detained at the Belmarsh high-security prison while the U.S. government pursued their appeal.

Assange was charged with 18 offenses, 17 of which are under the Espionage Act. The law passed in 1917 has increasingly been wielded by the Justice Department against media sources, who disclose classified documents or talk about sensitive information with journalists.

After two days of proceedings, the High Court indicated it would take some time to fully consider all the arguments and issue a decision. But whatever they decide, there will still be a cross-appeal that the defense has indicated they plan to submit to challenge the parts of Baraitsers decision that are particularly threatening to press freedom.

Also, both the U.S. government and the Assange legal team are likely to appeal to the U.K. Supreme Court, if they are unsatisfied with the judgement of the High Court.

The assurances now offered are as follows: the U.S. government will not designate Assange for special administrative measures (SAMs); the U.S. government will not send Assange to ADX Florence, a super-maximum prison in Colorado if he is convicted; Assange will receive clinical and psychological treatment as is recommended by the prison clinician; and if convicted, the U.S. government will allow Assange to apply for a prisoner transfer to serve his sentence in Australia.

Both the assurances involving SAMs and ADX Florence contained an important stipulation. The U.S. government retains the power to designate Assange for either SAMs or ADX Florence if he commits any future act that meets the test for such designation; for example, if officials deem they must prevent a breach of national security.

Can The High Court Trust The U.S. Government?

Altogether, the assurances from the U.S. government turn on the trustworthiness of them. The defense would start from the basis that they were offered in good faith, but if the High Court allows them, Assanges attorneys would like to hold a hearing where they can call witnesses and submit evidence in order to determine the reliability of these assurances.

The defense noted in their submission to the High Court, One agency with power to recommend SAMs to the attorney general (on the basis of some unspecified act they perceive Mr. Assange to have committed) is the CIAthe very same agency whose criminal acts Mr Assange has sought to expose, and who are under active investigation in Spain for plotting to kill him.

These issues are stark. And not capable of being grappled with properly by this court without knowledge of the alarming evidence adduced below.

Assanges legal team was referring to a Yahoo! News report published in September published under the headline, Kidnapping, assassination and a London shoot-out: Inside the CIAs secret war plans against WikiLeaks.

It revealed the legal significance of CIA Director Mike Pompeo redefining WikiLeaks as a non-state hostile intelligence agency in the first speech he gave as the agencys director in April 2017.

Pompeo became obsessed with Assange and WikiLeaks after the publication of Vault 7 materials that exposed the CIAs cyber warfare capabilities. He oversaw agents who escalated a disruption campaign against WikiLeaks and permitted hacking into the personal devices of staff and individuals viewed as associates of the media organization.

The agency was allowed to paralyze WikiLeaks digital infrastructure, provoke internal disputes within the organization by planting damaging information, and even though there are no members of WikiLeaks, they could try to steal WikiLeaks members electronic devices.

Plotting against Assange led to proposals for kidnapping him in the summer of 2017. They discussed breaking into the Ecuador embassy, where he was living under political asylum, in order to put him on a rendition flight.

Agency executives requested and received sketches of plans for killing Assange and other Europe-based WikiLeaks members who had access to Vault 7 materials, said a former intelligence official. There were discussions on whether killing Assange was possible and whether it was legal, the former official said, the Yahoo! News report further revealed.

As Summers contextualized the damning nature of this report, he linked it to the evidence that was put before the district judge involving UC Global, a Spanish security company that the Yahoo! News story largely confirmed had passed audio and video footage from cameras, which were spying on the embassy, to the CIA.

What we are talking about with the Spanish evidence is potentially the tip of the iceberg, Summers added.

In trying to convince the High Court of the threat the CIA poses to Assange, Summers also noted Joshua Schulte, the gentleman alleged to be [Assanges] source for Vault 7, is currently two years into SAMs.

Defending A Distinguished Psychiatrist Attacked By Prosecutors

During the mornings argument, Assange attorney Edward Fitzgerald QC defended neuropsychiatrist Professor Michael Kopelman, who Lewis sought to discredit during the first day of the hearing.

The U.S. government would like Kopelmans expert testimony, which concluded that there was a very high risk Assange would commit suicide if extradited, to be ruled inadmissible.

To get it thrown out, the prosecution claims Kopelman failed in his duty to the court when he withheld the fact that Stella Moris was Assanges partner at the time, and that she was the mother of his two young children, which were conceived while he was living in the Ecuador embassy.

At the time, Kopelman became aware of revelations of extreme and unlawful surveillance of Assange, his family, and his legal team. But he still wanted to adhere to his obligations to the court, Fitzgerald said.

Kopelman testified in 2020 that he was concerned about the privacy and safety of someone who had expressed a wish for their privacy to be respected. Twenty-four hours before he submitted his initial report to the judge, he sought legal advice from experienced human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce, the head of the solicitors firm representing Assange.

But Peirce was herself facing a mass of documents, which had to be served on the court at that time, including submissions that related to surveillance, attempts by CIA to obtain their childrens nappy to compare its DNA to that of Assange, and plans to kidnap or poison Julian.

Peirce was simply overwhelmed with issues to be addressed. She was not able to secure legal advice to Kopelman about his query before his initial report was due.

Far from being the actions of a dishonest actor, Baraitser determined that Kopelmans omission, though misleading, had not misled the court. She was already aware of Moris identity before she read Kopelmans initial report.

What Kopelman did was a very human response under all of the circumstances, Baraitser wrote in her decision.

Prosecutors tried to make light of the phrase a very human response, treating it as meaningless. However, Fitzgerald noted that within the context he described that involved UC Global spying, it made perfect sense.

To defend the professional reputation of Kopelman, the opinion of Professor Keith Rix, a recognized expert on the ethical duties of psychiatric experts, was shared with the High Court.

According to Rix, Kopelman acted professionally; responsibly and he exercised appropriate and reasonable caution in not disclosing the full position in his initial report.

(Photo by Mohamed Elmaazi, NUJ Member)

Assange Informed US Medical Expert of His Relationship With Moris

Fitzgerald challenged the U.S. governments claims that they were shocked to discover Moris was in a relationship with Assange, especially because Assange informed Dr. Nigel Blackwood, one of the U.S. governments preferred doctors, that he was in a relationship with Moris. He told him about their children two days before applying for bail in March 2020.

Moris provided a statement in support of Assanges bail application on the basis that having a partner in a committed relationship with Mr Assange, who is also the mother of two of his children, would help reassure the court that he would abide by bail conditions.

Yet, Lewis mocked the idea that Moris and their two childrens safety was of any real concern, precisely because she opened up her identity to potentially being discovered by supporting bail for Assange.

Lewis also contended Assange had actually informed Blackwood of his relationship with Moris because he knew the information would become public anyway due to the bail application (something which was not guaranteed, since they sought an anonymity order to protect her privacy).

These remarks ignored the obvious point that Assange and his family were engaged in balancing their desire to protect their privacy and safety with the understandable objective of freeing Assange from what at the time was seven-plus years of confinement (first in the Ecuador embassy, then at Belmarsh).

In fact, Lewis told the court when Moris pursued the anonymity order that the prosecution was neutral and took no position on whether it should be granted.

The True Crime Is Journalism

Assanges defense characterized him as the CIAs most prominent critic, especially because the information that is the subject of this prosecution included details of war crimes, torture, and atrocities against civilians by the U.S. government and the CIA in particular.

He is a witness against the CIA in criminal cases that are unfolding against their conduct in Spain, Germany, and before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The CIA views Assange as a hostile enemy of the United States, who poses very real threats. His attorneys assert there is no reason to believe that vengeful attitude will not be reflected in his treatment should the High Court allow him to be placed in U.S. custody.

Outside of the Royal Courts of Justice, where over a hundred supporters gathered, WikiLeakseditor-in-Chief, award-winning Icelandic investigative journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson, sought to remind the crowd what this case is all about.

This is a political persecution of a journalist who exposed war crimes and the secrets of the United States. Were here because a journalist is being prosecuted for doing his job, Hrafnson told a cheering crowd.

The true crime is journalism. This must end.
At a hotly anticipated remote keynote presentation on Friday, billionaire Jeff Bezos revealed the details of an exciting new virtual reality experience which he says will allow consumers to log on to an artificial fantasy world completely unlike our existing reality.

Were calling it Mainstream Media, or MSM for short, Bezos told viewers. MSM will allow users to interface with an alternate world of the imagination where capitalism is working fine for everyone, constant military expansionism is normal and desirable, Washingtons enemies are all bloodthirsty monsters, and billionaires are just harmless job creators. Lets check it out.

Bezos explained that his 2013 purchase of The Washington Post ensured that consumers will remain psychologically plugged in to a virtual reality in which the sociopolitical status quo upon which his Amazon empire is built looks totally fine and not at all insane or dystopian.

Unlike the virtual reality enterprises of certain other billionaires, the Mainstream Media universe operates continually and without the need for fancy headsets or equipment, Bezos said. In fact, the psychological technology is so immersive that users arent generally even aware that theyre not experiencing actual reality.

Bezos was soon joined in his presentation by fellow billionaires Rupert Murdoch, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim Helu.

Warren! Mike! Carlos! Rupert! What are you guys doing here? Bezos recited in scripted surprise.

We wanted in on the Mainstream Media universe too, Bloomberg answered. Cant let you have all the fun, Jeff.

With my vast media empire Ive been able alter the outcomes of elections, shape policies and political agendas, start wars and kill social progress in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Murdoch boasted.

My position as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway has given me control over dozens of daily newspapers throughout the United States, Buffett added.

My holdings in the New York Times give me leverage over the hiring and publishing practices of the most influential paper in the most powerful nation on earth, said Slim.

By buying up media influence and controlling the publics perception of reality, we ensure that all the systems which have been funnelling wealth and power toward us remain intact, explained Bloomberg.

And it keeps the guillotine blades away from our necks! Slim interjected.

Thats right Carlos, Bezos said. By psychologically helping the public to perceive a different reality than the one that actually exists, we can prevent prevent social uprisings which might prove hazardous to our wealth and vital organs.

So we give the riff raff a virtual reality to live in, said Murdoch. Because actual reality belongs to us.

________________________

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As the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba prepares to choose the provinces next premier this evening, some voters submitting their ballot at the last minute said they had a strange voting experience.

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DREW MAY/THE BRANDON SUN Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba party members could drop off their ballots at the Riverbank Discovery Centre on Friday afternoon.

As the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba prepares to choose the provinces next premier this evening, some voters submitting their ballot at the last minute said they had a "strange" voting experience.

Susan Hore, who submitted her ballot at the voting station at Brandons Riverbank Discovery Centre on Friday, said she had a difficult time with the process.

She told the Sun she didnt get her ballot in the mail until Friday morning  the day before they are set to be counted  which didnt leave enough time to send it back in the mail.

Earlier in the week, before she received her ballot, she raised the issue with the party. She got a phone message saying she could vote in Winnipeg on Thursday, which she tried to do.

"They had returned ballots, but not my ballot, so I couldnt vote [Thursday]," she said.

"I just wanted to know how am I going to vote? Because I dont have my ballot and it just seemed ... really strange that they wouldnt give me the information on how to vote."

Hores experience mirrors other party members in the last few days of the race between former health minister Heather Stefanson and former Saint Boniface member of Parliament Shelly Glover.

Ultimately, Hore said she found out she could drop off her ballot in Brandon from Spruce Woods MLA Cliff Cullen. But the Shelly Glover campaign told her she had to vote in Oakbank.

This kind of mixed messaging caused confusion for some party members.

"It was like pulling teeth," Hore said.

The party set up ballot drop-off locations around the region so party members with similar problems could drop off their ballot if they received it late, or pick it up if it never came at all. Other drop-off locations were set up in Dauphin, Oakbank, Gimli, Carman and Winnipeg.

Victoria Tutthill expressed frustration at the process and said she also had issues getting her leadership ballot in the mail. She never received it in her mailbox and had to pick it up at the Riverbank Discovery Centre before submitting it.

"Im glad they did this and gave western Manitobans an opportunity to vote here instead of making us drive into Winnipeg to cast a ballot," she said, adding she still had to drive 30 minutes to get to Brandon.

Val, who declined to give her last name, also didnt receive a ballot in the mail and had to pick it up and fill it out at the voting station.

In a statement, a PC Party spokesperson said this was the first election the party conducted solely by mail-in ballot and the voting locations were set up to ensure "broad regional coverage."

"We mailed over 25,000 ballots with time for those ballots to be returned by the deadline. We have taken additional steps to ensure each eligible PC party member has the opportunity to vote, including offering regional locations where members can pick up and drop off ballots prior to the cut-off date," the statement reads.

The Sun reached out to both the Glover and Stefanson campaigns. Glover was unable to comment on Friday afternoon and the Sun did not hear back from Stefanson.

The issues around voting for a new PC leader reflect issues with the government overall, said NDP Leader Wab Kinew.

"The situation looks like a mess," Kinew said.

"In my mind, if youre a political organization that cant put a stamp on an envelope and put the envelope into the mailbox, you probably dont deserve to be running our health-care system."

He said the party should take action to make sure the election is fair and transparent.

The Progressive Conservative election event is taking place from 2:30 to 5 p.m. at the Victoria Inn on Wellington Street in Winnipeg today, though the times are subject to change depending on how the final vote count goes.

The event will be live-streamed on the partys website at pcmanitoba.com/leadership.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
WestJet is aiming to soar back to 2019 flight levels after the pandemic grounded planes and put deep dents in the airline industrys business, including in Brandon.

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FILE A WestJet plane taxis up the runway in preparation for take-off from the Brandon Municipal Airport in January.

WestJet is aiming to soar back to 2019 flight levels after the pandemic grounded planes and put deep dents in the airline industrys business, including in Brandon.

The airline, which is the only commercial carrier flying to and from the Brandon Municipal Airport, held a roundtable Friday morning with Manitoba business and political leaders.

"Our commitment to Brandon is the same ambitious goal as it is for the entire province, which is to get back to 2019 levels in 2022," said WestJet vice-president of government relations Andy Gibbons during the Zoom call.

In 2019, the airline ran an average of 12 weekly flights from the Wheat City to Calgary in the winter and seven in the summer, according to slides shown during the roundtable. In 2021, that dropped to an average of four flights in the winter and five in the summer.

Passenger totals out of Brandon also took a hit, dropping from an average of 927 per week in the winter of 2019 to only 315 weekly this past winter.

While tourism and travel are recovering as concerns over COVID-19 lessen, there is still uncertainty at the federal level, Gibbons said, including on travel recommendations. Currently, anyone more than five years old coming back to Canada after international travel must show proof of a negative COVID-19 molecular test, even if fully vaccinated, according to federal guidelines.

Mayor Rick Chrest said he is anxious to see the airline bring service back to Brandon, saying the city acts as a hub for Westman.

He said he would like to see the airline bring stability back in terms of when flights are scheduled. Anecdotally, he said he has had eight flights booked in the last nine months and each of them was changed by the airline.

"Weve got to have a schedule [and] lock it in, so consumers feel confident when they make a booking," he said.

Chrest said the city is "optimistic and bullish" on WestJet restoring service levels to pre-pandemic levels. He added that Brandon is grateful the air service was never completely suspended over the last 18 months.

Currently, WestJet only flies routes out of Brandon to and from Calgary. The airline ran a flight to Toronto at one point, but the demand wasnt there. Chrest said he would like to see flights going east from Brandon in the future, not just west.

Brandon Municipal Airport president Greg Brown echoed Chrest, saying he would also like to see flights go east once the industry recovers.

"Adding routes or more flights is something we are always interested in discussing down the road, and how do we make that happen?" he said.

While thats a possibility, there has to be the demand, Gibbons said.

"The fastest track to Toronto is the full planes to Calgary."

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Centricity Worship - You See Me (In Focus) cover art | Hoganson Media / Centricity Worship

Centricity Worship, a division of Centricity Publishing, was created as a platform for song discovery with the goal of equipping the global Church with new and powerful worship songs. Originally formed during a series of songwriter retreats held in the Cascade Mountains, which birthed songs like Lauren Daigles Come Alive (Dry Bones) and Corey Vosss Nothing But The Blood, these retreats became a part of the Centricity Worship DNA.

Continuing to give songwriters the opportunity to gather together in inspiring locations to compose new songs of worship for their Creator, Centricity Worship releases You See Me (In Focus) to digital and streaming outlets today (Oct. 29). Produced by Patrick Mayberry and featuring Rita Springer and Seth Condrey, the hopeful new song was written during the most recent retreat by Springer, Condrey and Matt Armstrong.

[Im] thankful for Seth and Rita, and their willingness to dive into a song that calls us to remember that Jesus is the same in our lives as He was yesterday, today, and forever, shares Armstrong.

I'd love for this song to bring an awareness of the presence of the God who sees, adds Condrey. Just like Jesus taught us, the Father sees who we are and cares for every detail. He is Love and can't love us any more or less than He already does.

You see me in focus

Where could I run that You couldn't be found

Ive never been closer than I am right now

You see me perfectly

Couldnt love me more than You already do

This heart of mine is Yours; and its not gonna move

(Chorus lyric from You See Me (In Focus))

You See Me (In Focus) is the first of several new songs to come from the recent Centricity Worship retreat, including the Mayberry, Chris McClarney and Mike Grayson-written Only Jesus, which is set to release Jan. 28. A full Centricity Worship + Friends EP of new music from the latest songwriter retreats is slated to release next spring.

Centricity Publishing has been doing these worship retreats for years, and out of them have come some really powerful songs that have gone on to inspire worshipers around the world, notes Chad Segura, Vice President, Centricity Publishing. Along with our own team of writers, we always like to invite other talented songwriters from around the industry to these retreats as well. We love getting to do this with our friends. And in recording some of the favorite tunes from the resulting collaborations, our hope is that people will discover and connect with these songs, incorporating them into both their personal and corporate worship settings.

The new music, along with ongoing contributions from Centricity Publishings songwriters and artists, make up a growing catalog of songs that are being shared with the masses. For more about Centricity Worship, including chord charts and other resources, go to: https://centricityworship.com/, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

News Source: Hoganson Media
Want to praise someone or get something off your chest? Darts and Pats is the place to do it.
We all do awful things, says Robert Machoian, whose film The Killing of Two Lovers opens with his protagonist doing something nobody should do: standing over his former marital bed, now occupied by his sleeping wife and another man, with a gun in his hand. I mean, I probably safely could say everyone in the world has, like, one thing they wish they could erase and that nobody knew about, because its so outside their overall character  but it happened, anyways.

It is a tribute to Machoian that this arresting opening sequence, conducted entirely in silence, doesnt turn us against David, the man with the gun. That also has a good deal to do with Machoians friend, actor Clayne Crawford; one look at him is enough to tell you he is not capable of pulling that trigger, even if David does live in trigger-delirious Utah. We soon learn that the gun is a relic, unhooked from his fathers wall. Like its bearer, it is a sad thing stuck in the past.

We are in a town called Kanosh, population at last count 474, with a couple whose marriage has run aground. David works as a handyman, log-cutter and anything else needed. Niki (Sepideh Moafi) is a legal clerk who, with her children at school, has the opportunity and encouragement from her employers to study law. Machoian says he thought of his own wife when he was writing Niki, who felt her own possibilities suddenly expand when their third son went to school. More inspiration came from a chance meeting with an academic friend whose wife had done a law degree in mid-life and was now their breadwinner.

That kind of life change, he thought, could easily become crisis. My thoughts for the film were that Niki would be learning how much potential she has. And the question for her is: how far am I going to push that? David is living the life he built for himself and that he always imagined. He is very much living his dream, in a way. Whereas Niki begins to question everything. She wants space to breathe, just for a while.
Hours before the COP26 climate talks are to begin in Glasgow, Australia has placed a spotlight on itself by siding with China and India in resisting a push to put a timeline on the abandonment of coal-fired power, says a senior UK environmental advisor.

In the months leading up to the talks United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that along with formal United Nations climate negotiations, for Glasgow to succeed the world must use the moment to address coal, cars, cash and trees.

As leaders gather, Australia has drawn unwelcome attention to itself over its position on coal. Credit:AP

By this he means leaders must agree to shift away from fossil fuels, must accelerate the process of decarbonising transport and industry, must provide more finance to developing nations to help them shift their economies, and must help create carbon sinks by protecting and replanting forests.

It had been hoped that progress on decarbonisation would be made at this weekends G20 meeting in Rome.
Councillors in one of Sydneys wealthiest areas say they will campaign against their colleagues decision to sign up to state government housing targets, accusing them of currying favour with Macquarie Street and arguing Woollahra is full.

Woollahra Council last week voted to endorse NSW government housing targets which called for a further 500 homes to be built in the municipality by 2026.

Woollahra councillor Luise Elsing said the areas sewage and stormwater systems are literally imploding. Credit:Nick Moir

Liberal mayor Susan Wynne said the decision was about Woollahra being in control of its growth rather than it being led by developers which would see poor planning outcomes across the whole municipality.

A housing strategy to build more homes made it more likely the council could persuade the state government to fund infrastructure upgrades, she said, while rejecting the targets would have very significant ramifications which would actually result in the overdevelopment of Woollahra and put our future character in the hands of developers.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Despite a string of high-profile court cases involving police accused of wrongdoing, Acting Assistant Commissioner Virginia Nelson takes comfort in the fact the number of misconduct complaints in Queensland has declined. Ms Nelson also points to data on disciplinary action taken by the Queensland Police Service, highlighting how the 62 officers and staff suspended or stood down this year was an improvement on the 74 who fell out of favour in 2019. Acting Assistant Commissioner Virginia Nelson (right), Robert William Eickenloff (top left) and Neil Punchard (bottom left). Credit:Toby Crockford & Nine News However, Ms Nelson, who oversees the QPS internal investigation branch, Ethical Standards Command, acknowledges that even one police officer before the court is a concern for us. During the past four months, three officers have been charged with serious criminal offences and ordered to appear in Brisbane courts. Former constable Rachelle Elise Perry, 26, was charged in July with 38 offences including drug supply, hacking a police system, stealing, and unlawful possession of a weapon. The inquiry into her was focused on allegations of drug use, before identifying further alleged offences, such as stealing police property.

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Loading Perry resigned from the service in the days after she was charged. The matter was due to be heard in court again on December 6. Detective Senior Constable Helen Elizabeth Godfrey, 39, was charged in July after allegedly trying to lie her way out of a speeding ticket. It will be alleged she gave a false reason for speeding in a police vehicle and submitted a false document requesting an exemption. She was charged with one count each of fraud and fraudulent falsification of records. The case was due to return to court on November 10. Senior Constable Robert William Eickenloff, 56, was charged in September after allegedly helping his daughter illegally enter Queensland.

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He allegedly travelled to the Gold Coast checkpoint on September 15 and enabled his 20-year-old daughter to cross from NSW without a valid pass. Senior Constable Eickenloff was charged with one count of misconduct in public office. His matter was due to return to court on November 29. Ms Nelson insisted the internal disciplinary system was robust and the QPS regularly co-operated with Crime and Corruption Commission inquiries. She told Brisbane Times the number of officers and staff who had been suspended or stood down during the past six years remained pretty well standard, but conceded there were spikes. The 74 people suspended or stood down in 2019 was almost double the number from the year before, and the running tally in 2021 has already matched the 2020 figure. Sometimes well see spikes here and there, and some things will get far more media [attention] than others. But what weve really seen is no increase, it tends to be about the same each year, Ms Nelson said.

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Having regard to the growth of our organisation, and the fact that were now at more than 17,000 employees, [the numbers of police officers or staff stood down or suspended] has remained fairly steady. Interestingly, complaints against police and allegations have dropped over the last five years, which is for us really impressive. Because thats a sign that theres a level of confidence, and satisfaction, with the way that police are doing their work. Weve seen drops in excessive-use-of-force complaints  and thats not to say we dont get them and that theyre not investigated. Queensland Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Virginia Nelson. Ms Nelson also pointed to the police services co-operation with Operation Impala - a 2019 CCC inquiry into improper access to and dissemination of confidential information by public sector agencies. We reported back largely on our recommendations there, and weve done a lot of work internally in that space, she said.

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The publics information that we hold is a huge priority for us. When we have a look at the access, the volume of information and the accesses that are conducted, the actual breaches are incredibly minute. But I dont lose sight of the fact that it does only take one breach that creates an issue. One emerging internal discipline issue was police using social media while off-duty, but using private accounts that listed their employment with QPS. Loading Eleven officers were singled out in a social media probe over posts described by Commissioner Katarina Carroll as racist, sexist and defamatory in closed Facebook groups used by police. All the officers have been dealt with by their superiors, but remain in the service.

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Queensland leaders have condemned the appearance of a Nazi flag over the Brisbane Synagogue just days before the Jewish community commemorates one of its darkest events.

Police were called after the flag, flown from a window of the neighbouring UniLodge student accommodation building on Margaret Street in the CBD, was noticed on Saturday morning.

A 45-year-old Brisbane man has been handed a notice to appear in court for public nuisance over a Nazi flag flown above the Brisbane Synagogue on Saturday.

The flag has since been seized and a 45-year-old Brisbane man ordered to appear in court on a public nuisance charge. The accommodation provider has been contacted for comment.

The incident marks the latest in a string of recent displays of Nazi-related symbols across the state, amid warnings from law enforcement agencies about rising far-right extremism.
A South Australian policy to force some interstate visitors into quarantine after the state hits 80 per cent double vaccination could penalise some Sydneysiders because of rubbery vaccination figures.

Last week SA Premier Steven Marshall announced his state will open its border to fully vaccinated interstate visitors once 80 per cent of the states 16+ population has had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The City of Sydney and Randwick LGAs have rubbery population estimates because of the absence of international students. Credit:Peter Rae

The policy would penalise at least two Sydney LGAs where the vaccination rates appear artificially low because the population estimates do not account for the absence of university students who normally live there.

The City of Sydney, which includes the University of Sydney and University of Technology Sydney, has an official double-vaccination rate of 70.0 per cent, while in Randwick, where the University of NSW is based, it is 75.5 per cent.
One protester has been arrested for damaging a police car after hundreds of people rallied against vaccine mandates and proposed pandemic laws to be introduced by the Andrews government this week.

Victoria Police said Saturdays protest, outside Victorias Parliament House was otherwise peaceful.

A crowd of protesters corralled on the steps of the Victorian Parliament on Saturday. Credit:Twitter/@BlakeJohnson

One person was arrested for damaging a police car, a police spokesman said.

Hundreds of demonstrators, corralled on the steps of Parliament, held signs saying Stop Dans dangerous new legislation and Free Victoria.
Australia has stepped up its call on the worlds biggest economies to force Facebook and other social media giants to reveal the anonymous trolls who harass people online, urging countries including the United States and United Kingdom to toughen regulation.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison used a statement to the G20 summit in Rome on Saturday to propose a new round of coordinated action to protect people online, with one option being to use expanded powers to identify people who hide behind anonymous accounts.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives in Rome to attend the G20 Summit in Italy. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The Australian plan includes gaining support from Indonesian President Joko Widodo to keep the issue on the agenda at the next annual gathering of leaders from the worlds 20 largest economies, due to meet in Bali next year.

Mr Morrison has suggested an expanded G20 agenda to tackle online safety during Indonesias leadership of the forum next year, presenting this as a way to get greater benefits from the digital economy.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Australians were not happy with their democracy. A survey taken after the 2019 federal election found only 25 per cent of voters trusted people in government  a terrible indictment of Australias current crop of federal politicians.

But the initial response of governments to the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia  back when state and federal leaders worked together to protect Australians  restored some of the publics faith in politicians. Here they were after all, doing the job they were elected to do and looking after the public interest.

Former Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her barrister Sophie Callan, SC (right) arrive at the Independent Commission Against Corruption in Sydney on Friday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The efforts of Gladys Berejiklian to protect the health and economy of her states citizens also won her much admiration and gratitude from NSW voters; so much so that when she disclosed her secret relationship with former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire last year, she received an outpouring of public support.

However, the evidence now being given to the Independent Commission Against Corruption suggests Berejiklian does have legitimate questions to answer about her relationship with Maguire, why it was kept secret and whether, as the ICAC is investigating, she breached public trust by failing to disclose it.
The federal government has quietly changed the rules with less than 48 hours until the international border opens and now said it will recognise the vaccination status of Australians who have received a mix of two vaccines.

The change will particularly affect Australians living in Canada where millions have received a jab or AstraZeneca and Pfizer rather than a two-dose course of either brand and enable them to return home without having to quarantine.

Its crucial to get either vaccine into peoples arms as quickly as possible untries with nothing. Credit:AP

The ban preventing Australians from leaving the country without an exit visa will be lifted from November 1, enabling fully vaccinated Australians to travel overseas.

NSW and Victoria will also remove the cap on the number of citizens, permanent residents, visa-holders and their immediate family members who can enter for the fully vaccinated allowing the tens of thousands of Australians who have been locked out of the country during the pandemic access for the first time in nearly two years.
Ltd (Ujjivan) on Saturday said its board has approved amalgamation of the company with its subsidiary in order to comply with Sebi's minimum public shareholding norms.

The decision was taken based on the recommendation of the audit committee and committee of independent directors in a meeting held on Saturday, Ujjivan said in a regulatory filing.

As per the scheme of amalgamation, (transferor company) will be merged with (transferee company), and the dissolution is to be without the winding-up of the transferor company.

The amalgamation is subject to approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), capital markets regulator Sebi, public shareholders of the involved, as well as the NCLT.

Ujjivan is the holding company and promoter of (SFB).

Ujjivan presently holds 83.32 per cent of the equity shareholding and 100 per cent of preference shareholding of Ujjivan SFB.

As per the minimum shareholding norms, the promoter's minimum initial contribution in the SFB arm should be at least 40 per cent.

If the promoter's initial shareholding in the SFB is in excess of 40 per cent, then it is to be brought down to 40 per cent within a period of five years from the date of commencement of operations of SFB.

"The aforesaid period of five years is expiring on January 31, 2022 for the transferee company (being SFB), and the proposed amalgamation among other business objectives and benefits would enable the transferee company to ensure the aforesaid compliance," Ujjivan said.

Once the scheme comes to effect, Ujjivan SFB would issue and allot to the shareholders of 115 equity shares of the bank for every 10 equity shares of Ujjivan.

Ujjivan said the amalgamation would result in formation of a larger and stronger entity having greater capacity for conducting its operations more efficiently and competitively.

It will also lead to better administration and cost reduction, it added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shyam Saran Negi, believed to be India's oldest voter at 104 years of age, cast his ballot on Saturday in the Mandi Parliamentary by-poll in

Negi had also participated in the 1951-52 general elections, the country's first.

"In my lifetime I have never missed an opportunity to cast my vote since India got its Independence in 1947 and I am happy to vote this time too," Negi said in Kalpa, some 275 kms from the state capital, after exercising his franchise.

Like on previous occasions, the centenarian requested the young voters to actively participate in the democratic exercise to get their representatives at the helm.

Negi was accorded a red carpet welcome as he reached the polling station by officials at Kalpa in Kinnaur district to cast his vote.

A staunch believer in democracy, the centenarian never fails to cast his vote in any election, be it Lok Sabha, Assembly or panchayat.

In 1951, Negi, a retired school teacher, was on duty and had exercised his franchise in Chini constituency, later renamed Kinnaur.

Back then, voting in the snow-bound areas of the mountain state was held ahead of other places in the country.

Negi came to the polling station along with his family members. He flashed his inked wrinkled finger after voting.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minister of State Dr on Friday launched India's first manned mission Samudrayan at

At the launch event, he said, "With the launch of this Unique Mission, India joins the elite club of nations such as the USA, Russia, Japan, France and China to have such underwater vehicles for carrying out subsea activities."

Dr said that this niche technology shall facilitate the Ministry of Earth Sciences, MoES in carrying out deep exploration of the non-living resources such as polymetallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydro-thermal sulphides and cobalt crusts, located at a depth between 1000 and 5500 meters.

He said, the preliminary design of the manned submersible MATSYA 6000 is completed and the realization of a vehicle is started with various organizations including ISRO, IITM and DRDO roped-in to support the development.

The Minister informed that sea trials of 500 metre rated shallow water version of the manned submersible are expected to take place in the last quarter of 2022 and the MATSYA 6000, the deepwater manned submersible will be ready for trials by the second quarter of 2024.

He said, "the advancing technologies in metallurgy, energy storage, underwater navigation and manufacturing facilities provides opportunity for developing more efficient, reliable and safe manned submersible."

Dr said that underwater vehicles are essential for carrying out subsea activities such as high resolution bathymetry, biodiversity assessment, geo-scientific observation, search activities, salvage operation and engineering support.

He said, "Even though unmanned underwater vehicles have improved manoeuvring and excellent vision systems resembling direct observation, manned submersible provides a feel of direct physical presence for researchers and has better intervention capability."

"With the advancing subsea technologies, the recent Fendouzhe manned submersible developed by China in 2020 has touched ~11000 m water depths," the Minister added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Voting began at 7 AM on Saturday for by-polls to the four assembly constituencies of Dinhata in Cooch Behar, Shantipur in Nadia, Khardah in North 24 Parganas and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas districts, an election commission of India (ECI) official said.

In Dinhata, TMC's heavyweight north Bengal leader Udayan Guha is fighting to reclaim the seat which BJP had snatched from him by a whisker in polls held last April. The by-election at Dinhata were necessitated by the resignation of Nisith Pramanik, now Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, who favoured keeping his Lok Sabha membership over sitting in the opposition in West Bengal's assembly. Guha, a two-time MLA from Dinhata, is up against BJP's Ashok Mandal, who as a TMC candidate had defeated him, a Forward Bloc candidate then, in 2006. The bypoll to Shantipur was necessitated by the resignation of BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar, who too resigned from the assembly seat in favour of retaining his Lok Sabha membership. State minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, who resigned from Bhabanipur to facilitate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's election to the Assembly, is fighting from Khardah, where TMC's Kajal Sinha died due to COVID-19, just days after polls to the seat were held Bypoll to the Gosaba seat in Sunderbans was also necessitated by the death of TMC's Jayanta Naskar, who too was suffering from Covid. The EC has deployed 27 companies of central armed forces in Dinhata, 22 in Santipur, 20 in Khardah and 23 in Gosaba, an official said.

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Polling was underway amid tight security in the to the Huzurabad Assembly constituency in on Saturday.

Polling started at 7 a.m. at 306 polling centres across the constituency in Karimnagar district. Election officials said the process will continue till 7 p.m.

A little over 2.37 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) made elaborate arrangements to ensure free and fair polling.

Chief Electoral OfficeR Shashank Goel said 20 companies of central forces in addition to the personnel from State police were deployed as part of the elaborate security arrangements.

A total of 30 candidates are in fray in the bypolls, caused by the resignation of Eatala Rajender after he was dropped from the State Cabinet by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao following allegations of land grabbing.

Rajender resigned from both Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the state Assembly to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Rajender, who had been representing Huzurabad seat since 2009, is contesting as a BJP candidate. He is locked in an interesting contest against Gellu Srinivas Yadav of TRS.

Yadav is the chief of the ruling party's student wing TRS Vidhyarthi. The Congress party has nominated 29-year-old political novice B. Venkat Narsing Rao, chief of the state's NSUI unit, as its candidate.

The constituency saw a long and bitter campaign with both TRS and BJP accusing each other of using money, liquor and other gifts to lure voters. TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his son and TRS working president K. T. Rama Rao stayed away from the campaigning.

KCR was planning to address a major election rally in Hanamkonda district abutting Huzurabad in view of the restrictions over huge gatherings in the constituency. However, the TRS could not organise the meeting as the Election Commission extended the model code of conduct to Hanamkonda district as well.

The TRS chief slammed the poll panel saying it was crossing its limits. He also criticized the Election Commission for stopping implementation of Dalit Bandhu scheme in Huzurabad though the scheme was launched before the announcement of poll schedule.

Under Dalit Bandhu launched on pilot basis on Huzurabad, every Dalit family will get a Rs 10 lakh grant to take up any business of its choice.

KCR's nephew and Finance Minister T. Harish Rao led the TRS campaign, targeting BJP for neglecting Telangana and also for mounting fuel prices. He and some other TRS ministers slammed Rajender for joining BJP after ditching TRS, which gave him a ticket in every Assembly election since the party's inception in 2001 and twice making him the minister. They alleged that he joined the saffron party to save his skin following allegations of encroaching the lands of farmers.

On the other hand, Rajender claimed that his fight is for self-respect and to end the autocratic rule of KCR. BJP's state chief Bandi Sanjay, Central Minister G. Kishan Reddy and party's central leader incharge of party affairs Tarun Chugh campaigned for Rajender. They targetted KCR for aautocratic' and afamily rule' and claimed that only BJP can provide a viable alternative to TRS.

The Congress party was late in launching the campaign and announcing itsAcandidate. Its state president Revanth Reddy, Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, MP Uttam Kumar Reddy, former MP Madhu Yashki, Mohammed Ali Shabbir and others participated in the campaign, targeting both TRS and BJP.

In 2018, Rajender had retained Huzurabad, defeating his nearest rival Kaushik Reddy of Congress by over 43,000 votes. The TRS candidate had polled 1,04,840 while Congress candidate secured 61,121 votes.

BJP candidate P. Raghu polled only 1,683 votes, which was less than NOTA votes (2,867).

Kaushik Reddy recently quit Congress and joined TRS. The ruling party has rewarded him with nomination to Legislative Council.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nirmala Sitharman on Friday met her counterparts in and and discussed various issues, including economy, health and opportunities for collaboration.

Sitharaman met UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, Lawrence Wong and Canada's Deputy Prime Minister & Chrystia Freeland on the sidelines of the G-20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers' meeting.

"Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman had an engaging discussion with @cafreeland Dy. Prime Minister & Finance Minister of on the sidelines of #G20 Finance & Health Ministers Meeting in #Rome. The Ministers discussed various issues, including economic and health cooperation," a Finance Ministry tweet said.

In another tweet, the ministry said: "Finance Minister @nsitharaman met @LawrenceWongST Finance Minister of on the sidelines of #G20 Finance & Health Ministers Meeting in #Rome ahead of #G20RomeSummit. Noting strong #IndiaSingapore relations, the ministers discussed opportunities for further collaboration".

Sitharaman also met Brazil Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes.

The ministers discussed and exchanged views on various issues, including economic recovery from pandemic, investments, climate action and engagement at BRICS 2021 and G20.

"Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman had a valuable exchange with Mr @RishiSunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom in #Rome on the sidelines of the #G20 Finance & Health Ministers Meeting. The Ministers discussed topics of mutual interest like green transition, #fintech, importance of keeping supply chains open and #EconomicOpportunities in India," the ministry said in another tweet.

The minister also met GlobalFund Executive Director Peter Sands and appreciated Global Fund's efforts in fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

"Discussions were held on global preparedness for dealing with future health emergencies and sustaining the campaigns against other diseases," the ministry said.

Sitharaman also met Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, who appreciated India's efforts in prioritising Financial Inclusion for the underserved.

A range of topics like India Stack, Jan Dhan Yojana and Account Aggregator Framework were discussed and both sides expressed intention to carry further the work of Financial Inclusion for development.

FM Smt. @nsitharaman expressed readiness for sharing India's experience and best practices for advancing universal and #InclusiveFinance, a finance ministry tweet said.

This is the first joint meeting of the G20 Finance and Health Ministers under the Italian G20 Presidency.

The ministers endorsed the Joint G20 Finance and Health Ministers Communique towards strengthening global health financing governance ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit on October 30-31.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Representative Katherine Tai will travel to India next month, her office announced here.

Tai, the top trade official of the Biden Administration, will reach New Delhi on November 22 from South Korea. She will begin her Asia trip from Tokyo on November 15, the USTR said on Friday.

" Representative Katherine Tai and Deputy Representative Sarah Bianchi will travel to Tokyo, Seoul, and New Delhi to meet with government officials and stakeholders to discuss the enduring US commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and to strengthen trade and economic relationships with key allies and partners," it said.

Tai will return to Washington, D.C. on November 24.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Voting began Saturday morning for by- to one and three Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, an official said.

As many as 48 candidates are in the fray in four constituencies where straight fights are expected between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress.

Voting started at 7 am and will end at 6 pm, the official said.

Altogether 26,50,004 voters are eligible to exercise franchise during the bypolls.

Of 3,944 polling centres across four constituencies 865 are deemed as sensitive by the administration.

Webcasting has been arranged at 874 polling stations while CCTV cameras have been installed at 361 centres.

Sixteen candidates each are in the fray for by-polls to Khandwa seat and Raigaon (SC) Assembly constituency.

In these seats, two ballot units have been placed in each polling centre due to the high number of candidates.

Ten candidates are in the fray in Prithvipur and six in Jobat (ST) assembly constituencies.

Counting of votes will take place on November 2.

The Khandwa parliamentary seat and Raigaon assembly seat in Satna district were held by the BJP while Jobat in Alirajpur and Prithvipur in Niwari districts were with the Congress.

In Khandwa, the BJP has fielded former district panchayat president Gyaneshwar Patil, denying the ticket to Harshvardhan Chauhan, the son of sitting MP Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan whose demise necessitated the bypoll. The Congress has fielded former MLA Rajnarayan Singh Purni.

In Jobat, Sulochana Rawat is the BJP's nominee against Congress candidate Mahesh Patel. The seat fell vacant due to the death of sitting Congress legislator Kalawati Bhuria.

Rawat, a former MLA, joined the BJP recently after quitting Congress. She had won from Jobat on Congress's ticket in 1998 and 2008.

In Raigaon (SC) seat, the BJP has fielded Pratima Bagri, the daughter-in-law of MLA Jugal Kishore Bagri whose death necessitated the bypoll. She will face Congress' Kalpana Verma.

Verma had been defeated by Jugal Kishore Bagri in the 2018.

In Prithvipur, the BJP has fielded former Samajwadi Party leader Shishupal Singh against Congress's Nitendra Rathore, the son of former minister Brajendra Singh Rathore whose death necessitated the bypoll.

Additional chief secretary Rajesh Rajora said 58 companies of special armed forces -- including 50 from other states -- have been deployed for ensuring fair and peaceful polls.

A total of 55 flying squads and 64 static surveillance teams have been pressed into service.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Leaders of the worlds biggest economies who have gathered in Rome will endorse an ambitious plan on Saturday to overhaul the way countries around the world tax multinational companies, according to a senior U.S. administration official.

The official, traveling with President Joe Biden, called the agreement a historic reshaping of the rules for the global economy that will force corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. That echoed previous comments by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, whose support helped push forward a deal that had languished during the administration of President Donald Trump.

The pact had already won support in October, in principle, from 136 governments under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and G-20 finance ministers endorsed a framework for the agreement in July.

The G-20s endorsement of the deal stands out at a summit that looks unlikely to produce any additional substantial agreements. Leaders have failed to make serious progress on other prominent issues, including climate change and debt relief for low-income countries.

The tax pact has two sweeping objectives. It intends first to halt the effort by multinational companies to shift profits into low-tax havens through a new global minimum tax of 15% for multinational companies. It also attempts to address the increasingly digital nature of international commerce by taxing companies, in part, on where they do business instead of where they book profits.

While the deal has overcome some major impediments -- such as getting low-tax Ireland to sign on -- it faces several potential snags before it comes into force and proves effective, including the creation of a credible dispute resolution mechanism.

Signatory countries must also follow through by enacting domestic legislation to implement the new tax rules and by formally approving a multilateral convention, to be drafted by the OECD.

The U.S. and five European governments helped the agreement along with a side deal, announced Oct. 21. It allows the European countries to retain, for now, so-called digital services taxes on technology giants like Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., which U.S. officials said unfairly discriminated against American companies. That allows those nations to maintain revenues and keeps the pressure on Congress to approve the new rules over objections from top Republicans.

Tax Credits

If and when a new global tax regime comes into force in the next two years, the European countries will offer a credit to effectively refund any taxes collected in excess of what corporations would pay under the global tax deal.

Despite the Biden administrations hearty backing, the overall deal may still face its biggest challenge in the U.S., where its uncertain whether the president can convince enough lawmakers to approve the new reallocation of taxes.

While congressional Democrats can enforce the 15% minimum tax on their own this fall as part of Bidens proposed social-spending package, enacting the tax-reallocation portion may take several more months and will face stiff opposition from Republicans.

The Biden administration retreated by failing to demand immediate repeal of discriminatory taxes, which will continue for years, if not indefinitely, Senator Michael Crapo of Idaho and Representative Kevin Brady of Texas -- the top two Republicans on Congresss tax-writing committees -- said in a statement on Oct. 22. The administration simply settled for an empty promise -- if we reform our tax laws to these countries satisfaction, then they will grant U.S. businesses tax credits against future taxes.
United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai is expected to visit the national capital next month to discuss trade issues with India. This will be Tai's first visit to India since she took over earlier this year.

"United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Deputy United States Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi will travel to Tokyo, Seoul, and New Delhi to meet with government officials and stakeholders to discuss the enduring US commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and to strengthen trade and economic relationships with key allies and partners," according to an official statement from USTR. Tai will reach India on 22 November.

With the US indicating that it is not looking at new trade agreements, commerce and industry minister had in August said that India will look at working with the US on market access issues to promote bilateral trade.

Addressing market access issues on both sides will be a big opportunity for our export sector, the minister had said.

In the past, India had extensive discussions with the US on a limited trade deal, with the regime of Donald Trump. However, the limited trade package was not signed as some contentious issues were not resolved.
In their first in-person meeting, Prime Minister and his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi discussed the challenges posed by and the need for the community to work together, as well as the situation in

During the meeting on Friday, Modi highlighted the transformative climate actions undertaken by India, and the concerns of developing countries about climate financing commitments of the developed world.

The two leaders also exchanged views on recent global and regional developments, including in and the Indo-Pacific.

"They reiterated their desire for working closer together for furthering the India-EU multi-faceted cooperation," said a release from the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.

On the bilateral side, the two leaders reviewed developments since the India-Italy Virtual Summit in November 2020 and expressed satisfaction at the progress in implementation of the 2020-2025 Action Plan adopted at the virtual summit that set strategic goals in the political, economic, S&T and cultural spheres to be achieved in the next five years.

The Prime Ministers also reiterated their commitment to further expanding trade and investment linkages between the two countries particularly in textiles, food processing, automotive and renewable energy sectors.

"To provide fresh impetus to the bilateral cooperation in renewables and clean energy, India and Italy issued a Joint Statement announcing a aStrategic Partnership on Energy Transition' and agreed to explore partnerships in areas such as large size green corridor projects, smart grids, energy storage solutions, gas transportation, integrated waste management (waste-to-wealth), development and deployment of green hydrogen and promotion of bio-fuels. India and Italy also signed a aStatement of Intent on Textiles Cooperation' during the meeting," the release said.

Earlier on Friday, Draghi offered a grand welcome to Modi amid military honours at the Palazzo Chigi courtyard.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The leaders of the world's economic powerhouses gathered Saturday for the first in-person summit since the coronavirus pandemic, with climate change, COVID-19 economic recovery and the global minimum corporate tax rate on the agenda.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi welcomed the Group of 20 heads of state to Rome's Nuvola cloud-like convention center in the Fascist-era EUR neighborhood, which was sealed off from the rest of the capital. Saturday's opening session was focused on global health and the economy, with a meeting on the sidelines for key leaders to discuss next steps on Iran's nuclear program.

Italy is hoping the G-20 will secure key commitments from countries representing 80% of the global economy and responsible for around the same amount of global carbon emissions ahead of the U.N. climate conference that begins Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland.

Most of the heads of state and government who are in Rome will head to Glasgow as soon as the G-20 is over. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are participating remotely.

On the eve of the meeting, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the Glasgow meeting risked failure over the still-tepid commitments from big polluters and challenged the G-20 leaders to overcome dangerous levels of mistrust among themselves and with developing nations.

Let's be clear there is a serious risk that Glasgow will not deliver,? Guterres told reporters in Rome. He said current, formal commitments by governments still condemn the world to a calamitous 2.7-degree increase in global temperatures.

A recent U.N. environment report concluded that announcements by dozens of countries to aim for net-zero emissions by 2050 could, if fully implemented, limit a global temperature rise to 2.2 degrees Celsius (4 F). That's closer but still above the less stringent target agreed upon in the Paris climate accord of capping global warming at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) compared with pre-industrial times.

The U.N. chief also blamed geopolitical divides for hampering a global vaccination plan to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, saying action has taken a back seat to vaccine hoarding and vaccine nationalism.''



He blasted how in the richest countries, people are getting a third dose of the vaccine while only 5% of Africans have been fully vaccinated.

Aiming to address the inequalities, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced as he arrived in Rome that the U.K. would donate 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to developing countries. Some 10 million doses have been sent to the United Nations-backed COVAX vaccine-sharing programme, and 10 million more will follow in the coming weeks, the U.K. said.

The G-20, though, will likely be a celebration of one agreement, on a global minimum corporate tax. The G-20 leaders are expected to formally affirm their commitment to establishing a 15% global minimum corporate tax rate by 2023, a measure aimed at preventing multinational companies from stashing profits in countries where they pay few or no taxes.

The move has been praised by White House officials as a game changer that would create at least $60 billion in new revenue a year in the U.S. - a stream of cash that could help partially pay for a nearly $3 trillion social services and infrastructure package that President Joe Biden is seeking. U.S. adoption is key because so many multinational companies are headquartered there.

But Biden is struggling to come to agreement with members of his own party on what will be included in the massive spending plan, not to mention how it will be paid for. The president's struggles to come to terms on U.S. legislation were not expected to be a central part of Biden's conversations with fellow leaders, White House officials said.

Biden is also expected to raise concerns about an imbalance in supply and demand in the global energy markets, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Friday on the condition of anonymity. The official said that Biden would underscore the importance of finding greater stability in both the oil and gas markets, for the sake of a global economy that's been badly bruised by the coronavirus pandemic.

The summit could be an opportunity for dialogue because it includes delegations from major energy producers Saudi Arabia and Russia, major consumers in Europe and China, and the U.S., which is both. But analysts doubted the meeting would produce any immediate impact.

So far, Saudi-led OPEC and allies including Russia, dubbed OPEC+, have ignored Biden's pleas to increase production faster than its current pace of 400,000 barrels per day each month into next year.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UK will be hosting the 26th UN Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow from October 31 - November 12, 2021, to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on (UNFCCC).

With increasing global surface temperatures the possibility of more droughts, floods, wildfires and increased intensity of storms are likely to witness across the world.

To overcome this climate crisis, the planet needs a unified fight as though the world is divided by borders, the climate has no borders, it affects the whole world.

COP26 is the 2021 edition of the United Nations annual conference and parties are the signatories of the UNFCCC - a treaty agreed in 1994 which has 197 Parties (196 countries and the EU).

United Nations climate change conferences are among the largest meetings in the world. The negotiations between governments are complex and involve officials from every country in the world as well as representatives from civil society and the global news media.

At COP21, which took place in Paris in 2015, for the first time ever, momentous happened: every country agreed to work together to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees and aim for 1.5 degrees, to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate and to make money available to deliver on these aims. The Paris Agreement was born. The commitment to aim for 1.5 degrees is important because every fraction of a degree of warming results in the tragedy of many more lives lost and livelihoods damaged.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries committed to bringing forward national plans setting out how much they would reduce their emissions - known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or 'NDCs'. They agreed that every five years they would come back with an updated plan that would reflect their highest possible ambition at that time.

The limiting of temperature rise to 1.6 degrees is very essential. At 2 degrees of global warming, there would be widespread and severe impacts on people and nature. A third of the world's population would be regularly exposed to severe heat, leading to health problems and more heat-related deaths.

Almost all warm-water coral reefs would be destroyed, and the Arctic Sea ice would melt entirely at least one summer per decade, with devastating impacts on the wildlife and communities. We cannot rule out the possibility that irreversible loss of ice sheets in Greenland and the Antarctic could be triggered, leading to several metres of sea-level rise over centuries to come.

At 1.5C, the impacts would be serious, but less severe. There would be lower risks of food and water shortages, lower risks to economic growth and fewer species at risk of extinction.

Threats to human health from air pollution, disease, malnutrition and exposure to extreme heat would also be lower.

At COP26, the parties will be asked to come forward with ambitious 2030 emissions reductions targets (NDCs) that align with reaching net zero by the middle of the century.

To deliver on these stretching targets, countries will need to accelerate the phaseout of coal, encourage investment in renewables, curtail deforestation and speed up the switch to electric vehicles.

The climate is already changing and it will continue to change even as we reduce emissions, with devastating effects. At COP26, the parties will work together to enable and encourage countries affected by climate change to protect and restore ecosystems, build defences, put warning systems in place and make infrastructure and agriculture more resilient to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and lives.

To realise the goals of net-zero emissions and adapt to protect communities and natural habitats, developed countries must deliver on their promise to raise at least USD 100 billion in climate finance per year.

financial institutions must play their part and need to work towards unleashing the trillions in private and public sector finance required to secure global net-zero to protect the environment.

The planet can only rise to the challenges of climate change by working together.

At COP26, parties should finalise the Paris Rulebook (the rules needed to implement the Paris Agreement) to check the devastating effects of climate change.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iran's foreign ministry on Thursday said that the recent political changes in ( takeover) could turn into a strategic threat to Iran's interests.

"If the government with the current thought and format gets established in Afghanistan, it definitely will be a strategic threat against our country's national interests. There is no doubt about it," said General Director of the Iranian foreign ministry's west Asia department, Rasoul Mousavi, reported Tolo News.

Mousavi made the statement after confirming the Taliban's recognition of the 1973 Helmand River Treaty.

The in unofficial meetings with Iranian officials said they recognize the Helmand River Treaty signed between and in 1973.

According to the treaty, is committed to sharing the water from the Helmand River with and will supply 26 cubic meters of water per second, or 850 million cubic meters per annum.

Former president Ashraf Ghani had repeatedly said Afghanistan would not give water free of charge to any country, especially to Iran, reported Tolo News.

Ghani had said he will give water to the neighbouring countries in exchange for oil, but will not give it away for free.

Although the Islamic Emirate has not rejected or confirmed the remarks of the Iranian official, they have sparked reactions among the people and analysts.

Attaullah Afghan, the former head of the Helmand provincial council, said the level of water has lowered in Helmand River, and said that the river's water flow into should not be allowed, reported Tolo News.

"Iran's request for water is not accepted to the Helmand people because they themselves face a water shortage," he said.

"The Iranians want Afghanistan's water to not be managed properly," said Hamid Mujadadi, a university lecturer.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister on Saturday interacted with world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, on the sidelines of the Summit, exchanging pleasantries and showcasing a spirit of camaraderie.

In a series of photos tweeted by the PMO India, Prime Minister Modi is seen meeting Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"On the sidelines of the @g20org Rome Summit, PM @narendramodi interacts with various leaders," the PMO said in the tweet.

In the pictures, Modi is seen walking with Biden in a half embrace, apparently sharing a light chitchat. The two leaders are seen happy to be in each other's company.

Biden hosted Modi at the White House on September 24 for their first in-person meeting.

In other photos, Modi is seen embracing Macron and engaged in an animated discussion with Trudeau and Johnson.

Earlier, all the world leaders participating in the Summit, including Modi, gathered for a "family photo".

"World leaders meet in Rome for the @g20org Summit, an important multilateral forum for global good," the PMO said in another tweet.

Ahead of Prime Minister Modi's visit to Rome, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that the remains a valuable forum for India's engagement with major economies in the world and for setting the trends and norms for global economic development and recovery.

The prime minister will be participating in the G20 Summit in Rome from October 30-31 at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Italy has been holding the presidency of the G20 since December last year.

The G20 is a leading global forum that brings together the world's major economies. Its members account for more than 80 per cent of the global GDP, 75 per cent of global trade and 60 per cent of the population of the planet.

The forum has met every year since 1999 and includes, since 2008, a yearly summit, with the participation of the respective heads of state and government.

The Rome summit will be attended by heads of state and government of G20 member countries, the European Union, and other invited countries and several organisations.

The summit will be centred around the theme 'People, Planet, Prosperity, focussing on the areas of recovery from the pandemic and strengthening of global health governance.

From Rome, Modi will travel to Glasgow on Sunday to attend the World Leader's summit of the 26th Conference of Parties (COP-26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day ahead of the annual climate summit at Glasgow in the United Kingdom, India has called upon the government of India to tackle the twin challenges of climate and growing inequality together at the COP26 summit.

"A failure to confront extreme carbon inequality at this historic juncture will only mean enabling prevalent injustices that will be catastrophic for India," India said in a statement.

International's 2020 briefing 'Confronting Carbon Inequality' had shown that over the past 20 to 30 years, our limited global carbon budget was squandered in the service of increasing the consumption of the already affluent, rather than lifting people out of poverty. The richest 1 per cent (around 75 million people) were responsible for twice the cumulative emissions of the poorest 50 per cent (3.1 billion people). The two groups that suffer this injustice worst are those least responsible for the climate crisis -- poorer and marginalised people and our future generations.

Starting Sunday, India and other world nations come together at Glasgow to deliberate on mechanisms to contain emissions to restrict global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial era.

" is happening now. It is already causing extreme weather that is pushing millions of people deeper into hunger and poverty, even though they did the least to cause this crisis. India must demand that developed countries provide more for climate finance to adapt to the impacts of and compensate for loss and damage and enable a just transition," said CEO of Oxfam India, Amitabh Behar.

Stating that "we are dangerously close to missing the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement," Behar said, "The Government of India must demand that developed countries bring down their per capita material and carbon footprint to global average by 2030."

Demanding that there is also a need to prepare and plan for a 'Just Transition' to ensure that the millions of unorganised workers and local communities dependent on the current economy do not suffer due to the eventual and much needed closing of mines and power plants, Project Officer, Access to Energy at Oxfam India, Sandip Chowdhury said, "It is important to ensure social justice is done in this shift towards a renewable future crucial for a climate resilient society."

--IANS

niv/skp/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda recently expressed his opposition to the theory that the Covid-19 pandemic originated in China, Sankei News reported.

In a speech on Wednesday, Fukuda said the origin of Covid-19 was "a rumor".

He expressed his understanding about the Chinese side in terms of addressing the rumor, Xinhua news agency reported.

He also insisted on holding a Japan- summit, saying that "it is necessary to build a new relationship of trust" regarding bilateral relations with

The former Prime Minister questioned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's pledge to increase defense costs by more than two per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

"If the surrounding countries are enemies, no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to protect (Japan). It is necessary not to create enemies," Fukuda added.

--IANS

int/khz/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the U.K. will donate 20 million doses of the vaccine to developing countries as part of efforts to share vaccines with countries that sorely lack them.

Johnson made the announcement as he arrived in Rome for a summit of Group of 20 leaders, which starts Saturday.

The U.K. says 10 million doses have been sent to the United Nations-backed COVAX vaccine-sharing program, and 10 million more will follow in the coming weeks.

They join 10 million doses that have already been delivered, and form part of Britain's commitment to share 100 million doses with needier nations by mid-2022.

Johnson urged the club of economic powers to push to vaccinate the world by the end of 2022, saying that our first priority as the G-20 must be to press ahead with the rapid, equitable and global distribution of vaccines.

Britain and other wealthy nations have been accused of hoarding more vaccines than they need, while some countries, especially in Africa, have few or none. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a World Health Organization health envoy, has urged G-20 nations to speed things up and airlift unused doses to the developing world.

The British leader also is hoping to focus the G-20's minds on climate commitments as he prepares to host a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, starting Sunday.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Insurance companies have emerged as the big bidders for shares of PB Fintech, the company that operates Policy Bazaar and portals. ICICI Prudential Life, Max Life, Niva Bupa, Bajaj Life and are among insurance companies that have got allotment in the anchor category ahead of PB Fintechs Rs 5,600-crore IPO, which opens on Monday.

Some other funds that have got allotment in the anchor category are New World, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity and Abu Dhabi Invesment Authority.

A total of 26.2 million shares have been allocated to over 150 funds at Rs 980 per share, disclosure made to stock exchanges show. Total allotment in the anchor category is for shares worth Rs 2,570 crore.

Sources said the anchor book generated demand exceeding 40 times the shares on offer.

is a web aggregator where consumers can compare insurance products of various companies and buy them. Experts said insurance companies bidding in the anchor category would be seen as positive by the market.

At Rs 980, PB Fintech is valued at Rs 44,000 crore. The company is looking to raise Rs 3,750 crore in fresh capital through the IPO.

Net proceeds from the public offering (fresh issue) will be used to enhance the visibility of the brand. The company said it will use around Rs 1,500 crore out of the net proceeds to fund marketing initiatives over the next three years.

Further, it intends to utilise Rs 375 crore to expand the consumer base, including offline presence; Rs 600 crore for strategic acquisitions and investments; Rs 375 crore for expanding presence outside India; and some portion for general corporate purposes.

Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global India, ICICI Securities, HDFC Bank, IIFL Securities, and Jefferies India are the book running lead managers to the issue.

PB Fintech IPO will close on Wednesday.
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Reversing a previous AIADMK government's decision, the ruling DMK in on Saturday said the state's Formation Day will now be celebrated on July 18, in lines with the rechristening of its name to the present one and not on November 1.

Chief Minister M K Stalin's announcement in this connection drew the AIADMK's criticism, which alleged it was done due to "political vendetta."



K Palaniswami, as Chief Minister in 2019, had announced Day will be observed on November 1 following requests from various quarters then.

On Saturday, chief minister Stalin said that on November 1, 1956, Linguistic Reorganisation of States was done in the country following which parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala "went away" from the then Madras State.

Subsequently, the previous government had announced November 1 from 2019 as Day, he recalled.

However, various sections including political parties, Tamil scholars, activists and associations have been insisting that November 1 would only signify the "border struggle" and that it would not be appropriate to celebrate the day as Tamil Nadu Day, he said in a statement.

They had suggested that July 18-- when Tamil Nadu got its present name following an Assembly legislation heralded by Dravidian veteran and late chief minister CN Annadurai, should be the day to be celebrated as the state's formation day, he added.

"After carefully considering the pleas of various organisations, a Government Order will soon be issued to celebrate July 18, when mother Tamil Nadu was named as Tamil Nadu by Anna," as the state's formation day, the CM added.

Further, as a special gesture, 110 people involved in the "border struggle" will be honoured with Rs one lakh each on November 1, he said.

The opposition AIADMK lashed out at the government's decision to change the state's formation day celebrations.

Just because Palaniswami had announced that November 1 will be celebrated as Tamil Nadu Day, "I condemn portraying history according to your convenience (due to) political vendetta," party spokesperson Kovai Sathyan said in a tweet, tagging Stalin and top party leaders O Panneerselvam and Palaniswami.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi [India], October 30 (ANI/Oswaal Books): Preparation for the Physics exam causes anxiety and stress to many students. But with the right resources and preparation strategy, students can secure high scores in Physics.

With only a few weeks left for Term 1 examinations, you need to pivot and accelerate your preparation to ensure not only that you complete the syllabus but also revision.

In case you are still looking out for guidance on how to prepare for your Term 1 examinations, here are a few tips that will ensure that you score the maximum marks in Physics.

1. Understanding unit-wise weightage

In Physics, comprehension clarity is key. If you don't understand the fundamentals, you will struggle. To ensure that you make the best possible use of the available time and resources, spend some time first in understanding the unit-wise weightage for various topics. It will ensure that you give more time and focus to those topics which have more weightage in the exam.

For Physics, the topics are nearly equally split in terms of weightage. Electrostatics (which includes Electric Charges and Fields and Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance and Current Electricity) is worth 17 marks. Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism (which includes Moving Charges and Magnetism, and Magnetism and Matter) and Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents are worth nearly 18 marks. Hence, you cannot skip the topics or not cover the full syllabus.

2. Daily planner for Physics

The countdown to Term 1 examinations has begun. In such a case, creating and following a daily schedule for learning and revising is a crucial step.

As per the revised Term 1 syllabus shared by CBSE, the maximum teaching time is allotted to Electrostatics, followed by Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents, Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism (which include Moving Charges and Magnetism and Magnetism and Matter) followed by Current Electricity.

The amount of time that you should devote to the chapters should be analogous to the time earmarked by CBSE.

Hence your preparation should focus on Electrostatics (3 hours daily), followed by Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents (2 hours), Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism and finally Current Electricity (1 hour each). If you are preparing for other topics simultaneously, block the time in for Physics daily and increase and decrease it depending on which topic you are studying at present.

Crafting a daily schedule will give you visibility into how soon can you finish your syllabus and commence revision. You should also budget for some buffer time for each topic just in case you need some additional time for any topic that you find particularly difficult.

3. Practicing with MCQ Question Bank

Apart from knowing the theory well, the key to getting high scores in an MCQ examination is rigorous practice. This time, the entire question paper will be MCQ-based. With an MCQ examination, you can be tested if you don't have the fundamentals clear. Practicing with an MCQ-based question bank will not only help you reaffirm your knowledge but also test your understanding.

4. Thorough preparation with NCERT textbooks

Physics is one subject in which conceptual clarity is of utmost importance. It is not possible to secure decent marks if one has not understood the concepts clearly. On the other hand, since it is an MCQ-based examination, students need to be familiar with answering strategies for MCQ examinations.

There are quite a number of misconceptions about an MCQ-based examination - that it is easier, or that you don't need to cover the full syllabus or be conversant with the theory. All of these are misleading facts. MCQ examinations are as rigorous as any other type, and need you to cover the full syllabus to attempt the maximum number of questions.

To cover the full syllabus, it is essential that you comprehensively study from the NCERT textbooks. This will ensure that you do not leave out any important topic.

5. Solve sample papers

To gain confidence in attempting MCQs in Term 1, you need to prepare extensively with sample papers. Regularly practicing with sample papers reduces exam anxiety and familiarizes students with the exam pattern. Students also come to know about the different ways in which questions related to a particular topic can be asked. Also, it helps students to learn and analyse their mistakes and informs them about their strengths and weaknesses.

Cognitive Exam Tools To Learn Faster & Retain Longer: -

CBSE MCQs Sample Papers Class12 Physics is recommended to gain real-time exam confidence and to properly decode the exam pattern.

We need to look out for cognitive exam preparation tools to get exam-ready concept learning. For example, one-pager revision notes for each chapter, mind maps for quick-learning, video-based learning to learn faster & retain longer. Exam-time tips & tricks to solve problems faster will be a proven strategy to go with.

Most Likely MCQs Questions

Look at current, as there is the absence of all these study stuffs in a single book, Oswaal CBSE MCQs Sample Papers Class 12 Physics ForTerm 1 Board Exams is recommended as the book contains all the cognitive exam tools discussed above along with most likely MCQs reframed from PYQs, all official semester-1 exam-oriented study stuff.

If you want to practice Chapter-wise Topic-wise for CBSE Term 1 Board Exams 2021-22, you may go with Oswaal CBSE MCQs Question Banks Class 12 Physics For Term 1 Board Exams.

Here's the recommended link for Oswaal CBSE MCQs Sample Papers Class 12 PhysicsforTerm 1 Board Exams 2021-22: (https://www.oswaalbooks.com/books/cbse-books/class-12?utm_source=ani+cbse+mcq+term+1+class+12+physics & utm_medium=online+pr+cbse+term+1+30+oct & utm_campaign=physics+class+12) (https://bit.ly/3jQWzeO)

Oswaal CBSE MCQs Sample Papers Class 12 All SubjectsFor Term 1 Board Exams 2021-22: (https://www.oswaalbooks.com/books/cbse-books/class-12?utm_source=ani+cbse+mcq+term+1+class+12+physics & utm_medium=online+pr+cbse+term+1+30+oct & utm_campaign=physics+class+12) (https://bit.ly/3jQWzeO)

Conclusion

Following the above tips will enable students to be confident about their preparation. Even with a limited time, students can craft a winning exam strategy. With the correct tools and strategy, any goal is attainable. With the right preparation attitude and tools, attaining high scores in Physics is very much possible.

This story is provided by Oswaal Books. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Oswaal Books)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A mountaintop mansion in Hong Kong linked to Dennis Chen  removed last month as HNA Group Co.s investment chief  has become the latest luxury property linked to the group to be placed in foreclosure ahead of a possible sale.

House 6 on Twelve Peaks, a posh development on Hong Kong Islands Victoria Peak, was seized by the lender on Oct. 15, records from the Land Registry of the Hong Kong SAR show.

Chen, who is also known as Chen Chao, was removed from his position as chief investment officer at the troubled HNA Group in September. His uncle, group chairman Chen Feng, was taken in by police that same month.

Fortune Runner Hong Kong Investments Ltd. purchased House 6 in 2015 for HKD $506 million ($65 million), or HKD $1.24 million per square meter. Dennis Chen is one of at least two former Fortune Runner directors with links to HNA. Both departed the firm on Oct. 25.

Fortune Runner is currently in receivership, meaning all of its properties face seizure by the courts and could be auctioned.

House 6 has been up for sale for HKD$510 million for some time. Properties in foreclosure may be given to surveyors for sale by tender or auction, or sold through real estate agencies, a realtor told Caixin, adding that luxury mansions sold under such circumstances often go for lower than market rates.

House 6 isnt the first Hong Kong property with ties to HNA to be put into foreclosure since the conglomerate went into a government-led bankruptcy restructuring. A mansion linked to HNA Group Chairman Chen Feng was put out for tender (link in Chinese) in August and sold for almost 30% less than its purchase price.

Contact reporter Zhang Yukun (yukunzhang@caixin.com) and editor Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com)

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St. Johnsbury, VT (05819)

Today

Some lingering evening flurries or snow showers. Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 24F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some lingering evening flurries or snow showers. Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 24F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
The Facebook Papers project represents a unique collaboration among 17 American news organizations, including The Associated Press. Journalists from a variety of newsrooms, large and small, worked together to gain access to thousands of pages of internal company documents obtained by Frances
News

Meeting Mr. Cabalda: GMMS reaches around the world for newest faculty member

Michael Woodel / Michael Woodel / Capital Journal Georgia Morse Middle School special education teacher Jacob Cabalda in his classroom on Thursday. Michael Woodel / Michael Woodel / Capital Journal Georgia Morse Middle School Principal Kyley Cumbow greets the newest member of the GMMS faculty, Jacob Cabalda, at Pierre Regional Airport on Oct. 13.

One of the main challenges, Jacob Cabalda said of his new home, will be adjusting to the winter cold. After all, the Philippines native is accustomed to a mostly tropical climate with just two seasons  dry and wet, he said.

We joke with him that this is nice compared to how its going to get, Georgia Morse Middle School Principal Kyley Cumbow said on a crisp late October day. We did advise him on getting a winter coat and the gloves and hat and all that good stuff.

Cabalda, two weeks into his new job as a special education teacher at GMMS, had never been to the United States before this month but taught in the Philippines for about 10 years prior to his arrival in Pierre on Oct. 13. He connected with the school through recruiting firm Teach Quest, which Cumbow said helps international teachers find work in the United States for a three-year commitment.

It improves their teaching practice and, I would think, overall, the education system in their home country, Cumbow said. Kind of a give-and-take.

Just two weeks in, Cabaldas not fully settled in yet, he said, but hes definitely getting there.

Its not really 100 percent that I have settled already, but I am getting used to the routine that I have in Pierre, Cabalda said. Some of the kids said that I am nice, maybe because I am not that very strict they dont have really that much difference as in terms of the students that I have in the Philippines and here in Pierre. Im really trying to lengthen my patience for all of them.

Though he said he might not be very strict, Cabalda told the Capital Journal that the philosophy he brings to teaching is reality-based, first and foremost.

I really wanted my students to learn based on reality of life, Cabalda said. I want to put every learning step they will have based on what is reality of this place, what is reality in this world that they are going to face sooner or later, especially when they grow and become a gentleman or a lady in the future. And most likely that all of these kids or all of these students are just teenagers right now, but once they grow older, someday they will face the reality of work that they really wanted to have in their future or in their career.

Cumbow said Cabalda case manages about 18-20 students, but interacts with dozens more each day through study halls, homeroom and other classes.

Kids were very excited to finally meet him because his names been posted on the door for a quarter and so its been this mystery, Cumbow said on Wednesday. You know, What does Mr. Cabalda look like, and whens he going to arrive? Just being middle school kids, theyre excited for the unknown. I was just in a classroom that he was co-teaching in yesterday, and he was doing a great job, just getting right in there and working with the kids and making connections already.

Cabalda said his connections with co-workers have been even better thus far, as they have gone out of their way to make sure he is adjusting well.

Some of them are doing like beyond their duty of being a colleague, Cabalda said. Theyre trying to ask if Im okay every day. Theyre trying to help me for every change that I might be facing in this new place, especially with the weather and especially with the needs that I need to have in my apartment. So I really dont have any problem with my co-teachers, with my colleagues and most especially I am more thankful for all theyre doing.

Cumbow said she interviewed three individuals from the Philippines this school year because not very many people are applying for teaching positions, especially the more difficult to fill special education position.

We were lucky, I think it was good timing that we took the chance to work with Teach Quest, Cumbow said. Might be something that the districts going to continue to look at.

I am really grateful for the opportunity to be here, to learn the culture of the Americans in the U.S. and somehow to grow professionally based on what I am going to have here in Georgia Morse Middle School, Cabalda said.
Mazda has unveiled the first of its five all-new SUVs slated to arrive in the next two years the first-ever CX-50. Designed to meet the req...
FILE  In this Nov. 19, 2016, file photo, Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Facebook, speaks at the CEO summit during the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Lima, Peru. From complaints whistleblower Frances Haugen has filed with the SEC, along with redacted internal documents obtained by The Associated Press, the picture of the mighty Facebook that emerges is of a troubled, internally conflicted company, where data on the harms it causes is abundant, but solutions are halting at best. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)
This graph shows the percentage positivity rate of COVID-19 tests in Carteret County over time. (Carteret County graphic)
Photo: VPD Brian Abrosimo

A convicted child rapist who was once released to an Okanagan halfway house continues to live at an undisclosed halfway house, likely in the Lower Mainland, despite recently threatening to kill another resident.

Brian Abrosimo was convicted in 2006 of two separate rapes in the Lower Mainland.

In July 2004, he gagged and handcuffed a sex worker and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. A month later, he hit two young girls who were riding bicycles in Langley with his van, abducted the 11-year-old and sexually assaulted her, before letting her go.

Following his conviction, he was sentenced to 14 years and four months in jail. He has an extensive criminal record dating back to the 1980s, and he had been using crystal meth when he committed the rapes. He later said the drug makes him rape and commit evil.

Abrosimo has since completed his sentence, but he remains under a 10-year long-term supervision order, and lives in a halfway house at an undisclosed location. He's considered a "moderate to high risk for sexual reoffending."

Last December, he was sent back to jail after breaching his conditions at the halfway house, but he returned in March of this year.

In April, staff at the halfway house found teen pornography on his cell phone, and the Parole Board imposed a new condition on his release terms not to access pornography of any kind.

Then, on Aug. 12, he had a verbal altercation with another resident at the halfway house, over the use of a chair.

You were overheard yelling and cursing at the other resident and threatening to kill him. You also said you had killed a Hell's Angels soldier, the Parole Board states in a recent decision.

Staff intervened and told you to calm down. You said if you were not calm, you would have stuck a butcher knife up the other resident's throat.

Police were called to the incident and officers drew their firearms and a Taser to gain Abrosimo's compliance.

The halfway house once again kicked him out over the incident, but another halfway house in the Lower Mainland offered to accept him.

A parent of one of Abrosimo's victims wrote to the Parole Board last month, urging them to issue the "most restrictive conditions possible."

"They refer to you as a 'monster' for your actions against their daughter and other vulnerable victims," the Parole Board writes.

"It calls past decisions by the Board 'lenient' and says the Criminal Justice System is 'broken.' The statement says your rights should not take precedence over the safety and interests of the community."

Despite the letter, the Parole Board again released Abrosimo from custody earlier this month, and into a halfway house. No new charges were laid against him.

The incident on August 12 2021, could have ended differently  in a number of ways. Your threat of violence is most concerning as it compromises the safety of other residents, staff at the CRF, police, and yourself. Such volatility cannot be repeated, the Parole Board stated.

The Board encourages you to rethink your approach to the remaining time on your [long-term supervision order].

Last year, the Parole Board recommended Abrosimo reside at a halfway house for the first year of his 10-year long-term supervision order, which would have expired on Oct. 15, 2021. It's not clear if the board has extended this requirement.

Abrosimo has a long history of breaching his release conditions.

He was released from custody to an Okanagan halfway house in August 2017 on a one chance statutory release. But after 11 months, he was returned to jail from making "inappropriate personal and sexual comments to female members" at the halfway house.

Just one month later, he was released to the same Okanagan halfway house in August 2018. The following summer, his conditions at the halfway house were relaxed, but in October 2019, his so-called one-chance release was suspended again after he vandalized another halfway house resident's car.

Despite the second suspension of his release, he moved to a Vancouver halfway house in November 2019, prompting a warning to the public from the Vancouver Police Department.

He continued to breach his release conditions throughout 2020, but on Oct. 15, 2020, he completed his sentence.
Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes part in a bilateral press conference with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte at parliament in The Hague, Netherlands, on Friday.

UPDATE: 9 a.m.

Canada will donate 10 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to the COVAX vaccine sharing facility and donate $15 million to help make mRNA vaccines in Africa.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the donation in Rome Saturday while attending the G20 leaders' summit.

Canada also intends to increase its financial support to COVAX to buy another 63 million doses itself.

In all, between financial contributions and direct delivery of doses, Canada says it will help deliver at least 200 million shots of vaccine by the end of next year.

Vaccine equity is a big issue on the table at the summit, with warnings from the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Organization, among others, that inequitable distribution of vaccines will postpone the global economic recovery and make it very uneven.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the host of this year's summit, said in his opening remarks Saturday that the inequitable delivery of vaccines is "startling."

On average the G20 nations have fully vaccinated about 55 per cent of their populations. Canada has fully vaccinated 74 per cent of its entire population.

Globally, 38 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated. In Africa, it's not even six per cent.

"These differences are morally unacceptable and undermine the global recovery," he said.

Stuart Hickox, Canada Director at the anti-poverty organization ONE Campaign, said the number of booster shots administered by the world's wealthiest countries is already twice as high as the number of first doses given out by low and middle-income countries.

"While we are already talking about third doses here, half of the world still awaits a lifesaving first shot. Its great to see the Government take these urgent steps," he said. "The pandemic wont really end here at home until it ends everywhere."

Canada previously promised to donate 40 million excess doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax vaccines, the latter of which is still in development.

All of those doses are to come from supplies Canada procured but which haven't yet been delivered. Canada also has about 19 million doses in federal and provincial freezers, far more than it needs to finish fully vaccinating everyone over the age of 12.

Pediatric doses for younger children are coming in new shipments because the dose is one-third the size and need to be supplied in different vials.

Canada also donated $515 million to COVAX to buy up to 87 million doses itself, including $75 million for distribution costs and supplies such as syringes and needles.

Canada has thus far delivered 3.4 million of those promised doses, including 2.7 million via COVAX, and the rest through bilateral agreements with other countries including Jamaica, Ecuador, Barbados and Peru.

It's not clear yet how many doses COVAX has purchased from Canada's donation. Securing supply of vaccines is tricky, in large part because wealthy countries snapped up most of the early production of COVID-19 vaccines.

All those delivered so far are AstraZeneca doses. J&J has suffered from production issues, and Novavax has not yet been authorized anywhere.

Canada ordered 44 million doses from Moderna, and about 30 million have been delivered.

In addition to the new doses, Canada will also donate $15 million to a new technology transfer hub for mRNA vaccines being built in South Africa to help teach African companies to manufacture vaccines like those made by Moderna and Pfizer.

Globally, 1.3 billion doses were promised to COVAX from wealthy countries but only 150 million have been delivered.

ORIGINAL: 7:55 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce added donations of vaccines today for developing countries at the G20 meeting in Rome.

COVID-19 and climate change will dominate most discussions, with the economic recovery and health first on the agenda.

Canada has already promised to donate 40 million excess doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax vaccines, the latter of which is still in development.

Trudeau is arriving at the G20 pushing wealthy countries to donate more but Canada has to date distributed 3.4 million of its promised doses, all of them AstraZeneca.

Globally, 1.3 billion doses were promised to COVAX from wealthy countries but only 150 million have been delivered.

Todays announcement is expected to affect several million doses of Moderna vaccine that Canada purchased but hasnt yet received.

World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus asked the G20 leaders on Friday to immediately donate another 550 million doses so that 40 per cent of the world population can be vaccinated by years end.

Promises arent translating into vaccines reaching the people that need them, he said in an open letter that was also signed by Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

We cant simply hope for the pandemic to end on its own, they said, reminding people that as the virus continues to spread, the risk of new, riskier variants rises.

The International Monetary Fund said Friday that the worlds economic recovery depends on speeding up vaccinations. On average the G20 nations have fully vaccinated about 55 per cent of their populations. Canada has fully vaccinated 74 per cent of its entire population.

Globally, 38 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated. In Africa, it's not even six per cent.

The supply chain crisis wreaking havoc in much of the world will also be high on the agenda, particularly for U.S. President Joe Biden, who is attending his first G20 as president.

There is also a desire to see G20 leaders agree to stronger language to fight climate change ahead of the COP26 climate talks that start in Scotland Monday.

A strong statement from the leaders of the worlds biggest economies  which are collectively responsible for 80 per cent of economic output and 80 per cent of global emissions  would send a clear message as the rest of the world joins them in Glasgow next week.

Talks leading up to the G20 included negotiations to cut back on new coal-fired power plants faster both at home and abroad, and to ramp up financial assistance to help developing countries adapt to and mitigate against climate change.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose agreement to the coal language is critical because China is a massive player in the global coal industry, is not travelling to Rome for the G20.
Photo: Alexandros Maragos/Getty Images

Metro Vancouver has raised fees for the regions biggest air polluters to more than double their current levels over the coming years.

Board members approved the repeal and replacement of two existing bylaws Friday afternoon after staff said current fees failed to pay for the cost of oversight.

The plan, which seeks to reduce the burden on Metro taxpayers, will see a phased fee increase starting next year and peaking in 2028  a timeline that was extended three years after staff consulted heavy polluters.

Metro staff said they set the proposed fee increase at 0.5 per cent of the economic costs due to public health consequences from air contaminants. If health were the only factor influencing the cost of pollution, it would be 200 times higher.

Even though the fees are going up dramatically, society is still paying the lions share of the cost of air contaminants, Metros director of environment regulation and enforcement Ray Robb told the climate action committee in the lead up to the approval.

The new bylaws represent the first change to air quality and regulation fees since 2008. In the intervening 13 years, Metro Vancouver's air quality department has faced a steep increase in its workload, including a rise in requests from Metros 21 jurisdictions and an extraordinary amount of time spent dealing with odorous air contaminant complaints connected to a composting facility in Delta.

The new fees will apply to a number of big emitters in the region, including cement plants, an oil refinery in Burnaby and several saw mills.

As Derek Jennejohn, lead senior engineer at Metros air quality and climate change department puts it: The new fees cover any industrial source you can think of that produces dust or emissions through a stack.

RISING COST TO HEALTH

International scientific consensus has led to increasingly dire warnings over the once overlooked cost of air pollution on human health.

Staff pointed to an update of the World Health Organizations (WHO) Global Air Quality Guidelines in September, which noted air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change.

Of the six air pollutants the WHO recommend more stringent controls on, Metro is targeting three with the new air pollution fees: nitrogen dioxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SOx) and atmospheric particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5 ).

PM2.5, largely generated by burning fossil fuels in everything from transport, industry and agriculture, has been considered a carcinogen since 2013. Across the world, the WHO estimates almost 80 per cent of the deaths related to PM2.5 could be avoided if its guidelines were followed.

There really is no safe level, so we want to keep it as low as possible. said Roger Quan, Metros director of air quality and climate change, of the particles smaller than the width of a human hair.

In preparing the proposed fee increases, staff examined a history of air quality advisories over the past 25 years. Between the late 1970s and around 2010, overall air quality improved.

Thats when the trend reverses, with ozone the primary culprit of air quality advisories in Metro Vancouver, outside of wildfire smoke. But ozone needs precursors, things like nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds that come out of vehicle tailpipes, off an oil refinery in Burnaby or out of the stacks in one of the regions two big cement factories in Richmond and Delta.

When sunlight strikes the surface, the toxic ingredients transform into ozone.

In the past two years, we have been seeing instances of ground-level ozone increasing, said Quan, adding the June heat dome was a warning of what climate change can do.

We know that well have more sunlight and higher temperatures in the summer, which will re-exacerbate the ground-level ozone issue.

INDUSTRY PUSHES BACK

The air pollution fee increase sharply divided industry and public opinion.

Metro staff told Glacier Media the regions two health authorities supported the new fees. And according to public opinion research completed on behalf of Metro Vancouver, 63 per cent of respondents said emitters should fund the full cost of the regions air quality regulation services.

But in the lead up to the vote, industry spokespeople called on Metro to send the proposed bylaws back for further consultation.

Ken Carrusca of the Cement Association of Canada said the increased fees would jeopardize an industry that supports more than 23,000 direct and indirect jobs in B.C.

COVID-19 has highlighted the need for domestic manufacturing, said Carrusca, pointing to several Metro mega-projects already slated to upgrade the regions sewer, wastewater and renewable energy infrastructure.

Cement is a strategic local asset.

Along with staff from the regions two cement factories, Carrusca said the industry is exposed to cheap U.S. imports, which make up roughly 20 per cent of cement in B.C. and arent subject to the air pollution fees.

The price of some pollutants will surge more than others in the coming years.

Take PM2.5. In 2021, Metro Vancouver charged polluters $300 per tonne; next year, the cost of emitting a tonne of PM2.5 in Metro Vancouver will rise to $514, and in 2028 the fee will rise to $1,800, six times the current fee.

By comparison, provincial waste charge regulations sit at $20 per tonne.

Altogether, the cement delegation said the new fees will cost the Lafarge plant in Richmond nearly $654,000 a year by 2028, a 150 per cent increase on the current annual fee, but less than half the plants property tax bill in 2021.

As the older of the two heavy polluters, the Lehigh plant in Delta will see its annual air pollution fees climb to over $1.2 million seven years down the road, double the current fee and half of its 2021 municipal property tax bill.

[Lehigh is] one of, if not the largest payer of fees in this region  but they are also the largest discharger of harmful air contaminants, Metros Robb told the climate action committee before the vote.

Fees are going to go up dramatically. We expect companies to take a hard look and say, Do we really need this? Can we get by with less? Can we make modifications?

Robb also pointed to the Parkland refinery in Burnaby as one of the largest emitters of organic compounds in the region, though he said they have made some progress in recent years.

While a relatively low emitter of air pollution by Canadian standards, its proximity to an urban population also puts it in the worst location in Canada for a refinery, added Robb.

CARBON EMISSIONS NEXT

In sending the bylaws to the board for the final vote, board chair Sav Dawliwal said the companies targeted are the polluters, and so, rightly should pay.

City of North Vancouver Coun. Jessica McIlroy urged Metro Vancouver to lead the way.

We just keep waiting for others to do something, and nothing happens, she said.

The latest fee increase on air pollution is part of a wider strategy Metro is taking to fulfil its role as a regulator of air pollution in the region.

Also Friday, the board passed its 2022 budget, green lighting an over $1-billion operating budget and $1.38 billion in capital expenditures for the coming year.

An average household will pay roughly $595 for all regional services, such as waste disposal, sewer services and water. Thats a $21 increase over the prior year, but $17 less than what staff previously projected.

The money will also go to help Metro develop its Clean Air Plan, which among other targets, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030.

Per capita, annual greenhouse gas emissions have dropped nearly seven per cent to 5.4 tonnes in 2020 from 5.8 tonnes in 2015. By 2022, the region is expecting that number to fall to 4.2 tonnes.

In raising the fees, Robb said Metro Vancouver has set the bar on air pollution fees higher than anywhere else in Canada.

At Metro Vancouver, theres been a history of demanding cleaner air. And that does come at a cost, he said.
Photo: Extinction Rebellion Vancouver Protestors with Extinction Rebellion Vancouver locked themselves into a device at the intersection of Burrard and Pacific in downtown Vancouver.

Fourteen days of traffic disruption by a Vancouver climate action group came to an end yesterday evening as protestors blocked a major downtown intersection.



Extinction Rebellion Vancouvers first protest in the "14 days of disruption" took place on Oct. 16 and blocked the intersection of Burrard and Georgia streets. Each subsequent day of the fourteen-day rebellion had a specific theme, with the overarching demand of ending all subsidies for fossil fuel projects. For the groups grand finale protest, its members met at Nelson Park the evening of Oct. 29 before marching downtown.

With no clear destination in mind, the demonstrators wound their way through downtown before blocking the intersection at Burrard and Pacific Ave.

According to social media posts made Extinction Rebellion during the protest, rebels locked themselves into a device called a hardblock, in the middle of the intersection. Devices like these are intended to make it more difficult to remove protestors from a given area.

VPD officers arrested five people tonight after protesters blocked traffic for several hours downtown, the VPD tweeted in the hours after the protest. Three men & two women were taken to jail after refusing multiple requests by VPD to leave the intersection.



The arrests bring the total to 54, including one in Nanaimo.

Brent Eichler is an Extinction Rebellion member and President of Unifor Local 950 and told Vancouver Is Awesome in a previous interview that he knew the groups actions would make locals angry  particularly those who are behind the wheel.



"We understand that and we accept that there is no other way...because we tried every other way," he stated, adding that the protesters must accept "huge personal costs."



David Suzuki attended Extinction Rebellion's first of "14 days of disruption" on Oct. 16 where he spoke to demonstrators and passersby.



"You know what the United Nations said in 2019: We are facing a loss of biodiversity, unprecedented  and it threatens the biosphere for humans," he told V.I.A. in a previous interview.



"How can we survive in a world in which humans have taken over the bulk of the planet, eliminated so many ecosystems and species? It's really quite terrifying."


Langdon, ND (58249)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. High 34F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 18F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Buena Vista, CO (81211)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. High 51F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 19F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
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Is it time to end the Supermajority in Tennessee? Yes.

Should there be a COVID Special Session? No.

Is the supermajority drunk with power? Yes.

Does the Supermajority represent the majority of citizens? No.

Did President Trump lose the election because of COVID? Yes.

Does the Supermajority represent me and my family and neighbors? No.

Does the Supermajority represent their own interests for political and financial gain? Yes.

Is a partisan School Board a good idea? No.

Is succession wrong? Yes.

Is nullification of federal regulations a good idea? No.

Does the majority of Tennessee voters oppose the Special Session? Yes.

Are state mandates any better than federal mandates? No.

Will the Special Session cause Republican voters to vote for other candidates? Yes.

Should the Supermajority be able to dictate what businesses, school boards, mayors and health departments do to protect their employees and customers? No.

Is it time to end the Supermajority and make the Tennessee Legislature nonpartisan? The majority of voters say yes. The Tennessee Legislature should represent all citizens and not just the loud vocal minority. The Supermajority is more concerned with national politics than Tennessee citizens' health and well-being. Who is paying for the Special Session and all court costs from resulting litigation? We are not Texas or Florida.

John Naylor

* * *

From the Civil War until WWII, the Democrat party was the supermajority in the Tennessee legislature. From 1883-1979, 18 Democrats were governor with only three Republicans serving. The Democrat party was so powerful that in 1951 no Republican opposed the Democrat Gordon Browning for governor. It must have been okay with the majority of Tennessee voters because not much changed until the 1990s.

When Democrats were the supermajority in Tennessee, we were told thats democracy. Now that Republicans are in the majority we hear all the reasons that its bad.

When Democrats won the presidency, John McCain was told rather condescendingly by Barrack Obama, I won and elections have consequences. Then when Republicans gain the majority, Democrats bemoan about the need for reaching across the isle and bi-partisanship. That line disappeared with the multi-trillion dollar boondoggle the House Democrats are peddling now in Washington.

People see through political rhetoric and thats likely why so many of the progressive party have lost over the last decade in Tennessee. Its a lack of trust by the majority of voters. Phil Bredesen learned that lesson. So, if you dont want Republican majorities, stop the grim march to Marxism and you might see more working across the isle and bi-partisanship.

Ralph Miller
A woman called police and said she believes she lost her diamond wedding ring while at the Target, 1816 Gunbarrel Road. She said the ring was loose fitting on her finger and she thinks it may have fallen off unawares. She said the ring has a 1.49 carat weight diamond set in

4.67 dwt white 14 carat gold. She said in 2015 it was appraised for $17,467.60.



* * *

A man on North Marks Avenue told police that he had been drinking and that his girlfriend had taken his phone. Police spoke with the girlfriend and she said that she and her boyfriend were sitting on the bed, and that she was holding his phone. She said he went to grab the phone and the phone slipped away from her, bumping her in the head. She said that she was okay. Police asked her if she had the man's phone and she said that she did not. The man said that he would go to sleep and look for it later.



* * *

A homeowner on Benton Avenue called police to report damage inside of his property. He said the previous tenant damaged the vinyl inside the kitchen. It appeared that the vinyl was burned, unknown if it was intentionally or accidentally. The carpet inside the rooms also had dog feces on it. He said the residence is currently vacant until he fixes the house and puts it back on the market. He said that he would prosecute anyone caught inside of his property without his authorization. He did not provide the name of his previous tenant.



* * *



A man at Chattanooga Bud Dispensary, 5665 Brainerd Road, told police someone broke into his vehicle and took a package out of it. He valued the package at $9,000. Police made contact with a Verizon employee who said he heard glass break and then saw a black male leave the scene. Police will attempt to gain video footage from Verizon on a later date to identify the suspect.



* * *



Police were called to by the Microtel Hotel, 7014 McCutcheon Road, to assist in escorting a woman off of the property. Microtel was kicking the woman out due to breaking a hotel policy. The woman left without incident. She was allowed to leave belongings in the room and return later to retrieve them.



* * *



The owner of the apartment building at 6936 Lee Hwy. called police to report suspicious activity involving a man who goes by "Dee," who is not allowed to be on the property, and is doing so anyway. The owner said "Dee" was also harassing his tenants. Police spoke with the tenants and they declined to make a report.



* * *



A man told police he had come off of his work shift at Chattanooga Billiards Club, 725 Cherry St., and discovered that the sunroof on his rental car had been smashed. He said that the vehicle was undamaged when he arrived at work for his 10 p.m. shift. He said he did not find any evidence of entry into the vehicle, nor did he think that anything had been stolen. Neither police nor he saw any object or tool which would have been used to smash the sunroof. He said that he would alert Enterprise Rent-a-Car, the vehicle's owner.



* * *



A man on Bartow Lane told police that he and his girlfriend just moved to Chattanooga eight

days ago. He said his 1992 Toyoto Celica was parked in his driveway last night and he last saw it around 10:30 p.m. He said the vehicle was unlocked and the keys were inside as well. He said the vehicle is unique, being a 1992 Celica with front flip up headlights. He also said that the vehicle has New Jersey tags on the front and back. The officer entered the vehicle into NCIC as stolen.



* * *



A man on Market Street called police to his residence and told them that his driver's side mirror was damaged..



* * *



A man on Mountain Creek Road told police that early this morning he could hear the newspaper delivery guy talking extremely loudly with his neighbor outside. He said he went outside and asked the paper guy, "Frank," if he could please be a little more quiet. He said that "Frank" got upset and started quoting the noise ordinance. The man said that "Frank" started walking away and made a comment of "I better just leave before I kill someone." Police spoke to the neighbor, who said "Frank" is a nice guy, he just had a really bad morning. She said that someone yelled at "Frank" at work that morning and he was having a bad day. She said that "Frank" came back after the incident and apologized to her for the confrontation that morning with her neighbor. The man said he wanted the incident documented in case anything happens further down the road.



* * *



The manager of Elder's Ace Hardware, 8164 E Brainerd Road, told police that at 1:15 a.m. that day a man with a thin build wearing a Halloween mask was caught moving the surveillance camera with a metal pole. The man walked police to the Farmhouse Boutique. Alongside the boutique, he showed police a hole cut in the fence and two stolen pumpkins left along the fence line. He walked police by the Irma Marie business and showed damage to the side door that was caused by someone attempting to pry it open. He then showed police a hole cut in the far corner of the ACE nursery fence. He said three Chimeneas, worth $300, and 12 pumpkins, worth $120, were stolen. Police attempted to get fingerprints from the iron pole used to move the cameras, but the attempt was unsuccessful. The man said approximately a year ago a very similar theft occurred using the same route behind buildings with the same fences being cut. Police collected the pictures of the suspect and door and provided the man with a complaint card.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol said it is working closely with Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston as the investigation continues into an incident in which a vehicle speeding away from a trooper ran into a woman on Bonny Oaks Drive and killed her.

The Patrol said, "On Oct.r 26 at 1:39 a.m., a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) trooper was patrolling on State Highway 153 in Hamilton County when he observed a 2016 Jeep Cherokee traveling at an excessive speed.

The trooper confirmed the speed to be 90 mph in a 55 zone. As the trooper initiated his patrol vehicles blue lights and siren, the driver of the Jeep refused to pull over, leading THP on a two-minute pursuit. The driver exited from State Highway 153 onto Bonny Oaks Drive, ran a red light and crashed into a 2013 Ford Explorer driven by Tara Reese. As a result of the crash, Tara Reese, 58 of Chattanooga, Tennessee was pronounced deceased on the scene. After the crash, the driver failed to render any type of aid, exited the vehicle and fled. After a brief foot pursuit, the trooper apprehended the suspect who was wearing a black ski mask.

"A loaded 9mm handgun was discovered on the ground beside the drivers door of the Jeep. The suspect provided a false name and date of birth and was booked in the Hamilton County Jail. The suspects true identity was later determined to be Darryll Hughes-Wright, 25, of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Hughes-Wright had previous active warrants for aggravated robbery, accessory after the fact, evading arrest and possession of a firearm with the intent to go armed.

"Darryll Hughes-Wright was charged with speeding, failure to yield resulting in death, felony evading resulting in death, evading and resisting arrest, vehicular homicide, felony reckless endangerment, felony possession of firearm, felon in possession of firearm, failure to exercise due care, red light violation, failure to maintain lane, identity theft and driving on a suspended drivers license."
Cornerstones, Inc. Board of Directors announces that Todd Morgan has been named Cornerstones new executive director, effective Monday. Mr. Morgan has emerged as the right person to lead Cornerstones as it continues to pursue the mission of preserving the architectural heritage and urban fabric of Chattanooga, said officials.

We are thrilled to bring Todd Morgan into this leadership role and to welcome such an accomplished individual who brings a wealth of relevant experience and energy to the organization, says Arch Willingham, Board of Directors president. Todd is incredibly astute at making historic preservation interesting and pertinent  and his expertise in all aspects of our business make him a perfect fit for role and taking Cornerstones in a new direction.

Mr. Morgan has a 16-year career in historic preservation, neighborhood revitalization, economic development, planning, and architecture. His experience includes nonprofit management, policy and advocacy initiatives, public-private partnerships, education programs and fundraising. For the past three years, he has served as executive director of Knox Heritage, Inc., a regional historic preservation nonprofit focused on real estate development and management. In this role, he provided strategic direction for the board of directors, committees, staff, contractors and partners in all operational, financial, communication and personnel components as well as donor relations and fundraising.

Previously he served as Community Development program director and Tennessee Main Street director for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and Program Director for the Morristown Community Development Corporation.

Mr. Morgans community service has included participation in Leadership Knoxville, Leadership Morristown, East Tennessee Regional Leadership, East Tennessee Community Design Center Community Collaborative and East Tennessee Quality Growth, Inc., where he served on their Board of Directors. He is a National Community Development Council  Certified Historic Real Estate Finance Professional and has completed certifications from U.T. Institute for Public Service and Walters State Institute for Busines and Industry. Morgan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics and a Master of Business Administration from Carson-Newman University.

Im excited to take on this role and look forward to working with the Cornerstones board and leaders in the community," said Mr. Morgan. "Chattanooga has a rich history and wonderful architectural heritage.

Ive seen firsthand how strategic historic preservation practices can have measurable economic impact while also improving overall quality of life. My goal is for Cornerstones to be seen as a valued community partner in helping to ensure Chattanoogas historic places are cared for and actively contributing to the citys growth and unique sense of place."

Thank you to our donors, volunteers and extended community of support for Cornerstones during this transition and as Todd assumes his leadership role, said Mr. Willingham. Special thanks to Melissa Mortimer, past president of Cornerstones board of directors, for her leadership in connecting us with Todd and guiding the organization toward a new vision  one that more deeply engages our community and its leaders and continues our passionate advocacy and dedication to historic preservation.
Stevie Nicks has been performing music since she was 5 years old. Her grandfather taught her to sing harmonies, and they performed together at local saloons all around Phoenix, Arizona. Her mother wanted her to be an actor, but after a horrible experience in her schools play, Nicks trashed that idea. Music had already wormed its way into her heart, anyway.

Later, she met Lindsey Buckingham and started touring with his band, Fritz. They joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975, and the rest is history. Today, Nicks is one of the most famous frontwomen in rock. So, why would she ever want to retire? Nicks is having some of the most exciting years of her career right now. Why waste away in retirement? Music and performing are all she knows.

Stevie Nicks | Michael Kovac/WireImage

Stevie Nicks will never retire

Nicks told Rolling Stone in 2017 that shell never retire. No matter how old she is, she will try to continue giving the fans what they want. However, Nicks hasnt continued all these years just for the fans; she does it for herself too. She has to keep at because someone once told her some interesting retirement advice.

Ill never retire, she said. My friend Doug Morris, whos been president of, like, every record company, said to me once, When you retire, you just get small. Stand up straight, put on your heels, and get out there and do stuff.

Nicks has become even busier in her later career. Shes filmed two cameos in Ryan Murphys American Horror Story, shes been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a second time, shes continued to do inspiring work with the USO. Not to mention, shes still touring solo and with Fleetwood Mac.

Nicks has so much more she wants to do, even if its not recording new albums or singing her hits to thousands of fans.

RELATED: The Advice Stevie Nicks Would Give Her 40-Year-Old Self: You Know Whats Best for You

Nicks wants to do a project outside of music

In the same Rolling Stone interview, Nicks touched on what else she wants to do in her career, and it doesnt involve music. The project centers around a character shes made popular through one of her most famous songs, Rhiannon.

I want to do a miniseries for the stories of Rhiannon and the gods of Wales, which I think would be this fantastic thing, but I dont have to retire from being a rock star to go and do that. I can fit it all in, Nicks explained. During live performances of Rhiannon, Nicks would introduce the song saying, This is a song about a Welsh witch. However, Nicks later clarified that Rhiannon was really a powerful goddess.

Nicks also told Vulture that she hopes to one day make a cartoon based on the Buckingham Nicks song Goldfish and the Ladybug.

However, these projects are way down the line, she told Vulture. Those are, like, when Im 70 and can rent a castle in Scotland on the ocean and just take all my books and go there and write. I have all these amazing projects that Im never gonna get to, for years and years and years and years. So the things that I can get to now, you need to start. Stop wasting time, basically.

Well, Nicks is now 73 years old, and were still waiting for a Rhiannon miniseries and a Goldfish and the Ladybug cartoon, amongst other projects.

RELATED: Stevie Nicks Unusual Bedtime: Heres What She Does Until 8:00 A.M.

Nicks doesnt feel her age

Despite having a horrible sleeping schedule and getting whipped out at shows, Nicks told Rolling Stone that she didnt feel her age, which was 68 at the time. In fact, she thought she looked pretty good for 68, compared to other people younger than her.

I dont like that number, she said. I see lots of people my age, and lots of people who are younger than me, and I think, Wow, those people look really old.'

Nicks thinks that if you want to look young, you try. Some people just dont care about trying. I think its because they didnt try, she said. If you want to stay young, you have to make an effort. If I wanna walk onstage in a short chiffon skirt and not look completely age-inappropriate, I have to make that happen. Or you just throw in the towel and let your hair turn white and look like a frumpy old woman. Im never gonna go there.

We love that Nicks tries to make an effort in everything she does, either with her looks or her career. There are plenty of fans out there whod gladly pay to hear Nicks sing Rhiannon for years and years to come.
This March 31 photo shows empty vials of Johnson & Johnson's one-dose COVID-19 vaccine at a mobile vaccination site in Uniondale, New York. On Oct. 21, advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are slated to discuss who should get extra doses of the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines  and the bigger question of getting a different brand for the booster than people's original vaccination.
The Cherokee Nation on Oct. 29 filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on the state of Oklahomas efforts to reverse last years McGirt v. Oklahoma decision.
Cheshire voters will descend upon their polling stations next Tuesday to decide which of their fellow citizens will help lead the community over the next two-to-four years.

On the ballot are candidates for a whole host of seats, from the Board of Education to Zoning Board of Appeals, to Constable. But the races that usually generate the most interest are those for the Town Council.

For the last five decades, Cheshire has had what is referred to as a council-manager form of government. The Town hires a Town Manager, who, along with dedicated staff, handles the administrative duties of the community, while a Council of nine overlooks it all, making decisions about the direction of the community.

But of course, if youre reading this and getting ready for next Tuesdays election, you likely know all of that already.

In 1971, however, it was new.

In the spring of that year, residents had turned out in force to decide exactly what their future form of government would be. Keep the Board of Selectman form of government or amend the charter and change directions? And if change was in the air, would they move towards a council-manager form of government, or lean towards electing a mayor?

We know which way the voters went.

However, that was just the beginning. Once the change was approved, the process of switching from an old to a new way of governing began.

The first domino to fall came at the end of July, when long-time First Selectman John Mark Bishop announced that he would be stepping down to take a job with the state. The community may have been on the precipice of moving away from the Selectmen to begin with, but the departure meant that a hole would be left in the Town government for at least a few months.

That is, until a popular interim stepped in, according to a July 22, 1971 article in The Cheshire Herald:

In postponing his resignation 15 days from the originally scheduled date of August 1, Mr. Bishop said, I dont want to let the town down. Ill finish up some things and Ill be around to help. He further pointed out that under state statutes (as well as the Town Charter) he could not hold jobs with the governments of both the town and the state. He ended his comments with, I think Roger has something to say.

Under the Town Charter, Roger Hall, as Second Selectman, assumes the responsibilities of the top office in the event of a vacancy. He has served as a Republican member since 1967, when he was chosen to replace the late Martin Coyne, who resigned during his term in office.

Speaking briefly, Mr. Hall said he would serve as First Selectman for a short time until we can work something out. He added, As you know, I wouldnt have time for this.

So with any threat of a leadership vacuum now put to rest  Hall would serve as interim First Selectman until the election of the Council a few months later  attention turned to who would actually be a candidate for this new governmental body. The first step would be getting people registered with one party or another, as an article in the July 29, 1971 edition of The Herald explained:

Citizens for Council-Manager urges all unaffiliated voters to enroll in a political party on or before July 30, at the Town Hall, so that they will be eligible to participate in party caucuses and primaries, said Robert Grey, chairman.

 He said that the change from the old politics as usual requires involvement by a large number of public-minded citizens. Unfortunately, we are living in an era when many voters avoid political affiliation, regarding parties as corrupt, tired, and discredited, Mr. Grey continued. They forget that parties have a vital role to play in our public life, and if they are deserted by the public-spirited, the vacuum will quickly be filled by the proverbial boys in the back room.

We are sure many today would agree at least in part with the assessment offered 50 years ago, although it doesnt appear that party affiliation is a problem in 2021 America. Yet for Cheshire, the push was on to get people thinking in terms of Republican and Democrat.

While Grey may have seen an opportunity to steer the community away from politics as usual, it appears things began moving in a rather predictable direction very early on.

First came word in early August that there was discontent within the Republican ranks, specifically when it came to the referendum vote to approve a new form of government. As a Aug. 5, 1971 Herald article explained, the outgoing Bishop was perhaps upset that the party had been unable to persuade voters to head in a different direction:

Some high-placed town officials have admitted privately that rancor continues over the defeat of the present administrations recommendations in the recent charter referendum which approved a change of government to the council-manager form. The Board of Selectmen had worked toward the adoption of a mayor-council form. On this point, First Selectman John Mark Bishop noted, Two hundred votes isnt a mandate.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats were fighting their own battles:

The Democratic slate for town council was tentatively made up this week as the nominating committee negotiated with dissidents in the hope of averting a primary.

The organization strategy was to build the ticket around Selectmen Joseph Barba, Jr., and Thomas Staley as two of the three candidates for councilmen at-large. The third candidate, Carl E. Perrin  would run only as a fill-in, with the understanding that there would be no undercutting of Mr. Barba and Mr. Staley. Thus the two Selectmen would be assured minority seats on the council, no matter the trend of the voting

 This plan has been attacked by the dissidents as defeatist. They argue that the third at-large candidate should have sufficient stature and popularity to appeal to Republicans and Independents.

The negotiations would fail, and the dissidents within the Democratic Party would eventually challenge the committee slate, which led to a primary that pitted two sets of candidates against one another.

As an editorial in the Sept. 30, 1971 edition of The Herald explained, interest in the primary was high, and the outcome was somewhat muddled:

Both the regular and insurgent Democrats had unusually strong organizations. The turnout of 60 percent of the towns 1,680 registered Democrats was remarkably high for a primary.

Though the regulars had a numerical advantage, winning five of the eight contested (candidacies), the result could be interpreted as a victory, or a defeat, for either side. The regulars got 53 percent of the vote but their Open Party opponents fared far better than the challenge slates did in nearby towns.

With both party slates confirmed, the election was held on Nov. 2, 1971. The results? Republicans won five seats, Democrats won one, and one district was tied as Cheshires first such election night came to a close. That seat would eventually go to a Democrat, William Shugrue, ensuring that the first council ever seated in Cheshire had a razor-thin 5-4 Republican majority.

Currently, the Town Council is operating under a 7-2 Republican majority. Will voters decide to change that equation this Nov. 2, or will the GOP continue to be entrusted with their current leadership?
Biden admin. faces criticism over 'intrusive' questions on COVID-19 vaccine religious exemption form

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The Biden administration is facing criticism over a questionnaire included in their form for federal employees seeking a religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The Safer Federal Workforce task force website posted an updated template on Friday for the federal government to use when assessing whether an employee can qualify for a religious exemption.

Questions asked on the form include a request to describe the nature of your objection to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement and an explanation for how being vaccinated would substantially burden your religious exercise or conflict with your sincerely held religious beliefs.

The form also requests any possible additional information, including: How long you have held the religious belief underlying your objection, Whether your religious objection is to the use of all vaccines, COVID-19 vaccines, a specific type of COVID-19 vaccine, or some other subset of vaccines, and Whether you have received vaccines as an adult against any other diseases (such as a flu vaccine or a tetanus vaccine).

Before the updated version was added to the website on Friday, the religious exemption form template received criticism from some who believe the questionnaire is problematic.

Andrea R. Lucas, a Republican commissioner at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, told The Federalist her concerns about the form.

The law does not provide a pandemic-related exception for disregarding the rights of religious employees, Lucas said. No matter the context, intrusive questions presuming insincerity from the start, seeking to catch an employee in an inconsistency, and looking for any reason to deny a religious accommodation request, are inappropriate.

Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sent a letter to the leadership of the Safer Federal Workforce Taskforce arguing that the questions showcased a contempt for religious liberty.

The complete list [of questions] evinces a skepticism and indeed a hostility to applicants who harbor sincerely held religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine, stated Hawley. I fear this will chill applications by civil servants to apply for religious exemptions.

In September, President Joe Biden issued an executive order requiring federal employees to get a COVID-19 vaccination unless they have a valid medical or religious exemption.

It is essential that federal employees take all available steps to protect themselves and avoid spreading COVID-19 to their co-workers and members of the public. The CDC has found that the best way to do so is to be vaccinated, stated Biden in the order.

The Biden administration has been dealing with much backlash regarding their overall effort to implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on various entities, including major businesses, federal contractors, the military, and some healthcare providers, among others. The mandate on businesses would require companies with 100 employees or more to fire employees who are not vaccinated or pay a fine of $14,000 for each employee who is not vaccinated.

Earlier this week, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed an executive order telling state agencies to resist the implementation of federal vaccine mandates.

The federal governments outrageous overreach has simply given us no other option, but to begin taking action, which is why I am issuing this executive order to fight these egregious COVID--19 vaccine mandates, said Ivey in a statement.

Alabamians  and Americans alike  should and must have the choice to roll up their sleeves to get this shot and certainly not forced by government. While President Biden laughs at the idea of protecting your freedoms, I will continue fighting for Alabama businesses and their employees.
Republicans slam Biden admin. plan to pay over $1B to illegal immigrant families separated at border

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Republicans in Congress are demanding answers to a report that the Biden administration is planning to give nearly half a million dollars to each person who was separated from a family member after they entered the U.S. illegally and were detained by Border Patrol.

Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., along with 43 of his Republican colleagues in the United States House of Representatives authored a letter to President Joe Biden Friday expressing severe concerns regarding recent reports that [the administration is] in discussions to offer illegal immigrants that unlawfully crossed the U.S. border in 2018 roughly $450,000 per person in compensation.

Promising tens of thousands of dollars to those who unlawfully entered the United States would not only reward criminal behavior, but it would surely send a message to the world that our borders are open, and our rule of law will not be enforced, they added. Compare this hefty compensation sum [$450,000] to the 2019 average median American household income of $68,703. Furthermore, compare it to the maximum payout from a SGLI life insurance policy for military members, which is $400,000.

The letter was in response to Thursdays Wall Street Journal report documenting the Biden administrations plans to give approximately $450,000 to each person who was separated from a family member under a temporary Trump administration policy pertaining to people who entered the U.S. illegally.

The payments are designed to resolve lawsuits seeking monetary compensation for about 5,500 children of illegal immigrants who claim to have suffered complications such as heat exhaustion, malnutrition, and a lack of medical attention as a result of federal immigration policy.

People familiar with the development predict that fewer illegal immigrants will receive payments from the government because only around 940 claims have been filed so far. While most families will likely receive about $1 million, some of the lawsuits are seeking payments as high as $3.4 million. The U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services will administer the payments, which could exceed $1 billion altogether.

The family separations the lawsuits intended to resolve stem from a temporary zero-tolerance policy implemented by the Trump administration in the spring of 2018 to combat the problem of illegal immigration. Under the zero-tolerance policy, all illegal border crossers, including those seeking asylum, were subject to detention and criminal charges.

Former President Donald Trump later reversed the policy, which critics derided for detaining illegal immigrant children and their parents in separate detention facilities, in an executive order after weeks of pushback. Adult illegal immigrants prosecuted by the Department of Justice are required to be detained in federal criminal detention centers that do not permit children. Therefore, if an adult illegal immigrant brought a child with him or her, the child would have to be placed elsewhere.

The Trump administration also cited the family separation policy as necessary to ensure that the adults claiming to be the childrens guardians were not human smugglers and to comply with a 2016 court ruling that requires the release of illegal immigrant children to family members living in the U.S. or a sponsor after 20 days. The decision did not require the release of the adults accompanying the children.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing families in one of the lawsuits, reacted favorably to the proposals to compensate members of separated families. Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLUs immigrant-rights project, cited the proposed payouts as evidence that President Biden has agreed that the family separation policy is a historic moral stain on our nation that must be fully remedied.

Gelernt further maintained that remedy must include not only meaningful monetary compensation but a pathway to remain in the country. He and other lawyers involved in the litigation hope to have a deal reached regarding the settlements by the end of November.

On the other hand, critics of the Biden administration see the proposed payouts as unfair. Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson classified them as reparations to illegal [immigrants].

He slammed the administration for considering paying illegal immigrants payments significantly higher than the $100,000 received by the families of American citizens who die in service to the country: That is less than a quarter of what Joe Biden intends to give illegal [immigrants] for the inconvenience of being deported.

Theyre, once again, getting $450,000 a piece from your tax receipts. Thats more than some of the 9/11 victims got. Its more than any ordinary American ever gets for anything from the U.S. government, he added.

The Journal report comes as data collected by Customs and Border Protection show that the number of encounters between illegal border crossers and law enforcement officials exceeded 1.7 million in fiscal year 2021, which concluded last month. Those figures represent a dramatic increase from the approximately 450,000 encounters in fiscal year 2020.

The statistics reflect a monthslong border surge that critics of the Biden administration attribute to its rollback of two Trump-era immigration policies: the Migrant Protection Protocols, which required those seeking asylum in the U.S. to wait in Mexico while their cases were adjudicated, and Title 42, which allowed immigration officials to immediately turn back illegal immigrants because of public health concerns arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

As an average of polls compiled by RealClearPolitics shows President Joe Bidens approval rating on the issue of immigration remains underwater with a net disapproval rating of more than 25 points, Reuters reported that the Biden administration is expected to restart the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the Remain in Mexico policy, next month.
My heart is broke: Daughter of slain California pastor delivers stirring message of forgiveness and faith

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The daughter of a California pastor who was murdered outside of his church on Sunday is speaking out about her late fathers legacy of faith, love and forgiveness.

Daney Moore, daughter of Pastor Joe Moore, told the Edifi With Billy Hallowell podcast that her family is struggling to process her fathers killing, but are relying on one another to make it through this difficult time.

Its something we cant process. It was so unexpected. It was so senseless, she said. My heart is broke.

As Faithwire previously reported, Moore, 65, pastor of the Upper Room Christian Church in Compton, California, was killed Sunday while walking to his vehicle in between Bible study and church.

Listen to Daney Moore discuss her fathers life and legacy:

Despite the intense pain and anguish the Moores are feeling as police continue to investigate the murder, members of the family have told the press the pastor would have been the first to forgive those responsible.

One thing my daddy did preach and teach on was forgiveness. He always lived by the motto, What would Jesus do?' she said. He said, Jesus forgave His enemies and we have to forgive ours.  We have to forgive people to be free.

Daney Moore also spoke about other facets of her fathers personality, describing him as a character who always loved to laugh.

But beyond those jovial memories, she said he was a man of God on a mission to bring people to faith.

My daddy was a loving and funny man. He was just a non-confrontational soul who  wanted to make sure that everybody was saved, everybody accepted the Lord, she said. Any way he could find to tell you about God, he would.

When asked if she had a message she wanted to share, Moore delivered an emotional and stirring appeal to everyone listening: Stop the killing. Stop the violence  be at peace with people and  just get saved if youre not.

You can donate to the Moore familys GoFundMe, which will cover funeral expenses for the pastor. And please continue praying for peace and Gods strength for Daney Moore and her grieving loved ones.

This story originally appeared on Faithwire.com.
Portland first in nation to offer bereavement leave for employees who get an abortion City employees to get 3-day leave after suffering loss of baby due to abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth

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Pro-choice activists are celebrating an amendment to Portlands bereavement leave policy that has made it the first local government in the United States to give paid time off to public employees after an abortion. One pro-life group is calling it an unwitting acknowledgment of the loss of life.

The new policy allows public employees to take up to three days of bereavement leave for an abortion or a miscarriage, stillbirth or any other type of pregnancy loss, irrespective of whether deemed medically necessary, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

The city council approved the changes unanimously.

Laura Narefsky, an attorney on the education and workplace justice team at the National Womens Law Center, told CNBC that Portland is among the first local governments around the world to allow paid leave following pregnancy loss.

Its incredibly exciting to see cities see this as an important way to support their workers, she was quoted as saying. As employers think about loss in whatever form it appears, theyre signaling that it isnt the kind of thing we should be second-guessing or requiring people to prove the types of loss we think are deserving or undeserving of time off, she added.

Its important to recognize that employees need time to address their reproductive health needs ... and they may need time to process what they're experiencing, Andrea Miller, president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, an abortion advocacy group, was quoted as saying.

A policy like this is a really important step forward in providing that kind of support to employees and in recognition of the fact that we aren't just robots.

But it implicitly acknowledges the loss of life, commented Gabriel Vance, director of external affairs for the group Created Equal.

What they are acknowledging is that abortion is a tragic loss  that somebody dies in an abortion, she said on social media. So if you're getting bereavement leave for an abortion, they are acknowledging that there is a loss of someone  that someone died  And who is that? Thats the baby, who is a human being, who is a person. ... Theyre trying to normalize abortion, but in that, theyre acknowledging that, like miscarriage, like stillbirth  that its tragic.

Three Boston city councilors have also proposed including a loss of pregnancy in the citys paid parental leave policy.

In March, Councilors Lydia Edwards, Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George filed an amendment to a city ordinance that allows up to 12 weeks paid leave for parents of newborns, recently adopted children, and those who have experienced a stillbirth, Boston.com reported at the time.

The loss of pregnancy would include miscarriages, terminations, instances involving dilation and extraction.

Similarly, the City Council of Waterloo, Iowa, passed a resolution earlier this month calling for the establishment of a paid leave policy for pregnancy and infant loss.
Andy Stanley reflects on restoring 'broken' relationship with father Charles Stanley

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Pastor Andy Stanley of Atlanta's North Point Community Church reflected on his past struggles with a broken relationship with his father, famed evangelist Charles Stanley, and offered biblical advice for restoring fractured relationships.

In an Oct. 24 sermon series titled Reassembly Required; A Beginners Guide to Repairing Broken Relationships, Stanley revealed that nearly three decades ago, he felt angry and hurt every week, sitting with his father in an office at church receiving counseling sessions.

At that time, Stanley said he found it strange that he and his father were feeling stuck, trying to fix difficulties in their relationship. Both men, he said, had spent their entire careers as experts telling other people how to fix broken and damaged relationships.

[My father] saw things his way  I could not understand for the life of me why we werent making any progress, Stanley said. The odd thing about this is, it doesnt seem like it would be that difficult to fix a relationship. It just seems like we should be able to do this, but it is difficult and thats why I decided we really do need to talk about it.

Stanley identified how to handle fractured or distant relationships between friends, siblings, family, relatives, coworkers, spouses, parents with children and any other relationships.

There are four components that people tend to revert to in situations when arguments arise in broken relationships, according to Stanely. These are, convince, convict, coerce and control.

These components, he said, are not effective solutions to solving relationship issues.

The strange thing is, you look at [these four components] and you say yeah, thats not the way forward,' but, in spite of all that, these are the things we almost always reach for first either intentionally or even unintentionally, Stanley said.

Then, you tell yourself, theres nothing I can do about it. I tried. And besides that, I just dont even care. Or, we just keep pressing and pressing, trying to fix the relationship the wrong way, which means things continue to go wrong and we end up pushing people even further [away], he explained.

Oftentimes, he said, people arent even aware that they are using the four components on others.

For example, Stanley said that people often say, Im sorry if I offended you." But, that is often translated to mean, Youre too easily offended. What I said wouldnt have offended most people," he contended.

You just offended them without even meaning to, because fixing and repairing or reassembling a relationship  whether its been broken long term or short term or a minor infraction  is not intuitive, and we just intuitively reach for all the wrong tools and we say all the wrong things, he said.

We are better at starting our cars than repairing our cars. You can start it, you can drive it, but when something goes wrong you really dont know what to do. The same thing is true when it comes to relationships. Starting a relationship is somewhat intuitive, managing or navigating a relationship, but fixing a relationship isnt only not intuitive, it is the opposite of intuitive, Stanley continued.

In his career as a pastor, Stanley said he has heard about many occasions when people in various forms of relationships let distance, brokenness or problems go unresolved.

In some of these cases, he said, the issues tend to fester for many years, and then occasionally somebody becomes injured, or theres an accident or somebody dies. At the funeral, people suddenly find themselves in a very emotional environment, Stanley recounted.

And that [unresolved issue] that was so big, so consequential, that mountain will never get over  that offense that Ill never be able to fully forgive, suddenly in the midst of tragedy, it gets smaller and smaller, Stanley explained.

And in those situations, people do and say what they shouldve said a long time ago. And because they didnt do what they shouldve done or say what they shouldve said a long time ago, in some cases, they missed out on years of relationship.

When people reconcile, the pastor said they often wonder why it took very long for their relationship to be repaired and reassembled. People spend many months and even years, he said, waiting, rehearsing and avoiding.

Reassembling a broken relationship is a learned skill, and many of us have never even seen it modeled well. Everything we reach for generally is initially the wrong thing, Stanley said.

Waiting for the other person ends up becoming waiting for what you should do. And the reason you should do it is that youre the better person. The better person should initiate the apology.

Stanley revealed that his relationship with his father was fractured for a long time, until one day, they were sitting at a restaurant, not speaking to one another.

It was just so awkward.  We are grown men, we are pastors, were professional Christians," he recalled.

"We couldnt have a conversation. We were both so angry and so locked down and we both knew how ridiculous it was because of how much time we spent with other people and couples with difficult family relationships. Ill never forget this moment, when finally my dad looked at me and he said, Andy, we both know what happens to fathers and sons who go through something like this. I dont want that to happen to us. And I said, Me neither.

Both of us were willing to work at it, but it was so hard, Stanley emphasized. This is such an emotional topic. For men, there are certain emotions that are so terrifying to us that we will do anything to keep them from surfacing. Because theres something in you that if it comes up, youre not sure how youre going to respond or how its going to feel.

This is why for some of you, your fathers are so shut down. Its like they are so afraid to go there, even though they dont know where there is, they're afraid. And its why we just make excuses, he said.

Though people should work and pray for reconciliation, when it comes to restoring adult relationships, the goal should not be reconciliation, shared Stanley. He said that adults shouldnt set goals for other adults because doing so is operating in a relationship based on an agenda.

Unlike a broken toy or dish or a broken iPhone screen, when you think about a broken object, you have control over all the pieces ... but, when it comes to repairing relationships with other people, we dont have access to all the pieces, Stanley said. Agendas always undermine or put a box around relationships. Agendas ensure that broken relationships stay broken.

The goal in reassembling broken relationships is having no regrets, according to Stanley, which will ultimately lead to a repaired relationship or the satisfaction that someone did everything they could possibly do to try to repair the relationship, even if it doesnt end in reconciliation.

Christians, he said, dont have a choice in the matter, because attempting to reconcile or restore a relationship is the operative noun in the Christian faith.

Its knowing that you did everything you could do; that we opened the door, that we put out the welcome mat, that we put down the drawbridge, that we put down the weapons, that we removed any unnecessary obstacles to reconnecting with that person and were going to learn how to take the pressure off to create space for them to move toward, Stanley concluded.

This means, no matter whose fault it was and no matter how much blame sits with them, versus sits with you, you and I always have a part in the process of reconciliation. As Jesus followers, this isnt optional for us."
NJ AME church rejects appointed pastor because of her sex, supporters say

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Ratona Stokes-Robinson, a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church who was appointed to lead St. James AME Church in Thorofare, New Jersey, in June, is still waiting to preach her first sermon from the pulpit as congregants have kept her locked out of the church building because of her sex, pastors in the denomination say.

Orsella Hughes, the pastor of Allen Chapel AME Church - Hartford and executive director of the Prosperity Foundation in New Haven, Connecticut, highlighted the standoff in a Facebook post on Sunday after visiting St. James AME Church.

Today, when we pulled up to the church, we expected to see our Rev. Sister, Ratona Stokes- Robinson in her pulpit. Instead, she was still locked out of her church, Hughes wrote.

Again, the officers have not given her the keys to the church since her appointment began June 20, 2021. Since that Sunday, she has shown up every week and preached from the front steps, without receiving any of her salary or other benefits, Hughes added.

She has asked for email addresses so that she can at least hold service on zoom; and still, she hasnt received anything. Imagine preaching in the heat of the summer, the chill of the fall, and at times, even in the rain and not even having access to the bathroom to refresh after preaching.

Hughes said she personally witnessed church members who live in the parsonage across the street from the church refuse to give Robinson access to the building because of her sex.

Imagine all of this is happening to you because you are a WOMAN! Yes, the members have declared they do not want a woman as their Pastor and thats why shes been locked out! I didnt have to imagine, I watched this happen today and my heart hurts, Hughes said, adding that "nobody deserves" to be treated in such a manner.

St. James AME Church and Robinson were not immediately available for comment when contacted by The Christian Post on Tuesday.

However, the Connectional AME Women in Ministry, the official professional organization for women pursuing excellence in ministry in the AME Church, acknowledged the situation in a statement on Monday.

The group said: Connectional AME Women in Ministry has been made aware that a woman in ministry, because of her gender, has been locked out of her church and prohibited from proclaiming Gods word from the pulpit since June 20, 2021. As we celebrate a woman as President of the Bishops Council, a woman as President of the General Officers Council, a woman as President of the Presiding Elders Council, and an all-woman Executive Board of the National Council of Churches (USA), we are greatly distressed to hear of women in ministry concurrently being oppressed by systematic strongholds and discriminatory behavior."

The AME Church, which was formed in 1816 by Richard Allen and others who fought against segregation within their churches, has developed a reputation over the years for its activism on social issues, including womens rights.

In 2000, the denomination, which boasts some 3.5 million adherents, elected Vashti Murphy McKenzie as the first woman to the office of bishop  the highest rank for a church official.

Earlier this year, Elaine Flake became the woman pastor with the largest congregation in the United States after being she was appointed lead pastor of the more than 23,000-member Greater Allen Cathedral of New York, an AME church, at 72.

Flake took over the position formerly held by her husband, the Rev. Floyd Flake, 76, who also spent 11 years in Congress fighting to improve life for constituents in his church community in Jamaica, Queens.

In light of this history, Deborah Blanks, the pastor of Mount Pisgah AME Church in Princeton, New Jersey, condemned the actions of the St. James AME Church officers, stressing that this is not us.

There is much that can be said about the unconscionable act of being locked out of the church, but what disturbs my soul is the reprehensible assault on the dignity and personhood of this preacher that is inextricably tied to that lockout. No one should ever be treated in this manner. Period! Full stop! Blanks wrote in a post on Facebook Tuesday.

Blanks noted that she served as Robinsons dean at the New Jersey Annual Conference Ministerial Institute.

I watched with pride via Facebook Live in June as her first official appointment was read to serve as a pastor in African Methodism. Just for the record, she is a devoutly faithful, extremely gifted, passionately prophetic, and an extremely industrious woman. She is a social worker in her secular job doing the important work of serving people, Blanks noted before denouncing the actions of St. James AME Church.

This is not African Methodism, which knows deeply in its own history the indignity of being forced from our knees at an altar by those who did not honor our humanity, Blanks said.

 This is not us  a denomination that has elected five women to serve in the episcopacy, female general officers, a considerable number serving as presiding elders, a host as pastors, and an incremental number of pastoral appointments of women to first churches. The AME Church is known for preaching a liberating gospel; thus, it behooves us to be a liberated church: doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.
5 pastors' wives share blessings, challenges of their calling for Pastor Appreciation Month From 'relational trauma' to stereotypes: What it's like to be a pastor's wife

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Standing at 6-feet-tall, Jessie Roseberry of Indiana can still recall when she first fell in love with her husband. It was on the campus of her Christian college about a decade ago. She locked eyes with someone amazingly taller than her. At 6-foot-7-inches tall, Eric Roseberry would later become a pastor, her best friend and her husband.

In 2005, the 19-year-old was completing a dual degree in nursing and missionary studies. She said it was his peculiar but attractive height that first grabbed her attention. She couldnt help but notice his wide and bright smile from ear to ear.

Eric Roseberry approached his future wife, and the conversation that ensued instantly revealed an irresistible and romantic chemistry. Jessie Roseberry already had a boyfriend at the time. But immediately after the encounter, she broke things off with her boyfriend because she knew she had met her future husband.

That same year, the two got married and became the Roseberrys. Four years later, in 2009, they founded a church called City of God Church in Lafayette, with Eric Roseberry serving as the head pastor. Now, the couple have four children.

As October marks Pastor Appreciation Month, the 35 year old is reflecting on the blessings and challenges she's experienced being a pastors wife since her early 20s.

As a husband, Eric is very faithful and affirming. He embodies love for me and our kids, and Im not worried about him wishing he was with someone else, Jessie Roseberry told The Christian Post. As a pastor, he is gifted, he preaches wonderfully and he is resilient. He is the most humble and approachable person I know.

Being married to a pastor, she said, has been rewarding and a blessing. Not only is she a pastors wife, but she also helps run the churchs womens ministry. The role hasnt come without what she describes as relational trauma, however.

Although Roseberry praised the blessings, prayers and support she and her husband have received over the years, she's also experienced church members treating her differently because of her husbands role in the church.

But being a pastors wife is a unique position that many people dont understand, and Ive struggled in friendship relationships, she said.

Despite the challenges pastors wives face, Roseberry said she hasn't felt isolated in her experiences. She's been in close contact with many other pastors wives through a support program called Acts 29 Wives Support Program.

The support group is run by five regional wives support coordinators across the United States to build and recruit volunteer teams, check-in with pastors wives monthly, send gifts, host get-togethers, bond over dinners and plan overnight retreats. Roseberry is one of the regional support coordinators.

I grew up in a small community where I saw a lot of pastors' wives, and at first, I never thought I could fit the role when I met Eric because Im not the stereotype of being super quiet, running childrens ministry or the front-row-churchy girl, Roseberry said. But after I joined Acts 29, I learned that I dont have to be the stereotypical first lady of the church, and I dont have to fit into a certain mold that society has created for the role of a pastors wife. I have made a ton of friends, and its been an incredible journey.

Discerning peoples real motives

On a few occasions, Roseberry said congregants have pretended to be her friend, but later discovered they only wanted to spend time with her to get closer to her husband in hopes of having certain sermon topics covered or receiving preferential treatment from the pastor.

They used me to get to the pastor, and because of that, I have had to learn how to have healthy boundaries by refusing to be a liaison between them and my pastor-husband, she said. Sometimes, I experience fears that if I wasnt the pastors wife, would these people desert me. This is a real fear.

It can be painful to feel like an other," Roseberry said, because she's the pastors wife.

People tend to assume that Im supposed to look and act a certain way, she added. Real friendship relationships are possible for pastors wives, but it usually involves digging past all that and discerning what peoples real motives are.

Acts 29 surveyed hundreds of pastors wives about their perception of how their churches treat them. The responses were gathered from two questionnaires sent to Acts 29 pastors wives earlier this year.

Out of 300 responses, the percentage of pastors' wives who strongly agreed that they feel supported by their church family was 44%, and 45% said they agree with that statement.

About 17.2% of pastors wives surveyed said they strongly agree that friendships within the church come easily to them, while 42.45% said they agree, 26.84% responded with neutral, and 11.02% said they disagree. Just over 2% said they strongly disagree that friendships in the church come easily to them.

Acts 29 Director of Wives Support, Kirsten Black, 46, has been married for nearly two decades to her husband, Vince Black, the pastor of The Town Church in Fort Collins, Colorado. The church was planted in 2010.

The two met at a Christian summer camp as young adults and bonded over their love for Jesus. They have been married for 21 years.

Being a pastors wife brings many challenges to relationships because all your church friends are tied to your husbands work, Kirsten Black told CP.

Because she and her husband have a teenage son battling leukemia, she is in and out of hospitals and can't be more actively involved in volunteering within her church.

Black said she's experienced church members being hesitant to talk to her because they think she is holier than other women in the church. She's also experienced people only wanting her friendship because of her connection to the pastor rather than genuine bonds.

People tend to view the pastor as sort of like a celebrity, and they see it as significant to know the pastors wife, she added. Sometimes people even make the assumption that the pastors wife has the same gifting as the pastor or that the pastors wife has more gifting than other women in the church  which is not always the case.

Making friends with congregants as the pastors wife always takes careful navigating and seeing which relationships you have to be more guarded in and which ones you can be more open in, she continued.
Biden declares that Pope Francis said he should keep receiving communion'

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President Joe Biden said Pope Francis told him he should keep receiving communion during their 75-minute private meeting on Friday.

Biden chatted with reporters following his meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican as part of his second overseas trip since taking office in January. Biden, the first Roman Catholic to serve as president of the United States since John F. Kennedy, has clashed with Catholic Church leadership in the U.S. over his steadfast support of abortion.

One reporter asked if the issue of abortion came up during the conversation. While Biden insisted that the topic did not come up, he reported that We just talked about the fact that he was happy I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving communion.

The debate over whether pro-abortion Catholic politicians should receive communion has caused much contention within the Catholic Church in the U.S. over the past year. Concerns about Biden receiving communion date back to his 2020 presidential campaign when a priest in South Carolina denied him communion because of his support for a policy that directly contradicts Catholic Church teaching.

Supporters of denying communion to Biden and other pro-abortion Catholic politicians point to the Catholic Churchs Code of Canon Law, which states that those obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion as the justification for their position. They also cite a 2004 letter from then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict XVI, to two high-ranking officials in the U.S. Catholic Church noting that the Church teaches that abortion or euthanasia is a grave sin.

Quoting from the encyclical Evangelium vitae, Ratzinger wrote that In the case of an intrinsically unjust law, such as a law permitting abortion or euthanasia, it is therefore never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law or vote for it.' The letter called on priests to instruct Catholic politicians consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws on the Churchs teaching and encourage them to refrain from communion until they end the objective situation of sin.

Additionally, Ratzinger told priests to refuse to distribute communion to the politician if they continue to support such abortion laws. On the campaign trail, Biden vowed to codify Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion nationwide, into federal law. More recently, the Department of Justice under the Biden administration has taken legal action against the state of Texas over its law banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually at around six weeks gestation.

At its General Assembly meeting earlier this year, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to move ahead with the drafting of a document clarifying the meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the Church. Initially characterized as a rebuke to pro-abortion Catholic politicians, the USCCB emphasized that the question of whether or not to deny any individual or groups Holy Communion was not on the ballot.

According to a question-and-answer document about the vote published by the USCCB, The document being drafted is not meant to be disciplinary in nature, nor is it targeted at any one individual or class of persons. It will include a section on the Churchs teaching on the responsibility of every Catholic, including bishops, to live in accordance with the truth, goodness and beauty of the Eucharist we celebrate.

Ahead of the USCCB General Assembly, a high-ranking Vatican official authored a letter to USCCB President Archbishop Jose Gomez warning that a national policy on withholding communion from pro-abortion Catholic politicians could make it difficult to maintain unity in the American Catholic Church.

Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Church, expressed concern that such a policy could become a source of discord rather than unity within the episcopate and the larger church of the United States.

Limited video of Bidens meeting with Pope Francis released by the Vatican reveals the two engaging in friendly conversation and the president referring to the pontiff as the most significant warrior for peace he has ever met. During the meeting, Biden gave the pope a liturgical vestment made in 1930 by a notable papal tailor.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki first announced that the president would meet with Pope Francis in a statement published Oct. 14. Psaki indicated that the two men would discuss working together on efforts grounded in respect for fundamental human dignity, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling the climate crisis, and caring for the poor.
Court upholds death sentence for Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof

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A federal appeals court rejected a request to commute the death sentence for Dylann Roof who killed nine members of a South Carolina church after he joined them in a Bible study.

In June 2015, Roof opened fire on those gathered at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Charleston during a Wednesday Bible study, killing nine, all African Americans.

In various comments made online, Roof had made it clear that his actions were inspired by white supremacist ideology and a hope that a race war would ensue as a result of his actions.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a per curiam decision on Wednesday upholding the death sentence for Roof, saying that no legal record "can capture the full horror of what Roof did."

The panel rejected various claims by Roof in his appeal that errors had been made when the court concluded that he was competent to stand trial for the nine murders.

Roof murdered African Americans at their church, during their Bible-study and worship. They had welcomed him. He slaughtered them. He did so with the express intent of terrorizing not just his immediate victims at the historically important Mother Emanuel Church, but as many similar people as would hear of the mass murder, concluded the panel.

No cold record or careful parsing of statutes and precedents can capture the full horror of what Roof did. His crimes qualify him for the harshest penalty that a just society can impose.

In December 2016, a jury found Roof guilty of 33 charges of federal hate crimes resulting in death, obstruction of religion and firearms violations.

"He must be held accountable for each and every action he took inside that church," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Williams, as reported by Reuters in 2016. "For every life he took."

In January 2017, the 22-year-old Roof was sentenced to death, making him the first person in U.S. history to be ordered executed for being found guilty of a federal hate crime.

Roof showed no visible remorse for his actions, according to The Associated Press, at one point telling jurors before they deliberated that I still feel like I had to do it.
Ohio mayor orders school board to resign or face criminal charges over 'child pornography' taught in schools Course materials ask students to write about orgasms, 'X-rated Disney scenario'

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The mayor of a city in Ohio ordered the school board to either resign or face criminal charges for allowing high school students to be exposed to course material that he described as child pornography.

At the Hudson City School District Board of Education meeting Monday, Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert, a Republican, addressed the school board, saying, It has come to my attention that your educators are distributing essentially what is child pornography in the classroom. I have spoken to a judge this evening; she has already confirmed that.

Im going to give you a simple choice: You either choose to resign from this board of education or you will be charged, he added. The crowd gathered at the board meeting erupted into applause following Shuberts speech.

BREAKING: Hudson mayor demands all school board members resign or face possible criminal charges over high school course material that he said a judge called "child pornography."



I'm going to give you a simple choice: You either choose to resign or you will be charged." pic.twitter.com/guhp0zc0ns  Jenny Beth Martin (@jennybethm) September 14, 2021

The course material that raised concerns for Shubert and many parents and students who attended the school board meeting is called, 642 Things to Write About, one of several required texts for composition in the liberal arts II, a college-level English course offered at Hudson High School in conjunction with Hiram College.

Before Shubert spoke, a local resident shared his concerns about the book with the board. Do not sexualize our kids, he demanded. The raw filth that snuck past the gatekeeping functions of this board of ed of 642 Reasons was disgusting.

The man listed one of the prompts students were asked to write about, including explain a time when you wanted to orgasm but couldnt. He alleged that students were told not to take the book home so that their parents would not be aware of the material their children were exposed to at school.

Meredith Judson, a student at Hudson High School, recalled: The first day we got it, within 10 minutes of us getting this book, all of us around the room had already found the things out about the problematic prompts in the book. If we found out in 10 minutes ... that all of these prompts were in the book, its just interesting how  the teacher wouldnt have known about this.

Judson indicated exposure to sexually explicit material in the classroom was not an isolated incident. She described how in a previous class, she was watching movies that were rated R that showed very sexual  scenes and very explicit content, including a child that was a 10 year old that was up on stage taking off her clothes to do a perverted dance.

Monica Havens read aloud several additional prompts from the book. One prompt asking students to Write a sex scene you wouldnt show your mom was followed up by a subsequent prompt asking students to rewrite the sex scene from above into one that youd let your mom read.

According to Havens, 642 Things to Write About also asks students to describe your favorite part of a mans body using only verbs, write a sermon for a beloved preacher who has been caught in a sex scandal, write an X-rated Disney scenario, drink a beer and write about the taste, discuss the first time you had sex and write a scene that begins It was the first time I killed a man.

I hope each and every one of you is as uncomfortable as I am after reading that, she remarked. Now, imagine you are 17 and in a room full of peers with an adult teacher. How do you feel now?

This is what Hudson teachers are asking our children to write about. When these topics are encouraged and read by adults, that is pedophilia and this is happening on your watch.

Accusing the school board of allowing grooming to take place, she told them that all of you need to be replaced. Noting that the book has been in schools for six years, she concluded that you have allowed the sexualization of our youth and grooming material to be approved for classroom content.

In response to Shuberts call for him and his colleagues to step down, Hudson City Schools Board of Education President David Zuro issued a statement asserting that While we respect the Mayors position  at this time, no board of education member has indicated any intention to resign.

The terms of three of the five members of the board of education will expire on Dec. 31, while the other two members have two years left in their terms.

At Mondays meeting, Board Vice President Steve DiMauro proclaimed that the fact that our children were exposed to this, it needs to be addressed. Superintendent of Schools Phil Herman maintained that an investigation into the matter was underway.
Woman sues Alabama church group for allegedly enabling 'predator disguised as a pastor'

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An Alabama-based evangelical church group has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a Florida woman in which she accused them of knowingly enabling a man she described as a predator disguised as a pastor to serve as the head of a new church.

In a lawsuit filed against Newsound Church in Palm Beach County, Florida, and the Association of Related Churches, a church planting organization headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, a woman listed as Jane Doe in the suit accused the organization of appointing Joshua Mauney to lead the church despite knowing about his history of abuse, according to AL.com.

Doe alleged that Mauney forcefully penetrated her on 12 occasions from 2019 to 2020 when she worked as his assistant. She also claimed that Mauney forced her to engage in other sex acts and leveraged her dependence on her job for financial stability to make it harder for her to leave. Doe is seeking damages, maintaining that the organization bears responsibility for Mauneys misconduct as well as negligence.

The complaint also mentions Does efforts to reach out to Dino Rizzo, ARC executive director and co-founder, to report the abuse. She was instructed to contact Rizzo when informing the church of Mauneys inappropriate behavior.

Mr. Rizzo represented to (Doe) that he wanted to help but instead started interrogating Doe on who was aware of the abuse by Mauney, the lawsuit stated. Mr. Rizzo asked her if she wanted to be devious and make the church close down. She replied no.

According to the lawsuit, Rizzo told Doe that she must contact him before telling anyone else about what happened to her.

In response, Newsound Church filed court documents denying Does accusations of sexual abuse and pushed back on her claim that the ARC was responsible for Mauney being placed at the church.

In a statement emailed to The Christian Post on Thursday, ARC spokesperson Lawrence Swicegood denounced any illegal, immoral, improper, or unethical conduct or actions opposed to biblical teachings.

Unfortunately, over the years, a small number of pastors have disregarded biblical guidance and instructions. Ultimately, the wrong personal choices they made and the resulting consequences are theirs and theirs alone, stated the ARC.

While their failures greatly sadden us, ARC will continue its mission to help launch, connect and equip thousands of pastors who greatly value and benefit from the support of a church planting organization like ARC.

While they would not comment on the specifics of the case due to ongoing litigation, ARC did state that they have no legal, governmental or corporate oversight or control over any of the churches associated with us.

Doe rejected the premise that ARC does not have oversight over its churches, noting that its affiliate churches have overseers appointed by the organization. The overseers for Newsound Church informed the congregation in a letter that an investigation concluded that Mauney compromised his integrity and his position by engaging in an inappropriate relationship and that they had requested and received his resignation.

Doe received $21,000 in severance pay and $5,000 to cover the costs of therapy. She was also asked to sign a document acknowledging that she could face a lawsuit if she spoke out about the accusations. The lawsuit claims that ARC and the church paid Mauney $70,000.

Doe is not the only person accusing ARC of failing to act when one of their pastors was accused of sexual misconduct. In late September, a woman named Laura Ashley Eagan sued Rizzo, accusing him of failing to intervene when she told him that Jason Delgado, the former senior pastor of Vibrant Church of Columbus, Mississippi, sexually assaulted her.

The Eagan lawsuit argued that Rizzo was partly responsible for the assault because Vibrant Church was connected to the ARC network of churches and that he had a responsibility to intervene.

Eagan also claims in her lawsuit that church officials were aware of Delgados alleged sexual predation as early as 2016 but that they did nothing to stop him.
Liberty U categorically denies wrongdoing in Scott Lamb firing; says it takes sex abuse claims seriously

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Liberty University is denying reports that it fired its former spokesperson Scott Lamb because of how the prominent Christian school responded to allegations of mishandling sexual abuse claims.

Lamb has sued the Lynchburg, Virginia-based Christian university, arguing that administrators fired him because he expressed concern over how school officials were handling students' allegations of sexual assault.

In a statement emailed to The Christian Post on Tuesday morning, Liberty University said that it categorically denies Mr. Lamb's claims that his termination was in any way the result of advice he had given on how the university should respond to the Jane Doe Title IX lawsuit.

In reality, Mr. Lamb was terminated-with-cause as a result of a meeting about a recent review of the area under his management, Liberty added in its statement.

Lamb's lawsuit is a transparent effort to rebuild his own reputation by shamefully playing on the goodwill of supporters of sexual assault victims. We look forward to addressing his claims in court.

On Monday, ProPublica published an investigative piece titled, The Liberty Way: How Liberty University Discourages and Dismisses Students Reports of Sexual Assaults.

The piece included interviews of former Liberty students who detailed experiences in which the university allegedly failed to properly handle allegations of sexual assault and would even threaten accusers.

ProPublica also mentioned how Lamb, Libertys former senior vice president of communications, was allegedly fired for expressing concern over how the university was handling the matter.

Concerns about sexual assault would go up the chain and then die, Lamb told ProPublica, saying that Liberty would engage in a conspiracy of silence over allegations.

In July, 12 unnamed women filed a class-action lawsuit against Liberty, accusing the university of violating Title IX federal anti-discrimination law, specifically failing to properly process sexual assault and harassment allegations.

Liberty University has intentionally created a campus environment where sexual assaults and rapes are foreseeably more likely to occur than they would in the absence of Libertys policies, stated the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The complaint argued that Liberty created an unsafe campus environment by misusing its honor code, known as The Liberty Way, which, among other things, forbids extramarital sex, drinking alcohol, or attending events where alcohol is served.

The suit claimed that The Liberty Way fails to clarify if a woman who reports being sexually assaulted will be punished for violating the honor code if she admits to breaking other aspects of the code, like drinking, when she reports an alleged sexual assault.

Regarding the lawsuit and the media attention caused by the ProPublica piece, Liberty President Jerry Prevo issued a statement on Tuesday denying a mishandling of allegations.

Prevo quoted from multiple remarks he had made in the past, both to Liberty staff and students, in which he supported efforts to make sure that complaints were handled properly.

The Liberty Way should never be misused to cover up wrongdoing. It is also the case that as a Christian university we will remain unwavering in our commitment to cultivating a culture in our Liberty community that honors Gods Word and embraces Gods principles for life, he added.

While The Liberty Way must never be used to discourage victims from reporting wrongdoing, we also believe that we do not have to choose between embracing our code of conduct as a Christian university and in complying with our legal Title IX obligations.
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Many of us started our Christian race well but the most important thing is how we will finish the race. It is obvious that the devil is constantly trying to stop Christians from reaching the finish line.



The Apostle Paul was bold to assert that he had finished his race and was waiting to be crowned: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day  and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7).

Anyone who desires to finish strong must realize that Christianity is a battle. Paul fought many battles, covered many distances with the mandate of the Great Commission, and was able to endure to the end. Many of God's people do not understand what Christianity is and the devil has manipulated many to believe in pseudo-Christianity. For lack of knowledge, God's people are destroyed. Many do not know their responsibilities as Christians and are unaware that the challenges they face are designed to build up their godly character; not lead them to despair.

Many of Gods people have been found wanting because there is an invisible power that is hindering their walk with God. Some call this power the flesh, while others call it human weakness. This is the power that hindered our fathers, mothers and is now hindering us from achieving God's purpose.

The Bible mentioned that there was no man as humble as Moses. God spoke to other prophets in dreams and visions but spoke to Moses face-to-face. Whenever I read about Moses and how he missed the promised land, I can't help but cry and soberly reflect on what could have deprived him of entering the promised land after all his efforts to take the Israelites there.

Moses had anger issues that he inherited from his parents. The Bible recounts how Levi and Simeon were cursed by their father Jacob because of their sinful anger and violence (Genesis 49:5). The genealogy of Moses can be traced to a man of Levi who married a woman of Levi (Exodus 2:1-10). Moses inherited the same sinful disposition as his forefathers. He disobeyed God's instruction and struck the rock instead of speaking to it to bring out the water. This singular act stopped him from entering the promised land.

What of David? The man after God's heart who failed morally. What could be responsible for David's promiscuous lifestyle? His genealogy reveals that promiscuity, far from being a unique personality trait, was something Rahab and Judah dealt with too. Solomon  Davids son through Bathsheba  struggled with the same sin. Even though he was the wisest man that ever lived, he fell victim to the same sin his father did.

There are many Christians today struggling with one weakness or another who find it difficult to let others know because of the reputation they have built as faithful followers of Christ. A retrospective glance at our familys history will inevitably expose that there are family members who went through the same struggle either as Christians or as unbelievers. Our personal sins should be our first target in our spiritual warfare. If we fail to battle our sin in prayers, the weaknesses which it manufactures can stop us from finishing strong; just like it stopped Moses and Solomon.

Demas could not finish strong because he loved this present world and forsook Paul (2 Timothy 4:10). Many Christians will find it difficult to finish strong because of the love of the things of this world. Should Christians love this present world at the expense of the coming kingdom? Paul specifically mentioned that those who love Christ will also receive the crown which the righteous judge has prepared for those who finished strong. Those who eagerly wait for Jesus' appearance should love the present world less and work hard for the kingdom by spreading the Gospel.

The good news is that we all have the opportunity to finish strong, no matter how often we have fallen. The most important thing is that there is a chance for us to rise and dust ourselves off. We all can still finish strong if we seek Gods face in every circumstance.

If we understand that there are battles to fight and suffering to endure; if we can tell ourselves the truth and deal with our weaknesses through discipline and prayer, and if we wholeheartedly denounce the love of this present world, then we can boldly run this race to the finish line and stand before the master as He says to us, "well done my good and faithful servant" (Mathew 25:21).
Coming early next year is a new midstream entity comprised of the assets of Altus Midstream and EagleClaw Midstream.

Apache Corp. owns 79 percent of Altus through its Apache Midstream subsidiary while BCP Raptor Holdco LP owns EagleClaw and the Caprock Midstream and Pinnacle Midstream businesses.

When combined, the new entity  which will sport a new name but retain EagleClaws Midland headquarters  will be the largest integrated midstream company in the Delaware Basin with an estimated enterprise value of $9 billion.

Approximately 60 Apache field personnel working at Altus facilities will be offered jobs with the new company, joining the 200 who already work at EagleClaw.

I look at the overall skillset, what EagleClaw was good at, Jamie Welch, president and chief executive officer of EagleClaw, told the Reporter-Telegram. We had commercial success, but we need processing capacity. (Altus) was long on overall processing capacity.

Speaking by telephone, Welch, who will serve as president and CEO of the newly combined company, said Apache did not cut any corners in building its infrastructure.

Welch said the pipeline was built in anticipation of volumes far in excess of current throughput because Apache had halted work on its Alpine High discovery in Reeves County. Under the merger agreement, Apache will be permitted to sell up to 4 million shares for up to three months after the closing, provided it invests the first $75 million of proceeds in the Alpine High development over an 18-month period.

Estimating current throughput of 400 million cubic feet per day, Welch said Apache had anticipated moving far greater volumes and had built capacity based on that anticipation.

We have a need for that surplus equipment, he said

For example, EagleClaw currently does not have a front-end amine treating facility at its processing plants. Rather than treating the gas it takes in, he said the gas is measured, run through its cryogenic plants and sent into the pipeline. As a result, the company has strict quality specifications for the gas it takes in: Hydrogen sulfide at 4 parts per million or less and carbon dioxide at 2 percent or less in the rich gases it takes in. It also means customers have to treat their gas before its sent to EagleClaw.

Having that front-end amine treating plant would allow the company to expand the quantity of gas it moves, relieving the burden on its customers to treat that gas.

Weve looked at this before, looking at front-end amine treatment plant, but it would cost us close to $100 million, he said. By absorbing Altus amine plant, he said that cost falls to the low $40 millions and the company would relocate it to an existing EagleClaw facility. The incremental fees received from customers to treat their gas makes this a slam dunk.

Another cost saving would come from EagleClaw no longer having to pay lease fees on its compressors, since Altus owns their compressors. Some compression would be relocated to key areas long-term, he said.

Welch added that the new entity will hold interests in four export pipelines, including three of the five major non-crude long-haul pipelines built in the last five years: A 53 percent majority interest in the Permian Highway, a 16 percent stake in the Gulf Coast Express, a 33 percent interest in the Shin Oak NGL pipeline and a 15 percent stake in the EPIC crude pipeline.

This will expand opportunities for our customers and what they do with their hydrocarbons, Welch observed.

Its hard not to feel bullish with oil prices around $82 and natural gas at $6 per Mcf, he said, especially with adequate takeaway capacity out of the Permian Basin. Still, he acknowledged volumes have picked up but are not as robust as they were in 2019. Which is ironic, he said, because prices are materially better today.

Whats changed is producers are more cautious, theyre more circumspect on drilling and spending capital for fear of retribution from shareholders. Theyre fixated on fixing their balance sheets and returning capital to shareholders rather than just drilling wells, he said.

Shareholders have vivid memories of watching capital being spent on drilling and not seeing any material returns, he added.

Still, Apache, which was Altus sole customer, feels Alpine High can offer attractive returns in the current price environment and is currently considering adding drilling and completion activity at Alpine High in its 2022 capital budget.

Welch reiterated that, while corporate leadership will be in Houston, the company remains committed to Midland.

I remember with humble pride where we started, Welch concluded.
Many oil and gas companies have announced plans to end routine flaring in the near future and promising net-zero emissions  in the near future.

And some companies are already fulfilling those promises. Apache Corp., for instance, announced earlier this month it has ended routine flaring in its US onshore operations  three months ahead of schedule. Midlands Diamondback Energy announced in its sustainability report last month plans to eliminate routine flaring by 2025.

Clay Bretches, executive vice president, operations at Apache Corp., told the Reporter-Telegram by email that the first step in ending routine flaring was corporate leadership setting the goal and communicating clear objectives within the team to achieve it.

We reviewed our assets and identified opportunities where we could make incremental investments to further reduce flaring, he wrote. Some of these investments included adding compression where appropriate to ensure gas has enough pressure to get into existing pipelines and optimizing facilities to maximize the gas we can sell. We also laid pipe to connect to gathering systems. We have also made a commitment that going forward we will not bring new U.S. onshore production online without adequate infrastructure to carry product to processing plants and points of sale.

One obstacle Apache addressed was the need for connections to gathering systems in certain areas, Bretches said, installing the necessary pipe or, in limited cases, shutting in wells. He said the few locations that were shut in will be back online soon as connections are completed.

One obstacle we did not have was long-haul takeaway capacity. Prior to 2021, Apaches majority-owned midstream company, Altus Midstream, invested more than $850 million in two new natural gas pipelines. And Apache made firm transportation commitments on both pipelines to help underwrite and ensure construction of that infrastructure. We believe this capacity investment was important and necessary to move gas to market, significantly reducing the practice of flaring for operators throughout the Permian Basin, Bretches wrote.

This is something we dont have to waste, said Ryan Keys, president and co-founder of Triple Crown Resources. It makes us money if we dont flare.

Keys applauded Apaches efforts to eliminate routine flaring, noting that some of Apaches assets are adjacent to Triple Crown holdings.

Speaking with the Reporter-Telegram by telephone, Keys said proper planning to avoid routine flaring can pay off for the operator and royalty owners.

This is our most profitable product, he continued, noting that the cost of fixing leaks is quickly paid back.

His company has been aggressive in addressing emissions and flaring, even making presentations and writing papers on the subject in order to share the companys experiences and best practices.

This something we got in front of years ago. We installed new infrastructure, tank batteries, gathering lines, said Keys.

He said the cost, on top of paying for flyover surveys for leaks, was about $7,500 and repairs were done within a week. It was astonishing to realize how much more gas was captured afterwards, he said.

Its a no-brainer. Its profitable. Why would anyone fight this? he asked. The only reason is if they dont understand the economics of leaks. Otherwise, theyre cutting their nose off to spite their face.

The public often sees such announcements from the large multinational operators or large independents like Pioneer Natural Resources and Diamondback, Keys said, but efforts by small operators, like Triple Crown, can show companies of all sizes can successfully make the effort.

His company has a smaller investor base and is backed by private equity, he said. The companys equity investors understand the efforts and like to brag that theyre backing a company that is leading efforts to reduce flaring and emissions.

In addition to repairing leaks, Keys said Triple Crown is working to certify its production as responsibly sourced.

We can sell it for a little more because people want responsibly sourced energy. There are 100 reasons to do it and zero reasons not to, he said. In the end, consumers win because theyve found sources of cheaper gas and can lower their power bills and the environment is protected. This is literally one situation where everyone on the planet wins.

He recalled the first time he shared the companys efforts, noting that he was mobbed after the presentation. In fact, he said he received an email from someone in Australia inquiring about Triple Crowns efforts.

Like Triple Crown, Bretches said Apache will partner with other companies through its membership in the American Petroleum Institutes Environmental Partnership, One Future and the Texas Methane and Flaring Coalition.

These are voluntary coalitions where members share environmental best practices and make commitments to reducing emissions, he commented.

Eliminating routine flaring and reducing emissions requires a little effort, Keys said, but the industry can lead the way.
Drilling activity continues to inch higher amid strong commodity prices.

Energy services firm Baker Hughes and data analytics firm Enverus said Friday the US rig count rose two to 544, its highest level since April 2020. October also marked 15 consecutive months that the rig count has risen. Fridays rig count is 248 more, or 84 percent higher, than the 296 at work last October.

The number of rigs seeking crude oil rose by one to 244, 223 more than the 221 at work last year. The number of rigs drilling for natural gas rose by one to 100, 28 more than the 72 counted last year.

Texas added one rig for 250 rigs at work across the state. Thats 117 more rigs than the 133 reported a year earlier. New Mexico was unchanged at 87 rigs. Colorado (1) and North Dakota (1) joined Texas as producing states with increases while Louisiana (1) was the only state to see a decline.

The Permian Basin was unchanged at 268 rigs, 126 more than the 142 at work across the region a year earlier.

Lea County, New Mexico, remains the most active county in the Permian with 56 rigs, down one for the week. Eddy County, New Mexico, follows with 28, up one.

Midland County added two rigs for 25 at work within county lines. Martin and Reeves counties each reported 23 rigs, up two for Martin and unchanged for Reeves.

Howard County had 19 rigs, up one while Loving County had 16, down one for the week. Upton County had 15, unchanged for the week.

Crockett County saw no drilling activity this week with the loss of its one rig.

Steve Hendrickson, president of Ralph E. Davis Associates, an Opportune LP company, told the Reporter-Telegram in a telephone interview he doesnt expect a return to activity levels seen before the pandemic.

He cited corporate bankruptcies and capital providers who are reluctant to fund drilling or more restrictive in providing capital.

Companies will grow based on their own cash flow, and that will limit how fast we grow in the rig count, he said, forecasting continued moderate improvement in drilling activity.

Another possible cause of restrained growth despite strong commodity prices is consolidation in the industry, which has put larger tracts of acreage n the hands of fewer participants, Hendrickson said. That means there is less pressure on operators to drill in order to hold onto leases, he explained.

The industry is recovering, he said. There is something to be said for not going too fast.
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Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, who ended pandemic supplemental unemployment assistance nearly three months ahead of the federal deadline, just signed a bill that guarantees unemployment benefits for anti-vaxxers fired for not following employer . Not only that, the bill signed Friday allows employees to claim an exemption if they believe getting the vaccine would be injurious to the health and well-being of an individual residing with [them], an apparent suggestion that vaccinated individuals can cause harm to others.

The idea that those who have been vaccinated can shed the virus and infect others has no scientific basis, but has spread in anti-vaxx circles. Earlier this month, a private school in Miami instituted a rule that vaccinated children must stay home for 30 days after receiving a dose. In an email to Rolling Stone, the schools president cited voluminous anecdotal reports in circulation about vaccinated people negatively affecting. (The school has since reversed the policy.)

In a phone call with Rolling Stone, Republican Iowa state Rep. Henry Stone, who sponsored the legislation signed by Reynolds, denied that the bill implied the vaccine could have a negative affect on others, claiming the clause was only meant to streamline the wording, as it was based on similar language from the states education code pertaining to vaccine requirements. The states education immunization requirements, dated Dec. 2016, state that a child may be exempt from receiving required immunizations if a medical professional can attest that the required immunizations would be injurious to the health and well-being of the applicant or any member of the applicants family or household.

Vaccines can shed and potentially have a negative impact on others only when they contain a weakened form of the virus, and even then it is extremely rare. This is not possible with Covid vaccines. As the Centers for Disease Control has noted, none of the vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. contain a live virus.

When asked whether he believed vaccinated individuals could have a negative impact on those around them, Stone said he cant comment on that and that hes heard it both ways.

Gov. Reynolds office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The bill comes in response to new federal vaccine mandates, most notably an executive order signed by President Biden in September holding that employees of federal contractors must be vaccinated by Dec. 8. Another mandate for workers in businesses with 100 or more employees is expected to go into effect in the coming months.

The Iowa bill adds language to the state code that states employers shall waive the requirement for any employee who presents a statement saying that getting vaccinated would be injurious to the health and well-being of an individual residing with the employee. It also guarantees exemptions for employees who believe the vaccine conflicts with the tenets and practices of their religion. While the federal mandate already allows for exemptions based on medical conditions or religious beliefs, it does not allow them on the basis of a concern for someone who lives with a vaccinated individual.

I am proud to sign this bipartisan piece of legislation today, Reynolds said in a statement Friday. This is a major step forward in protecting Iowans freedoms and their abilities to make healthcare decisions based on whats best for themselves and their families. This legislation also gives employees the assurance that they will still receive unemployment benefits despite being fired for standing up for their beliefs.

Although the Iowa Association of Business and Industry opposes the federal mandate, it said it is against the new law Reynolds signed because employers could still face stiff federal penalties (up to $14,000 per violation) if they dont comply. The IAB also opposes the bill because businesses in the state could soon face increased financial liability through additional unemployment tax levies to maintain a solvent unemployment trust fund, the group said in a statement.

Up to this point, Reynolds has been relatively tough on people who are unemployed. She was one of 25 governors who opted to end pandemic unemployment benefits months ahead of their expiration, which she claimed was discouraging people from returning to work. Just last week, she doubled the number of work searches individuals are required to conduct each week in order to continue receiving benefits.

Reynolds fight against common sense public health measures isnt finished. Shes promised more immediate legal action in the coming days.
A Kansas state representative compared to the Holocaust during a legislative hearing on Friday.

Rep. Barbara Landwehrs comments came Friday after testimony from Cornell Beard, who is president of the Wichita Machinist and Aerospace Workers union, before the states Special Committee on Government Overreach and Impact of COVID-19 Mandates. Beard, who is black and said he is a very, very conservative Democrat, told the committee in written testimony that employees who refuse to work with unvaccinated individuals are preserving and perpetuating the ideology of a modern-day racist.

Echoing Beards comments while questioning him, Landwehr made the outrageous comparison between racism, anti-Semitism and people choosing not to get vaccinated. This is racism against the modern day Jew, which is anyone that disagrees, she said, bizarrely comparing the choice to be unvaccinated to a religion.

Later in the hearing, Landwehr doubled down and made a direct comparison to the Holocaust.

One of the words that I just heard in conversation here, madam chair, was we all need to go down a path. Where have we heard those words before? Well, recently I heard them on a documentary about the Germans and what happened to the Jews. Well take you all down a path,  Landwehr said.

Now, do I believe that is what were trying to do? she added. I hope not because this is America and I dont want to lose hope in it. Landwehr later went on to say that a database tracking vaccine side effects included some very scary stuff.

According to The Kansas City Star, none of the other lawmakers present expressed disagreement with Landwehrs remarks, nor did they condemn them. Landwehr did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Rolling Stone.

Responding to the representatives comments, Gavi Gellar, executive director of the American Jewish Committee of Greater Kansas City, told The Star that Landwehrs comparison is a false and slanderous attack.

Its incumbent upon all Kansas state leadership to be speaking out forcefully against this type of language, Gellar said. This kind of language is a false and slanderous attack on Jews, on Jewish memory and Jewish identity.

Landwehr wasnt the only lawmaker opposed to vaccine mandates at the hearing. Republican State Sen. Renee Erickson said that she respects individual rights and freedoms and opposes mandatory vaccination. I believe if you want to get the vaccine, you should get the vaccine, and if you dont, you shouldnt be forced to, she said, according to Fox 4 Kansas City.

Another Republican, State Sen. Mike Thompson, claimed multiple times that the Covid-19 vaccine is both unsafe and not a real vaccine.

But some Democrats said they supported mandates. If we merely leave it up to individuals to decide whether theyre going to act responsibly or not, unfortunately, theres too many that wont act responsibly, said Rep. Vic Miller, who said he cant comprehend difference between [vaccines] widely accepted over time, such as those required for school-age children, and the Covid vaccine.

Vaccination requirements have been a hot button issue nationwide as a Dec. 8 deadline approaches for federal contractors to be vaccinated, which will affect millions of American workers. This past week 19 states, including Kansas, filed suit against the Biden administration to block the mandate from going into effect.
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Overnight a court filing from the National Archives revealed which documents former President Donald Trump is trying to hide from the Jan. 6 select committee, including his daily presidential diaries, schedules, activity and call logs, draft speeches, as well as files from top White House staffers.

These records all relate to the events on or about Jan. 6, and may assist the Select Committees investigation into that day, including what was occurring at the White House immediately before, during and after the Jan. 6 attack, Justice Department lawyers wrote in the court filing submitted late Friday night on behalf of the National Archives.

Trump has been trying to block the committee from obtaining 750 pages of documents out of almost 1,600 that have been identified as relevant to the investigation. The documents that Trump wants to keep hidden include:

Thirty pages of daily presidential diaries, schedules, appointment information showing visitors to the White House, activity logs, call logs and switchboard shift-change checklists showing calls to the president and vice-president, all specifically for or encompassing [Jan. 6]

Thirteen pages of drafts of speeches, remarks, and correspondence concerning the events of [Jan. 6]

Three handwritten notes concerning the events of [Jan. 6] from [former White House chief of staff Mark] Meadows files  listing potential or scheduled briefings and telephone calls concerning the [Jan. 6] certification and other election issues

Binders of talking points from former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany principally relating to allegations of voter fraud, election security, and other topics concerning the 2020 election

Draft text of a presidential speech for the [Jan. 6] Save America March

A handwritten list of potential or scheduled briefings and telephone calls concerning election issues

A draft Executive Order concerning election integrity

A draft proclamation honoring deceased Capitol Police officers Brian Sicknick and Howard Liebengood

Associated e-mails from the Office of the Executive Clerk, which relate to the select committees interest in the White Houses response to the Capitol attack

The filing states that the National Archives searched first for relevant documents in paper records because it wasnt until August that they received electronic records from the Trump White House. There are another outstanding several hundred thousand potentially responsive records that may also be relevant to the investigation that they are still working their way through.

Trump has sued to block the release of these documents by claiming executive privilege, and this court filing is in response to that suit. Biden officially rejected Trumps executive privilege request to keep the documents secret earlier this month.

Even more news in the Jan. 6 saga broke Friday night when it was revealed that during the attack on the Capitol, Trumps lawyer, John Eastman, emailed an aide to former Vice President Mike Pence to blame Pence for the violence that was unfolding, The Washington Post reported.

The siege is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this [election challenge] to be aired in a public way so that the American people can see for themselves what happened, Eastman wrote to Pence aide, Greg Jacob, who quoted the Trump attorneys email in an unpublished op-ed obtained by The Post.

Eastman also emailed Jacob after Congress reconvened following the riot to tell him that Pence should not certify the election results because he violated a technicality in the Electoral College Act related to how much time lawmakers could use for speeches. Pence had cited the act as justification for not sending electors back to their states.

My point was they had already violated the electoral count act by allowing debate to extend past the allotted two hours, and by not reconvening immediately in joint session after the vote in the objection, Eastman told The Post. It seemed that had already set the precedent that it was not an impediment.

According to a separate report from The Post this past Tuesday, the select committee is planning to subpoena Eastman unless he voluntarily cooperates with their investigation.
During the holidays, Houston's River Oaks draws thousands of families who drive down its streets to see "Oooo" and "Ahhh" at homes bedecked in twinkling decorations. But this affluent area unearths a different crowd for another beloved annual activity: trick-or-treating. Each Halloween, sugar-hungry children descend on the neighborhood, trudging door-to-door in search of elusive full-sized candy bars.

River Oaks Patrol Capt. Mark McMahon says he's seen costumed kids from all over travel to his section of town throughout the years, and his unit will be fully staffed to keep an eye on the neighborhood. Though he said some areas of the River Oaks are more difficult for tiny legs to travel  bigger houses mean more land, which means a more intense trek for Kit Kats and Reeses Cups.

"There are areas in the neighborhood where you have estates. That's hard to cover ground there," McMahon said. "Some of the other areas where the homes are closer together, there's a lot of trick-or-treaters there."

But the hype around River Oaks as a Halloween hotspot also brings traffic, a word that always strikes fear and dread into the hearts of Houstonians. River Oaks resident Julie Longoria Chen said her family has stopped leaving the neighborhood for Halloween parties because travel in and out of the area is so tedious.

"I certainly think it's fun and probably a safer place for some of these kids to trick-or-treat than maybe in their own neighborhoods," Longoria Chen said. "It does kind of create some congestion in the neighborhood that is a little bit unwanted, I would say. But I think overall, people are happy to give as usual in Houston."

Some River Oaks residents welcome the nomadic trick-or-treaters. This is Frances Moody Buzbee's first Halloween living in River Oaks, but she's crossing her fingers for a busy front porch. She and her husband, Tony Buzbee, have decked out their yard with witches, scarecrows and other Halloween decorations.

"I also am one of those people that loves the holidays and loves celebrating with others, so having people from other neighborhoods come in to trick or treat makes it fun for me," Moody Buzbee said. "We're definitely going to have our gates open, and we're going to be handing out candy, but I have no clue what to expect."

But River Oaks' residents are ready for the holiday and are stocking up to avoid disappointing any trick-or-treaters, whether they live in River Oaks or not. "The first year, we ran out of candy," Longoria Chen said. "That was very embarrassing."
Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. were among the great champions of progressive ideas in the 20th century. But they didnt exist within an insular, self-validating community whose values and assumptions were often at odds with those of the rest of society.

Increasingly, that cannot be said of modern progressivism.

Modern progressivism is in danger of becoming dominated by a relatively small group of people who went to the same colleges, live in the same neighborhoods and have trouble seeing beyond their subcultures point of view.

A significant example occurred at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Seventy-three percent of American adults believe race or ethnicity should not be a factor in college admissions decisions, including 62 percent of Black adults, according to a 2019 Pew survey. And yet Dorian Abbot, a geophysicist, was recently disinvited from giving a lecture at MIT about climate science because hes publicly defended this majority point of view. In other words, the views of the large majority of Americans are not even utterable within certain academic parts of the progressive subculture.

Recent school board wars have been a battle of subcultures.

American educators have been gradually finding ways to teach American history that both honor the nations achievements and detail the horrors of slavery, Jim Crow and systemic racism. For example, Georgias Standards of Excellence for social studies explicitly refers to the suppression of Reconstruction-era Black office-holding. Mississippis standards devote a section to civil rights.

On behalf of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Jeremy Stern reviewed the 50 state history standards in 2011 and then again in 2021. To his pleasant surprise, he found that the standards were growing more honest. States were doing a better job at noting Americas sins along with its achievements. The states that had the best civics and history standards were as likely to be red as blue: Alabama, California, Massachusetts and Tennessee (D.C. scored equally well).

In my experience, most teachers find ways to teach American history in this way, and most parents support it  78 percent of Americans support teaching high schoolers about slavery, according to a 2021 Reuters/Ipsos poll.

But the progressive subculture has promoted ideas that go far beyond this and often divide the races into crude, essentialist categories.

A training for Loudoun County, Virginia, public school administrators taught that fostering independence and individual achievement is a hallmark of white individualism.

A Williams College professor told The New York Times last week, This idea of intellectual debate and rigor as the pinnacle of intellectualism comes from a world in which white men dominated.

If you want to stage a radical critique of individualism and intellectual rigor, be my guest, but things get problematic when you assign the good side of this tension to one racial category and the bad side to another racial category.

It is also becoming more common to staple a highly controversial ideological superstructure onto the quest for racial justice. Were all by now familiar with some of the ideas that constitute this ideological superstructure: History is mainly the story of power struggles between oppressor and oppressed groups; the history of Western civilization involves a uniquely brutal pattern of oppression; language is frequently a weapon in this oppression and must sometimes be regulated to ensure safety; actions and statements that do not explicitly challenge systems of oppression are racist; the way to address racism is to heighten white peoples awareness of their own toxic whiteness, so they can purge it.

Today a lot of parents have trouble knowing whats going on in their kids classrooms. Is it a balanced telling of history or the gospel according to Robin DiAngelo?

When they challenge what they sense is happening they meet a few common responses. They are told, as by Virginias Democratic gubernatorial candidate, that parents shouldnt tell schools what to teach. They are told they are racist. Or they are blithely assured that there is nothing radical going on  when in fact there might be.

Parents and legislators often respond with a lot of nonsense about critical race theory and sometimes by legalizing their own forms of ideological censorship. But their core intuition is not crazy: One subculture is sometimes using its cultural power to try to make its views dominant, often through intimidation.

When people sense that those with cultural power are imposing ideologies on their own families, you can expect the reaction will be swift and fierce.

David Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times.
EL PASO, Texas (AP)  Four people were killed and 11 others were hurt Friday when a sport utility vehicle carrying 15 migrants rolled over on a West Texas highway, officials said.

The crash was reported about 5:30 a.m. Friday on Texas 54 near the Blue Origin rocket launch site, about 24 miles north of Van Horn and 100 miles east of El Paso, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. No other vehicles were involved, Lt. Elizabeth Carter said.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP)  The anti-Donald Trump group The Lincoln Project took credit Friday for five people appearing with tiki torches at a Charlottesville campaign stop by Virginia's GOP candidate for governor, a stunt recalling white supremacists who descended on that city amid violence in 2017.

Charlottesville TV station WVIR covered the campaign stop and reported candidate Glenn Youngkin was inside a restaurant when the group dressed in matching hats, khakis and white button-down shirts appeared beside his campaign bus. The former private equity executive and political newcomer is in a close race against former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe as Tuesday's Election Day nears.

Photos showed the group holding large tiki torches. Their appearance recalled two days of chaos in August 2017, when white supremacists gathered in the college town for a Unite the Right" rally ostensibly to protest the planned removal of a Confederate monument.

The night before the planned rally, a group carrying tiki torches marched across the University of Virginia campus, clashing with a small group of anti-racist protesters. The next day a car driven by a self-avowed white supremacist plowed into a crowd of peaceful counterprotesters, killing one and injuring dozens.

McAuliffe staffers promoted a reporter's tweet about the group's appearance, using it to attack Youngkin and suggesting that those holding the torches were his supporters.

Youngkin staffers accused the McAuliffe campaign or Virginia Democrats of being involved, drawing disavowals.

What happened today is disgusting and distasteful and we condemn it in the strongest terms. Those involved should immediately apologize," McAuliffe campaign manager Chris Bolling said in a statement.

The Democratic Party of Virginia issued a statement saying neither the party nor its coordinated partners and affiliates had anything to do with the events at the campaign bus stop.

The Lincoln Project then weighed in, saying it was behind what it called a demonstration.

The Youngkin campaign is enraged by our reminder of Charlottesville for one simple reason: Glenn Youngkin wants Virginians to forget that he is Donald Trumps candidate," the group said of the former president.

The incident comes at a sensitive time in the city. A civil trial opened Monday that will determine whether the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who organized the 2017 demonstrations should be held accountable for the violence.

Democratic Del. Sally Hudson, who represents Charlottesville in the General Assembly, condemned the torch-bearing incident as a stunt.

Charlottesville is not a prop. Our community is still reeling from years of trauma  especially this week. Dont come back, @ProjectLincoln. Your stunts arent welcome here," she tweeted.

The Youngkin campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
BANGKOK (AP)  More than 160 buildings in a town in northwestern Myanmar, including at least two churches, have been destroyed by fires caused by shelling by government troops, local media and activists reported Saturday.

The destruction of parts of the town of Thantlang in Chin state appeared to be another escalation in the ongoing struggle between Myanmars military-installed government and forces opposed to it. The army seized power in February from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, but has failed to quell the widespread resistance.

A government spokesman denied nonsense allegations being reported in the country-destroying media, and blamed insurgents for instigating the fighting and setting the fires.

Human rights groups and U.N. experts recently warned that the government is planning a major offensive in the countrys northwest, including Chin state, along with the regions of Magway and Sagaing. Residents of the rugged area have a reputation for their fierce fighting spirit, and have put up stiff resistance to military rule despite being only lightly armed with single-shot hunting rifles and homemade weapons.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the fire, which started early Friday and burned through the night, according to reports.

The humanitarian aid agency Save the Children said its offices were in one of the buildings that was "deliberately set ablaze.

The destruction caused by this violence is utterly senseless. Not only has it damaged one of our offices, it risks destroying the whole town and the homes of thousands of families and children, said a statement from the London-headquartered agency.

Thantlang had already been largely abandoned due to previous attacks by government soldiers.

Eighteen other houses and a hotel were destroyed by fire set off by another shelling on Sept. 18, and a Christian pastor was shot when he tried to help put out the blaze.

More than 10,000 residents then fled the town, some staying temporarily in nearby villages and others seeking shelter across the border in Mizoram, India. About 20 staff and children in care of an orphanage on the outskirts of the town are believed to be its only remaining residents.

The Chin Human Rights Organization issued a statement saying the fires in Thantlang had died down by Saturday morning, after as many as 200 houses may have been destroyed.

Most of the structures on the main street, which has shop stalls and all kinds of businesses, have been destroyed. There is nothing left to salvage, said the statement, signed by the groups deputy executive director, Salai Za Uk Ling. The manner in which the fire was burning indicates that it was not just the incendiary rocket fires but also deliberately torching of houses and structures manually.

According to the Chinland Defense Force-Thantlang. a local militia fighting the military, a Presbyterian Church and a building housing the Pentecostal Church on the Rock were among the 164 structures it had counted destroyed by fire.

The defense force said the shelling began after fighting broke out when it tried to prevent government soldiers from looting a house in the town.

In a phone interview Saturday night on state television MRTV, government spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said the events began when members of the PDF  or People's Defense Forces, as the local militia are generally known  attacked security forces, who returned fire. He said the insurgents took cover in houses in the town and set fires as they fled, keeping government reinforcements from putting out the flames by shooting at them.

He added that it was not possible to bring firefighting resources from the state capital, Hakha, because a bridge on the road connecting the towns had been blown up on Oct. 21.

"Its needless to say who blew up the bridge. These videos can be found on country-destroying media," said Zaw Min Thin, in a reference to video that circulated widely on social video showing several explosive charges being detonated on the span. He described the sequence of events as a deliberate plot.

The statement from the Chin Human Rights Organization expressed concern that what happened may represent just the beginning of a major government offensive known as Operation Anawrahta. The government has not acknowledged such a plan.

The high number of troops being sent to Chin state in recent days and weeks has been truly unprecedented. They have brought with them destruction and death, said the human rights group. It called for urgent action on the part of the U.N. Security Council "to help prevent mass atrocities before they happen.
ROME (AP)  Nearly five months after President Joe Biden declared America is back on his first presidential visit abroad, the president's challenge now that he's back in Europe is convincing the world that America is here to stay.

Attending twin summits in Rome and then Scotland, Biden is asking world leaders to cast their lot with a country that seems unable to agree on its own future.

His visit is set against the backdrop of the ongoing struggle to get his signature domestic agenda through Congress. The president's fellow Democrats have steadily pared back Biden's proposed spending on families, health care and renewable energy to build support for the plan and battled over the tax hikes needed to pay for it.

Because support for the $1.75 trillion package of expanded social programs is unclear, the president's separate $1 trillion infrastructure package is also on hold. This leaves the president to ask the world to judge him based more on his intentions rather than his results.

Biden administration officials contend that American allies understand the messiness of the legislative process and are unfazed, but world leaders also are keenly aware of Bidens sagging poll numbers, the prospects of a Republican resurgence in Congress in the 2022 midterm election and the specter the presidency could shift to former President Donald Trump or someone with similar politics two years later.

The White House view, laid out by senior administration officials during briefings in Rome, is that American alliances suffered enormous trauma during the last administration and the healing work under Biden is ongoing.

A senior administration official said Saturday the White House believes allies want Biden to lock in as much progress as possible while there is a president who is a deeply committed to transatlantic alliances.

"The administration created really high expectations of a sort of reset in transatlantic ties with the America is back rhetoric, said Benjamin Haddad, director of the Europe Center at the Washington think tank Atlantic Council. I think there was probably too high of expectations that we could just turn the page on the last four years.

Biden promised that the U.S. would be a more engaged and predictable partner to allies following four years of Donald Trumps America First.

But in the early going of his presidency, he has frustrated allies on the international stage and provided fodder for his Republican critics. Setbacks included the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and a diplomatic row with France over a plan for the U.S. to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

Biden also disappointed Eastern European allies, including Poland and Ukraine, over his decision to waive sanctions against German entities involved in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

The United States has long called the Russia-to-Germany pipeline a threat to European energy security because it increases the continents reliance on Russian gas and allows Russia to exert political pressure on its neighbors. Levying sanctions against Germany, however, would have caused a further dispute with one of the United States closest allies.

European allies also bristled over the Biden administration restrictions on travel from European Union countries because of the coronavirus pandemic. The administration has announced it will lift the restrictions next month that impact travelers from 33 countries, including members of the EU, China, Iran, South Africa, Brazil, and India.

Some progress was made at the G-20 as the White House announced Saturday the U.S. and European Union had reached an agreement to settle their diplomatic rift over Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs.

The tariffs were issued on national security grounds and led to retaliatory taxes by the EU. They will not be completely removed. Some European steel and aluminum will enter the U.S. without tariffs and the retaliatory tariffs by the EU will end.

While prospects for what would be the largest-ever U.S. investment in fighting climate change are looking up, the delay in getting there has only reinforced the fickleness of American policy on the eve of the Glasgow summit, underscoring that the priorities of one president can be reversed by the next.

House Democrats hope for a vote on Biden's domestic package, including the climate investment, on Tuesday, when Biden will be winding up his stay at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow. But it remained unclear whether the ambitious timetable could be met.

If Congress fails to pass legislation for significant action on climate by the United States itself, "it would be like President Trump pulling out of the Paris agreement, again, U.S. climate envoy and former secretary of state John Kerry told the AP earlier this month.

In a closed-door session with House Democrats that Biden attended just hours before his departure for Rome, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invoked the president's trip as she tried to rally Democratic votes around the $1 trillion infrastructure package, unsuccessfully attempting to build support for a vote Thursday.

When the president gets off that plane we want him to have a vote of confidence from this Congress, she said. She referenced conversations shes had with world leaders questioning whether American democracy can deliver.

The rest of the world wonders whether we can function, Biden told the lawmakers, according to a source familiar with his remarks.

Biden is trying to prove it can with his actions at the Group of 20 summit in Rome and next at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow.

On Saturday, he huddled in Rome with Germanys Angela Merkel, Frances Emmanuel Macron, and Britains Boris Johnson to coordinate strategy on the Iran deal. The four-way meeting was meant as a study in contrast from the Trump administration, when the Iran nuclear issue marked one of the major flashpoints between the U.S. and Europe.

Biden also met individually with Macron on Friday, part of an attempt to move past a separate row over a secret U.S.-U.K. deal to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia that cost France tens of billions of dollars by ending its own planned submarine sale to the ally.

For me, this is very much the beginning of a process of trust, of confidence, which were building together, Macron told Biden.

William Howell, a University of Chicago political scientist, said Bidens challenge says less about his skills or domestic political support for his agenda and more about the contemporary state of American politics.

The pervasive gridlock, polarization, and distrust that characterize our national politics will ... give foreign leaders some pause before entering into long-term, costly agreements with us, Howell said.

The president did secure a global agreement to establish a global minimum tax for corporations, a long-sought move designed to prevent companies from moving profits to offshore tax havens. But the legislation implementing it in the U.S. is part of the broader package of legislation that hasn't yet passed Congress.

___

Madhani reported from Washington.
ROME (AP)  President Joe Biden said Saturday that nuclear talks with Iran would resume as he and European leaders warned Tehran that accelerated and provocative nuclear steps it has taken will jeopardize its return to compliance under a 2015 nuclear agreement.

Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and Britain met as Iran continues to enrich uranium to near-weapons-grade levels. The leaders are trying to revive the 2015 deal and restore Iran's program to where it was under the pact, which kept the Islamic republic at least one year away from the potential to field a nuclear weapon.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Biden, Germany's Angela Merkel, Frances Emmanuel Macron and Britains Boris Johnson expressed our determination to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon."

The leaders shared our grave and growing concern that Iran has accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps after it halted negotiations on a return to the nuclear agreement, formally known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

They also warned that Iran's nuclear developments and restrictions on international monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency will jeopardize the possibility of a return to" the deal.

As the leaders posed for photos before the closed-door talks, Biden was asked when he would like the stalled negotiations with Iran to resume.

Theyre scheduled to resume, he said, in what appeared to be the first public confirmation by the U.S. of a resumption in negotiations.

Iran has yet to commit to a date to return to nuclear talks being held in Vienna but has signaled it will do so next week with a target of late November for resuming the negotiations. The U.S. and others have expressed skepticism about Iranian intentions.

The U.N.s atomic watchdog has said Iran is increasingly in violation of the nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from. The U.S. has participated indirectly in talks aimed at bringing both Washington and Tehran back into compliance. Those talks in Vienna have been on hiatus since June, when Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took power.

Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union remain part of the deal.

We call upon President Raisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency," the leaders said in their communique. That is the only sure way to avoid a dangerous escalation, which is not in any countrys interest.

The four leaders met Saturday' while in Rome for the Group of 20 summit, the first stop on Bidens five-day foreign trip. He's also attending a U.N. climate conference in Scotland.

Biden was welcomed to the summit site by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and joined his counterparts for the customary family photo before he went to the opening plenary session on the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery.

Saturday's meeting came several days after Ali Bagheri, Irans deputy foreign minister and chief negotiator for the talks, tweeted that Iran has agreed to restart negotiations by the end of November. Bagheri said a date to resume talks would be announced soon.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday that the U.S. was still trying to determine whether Iran was serious about returning to the negotiations.

We have heard positive signals that they are, but I think we have to wait and see when and whether they actually show up at the negotiating table," he told reporters Thursday aboard Air Force One as Biden flew to Rome.

Sullivan said the leaders would send clear messages to Iran that the window for negotiation is not unlimited.

We, of course, retain all other options to be able to deal with this program as necessary, he said.

Saturday's meeting came after American officials blamed Iran for a drone attack on a remote U.S. outpost in Syria. Officials said Monday the U.S. believes Iran resourced and encouraged the attack, but that the drones were not launched from Iran.

No deaths or injuries were reported as a result of the attack.

In retaliation, the U.S. Treasury Department on Friday announced new penalties against two senior members of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps and two affiliated companies for supplying lethal drones and related material to insurgent groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Ethiopia.

At the summit, Biden pushed for progress toward his goal of establishing a global 15% corporate minimum tax, the White House said, even as his domestic effort to raise the business rate to that figure was stuck in limbo in Washington.

He also was expected to discuss measures to ease a global energy supply crunch that has fueled rising prices, imperiling the global economic recovery. On Sunday, Biden planned to host an event on strengthening supply chains around the world as factories and ports have struggled to deliver goods because of the pandemic.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP)  Arrest probably wasn't in the cards for a self-proclaimed fortune teller whom authorities say scammed a Southern California woman out of $50,000 by claiming to cure her of parasites and her family of a curse.

Andres Pena Meneses, 31, of Riverside was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of grand theft and theft by false pretenses but was freed after posting $57,000 bail, according to a Police Department statement.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Meneses had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

A police statement said Meneses  a Colombian national who had a 2019 conviction in Chicago for posing as a phony faith healer"  advertised his Riverside fortune-telling business under the name Carlos."

According to police, a woman who went to Meneses to have her fortune read this summer and was told she had parasites that Carlos" removed for a fee of several hundred dollars.

Meneses later contacted the woman and told her that her family was cursed and her children were in danger, police alleged.

'Through his false pretenses, the victim ended up paying Carlos' over $50,000, according to the statement.

On Tuesday, investigators searched his home and business in the community east of Los Angeles and found cash along with a voodoo doll, tarot cards, altars, religious and satanic type objects, and a small live pet python that were used as part of the fraud," police said.

Customers at the business told investigators that Carlos" had told them to bring their mattresses from home. They said Meneses and his staff would cut open the mattress and claim to have found the live snake inside with demonic-type items and letters stating the victims family was in danger," police said.

Police also were told that Meneses advertised his services on the radio and claimed he could cure ailments such as diabetes, headaches, sleep disorders and nightmares.

Detectives believe there are many more victims and that the Spanish-speaking community was specifically targeted, police spokesman Ryan Railsback told the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
LITTLE FALLS, Minn. (AP)  Minnesota agronomist Amy Robak describes budding carbon markets as the wild west.

And shes not the only one who sees it that way.

Theres no regulatory bubble around it, Robak said.

Theres still debate about just how much carbon farmers can intentionally draw from the air and deposit into the soil, a process called carbon sequestration.

Robak is working that frontier. She helps farmers change some practices and measure the impact on their soils as they join a new carbon marketplace backed by corporate partners including Land OLakes and General Mills.

Agricultural carbon markets pay farmers to draw greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide, from the air and keep it locked in the soil to fight climate change. Plants do this naturally through photosynthesis; farmers encourage it by limiting their tilling, grazing livestock in crop fields and planting cover crops in the off season or between row crops.

Corporations pay for those credits through brokers to offset their carbon pollution, the St. Cloud Times reported.

By the end of August, voluntary carbon market transactions were near $750 million globally for the year, according to an Ecosystem Marketplace Insights Report, putting 2021 on track to set a new annual record since the Ecosystem Marketplace launched in 2005. The trading of greenhouse gas emissions dates back to the early 1990s, but it has accelerated this year due to a rapid increase of net-zero, carbon neutral and other climate change-related commitments from corporations.

Consumers are demanding more sustainable practices as the effects of climate change are increasingly visible and catastrophic. Countries around the world are working to meet goals set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement and keep global temperature rise this century below 1.5 degrees Celsius when compared to pre-industrial levels. Thats about 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

In Minnesota, average temperatures have risen 1 degree Fahrenheit to 3 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the part of the state. Farmers are being recruited here to help combat climate change by capturing carbon, even as the science and policy of carbon markets is unsettled.

In late August, Robak stepped through a field lush with new pea shoots, kale, clover and sorghum sudangrass. All are cover crops planted as part of a pilot program that will pay farmers if their soils show a marked increase in carbon.

Farmers plant different cover crops to add nutrients to the soil, absorb excess nutrients or produce something their livestock can eat. Radishes, for example, can absorb nitrogen from the soil, which is good for water quality.

Robak, lead nutrient management specialist and certified crop advisor for Centra Sota Cooperative in Little Falls, is helping enroll producers into a carbon market pilot. The costs to make the changes are covered by the member-based nonprofit running the market called the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium, or ESMC.

Right now, in the world of carbon markets, everyone seems to have their own offer out there, said Robak. There is no really good regulation set around it. Theres no USDA farm programs around it, nothing like we have in the crop insurance world.

And there is no consensus on how to best assess soil for carbon gains.

Its very difficult and expensive to do, said Danny Cullenward, policy director for CarbonPlan, a nonprofit that analyzes climate solutions. That means a lot of these efforts are either trying to confront the fact that it would be very expensive to carefully measure the outcomes in these efforts or maybe they want to cut corners and find ways not to directly measure or measure cheaply.

Big companies, governments and environmental groups are willing to bet on agriculture and other working lands, like forests, to sequester excess carbon thats been released into the atmosphere primarily through combustion of fossil fuels.

Planting cover crops could sequester 6.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in Minnesota, according to a January report from The Nature Conservancy. Reducing tillage practices and improved management of fertilizers and nutrients could reduce emissions by more than 4 million metric tons.

That is the hope.

I do think that we run the risk of really losing credibility in the eyes of the public if these markets fail. Because the hype has been so high, said Anna Cates, Minnesotas state soil health specialist. Thats where I see the greatest risk.

Jen Wagner-Lahr likes that her familys Cold Spring farm will contribute data and useful information to a fledgling carbon market program.

Her husband, Larry Lahr, grows crops and raises about 450 cattle on more than 500 acres, and theyre enrolled in the ESMC pilot. They planted their first cover crops this fall. Theyve been limiting their tilling already, a practice touted for keeping more carbon in the soil because theres less disturbance to the soils microbiome.

Its really kind of a unique opportunity in this region. That a pilot is here where we can actually contribute to that verification aspect, Wagner-Lahr said.

Her husband likes that theres a financial incentive to do the right thing.

We prefer to do our practices in a more environmentally responsible way, with sustainability in mind, Lahr said. Its turning out we can do that without necessarily sacrificing the ability to make a living off the farm.

Jason Lorenz is another farmer in the pilot program who signed up for the soil improvements that come with practices tied to carbon sequestration and carbon markets. Hes been using cover crops to some extent for a few years and sees improvements on his farm near Little Falls. He has 40 acres enrolled in the ESMC pilot.

It just makes your soil healthier, Lorenz said of cover crops. You take care of the soil, the soil takes care of you.
ROME (AP)  Leaders of the world's biggest economies on Saturday endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations, a linchpin of new international tax rules aimed at blunting the edge of fiscal paradises amid skyrocketing profits of some multinational businesses.

The move by the Group of 20 summit in Rome was hailed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen as benefiting American businesses and workers.

G-20 finance ministers in July had already agreed on a 15% minimum tax. It awaited formal endorsement at the summit Saturday in Rome of the worlds economic powerhouses.

Yellen predicted in a statement that the deal on new international tax rules, with a minimum global tax, will end the damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation.

The deal did fall short of U.S. President Joe Biden's original call for a 21% minimum tax. Still, Biden tweeted his satisfaction.

Here at the G20, leaders representing 80% of the world's GDP  allies and competitors alike  made clear their support for a strong global minimum tax, the president said in the tweet. This is more than just a tax deal  it's diplomacy reshaping our global economy and delivering for our people.

The agreement aims to discourage multinationals from stashing profits in countries where they pay little or no taxes. These days, multinationals can earn big profits from things like trademarks and intellectual property. These companies can then assign earnings to a subsidiary in a tax haven country.

Briefing reporters midway through the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "There are good things to report here. The world community has agreed on a minimum taxation of companies. That is a clear signal of justice in times of digitalization.

Mathias Cormann, secretary-general of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said that the deal clinched in Rome will make our international tax arrangements fairer and work better in a digitalized and globalized economy.

The minimum rate completely eliminates the incentive for businesses around the world to restructure their affairs to avoid tax, Cormann contended.

On other issues crucial to fairness across the globe  including access to COVID-19 vaccines  the summit on the first of its two days heard pleas to boost the percentage of those in poor countries being vaccinated.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi made a sharp call to pick up the pace in getting vaccines to poor countries.

Draghi, the summit host, said Saturday that only 3% of people in the world's poorest countries are vaccinated, while 70% in rich countries have had at least one shot.

These differences are morally unacceptable and undermine the global recovery, said Draghi, an economist and former chief of the European Central Bank.

French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to use the summit to press fellow European Union leaders to be more generous in donating vaccines to low-income countries.

But advocates of civil society which have held discussions with G-20 officials said suspension of vaccine patents was crucial to increasing access in poor countries.

Canada noted it was both sharing vaccines as well as donating money to develop production in South Africa, which is a G-20 country. Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister, said Canada was increasing its commitment to international vaccine sharing through the COVAX program by donating 200 million doses.

The summit is also confronting two-track global recovery in which rich countries are bouncing back faster.

Rich countries have used vaccines and stimulus spending to restart economic activity, leaving the risk that developing countries that account for much of global growth will remain behind due to low vaccinations and financing difficulties.

Macron has told reporters he expects the G-20 to confirm an additional $100 billion to support Africas economies.

On the urgent problem of climate change, Italy is hoping the G-20 will secure crucial commitments from countries responsible for about 80% of global carbon emissions  ahead of the U.N. climate conference that begins Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, just as the Rome summit winds down.

Most of the G-20 leaders will head to Glasgow.

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, whose efforts to reduce emissions are paramount to combating climate change, were participating remotely in the Rome summit.

But midway through the summit it was the corporate tax rate rule that dominated.

White House officials say the new tax rate would create at least $60 billion in new revenue a year in the U.S.  a stream of cash that could help partially pay for a nearly $3 trillion social services and infrastructure package that Biden is seeking. U.S. adoption is key because so many multinational companies are headquartered there.

But Civil 20, which represents some 560 organizations from more than 100 countries in a network making recommendations to the G-20, was less enthusiastic. The 15% rate is a little more than those (rates) we'd consider fiscal paradises, Civil 20 official Riccardo Moro told reporters following the summit.

___

Nicole Winfield contributed to this report.
JACKSON, Wyo. (AP)  The state of Wyomings call for help to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services grizzly bear recovery coordinator, Hilary Cooley, came back on Oct. 18 after a wall-to-wall weekend of conflicts.

It was a Monday, and local staffers at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department had become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of calls and conflicts related to Grizzly 399, a famous sow bear with four half-grown cubs whos on an extended walkabout through southern Jackson Hole. That revered 25-year-old bear has spent more time outside Grand Teton National Park than within the protected landscape since summer, and her travels through places like Josies Ridge, Tribal Trails and Hoback Junction are proving problematic.

We had repeated conflicts over a three- or four-day period, way down south, Game and Fish large carnivore biologist Mike Boyce told the Jackson Hole News&Guide. Property damage, livestock feed and apiary damage.

During her first-ever known extended time south of the national park in 2020, Grizzly 399 successfully exploited human-related foods on several occasions. The grizzly mother and her then months-old cubs gorged on molasses-enriched grain left out for moose, hit livestock feed, wiped out a beekeepers colony and picked through a compost pile.

But her more recent behavior has taken an even more concerning turn.

The grizzly who has mothered a half-dozen litters of cubs has started becoming more destructive and actively seeking food in residential areas.

Were seeing a behavior change, Boyce said.

Since Aug. 3 she has been implicated in 10 conflicts: Five times, shes gotten into apiaries  beekeepers honey. The other five occasions the five-grizzly family was feeding on livestock grain. There were consequences. Several times the family has been hazed with cracker shells, nonlethal projectiles and other means: three times by Boyce, once by a Fish and Wildlife Service official and once by a landowner.

Knowledge about how to exploit left-out human-related foods is also being imparted to the next generation, said Dan Thompson, who heads Wyoming Game and Fishs large carnivore division.

Shes teaching four 200-pound bears that this is how to get food, Thompson said.

Next year those cubs will be subadults, 2 1/2-year-olds that will be run off by Grizzly 399. The writing is on the wall for where theyre likely to go once independent.

Well be busy with them next spring. Thompson said. I guarantee it.

Cooley, who coordinates grizzly bear management across their range in the Lower 48, is getting directly involved in the effort to keep Grizzly 399 alive and out of trouble until she goes back north and stays there. Cooley has been in Jackson Hole for the past week and has secured funding to have someone grizzly-sitting the famous ursine family and shepherding them away from bad situations around the clock.

What were doing is were just intensively monitoring her, Cooley told the News&Guide. I just talked to (my employee) and he might have found a track. Its that kind of thing.

Thats what were doing, she said. Its like a 24/7 effort.

The effort to keep tabs on Grizzly 399 is tough because shes moving quickly. Much of one recent weekend she was around Hoback Junction and even some ways up the Hoback River. By Monday morning she was back by Jackson, seen on the slopes not far from one of the most popular near-town hikes: Josies Ridge. Through most of the day Tuesday there were no reports of her whereabouts.

Its almost a unanimous view that its problematic for a highly human-habituated grizzly family to live on the outskirts of Jackson.

The whole county is kind of behind the times in terms of trash and storage and conflict prevention, Cooley said. Beehives, livestock feed, open dumpsters. Almost everywhere you look theres something.

Apiaries, for example, do not legally need to be protected from bears. Same goes for livestock feed. Enforcement of the bear conflict zones in Teton County that require bear-proof garbage cans and bird feeder standards has been limited by staffing shortages.

We are so far behind the ball, Red Top Meadows resident Cindy Campbell said. We are sending her down a gauntlet to be killed.

Several years ago Teton County assembled a group of residents to review and round out its bear-friendly rules. Unanimously they advised expanding the garbage storage regulation countywide and strengthening bear conflict regulations relating to pet feed, apiaries and chicken coops. But the recommendations were never enacted. Recently there have been petitions and a flood of emails urging Teton County to revamp its regulations. Last week commissioners discussed the potential reforms, suggesting that theyd take up the issue this winter.

But grizzly advocates say changes are urgently needed.

The stakes have gotten a little higher, right? said Chris Colligan, the wildlife program coordinator for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Its time, I think, for action on this issue. Thats what Im seeing, from Grizzly 399s movements. Its just unacceptable for us to think that this issue is going to go away.

Last winter Grizzly 399 didnt head into her den, which is 35 miles north of Jackson, until the first week of January. After a monthlong southern valley sojourn she spent the remainder of the year back north, primarily feeding on gut piles left behind by elk hunters and gunshot-and-lost elk.

An early blast of winter, Boyce hoped, could get the elk moving, bring hunters out in force and pull the grizzly family back north.

Until that happens shes in a really crummy area, Cooley said. Fish and Wildlife Service is not showing its hand as far as what it plans do with Grizzly 399, other than monitor her. Rumors have swirled that the federal agency seeks to trap and fit the grizzly family with GPS collars to make tracking them easier.

Cooley would not affirm this plan, but did say, Its tough to always be behind her.

Fish and Wildlife staffers and the state and federal agencies they are coordinating with  Game and Fish, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service  have discussed the possibility of relocating Grizzly 399 and her offspring but havent come up with a good place to bring her.

Theres not a great spot, no matter where you look, Cooley said. Were not giving specifics out about what were doing because of our safety and 399s safety, she said. We just want her to get to bed safely. We have no ill intentions.

Decision-making about Grizzly 399 and what to do about her run of conflicts is immensely divisive. Its one of the reasons that Game and Fish put in the call for assistance. But another reason is that Boyce, wardens and other personnel who handle conflicts are busy dealing with other bears. On the whole, Jackson Hole is tracking for an average year for bear conflicts in the developed parts of the valley. But theres an unprecedented shift underway.

Grizzly bears have been involved in the majority of the conflicts this year, Boyce said. Were having grizzly bear conflict way down south. Thats been a change.

The outcome is that five human food-conditioned grizzlies have lost their lives. Three of those animals had blood ties to Grizzly 399. Two subadult bears born to Grizzly 610  399s daughter  were darted or trapped and killed after unrelenting spates of conflict. Then last week, Grand Teton National Park put down Grizzly 962, a 4-year-old female the world-famous sow raised in her previous litter. That grizzly was among those who was fed repeatedly in a Solitude Subdivision backyard during 2020. The landowner was investigated and the grizzly feeding was documented, but federal prosecutors declined to press charges after the resident stated that she intended to feed moose, not grizzlies.

Its not just Jackson Holes grizzlies that are faring poorly during 2021, Cooley said. Already 60 deaths have been documented so far in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, according to a federal database.

Its a bad year for grizzly bear mortalities all around, Cooley said. Conflicts, defense-of-life-killings, vehicle mortalities, you name it, its been a really bad year.

We actually had to remove an entire family group about a month ago, she said. It was a hard day at work.

Grizzly 399s fame is working in her favor and is likely to help her avoid the same fate.

We certainly dont have 24/7 monitoring of all other bears, Cooley said. We recognize shes different. Shes an ambassador.

Some of Grizzly 399s most ardent followers take the view that the matriarch bruin is best left alone and shouldnt be subject to traps, collared, or moved forcefully back north.

Give her a chance for a few more weeks, Images of Nature wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen said. Shes just following the food. Think about Winnie the Pooh, for Christs sake. Of course shes going to find honey.

Yet other 399 advocates in the community support taking aggressive actions to get the esteemed grizzly mother out of harms way, which means far from the town of Jackson and the perils of developed areas that are far from bear-proof.

I think just haze the hell out of her, Wyoming Wildlife Advocates Executive Director Kristin Combs said. Its really a nightmare situation and its like watching a slow-motion train wreck. My breath is held every day. I feel like I get up in the morning and check for that text, and I sure hope I dont get that text.

Campbell, the Red Top resident, said her chief worry is that Grizzly 399 and her brood will encounter a resident whos not as tolerant or enthusiastic about grizzlies as she is. For that reason shed be supportive if the Fish and Wildlife Service caught and collared the ambassador bruin to aid their monitoring effort  if that is indeed the plan.

Ive lived in this valley long enough to know that there are a lot of people who dont want those bears in their backyard, Campbell said. I dont want her staring down the barrel of a shotgun at 2 in the morning when nobody knows where she is.
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP)  A federal grand jury has indicted three Louisiana police officers on civil rights charges accusing them of injuring men by punching them during arrests last year.

Treveion Brooks, 26, William Isenhour, 25, and DAndre Jackson, 25, were among eight Shreveport officers accused in a state malfeasance indictment last year of beating two men arrested after a chase on Jan. 24, 2020.

We look forward to our day in court where a jury of citizens will determine the true facts of these cases, said Dhu Thompson, an attorney representing Brooks and Jackson on the state and federal charges.

It was not immediately clear who is representing Isenhour.

All three are scheduled for arraignment Thursday on civil rights charges alleging excessive force, according to a news release Friday from the U.S. Attorneys Office in Shreveport. The indictment was handed up Wednesday and unsealed Friday, online court records show.

The Caddo Parish district attorney said in July 2020 that prosecutors had dropped all charges against the men who were arrested, Chico Bell and Damon Robinson, because of unnecessary force. The federal indictment used only initials.

Brooks is accused of injuring D.R." by punching his face and body on Jan. 24, 2020, while Isenhour and Jackson are accused of doing the same thing to C.B., according to the news release.

The civil rights charge carries up to 10 years in prison.
ATHENS, Ga. (AP)  Former residents of a Black neighborhood in north Georgia that was destroyed more than 50 years ago and replaced with university dorms and parking lots are demanding the university recognize their loss.

The city of Athens used eminent domain to force Black families out of the Linnentown neighborhood in the 1960s as part of an urban renewal plan. It sold the land to the state Board of Regents, and dorms and parking lots for the University of Georgia went up after the homes were razed.

Now, a group of former residents and descendants wants the university to apologize for the land seizure and create a memorial to Linnentown, which was home to dozens of Black families, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Friday. One member of the Linnentown Project group, Bobby Crook, told the newspaper the university needs to pay compensation, though he acknowledged that may not happen.

It is heartbreaking because a whole community that nurtured, loved and supported you was erased, said Hattie Thomas Whitehead, the president and community outreach coordinator for the Linnentown Project.

Whitehead's father, Abe Thomas, built a home in Linnentown with help from the community. The family couldn't afford to buy a new house after it was forced out of the neighborhood and moved into public housing in 1963.

UGA spokesman Greg Trevor told the AJC the university is interested in preserving Linnentown's past and has offered to include the neighborhood in the Athens Oral History Archives, which are maintained by the University of Georgia Libraries. He said the university's high-rise residence halls have housed tens of thousands of students from all races and socioeconomic backgrounds, providing them with the "transformational benefits of a higher education.

Diversity and inclusion are  and will always be  central to the University of Georgia academic community and a priority for the institution, he said.

Linnentown is among numerous Black neighborhoods around the country that were destroyed to make way for what were deemed revitalization projects. The Linnentown purchase was supported by a federal grant.

The average condemnation award for homes in the neighborhood was $5,750, according to a resolution approved by Athens-Clarke County commissioners in February. The land  roughly 20 acres (8 hectares)  and the improvements on it are worth tens of millions of dollars today.

The county resolution did not mince words, accusing the city and the University System of Georgia of an act of institutionalized white racism and terrorism resulting in intergenerational Black poverty, dissolution of family units, and trauma through the forcible removal and displacement of Black families, and the accumulation of the majority of their wealth and political power within the University System of Georgia and the City of Athens.

Athens-Clarke Mayor Kelly Girtz apologized for Linnentown's destruction.

Whitehead said she cried as she watched the apology, which caught her by surprise.

I certainly do think this is a form of reparations, she said.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Kelly Sims Gallagher, Tufts University

(THE CONVERSATION) President Joe Bidens new climate strategy, announced after his original plan crumbled under opposition in Congress, will represent a historic investment in clean energy technology and infrastructure if it is enacted. But it is still not likely to be enough to meet the administrations emissions reduction goals for 2030.

As director of the Fletcher Schools Climate Policy Lab at Tufts University, I analyze ways governments can manage climate change.

As the new plan comes together, and the administration considers future steps, here are five types of policies that can help get the United States on track to achieve its climate targets. Together they would reassure the world that the United States can honor its climate commitments; help stave off the effects of a carbon border tax planned in Europe; and, if designed right, position U.S. workers and firms for the low-carbon economy of the 21st century.

Industrial policy

The United States ability to compete in low-carbon and resilience technologies such as energy storage has eroded over the past two decades.

Part of the problem has been the political impasse in Washington over clean energy and climate policies. Over the past 20 years, tax credits, loan guarantees and regulations have started and stopped, depending on the political whims of whoever is in power in Congress and the White House. U.S. companies have gone bankrupt while waiting for markets to materialize.

Meanwhile, European companies, with backing from their investment and development banks, and Chinese companies have surged ahead, using their home markets to demonstrate new technologies and build industries. Wind turbines are a good example. European companies, led by Denmarks Vestas, controlled 43% of the wind turbine market globally in 2018, and China controlled 30%. By contrast, the United States accounted for only 10%.

I believe the United States as a country needs to make choices about where it has comparative advantage, and then the federal government can chart a clear course forward to develop those industries and compete in those global markets. Will it be electric vehicles? Electricity storage? Technology for adaptation such as sea wall construction, flood control or wildfire management? Independent advice could be provided to the administration and Congress, perhaps by the National Academies of Science, and then Congress could authorize an investment plan to conditionally support these industries.

Tempting as it is to support all technologies, public dollars are scarce. Companies that receive subsidies must be held accountable with performance requirements, and taxpayers should get a return when those companies succeed.

As part of industrial policy, officials also need to squarely face up to the fact that some workers, states, cities and towns with industries closely tied to fossil fuels are vulnerable in the transition to cleaner energy.

On an expert panel convened by the National Academies of Science and recent study, colleagues and I recommended that the government establish a national transition corporation to provide support and opportunities for displaced workers and affected communities. These communities will need to diversify their economies and their tax bases. Regional planning grants, loans and other investments can help them pivot their economies to industries that contribute less to climate change. Establishing a U.S. infrastructure bank or green bank to fund low-emissions and resilience projects could help finance these investments.

Equally important is investing in the workforce needed for a low-carbon economy. The government can subsidize the development of programs at colleges and universities to serve this economy and provide scholarships for students.

Fiscal tools

Other policies can help generate the revenue needed to support the transition to a clean economy.

Obviously, removing subsidies for fossil fuel industries is a crucial step forward. One analysis estimated, conservatively, that the U.S. provides about US$20 billion a year in direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industries. Estimates of indirect subsidies are much higher.

Tax reform can also help, such as replacing some individual and corporate income taxes with a carbon tax. This policy tool would tax the carbon in fuels, creating an incentive for companies and consumers to reduce use of fuels with the greatest impact on the climate. To avoid overburdening low-income households, the government could reduce income taxes on lower-income households or provide a dividend check.

Tax credits, loan guarantees, government procurement rules and investments in innovation are all useful tools and can shape markets for American companies. But these fiscal policy tools should not be permanent, and they should be phased down as technology costs come down.

Investing in markets as well as innovation

The government has the ability to both push and pull climate technologies into the marketplace. Government investments in research and human capital are push-type policies, because supporting research ensures that smart people will keep moving into the field.

The government can also pull in technologies by creating vibrant markets for them, which will provide further incentives to innovation and spur widespread deployment. Carbon taxes and emissions trading systems can create predictable markets for industry because they provide long-term market signals that let companies know what to expect for years ahead, and they at least partially account for a products damage to the environment.

While the United States is investing in clean-energy research, development and demonstration, it has been less successful than China or Europe  both of which have emissions trading systems  in developing predictable, durable markets.

Performance standards

A tried-and-true U.S. policy tool is the use of performance standards. These standards limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per unit, such as fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles, energy efficiency standards for appliances and industrial equipment, and building efficiency standards at the state level. Fuel economy standards on automobiles since 1975 have saved about 2 trillion gallons of gas and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 14 gigatons, roughly three times the countrys annual emissions from energy in 2020.

Performance standards give companies the flexibility to find the best way to comply, which can also fuel innovation. The Biden administration could develop new performance standards in each major emitting sector  vehicles, power plants and buildings. Federally imposed building codes, which are set at the state and local levels, would be a difficult political lift.

The laws that established the governments authority to set standards, such as the Clean Air Act and Energy Policy Act, have some ambiguities that can leave standards vulnerable to court challenge, however. Legal challenges have led to a zigzag in regulations in some sectors, most obviously the power sector.

Nature-based solutions and state legislation

A final area where policy is needed is for nature-based solutions. These might be fiscal incentives for restoring forests, which store carbon, or protecting existing lands from development, or they might be regulations.

Laws and regulations at the state level can also be enormously powerful in changing the U.S. emissions trajectory.

Bidens Plan B

The centerpiece of Bidens original climate plan was a program designed to reward and pressure utilities to shift electricity production away from fossil fuels faster. With the Senate split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchins opposition sank the plan.

The Biden administrations new Plan B has a number of heroic assumptions and relies heavily on fiscal and regulatory tools, along with lots of state-level actions.

Missing from Plan B is the emphasis on innovation and industrial policy, both of which might have a larger impact on U.S. emissions. The elephant in the room that cannot be ignored is that the United States needs a climate bill that puts its targets for reducing emissions by 2030 and 2050 into law, gives the right government agencies the authority to set policies and addresses industrial and workforce needs.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/how-to-meet-americas-climate-goals-5-policies-for-bidens-next-climate-bill-170705.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex will begin fining shipping companies if they let cargo containers stack up as the nation's busiest twin harbors deal with an unprecedented backlog of vessels.

The Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor commissions voted Friday to implement a 90-day container excess dwell fee that sets time limits on how long containers can stay at marine terminals.

About 40% of all shipping containers entering the U.S. come through the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. The number of ships waiting to unload has risen to record volumes.

As of Friday, there were 153 ships at anchor, berthed or loitering"  cruising while awaiting dock space  and more than 100 of those were container ships, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, which monitors port vessel traffic.

Ships anchored at the complex have well over a half-million containers on board, officials said. They hold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of toys, electronics, clothing and furniture.

Were going through a significant crisis, Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, told that harbor commission on Friday.

The logjam of ships has interrupted the global supply chain and prompted the Biden administration to allow the port complex to operate 24 hours a day to try to get goods unloaded and out to consumers as the Black Friday and Christmas holiday season approaches.

The joint container fee program that starts on Nov. 1 will charge ocean carriers $100 per container. But the fine increases by $100 per container per day until the cargo moves.

Containers moving by truck can remain for eight days before the penalties kick in, while containers moving by rail have a five-day deadline, according to the Port of Los Angeles.

The penalties wont take effect until Nov. 15 at the earliest, however, depending on whether daily snapshots of the situation show progress in clearing the docks.

Our objective with this program is not to generate revenue but to make room for ships waiting to enter the port, Los Angeles Harbor Commission President Jaime Lee said in a statement.

The average waiting times for cargo to be picked up has doubled in the wake of an import surge partly brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected traffic from Asian suppliers.

Another problem is a lack of industrial warehouse storage space in the region. Before the surge, truck-bound cargo generally left a terminal in less than four days, and containers headed to trains only languished for a couple of days.
Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz and City Manager Robert A. Eads met with the United States Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar along with other community leaders this week to discuss topics concerning the U.S.-Mexican border.

In an effort to continue providing firsthand information to federal representatives on the issues the border faces, Saenz and Eads presented these to Salazar during a roundtable meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 27.

Issues discussed included lack of federal funds for border security, the implementation of a virtual wall as proposed by the Biden administration and the dangers migrants face when fleeing their countries of origin. Other discussions included the reopening of the border for non-essential activities and vaccination efforts for Mexican travelers.

I am honored to have met Ambassador Ken Salazar and describe to him who we are as a city and the value we provide as an international port to our country and the world, Saenz said. I commend the Ambassadors willingness to visit both sides of the border, as it is crucial for him to get a firsthand perspective of the regional and national issues impacting our communities. In light of the thousands of migrants that have arrived and those predicted to arrive in the U. S. - Mexican border, I continue to advocate for the swift implementation of a virtual wall and prove its effectiveness.

Border trade and security continue to be our utmost priorities. I will continue to develop relationships and communicate all issues at hand with local, state, and national representatives.

Other community leaders that were present at the meeting included officials from Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Office of Rep. Henry Cuellar, International Bank of Commerce, U.S. Consul in Nuevo Laredo Deanna Kim, Mexico Consul in Laredo Juan Carlos Mendoza and more.

The City of Laredo welcomed Ambassador Salazar and looks forward to continuing conversations that will benefit the overall community.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  A man who helped in the deadly kidnapping of a Chinese man from a Los Angeles-area shopping mall was sentenced Friday to more than 16 years in federal prison.

Anthony Valladares, 29, of Pasadena, was sentenced a year after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to kidnap Ruochen Tony" Liao of Santa Ana.

Liao, a Chinese national, owned a Southern California car dealership that sold high-end cars such as Porches and Bentleys.

Prosecutors say two Chinese men organized his July 16, 2018, kidnapping from a mall parking lot in suburban San Gabriel. Liao was lured into a minivan.

Prosecutors contend that Valladres was hired as muscle for the kidnapping.

Liaos parents in China were sent demands for a $2 million ransom and ordered to deposit payment in Chinese bank accounts, according to court documents.

However, the money wasnt paid, authorities said.

Liao was badly beaten and repeatedly shocked with a stun gun during the snatching. He was believed to have been held in a closet at a home in Corona and died the day after the kidnapping.

He was buried in the Mojave Desert. But his remains eventually were found and identified.

Also charged was Alexis Ivan Romero Velez, 25, of Azusa, the driver of the minivan. He pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to kidnap and awaits sentencing.

Two Chinese citizens who had been living in West Covina  Guangyao Yang, 28, and Peicheng Shen, 35  are being held in China on charges filed there related to the kidnapping, the U.S. attorneys office said.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Louisianas largest health system expressed disappointment with an appellate court's order blocking its decision to fire or discipline north Louisiana employees who refuse its mandate to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

This ruling is inconsistent with established Louisiana law as well as with decisions of courts across the country upholding COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Ochsner Health President and CEO Warner Thomas said in a statement. Ochsner Health intends to appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court and is confident we will prevail.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal in Shreveport ruled on Thursday, just a day before Ochsner Healths Friday deadline for its 32,000 employees across Louisiana and in a small part of Mississippi to be fully vaccinated or face dismissal.

State District Judge Craig Marcotte had thrown out a lawsuit brought Oct. 5 by dozens of employees at Ochsners Shreveport location. The three-judge appellate panel ordered him to hold a hearing on the mandate and to block enforcement until its legality is decided.

In light of the courts decision, Thomas said, we are deferring our compliance deadline for all Ochsner LSU Health employees across facilities in Shreveport and Monroe until the matter is settled.

That includes deferring the requirement for all those unvaccinated to get tested weekly for COVID-19 starting Monday.

All employees will continue to be required to wear masks, Thomas noted.

Those who are not vaccinated are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated or to request a religious or medical exemption where applicable, he said.

Although the 2nd Circuits rulings do not affect district courts outside north Louisiana, the ruling is a signal to businesses statewide that vaccine mandates are probably illegal, said Jimmy Faircloth, an attorney for some of the workers who filed the suit.

He said the fact that a temporary restraining order was even issued signaled the likelihood that the plaintiffs have a good chance of prevailing.

However, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal, which covers 21 southwest and central Louisiana parishes, on Wednesday rejected a request for a similar order and reinstatement of a lawsuit against Ochsner Lafayette General Health.

We find no error in the trial courts ruling, the 3rd Circuit panel had written.

Faircloth said he has asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to overturn District Judge Thomas Fredericks dismissal of that case.

The lawsuits argue that Louisianas constitution and laws guarantee citizens a right to decide their medical treatments.

It is unlawful for an employer to threaten to fire an employee for exercising a legal right, or to require an employee to forego the exercise of a legal right as a condition of employment, the Shreveport lawsuit states.

___

Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  Rhode Island is getting $385,000 in federal funding to help register and track convicted sex offenders.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, announced the federal funding this week. The funding, administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, will be used to to enhance and increase sex offender registration compliance and minimize gaps in offender information, he said.
Joel Kowsky/AP

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)  SpaceX has bumped its next astronaut flight for NASA until Wednesday because of rough wind and waves hundreds of miles away.

Four astronauts were supposed to blast off early Sunday morning on a six-month mission to the International Space Station. But while the forecast at NASA's Kennedy Space Center was near perfect, a large storm in the Northeast had the sea churning farther up the coast. The safety violation prompted managers on Saturday to move the launch.
ADAMS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP)  Elections equipment missing from a southern Michigan community has been located, the secretary of state's office reported Friday.

The equipment was recovered Friday at the Adams Township Hall in Hillsdale County, spokeswoman Tracy Wimmer said in a release.

Wimmer did not give details about the equipment but said an investigation was being conducted to determine if anyone had tampered with it.

State officials earlier had barred township clerk Stephanie Scott from running next weeks local election. Scott failed to take steps to ensure the security of the vote, the Michigan Bureau of Elections said.

Hillsdale County instead will supervise the Adams Township election.

Hillsdale County Clerk Marney Kast said her office retrieved the township tabulator and a voter assist terminal Monday, but the tabulator tablet was missing, The Detroit News reported Thursday.

Kasts office contacted Scott and asked her to return the tablet by 8 a.m. Wednesday, but Scott responded that she was in contact with an attorney, Kast said.

Scott did not say whether she had the tablet.

In banning Scott from running Tuesday's general election, the state has said she did not allow a contractor to perform preventative maintenance on voting equipment and did not conduct accuracy tests, among other issues.

Scott, a Republican, denied being negligent but said she had concerns about the equipment. She told The Detroit News that she had considered paper ballots and a hand count but settled on tabulators.

Adams Township is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Detroit.
Editor's note: This is an excerpt from the Midland Sun's 1926 Progress edition. It was written by Neil C. McKay, editor of the Midland Sun. The courthouse was opened on New Year's Day in 1926. Another installment on the courthouse is scheduled for Nov. 6, 2021.

"Realizing the great public need for a new county building, Dr. Herbert H. Dow, head of Midland's great chemical industry  who derives his greatest pleasure in beautifying his home city  exerted his energy and creative ability that Midland's courthouse should leave the beaten path and possess individuality.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. humanitarian chief had a dire message for leaders of the worlds 20 largest economies meeting this weekend: Worry about Afghanistan because its economy is collapsing and half the population risks not having enough food to eat as the snows have already started to fall.

Martin Griffiths said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press that the needs in Afghanistan are skyrocketing."

Half the Afghan children under age five are at risk of acute malnutrition and there is an outbreak of measles in every single province which is a red light and the canary in the mine for whats happening in society, he said.

Griffiths warned that food insecurity leads to malnutrition, then disease and death, and absent corrective action the world will be seeing deaths in Afghanistan.

He said the World Food Program is feeding 4 million people in Afghanistan now, but the U.N. predicts that because of the dire winter conditions and the economic collapse it is going to have to provide food to triple that number -- 12 million Afghans -- and thats massive.

WFP appealed this week for $200 million to finance its operations until the end of the year, and Griffiths urged countries that suspended development assistance for Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover on Aug. 15, including the United States and European countries, to transfer that money for desperately needed humanitarian aid. He noted that the European Union already shifted about 100 million euros to humanitarian work, and the U.S. announced more than $144 million in humanitarian aid on Thursday, raising its total aid to Afghans in the country and refugees in the region to nearly $474 million in 2021.

Griffiths said the current crisis is the result of two large droughts in the past few years, the disruption of services during the conflict between the Taliban and the Afghan government and the collapse of the economy.

So, the message that I would give to the leaders of the G 20 is worry about economic collapse in Afghanistan, because economic collapse in Afghanistan will, of course, have an exponential effect on the region, he said. And the specific issue that I would ask them to focus on first, is the issue of getting cash into the economy in Afghanistan -- not into the hands of the Taliban -- into the hands of the people whose access to their own bank accounts is not frozen.

Griffiths said its also critical that frontline health workers, teachers and others get their salaries paid.

He said many ideas are being discussed with increasing urgency to get liquidity into the market and his message is that an urgent response is needed this year, not next spring.

Among the ideas are physically taking cash into Afghanistan, which Griffiths said has lots of difficulties, and using the local Afghani currency. But the issue is how to get traders to safely provide Afghanis for use by humanitarian organizations, he said, and they will probably only do that if they think that they can get external currency for those Afghanis.

The G20 summit on Saturday and Sunday is taking place in Rome.

Griffiths warned of exponential effects of an economic collapse, saying the first worry is that if people dont get services, food, schooling for their children and health care they will move, either inside the country or flee Afghanistan to survive.

The second worry, he said, is the growing problem of terrorism, and that is something which usually breeds in times of uncertainty and in times of suffering.

And that would be a terrible legacy to visit all the people of Afghanistan, Griffiths said. So far, I think were just holding our breath about the stability of the country and talking daily to the Taliban about what they need to do, for example, to make sure that women and girls have their rights.

The undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs said the Taliban need to ensure the rights of women and girls because thats part of stabilizing Afghanistan.
A. A sales tax would have meant visitors contributed to repaving.

B. We already are taxed too much.

C. Money for repaving should be put into the county's annual operational budget.

C. The road resurfacing program is behind schedule so the county needs to act ASAP.

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Oklahoma City, OK (73106)

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Avis "Darlene" Searan, age 75, formerly of California, passed away at Restwell Home Plus in Oskaloosa, KS, on Tuesday, November 16, 2021. She was born the daughter of Leo Abraham and Avis Amelia (Gabbert) Searan in Claremore, OK, on June 25, 1946. Darlene loved watching baseball, especially,
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines)  Restrictions and quarantine protocols remain for travelers coming from certain countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but these vary by risk levels.

They are added to either the red, yellow, or green list. As per the Inter Agency Task Forces Nov. 19 announcement, minors  regardless of their vaccination status and country of origin  will follow the testing and quarantine protocols of the parent or guardian traveling with them.

Here are the IATFs classifications for various countries from Nov. 16 to 30:

Red

Travelers from or have been to red-listed countries 14 days before arrival are not allowed to enter the Philippines regardless of vaccination status. However, Filipinos may be exempted if they arrive via government-initiated repatriation, non-government-initiated repatriation, and Bayanihan Flights.

These individuals are required to undergo 14-day quarantine - ten days at a facility and four days at home. They will take an RT-PCR test on the seventh day but they must complete the quarantine period. During the ten-day isolation, they'll be under the Bureau of Quarantine's strict symptom-monitoring.

Travelers merely transited a red-listed country without leaving the airport or having been cleared for entry by immigration authorities will not be considered as a traveler from that country. But these individuals will still be required to follow the protocols prescribed under their vaccination status.

Faroe Islands and The Netherlands are the only countries on the red list as per the IATFs latest issuance.

Green

Countries that are green-listed may have their fully vaccinated travelers, foreign nationals included, enter the Philippines without the need to undergo facility-based quarantine.

However, they have to present a negative RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to departure from the country of origin. They are also enjoined to monitor any symptoms in the next 14 days.

For fully vaccinated overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and non-OFWs, they have the option to take the RT-PCR test upon arrival, but they have to be quarantined in a facility until their results come out negative.

They can forego the quarantine if they already have a negative test result 72 hours before departure from the country of origin. No on-arrival RT-PCR test is required either, according to IATF spokesperson Karlo Nograles.

For the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travelers, they have to be quarantined. They shall take a swab test on the fifth day of isolation and will be released once they get a negative result. Foreign nationals have to arrange hotel reservations for six days.

These travelers can also do self-monitoring until the 14th day from their arrival date.

The countries under the Philippines' green list are:

- American Samoa

- Bhutan

- Chad

- Mainland China

- Comoros

- Cote dIvoire (Ivory Coast)

- Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

- Federated States of Micronesia

- Guinea

- Guinea-Bissau

- Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China)

- India

- Indonesia

- Japan

- Kosovo

- Kuwait

- Kyrgyzstan

- Malawi

- Mali

- Marshall Islands

- Montserrat

- Morocco

- Namibia

- Niger

- Northern Mariana Islands

- Oman

- Pakistan

- Palau

- Paraguay

- Rwanda

- Saint Barthelemy

- Saint Pierre and Miquelon

- Saudi Arabia

- Senegal

- Sierra Leone

- Sint Eustatius

- South Africa

- Sudan

- Taiwan

- Togo

- Uganda

- United Arab Emirates

- Zambia

- Zimbabwe

Yellow

Fully vaccinated travelers from yellow-listed countries must present a negative RT-PCR test result done within 72 hours prior to departure from their country of origin.

They will then undergo facility-based quarantine until the release of a negative RT-PCR test done on the third day. After getting discharged, these individuals are likewise enjoined to self-monitor up to the 14th day of their arrival.

Fully inoculated travelers without a negative pre-departure test will still be subject to facility-based quarantine with a RT-PCR test on the fifth day. Should they test negative, they will be released from facility quarantine and required to quarantine at home until the tenth day of their arrival.

For the unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or individuals whose vaccination status cannot be independently verified by Philippine authorities as valid and authentic, they shall go through facility-based quarantine and take an RT-PCR on the seventh day. They will be released when they get a negative result but are required to continue home isolation until their 14th day. Foreign nationals shall be required to secure their pre-booked accommodation of at least eight days.

The government said all other countries, jurisdictions and territories that were not mentioned in the previous lists, shall be under the yellow list.

The lists are effective from Nov. 1 to 15, while the new interim protocols will take effect starting Nov. 22.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 30)  Focusing on a comprehensive health agenda will lay the groundwork for the country's economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic, presidential aspirant Senator Ping Lacson said as he presented his economic platforms to the business community.

During the virtual forum organized by the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines on Saturday, Lacson highlighted the need for "future-proof" economic strategies to support the path towards recovery.

"Our approach should be proactive, not reactive. We should rely on science driven by accurate data and not on pandemic politics," he said.

Lacson, who ran but lost in the 2004 presidential race, said the functions and resources of the country's health system must be handed over to local government units for faster delivery of health services to the people.

Lacson added that contact tracing, testing, and treatment strategies must be institutionalized in light of the country's experience in dealing with the coronavirus crisis.

"These should be institutionalized at no cost to the people," he said.

The senator also pushed for the restructuring of government cash aid initiative Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, paid internships to college students and graduates, digitalization of government processes, and cross-referencing of tax collection.

"Our economic ills are largely hinge on political corruption. What we endure is the bankruptcy of our bureaucracy," Lacson said.

In supporting the agriculture sector, Lacson said the country must remove its import-dependent mentality to help local farmers and businesses thrive even in times of crisis.

Other pressing issues: rising oil prices and the West PH Sea

The standard bearer of Partido Reporma was also asked about his position on some other pressing issues.

Lacson reiterated his stance that the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Law has a provision that gives the Department of Finance the power to implement stop-gap measures amid rising fuel costs.

"It is not correct to say na wala silang magagawa (they cannot do anything) except through legislation," he said.

RELATED: DOF urged to reconsider stand on fuel excise tax suspension

Lacson also expressed support for the country's joint exploration with other nations in the West Philippine Sea, as long as it follows the 60-40 economic constitutional provision which recognizes the Philippines' sovereign rights in the hotly contested area.

He suggested utilizing the Philippines' existing bilateral agreements with superpowers like the United States, Australia, and Japan to promote a "balance of power," while developing the oil and gas resources in the West Philippine Sea.

"Around 10-12% of the maritime trade, dumadaan sa area na yan (passes through that area). We should seize the opportunity that other countries are also interested in securing the area," said Lacson, who bared the European Union's intention to have joint exploration efforts in the South China Sea.

Lacson is running with Senate President Tito Sotto as his vice president and 14 senatorial aspirants.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 30)  The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Saturday asked oil companies to provide bigger discounts to the public transportation sector following several weeks of fuel price hikes.

"We learned that the fuel discount varies from P1-P3 per liter. Ang hiling natin, through the DOE (Department of Energy), na manatili itong discount na ito at kung pwede ngang maitaas up to P5 per liter...at specific for public transport," LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra said in a government briefing.

[Translation: Our request is for them to retain the discount and if possible, raise it up to P5 per liter...This call is specifically for the public transport [sector].]

Delgra said they coordinated with the DOE to inform the oil firms of their appeal. CNN Philippines also sought comments from oil companies but has yet to receive a reply.

Fuel prices rose for the ninth straight week this week.

The government will distribute P1 billion in subsidy to qualified public utility jeepney drivers as well as gradually increase the passenger capacity in public transport starting Nov. 4 to mitigate the impact of higher fuel costs. Delgra said they have yet to set a specific date of distribution, but noted they have already prepared for the downloading of fuel subsidy funds.
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Janet May True, 82, from Covington, IN, a former Danville resident went to be with the Lord at 9:45 P. M. Thursday November 18, 2021 at the home of her daughter in Champaign. She was born December 17, 1938 at Los Angles, CA the daughter of Jack and Vera Mary (Branch) Guyer. She was a homemak
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She appealed to the Taliban to listen to the people and to talk to the people like her. The problem was less about what the Taliban represented, and more about the continuing chaos of an absent government. Questions such as holding back on recognition of the Taliban as the only means of leverage seemed secondary to the immediate need -- humanitarian assistance.Khattak said, in the 1990s young Talibs burst onto the Afghanistan war-scape of fighting warlords, claiming no interest in power. The Taliban which has taken power are different. They have been systematically brainwashed in the 36,000 religious seminaries of Pakistan, to displace their Afghan identity with an exclusive extreme Islamist identity as evident in the displacement of the Afghan national flag. Pakistan generals are deeply invested in this military-ideological project of creating strategic depth; it is next only to their prestigious nuclear programme.Mabouba Jan emphasized, Afghanistan of today is different. The last two decades, despite corrupt and crony governments, have seen the growth of modernized urban centres, spread of university graduates and professional women and men. Resentment over the closure of schools, colleges and universities, ban on girls accessing educational institutions, severe clampdown on the media and restrictions on movement have brought people, particularly women, out on the streets in protest..Afghanistan has become the centre of the New Great Game. We feel like a cow, surrounded by butchers with sharp knives, waiting to cut out a piece of body, she stated, appealing to neighbouring powers to not fight their battles in Afghanistan.While China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan are openly talking to the Taliban, the western powers are resorting to subterfuges to legitimise the Taliban by pretending to take at face value the Taliban assurances of keeping its territory free of terrorist menace. They ignore the Talibans record of deception and reneging on its promises, blocking out the hard reality of continuing human rights abuses.So what can civil society activists, especially across the states of Pakistan and India, do? Moderator Hina Jilani saw this as a moment for reasserting peoples perspectives for reasserting peoples participation. She proposed several concrete interventions.Appealing for humanitarian assistance, she said, Indian and Pakistani civil society should work together to send food, medicines and other survival needs, via the land border. Safe passage arrangements via Pakistan have been negotiated during this period of tumult. While there are significant logistical challenges, the civil society groups in Afghanistan can negotiate humanitarian corridor reaching agreements with local authorities for transfer of food and assistance where it is most needed.Presently, the Government of Pakistan has good relations with those in power in Afghanistan. Civil society groups of Pakistan need to engage in dialogue with their government to pressurize the Taliban to allow the transportation of relief materials through the land borders and also allow Afghan civil society and volunteers to take over the supplies and distribute it inside the country.Assistance should be given to some 1,600 stranded Afghans medical cases in India, children, women and men who had come to India for life saving treatment. Unable to return as the airport is closed, their savings have run out they are in need of immediate material help and assistance to get the Indian government to recognize their plight and provide interim support.The Government of India is yet to decide what to do with Afghan citizens stranded in India. These people are also unable to travel via Pakistan as Pakistan High Commission is not issuing visa to Afghan citizens in India. Recently, with the assistance of the Afghan Embassy, about a hundred stranded Afghans were able to return to Kabul via Tehran on an Iranian airline. Indian civil society groups, who plan to help stranded Afghan citizens to return home, can contact Afghan Embassy in this regard, she insisted.Meanwhile, speakers insisted, human rights and civil rights groups in South Asian countries need to get together to create a coordinated action plan for protecting Afghan human rights defenders, womens rights activists and other activists working for restoration of democracy in Afghanistan.There is a need to establish safe channels of communication with Afghan activists to gather information of the situation inside Afghanistan and publicise it globally, including by involving UN agencies.Also funds would need to be raised for Afghan activists in order to create channels for transmission to the persons in need. This is especially essential as banks are not functioning and as transfer of money through banks will come into notice of the Taliban. Hence, it may have to be done through private/informal channels.At the same time, there is a need to create safe houses for Afghan activist at risk in border areas of Pakistan, even as setting up a network for helping and providing safe passage to Afghan activists who are under threat.---
We may be living in the early stages of a cyberpunk dystopia (and not even a fun one), but at least the tech giants arent building creepy mysterious barges anymore. This is what Google tried to do in the early 2010s. Oh, and Google Glass was involved, so that always makes a story better.

Two barges were constructed on the East and West Coast, with one eventually finding its way to Portland, Maine, and the other to San Francisco. In terms of size, the barges looked like they were part of some plan to make giant weird tech arks. Each barge had 63 shipping containers, stacked four containers high.

There were questions regarding the barges as they were being built, but the public truly started to dig in the final months of 2013. It was known that Google was involved, but the exact purpose of the barges was unknown. Even stranger, they used a dummy company called By and Large LLC to file some of their documents.

So, apart from being eyesores, what was the point of the barges? It turned out that they were not part of Googles plans for world domination. Instead, they were meant to be traveling showrooms where Google could woo visitors with the latest technology. The latest technology referred to here mostly means Google Glass, the failed attempt at smart glasses. Yes, there is an alternate timeline where someone could try out Google Glass on a floating showroom. The barges would include three floors of showroom space and a top floor designed for parties.
Steve Chapman - Why do we encourage people to live in flood zones?
Crossville, TN (38555)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds for later in the day. High 54F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies during the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Low near 40F. Winds light and variable.
Addressing 250 Connecticut union members at their annual conference this week, held amid state and national fights for better wages and benefits, Gov. Ned Lamont positioned himself as a close ally of labor.

I just want you to know that youve got a friend in the governors office, Lamont said Thursday, the first day of the Connecticut AFL-CIOs two-day convention, which was held virtually.

A lot of you come over every once in a while, which I really appreciate, and you tell me what you think, which I appreciate as well, the governor said. Were going to be arm-and-arm going forward for the next year and beyond.

But Lamont is facing increasing pressure from the federations members to do more to help working people who risked their health and safety during pandemic, often in low wage jobs and enduring long hours due to staffing shortages.

Union officials said the pandemic has challenged their relationship with the governor, who earned their endorsement when he ran in 2018 in a crowded Democratic field.

At times it has been quite challenged, said Rob Baril, president of SEIU 1199, which represents long-term care workers in the state.

The union, which recently rejoined the AFL-CIO after many years and is one of its most liberal factions, has often been critical of Lamont, staging protests outside his home and the state Capitol to raise attention to their fight for increased pay and benefits for workers, many of whom are Black and Latinx.

In his remarks at the convention, Lamont acknowledged that his administration and 1199 have not always agreed but pointed to deals reached with the unions members in group and nursing homes to boost wages and health care and retirement benefits

Jody Barr, executive director of AFSCME Council 4, the union representing more than 30,000 public service workers throughout Connecticut, said in an interview Friday that workers are upset over Lamonts failure to give them hazard pay and to address short staffing.

Its strained a little bit, Barr said of the unions relationship with Lamont.

A former businessman from Greenwich, Lamont has struggled at times to understand the plight of working people, labor representatives said.

Lets face it, that has not been his experience, said Sal Luciano, longtime, outgoing president of AFL-CIO. Thats not what he lives day to day.

Baril put it this way: Theres the working class part of the Democratic Party and the corporate part of Democratic party and that presents a challenge at times.

The unions have pushed Lamont to raise taxes on the wealthy to help boost services for low and middle-income people  calls the governor has resisted.

There was a famous bank robber who was asked why he robbed banks and his answer was because thats where the money is, said Luciano. The pain wasnt shared equally.

The governor has promoted the use of pandemic-relief funds as a way to help working families, and has pushed back against more liberal members of his party whove argued that the spending has to go beyond the federal money to address lack of services for low and middle income residents. The unions, too, are skeptical that the federal funding will be enough.

We have a state budget that is balanced by one-time federal pandemic money so that in two years when the pandemic funds are expended, we will see vast cuts in infrastructure spending, cuts in municipal state aid and huge cuts in services, Luciano told union members Thursday. All these problems are what this convention intends to address and intends to fix.

Lamont has appealed to certain groups with AFL-CIO such the Connecticut State Building Trades Council, which gave him a standing ovation at a meeting last month and whose president Keith Brothers promised youll always have our support. The council, like Lamont, is banking on the passage of a massive federal infrastructure package thats before Congress to boost construction jobs in the state.

As he spoke to union members Thursday, Lamont said the federal infrastructure bill would mean good paying union jobs right here for Connecticut workers. He also touted the human infrastructure proposals the Biden administration is hoping to pass including the expansion of child care and universal pre-K, which he said would help working families.

Asked at an event Friday at Middlesex Community College to comment on his relationship with labor, Lamont did not show any signs of strife between him and the unions, saying I think we have a strong collaborative relationship.

He pointed to high compliance with his vaccine mandate for state workers as the most recent example of that, and said hed continue to work very closely with labor to provide resources for workforce development programs to train workers in the trades and elsewhere.

julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com
Luther Turmelle / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRANFORD  A Canadian company that makes molded plastic containers for the food industry is coming to town next year, opening its second U.S. facility on Beaver Road, according to the commercial realtor who brokered the deal.

Hi-Quality Packaging Inc., which is based in Scarborough, Ontario, signed a seven-year lease for 26,500 feet in what is now the home of a trucking company at 14 Beaver Road, said Frank Hird with OR&L Commercial in Branford. The lease is in excess of $1 million, according to Hird.
WESTPORT  With a downtown office building garnering a sale price well in excess of its appraised value, the Darien developer that owned it has listed its two other Westport offices for sale.

Both offices at 355 Riverside Ave. and 285 Riverside overlook a scenic run of the Saugatuck River between downtown Westport and Interstate 95. At more than 50,000 square feet of space, the brick building at 285 Riverside Ave. is the third largest in southwestern Connecticut listed for sale on the Loopnet commercial real estate website, after a Milford office campus and a Stamford office building.

Owned and managed by Baywater Properties, the Westport buildings are divvied up for multiple commercial tenants. The smaller building at 355 Riverside Ave. was once used as a back-office operation by Bridgewater Associates, the worlds largest hedge fund whose headquarters is a few miles north.

Baywater has yet to disclose the prices it is seeking for the Westport buildings in online listings through the commercial real estate brokerage CBRE.

A Baywater office at 450 Post Road E. recently sold for $15 million, 60 percent more than its most recent appraised value by the town of Westport in 2020. The building is leased to Wells Fargo Advisors, next door to a Wells Fargo bank branch and a Trader Joes market.

Baywater is gearing up for the Corbin District redevelopment of downtown Darien, which will replace nearly a dozen buildings with a new village center spanning retail, apartments and boutique offices.

Demand for office space remains a guessing game for many, as companies keep remote working arrangements in place that have proven effective for many since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of the third quarter, more than 12 million square feet of office space was available for lease in Fairfield County, according to the Stamford office of Cushman & Wakefield, a 32 percent vacancy rate. That compared to a vacancy rate of below 27 percent two years earlier.

But buyers continue to bet on either a comeback in office leasing or the possibility of converting properties to other uses. In August, the former Conde Nast building on East Putnam Avenue in Greenwich sold for $63.5 million, equating to $340 a square foot.

On paper, Westport office rental rates are down only 1.3 percent from their average of two years ago as calculated by Cushman & Wakefield, but commercial property owners have been offering perks like a few months of free rent at the start of a lease.

That has created opportunities for tenants that may have been priced out of the market before 2020 to give Westport another look, according to David Waldman, principal of David Adam Realty. The town had a large influx of new residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a revival.

It has enabled other people to come in and occupy space, Waldman said. The town is just alive.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
ROME (AP)  President Joe Biden received Communion at St. Patricks Church during Saturday Vigil Mass, a day after saying Pope Francis told him he should continue to partake in the sacrament, despite the opposition of some conservatives in the U.S. upset with his position on abortion.

Biden and his wife, Jill, visited the English-speaking church that is the main place of worship for the American Catholic community in Rome and is located near the U.S. Embassy. The president stopped in between events at the Group of 20 world leaders' summit taking place in the city this weekend.

While Biden regularly receives Communion in his home dioceses in Washington and Delaware, it was significant that he also received Communion in Rome. The pope technically is the bishop of Rome, and while he delegates day-to-day administration to his vicar, St. Patricks parish is technically in the pope's archdiocese. As such, Biden received Communion in the popes archdiocese.

About 30 people attended the Mass, and security guards ringed the aisles. The Bidens sat in the last row that had been roped off as Reserved and entered quietly, just after Mass had begun.

The Rev. Joe Ciccone, the vice rector of St. Patrick's and a member of the Paulist order, was the main celebrant and was joined by the parish rector, the Rev. Steven Petroff, and a third priest. The Associated Press attended the service.

Ciccone's homily was a meditation on love that he said he had composed days ago, before he knew the Bidens would be attending. He said it was an honor to have them in the parish, and that Biden's position on abortion and whether to administer Communion was not an issue for him or the parish.

Communion is what brings us together in the Lord. None of us are pure and perfect. We struggle through life. Were all saints and sinners, Ciccone told The Associated Press after the service.

And when youre a public figure you have to make certain decisions, especially in a democracy, on behalf of more than just your own personal feelings, he added.

No special announcement was made at the start of Mass about the Bidens' presence though, at the end, Petroff noted that they were in the church. He welcomed them, thanked them for coming and offered prayers for the important work" they do. A round of applause broke out in the pews.

Both Bidens wore facemasks throughout the service and embraced during the sign of peace. The president tucked American money into the collection basket when an usher came to his pew.

The final hymn, to which the priests and then the Bidens exited, was Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me."

The presidents support for abortion rights has put him at odds with many U.S. bishops, some of whom have suggested he should be denied Communion. American bishops are due to hold their annual fall conference in mid-November, and will find themselves debating a possible rebuke of a U.S. president.

Several conservative U.S. bishops expressed dismay about the pope's reported words to Biden. Bishop Joseph Strickland, of Tyler, Texas, retweeted a blistering blog post by conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke that strongly reaffirmed that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights cannot receive the sacrament.

Let us pray for the repentance of all who support the murder of the unborn," Strickland wrote.

Petroff, the parish rector who actually gave Biden the Eucharist, said he had never denied the sacrament to anyone.

First of all, I dont know what is going on inside anyones mind when they come to receive the Eucharist," he told AP. And secondly, I am not the Eucharist police. The Eucharist, as Pope Francis and many popes have said, is medicine for those who need it."

Biden told reporters on Friday that abortion did not come up in his 75-minute meeting with Francis at the Vatican. We just talked about the fact he was happy that I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving Communion, Biden said.

The Vatican spokesman declined to comment on Bidens remarks about Communion, noting that the Vatican doesnt comment on the popes private conversations beyond what is written in the official communique, which made no mention of the issue.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement after the Vatican meeting that didnt address Bidens remark about Communion. Instead, the statement suggested that the president would not be singled out in any document emerging from the bishops meeting next month.

The document is intended to speak to the beauty of meeting Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and is addressed to all Catholics, the statement said.

Francis has stressed that he will not reject political leaders who support abortion rights, though Catholic policy allows individual bishops to choose whether to prevent people from taking Communion. When asked recently whether he would refuse the sacrament to Biden, Francis did not give a yes" or no" answer but said bishops should be pastors, not politicians.

___

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Trisha Thomas contributed to this report.
Rogelio V. Solis / Associated Press

An 43-year-old man in prison died on Friday after a nearly monthlong battle with COVID-19, the state Department of Corrections announced Saturday.

According to a statement from DOC, the inmate had been receiving medical care at a local hospital since Oct. 4. The man had underlying health issues, and had refused intubation within the last week.
Vanessa Brooks was gentle as she held the face of her 112-year-old father in her hands.

She patted the shaving cream carefully on his cheeks and along his jaw before sliding the razor across his face to make a clean strip.

Lawrence Brooks sat quietly in his big armchair in their double shotgun house, a New Orleans Saints blanket draped over the back. The oldest living U.S. veterans arms were clasped together in his lap and his eyes were closed. Around him were banners from the National World War II Museum and the Veterans Affairs hospital celebrating past birthdays. A portrait of him in his Army uniform, three-quarters of a century old, sat on the dresser.

I want him to be comfortable, happy and himself, Vanessa, 61, had said the day before, lying on the couch for a break in between feeding him and giving him therapy for his swelling legs. If I can keep him in his right state of mind until God calls him home, thats my intent.

For the past 13 years, she has been her fathers primary caregiver, providing round-the-clock attention. Its a full-time job, one shes tried to balance with her work as a neighborhood security patrol officer  the job that pays the bills. But as her father has aged, that balancing act has become trickier.

The centenarian Brooks is still mentally sharp  he can tell decades-old stories of his childhood in Louisiana and rural Mississippi, of being drafted to join WWII. But his body is weak. Brooks hearing is becoming more limited, he has lost his sight in one eye, and his vision is fading in the other. Several hospitalizations in the past year have been taxing physically and emotionally.

Each day, Vanessa starts early, bringing him medications, cleaning him and his space, loading his wheelchair onto the electric lift when he has doctors appointments.

Taking care of him, its sun up to sundown, she said.

Brooks recently qualified for a program that will allow a VA home-health care aide come to their house during the day to help Vanessa. But she said there are a lot of personal care needs that he only feels comfortable with her attending to, keeping most of the responsibility on her.

In late September, Vanessa took indefinite leave from her job of nine years. Too young to begin collecting Social Security, she knows the loss of income will take a toll. But she considers caring for her father the most important job in the world.

I dont work; I dont get paid  bottom line, she said. Basically, I just made that sacrifice. I just stepped out on faith and decided to do what I felt in my heart that I need to do, and thats stay here and take care of my dad.

A concerned friend set up a GoFundMe page to help support Vanessa and her dad while she cares for him at home.

The Brooks family isn't alone in trying to juggle priorities. One in five full-time workers in the U.S. is a caregiver, according to a Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers survey released last month. About 45% of family caregivers who are employed full time said they had to go part time at some point and roughly two in 10 said they had to quit their jobs altogether.

Its a very common story, and the people who are affected the most are those people who are in low wage, hourly wage jobs, said Howard Gleckman, a retirement policy expert with the Urban Institute think tank.

A year ago, Vanessa shifted to part time. She had been working patrol shifts from 3 to 11 p.m. and contracted with an agency for an aide to care for the elder Brooks while she worked. But with a shortage of health care workers during the pandemic, the help was inconsistent.

She found herself increasingly exhausted and having to take more and more time off work to meet her dads needs.

When Im driving, I cant really go out tired and exhausted, either, because I can injure myself or someone else, she said. I felt like I was in a tug of war.

Even with an aide from the VA coming to help care for her father, she doesnt think she can go back to work anytime soon.

A VA stipend program covers caregivers only for veterans who are suffering from service-related injuries.

Lawrence Brooks, who was in the mostly-Black 91st Engineer General Service Regiment, never had a combat job, a legacy of racist policies that relegated many Black soldiers to service-oriented jobs in the then-segregated U.S. Army. Brooks was a caretaker for three white officers in Australia and was discharged in August 1945 as a private first class. When he left the service, he worked as a forklift driver before retiring in his 60s.

In May of this year, he had surgery, which required Vanessa to take time off to stay with him in the hospital. Then, two and a half months ago, her father had a fall. A doctor said he was suffering from a kidney infection.

She spent the past week caring for him after he was transferred to the VA hospital intensive care unit. The doctors said fluid had built up in his lungs, and his kidneys were again at risk.

When shes tried to go back to work recently, her father became depressed and started regressing. He did not want to eat or drink water, she said. He is in his best health when she is able to stay home with him.

Thats what makes him happy, and thats what keeps him living, she said. Its like, I am his lifeline. When Im not around, hes sad, hes depressed, he falls into delirium.

She said she and her father enjoy going out for chocolate frozen yogurt, watching television  especially sports, like wrestling and football  and playing solitaire.

He loves sitting on their porch directly in the sun. People from the neighborhood, who all know him by name, will wave and leave little treats for him.

I just want him to have a good life, Vanessa said. He worked hard. He took care of our family. Now, I take care of him."

___

Leah Willingham 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.
BRIDGEPORT  The citys coronavirus cases are dropping, but the sluggish vaccination rate means that, unlike some other area cities and towns, the local indoor mask mandate requiring everyone to wear a face covering will remain for the foreseeable future.

The mandate is staying as is at the moment, Rowena White, Mayor Joe Ganims communications director, said, adding Health Director Ebony Jackson-Shaheed is eyeing the infection rate but also looking for an increase in vaccinations.

According to fresh data the state released Thursday, as of Oct. 23 Connecticuts largest municipality had 9.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000, down from 10.1 diagnoses as of Oct. 16.

And that meant a noteworthy change in Bridgeports status on the color-coded online map the state has used throughout the pandemic. The city had been at red alert status earlier in the summer with 15 or more cases per 100,000, sunk into orange for a few weeks  10 to 14 cases per 100,000  and has now just barely slipped into the yellow of five to nine diagnoses per 100,000.

But at the same time the effort to inoculate residents is going slowly. As of Oct. 20, 60.99 percent of the 144,399 people living in Bridgeport had received at least one dose of the three available vaccines, two of which require two shots. According to the state, on Wednesday that figure stood at 61.4 percent.

You want to err on the side of caution, White said about keeping the indoor mask rule Ganim revived Aug. 10 in place.

When we stall on these rates COVID continues to circulate and can, unfortunately, mutate, Dr. Steven Valassis, chair of emergency medicine at St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport, told Hearst Connecticut Media Thursday.

In Connecticut indoor masks were required for much of the pandemic. Gov. Ned Lamont lifted that regulation for the vaccinated in the spring. But then the highly infectious delta variant gained a foothold here, and Lamont allowed local elected officials and individual businesses to decide whether to bring masks for all back.

Recently other municipalities  Fairfield, which borders Bridgeport, Danbury and, this week, Stamford  rescinded mask mandates. All three are, like Bridgeport, yellow on the states coronavirus case map. But each has a greater number of residents vaccinated  71.93 percent in Fairfield, 72.77 percent in Danbury and 78.87 percent in Stamford.

The Ganim administration has also faced a challenge getting municipal employees to comply with an order to get inoculated or submit to weekly COVID testing. While the initial deadline for compliance was Sept. 27, a month later around 600 staffers  or 40 percent  had either not been vaccinated or not submitted proof of it.

Dan Onofrio, president of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, said Thursday there was not an outcry from his members for the mayor to do away with indoor masking.

Are people getting a little impatient? Maybe. But I dont think weve seen an influx of complaints, Onofrio said. He added that it has at least been helpful for businesses to have a rule from City Hall to enforce rather than be left to their own devices.

During that short period of time when they left it up to business owners, it was hard to enforce it, Onofrio said, referring to mid-summer when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control urged everyone go back to donning face coverings when inside, but there was no clear guidance in Connecticut. At least they can point to the city government and say, This is the requirement.

Up Interstate 95 in New Haven, where Mayor Justin Elicker in early August was quick to embrace the power to again require masks inside, the state Thursday reported that coronavirus cases stand at 11.7 per 100,000 as of Oct. 23 and the vaccination rate was 63.49 percent.

Elickers health director, Maritza Bond, who previously held that job in Bridgeport, said that besides a sustained drop in infections, we want to make sure we are at 80 percent of New Havens total population thats fully vaccinated before letting people go mask-less.

Bond acknowledged the challenge of explaining to some local businesses who learn about other municipalities reversing their mask requirements why it would be too soon in New Haven.

I go grab my coffee this morning and (am asked), When are you lifting the mask mandate? We just saw such-and-such city do it. And weve been getting calls from a number of businesses, she said Thursday. My concern is we prematurely lift the mandate, then have a slight increase in cases and I have to tell everyone, Put your mask back on. ... Were still in the middle of a pandemic and want to take the proper precautions when we know were entering a season where theres gonna be an increase of indoor activities.

That was Whites point in Bridgeport as well about not moving too quickly to let people take off their face coverings, even if the cases are currently lower. She said were Ganim to cancel his order, then reinstate it again should cases rise, Then youre too late.

Valassis said in the meantime Bridgeports leaders just have to keep up the education and outreach effort to convince those who are hesitant that the vaccines are safe and highly effective. He noted it can be frustrating to see other Connecticut municipalities hovering near 80 percent vaccination rates and were a good 20 percent lower than that.

I want people who live and work in Bridgeport to have the same benefits as these towns, to be safer, he said Thursday. Until the (vaccination) rates get to a more comparable level, I think were stuck. ... Maybe this (maintaining the indoor mask mandate) is one of the things that will motivate people to do the right thing.
Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media

HAMDEN  A couple and their toddler were driving down Morse Street in an SUV on Thursday night when a bullet was shot at the passenger side, according to Hamden Police.

Police said no injuries were reported and no one was struck by the bullet.
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP)  A timeline of key events before and after Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people during a night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year:

Aug. 23, 2020  An officer responding to a reported domestic disturbance shoots Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back as Blake was leaning into his vehicle. Bystander video captures the shooting, which left Blake partly paralyzed. Neighbors march to the Kenosha County Public Safety Building, where they face officers in riot gear.

Aug. 24  Police fire tear gas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at the courthouse. Crowds destroy dozens of buildings and set more than 30 fires. Gov. Tony Evers calls in the National Guard. The man who shot cellphone video of Blake's shooting says he saw Blake scuffling with officers and officers shouting Drop the knife!, but that said he didnt see a knife in Blakes hands.

Aug. 25  Blakes lawyer says Blake is paralyzed from the waist down. Blakes family calls for calm. Calls go out on social media, including on a page run by the Kenosha Guard, for people to take up arms and help defend the city from thugs. Demonstrations are held for a third night, with gunshots heard and people seen carrying long guns and other weapons. Shortly before midnight, two people  Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26  are shot dead and a third, Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, is wounded.

Aug. 26  Authorities say they are seeking a possible vigilante seen on cellphone video opening fire with a rifle. Police in Illinois announce the arrest of 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, which is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from Kenosha.

Aug. 27  Rittenhouse is charged with multiple counts, including homicide and attempted homicide.

Aug. 31  At a news conference the day before he visited Kenosha, President Donald Trump is asked if he condemned Rittenhouses actions. He says: You saw the same tape as I saw. And he was trying to get away from them, I guess; it looks like. And he fell, and then they very violently attacked him. And it was something that were looking at right now and its under investigation. But I guess he was in very big trouble. He would have been  I  he probably would have been killed.

Sept. 1  Trump visits Kenosha and blames domestic terror for the violence. He makes no mention of Blakes shooting by police and calls the violent protests anti-American.

Sept. 3  Joe Biden, the Democrat running against Trump, visits Kenosha. He meets with Blakes family members, speaks with Blake by phone and leads a community discussion.

Sept. 24  In a TV appearance and social media posts, Rittenhouses attorneys say his client acted in self-defense but was also a courageous defender of liberty and a patriot who exercised his right to bear arms amid rioting. They claim Rittenhouse is being sacrificed by politicians who want to strip citizens of the right to defend their communities.

Sept. 25  At a hearing in Illinois, Rittenhouse's attorneys ask for more time to fight his extradition to Wisconsin. They later say in documents that sending Rittenhouse to Wisconsin would turn him over to the mob.

Oct. 30  Rittenhouse is extradited.

Nov. 2  A Wisconsin court sets Rittenhouses bail at $2 million. Conservative groups have been raising funds for Rittenhouse, who easily amasses enough for bail.

Nov. 20  Rittenhouse posts bail and is released. Hours later, one of his attorneys tweets a picture of Rittenhouse with actor Ricky Schroder, who the attorney says donated to Rittenhouse.

Jan. 5, 2021  A Wisconsin prosecutor declines to charge Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey, who is white, in Blakes shooting, ruling that Blake had a knife and the officer had a reasonable self-defense claim. Subdued protests follow.

Feb. 3  Prosecutors ask for a new arrest warrant after Rittenhouse failed to tell the court of an address change. Rittenhouses attorney says death threats drove his client into an undisclosed Safe House. Judge Bruce Schroeder later denies the request.

Nov. 1  Jury selection begins in Rittenhouses trial.

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Find APs full coverage of the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse at: https://apnews.com/hub/kyle-rittenhouse
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)  Long lines of vehicles park up and down Highway 89A through Oak Creek Canyon near Sedona in north-central Arizona as hundreds flock to enjoy the water.

Its a common site throughout the summer, and increasingly in the off-season as well, but its one that conservationists and state officials say has created some real ecological problems for the Oak Creek corridor.

A group of Arizona Conservation Corps members recently completed the second phase of a project that officials hope will rehabilitate many areas along the corridor that have been hit hard by visitors, improve water quality in the creek and protect habitat for the threatened narrow-headed garter snake, the Arizona Daily Sun reported.

A collaboration of the AZCC and numerous organizations and groups, including the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the National Forest Foundation and the Coconino National Forests Red Rock District, the project seeks to close hundreds of unofficial social trails that crisscross the area between the highway and the creek.

Sporting their hard hats and tan AZCC uniforms, half a dozen young people unloaded large rocks from the bed of a pickup truck.

As employees of nearby Slide Rock State Park waved traffic by, the crew stacked the rocks under the state parks fence in places where visitors previously scrambled through to descend to the creek.

Over the last year, AZCC crews have addressed nearly 200 social trails along the creek corridor, said Ron Tiller, a Department of Environmental Quality scientist who has been working on Oak Creek for about three years.

Tiller said in April of 2020, he and Jake Fleischman with Natural Channel Design -- which has also been brought on to assist with the effort -- cataloged and mapped close to 340 social trails within Oak Creek Canyon.

We pretty much walked the whole thing, Fleischman said.

The trails largely cut directly from the road to the creek, often down steep escarpments causing significant erosion issues, and through patches of poison ivy, as visitors seek the fastest route to the water after parking along the road.

In one area, Tiller said, they cataloged 47 individual trails that visitors had cut to the creek within just a quarter-mile stretch.

The trails and foot traffic increase erosion of sediment into the creek, and often contribute to outbreaks of E. coli in the creek as human waste left by visitors is swept into the water.

Last year, the Arizona Department of Transportation also sought to limit where visitors could park along89A, installing new guardrails in several areas. The agency cataloged close to 600 parking pull-offs along the road, meaning that for about every two parking spots, visitors had cut a new trail to the creek.

In response, AZCC teams have installed low fencing and placed thick blankets of cut juniper limbs along the edge of pull offs, not only covering the unofficial trails from view but make the areas more difficult to navigate, and give new vegetation time to grow in.

At the same time, the crews are also improving other trails with the intention of leaving those open so there are still some ways to get to the creek. So far, close to 40 of the 200 trails they have worked on will remain open.

On those trails, Fleischman said, crews largely stabilize the trails to reduce erosion and make them safer.

All that doesnt guarantee that use of the unofficial trails wont continue in the area, said Sasha Stortz, Arizona program manager for the National Forest Foundation. But it does give visitors a chance to recreate responsibly, she said.

People mostly want to do the right thing, so we can help people do that, Stortz said. Protecting this place that people adore.

Additionally, Stortz said if they are successful they believe the work will prevent about 30 tons of sediment, or about three dump truck loads, from being eroded into the creek each year.

Teller said he also believes the work will impact the likelihood of E. coli outbreaks in the creek, allowing people to recreate safely without getting sick.

On top of that, by concentrating the use in fewer areas, they hope to reduce the overall impact to the ecosystem and improve habitat for the narrow-headed garter snake.

Emma Carlson, assistant crew lead for the AZCC team that has been working on the project, said they have seen several of the snakes Carlson added that it has been a good feeling to know the work their doing is actively part of protecting the species habitat.

Nonetheless, the project has not been without its challenges. Working within Oak Creek Canyon has proven to be logistically difficult and traffic is never not a concern.

On top of that, with the second phase of the project coming to an end, they are now looking at ways to fund the third phase of the project.

So far, funding has been coming from a variety of places including the state, the National Forest Foundation and REI Co-op.

Teller said depending on the funding they get, they hope to have crews back to work in spring or fall of 2022.
ISTANBUL (AP)  More than 8,500 foreign fighters have been deported from Turkey since the start of the Syrian civil war 10 years ago, the Turkish Interior Ministry said Saturday.

Terror suspects from 102 countries were expelled, including 44 from the U.S. and 1,075 from EU states, according to a ministry statement. In the first 10 months of this year, 61 suspects from eight EU countries were deported.

The ministry said a total of 8,585 fighters were deported as a result of Turkeys efforts to secure its security within and beyond the border since 2011. The deportees had left their home countries to join groups such as the Islamic State group and the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, as well as its affiliate in Syria.

Turkey has carried out three military campaigns in north Syria since 2016 and maintains a military presence in the northwest province of Idlib as well as other areas inside the Syrian border. It is currently conducting operations against the PKK in northern Iraq.

The Islamic State group carried out a number of major terror attacks on Turkish soil in 2015 and 2016 after Ankara joined the international coalition to fight the militants. The bomb and gun attacks left hundreds dead.

The conflict with the PKK has caused tens of thousands of deaths since the group launched its armed campaign in southeast Turkey in 1984. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and most Western states.

The PKKs Syrian wing was instrumental in supporting U.S.-led efforts to drive Islamic State fighters from northwest Syria. Washingtons ties to the Kurdish fighters, who it maintains are distinct from the PKK, has added to tensions with Ankara, which views them as terrorists.
Vaccines save 2.5 million lives every year, and protect millions more from disability and illness, according to the World Health Organization. Since the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine, controversy over vaccine mandates and vaccine hesitancy in the United States has been highly visible in the media.

Vaccine hesitancy  refusing or delaying recommended vaccines  is identified by the WHO as one of the top 10 global health threats. Vaccine hesitancy is common in developed countries like the U.S., where vaccine-preventable illnesses are no longer commonplace, but remain a risk to society. Its a paradox that threatens public health and will continue to bring back once-eradicated diseases. Measles, once eradicated here, has made a resurgence, most famously traced to Disney Land in California in 2014 and an even larger outbreak in 2018 in New York.

For 100 years, vaccine mandates in schools have resulted in decreased childhood mortality and eradication of disease. States like Connecticut have been working to combat hesitancy by strengthening childhood vaccine mandates. While no major religion opposes vaccination, some individuals avoid mandates through religious exemptions. Connecticut passed a bill recently that eliminated the religious exemption opt-out.

While vaccine hesitancy and misinformation are new terms, they are not a 21st century problem and have been around since the advent of vaccination itself. When Edward Jenner discovered the smallpox vaccine in the 1790s, many people refused it, citing widely disseminated misinformation that the vaccine may cause a person to grow cow horns. As obscure as this belief seems, it is not unlike reasons for refusal today. Parents frequently refuse vaccines due to misinformation from sources they trust, believing warnings that the risk of recommended vaccination outweighs the benefits. Some examples include that the influenza vaccine causes you to catch the flu, human papillomavirus vaccine has a risk of contracting cervical cancer and the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine will put a child at risk for developing autism, all of which are false. Just like you cant get horns from the smallpox vaccine, you cant get the flu from the flu vaccine, cervical cancer from HPV vaccine, or autism from MMR vaccine.

Vaccine hesitancy is also complicated by misinformation disguised as science, most notably Andrew Wakefields article in the Lancet attempting to prove that the MMR vaccine caused autism, sparking the modern anti-vax movement. Wakefields work was later retracted for ethics violations and lack of reliability and validity, and his medical license revoked in 2010.

Allowing parents to decide if their children receive recommended vaccinations historically does not yield vaccination uptake levels needed to maintain herd immunity; hence vaccine mandates are a necessary tool to persuade the public to comply. Parental lack of confidence in vaccines, plus vaccine misinformation, leads to complacency. Past vaccine programs have been successful over the years, so many modern parents dont see these diseases as the threat they are.

We need approaches that are clearly stated, informative and are backed up by high-quality scientific evidence. Federal, state and local governments and medical professionals have a responsibility to keep their communities safe from vaccine preventable illnesses. We can do this with (1) school mandates outlining clear reasons for exemption; (2) media coverage of why vaccine-preventable illnesses are a threat, highlighting safety of vaccines; (3) warnings about misinformation in search engines and social media, when individuals search for medical information; and (4) grassroots efforts that spread truth about vaccines by qualified community health leaders, especially in places of worship.

The elimination of Connecticuts religious exemption and school mandates play an essential role ensuring our communities remain safe from vaccine-preventable illnesses like measles, diphtheria and polio, but vaccine hesitancy is a threat to herd immunity that cannot be ignored.

School nurses, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, physician assistants, pediatricians and obstetricians are all excellent and underutilized first-line resources when seeking information about vaccines. As medical professionals, we get our information not just from one doctor, but from many experts. We rely on high-quality scientific evidence that is critically appraised and see that a study is replicated over and over before we consider it as truth.

We have access to databases other than Google, Facebook and Twitter to do our research. Our voices are underutilized in community settings, by elected officials, religious leaders and media outlets. Ask us about vaccines and ask us for help navigating vaccine hesitancy and medical misinformation in your community.

Carolyn R. Levy, of Woodbridge, is a pediatric nurse practitioner and doctoral candidate at UConn.
Forty-four credit union professionals earned designations signifying their expertise by successfully completing CUNA Marketing & Business Development Certification School, endorsed by CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council, which took place virtually in October.

Our recent graduates designations as either Credit Union Certified Marketing Executive (CUCME) or Credit Union Business Development Professional (CUBDP) indicate they have achieved significant professional growth in their chosen discipline, said Ariel Bilskey, director of blended learning at Credit Union National Association. They have shown their commitment to growth and have become go-to professionals in their credit unions.

Credit Union Certified Marketing Executive (CUCME) is achieved by attending all three years of CUNA Marketing & Business Certification Schools and passing a comprehensive exam at the end of each term. These 19 graduates earned their CUCME designation:
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who began his six-term career in Congress from Manteno, may be on his way out of the Capitol, but he is far from finished delivering his message.
Kankakee, IL (60901)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 49F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Low 34F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Tens of thousands of Sudanese have taken to the streets across the country, in the largest pro-democracy protest yet since the military seized control earlier this week
Reva Mae Love, age 75, of Dalton, Georgia passed away on Thursday, November 18, 2021. She was born on September 10, 1946. She is preceded in death by parents, Herbert and Lela "Grant" Lawson; brother, Charles Lawson. She is survived by her husband, Bubba (Harold) Love of Dalton; son, Brian F
Heav'n has no rage, like love to hatred turnd, Nor hell a fury, like a woman scornd, wrote the playwright William Congreve almost four centuries ago.

But those words proved themselves as relevant as ever when last week the actress Alice Evans  wife of Ioan Gruffudd  took to Twitter like a Greek Fury, howling with rage at the discovery of her spouses new girlfriend, Bianca Wallace.

So it turns out that my husband, after two years of telling me Im a bad person and Im not exciting and he no longer wants to have sex with me and he just wants to be on set abroad has been in a relationship for three years behind all our backs, she wrote, adding: Good luck, Bianca.

The raw emotion of her outburst, combined with the fact that she chose to make her distress so public, has divided opinion.

Her timeline was full of people calling her a bitter psycho and suggesting she should take herself off to a nice spa to calm down.

Alice Evans (pictured with husband) Ioan Gruffudd took to Twitter like a Greek Fury, howling with rage at the discovery of her spouses new girlfriend, Bianca Wallace

Many clearly felt she was making an unnecessary fuss and embarrassing herself. But if you ask me there was  is  something rather magnificent about this woman and her rage, about her utter refusal to take her betrayal lying down.

To yield to her inevitable fate, to acquiesce to her husbands desire for a younger, slimmer, saner model, pliant and alert to his needs (Thank you for making me smile again, he captioned a picture of them both on an Instagram post).

Evans is, of course, clearly menopausal. Or if not that, then peri-menopausal. She is, after all, 50. Theres no escaping it.

She may not realise it, she may not be taking HRT (although I would strongly recommend that she does) but if youve been through it, as I have, you recognise the signs.

And theyre not just physical  a thickening around the middle, a general puffiness, a sense of intense discomfort in your own skin. Theyre also psychological.

Ms Evans wished Ms Wallace (pictured) 'good luck' as she also said: 'So it turns out that my husband, after two years of telling me Im a bad person and Im not exciting and he no longer wants to have sex with me and he just wants to be on set abroad has been in a relationship for three years behind all our backs'

You can tell from her own account of the whole saga in which she details the rollercoaster emotions of the past year.

I was once again crying, bawling on the bed, feeling I was worthless, that I was nothing, that he was definitely going to leave me soon because he could not stand any more, she writes.

Thats the menopause in a nutshell, that mixture of self-loathing and self-pity, that utter sense of defeat, the feeling of everything you ever were or might ever be slipping away.

Its terrifying. And not just for the person experiencing it. Some men cant cope at all. They find the emotional and physical challenges of a menopausal partner too much.

For some, in this case Gruffudd, its easier to seek out a newer, less complicated model of womanhood, someone who doesnt burst into tears inexplicably, or fly into rages, or forget where she parked her car. Someone who still looks hot in a bikini.

As he said himself, in her account: Sometimes I cant stand you. Youre so annoying. The menopause is a test of any marriage.

Apart from childbirth, the menopause is the only other really big test of a husband. And Gruffudd has failed quite spectacularly.

Which is why, in the long run, she is better off without him. No one can force someone to love them.

She deserves a man who genuinely cares  and when all this is over I have no doubt she will find him. In the meantime, though, her pain is universal.

It is the pain of a woman who is not only dealing with the loss of her youth and her fertility, coming to terms with the fact that  in purely biological terms  there is no turning back; but also with the loss of her marriage, the person she had built her life around  and the future she thought they would have together.

Angela Rayner has apologised for calling Tories a bunch of scum: homophobic, racist, misogynistic, vile

Academics are considering renaming an early species of hominid because the existing name is too closely associated with colonialism. Fossils of Homo rhodesiensis were discovered in Rhodesia, which was, of course, named after Cecil Rhodes. First time (to my knowledge) that an entire species has fallen foul of the woke police. Next stop? Rhododendrons, of course.

My uncle, whos 87, was given the combined Covid booster and flu jab a few weeks ago. Within hours hed developed a violent reaction, and he remains in intensive care. I asked a doctor friend about this, and he said he had heard of similar cases  yet the advice is still to administer both jabs wherever possible.

But is it really wise to subject the immune system of someone that old to such a double whammy?

My uncle was perfectly well before the double jab; now hes seriously ill in hospital where, quite apart from everything else, his chances of getting out without catching Covid are virtually nil.

UNI activists promote only bullying and bile

Trans activists at Sussex University whose vicious campaign of bullying finally forced philosophy professor Kathleen Stock to leave her job celebrated by posting Ding dong, the witch is dead online. Professor Stocks crime was to question the wisdom of allowing male-bodied people access to women-only spaces in vulnerable environments such as prisons.

The fact that she cannot express such a view without fearing for her life, while those who have hounded her out of a job are free to post such sexist bile tells you everything about the toxic environment women face today.

We fought too hard for our rights to have them taken away by a bunch of misogynists who not only want to deprive us of our rights but also appropriate our identities.

Rishi Sunak's height,5ft 6in, has often been remarked on as some have said it's an obstacle to becoming PM

It was Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls who famously said: Halloween is the one night a year where girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.

She wasnt wrong. If the number of sexy zombies and ghouls in various stages of undress Ive seen these past few days is anything to go by, the afterlife is definitely more Spearmint Rhino than Dantes Inferno.

Perhaps if Nicola Sturgeon spent more time doing her job and less time posing for Vogue (she cuts a dash in tasteful shades of fawn in the December issue), Glasgow wouldnt be overrun with rats and rubbish on the eve of COP26.

Only someone as delusional as Sturgeon could blame a woman whos been dead for almost a decade, namely Margaret Thatcher, for something she is wholly responsible for, namely the parlous state of the Scottish economy.

Lindsay Lohan (left), Amanda Seyfried (centre) and Lacey Chabert (right) in the movie Mean Girls (2004)

I want to believe Angela Rayners apology for calling Tories a bunch of scum: homophobic, racist, misogynistic, vile. In truth, she was forced by Sir David Amesss murder and a nasty taste of her own medicine. Im sorry she had to go through it, but it will take more than a few words to persuade me shes turned over a new leaf.

People keep saying Rishi Sunaks Macron-esque stature (he is a bijou 5ft 6in) is an obstacle to becoming PM. Nonsense.

Far more of an obstacle is his choice of footwear. Sliders, Rishi? Really? And with socks?
Even the Evil Empire of the Soviet Union eventually admitted that it had wrongly smeared and ruined those it had once accused of terrible crimes.

The victims of screaming one-sided show trials, later murdered or starved to death, and in one terrible case, hanged, cremated and their ashes used to grit the freezing roads, all of them were in the end exonerated.

So why does Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, struggle so to admit he made a terrible mistake about the late Bishop George Bell of Chichester, one of the greatest Englishmen of the 20th Century? He did not, as many do, mix him up with his near-namesake, the revolting molester Peter Ball. Nor should you (I have had some very rude letters accusing me of defending Ball. I would not dream of doing any such thing).

But, to put it at its mildest, Mr Welby was involved in what has since been shown to be a shocking kangaroo trial, in which the long-dead Bell, a courageous opponent of the Nazis and ally of the German resistance to Hitler, was presumed guilty of a terrible charge of child abuse.

PETER HITCHENS: Why does Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, struggle so to admit he made a terrible mistake about the late Bishop George Bell of Chichester, one of the greatest Englishmen of the 20th Century?

My own view has long been that the complainant was abused, but by somebody else. Her evidence against Bell, when it was finally made public, did not stand up to serious examination by a leading QC, Lord Carlile.

But would Mr Welby back down? Not a bit of it.

First he took seriously a collection of new allegations against George Bell, so ludicrous and feeble that even Dame Cressida Dick and her Olympically gullible Met Police Celebrity Squad would not have believed them. And when these duly collapsed, he continued to insist that a 'significant cloud' hung over the reputation of George Bell. Apparently, in his world, if you are accused of a crime you will always remain suspect.

But Mr Welby, so censorious about others, now has troubles of his own. When he was a senior church official in Liverpool, he banned a worshipper from the Cathedral there, for being 'abusive and threatening'.

PETER HITCHENS: Mr Welby was involved in what has since been shown to be a shocking kangaroo trial, in which the long-dead Bell, a courageous opponent of the Nazis and ally of the German resistance to Hitler, was presumed guilty of a terrible charge of child abuse

But the worshipper had his reasons. He was rightly trying to get Mr Welby to act against a priest who, he said, had abused him. In this case (unlike George Bell's) there was good reason to take the claim seriously.

The priest involved, John Roberts, already had a criminal conviction for indecent assault. Later Roberts was jailed for offences against three people  one of them the man Mr Welby had sternly banned from the Cathedral. This fascinating story about England's premier clergyman has received amazingly little media coverage outside our sister paper, the Daily Mail.

Actually, I can see Mr Welby's problem here. He made a bad judgment, as many have done in such cases. But lawyers for the victims of Roberts point out that Mr Welby's failure to act could have delayed police action for many years. So he really is not in a position to set himself up as the Righteous Judge of George Bell.

That is why I wrote to the Church of England and asked if, under the circumstances, Mr Welby would withdraw the words 'significant cloud' and act to rehabilitate George Bell.

For Bishop Bell's name, like that of a Soviet show-trial victim, has been stripped from a building named after him, from a school named after him and from a house in another school, which was also named after him. A planned statue of him, which should long ago have been completed and unveiled on the front of Canterbury Cathedral, is in some sort of limbo.

I got nothing back except flannel. So here we are. As long as he will not withdraw the claim that there is a 'significant cloud' over George Bell, then I say that Justin Welby is a hypocrite, and a significant cloud hangs over him. Even the Kremlin had more of a conscience.

Little Amal masks a big problem

Last week I finally saw the peculiar giant puppet Little Amal, which has been paraded across Europe, supposedly to draw attention to the plight of refugees from Syria. The glowering thing came to Oxford, my home town, where it was paired with a rather po-faced mega-doll of Alice in Wonderland, our local heroine.

Alice had an eye for human folly and spent a lot of time being the wrong size. But what she would have made of this political carnival, I do not know. It is very odd. It strikes me that most Syrian refugees are not little girls but strapping young men. I wonder how a huge puppet of such a person would be greeted.

PETER HITCHENS: Last week I finally saw the peculiar giant puppet Little Amal, which has been paraded across Europe, supposedly to draw attention to the plight of refugees from Syria

It strikes me also that Little Amal, actually 11ft 5in, does not look at all like a small girl but like a rather snappish and cross Left-wing TV presenter, perhaps on BBC's Newsnight. And finally it strikes me that if Left-wing persons in this country had not been so keen to stoke up a civil war in Syria, and to intervene in Libya too, there might not be so many refugees, whether they were little girls or grown men.

How many who turn out to show obeisance to the Little Amal puppet even know of the vast billion-dollar CIA programme called Timber Sycamore by which the nice West fanned the flames of war in Syria, and in some cases even ended up helping groups linked to Al Qaeda? What good did this do? The Syrian regime was and is terrible, but do you make that better by turning people into corpses and refugees, and by backing fanatics?

I have nothing but praise for those who personally welcome such refugees into their own homes. But I am less keen on those who think other people should shoulder the burden. If Little Amal was a real little girl, she might wonder if she was being used.

I love a war with the French as much as any red-blooded Englishman, but I am worried that the Foreign Secretary, amazingly a former (?) anti-monarchist and Lib Dem called Liz Truss, might be too keen on this fishy confrontation.

I will not be surprised if her official photographer snaps her on the bridge of a Royal Navy gunboat, twirling a Nelsonian telescope while attired in a striking new nautical-style outfit from her remarkable wardrobe. Nothing, it seems, can stop her.

Sainsbury's falls to the zealots

The infiltration of every part of the country by zealots and activists is now nearing completion. You may have been worried about the takeover of the BBC, the universities or your child's nursery by various sorts of fanatics. And rightly so. Banks, bus companies and stately homes also ceaselessly emit the PC message.

The latest great institutions to fall are the supermarkets. They have begun to lecture us to eat more beans and lentils, and less meat, so as to save the planet. And last week I walked into a Sainsbury's under a display of little flags that proclaimed that the shop was 'Celebrating Black History Month'.

I seldom drive, but modern petrol pumps seem to me to be getting quite bossy, and I wonder how long it will be before they start lecturing customers about their carbon footprints, and Black Lives Matter.

It's always one opinion. It's always expressed in such a way as to let you know that, if you disagree the tiniest bit, you'd better be quiet about it.

And while it's funny in a way, in another way it is not funny at all.
A blind influencer has won legions of fans with tounge-in-cheek videos poking fun at how society expects her to act due to her visual impairment.

Lucy Edwards, 25, who lives in London, has racked up over 108,000 followers on Instagram from sharing parody videos comparing her daily life as a blind person to how society often expects those with the condition to live.

The broadcaster, content creator and disability activist has been posting content on Instagram since 2015, however it wasn't until 2021 that she shared her first parody video to educate people about how blind people navigate their daily lives.

In the clip, Lucy shows herself pouring water all over the kitchen counter from a jug, followed by a film of how she actuall does it using a liquid level indicator - a small device attached to the glass that vibrates or makes a sound when it's almost full.

She racked up over 259,000 likes on the video, and now regularly posts videos of how she goes about her daily life, recently winning a contract as a brand ambassador for Pantene, thanks to her popularity on social media.

Lucy told Femail that she's keen to bust misconceptions about blind people, saying: 'A few are: That I cant feed myself or my dog. That I cant get dressed independently. That I dont care about how I look, which is so wild, because just because Ive lost my eyesight doesnt mean Ive lost myself or my passions in life.'

Pantene has announced Lucy Edwards (pictured) as the new brand ambassador for their Silky & Glowing product range

In her new role for Pantene, she will be tasked with promoting the Silky & Glowing product range, as the brand continue to strive for greater accessibility in the hair and beauty industry to create a more inclusive space for all.

Social media users have been quick to congratulate Lucy about her new role, while praising Pantene for giving her the opportunity to work with them.

One person wrote: 'Congratulations Lucy for breaking the mould or should we say congratulations to @PanteneUK for stepping up and giving some of society's finest a chance to shine.'

Another said: 'Congratulations! I love your positive posts and I'm so happy to hear that Pantene found you and your insanely beautiful and vibrant locks'

A third added: 'Congratulations Lucy, you deserve this. You are such an inspirational lady'

Lucy told FEMAIL about the inspiration behind her account, saying: 'I was inspired to create content because I knew that I knew nothing about disability until I became a disabled woman myself. I thought I would bridge the gap so everyone knows about disability and accessible content.

Lucy (pictured), who boasts over 108,000 followers on Instagram, has gushed that hair has the power to impact her confidence

'By opening up about my blindness and being vulnerable it has allowed people to connect to my story as well as understand how to make their social media posts accessible.

'I get a lot of comments online and offline assuming that I cant do things so I thought I would take a light hearted approach and have some fun with my video responses. I dont get offended because I know people dont know lots about disability, but I believe that humour really does dispel myths and makes people think.'

Lucy explained that her eye sight was affected by Incontinentia pigmenti, a disorder that affects the skin, hair, teeth, nails, eyes, and central nervous system.

'At age four I had a diagnosis of IP because I had blistered bumps on the back of my legs. My mum and dad were really worried about me and I was referred to several skin doctors until we found a specialist GP that recognised the skin rash.

'I had no idea it would lead to an eye condition as a lot of people with IP dont go blind,' she said.

Lucy (pictured), who lost her eyesight in her right eye at age 11, said cataract forced her to have an operation on her remaining working eye at age 16

'I was going for a routine eye check at age eight with my mum and sister when the ophthalmologist said that I should be rushed to Birmingham eye hospital and we realised it was IP. I spent quite a lot of my childhood at eye hospitals because my condition is very aggressive. All the doctors never knew how my eye condition would develop because its so rare.

'I lost my eyesight in my right eye at age 11 and then the eye consultants monitored my remaining working eye really closely. We found out that I had a cataract at age 15 and to be honest, I left it for years because we knew if they operated on the front of the eye, my poorly retina at the back of my eye had a major risk of detaching. The cataract got more and more cloudy and by age 16 it forced my hand really because everything was so foggy and cloudy.

'It was either go blind from the cataract or risk an operation hoping that my retina would stay in place. So I did the latter. The six months that followed were a bit scary. I remember waking up from the cataract operation and being really that I could see my sisters spots and my mums wrinkles.

'We always joke about this to this day. Its a bit weird that only a few months later I was having more eye surgery to save my vision because my retina detached.'

Lucy (pictured) said she's proud of herself for managing to relearn daily routines and rehabilitate after losing her sight

Despite the condition running in her family, Lucy said her mother and grandmother never had any sight loss. Meanwhile her grandmother's sister has slight vision problems in one eye and is still able to drive.

Lucy said losing her sight made her grow up quicker than other people her age.

She said: 'I think the trauma and loss of having it happen so suddenly made me ultimately have a mental breakdown when I was younger. While all my friends were going off to uni and thriving I was just doing my best to survive.

'Im really proud of myself that I managed to rehabilitate and relearn daily routines in order for me to accept the blind version of myself. I used to believe that I was a burden and that I needed to be fixed but now I really do believe in the social model of disability - Im blind, not broken.

'Ive had to rehabilitate and relearn everything in my home. We live in a sighted world and every bottle and food product feels the same to me so I really have to rely on my other senses like smell.

Lucy (pictured) said she burst into tears when she scanned Pantene's soon to be released bottle as it's been eight years since she has been able to shop in store independently

'When I first got the chance to scan the soon to be released a Pantene bottle with the Navilens app I burst into tears because until that point I hadnt been able to independently shop in store on my own for eight years. I felt so free. I felt so sad over the years, having to rely on everyone around me to label everything with Braille for hours and this is still the case with almost every product other than Pantene.

It means the world to me that Pantene are taking universal design so seriously. I absolutely adore the way the Shampoo smells, its so distinctive and it really helped me orientate myself in the shower. Technology is a massive part of my daily routine and without it I would be way less independent. I love apps such as Be My Eyes and Microsoft Seeing- AI. I dont know what Id do without my family and my guide dog either.'

Lucy added that there are many misconceptions about blind people, saying: 'Just because I cant see, doesnt mean I dont want to look and feel beautiful. The beauty industry until this point has not been inclusive and Im so excited to be making a change to this alongside Pantene. I answer all of these misconceptions and more on my TikTok.'

Many Instagram users have been quick to congratulate Lucy's achievement and praise Pantene for choosing her

The announcement that Lucy will be partnering with Pantene comes the brand launches a social code of conduct, with the intention of creating a benchmark to ensure social content like beauty tutorials are accessible for all.

Pantene's goal is also to revolutionise its packaging in-store to incorporate NaviLens technology and bolster its existing ties with RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) over the coming months.

Lucy commented on the announcement, saying: 'I love beauty, I love looking good  but there is an assumption that because I can't see, I don't care. But of course, it is still important to me how I feel I look.

'The power of hair and the positive impact of a good hair day on my confidence, self-esteem and identity is just as important to me as it is for anyone else. I just experience it through touch  which is why I love Pantene Silky & Glowing, as it makes my hair feel silky soft.

'From experience, visually impaired people in the UK  including myself  feel overlooked and misunderstood by the hair and beauty industry.

'I can't wait to work closely with Pantene on leading the way in creating a more inclusive industry, and society  not only for the visually impaired, but for everyone.'

Sumaria Latif who is Company Accessibility Leader at Procter & Gamble, said the partnership with Lucy (pictured) is a step forward for the entire hair and beauty industry

Pantene recently conducted research that revealed many people feel there is a lack of accessibility within the hair and beauty industry.

The brand found that there were five key areas for improvement for social content creation, which has been used to inform and create Pantene's new social media code of conduct.

This includes introducing and describing themselves, using clear content descriptions and captions, audio describing important elements, using subtitles and simply being aware that content needs to be accessible for everyone to create the best content for all.

Sumaria Latif, Company Accessibility Leader at Procter & Gamble (P&G), added: 'I am not only P&G's Company Accessibility Leader  first and foremost I am a blind consumer. I know from personal experience just how important a role brands have to play in making me feel more confident.

'Our partnership with Lucy Edwards is an incredibly exciting, and important, step forward  not just for Pantene, but for the hair and beauty industry as a whole; demonstrating that the power of a good hair day extends far beyond what you can see.

'P&G is on a journey to create a more accessible and inclusive world  both within our organisation, and in wider society. We recognise that we may not have all the answers but are proud to be one step closer towards a more equal world.'
As Netflix's unsettling thriller You returns to our screens, social media has once again become flooded with women professing their attraction to the fictitional killer Joe Goldberg.

But Elaine Parker, CEO and Founder of Safer Date, has warned that this tendency to focus on the character's charming and attractive side is worrying, because if you do the same in a real-life relationship, it's easy to miss the warning signs of violent and controlling tendencies.

Elaine told FEMAIL: 'When it comes to dating  and particularly online dating  everyone needs to be aware that there are no legal standards for the dating industry, so you could literally be talking to anyone online - even serial domestic abusers and sex offenders.

'When it comes to You, we've seen a lot of women on social media say that they have a guilty crush on Joe despite his violent tendencies. These definitely aren't qualities you should be looking for in a partner.

'However, watching his character on TV, we can see how easy it is for Joe to hide these characteristics, and that's why it's so important to look out for red flags like 'love bombing' and possessiveness.'

After Netflix's unsettling thriller You returned to our screens last week, a safety expert has revealed how to spot relationship red-flags, including relentless 'love bombing'. Pictured, Penn Badgley as fictitious killer Joe Goldberg

She added: 'If you are dating and you see any red flags - trust your gut and get out of the relationship.

'Please look out for your friends too. If any of your friends are dating online and you feel something isn't right, ask if they're okay.

'It's not always easy to talk about what's going on behind closed doors, so if you see less and less of them and they are becoming withdrawn, reach out. It's difficult to start those conversations, but it could make a huge difference.

Elaine Parker, CEO and Founder of Safer Date, (pictured) revealed how to stay safe dating online

Here, Elaine reveals how to stay safe dating online by spotting the seemingly innocent signs that could be pointing to something more sinister.

They seem too good to be true

The world of dating can be hard and you might have a lot of anxieties. When you go out, do you pay half, offer to pay in full, or wait for them to pick up the bill?

Conversations like this can often be awkward. But it may be a red flag if you are dating someone who always pays for your date, showers you with compliments and gifts, and makes grand gestures as a way to show their affection and make you fall harder for them.

This is called 'love bombing'  the relentless way a partner bombards you with love at the start of a relationship in order to gain love and trust. Often, they are manipulating you to get what they want.

You may think that receiving this affection would be nice, but the truth is the good part of 'love bombing' only happens at the beginning of the relationship. Once they have won you over to get what they want, the love suddenly disappears.

They pressure you into rushing things

Love bombing is often coupled with gaslighting, but not how you might think. Using affection as a reason or excuse for bad behaviour, such as exclaiming "I love you" as the motive for suffocation or privacy invasions. If you feel like you might be getting 'love bombed', it's important to take a look at the whole situation and trusting your gut instinct.

By asking your partner to take things slower in a relationship, you will be able to see someone's true intentions. If they are genuine, they will understand and respect your decision.

A 'love bomber', however, may attempt to make you feel guilty and ashamed for 'halting' the relationship.

They check your phone

If you have ever caught a partner going through your phone, laptop, or social media messages, you almost instantly feel that break of trust.

What are they looking for? Why not just ask? Why don't you trust me? It can feel very invasive, like a theft of your privacy. If your partner can't trust you (and has no reason not to), then It's important to address the issue and have a conversation if this happens.

Your partner needs to understand and respect your privacy and work on building your trust back. If they can't do this, then you shouldn't be in a relationship with them.

Elaine warned that because the character is charming and attractive, it's easy to miss the hidden red flags which point to his violent and controlling tendencies - from rushing relationships to 'love bombing'

They want all your timeor none of it

When you're in a relationship, it's fun to spend time together and bond over your mutual interests. But if you find your partner criticising you when you spend time with your friends or family, they may be jealous that you're not spending all your time with them.

It can be more than just family and friends that a narcissist can be jealous of, even showing affection to your beloved pet can annoy them. As a result, they might try to isolate you from your other loved ones so they are the only relationship in your life.

Calling or FaceTiming you constantly, or demanding an immediate response to their last message can also be quite suffocating, leaving you with no time for yourself. On the contrary, someone not calling, getting in touch with you, or dodging any communication over a period of time can leave you confused over where you stand.

These actions are often those of a partner trying to control not just the relationship but also you. It's important to talk to your partner and reaffirm that even though you are together, you also lead your own separate life.

You could encourage your partner to start a new hobby or spend time with friends pursuing their own interests. An added bonus here is that gives you both something new to talk about.

Being in love doesn't mean you have to spend all your time together  it's important to keep a line of communication, but as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
A talented baker has revealed her recipe for success when launching a small business or side hustle from scratch.

Alisha Henderson, from Melbourne, started her brand Sweet Bakes in 2013 at the young age of 19 while studying a university degree in journalism.

The now 27-year-old told Daily Mail Australia she enjoyed baking cookies in her spare time but threw herself headfirst into starting the business after receiving an influx of orders from customers.

Ms Henderson shot to stardom largely thanks to a nationwide phenomenon 'Cake Mail' and cookie post cards designed to share personalised messages with loved ones in lockdown.

While there are multiple ways to start a business, Ms Henderson highlighted the importance of knowing your strengths, working with experts, separating your finances and being fearless.

Alisha Henderson, from Melbourne, started her brand Sweet Bakes in 2013 at the young age of 19 while studying a university degree in journalism

Ms Henderson shot to stardom largely thanks to a nationwide phenomenon 'Cake Mail' and cookie post cards designed to share personalised messages with loved ones in lockdown

'Baking was something I had done for fun throughout my childhood but would have never have considered as a career,' Ms Henderson said.

'The workload of a flourishing business that at the time, was solely focused on creating cakes for weddings and events, became too much to focus on while at uni. So, I decided I had to see this thing through and what could come of it.'

While the process of improving her skills and learning how to run a business was challenging at times, she has no regrets.

'Eight years later I am still here, the business has evolved in so many ways over that time, but it was the best decision I ever made,' she said.

Since launching Sweet Bakes and Cake Mail the brand has turned over six figures.

Since launching Sweet Bakes and Cake Mail the brand has turned over six figures

'Eight years later I am still here, the business has evolved in so many ways over that time, but it was the best decision I ever made,' she said

Be realistic but fearless

Starting a business is a huge decision often involving expenses and risk, but Ms Henderson encourages you to take a leap of faith even if the business venture fails.

'The beauty of being a 19-year-old launching an accidental business, is that my naivety served me well!' she said.

'I would rather fall on my face 100 times over in pursuit of my ambitions than play it safe and regret not having a go.'

Ms Henderson encourages small business owners to abandon irrational fears and 'never be afraid' to seek help from others.

'The biggest lessons I have learnt have been from my greatest mistakes!' she said.

'Embracing and accepting that there is always going to be discomfort was the biggest challenge to grapple with, but in doing so has helped me adapt and be much more flexible with all the bumps that come along in more recent times.'

Starting a business is a huge decision often involving expenses and risk, but Ms Henderson encourages you to take a leap of faith even if the business venture fails

Separate your finances

Ms Henderson said it's essential to separate your business finances to your personal finances when starting a business to limit any complications come tax time.

'This was a mistake I made early on as a sole trader and working through a backlog of incomes and expenses was a total nightmare,' she said.

'Sitting with a bank manager and tax professional from the get-go sounds so very obvious but something I somehow overlooked!'

Depending on the business idea, you may not need much money to get the brand up and running.

Ms Henderson said to start Sweet Bakes she simply had a registered business name, a basic website and an email address to begin with.

'Most business fail because they scale too quickly, it's important not to get caught up in the rush - Covid has been a great reminder of that!' she said.

Ms Henderson said to start Sweet Bakes she simply had a registered business name, a basic website and an email address to begin with

Depending on the business idea, you may not need much money to get the brand up and running

When running a business it's important to understand all aspects of the daily functions, but taking on all roles isn't wise

Know your strengths

When running a business it's important to understand all aspects of the daily functions, but taking on all roles isn't wise.

If possible, outsourcing people to do jobs that aren't to your strengths is recommended but may not be an option for start-up brands.

'My strengths lie in the creative aspects of Sweet Bakes, inventing new flavours and putting my energy into creating a fun, happy and uplifting social media space,' Ms Henderson said.

'Outsourcing roles, like the entirety of my accounting to experts, gives me so much more freedom to focus on what's important to me.

'I knew that as soon as financially I could afford to outsource tasks and things that didn't come quite as naturally to me, that I would.'

'My strengths lie in the creative aspects of Sweet Bakes, inventing new flavours and putting my energy into creating a fun, happy and uplifting social media space,' Ms Henderson said

Ms Henderson, who is also a H&R Block Small Business Ambassador, recommends investing in an accounting system and finding a tax preparation firm

Know your 'why'

Most importantly, knowing the reason why you want to start a business is crucial.

Business is often very demanding, and so falling back on why you started initially can help get through tough situations.

'The WHAT that you do is second to the WHY. You have to be passionate about the reason WHY you want to start that business & show up every day,' Ms Henderson said.

It's also important to consider whether you are passionate about the idea, how the idea will help customers and what you are good at, which will help the brand thrive.

Work with experts

Ms Henderson, who is also a H&R Block Small Business Ambassador, recommends investing in an accounting system and finding a tax preparation firm.

This will not only make it easier at the end of financial year but will help keep your finances on track.
In her final year of high school Brianna Creenaune was trapped in a blazing house fire and suffered third degree burns to 60 per cent of her body, but five years on she has reinvented herself as a body-positive model.

On January 3, 2016 smoke alarms woke the family in the early hours of 3:30am and instinctively Brianna, from Brisbane, ran to the front of the house trying to escape but the gate had melted shut.

'As I turned back something from the roof fell onto my head and lit the back of my shirt,' the early childhood worker, now 22, told Daily Mail Australia.

Hearing the screams, Brianna's mum rushed her to a kennel in the backyard and started pouring water all over her body until the ambulance arrived, who put Brianna into a medically induced coma.

Majority of the burns were due to the intensity of the heat rather than direct flame burns and Brianna had to endure more than 30 surgeries during her recovery.

While she was left with permanent scarring, the young survivor embraces her burn wounds to promote self-confidence and has worked with top fashion brands.

In 2016 at the start of her final year of high school Brianna Creenaune (pictured) was trapped in a blazing house fire and suffered third degree burns to 60 per cent of her body

While she was left with permanent scarring, the young survivor embraces her burn wounds to promote self-confidence and has worked with top fashion brands

Her thighs were used for the skin grafting

Brianna remained in the induced coma for two weeks and was in intensive care for one month.

She suffered from burns on her arms, hands, legs, feet, her back, partial burns to her face and on her buttocks.

'When I was in hospital doctors told my family that there was a very real chance that I could die,' she said.

The parts of her body that weren't impacted - her chest, thighs, biceps, scalp and stomach - were used for the skin grafting.

Luckily her only amputation was three of her toes.

'My entire life felt like it was starting over - we lost everything in the house to the fire and I had to learn basic skills again,' she said.

Despite the awful circumstances, Brianna had a speedy recovery and returned to school only six months later wearing compression garments every day for 12 months.

'The hardest part was not feeling like I had the chance to be a teenager in my last year of high school,' she said.

She suffered from burns on her arms, hands, legs, feet, her back, partial burns to her face and on her buttocks

The parts of her body that weren't impacted - her chest, thighs, biceps, scalp and stomach - were used for the skin grafting

Despite the awful circumstances, Brianna had a speedy recovery and returned to school only six months later wearing compression garments every day for 12 months

In May 2020 well after the wounds had healed, popular fashion brand Beginning Boutique held a competition in searching for brand ambassadors, and Brianna decided to enter.

In May 2020 well after the wounds had healed, popular fashion brand Beginning Boutique held a competition in searching for brand ambassadors, and Brianna decided to enter that sparked her modelling career

'My friends and I have always liked taking photos of each other and I saw the competition as a genuine opportunity to model professionally for a change,' she said.

After sharing her story she won the top prize and started sharing clothing hauls online that started to boost her following.

Today Brianna has a strong Instagram following of more than 14,000 people and shared images confidently embracing her figure.

She has since worked with a number of brands, including Moana Bikini by Karina Irby.

'After the fire I didn't want to pigeonhole myself as just a burn victim, but I also didn't want to hide it - it was a massive trauma that happened during important formative years,' she said.

'I didn't want to pretend like this wasn't a massive part of my life and how my personality has formed since then.

'I wouldn't have become the person I am today if it didn't happen.'

Today Brianna has a strong Instagram following of more than 14,000 people and shared images confidently embracing her figure

'After the fire I didn't want to pigeonhole myself as just a burn victim, but I also didn't want to hide it - it was a massive trauma that happened during important formative years,' she said

Since accepting her scars she feels completely comfortable in her body

Since accepting her scars she feels completely comfortable in her body.

'I think we all get swept up in having a positive body image but we're so much more than that,' she said.

'We put so much value into how we look and how other people perceive us that I think it's important to be proud of who you are as a person and what you can offer people through personality.'

'Who you are as a person is truly where your value comes from - and the body is just what you see on the surface.'

She encourages other young women to practice accepting your body and practicing body neutrality.
Atlanta news anchor Jovita Moore died late Thursday night at age 53, nearly seven months after she was diagnosed with an incurable and aggressive form of brain cancer.

The broadcast journalist's WSB-TV co-anchor Justin Farmer shared the heartbreaking news on Friday morning, saying she 'passed peacefully' with family by her side 'as she wanted.'

Moore, who had been with the news station for over two decades, is survived by her children Shelby and Joshua, her stepdaughter Lauren, and her mother Yvonne.

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Heartbreaking loss: Atlanta news anchor Jovita Moore died late Thursday night at age 53, nearly seven months after she was diagnosed with an incurable form of brain cancer

Loss: Moore's WSB-TV co-anchor Justin Farmer (far left) shared the devastating news on Friday morning, saying she 'passed peacefully' with her family by her side 'as she wanted'

She was experiencing symptoms of forgetfulness and disorientation when she went to the doctor in April and learned she had two masses on her brain.

'I was really concerned about why all of a sudden I was forgetful, disoriented, and just not feeling myself. Feeling like I was in a fog and really wanting to get out of that fog,' Moore said earlier this year.

She was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most common type of malignant brain tumor among adults. There is no cure, only treatment.

Moore underwent radiation and therapy to slow down the aggressive form of cancer, which can also affect the spinal cord.

The New York native graduated with a bachelor's degree from Bennington College in Vermont before earning her master's degree in broadcast journalism at Columbia University in New York.

Family: Moore is survived by her children Shelby and Joshua, her stepdaughter Lauren, and her mother Yvonne

Success: Moore, who had been with WSB-TV since 1998, was awarded a total of nine Emmys for her work as a broadcast journalist

Moore, who started her news career as an intern at the New York Times, worked at news stations in Tennessee and Arkansas before starting at WSB-TV in 1998.

Throughout her career, she covered a number of major events, including former President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009. She was awarded a total of nine Emmys for her work as a broadcast journalist.

A number of people took to social media on Friday to share their sadness over Moore's passing, including actor and director Tyler Perry, former Georgia representative Stacey Abrams, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

'Jovita Moore,' Perry tweeted. 'We know you fought with all you had! I will miss your beautiful smile and warm laughter, let alone seeing you in my living room everyday. You will be missed greatly my friend. Many heartfelt prayers to your family. May your soul travel well! Life is but a moment.'

'Today, we mourn the passing of @jovitamoore, who used her voice and platform to highlight important issues impacting Atlantans for more than 20 years,' Abrams wrote. 'May God bless her family, loved ones, and @wsbtv colleagues in their time of grief.'

Mourning: Actor Tyler Perry, former Georgia representative Stacey Abrams, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms were among those who paid tribute to Moore on Twitter Friday

Meanwhile, Bottoms shared that her family 'is deeply saddened by the loss of our friend,' saying: 'Even those who did not know her personally felt a deep and personal connection to Jovita.'

Farmer said the general manager at the station, Ray Carter, broke the news to staffers that morning.

'In his comments, he reminds us that scripture says that there's a time to be joyous, and a time to laugh, and a time to cry,' the anchor said. 'Today we will cry. And we will remember and honor our colleague and friend Jovita.'

After the station's on-air tribute to Moore, he added: 'There is no making sense of a tragic death such as this. It's pain. It's going to stay for a while.'

Farmer recalled visiting Moore in her living room a few weeks ago, saying she told him: 'Yep, Farmer, I got a bad hand. Sometimes that is just life.'

WSB-TV said people can honor Moore's memory with donations to Our House Atlanta or The National Brain Tumor Society  'two organizations that are very important to her.'
Princess Beatrice's ex Dave Clark looked in good spirits as he enjoyed a night out at private member's club Annabel's last night.

The US-born Uber executive, who dated Beatrice for 10 years until they split in 2016, beamed as he stepped out with his glamorous U.S. businesswoman wife Lynn Anderson.

Appearing in full costume, the couple - who have been married for three years - joined the likes of Idris Elba and Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark as the exlusive club in Mayfair hosted their annual Halloween bash, Circus of Horrors.

Princess Beatrice's ex Dave Clark looked in good spirits as he enjoyed a night out at private member's club Annabel's last night

The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, was said to be 'devastated' when her decade-long relationship to the US-born Uber executive in 2016, after reportedly issuing an ultimatum over marriage. Beatrice and Edo are seen in Greece this month

Getting into the spirit of The Greatest Showman-themed bash, the pair rocked matching costumes and put on a cheerful display.

The American couple moved back to the UK from New York after Lynn got a new job at news website Tortoise Media.

Meanwhile Dave, who reportedly shares many mutual friends with Princess Beatrice, works for a logistics company in the capital.

The US-born Uber executive, who dated Beatrice for 10 years until they split in 2016, beamed as he stepped out with his glamorous U.S. businesswoman wife Lynn Anderson

The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, was said to be 'devastated' when her decade-long relationship to the US-born Uber executive in 2016, after reportedly issuing an ultimatum over marriage.

Just two months later, he got together with glamorous New York advertising executive Lynn Anderson, and the couple announced their engagement in May 2017, going on to marry in a lavish ceremony in Italy the following year.

At the time of her split from Dave Clark, sources indicated it had come after down to an ultimatum over marriage.

Appearing in full costume, the couple - who have been married for three years - joined the likes of Idris Elba and Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark as the exlusive club in Mayfair hosted their annual Halloween bash, Circus of Horrors

A source close to Beatrice told The Mail on Sunday at the time: 'After ten years together, Beatrice and Dave had to wonder why they were not married.

'They talked it through and decided to take time apart to reflect on the future. They remain friends and the decision to break up was mutual.'

The shocking news was believed to have devastated members of the royal family including sister Princess Eugenie and parents Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew.

The Duchess of York, in particular, was said to have felt as though she had lost a son, who she had nicknamed 'Mr Smiley'.

Speaking at the time another source added: 'Sarah considers Dave to be part of the family. She is very sad it didn't work out. They have been together longer than many marriages last.'

Dave went on to marry Lynn Anderson in a lavish ceremony in Puglia, Italy, in front of an all-star guest list including the likes of model Sara Sampaio and Ashton Kutcher.

The pair, who had been dating for two years at the times, met in the US, where Dave is an executive for cab app Uber and she was a director of partnerships and portfolio products at NBC Universal in New York.

Princess Beatrice 's daughter Sienna was named 11th in line to the throne on the Royal family's website this week. Last month, Beatrice, 32, and husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi, 38,(seen in July) announced the birth of their firstborn baby daughter called Sienna Elizabeth

Princess Beatrice 's husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi announced the birth of their baby daughter last month (pictured, the image he shared on Instagram)

Princess Beatrice announced her engagement to property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in 2019, before the couple wed last year.

Edoardo was previously engaged for three-and-a-half years to the mother of his child, Chinese-American Dara Huang, a highly-successful architect with her own design company whom he split from in 2018, a year before proposing to Princess Beatrice.

Due to the pandemic, Beatrice and Edoardo secretly tied the knot on July 17 in a low-key ceremony in Windsor, with the Queen and Prince Philip in attendance and Wolfie acting as best man.

Last month, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's firstborn daughter Beatrice gave birth to baby girl Sienna weighing 6lbs 2oz at 11.42pm at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, in London.

Although her mother is a princess, Sienna, who is the Queen's 12th great-grandchild, will not have a royal title.

Princess Beatrice will be one of the few royal mothers to raise children in a blended family after welcoming her daughter.

Edo already has a five-year-old son Christopher Woolf, known as Wolfie, with ex-fiance Dara Huang. American architect Dara remains on good terms with her ex and his new wife and Beatrice is a hands on stepmother.
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Carrie Johnson wore a much-cherished necklace featuring her son Wilfreds fingerprint to the G20 summit yesterday.

The gold chain, which has an octagon charm carrying the engraving, was made by London-based jeweller Philippa Herbert and was a Christmas present from husband Boris last year.

Mrs Johnson, who is pregnant with her second child, wore the 210 charm as she joined other world leaders wives in Rome yesterday

She also wore a 59 blazer from Zara paired with a red rose patterned dress by Spanish designer De La Vali, hired for 53 from clothing rental company Hurr.

Mrs Johnson, 33, completed her look with a pair of red slingback kitten heels, which she bought a few years back, also from Zara.

She joined Brigitte Macron, Jill Biden and Italian PM Mario Draghis wife Maria Serenella Cappello for a visit to the Colosseum followed by the Sistine Chapel. On Friday night, she and Boris visited the Spanish Steps, when she wore a blue Gucci coat, hired for 84.

It is thought that Boris will use his 'secret weapon' Carrie, who has been championing sustainable fashion ahead of his bid to charm world leaders into taking action to stop climate change tomorrow.

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Sustainable fashion: Carrie Johnson put on a striking display as she arrived to visit Rome's ancient Colosseum in Italy today. This is the second time she has worn the blazer this month

She also wore a much-cherished necklace featuring her son Wilfreds fingerprint to the G20 summit yesterday. The gold chain, which has an octagon charm carrying the engraving, was made by London-based jeweller Philippa Herbert and was a Christmas present from husband Boris last year

Pictrured with French first lady Brigitte Macron, Carrie looked chic in a 59.99 recycled red Zara blazer and kitten heels and a coordinating dress hired from Ibiza label De La Vali

Carrie is seen with Brigitte Macron and the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Begona Sanchez, looked stunning in a plaid cropped blazer, matching flared pleated skirt and nude sock boots

In line with Covid regulations, Carrie was seen sporting a facemask as she arrived to the venue in Rome earlier in the day

Opting once again for a powerful red ensemble, Carrie waved as she arrived to the historical landmark, wearing a black facemask. Left: Earlier this month Carrie brought a splash of colour to the Manchester Central Convention Complex in the same 59.99 red blazer and a 27.99 white collared shirt with a bow, both from Zara

Carrie looked stylish in the red blazer emblazoned with gold buttons, matching it with a floral dress and low red slingback heels.

Wearing her hair in loose waves, she appeared in good spirits as she kept her masks on while making her way into the ancient amphitheatre.

Carrie, who shares son Wilfred, 1, was pictured in red alongside the spouses of leaders as British Johnson arrived to be welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to the G20 summit.

The colour red appears to be Carrie's preferred hue of the moment, with Britain's first lady wearing four scarlet ensembles in recent months.

Earlier this month, Carrie opted for a 360 red dress from sustainable British brand Cabbages & Roses as she supported husband Boris at his keynote speech at the Tory Party conference.

This is the second time Carrie has worn the red Zara blazer, after attending the Manchester Central Convention Complex in the blazer and a 27.99 white collared shirt with a bow, both from Zara.

And in June the then-newlywed cut an elegant figure in a scarlet 325 LK Bennett gown as she joined President Joe Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden for a meeting at Carbis Bay in Cornwall ahead of the G7 summitx, making a rare appearance with son Wilfred.

Carrie looked stylish in the red blazer emblazoned with gold buttons, matching it with a floral dress and low red slingback heels

Carrie Johnson showed off a British flag on her facmask as she wavedto bystanders at the summit

Carrie Johnson, the wife of the Prime Minister visits the Colosseum alongside partners of world leaders. Far left: The wife of Italian's Prime minister Mario Draghi, Maria Serenella Cappello

Far left: The wife of Italian's Prime minister Mario Draghi, Maria Serenella Cappello. Centre: Carrie Johnson. Far right: The wife of South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, Kim Jeong-suk, looked elegant in a nude blazer and statement pearl earrings

Ruffling their hair: Carrie and Begona Sanchez were seen laughing as they chatted at the event (left) before Carrie mingled with Maria Serenella Cappello (right)

Colour psychologist Lee Chambers recently told FEMAIL that Carrie donned the vibrant red garments to 'convey energy and a message that the future is bright' while 'building her personal brand'.

Lee said: 'When it comes to a Conservative conference, wearing red is a political statement in itself.

'As a colour, it conveys passion and energy, and can certainly be used to showcase feelings of power and assertiveness in being in the position of the wife of the Prime Minister.'

He continued: 'It also draws attention and catches the eye, and this will be important to her as she continues to build her own status and personal brand.

'It is a really strong colour, and with this comes portraying that you are part of the strength needed to navigate these challenging times, and as a timeless colour brings a real intensity to the message that the future can be bright.

As for the message she will be conferring, it is one of boldness and courage in the face of adversity. She will be feeling she can and is willing to draw attention and not feel that she has to pale into the shadows even during pregnancy.

'It is certainly a fiery message to her husband that she is right by his side and may even take some of the heat off Boris himself.'

Earlier this year the Prime Minister's wife confirmed they were expecing their second child, and also revealed that she suffered a miscarriage at the beginning of the year that she says left her 'heartbroken.'

In a brave Instagram post she told how she and husband Boris were expecting a rainbow baby - a term for a child born to a family that has previously lost another due to stillbirth or death during infancy - in December.

The first lady loves red: Earlier this month Carrie covered up her baby bump in a 360 red dress from a sustainable British brand as she supported husband Boris at his keynote speech at the Tory Party conference. Pictured, arriving at the venue

In June the then-newlywed cut an elegant figure in a scarlet 325 LK Bennett gown as she joined President Joe Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden for a meeting at Carbis Bay in Cornwall ahead of the G7 summitx, making a rare appearance with son Wilfred

COP26 begins on Sunday at Glasgow's Scottish Event Campus (SEC) and will welcome 30,000 delegates, 10,000 police and as many as 200,000 protesters for the 13-day conference.

It is the first face-to-face summit of the G20 since Covid struck, and has faced various complications.

Last week the Queen announced she would be unable to attend in person, taking advice from medical professionals to rest.

Additionally, flooding caused major delays for world leaders heading to the summit today - with one train firm urging passengers 'not to travel' across the border due to disruption after two road bridges were 'washed away' amid torrential rain.

Avanti West Coast - which runs services between London Euston and Glasgow, where the climate conference begins on Sunday - said Network Rail had imposed a series of speed restrictions for safety at several locations.

Carrie Johnson, the wife of the Prime Minister visits the Colosseum alongside partners of world leaders during the G20 spousal programme in Rome

Carrie showed off her fierce ensemble as she posed in front of the Colosseum

Carrie was pictured talking to wife of Italian's Prime minister Mario Draghi, Maria Serenella Cappello
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The first ladies of the world leaders attending the G20 summit in Rome today put on a stylish display as they arrived for a private visit to the Colosseum.

Boris' pregnant wife Carrie Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron's partner Brigitte stood out from the group of spouses as they attended a walkabout at the ancient Roman site.

In a nod to sustainability ahead of husband Boris Johnson's eco plea at COP26 tomorrow, pregnant Carrie Johnson recycled a red 59.99 Zara blazer worn earlier this month, which she coordinated with a matching floral dress hired from Ibiza label De La Vali and Zara kitten heels.

Meanwhile the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Begona Sanchez, looked stunning in a plaid cropped blazer, matching flared pleated skirt and nude sock boots.

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Fashionable first ladies: Boris' pregnant wife Carrie Johnson visits the Colosseum in Rome alongside the partners of other world leaders during the G20 summit

In a nod to sustainability ahead of husband Boris Johnson's eco plea at COP26 tomorrow, Mrs Johnson recycled a red 59.99 Zara blazer worn earlier this month, which she coordinated with a matching skirt hired from Ibiza label De La Vali and Zara kitten heels

French first lady Brigitte Macron proved her effortless Parisian style, donning a navy and black silk shirt, a pleated maxi skirt and power heels as she waved to onlookers

Ms Johnson, Dr Biden and Mrs Macron joined the partners of the other G20 world leaders to pose for a family photograph at the Giardiono all'Italiana in Rome

The wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Begona Sanchez, looked stunning in a plaid cropped blazer, matching flared pleated skirt and nude sock boots

Elsewhere French first lady Brigitte Macron proved her effortless Parisian style, donning a navy and black silk shirt, a pleated maxi skirt and power heels as she waved to onlookers.

Also making an appearance was the wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ermine Erdogan, who opted for a coordinated hijab, face mask and dress.

And keeping cool in the autumn sun, the wife of South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, Kim Jeong-suk, looked elegant in a nude blazer and statement pearl earrings.

The wife of Italian's Prime minister Mario Draghi, Maria Serenella Cappello, put on a similarly formal display in a matching mauve blazer and blouse, injecting a touch of glamour with a string pearl necklace.

A notable absence from the walkabout event was US First Lady Jill Biden who was kept busy attending engagements with her husband but later appeared a spouses luncheon where she posed in between Ms Macron and Ms Sanchez.

'Beautiful Roman luncheon with my fellow #G20 partners at Villa Doria Pamphilj. Thank you to my friend, Maria, for hosting us,' Biden wrote in a tweet with a group photo from the event.

Also making an appearance was the wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ermine Erdogan, who opted for a coordinated hijab, face mask and dress

And keeping cool in the autumn sun, the wife of South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, Kim Jeong-suk, looked elegant in a nude blazer and statement pearl earrings

The wife of Italian's Prime minister Mario Draghi, Maria Serenella Cappello, put on a similarly formal display in a matching mauve blazer and blouse, injecting a touch of glamour with a string pearl necklace

The wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron arrives for a private visit to the Colosseum monument in Rome on October 30

Carrie looked stylish in the red blazer emblazoned with gold buttons, matching it with a floral dress and low red slingback heels

Carrie Johnson, the wife of the Prime Minister visits the Colosseum alongside partners of world leaders. Far left: The wife of Italian's Prime minister Mario Draghi, Maria Serenella Cappello

Ruffling their hair: Carrie and French first lady Brigitte were seen laughing as they chatted at the event (left) before Carrie mingled with Maria Serenella Cappello (right)

Carrie put on a striking display in a 59.99 recycled red Zara blazer and coordinating dress as she arrived to visit Rome's ancient Colosseum in Italy today.

The 33-year-old, who is expecting her second child with the Prime Minister, joined spouses of world leaders attending the G20 summit a day before the start of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow that will be hosted by Boris Johnson, 57.

Opting once again for a powerful red ensemble, Carrie, who wore the blazer in Mannchester earlier this month before choosing a red dress from sustainable label Cabbages & Roses the following week, waved as she arrived to the historical landmark, wearing a black facemask.

It is thought that Boris will use his 'secret weapon' Carrie, who has been championing sustainable fashion of late, to charm world leaders into taking action in his 'save the world plea' to stop climate change tomorrow.

Carrie Johnson showed off a British flag on her facmask as she wavedto bystanders at the summit

Carrie is seen with Brigitte Macron and the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Begona Sanchez, looked stunning in a plaid cropped blazer, matching flared pleated skirt and nude sock boots

Ruffling their hair: Carrie and Begona Sanchez were seen laughing as they chatted at the event (left) before Carrie mingled with Maria Serenella Cappello (right)

arrie Johnson, the wife of the Prime Minister visits the Colosseum alongside partners of world leaders during the G20 spousal programme in Rome

Carrie was pictured talking to wife of Italian's Prime minister Mario Draghi, Maria Serenella Cappello

Carrie looked stylish in the red blazer emblazoned with gold buttons, matching it with a floral skirt and low red slingback heels.

Wearing her hair in loose waves, she appeared in good spirits as she kept her masks on while making her way into the ancient amphitheatre.

Carrie, who shares son Wilfred, 1, was pictured alongside the spouses of leaders as British Johnson arrived to be welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to the G20 summit.

Colour psychologist Lee Chambers recently told FEMAIL that Carrie donned the vibrant red garments to 'convey energy and a message that the future is bright' while 'building her personal brand'.

Lee said: 'When it comes to a Conservative conference, wearing red is a political statement in itself.

'As a colour, it conveys passion and energy, and can certainly be used to showcase feelings of power and assertiveness in being in the position of the wife of the Prime Minister.'

Sustainable fashion: Carrie Johnson put on a striking display in a 59.99 red Zara blazer and coordinating skirt as she arrived to visit Rome's ancient Colosseum in Italy today. This is the second time she has worn the blazer this month

Opting once again for a powerful red ensemble, Carrie waved as she arrived to the historical landmark, wearing a black facemask

The first lady loves red: Earlier this month Carrie covered up her baby bump in a 360 red dress from a sustainable British brand as she supported husband Boris at his keynote speech at the Tory Party conference. Pictured, arriving at the venue

He continued: 'It also draws attention and catches the eye, and this will be important to her as she continues to build her own status and personal brand.

'It is a really strong colour, and with this comes portraying that you are part of the strength needed to navigate these challenging times, and as a timeless colour brings a real intensity to the message that the future can be bright.

As for the message she will be conferring, it is one of boldness and courage in the face of adversity. She will be feeling she can and is willing to draw attention and not feel that she has to pale into the shadows even during pregnancy.

'It is certainly a fiery message to her husband that she is right by his side and may even take some of the heat off Boris himself.'

The colour red appears to be Carrie's preferred hue of the moment, with Britain's first lady wearing four scarlet ensembles in recent months.

Earlier this month, Carrie opted for a 360 red dress from sustainable British brand Cabbages & Roses as she supported husband Boris at his keynote speech at the Tory Party conference.

This is the second time Carrie has worn the red Zara blazer, after attending the Manchester Central Convention Complex in the blazer and a 27.99 white collared shirt with a bow, both from Zara.

And in June the then-newlywed cut an elegant figure in a scarlet 325 LK Bennett gown as she joined President Joe Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden for a meeting at Carbis Bay in Cornwall ahead of the G7 summitx, making a rare appearance with son Wilfred.

This month Carrie brought a splash of colour to the Manchester Central Convention Complex on Tuesday in a 59.99 red blazer and a 27.99 white collared shirt with a bow, both from Zara

In June the then-newlywed cut an elegant figure in a scarlet 325 LK Bennett gown as she joined President Joe Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden for a meeting at Carbis Bay in Cornwall ahead of the G7 summitx, making a rare appearance with son Wilfred

COP26 begins on Sunday at Glasgow's Scottish Event Campus (SEC) and will welcome 30,000 delegates, 10,000 police and as many as 200,000 protesters for the 13-day conference.

It is the first face-to-face summit of the G20 since Covid struck, and has faced various complications.

Last week the Queen announced she would be unable to attend in person, taking advice from medical professionals to rest.

Additionally, flooding caused major delays for world leaders heading to the summit today - with one train firm urging passengers 'not to travel' across the border due to disruption after two road bridges were 'washed away' amid torrential rain.

Avanti West Coast - which runs services between London Euston and Glasgow, where the climate conference begins on Sunday - said Network Rail had imposed a series of speed restrictions for safety at several locations.
Princess Eugenie joined modern slavery survivors for an art therapy class in West London this week.

The royal, 33, who founded The Anti-Slavery Collective charity foundation, was seen visiting an Salvation Army outreach hub dressed in a pretty 139 blue Whistles dress.

The mother-of-one proved her artistic flair with an impressive landscape picture featuring a serence mountain scene after participants were asked to paint murals themed around 'what freedom meant to each survivor'.

The Duke of York Prince Andrew's youngest daughter inscribed the artwork with her initials 'EY', for Eugenie York.

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Princess Eugenie joined modern slavery survivors for an art therapy class in West London this week

The Duke of York Prince Andrew's youngest daughter inscribed the artwork with her initials 'EY', for Eugenie York (her artwork is seen in the centre)

Princess Eugenie was seen posing alongside the director for Anti Trafficking and Modern Slavery, Kathy Betteridge, and Service Manager for The Salvation Armys London Outreach service, Jenny Gibson.

The royal was later pictured taking part in the class, sitting at a roundtable in front of a whiteboard emblazoned with the words 'art therapy session'.

Sharing the picture to their Instagram account, The Anti-Slavery Collective Instagram account wrote: 'Yesterday our co-founder, HRH Princess Eugenie, was delighted to visit a Salvation Army outreach hub to take part in an art therapy class alongside modern slavery survivors.

'They painted murals themed around freedom and what it meant to each survivor.

'The Salvation Army offers survivors of modern slavery a wide range of services including: confidential legal advice, health care, counselling, educational opportunities, financial support, and support in obtaining employment and housing.'

The mother-of-one proved her artistic flair with an impressive landscape picture featuring a serence mountain scene after participants were asked to paint murals themed around 'what freedom meant to each survivor'.

Princess Eugenie was seen posing alongside the director for Anti Trafficking and Modern Slavery, Kathy Betteridge, and Service Manager for The Salvation Armys London Outreach service, Jenny Gibson

Earlier this month Eugenie celebrated her three year anniversary with her husband Jack Brooksbank.

Jack - who shares son August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, eight months - with Eugenie, is the European Brand Director for Casamigos tequila which was founded by George Clooney and Rande Gerber.

It's believed Eugenie is on maternity leave from her role at gallery Hauser & Wirth where she's a director, but she's been keeping busy with her philanthropic interests.

This month, she had an article published in Spear's magazine, which she co-wrote with Clare Brook, CEO of the Blue Marine Foundation, calling for greater protection of the world's oceans.

'There is only one ocean. The challenges it faces are sadly man-made and most can be turned around if we act now. If we work together to protect it, the ocean will protect us  in perpetuity,' she said.

However, it's no doubt been a rocky week for the York family as Prince Andrew's legal woes rumble on.
It was a triumph of medical science over tragedy.

The case involved a 29-year-old woman suffering an ectopic pregnancy  in which the embryo becomes embedded outside the uterus, usually in one of the fallopian tubes.

Often, in such instances, in order to save the life of the mother, termination of the pregnancy is the only remedy.

But Malcolm Pearce, an obstetrician at St George's Hospital Medical School, London, had performed a minor miracle.

He had successfully extracted the embryo, then reimplanted it into the patient's womb.

And she had gone on to have a healthy baby. It was a feat numerous other surgeons had tried but failed to achieve.

The astonishing story was reported in the British Journal Of Obstetrics and made headlines around the world.

No doubt it also offered hope to the thousands of women who suffer such traumatic events each year.

Malcolm Pearce (pictured) was sacked, found guilty of serious professional misconduct and struck off the medical register for falsifying a medical study

Or rather, it would have if it hadn't turned out to have been a lie.

Shortly after publication, in 1995, the journal was approached by a whistleblower at St George's claiming that Pearce's story was a fabrication.

Investigations subsequently revealed the surgeon had tampered with computer records and amalgamated patients' notes  those of a woman who was dead and another who had miscarried  to create a fictitious patient.

Pearce, who it transpired had falsified another study into drugs to prevent miscarriage, was sacked, found guilty of serious professional misconduct and struck off the medical register.

We speak to experts exposing the scandal of fake medical research

It is a disturbing tale. But not a one-off. According to bombshell allegations from a group of highly respected experts, the medical world is rife with research fraud.

Their investigations suggest up to one in five of the estimated two million medical studies published each year could contain invented or plagiarised results, details of patients who never existed and trials that didn't actually take place.

The problem is 'well known about' in science circles, says Richard Smith, former editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal (BMJ)  yet there is a reluctance within the establishment to accept the scale of the problem.

In a recent article, he suggested the only way to combat research fraud is for journal editors to view all studies submitted as potential fakes until they can be proven otherwise.

Speaking on The Mail on Sunday's Medical Minefield podcast, Smith  who was involved in the investigations that exposed Malcolm Pearce  said: 'It's shocking, but common.

Many of these fraudulent studies are simply invented. There were no patients. The trial never happened.'

Research coming out of countries where doctors are commonly rewarded with pay rises for publishing their work  such as Egypt, Iran, India and China  is more likely to be faked, investigations show.

'In China, doctors can only get promoted if they score enough 'points', by getting published,' says John Carlisle, an NHS anaesthetist who spends his spare time hunting for fraudulent medical studies.

Korean pioneer Woo Suk Hwang (pictured) became a national hero when he and his research team reportedly cloned a human embryo and extracted stem cells from it  a technique that could potentially cure a wide range of diseases. The claims turned out to be bogus.

Meanwhile, Professor Lisa Bero, an expert in study fraud at Cochrane, one of the world's foremost research organisations, warns of 'paper mills'  shadowy companies that operate online, churning out sham studies much like the 'essay mills' that profit by selling work to students.

Academics investigating these paper mills recently flagged more than 1,000 potential research fraud cases linked to them.

'Paper mills can generate hundreds of fraudulent studies, far more than the odd 'bad egg' researcher, and saturate certain topics, such as cardiology. I expect we'll only see more of it in the future,' adds Prof Bero.

Despite being vocal about their concerns, Smith and others argue little has been done within the mainstream medical world over the past few decades to stem the tide of 'tainted data', which means it will likely have been used to underpin NHS medical guidance, potentially putting lives at risk.

'I have no doubt that this is a major threat to global public health,' warns Ian Roberts, Professor of Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who claims the regulatory systems 'are not fit for purpose'.

In the mid-1990s, South African oncologist Dr Werner Bezwoda claimed to have effectively cured women with late-stage breast cancer by giving them bone-marrow transplants.

His findings, published in major medical journals, were later revealed to have been invented  but not before thousands of patients had died after undergoing the ineffective treatment.

Eric Poehlman, a Canadian researcher, was the first and one of the only scientists to be jailed for research fraud after ten of his publicly funded studies  looking at weight gain in the menopause, ageing and hormone-replacement therapy  were found to be fabricated.

Then there's Korean pioneer Woo Suk Hwang, who became a national hero when he and his research team reportedly cloned a human embryo and extracted stem cells from it  a technique that could potentially cure a wide range of diseases. The claims turned out to be bogus.

The Covid pandemic, and the global rush to find treatments, has been 'rife' with research fraud, says Prof Bero.

An investigation found that more than a third of the 26 studies into anti-parasitic medication ivermectin, which many hoped could ease Covid symptoms, have signs of potential fraud.

Studies last year looking at whether the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine could reduce Covid severity  it was touted as a 'wonder drug' by President Trump  were also revealed to have grave flaws.

In 2010, Prof Roberts was involved in a review that flagged up 'false data' in 90 published studies on drugs given to regulate blood pressure during surgery, all authored by the same German anaesthesiologist, Joachim Boldt (pictured)

One, which led to French health chiefs recommending the medication, was found to contain disputed data.

The expert behind it, Marseilles-based microbiologist Didier Raoult, initially threatened legal action against one of the scientists who flagged up 'anomalies' in dozens of his studies.

But Raoult is now due to appear before an ethics committee, accused of spreading false information about the benefits of the medication.

Raoult's lawyer has reportedly said his client would be cleared.

Two other major studies that concluded the drug didn't have an effect on Covid were also exposed as potential fakes.

These concluded that hydroxychloroquine was linked to increased deaths and heart problems  and were published in world-renowned journals The Lancet and The New England Journal Of Medicine.

They led to the World Health Organisation and several countries halting trials into the drug.

But within days, 'glaring errors' were discovered. Eagle-eyed readers noticed that death rates failed to match official records, and hospitals mentioned in the study later denied ever having provided patient data.

Surgisphere, the company which provided the figures, headed up by US vascular surgeon Dr Sapan Desai, failed to produce detailed patient records when requested.

The papers were retracted. The New England Journal Of Medicine published a statement by the study's authors in which they claimed they were 'unable to validate' the data sources underlying the article, as they were 'not granted access to the raw data' and apologised for 'difficulties caused'.

Commentators have questioned how the respected doctors and editors who reviewed the study before publication failed to spot the problems.

However The Lancet's editor Richard Horton called the paper retracted by his journal a 'fabrication' and 'a monumental fraud.'

Anaesthetists became suspicious about studies carried out by Japanese researcher Yoshitaka Fujii (pictured) into a drug given to ease nausea and vomiting after surgery. Further investigation concluded that more than 100 trials he had claimed to have carried out 'were totally fabricated'

He added: 'If you have an author who deliberately tries to mislead, it's surprisingly easy for them to do so.'

While these are eye-opening examples, far more common, says Carlisle, are 'low-level' fakes  studies that simply confirm what other studies say, so arouse little suspicion.

He adds: 'You'd think people would manufacture startling results, but in my experience most studies are fairly boring  just interesting enough to get published, so they can go on the CV.'

For a drug to be licensed for use, manufacturers are legally required to carry out clinical trials to prove it is safe and works.

Once approved, doctors and other researchers are then able to easily use the medicine on patients in their own trials, in order to show how best to use it.

This means there can be hundreds, or even thousands of studies published on certain treatments, all producing differing results  and this creates the perfect camouflage for fabricated studies.

In order to produce a more definitive picture, rather than rely on the results of one or two trials, experts carry out systematic reviews, rounding up and assessing numerous studies and looking at the totality of evidence.

If there was the odd fake study, by simple law of averages, a review might effectively neutralise the impact. However, given the sheer scale of the problem of research fraud, fake studies may actually skew the results of reviews, too.

Prof Ian Roberts first became aware of research fraud in the late 1990s while he was carrying out one such systematic review on trials of a drug called mannitol, which was given to reduce brain swelling after head injury.

In the mid-1990s, South African oncologist Dr Werner Bezwoda (pictured) claimed to have effectively cured women with late-stage breast cancer by giving them bone-marrow transplants - his findings had been invented

He had concluded the treatment was effective  when a colleague suggested that some of the trials had been fabricated.

Prof Roberts says: 'Three of the mannitol papers had come from Brazil, which was where this guy was from.

'He said it was well known, in the medical world there, that many of these trials hadn't actually taken place.'

He began to investigate, and discovered, to his horror, that his colleague was right. When he contacted the authors and institutes named on the papers, they either claimed to have no knowledge of the trial mentioned or couldn't provide any further evidence that they took place.

'They'd been fabricated. I could find no other explanation,' he says.

When Prof Roberts then removed these 'problematic' studies from his review of Mannitol, the conclusion changed  it was not an effective treatment for head injuries.

He says: 'These fraudulent studies could have meant patients were not given the best treatment, and lives were put at risk.

'I flagged it up to the research group I was working for, put it down to bad luck and carried on.'

But then it happened again. In 2010, Prof Roberts was involved in a review that flagged up 'false data' in 90 published studies on drugs given to regulate blood pressure during surgery, all authored by the same German anaesthesiologist, Joachim Boldt.

'These trials had been published over many years in leading journals, but it turned out they had never happened,' says Prof Roberts.

'Again, when they were excluded from the review, it showed the treatment was not effective. British surgical guidelines had to be changed.

'It made me realise, if someone can get away with fabricating 90 studies, the system isn't working.'

Before a study is published in a medical journal, it goes through a process of peer review.

This means other researchers who are not known to the author scrutinise it to look for potential errors.

Surgisphere, a company which provided figures for a potential Covid drug study, headed up by US vascular surgeon Dr Sapan Desai (pictured), failed to produce detailed patient records when requested

However, it is a system 'entirely based on trust, that the study actually took place', explains former BMJ editor Richard Smith.

For this reason he calls it a 'flawed process', adding 'If the author of a paper says there was 200 patients, we assume there were 200.

'We don't say, show us their signatures. Just because something had passed through peer review, doesn't mean it isn't fraudulent.'

It's difficult to know for certain how widespread the problem of research fakery is.

Roughly four in every 10,000 published end up being retracted  withdrawn by the journal in question  according to an analysis by Science magazine.

This can be due to honest errors, but in two-thirds of cases there is a suspicion of fraud. The work of NHS anaesthetist John Carlisle may point to further answers.

He first became aware of bogus studies 20 years ago, after he and other anaesthetists became suspicious about studies carried out by Japanese researcher Yoshitaka Fujii into a drug given to ease nausea and vomiting after surgery.

'The side-effect rates between the trails were strikingly similar, and identical in some cases,' he says. 'You'd expect some variation.'

Further investigation concluded that more than 100 trials he had claimed to have carried out 'were totally fabricated'.

Fujii lost his university job, and by 2010 no fewer than 183 of his papers had been retracted, or withdrawn by the journals that published them.

Despite this, Fujii maintains he did nothing wrong.

Carlisle refined his methods and has carried out two major investigations into research fraud.

By looking for 'too-good-to-be-true' patterns in the data, he found that one study in five published by one journal, Anaesthesia, was potentially fraudulent.

Authors from five countries submitted the majority of trials  48 per cent of Chinese trials, 62 per cent of Indian trials and 90 per cent of Egyptian trials were suspected fakes. A third of South Korean and a fifth of Japanese trials were also possibly bogus.

A similar analysis of more than 5,000 studies published in major journals, including The New England Journal Of Medicine and the Journal Of The American Medical Association, confirmed his early finding, suggesting that 15 per cent could be fraudulent.

Anaesthesia, and the New England Journal, now use Carlile's methods to screen all studies submitted for publication, in order to weed out any fakes.

It all begs the questions: why would scientists lie  particularly when there are such severe consequences, both in terms of damaging public health, and, should they be caught, on their own careers?

Eric Poehlman (pictured), a Canadian researcher, was the first and one of the only scientists to be jailed for research fraud after ten of his publicly funded studies  looking at weight gain in the menopause, ageing and hormone-replacement therapy  were found to be fabricated

'People lie because it's easier than doing a study for real,' suggests Carlisle.

Richard Smith agrees: 'You can't get on in the academic world if you don't publish, and doing studies properly can be a long and difficult process.

'You need funding, skills, and a team. In some ways, it's easier to simply invent it. And the terrible thing is that it's quite easy to get away with it.'

Prof Ian Roberts claims he has warned British health watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Chief Medical Officers and others about the scale of the problem, but has been all but ignored.

He says: 'We have written to them but they are not interested. I can understand why no one wants to take it seriously  this is a difficult problem to solve and will require huge changes in the way things are done.'

When The Mail on Sunday contacted the office of the Chief Medical Officers, it claimed to have no record of Prof Roberts's letters  despite the fact that we have seen the letter of acknowledgment from England's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty.

A Government spokesperson said: 'Clinical Trials are required by law to be conducted to Good Clinical Practice.

This is a set of internationally recognised ethical and scientific quality requirements that must be followed when designing, conducting, recording and reporting clinical trials that involve people.'

This is true. However, it doesn't address the problem of studies that turn out not to have taken place in the first place.

Cochrane implemented procedures last year in an attempt to crack down on fraud. Prof Bero, who heads up its effort, says: 'We look at whether a clinical trial has been registered with a governing body, for instance. If we do find a problem, we will approach the institution involved.

'Ultimately, we may request the journal retracts the study. It's a long, slow process, but an allegation of fraud can be career-ending so we have to be sure.'

Research fraud amounts to professional misconduct, yet, in most countries, including the UK, it is not a crime to fake a trial  Smith, Prof Roberts and others argue it should be treated more like financial fraud.

Smith says: 'Regulators rarely have teeth, so there's little deterrent. First, people need to accept we have a problem.

'These fraudulent studies are out there, and we've discovered only a tiny percentage of them.'
Over the past month, The Mail on Sunday has told of NHS errors that mean many of the half a million Britons at high risk from Covid are missing out on a vital third vaccine dose.

Unlike the booster jab, the third dose is offered to people with immunity problems  caused by things such as blood cancer, organ transplants or taking potent arthritis medication  that make two doses of the vaccine less effective. It's meant to be offered eight weeks after the second dose.

The programme was due to commence at the start of September, and just last week a major British study concluded people with cancer, particularly blood cancer, have low protection against the Delta variant but will benefit from a third dose.

But our reports have revealed that GPs and other healthcare staff across the country are unaware that this group should be first in line for a jab, and dismiss the NHS invitations sent via text or post to patients.

Meanwhile, Ministers continue to urge healthy over-50s to come forward for a booster  given six months after their second dose  to top up antibody levels 'just in case' they have begun to wane.

Many experts, including Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, have questioned whether this group really need another jab at all, given the fact their protection against severe disease is likely to be high and the fact that others are so much more in need.

Last week we issued an urgent plea to health chiefs to resolve the crisis by allowing vaccine centres across the UK to accept an NHS letter or text as proof of eligibility and act as a 'passport' to the third jab.

But, as the hundreds of letters sent to The Mail on Sunday since then show, the problem is still going on  with patients left 'furious', 'desperate' and feeling as if they've been forgotten.

Here we're printing some of their words of desperation, in the hope that someone in charge will finally listen and act.

Unlike the booster jab, the third dose is offered to people with immunity problems  caused by things such as blood cancer, organ transplants or taking potent arthritis medication  that make two doses of the vaccine less effective. It's meant to be offered eight weeks after the second dose (Pictured: Health Secretary Sajid Javid)

I've had four transplants and still can't get the third Covid jab Deborah Duval, 62, is desperate for a third Covid jab as her medication makes her much more susceptible to the effects of Covid Diabetic Deborah Duval has had four organ transplants. To stop her body rejecting them, she takes strong drugs that suppress her immune system  but that puts her at high risk if she catches Covid. The 62-year-old charity worker from Cornwall says: 'I am incredibly frustrated at the difficulty of accessing a medicine I've been told I need. 'I had my most recent transplant  my pancreas  in 2008, due to complications caused by type 1 diabetes. Since then I have taken medication that leaves me like an open door to infection. 'And yet despite my letter telling me I need a third dose, when I called my GP two weeks ago they said they can't book me in for an appointment. They're not doing it, apparently. 'I could, however, try my local vaccination centre, where hundreds of people queue up for two hours outside every day, and hope they know what a third primary dose is. 'Lots of people I know have been turned away. I know too many other transplant patients who have lost their lives to this virus despite having the jabs, so I don't want to risk queuing up with hundreds of people. 'I don't socialise with other people and I go to the supermarket as little as possible. I've been working from home for the entire pandemic, but I'd like to get back to normal and go back in at least once every few weeks. 'It's a ridiculous situation. The Government is shouting at everyone to go out and get jabbed, but those of us who need it the most can't get it. Clearly, they can't be too bothered about our safety.' Advertisement

Paula White, of Essex: 'We are so angry, worried and stressed. My husband Steve is extremely vulnerable.

'He has two types of cancer  bowel and multiple myeloma  and is currently undergoing intensive chemotherapy.

'He's had major surgery twice, and caught Covid in hospital last Christmas.

'The hospital tells us he must have his third dose as soon as possible, and to ask the GP or 119. But 119 said call the GP, and the GP said they can't book us in.

'We've kept ourselves isolated but this is existing, not living.'

Joanna Slum, 73, Midlands: 'My GP surgery laughed when I called to book in for the third primary dose, and said as they know nothing about it, they can't help.

'At least I've received a letter from the NHS telling me that I qualify  I am steroid-dependent due to arthritis.

'My husband, who has leukaemia, hasn't had one.

'So that's another year we won't be able to go to the panto with our grandchildren  with Covid levels high, it's not worth the risk.'

Helen Osborne, 62, East Susse: 'I am losing the will to live! I got a text telling me to book an appointment. I called 119, pressed this, pressed that, held on the phone and then got cut off.

'I called my GP, who gave me the number of a chemist. The chemist said the third dose is the same as the booster  but that's not what the NHS letter said.

'When you have a chronic illness, you don't need any extra obstacles in your daily life!

'I imagine a lot of people would have given up by now.'

Jennifer Quinnell, 74, Watford: 'The doctor's receptionist told me there is no third dose.

'When I pointed out she was wrong, and I had an NHS letter stating otherwise, I was told not to get agitated.

'How could they stonewall me? It's like being met with a brick wall. I called 119 who said they would get someone to contact me. It's scandalous to say the least.

'My health is at stake and I am trying to follow the expert advice and keep myself safe.'

n THIS is a disgrace and will cause deaths.

Margaret Johnson, 74, Nottingham: 'Our wonderful NHS? I think not. My husband has prostate cancer and takes high doses of steroids to treat a serious skin disease.

'He has got his text message telling him to go for a third jab, but the GP surgery knew nothing about it.

'The hospital then said they'd write to everyone in two weeks.

'The Government is asking people over 50 who are five months down the line to book boosters. How can this be?'

Patricia Clarke, 77, Ipswich: 'I am so glad I'm not alone in my frustration.

'My letter told me I could go to any vaccination centre or pharmacy to get the third dose. I phoned our local pharmacy, which had not heard of the third primary dose, was sceptical about my NHS letter and then said it couldn't do it.

'Another pharmacy said it wasn't doing any jabs and that my letter was misleading.

'I tried the online booking system, which invited me to book my booster.

'Tomorrow, I shall try again with local pharmacies.

'If unsuccessful, I shall have to do a 20-mile trip to another pharmacy, and hope that it knows about it.'

I won't see my grandkids until I've had third jab Anita Evans (pictured right), fears getting Covid due to blood cancer and a genetic blood condition Anita Evans, pictured with her husband John, is a 66-year-old retired finance manager from the West Midlands who has blood cancer and a genetic blood condition. She says: 'The NHS sent me a letter two weeks ago, telling me I need my third dose. 'It just frightens the life out of you  it says the two jabs might not have worked, so I need another one, but doesn't say how to get it. 'My GP said to ring the place where I had my first two vaccines, but the receptionist there said she hadn't seen or heard of the third primary dose or the letter I'd received.' She adds: 'Surely someone in the NHS knows what people like me should do about this. I called my GP again the next day and they said, 'We're compiling a database of people who are eligible for the third dose, and you will hear soon.' 'Meanwhile, I feel as if my husband and I are living in a box. I'm frightened to death of going anywhere in case I catch Covid. I don't go out of the house unless it's for a short walk, and I certainly won't go to the supermarket. 'Everyone else is allowed to go about their business, or get their booster doses. I'd just like to see my grandchildren, whom I've seen only once in two years. I want nothing more than to get together at Christmas, but with no sign of this vaccine on the horizon, sadly I don't see that happening.' Advertisement

Anonymous: 'My daughter, who is 38, had a double lung transplant in January 2020. We have been trying to get a third vaccine dose since mid-September.

'The GP's surgery had never heard of it. The hospital consultant thought it was a booster and said she could only have it in a few months' time.

'We are going round in circles trying to protect her, and it is wearisome. To top it all off, her brother, who she lives with, has tested positive for Covid. She's been forced to leave home for two weeks to keep herself safe.

'What are we supposed to do?'

David Mckenzie, 79, Fife: 'I am receiving treatment for blood cancer and am worried that somehow I've been missed off the list.

'I have had no word about an appointment, but my wife, who is younger and healthy, is due to receive her booster this week. Could you please help?'

Anonymous: 'I am a transplant patient and haven't been invited to have my third dose yet.

'I tried to book online for a booster but was told I wasn't eligible. I rang 119 and asked, in light of the guidance, to book my injection, and was told I had to wait until six months and one week. It's very frustrating.'

Patricia Little, 79, Merseyside: 'This is a fiasco. My GP surgery, when I asked to book in for my third primary dose, said: 'We are not dealing with anything to do with Covid.

'119 says I'm not eligible, even though I am on steroids for a muscle condition called polymyalgia rheumatica, and I had a text from the NHS.

'I do not have a consultant at the moment, so can't ask the hospital about it. I can't get any further, so I'll just have to wait for a booster.'

Joan Borland, 71, Norfolk: 'My sister just passed away from Covid after having two jabs, and I can't help but wonder whether if she'd had the third jab, she might be still here.

'I take immune-suppressing drugs and was told there isn't anywhere on the system to record the third vaccine.

'It seems like an alien concept to healthcare staff. Compromised people have done everything the Government requested, yet it seems we are again the forgotten ones.'

Anonymous: 'Someone in the NHS needs to sort all this out.

'I recently had chemotherapy for bowel cancer, and received a text and a letter from the NHS to go to my GP or consultant for a third jab, but the doctors say that they 'don't do it'.

'Someone from 119 said I am not eligible and my consultant didn't know anything about it. It's all so confusing.'
We are promised an 'impartiality revolution' at the BBC. The Corporation's chairman, Richard Sharp, pledges that it now has a chance to become what it was originally intended to be  'fair, authoritative and impartial'.

This will be splendid news, if true. But we will wait before rejoicing. A real rebooting of the BBC, back to its Charter, would indeed mean a revolution, as so many of its programmes and staff have demonstrated active and severe bias for so long.

Their most basic problem is that, just as a goldfish has no idea that it is a goldfish, or that there is any other world beyond the watery limits of its bowl, much of the BBC has no clue that its opinions and stances are in fact highly partial.

Why, for instance, did the BBC yesterday morning give great prominence to the predictably haughty remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron about his fishing dispute with Britain, but bury the far more striking news that France's Prime Minister, Jean Castex, had blatantly admitted that his country seeks to punish the UK for Brexit?

The BBC had seen Mr Castex's leaked letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in which he demanded that Brussels made clear that leaving the EU was 'more damaging than remaining in it'. This is astonishing behaviour by the French premier. But the BBC, pro-EU to the marrow, mentioned it as a mere 'meanwhile'.

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: As our neighbours engage in petty squabbles, and confront the demons of their often-tragic pasts, we have no need to join in. All the more reason for Boris Johnson and his Cabinet to emphasise the agility, flexibility and freedom which they rightly say our independence has given us

Deep down, has the BBC yet accepted that Brexit is even a fact? Many of its senior staff will plainly never concede that it was justified, but this really should not influence coverage of the inevitable post-departure complications, such as the cross-Channel fishing quarrel and the problems with the Northern Ireland protocol.

In both of these, Britain has every interest in reaching a friendly compromise. It is the EU which seems to want trouble.

Brussels currently has severe problems with controlling its eastern fringe, especially Poland, and might well see a point in making an exit look difficult and painful.

And that desire comes most especially from the EU's most militant member, France.

Paris seeks to prove that our decision to leave was a mistake, by making it as needlessly painful as possible.

And President Macron, who faces re-election next year, would benefit from a noisy nationalist brawl with the ancient Anglo-Saxon enemy.

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Deep down, has the BBC yet accepted that Brexit is even a fact?

Mr Macron faces a disturbing challenge from the Right-wing populist maverick Eric Zemmour, a defender of the generally despised wartime Vichy regime who is a far more dangerous opponent than Marine Le Pen ever was. He could do with a chance to look tough.

As our neighbours engage in petty squabbles, and confront the demons of their often-tragic pasts, we have no need to join in. All the more reason for Boris Johnson and his Cabinet to emphasise the agility, flexibility and freedom which they rightly say our independence has given us.

It really would be good to see the Government making more use of our escape from Brussels' interference, our ability to make our own laws, set our own taxes and encourage our own economy. There has, for instance, been very little mention of free ports lately.

Our successful return to the world of fully sovereign nations will be the best answer to the resentful pettiness of some of our entangled neighbours.

Perhaps, as before, they will learn from Britain's example.

Our fully realised freedom may even, one day, remind the BBC that the first word in its name is 'British'.
Get Up, Stand Up!

Lyric Theatre, London Until April 3, 2hrs 30mins

Rating:

Dont worry, as Bob Marley would say, youll feel a whole lot better coming out of this show than you did going in. Its a wholly convincing resurrection of the reggae superstar, who died from cancer in 1981 aged just 36.

Arinze Kene gives a socking performance, delivered against a backdrop of poverty, gun violence and a great wall of loudspeakers. It feels edgy and sounds fabulous, even if the story is overloaded and sketchy.

You naturally get all the juke-box standards including Could You Be Loved, Stir It Up, I Shot The Sheriff, Redemption Song, Jamming and, finally, Get Up, Stand Up (which the audience did more than happily).

Arinze Kene (above) gives a socking performance, delivered against a backdrop of poverty, gun violence and a great wall of loudspeakers

Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall touches, fascinatingly, on Bobs abandonment by his parents (Nate Simpson plays Bob as a young boy), his stardom, his ambivalent flirtation with Jamaican politics, his attempted assassination and the CIAs idiotic fear of him as a potent black messiah.

Chris Blackwell (Henry Faber), who founded Island Records, is a pivotal part of the Bob Marley legend, along with Peter Tosh (Natey Jones) and Bunny Wailer (Jacade Simpson), Bobs soul mates in the band.

Theres a lovely vignette of the lads touring the UK in 1974, miserably failing to hitch a ride in a Leicestershire snowstorm.

If Kenes plaintive voice holds the show together, Shelley Maxwells choreography provides a cool, sinuous groove for the dance ensemble. But the evening would be diminished without Gabrielle Brooks as Bobs long-suffering wife Rita, whose rendition of No Woman, No Cry brims with anger at his serial adultery.

Likewise, Shanay Holmes as Bobs beauty queen lover makes Waiting In Vain a piercing ballad of hurt.

Director Clint Dyer gets the event to feel like a live gig, with a ganja-like scent wafting into the stalls. Bobs soulful, glorious, pulsating reggae is here in abundance and its a joy to be wrapped in it.
Black Gold

Jeremy Paxman William Collins 25

Rating:

Jeremy Paxman opens this terrific history of British coal with one of the mining industrys worst tragedies ever. In 1862, 204 men and boys were blown up, knocked out, burned, gassed or drowned when a pumping engine collapsed at Seaton Delaval, a few miles north of Newcastle.

This was more than a local tragedy. Coal was Great Britains special gift from God. It had turned a set of undistinguished islands in the North Atlantic into the greatest nation on Earth.

Before the First World War, two-thirds of the worlds coal came from Britain.

Coal was Great Britains special gift from God. It had turned a set of undistinguished islands in the North Atlantic into the greatest nation on Earth (above, miners in a coal-mine)

As Paxman points out in his usual acerbic way, the development of coal production in Britain entailed a few wealthy landowners getting richer while everyone else paid a high cost for access to the commodity that heated homes, lit streets, powered railways and allowed the Royal Navy to rule the waves.

That cost was even greater if you happened to be the person labouring to get the coal out of the ground in the first place. No other industry, suggests Paxman, has more clearly accentuated the differences between someone such as John Crichton-Stuart, Marquess of Bute, who owned much of the South Wales coalfield and was said to be the richest man in the world, and the working men and women who laboured to make his fortune.

It was, suggested some, akin to the system of plantation slavery that was causing Americans to fight against each other in the Civil War.

Good things did come out of the Seaton Delaval incident, such as a law that mines should have a second shaft to make it easier to escape. It also doubled the price of coal extraction, which owners were unhappy about.

This, says Paxman, is typical of how the history of British coal mining has unfolded: cheap exploitation, followed by awful human disaster, followed by grudging changes to the law.

At no point did mine owners go out of their way to make things safer  but then, why would they? When 440 men were killed in 1913 by an explosion at a pit in South Wales, the company and manager were fined a total of 24.

No wonder that the trades union movement became so powerful in the coalfields. Paxman, though, is not afraid to call out poor behaviour. There is no getting away from the fact that British coal miners were increasingly less productive compared with their European neighbours.

Between 1913 and 1936, the amount of coal produced by a miner in a shift rose by 114 per cent in the Netherlands, 81 per cent in Germany and just ten per cent in Britain.

Ending on the 1984 miners strike, Paxman also has some less-than-kind words to say about Arthur Scargill, leader of the National Union of Mineworkers. Scargill emerges as just as arrogant and self-serving as a 19th Century mine owner.

What a shame that he refused to be interviewed for this book, especially when you consider, says Paxman, cocking an eyebrow, that he made a comfortable living out of the industry for so many years.
Emerging from the shadows was the most handsome man I have ever seen

I was casually watching a programme on BBC iPlayer when my past came back to hit me slap bang in the face. Yikes! It was a documentary about the making of The Exorcist. The film was released in the UK in 1974 to mass hysteria: young women fainted or walked out. At the end of the programme, a reporter is shown interviewing cinemagoers as they emerged. And there, in all his car-coated, hair-curling-round-his-collar, chisel-faced gorgeousness is the first man I ever slept with.

Fast forward to 1978, when I was 19 and sharing a flat with drama students in London. One, Chris, went to Central School of Speech and Drama, which meant our house parties were populated with the likes of Rupert Everett and Julian Wadham (The English Patient). One evening, I went to meet Chris in a pub on Cambridge Circus and there, emerging from the shadows, was Russell, the most handsome man I have ever seen*. A Jewish East End cockney, also studying acting at Central, he was tall and slim, with dark eyes so large you could swim in them.

Now, we all know that I never get the men I fancy. I got one, David, and that was only after three decades of reconstructive surgery and several quite tiring Pilates courses. But, for some reason, Russell took a shine to me, kissing me at one of our famous parties. A few days later, he took me to a wedding as his date. That night, he came back to my flat in the Barbican. Luckily, the girl I shared a room with was away, and so I invited him to stay.

The most handsome man I have ever seen spent the night in my narrow single bed. We didnt have sex, as I was too terrified, and worried my mum would find out. I had also erupted in terrible acne, so there wasnt really anywhere safe for him to land. But he did hold me, before falling asleep.

The next day, I got up and went to make him coffee. I remember standing for ages in the original 70s galley kitchen (quite prized now), wondering whether to take the cup to him in bed. When I finally plucked up courage, I saw he had fallen asleep. Again.

I rarely saw him again. I think he secretly knew I was in love with my flatmate, Chris, who threw me over for Joanne Whalley, for which you cant really blame him. But even though my liaison with Russell was brief (he didnt even remove my knickers), I know thatI can go to my paupers unmarked grave knowing I shared, just for one night, a narrow single bed with THAT.

Since spotting him in the clip, frozen for all eternity in the moment he was most gorgeous, Im now wondering what became of him. Whom he married, how many children he has.

Of course, when we met, I was in the grips of anorexia (hence the awful skin). I didnt want him to undress me, as he would have been horrified. Id missed a session at the Tao clinic in Knightsbridge  where the War on Superfluous Hair took place  so had little bastards sprouting like asparagus everywhere: nipples, belly button, chin. I was also suffering from broken capillaries on my face and had spent my student grant on visits to a countess on Beauchamp Place to have them cauterised: they were still healing so were dark brown, scabby.

I was deaf, so couldnt hear a word he said. I wasnt interesting, just painfully shy. All in all, I wasnt best placed to be a girlfriend. But, my goodness, that night has to go down as a triumph. I touched a mans bare skin. I felt normal. A handsome actor liked me enough to ask me out. I thought everything was going to be OK

*Do go on iPlayer and have a look. Hes right at the end. Even though it has been 41 years since

I last clapped eyes, Im still going, Who is that woman hes with!? Who did he take to the cinema!? in a jealous rage.

Contact Liz at lizjonesgoddess.com and stalk her @lizjonesgoddess

Everyones talking about Liz Joness Diary: The Podcast! 

Join Liz and her trusty (long-suffering) assistant Nicola as they dissect her weekly YOU magazine diary and delve into the archives to relive the bust-ups, betrayals, bullets and much more in this brilliant podcast. Theyre outspoken, outrageous and utterly hilarious. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and mailplus.co.uk
Styling: Nicola Rose. Make-up: Caroline Barnes at Frank Agency. Hair: Alex Szabo at Carol Hayes. Jumper, See by Chloe at Fenwick, Jeans, See by Chloe at Fenwick. Shoes, Jennifer Chamand

When I was a smug married I didnt go in for relationship analysis. I didnt know my attachment style from my intimacy blocks; my abandonment trauma from my trust issues. I thought it was all a bit navel-gazing. But theres nothing like your own marriage blowing up like a North Korean missile to make you re-evaluate.

Divorce made me think about how I had acted in my relationship  and how my behaviour might have contributed to its downfall.

So these days Im more aware of the things that trigger me and the sometimes irrational responses that result. I know all the lingo. I can tell a narcissist from a control freak; a gaslighter from a hedonist. This means that in my new relationship, Im looking for compatibility, emotional maturity and self-awareness  as opposed to ooh, he looks nice in a T-shirt.

Divorce made me think about how I had acted in the relationship

It was early on in my dating odyssey that I first encountered the concept of red and green flags. A date had sent me the main points via WhatsApp then ticked off my qualities against a checklist. Luckily, I passed on most fronts (or maybe thats just what I inferred).

Thanks to him I understand the concept of working out the yeses and nos you want from a partner. Some are obvious and dont require a crash course in psychology to figure out. Take personal hygiene. Thats non-negotiable. It was a hard no to the guy I met in a London cafe who hadnt moved out of the student self-washing-hair phase. Ditto the man who told me that because youre clean after a shower, you need never wash your towels.

Its also about knowing yourself and what you can and cant deal with. I couldnt date a flouncer or anyone who could keep an argument going for days. I have friends who maintain the silent treatment for a week  then by the end cant even remember what theyre peeved about.

So, here are the green flags to look for in a potential suitor  and the red to beware:

Green Flags

1 Self-responsibility. How much do you own your mistakes? Beware the man who blames everything on someone else: his predilection for five-day benders on his absent father or his lost job on his psychopath boss.

2 Self-care. We are not asking for Gwyneth Paltrow-style clean eating or Daniel Craig levels of nattiness, just the basic ability to clothe and feed yourself.

3 Long-standing friendships. Pub or work ones dont count because they are more about circumstance than choice.

4 Empathy. This is key.

5 Supports your personal growth. I take this to mean a partner that wants you to do well without being threatened by it.

6 Honouring boundaries. Emotional, sexual and physical. And they respect that stealing your expensive moisturiser is crossing the line.

Red Flags

1 They think you are perfect. This is thrilling at first but soon becomes like eating a giant bag of Celebrations  delightful, but sick-making.

2 They hide you from their friends. This says, Im keeping my options open.

3 They rush relationship milestones. See point one. I once talked to a guy on a dating app and before I had even met him, he was booking me on a flight to his villa in Ibiza.

4 A different attitude towards money. If theyre a stingy tipper or dont want to turn on the heating because snow insulates  it will soon be discounted soaps for Christmas.

5 They cant communicate. I refer you to my earlier flouncer comment.

6 They cant apologise.

One green flag I love about my boyfriend is our sleep compatibility. Im famously an early-peaker  dancing on the tables at eight, unconscious by 11pm. Only last week he passed out at 10pm, mid-dinner party.

Hes a keeper.

@lifesrosie
In 1956 SHIRLEY HITCHINGS was an ordinary teenager  until one day a powerful force began scrawling messages on her bedroom walls, starting fires in the house and making Shirley levitate. She tells Jo Macfarlane that the haunting feels as real today as it did 65 years ago

Shirley, aged 15, at her haunted home

It started with an ornate silver key that appeared one morning on the pillow belonging to 15-year-old Shirley Hitchings. Puzzled, Shirley, traced the cool metal with her fingertips. No one in her family at their terraced Victorian house in Battersea, Southwest London, had ever seen it before.

It didnt fit into any of the locks. But that night in January 1956, as the suburban street lay dark and still, the knocking began  loud banging, thumps and incessant pounding that reverberated around the house. Claw-like scratching emanated from inside the furniture; the lights flashed on and off. It was so loud that the neighbours came round to complain.

It was as if the noises came from the bowels of the earth, Shirley, now 80, recalls today. It went on until daylight. We were traumatised. I remember clinging to my dad, saying, Please make it stop.

A newspaper clipping of the story that seized the nations attention

For the terrified Hitchings family, this was only the beginning. The key vanished, never to be seen again. But the noises returned, night after night, and what followed over the next 12 years became one of the strangest and most chilling hauntings in British history.

The spirit  which the family later nicknamed Donald, after Disneys bad-tempered Donald Duck  dragged Shirley from her bed and made her levitate. It set fires around the house, seemingly out of nothing, and drew messages on the walls. The whole saga caught the publics imagination, becoming a national news story that was even discussed in parliament.

Today the events still defy rational explanation. Its no surprise then that 3.5 million listeners have flocked to the BBC podcast The Battersea Poltergeist since it was released in January this year. It set out to answer the question: was it a malevolent force at 63 Wycliffe Road, or an elaborate hoax?

The podcast delved into the detailed files of 1950s ghost hunter Harold Chibbett, who helped the family, and interviewed surviving witnesses including Shirley, who was accused at the time of causing the phenomenon. The podcasts producer and presenter Danny Robins spent two years analysing the case and concludes its the closest Ive come to proof that there is something more: that ghosts exist.

Speaking to Shirley sent a shiver down my spine, says Danny. If true, the implications are extraordinary. Whats so fascinating is this tension between what we can potentially discount and what nothing can explain. The real fear comes from the fact that Shirley is entirely ordinary. If it can happen to someone like her, it could happen to anyone.

Shirley, Harry Hanks (centre) and her family at the exorcism

The shows expert is parapsychologist Dr Ciaran OKeeffe, who investigates psychic phenomena and the paranormal. OKeeffe describes himself as an open-minded sceptic who believes paranormal activity should be thoroughly tested to see whether there could be an alternative explanation. And while some of the poltergeist activity in Battersea could be attributed to human meddling or natural causes, he says, other elements in the case remain a mystery.

Not all of it is likely to be supernatural, says OKeeffe, but nor is some of it easily explained. There are multiple witnesses; some events defy the laws of gravity. Its arrogant not to keep an open mind.

For Shirley, now a great-grandmother living in the South of England, the haunting is as real today as it was all those years ago. Its all true, she says, emphatically. Its a lot for people to swallow. But it did happen. Shirley lived on Wycliffe Road with her mum Kitty and dad Wally, a London Underground train driver, her Irish grandmother Ethel and adopted brother John, a surveyor in his 20s.

It was as if the noises were coming from the bowels of the earth

Recalling that first night in January 1956, Shirley says: The whole house shook like it was an air raid. It went on night after night for three weeks. We were shattered. Sleep-deprived, the family called the police and various surveyors to try to get to the root of the noises  but no one could explain it.

After three weeks, events took a sinister turn when objects started moving. Shirleys glove flew from the floor and hit Wally in the face. Heavy pots and pans flew from the kitchen, even though no one was in there. Theyd float towards you then speed up, so youd have to duck, says Shirley. Or theyd hover and hit the wall. The family watched, amazed, as slippers walked around the room or the piano played of its own accord.

Things came to a head one awful night when Shirley was jolted awake as her bedsheets were dragged from her body. Her family, woken by Shirleys screams, rushed in to try to put the sheets back on, but found themselves embroiled in an eerie tug of war with invisible hands as a force pulled the other way. What they saw next was even more terrifying. Shirley went stiff, her back arched, as she rose several inches from the bed.

Her dads notes about the marks that appeared on Shirleys face, 1956

I remember the sheets coming off and being tossed about in the bed, Shirley says. I was floating above the bed. When John pulled me down I was rigid. My nan, who was Catholic, thought I might be possessed by the devil. I thought I was going mad. I was crying all the time, very traumatised.

In February the story reached the national press and the family were besieged. But one positive came from it: Harold Chibbett, known as Chib, was a ghost hunter who devoted the rest of his life to the Battersea case. Danny describes Chib as a lovely influence in the familys life, and who was driven to prove there was life after death.

It was Chib who told the family they were dealing with a poltergeist. Although rare, this type of spirit is said to be responsible for physical disturbances, such as throwing objects and making loud noises. But, as

Chib explained, there was usually a teenage girl at the centre of their activity. I was horrified, Shirley recalls. Wed never heard of a poltergeist before. We were scared out of our wits. I thought, This is the end. Were all going to die. Taking matters into their own hands, the family arranged for Shirley to be exorcised at the home of Harry Hanks, a part-time medium who worked with Wally. But before the exorcism could begin, the police arrived, having been tipped off about alleged black magic and witchcraft at the address. It led to the haunting being discussed in the House of Commons, with Hankss MP calling for the police to issue an apology for the intrusion.

The bedsheets came off and I was floating, I thought I was going mad

Chib suggested the family try to make contact with the poltergeist. He brought letter cards to the house and laid them on the table. The idea was that Chib would point to the letters and the spirit wouldmtap when the right letters were reached to spell out words. Slowly the spirit began to tap out messages. He claimed to be French and said he was scared. It didnt make us feel sorry for him. We just told him to go, Shirley recalls.

The poltergeist was not deterred. Messages appeared on the walls  Viva France. Chib would leave paper and a pen in the familys front room  the only one with a lock  and take the key home with him. The room came to be known as Donalds room because he would tap along to music on the television and arrange dolls in a circle. In the morning, there could be 60 or 70 notes. There are thousands in Chibss files. The first simply said, chillingly, Shirley I come. Many more are illegible, or a strange mixture of French and English, sometimes addressed to mon cherie Chibbett.

Messages left by Donald on their walls, 1964

Events took a more bizarre turn when Donald claimed to be the lost dauphin Louis Charles, heir to the throne of France. The fate of the ten-year-old son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution has been subject to 200 years of speculation. The letters from Donald contained facts few would have known, such as the names of Louis Charless bodyguards, later verified in Parisian archives by Chib.

For Shirley, the worst period was March 1956, a couple of months after the haunting began. Donald started making demands  wanting me to wear my hair a certain way  then threaten us, saying hed set fires in the house, she says. Dad locked all the matches and knives in our air raid shelter. But it did no good because fires would start all over the house. One night Dad got burned putting out a fire. Underneath the burn were gouge marks, like hed been clawed.

Shirleys grandmother Ethel perhaps suffered the most. He would try to push her down the stairs, Shirley says. One night in October 1956, objects started to float around and the room filled with whispering. Then came a voice, an Irish woman. Shirley recalls: Nan went to bits because it was her mothers voice. She spoke back to it and went to her room. She had a stroke a few days later and died shortly afterwards.

Shirely's mother Kitty photographed outside 63 Wycliffe Road  the house was demolished in the late 60

As strange as it sounds, the family became used to the phenomena, and the episodes became less intense. But events werent confined to the house. Shirley was sacked from her part-time job as a seamstress in Selfridges when scissors disappeared and she was forced to admit to managers she was the poltergeist girl. In 1964, the family moved to Latchmere Road, a 15-minute walk away, but still the activity continued.

It ruined my life, Shirley says. It took my teenage years. I was 21 before I could get anything near normality. And even then he interfered in my life. One boyfriend came to the house and was trying to goad Donald by saying things like, Come on, Donald, do your worst! But he fled after a bowl was tipped on to his head. Once, when she went out in a car with the man who would become her husband, she came home to find her mother sitting with written messages from Donald, saying what they had been up to together.

It ruined my life. I was 21 before I could get some normality

The last message came in 1968. Shirley was living in West Sussex with her husband and baby son and Donald would leave messages on the notepad she kept by the telephone, telling her what her parents were doing back in London. It was weird, yes, but for me it was normal. The note said he was leaving  and they never heard from him again. My mum went into mourning, Shirley says. Shed got to think of Donald like a son. But Dad and I were delighted.

Shirley today, age 80

But the tale doesnt end there. In the 1980s, a medium approached Shirley at a craft fair. She said Shirley was being followed by a little boy, in fancy dress  blue satin, and hes got red hair. Its a description Shirley recognised all too well. Chib had once given her a postcard featuring Louis Charles wearing a blue satin suit with red hair. And recently, at a psychic evening with her daughter, Shirley was given a message from a boy who said he was sorry for all hed done.

Do I think Donald was the dauphin? No, says Danny. But if he was a ghost, he was certainly messing with the Hitchings family.

Dr OKeeffe is similarly circumspect. If you take all of the witness testimonies at face value, there can only be one possible explanation for one or two of the phenomena, and thats something paranormal. The knocking at the beginning is convincing because it was witnessed by so many people, including the police.

But there are problems with eyewitness accounts, he says. Fear and sleep deprivation can make you think an object is moving by itself. We also cant discount that someone in the family, or Shirley herself, wrote the letters and wall messages.

A live show of The Battersea Poltergeist podcast began touring last week and includes new witnesses who have reported further poltergeist activity in the area where the house once stood. Its a Bermuda triangle of the paranormal, Danny chuckles.

Tonight the production will visit the Clapham Grand  situated just a mile away from Wycliffe Road  with Shirley as a special guest. For her it will have added poignancy. Itll be like Im finally taking Donald home, she says.

To buy tickets for The Battersea Poltergeist live shows, visit batterseapoltergeistlive.com. Uncanny, a Radio 4 podcast by Danny Robins about real-life ghost stories, is available on BBC Sounds
Its the age-old question: what happens to us when we die? Near-death survivors share the inexplicable mystery of their experiences with Jo Macfarlane

The doors of the train slammed shut, trapping David Ditchfields jacket between them. There was a moment of frustration as he tugged desperately at the material. Then, as the train began to move from the platform at Huntingdon station, forcing him to jog alongside, David realised with deepening horror that, with his jacket caught, hed shortly be dragged underneath the train. This, he thought, was how he was going to die.

But what followed was something far more startling and intense. For as he lay in hospital with horrifying injuries  the speed of the train and the pull of gravity had thrown him clear  he lost consciousness and had whats described as a near-death experience. All the noise of the room died out and the pain disappeared, the 61-year-old recalls today. There was silence, and stillness. I was in another world entirely.

Davids extraordinary experience echoes those of many others that have flummoxed scientists for decades. Together they pose the most tantalising question: is there life after death? For David, and thousands like him, the answer is almost certainly yes.

What David describes is as real for him today as it was when it happened in 2006. In fact, its the most real thing I have ever experienced. I was in this darkened, calm space, with all these beautiful orbs of colour flashing and pulsating around me, like landing lights on a runway. The colours were more intense than anything Id seen before.

There was a comforting presence beside him, a figure David felt hed known his whole life, and two others who used their hands to heal his physical and emotional wounds. It was like being surrounded by love  its the only way I can describe it. Somehow, I knew I was staring at the source of all creation.

It would be easy to dismiss it, as sceptics have, as an extraordinary dream brought on by extreme shock and the brains reaction to trauma. Except that Davids description of what he saw is not unique. Remarkably similar reports have been recorded for centuries, dating back to Greek and Roman times. And theres compelling evidence convincing scientists that these near-death experiences are proof that some form of consciousness may continue after the heart and the brain stop functioning.

I knew I was staring at the source of all creation

Studies from around the world suggest one in ten people who survive after their heart stops report a near-death experience. Some are out-of-body, where patients float above themselves, often in operating theatres. Others, like David, travel to an otherworldly realm and describe details that rarely vary, even across countries, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and different religious beliefs.

Some mention travelling towards a light, sometimes through a tunnel. Many have spoken to dead relatives or ethereal beings. As in Davids experience, many instinctively sense a higher power  which, they say, cant be described by language alone. Most also describe a sudden understanding of the world, a sense that everything is interconnected.

But there is always some kind of boundary  a door, bridge or river  which represents a point of no return. Cross through or over it and there is no going back. David had the sensation of being dragged back by an invisible force. I didnt want to come back, but it happened in an instant, like Id crashed through some invisible barrier.

At the time, David had never heard of near-death experiences. He woke in A&E, returning to shock and pain. He doesnt know whether his heart stopped  to this day, he hasnt asked medics how hard they had to battle to save his life. But, having been rushed into theatre, surgeons took skin grafts from his legs to rebuild his left arm. It had been sliced open, was badly fractured and the elbow dislocated. One finger had been torn off. He subsequently suffered terrible post-traumatic stress disorder and flashbacks of the accident.

Yet for David, as for many other survivors, what happened next when he returned to his normal life was as startling as the near-death experience itself. Some people report that technology or machinery starts to malfunction when they are around. Their watches stop working; lightbulbs blow when they flick a switch. At one conference on the subject in Texas, new microphones had to be bought when they stopped working on the day people whod had near-death experiences took to the stage (despite having functioned normally when doctors and scientists gave their presentations over preceding days). These are anecdotal reports and havent been replicated in trials, yet they seem to have no plausible explanation.

Outside these strange phenomena, people are also often changed in a more fundamental way. Many become more altruistic and care less about money. Some give up their jobs to pursue charity work.

For David, a tradesman, who had been dependent on alcohol, it led to sobriety. He began writing orchestral music, despite having never learned to play an instrument, and his compositions have been performed by the Chamber Orchestra of St Ives. I realised, looking back on my life, that it was linear, just living on the surface, he says. Id just skim over adversity. But now I know death isnt the end, it all feels so much more three-dimensional. I live far more in the moment and appreciate the small things. When I lost my mother 18 months ago, I told her, Youre going to love where youre going now. It was a huge comfort.

For Zoe Chapman, 36, from North London, a near-death experience also had a galvanising effect on her life. She remembers everything going black when there were complications following the birth of her son Mayson, now nine. I just saw this tunnel, with a bright light at the end, she says. It was dark and calm and I thought I must be dead. There was no connection to anything physical, as if I was leaving myself behind. I knew I could go towards the light if I wanted to, but I didnt. Then I heard Mayson cry. It was like a shot of adrenalin, and it brought me back.

Zoe (who recently invented the Whizzer, a portable toilet for children) had mental-health struggles and had previously attempted suicide. But she says: I was given the option to die and I didnt take it. It has changed everything. My bond with Mayson is so strong.

The number of reported near-death experiences has increased as medicine has advanced; quite simply, more people are being brought back from the brink of death. Dr Bruce Greyson, a professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioural sciences at the University of West Virginia, has studied them for 50 years.

The experience that first piqued his interest involved a young student who had attempted suicide. She had been unconscious when he visited her, but the next day she not only recognised him, but recounted a conversation hed had with her friend in a separate room down the hall.

She also asked what hed spilt down his tie  moments before being called to the ward, hed dropped spaghetti on it, and covered it up with a white coat. Since that encounter, he has documented hundreds more and has spent his career studying the phenomenon.

One man having a heart bypass reported floating above his body and watching his surgeon flapping like a chicken. The doctor had trained in a technique that involved placing his sterile hands on his apron and using his elbows to instruct the theatre team. Another man was perplexed to meet his sister and his long-dead parents in the beyond. On waking, he found out she had died, without his knowledge, the previous week.

Whats happening is either fundamental to our biology, or fundamental to something else that we cant yet explain, says Dr Greyson. The only differences, across all cultures, lie in how we describe these events. Some talk of tunnels, but in less-developed countries where tunnels are rare, people might describe the mouth of a flower, a well or a cave. The basic idea is the same.

Dr Greyson is among a group of scientists who have tried to find a biological explanation for near-death experiences. Some suggest its the dying brain releasing a rush of endorphins, which creates a sense of peace and wellbeing. Studies of dying rats have shown their brain activity spikes just before they die, although this hasnt been reproduced in humans. If damage occurs to the brains temporal parietal junction  which assembles data from our senses to create our perception of our body  it could induce an out-of-body sensation. Other possibilities include a lack of oxygen causing hallucinations, or too much carbon dioxide affecting vision, creating a tunnel effect. But crucially, Dr Greyson admits, science cant yet fully explain the phenomenon.

Near-death experiences have been reported in people attached to hospital monitors, which proves they werent lacking in oxygen. And out-of-body experiences also occur when brain data indicates no activity at all. Dr Penny Sartori, a former intensive care nurse who has researched near-death experiences at the University of Wales, Lampeter, says some people bring back information they could not have known. One patient had a message for a living relative, she says. That relative was astounded as shed gone to great lengths to keep the information secret.

American neurosurgeon Eben Alexander, who had his own near-death experience when in a medically induced coma with meningitis in 2008, described travelling through spiritual realms with a female guide. He reported this guide as having a beautiful face, with gorgeous clear blue eyes.

He was inspired to research his birth family after being adopted as a baby, and learned a biological sister, Betsy, had died ten years previously. When a surviving sister, Kathy, sent him a photograph of Betsy, Eben was stunned: she was unmistakably the blue-eyed woman who had been his spirit guide.

Dr Greyson admits a lot of these questions are not going to be answered by our logic and our science. A recent international experiment put image cards on high shelves in hospitals, only visible if patients truly floated out of their bodies. Ten per cent reported a near-death experience but none saw the images.

Im fairly well convinced now that there is something non-physical about us that is able to separate from the physical body during a near-death experience, Dr Greyson says. Ive seen enough evidence suggesting that we continue after death.

Yet neither Dr Greyson nor Dr Sartori is religious. Whether we survive death has nothing to do with whether theres a god, says Dr Greyson. Its something more fundamental about what it means to be human, they explain, and whether consciousness exists separately from our brain  rather than being created by it.

In fact, those who had faith beforehand often tend to abandon it, as their experience doesnt tally with any organised religion.

There is, however, a darker side. Some struggle to reconcile their experience with the world, or feel disbelieved and unsupported. There are high rates of divorce and depression. Not every experience is uplifting, either: some report a distressing hell-like realm.

People perceive theres something wrong with them, or it happened because theyre somehow a bad person, Dr Sartori explains. Thats not true. It could simply be these people are clinging on to life and fighting and resisting the experience.

Gigi Strehler, who runs a support group, Near Death Experience UK, was one of five per cent to experience the void  a realm of almost total darkness. In 2011 she was rushed to hospital with internal bleeding.

She received several blood transfusions and went into cardiac arrest. It was total darkness, total silence, total nothingness, she said. A doorway between life and death  a sort of purgatory.

But it yielded some profound revelations. I experienced my life through everyone elses encounter with me, she says. I now know the only judgment comes not from some higher being but from how you feel about yourself. Coming back from that is hard. You realise that every interaction has meaning, which is partly why people who have had near-death experiences become nicer people.

Gigi also developed photosensitivity and had to wear sunglasses to drive at night. The grass was the greenest green you could imagine. Others report sensitivity to sound, she says, or that they can sense auras around people  these are lawyers, doctors, bus drivers, who havent exactly spent their lives aligning their chakras.

Gigis support group now has around 700 members worldwide. People think we sit around going, Oh, I went down this tunnel of light and saw Grandma. But were actually asking, What is this reality. What is consciousness? How could I have had this awareness when I was technically dead?

In some cases, people are physically different afterwards. Dr Sartori recalls a man who was suffering from sepsis following cancer surgery. Unconscious, he later described floating above his body and speaking to his father. He also accurately recounted what Dr Sartori did in the room. On waking, his right hand, frozen into a claw-like position since birth, was now normal. It defies explanation, Dr Sartori says.

People have reported being healed of illnesses, including cancer. They are largely dismissed as coincidences. But Dr Sartori suggests: Perhaps a near-death experience is such a powerful thing in the mind that it overwrites other programmes we have running. If we could learn more, we could come up with a way to harness it  it could revolutionise how we treat other problems.

For now, there are no easy answers. Am I 100 per cent sure near-death experiences are real? No, Dr Greyson says. Maybe theres some data we havent seen yet that will change our minds. But when I started out I thought death was the end. Now, I believe the likely scenario is that it is not.

Shine On by David Ditchfield is published by O-Books, 13.99. After by Dr Bruce Greyson is published by Transworld, 16.99. To order copies of Shine on for 11.89 and After for 14.44 until 14 November, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over 20
LV's boss will pick up a bumper pay package if its sale to US private equity goes through, the chairman admitted.

Alan Cook told MPs that there would 'undoubtedly' be a 'long-term financial incentive' for the mutual insurer's chief executive Mark Hartigan from the 530milllion takeover by Bain Capital.

Cook and Hartigan were also accused by the chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Mutuals of having a 'massive conflict of interest' in the deal to sell LV, Britain's second largest mutual.

Writing on the wall: Alan Cook told MPs that there would 'undoubtedly' be a 'long-term financial incentive' for the mutual insurer's chief executive Mark Hartigan from the takeover

The Mail revealed last week that Hartigan, 58, who joined in January 2020 shortly before hiring advisers to find a buyer, is planning to stay as chief executive. Although he has not signed a contract, the former Army colonel is set to be handed a stake in LV if he clings on.

The terms of his salary would also likely be higher under private equity ownership. Last year, Hartigan was paid 1.2million.

Cook, 67, was grilled by MPs for more than an hour about why he backed the deal over a similar offer by fellow mutual Royal London. He admitted Hartigan is in line for a huge payday if he is kept on after the sale.

Cook told MPs: 'Undoubtedly, there will be some form of long-term incentive for Mr Hartigan that in some way would be linked to the future financial success of the business.' The sale will see one of Britain's oldest financial institutions, formerly Liverpool Victoria, fall into American hands.

It will also bring to an end LV's cherished status as a mutual some 178 years after it was set up to give poorer residents of Liverpool a chance to hold a funeral for their loved ones.

LV's 1.16million members will be asked to vote on the deal next month. Its constitution requires 75 per cent approval and a 50 per cent turnout for the deal to pass, but Cook admitted this would be 'frankly impossible.'

So bosses are planning a rule change branded 'reprehensible' by Lord Heseltine to drop the turnout requirement, potentially forcing through the deal with a minority of members voting. LV bosses turned down a merger with fellow mutual Royal London  opting for a sale to Bain Capital instead. The deal with the US group allowed Cook to keep his 205,000 a year job.

Gareth Thomas MP, chairman of the Parliamentary group, said the Bain Capital deal was 'dodgy' and members were better off as part of a mutual. He told the Mail: 'Alan Cook himself admitted members would have had at least the same benefits if they had taken the Royal London offer.

'The only major difference between the deal with Bain and the offer from Royal London is that Mr Cook and Mr Hartigan will stay on the board earning very large sums of money.

'There is a massive conflict of interest that the two people set to benefit most from the sale of LV are leading all the negotiations about its future. Bain will be laughing all the way back to Wall Street about just how good of a deal they have done.'

Peter Hunt of mutual advocacy organisation Mutuo said there is 'so much money' to be made out of the deal. He told the Mail: 'I wouldn't be surprised if some of the leaders walked away with shares worth 10million, or something like that, individually.'

Cook said he had received 'no bonuses or incentives' as part of the deal.

A spokesman for LV said there had been 'no firm decisions' around the role of the chief executive and there would not be until the deal was complete.

The spokesman said: 'Given the significant opportunity and long-term future for LV under Bain Capital's ownership, the present CEO [Hartigan] would like to be included in the exciting journey ahead.

'However, his continued focus is to ensure all of our members have the information they need ahead of the vote, and to conclude a successful transaction.'
Natwest is banking on a much lower fine than expected for its involvement in a money laundering case.

The lender pleaded guilty to failures in its anti-money-laundering controls at Westminster Magistrates' Court this month.

Banking on it: Natwest is hoping the 340million fine called for by the FCA will be reduced by at least a third because it pleaded guilty

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)  which brought the case  called for a 340million fine.

But the bank has set just 254million aside in the third quarter of this year to cover central litigation costs  and this includes provisions for a number of other cases too.

It is understood that Natwest, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, is hoping the 340million fine called for by the FCA will be reduced by at least a third because it pleaded guilty.

The ultimate penalty will be decided by a judge in a sentencing hearing on December 13.

Natwest pleaded guilty to failing to monitor or prevent suspect activity by one of its clients, collapsed Bradford-based gold dealership Fowler Oldfield, between 2012 and 2016.

The business deposited about 365million in its Natwest accounts over five years  of which 264million was in bags of cash  but the bank's staff failed to raise any concerns, despite the fact that Fowler Oldfield had said it only expected to make 15million per year.
Private equity has for once failed to get its hands on a UK-based business.

Superyacht painting and repairs company GYG had been in discussion with Harwood Capital over a 43million takeover  but the London-based investor has decided to walk away.

Staying afloat: Superyacht painting and repairs company GYG had been in discussion with Harwood Capital over a 43m takeover

GYG said it agreed with Harwood's decision that now was 'not the appropriate time to progress a potential offer'. But sources close to both companies said Harwood could be back with a revised offer at a later date.

Harwood is GYG's second-biggest shareholder with 20.5 per cent of shares. A spokesman for the private equity firm said: 'Harwood is disappointed to announce that it is no longer considering making an offer for GYG and has ended talks with its board of directors.'

GYG's revenues fell 12 per cent to 29million last year due to the pandemic, tipping the business from an 87,000 profit into a 430,000 loss.

But the superyacht industry has been picking up recently. With flights still disrupted, the superrich are taking holidays on their superyachts  and need them spruced up.
Plans to break up Shell suffered a setback as a leading investor rejected the idea.

Abrdn, formerly Standard Life Aberdeen, said the calls from hedge fund Third Point for the energy giant to be split up were too complicated and unlikely to add value.

Iain Pyle, a fund manager at Abrdn, said breaking up Shell might look like an 'interesting proposition' on a spreadsheet but would be hard to do because of its 'integrated operations.'

A sure sign: Third Point wrote to investors claiming Shell was trying to be 'all things to all people' by attempting to turn into a renewable energy group

He said: 'Just because Third Point says it makes compelling financial logic doesn't mean it will happen.'

Third Point, led by Daniel Loeb, wrote to investors earlier this week claiming Shell was trying to be 'all things to all people' by attempting to turn into a renewable energy group.

Third Point called for the group to be broken up into 'multiple standalone companies,' separating its oil and gas operations and renewable energy arms. Pyle agreed with the hedge fund's view that there was 'hidden value' in Shell that was not being recognised by the market. But splitting it could destroy the benefits of its integrated business model, he added.

Shell boss Ben van Beurden hit back at Loeb yesterday, saying he has always maintained that the only way to fund the company's switch to green energy is to continue its oil and gas operations.
She said she is the 'happiest I've ever been' in her new relationship

Sainsbury is waiting on a judge's decision to be able to return home to Oz

The pair plan to marry early next year and live between Colombia and Australia

'Cocaine Cassie' Sainsbury has opened up about her fresh engagement to her female lover Tatiana as she prepares to return to Australia after four long years locked up in a Colombian prison.

Exclusive new pictures show a loved-up Sainsbury hand-in-hand with Tatiana, a 33-year-old computer technician from Bogota, who she met through mutual friends on May 26 this year.

The pair have plans to marry in Colombia in March next year and live between there and Australia once Sainsbury is able to return to her home country.

Sainsbury spent three years in Bogota's El Buen Pastor prison after she was convicted for smuggling 5.8kg of cocaine into the country in April 2017.

She is unable to return home as she completes the remainder of her sentence on parole while living in an apartment in Chapinero, a suburb of the Colombian capital.

'It was a really unexpected relationship,' Sainsbury told Daily Mail Australia from Bogota.

'We had shared a group of friends and one night we went out for a birthday and we literally hit it off.'

'It was a really unexpected relationship,' Cassie Sainsbury told Daily Mail Australia of her engagement to Tatiana (left), a 33-year-old computer technician

The pair met through mutual friends while attending a birthday party. 'We literally hit it off,' Sainsbury said

Tatiana surprised Sainsbury by proposing to her during a getaway to Cartagena on the Colombian coast

After a short romance, Sainsbury said Tatiana further surprised her by proposing to her during a getaway to Cartagena on the Colombian coast this month.

'She put a ring on it!' Sainsbury said of the engagement. 'She'd been planning for a while trying to find a ring that she thought was perfect for me and in the end she found it.

'She took me to Cartagena and organised a small, romantic dinner at a cosy little restaurant on the beachfront. She asked me to marry her there.'

In July this year Sainsbury told Daily Mail Australia her new lover was unaware of her past and why she had been headline news in Australia, but that has now changed.

'I shared everything with her about everything,' she revealed.

'Basically [Tatiana] said she wasn't going to judge me on my past, she was really mature about the whole situation.

'I feel like I'm the happiest I've ever been. It's nice to feel like I can be myself with no judgement from someone who is always there for me.'

'Tatiana said she wasn't going to judge me on my past, she was really mature about the whole situation,' Sainsbury said of telling her lover about her criminal past

The pair have plans to marry in Colombia in March next year and live between there and Australia, once Sainsbury is able to return to her home country

'She'd been planning for a while trying to find a ring that she thought was perfect for me and in the end she found it,' Sainsbury said of Tatiana's marriage proposal

Sainsbury said she wants to return to her hometown of Adelaide as soon as possible but delays in the Colombian legal system caused by the incursion of Covid-19 into the country mean she is still waiting on the decision of a judge before she is allowed to return home.

'We'll get married and then the plan is to go back home for a while, sort things out there, see my family and then make a decision about what the big plan will be.

'She's never been to Australia.

'We'll probably end up between Australia and Colombia because obviously her family is here so it will be like, some time here, some time there type of thing.'

Sainsbury, whose Australian accent has been transformed by a Latin lilt after her four-and-a-half years in Colombia, has undergone many changes since her arrest in April 2017 when cocaine packaged inside 18 headphone boxes was found in her suitcase.

Her preference for serious relationships with women, rather than men, is one such change.

Sainsbury became engaged to a fellow female inmate, Joli Pico, while in prison, before her current relationship with Tatiana once she'd been released.

'It has always been something there,' she said of her attraction to women. 'I had relationships like that [in Australia]... but not as serious.'

Sainsbury's plan to return to Australia is waiting on the decision of a Colombian judge about when she will be allowed to travel out of the country

'I want to move forward but trust me there are still days where I ask myself, 'why me?''

Sainsbury said the lowest point of her whole ordeal since she was first arrested was when she became seriously ill with bacteria in her stomach while inside El Buen Pastor prison.

'When I became sick I was taken out of prison into hospital and that is what saved me.'

While in prison she was locked in a two-metre by two-metre cell with up to five other inmates and says she still has nightmares about it.

Sainsbury said she is focused on putting her past behind her rather than trying to prove the claims she made in a 60 Minutes program in April 2020 that pressure from a Brazilian drug lord had caused her to undertake the cocaine smuggling mission.

She claimed back then that a mysterious man named 'Angelo Sanchez' allegedly threatened to kill her mother and then-boyfriend, Scott Broadbridge, unless she committed the crime.

'I want to move forward but trust me there are still days where I ask myself, "why me?"'

Sainsbury said the perception of her by Australians does affect her. 'I'm not sure what to expect, to be honest,' she said of returning to her home country

'I feel like if I keep trying to bring up the past, I'm never going to be able to move forward. I just want to be able to put all this behind me and live a normal life, Sainsbury said, pictured above at the time of her arrest in Colombia in April 2017

'I feel like if I keep trying to bring up the past, I'm never going to be able to move forward. I just want to be able to put all this behind me and live a normal life.'

But Sainsbury said she does take note of the perceptions Australians have about her.

'I still care. Believe it or not, the comments people make obviously affect me,' she confessed.

'I try not to let it affect me too much, I know there are a lot of mixed opinions about me. I can't tell someone not to have their own opinion.'

She said she is concerned about whether she will be able to readjust to life in Australia, where she has said she wishes to establish a personal training business and is open to reality television offers.

'I'm not sure what to expect, to be honest.'

A love of Colombian culture and people was one of the positive things to come from her experience since she'd been out of prison, Sainsbury said.

'Through everything I went through, I learnt to take the best out of the experience I could... meeting new people, maturing, learning more about myself.

'To make it feel like it was not a complete loss of time, using what I learnt from the experience to become the person I've become.'
Karlla Araujo, 28, posted video of the incident online to warn other parents

Her father, Cleyton Alves Pinto, 38, heard her spashing and jumped in to save her

A 14-month-old toddler called Bella almost drowned by falling in a pool in Brazil

This is the nightmare moment a toddler almost drowned when she climbed into a family's swimming pool.

Footage shows father Cleyton Alves Pinto, 38, leaping into the pool in Matrincha, Goias, Brazil, to pull 14-month-old Bella out of the water.

Bella's mother Karlla Araujo, 28, who is a baker, said she only realised what was happening when she heard Cleyton screaming.

Footage shows the toddler, dressed in a white top and a nappy, tentatively dipping her foot in the swimming pool before falling in.

Unable to swim, she starts thrashing her arms in the water, which alerted her father, who leapt from his hammock and jumped in to save his daughter.

The scare was caught on the family's CCTV, which Karlla recently shared online.

Karlla said it all happened 'very fast'. 'I just heard my husband screaming,' she told Crescer.

She said: 'When I got there, she was calm, not crying, just her heart racing.'

She said she didn't think the toddler had swallowed much water.

Karlla said she and her husband Cleyton Alves Pinto, 38, a farmer and tradesman, had spent the day by the pool with their two children, Bella and Miguel, 5.

Bella, a 14-month-old toddler was saved by her father, Cleyton Alves Pinto, 38, when he heard the sound of her arms thrashing in their swimming pool

He jumped into the pool where his toddler was floating face down in the water and rescued her

The 14-month-old toddler fell into the pool as her five-year-old brother sat reading at their home in Matrincha, Brazil

Once she fell in she was unable to heave herself out of the swimming pool, in footage recently shared online by her mother

A sudden gale surprised the family and they went inside to shelter from the wind and rain. Karlla changed her daughter's wet clothes and she rejoined her father, who was sitting on a hammock.

She said Cleyton didn't realise Bella had returned and so wasn't paying attention to her movements.

She added he was waiting for the rain to ease before putting a cover on the pool.

Cleyton Alves Pinto, 38, his wife, Karlla Araujo, 28, with their children Miguel, 5, and Bella, who is 14 months old

The family pose for a photo on Bella's first birthday (left). Karlla is a baker while her husband is an farmer and tradesman. They live in Matrincha, in central Brazil, around 250 miles west of Brasilia

Karlla Araujo's 14-month-old daughter Bella almost drowned in Matrincha when she climbed into the family swimming pool when her parents weren't looking

In the days after the incident on September 12 Karlla realised her daughter had become terrified of water and even became agitated when being washed in a bath.

She posted the video online to alert other families of the dangers of swimming pools and of always being aware even when risk seems low.

'God saved us from the worst but may this episode serve as a warning to all parents,' she said.
A woman who accused financer Jeffrey Epstein of sexually abused her has sued another Epstein accuser for defamation and cited a series of year-old tweets.

Rina Oh, 41, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court late Thursday and mentioned a series of tweets by fellow alleged Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, 38, who recently sued Prince Andrew with claims she was coerced into sexual encounters with him.

Giuffre has said she was one of many girls and young women sexually abused by Epstein and his ex-wife Ghislaine Maxwell in their years-long sex trafficking ring.

Oh said authorities, including the FBI, have agreed with her that she was, in fact, a young victim of Epstein's 20 years ago and not a co-conspirator or part of his inner circle - which Giuffre has been accused of being.

Rina Oh (left), 41, who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexually abusing her, has sued another Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre (right) for defamation late Thursday. Giuffre has said she was one of many girls and young women sexually abused by Epstein and his ex-wife Ghislaine Maxwell in their years-long sex trafficking ring

Oh cited a series of year-old tweets in the suit, which sought $20million in damages, where Giuffre said: 'Rina - if you read this I hope you live in shame for the rest of your life'

However, Giuffre asserted in a series of October 2020 tweets that Oh was Epstein's girlfriend and recruited girls for him to abuse.

'Rina - if you read this I hope you live in shame for the rest of your life,' said a portion of one tweet cited in the lawsuit.

It continued: 'You don't intimidate me any longer & the physical & mental scares you left me with should be enough to put your a** in jail.'

Another tweet suggested that Oh should be in prison next to Ghislaine Maxwell, who will go to trial in Manhattan in November.

The 59-year-old faces charges that she recruited teenage girls in the mid-1990s for Epstein to sexually abuse and then sex trafficked a teenage girl in the early 2000s. She has pleaded not guilty.

Another tweet cited in the lawsuit said Giuffre accused Oh, an artist from New Jersey, of leaving a six-inch scar on her leg from one of their encounters two decades ago.

'The sliced leg bleeding is exactly what she used to do to me, I have a six-inch scar on my left leg from her cutting me. I can let a lot of s**t go, but this I will never forget,' she tweeted before adding: '#PureEvil #LockHerUp' and tagging the FBI.

Ghislaine Maxwell (right), 59, faces charges that she recruited teenage girls in the mid-1990s for her then-husband Jeffrey Epstein (left) to sexually abuse and then sex trafficked a teenage girl in the early 2000s. She has pleaded not guilty

Oh alleged that nothing Giuffre tweeted was true and she 'has maliciously reiterated and republished these defamations and slanders in prior and subsequent tweets and interviews'

However, the lawsuit claimed that none of that was true and Giuffre 'has maliciously reiterated and republished these defamations and slanders in prior and subsequent tweets and interviews on podcasts, TV and for magazines, as well as in her memoirs entitled Billionaire's Playboy Club.

It added that the 'defamations and slanders' are causing Oh 'great harm,' including humiliation, shame, disgrace, mental anguish, loss of life enjoyment and anxiety and emotion distress,' according to the suit.

The lawsuit, which sought $20million in damages, was aiming at stopping what it called 'false and defamatory bile'.

Lawyers for Giuffre did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

The Associated Press does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse unless they decide to tell their stories publicly, as Oh has done in interviews and a podcast and Giuffre has done as well.
A grandmother is lucky to be alive after her roof collapsed on her as she lay in bed during Melbourne's wild storms.

Lola Wies, 93, was in the bedroom of her home in the bayside suburb of Chelsea when winds of up to 120km/h battered her property on Friday morning.

The dangerous weather caused debris to fall onto the Holocaust survivor.

Fortunately, Ms Weis was able to grab her mobile phone to alert her son Alex of what had just happened.

Alex quickly rushed to his mother's aid and was assisted by a neighbour as they bolted upstairs to rescue the elderly woman and remove the debris.

'The whole roof came down,' Mr Weis told 9NEWS.

'I went upstairs to get my mum and I don't know how she survived it's a miracle.'

Mr Weis added that his mother's entire bedroom was destroyed and that she luckily managed to avoid a near-catastrophe at the right moment.

Lola Wies, 93, was in the bedroom (pictured) of her home in the bayside Melbourne suburb of Chelsea when winds of up to 120km/h demolished the property on Friday morning

Debris from the collapsed roof also landed on the family's car parked in the driveway as well as power lines.

Miraculously, Ms Wies was able to walk away from the incident without any serious injuries.

'I can't believe she got out, but it's amazing. Somebody's looking after her,' Mr Wies said.

Ms Weis was able to grab her mobile phone to alert her son Alex (pictured) of what had just occurred and Alex and a neighbour quickly upstairs to the 93-year-old

The son added that his mother's neighbours all rushed over to her house and were very concerned and caring.

Ms Wies' home, which she has lived in for 40 years, will have to be pulled down.

Neighbouring homes that also felt the brunt of the damaging storm will have to be ripped down.

Ms Wies' home, which she has lived in for 40 years, will have to be pulled down (Pictured: Debris that landed on top of the family's car in the driveway)

More than 500,000 households in Victoria were left without power as soon as the storm hit, with over 300,000 homes still in the dark on Friday evening.

Electricians have been working around the clock to restore power, but electricity companies expect outages to continue until early next week.

The Victoria State Emergency Service had over 3,000 calls from worried residents asking for assistance.
Two transgender Netflix employees filed labor charges against the company claiming they were retaliated against for raising complaints about Dave Chappelle's controversial comedy special streaming on the platform.

B. Pagels-Minor and Terra Field are filing unfair labor practice charges, with the National Labor Relations Board, against Netflix. They claim the streaming platform tried to keep employees from speaking out about working conditions and Netflix's commitment to foster a safe environment.

Pagels-Minor, a program manager, was fired for allegedly leaking the multi-million dollar salary Chappelle earned for The Closer. Field, a software engineer, was one of three employees who was suspended for attempting to join a director-level meeting. They both identify as transgender.

Pagels-Minor, a black transgender person, has denied that they shared the confidential information that Netflix paid $24.1 million for The Closer. Field was reinstated in her position once she confirmed 'there was no ill-intent in my attending the QBR meeting'.

Chappelle has courted controversy with his jokes in The Closer in which he asserts 'gender is a fact,' and criticizes the trans community as thin-skinned.

B. Pagels-Minor (left) and Terra Field (right), who are both transgender, are filing unfair labor practice charges against Netflix alleging that the streaming platform retaliated against them for speaking out against Dave Chappelle's controversial comedy special The Closer

Chappelle continues to face backlash over the controversial contents of his latest Netflix special which critics say were transphobic

Netflix has continued to stand by Chappelle and his comedy special which was released on the streaming platform October 5

'This charge is not just about B. and Terra, and it's not about Dave. It's about trying to change the culture and having an impact for others,' attorney Laurie Burgess told The Verge.

'The charge is all about collective action. It's about supporting your coworkers and speaking up for things you care about.'

Pagels-Minor and Field filed the charge with the NLRB, which will investigate the allegations to determine if a settlement can be secured or a complaint can be issued.

If a settlement is secured, the two can be reinstated with backpay and the company will be forced to post a notice that workers are allowed to engage in protected activity.

Both of these outcomes are very important to the two.

Pagels-Minor is 35 weeks pregnant and lost their health insurance when they was fired.

'Amidst all the stress, I am trying to take one day at a time and focus on my health,' they said.

'As a high-risk pregnancy, I have to be careful. We don't even know what our health insurance situation is, and we are scheduled to be in a hospital having a baby in less than 30 days.'

Field filed for medical leave after being flooded with death threats and doxxing.

'This is what happens with trans people  we're tolerated as long as we're quiet, but if we speak up we get harassed,' she said.

'It has been a really stressful few weeks, but I intend to keep fighting for our community.'

Field openly criticized The Closer on Twitter, publishing a 40-tweet-long thread on Thursday last week, explaining the harm that comments made in the special would have on the trans community.

She also included a list of 38 trans and nonbinary men and women of color who she said had been killed, adding in each case that the victim 'is not offended.'

In Field's Twitter posts last week, she said that Dave Chappelle was being criticized not because his comments are offensive but for the harm they do to the trans community, especially black women.

Pagels-Minor, a black transgender person, said that while they were not behind the leak, they did confirm that they were pushing for 'change' at the company after sharing 'Black Trans Lives Matter' content with executives.

'I shared my story with Netflix content executives last year as a part of a conversation to facilitate more trans content on the platform. I wasnt the only one. Trans colleagues remained utterly professional as they also shared their stories,' wrote Pagels-Minor, who transitioned in 2014 after meeting their now-wife.

'We asked to be seen as equals. We asked them to recognize our stories, to see that we deserve a place on the platform. We felt vulnerable, but at least they heard us.'

Pagels-Minor added that the company did not consult with the internal Trans Employee Resource Group before releasing Chappelle's special, which they characterized as harmful.

Netflix employees staged a walk out on October 20 to protest Chappelle's comedy special

Activists gathered outside the company's offices on October 20 in support of the transgender community

'The release of Chappelles special, 'The Closer,' happened without consulting the Trans* Employee Resource Group (ERG), of which I was a member and co-leader.'

'The ERG might have recommended not releasing the special  but that if that wasnt an option, we could have offered other ways to minimize the harm it could do to our community and to the company.'

'But Netflix didn't ask for guidance, deeply miscalculating the impact of this inflammatory, inaccurate and dangerous content,' they continued.

Pagels-Minor had organized an employee walkout earlier this month at the company's Sunset Boulevard building following LGBTQ backlash against the comedian over controversial material he used in his Netflix comedy special, and by 7 pm that evening, they had been terminated from the company.

They also cited the ill-planned timing for Chappelle's Netflix special, which was released during LGBTQ+ history month and a day before the anniversary of the slaying of Matthew Shepard.

'The ERG could have suggested that the special not be released in October, during LGBTQ+ history month.

'Perhaps, they could have considered not doing it on October 5, the day before the anniversary of the brutal death of Matthew Shepard, the University of Wyoming student who was beaten, tortured and left to die near Laramie on the night of Oct. 6, 1998.'

The Closer was the third and last special Chappelle will produce for Netflix per his contract with the company. The Closer has scored 96 percent positive reviews from regular viewers on Rotten Tomatoes - but just 43 per cent from woke critics.

Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings told staff the firm was 'on the right side of history' for continuing to stream and promote Dave Chappelle's controversial comedy special The Closer.

A leaked transcript from an internal Netflix message board between company employees recorded disagreements about Chappelle's controversial comedy special.

Hastings told employees that Chappelle is 'a unique voice' as he defended the comedian who has come under fire for his defense of author J.K. Rowling and jokes a vocal few are calling transphobic.

Transgender employees were so upset by 'The Closer' and Netflix's stance that they joined Pagels-Minor in a staged walkout Wednesday.

When one employee asked if the company was 'making the wrong historical choice around hate speech' on the internal message board, Hastings replied 'To your macro question on being on the right side of history, we will always continue to reflect on the tensions between freedom and safety.

'I do believe that our commitment to artistic expression and pleasing our members is the right long term choice for Netflix, and that we are on the right side, but only time will tell,' according to The New York Times.

Netflix's co-chief executive Reed Hastings defended the platform's decision to continue streaming The Closer saying the company was 'on the right side of history'

Netflix's other co-chief executive, Ted Sarandos, has also defended the special noting the trans community's concerns while insisting 'that content on screen doesn't directly translate to real-world harm'

He also noted that Chappelle is popular with viewers, citing the 'stickiness' of his most recent special.

Hastings wrote: 'The core strategy is to please our members.'

'In stand-up comedy, comedians say lots of outrageous things for effect. Some people like the art form, or at least particular comedians, and others do not.'

Another employee claimed that the famous comedian had a history of homophobia and bigotry.

Hastings replied: 'We disagree with your characterization and we'll continue to work with Dave Chappelle in the future.

'We see him as a unique voice, but can understand if you or others never want to watch his show.'

He continued: 'We do not see Dave Chappelle as harmful, or in need of any offset, which we obviously and respectfully disagree on.'

Hannah Gadsby calls out Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos for defending Dave Chappelle The Australian lesbian comedian dragged Sarandos on Instagram: 'Hey Ted Sarandos! Just a quick note to let you know that I would prefer if you didnt drag my name into your mess. Now I have to deal with even more of the hate and anger that Dave Chappelles fans like to unleash on me every time Dave gets 20 million dollars to process his emotionally stunted partial world view. You didnt pay me nearly enough to deal with the real world consequences of the hate speech dog whistling you refuse to acknowledge, Ted. F**k you and your amoral algorithm cult... I do s**ts with more back bone than you. That's just a joke! I definitely didn't cross a line because you just told the world there isn't one.' Advertisement

This comes as Hastings' fellow co-chief executive, Ted Sarandos, was dragged by Australian lesbian comedian Hannah Gadsby after he used her comedy specials as examples of the streaming platform's efforts for inclusivity as he defended Chappelle and his comedy special.

Sarandos said that Netflix 'was working hard to ensure marginalized communities arent defined by a single story' specifically noting 'we have Sex Education, Orange Is the New Black, Control Z, Hannah Gadsby and Dave Chappelle all on Netflix. Key to this is increasing diversity on the content team itself.'

Gadsby, who has two comedy specials on Netflix, rose to fame after her first special Nanette began streaming on Netflix in 2018.

She posted on Instagram asking Sarandos not to 'drag [her] name into [his] mess.'

'F**k you and your amoral algorithm cult...' she wrote.

Sarandos addressed staff anger over Netflix's decision to stream The Closer in a company wide email.

'We know that a number of you have been left angry, disappointed and hurt by our decision to put Dave Chappelle's latest special on Netflix,' Sarandos wrote in the email, obtained by Variety.

'With 'The Closer,' we understand that the concern is not about offensive-to-some content but titles which could increase real world harm (such as further marginalizing already marginalized groups, hate, violence etc.)

'Last year, we heard similar concerns about 365 Days and violence against women. While some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn't directly translate to real-world harm,' he continued.
Six New York City firefighters angry with the city's COVID vaccine mandate were suspended after they drove a fire truck to a state senator's office and threatened his staff over the requirement - which the state lawmaker had nothing to do with.

State Senator Zellnor Myrie said firefighters from Ladder 113 in Brooklyn parked an in-service fire truck outside his office Friday morning and confronted one of his staff members about the mandate, suggesting the lawmaker and his staff would have 'blood on their hands' due to staffing shortages and longer response times.

The group of firefighters also allegedly pressed the staff member to divulge where Myrie lived, the 34-year-old Democrat told The Associated Press, and said that if a fire was reported at Myrie's home, they would not respond.

'I am outraged,' Myrie said, according to NBC 4. 'One, that on duty officers who were supposed to be focused on keeping us safe and responding to emergencies would attempt to use their uniforms and their fire truck to intimidate my staff.

'And secondly, it is disturbing that they would approach a state elected official for a city mandate and would, I think, offer veiled threats about my own safety by asking where I live personally.'

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie (pictured) said firefighters came to his Brooklyn office and harassed his staff members over the city's vaccine mandate

The firefighters, from Ladder 113 (pictured) have since been suspended

He said he found the incident 'incredibly disturbing, highly inappropriate and not at all' what firefighters should be focused on, and was encouraged that the fire department took swift action to pull them from duty, noting that his staff was shaken up for hours after the incident.

'If you are asking for my personal whereabouts and you follow it with blood being on the governments hands for a vaccine mandate, any objective observer is going to connect those two and receive them as a threat,' Myrie said. 'I believe my staff did receive it as such and I think its highly inappropriate.'

Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro swiftly condemned the firefighters' actions and suspended them for four weeks without pay.

'This is a highly inappropriate act by on duty members of this Department who should only be concerned with responding to emergencies and helping New Yorkers and not harassing an elected official and his staff,' Nigro said. 'The members in question have been immediately relieved of duty and will face disciplinary action.'

Even after a surge in vaccines before the mandate's deadline on Friday 10,951 firefighters; about 36,000 cops; and 10,000 emergency responders - around 4,300 of whom are employed by the fire department - have yet to get jabbed

The alarming confrontation came as the nation's largest city braced for the possibility of closed firehouses, fewer police and ambulances, mounting trash and other disruptions come Monday as thousands of municipal workers remain unwilling to get the shots.

Figures show that 22 per cent of the city's 36,000 cops, 35 per cent of the Big Apple's 10,951 firefighters and 20 per cent of the city's 10,000 emergency responders - around 4,300 of whom are employed by the fire department -had yet to get jabbed as of Thursday.

Close to a quarter - 23 per cent - of the city's 7,200 uniformed sanitation workers remain unvaccinated, with the figures sparking fears of huge shortages of essential workers in the coming weeks. Trash bags have begun to accumulate in piles in Staten Island and Brooklyn, amid claims the slowdown is an unofficial protest at the vaccine mandate.

However, there was a surge in vaccination rates among Manhattan's public employees on Friday in a last-ditch effort to stay on payroll.

According to the Post, the FDNY saw firefighters' vaccination rate rise from 67 percent Friday morning to 72 percent by the end of the day.

The Emergency Medical Service (EMS) - which is part of the FDNY - saw a spike to 84 percent - up from 77 percent.

The vaccine deadline officially expired at 5pm Friday, with anyone showing proof of one shot before then receiving a $500 bonus. But workers were allowed to get the shot on Saturday and Sunday, and won't be put on unpaid leave if they show up to work with proof of inoculation on Monday.

FDNY union members, municipal workers and other demonstrators protested against the city's COVID-19 mandate, which went into effect on Friday night

The city workers faced a 5pm Friday deadline to get the shot or be suspended

Any worker who does not comply will be put on unpaid leave starting Monday

Nearly one-fifth of city employees covered by the impending mandate have yet to receive at least one vaccine dose as of Thursday, including 29 percent of firefighters and EMS workers

The firefighter's actions at Myrie's office were a dramatic escalation of tensions between the citys unvaccinated rank-and-file and Mayor Bill de Blasios administration, which has held firm on the deadline amid protests and a legal challenge.

Hundreds of firefighters rallied Thursday outside the mayors official residence, sanitation workers appeared to be skipping garbage pick ups in protest and the city's largest police union went to an appeals court seeking a halt to the vaccine requirement.

Several fire department companies in New York City were also reportedly without service on Friday, as many officers called in sick, and at least 10 companies had to be completely shut down due to understaffing, according to FOX News.

'The sick leave by a group of our firefighters because of their anger at the vaccine mandate for all city employees is unacceptable, contrary to their oaths to serve and may endanger the lives of New Yorkers,' Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement.

'Despite these actions by some, the department will continue to respond to all calls for help that come our way.'

The fire department said it was prepared to close up to 20 percent of its fire companies and have 20 percent fewer ambulances in service while changing schedules, canceling vacations and turning to outside EMS providers to make up for expected staffing shortages.

More than 1,000 FDNY personnel have already applied for religious exemptions to the vaccine, and will be able to continue on the job with weekly COVID testing as their respective Equal Employment Officers review the claims.

And as of Friday, FDNY officials were expecting that at least six firehouses throughout the five boroughs.

'As we have said from the beginning, the NYC department is already in a staffing crisis,' Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters' Association warned on Friday, according to FOX 5 News.

'For the mayor to turn around and say we can run this department with 25 to 35 percent less members is ignoring the fact that we can't even keep firehouses open today. New York City is going to come to a crisis Monday morning.'

He added that longer response times will be 'a death sentence to some people.'

Mayor Bill de Blasio, however, said on Thursday that the city has contingencies to maintain adequate staffing and public safety - including enacting mandatory overtime and extra shifts, tools he said have previously been used 'in times of challenging crises.'

'My job is to keep people safe - my employees and 8.8 million people,' he said. 'And until we defeat COVID, people are not safe. If we don't stop COVID, New Yorkers will die.'

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday that the city has contingency plans to maintain adequate staffing and keep the public safe

Meanwhile, a 7-year-old boy died early Saturday morning and his grandmother was clinging to life at a local hospital, after a fire blazed through their basement apartment in Washington Heights.

The fire started at about 1.30am inside a rear basement apartment, officials said, and more than 70 firefighters arrived on the scene within four minutes and quickly extinguished the fire.

Video obtained by WLNY shows the block was enveloped in smoke by the time firetrucks arrived on the scene. It appeared to be coming from the basement.

While on the scene, firefighters said they found 7-year-old Robert Resto, hiding under a bed inside the apartment and suffering from severe burns. He died at the scene.

The boy's 54-year-old grandmother was also taken to Jacobi Hospital, where she was treated for smoke inhalation and was in serious condition on Saturday morning, according to the New York Daily News.

And another three of the boys' family members and a firefighters suffered from minor injuries.

Fire marshals are now investigating the cause of the early-morning fire and said that Ladder 45 - the first company to respond to the fire Saturday morning - was not affected by the widespread sickouts.

In fact, officials said, the ladder rescued two other people from another fire Friday afternoon.
Prince Andrew has fired back at a woman's 'frivolous' sex-assault lawsuit claiming she's just out for a 'payday' in a shock motion he filed to dismiss the claims on Friday, which also accused her of helping Ghislaine Maxwell in her sex trafficking ring with Jeffrey Epstein.

Virginia Giuffre, 38, is being slammed by the prince for her supposed false accusations that the Duke of York sexually abused her three times back in 2001 when she was just 17 years old - more than two decades ago.

In court documents filed in US District Court in Manhattan today - which was the court-imposed deadline for the prince to respond to Giuffre's suit - Andrew, 61, urged a US judge to dismiss her lawsuit, calling the claims 'baseless' in an effort to 'achieve another payday'.

The prince also cited a damning story published in the New York Daily News in 2015 that revealed 'Giuffre also was trained to and did, in fact, recruit other young women into Epsteins sex trafficking ring'.

Prince Andrew (left) has fired back at a Virginia Giuffre's (right) 'frivolous' sex-assault lawsuit claiming she's just out for a 'payday' in a shock motion he filed to dismiss the claims on Friday. Giuffre, 38, has accused the Duke of York of sexually abusing her three times back in 2001 when she was just 17 years old - more than two decades ago

Prince Andrew fiercely denied Giuffre's claims in the motion he filed in US District Court in Manhattan on Friday. He called her claims 'baseless' in an effort to 'achieve another payday' before slamming Giuffre for her allegations against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

Giuffre (right with Andrew), one of Epstein's most vocal accusers, claimed that she was forced into sex with Andrew. She has long claimed that she was a victim of his sex trafficking ring throughout the early 2000s when she was a teenager (Ghislaine pictured right)

One of Giuffre's ex-lovers who would drive her to Epstein's Palm Beach mansion told the news site: 'She was like head b****.

'Shed have like nine or 10 girls she used to bring to him. She never looked like she was being held captive... She and the other girls would walk out of there smiling, with their little bathing suits on, like they had just come from the beach. Shed have like four grand.

'And then Id take them all to the mall and theyd get their nails done.'

When Giuffre was in the middle of settling a lawsuit with Epstein in March 2015 former friends even claimed that despite her accusations that the financier was keeping her as a sex slave, she was actually more of a 'money-hungry sex kitten' who enjoyed the lavish lifestyle.

But Giuffre has long insisted otherwise and has been one of Epstein's most outspoken accusers, claiming that she was a victim of his sex trafficking ring throughout the early 2000s when she was a teenager.

Now she's alleging that around the same time she was also forced into sex with Andrew at Maxwell's London townhouse, sex pest Jeffrey Epstein's mansion in Manhattan and one of Epstein's private villas in the Virgin Islands.

Andrew said in response: 'Virginia Giuffre may well be a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein...and nothing can excuse, nor fully capture, the abhorrence and gravity of Epsteins monstrous behavior against Giuffre, if so.'

He added: 'However, and without diminishing the harm suffered as a results of Epsteins alleged misconduct, Prince Andrew never sexually abused or assaulted Giuffre.

'He unequivocally denies Giuffres false allegations against him.'

The prince has also accused Giuffre of helping Ghislaine Maxwell in her sex trafficking ring with Jeffrey Epstein (left). The motion to dismiss Giuffre's claims cited a damning story published in the New York Daily News in 2015 that revealed 'Giuffre also was trained to and did, in fact, recruit other young women into Epsteins sex trafficking ring'

Epstein (left) died by suicide in August 2019 while being held in jail as he faced sex trafficking charges. His partner Ghislaine (right), 59, is being held at the Manhattan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, and has pleaded not guilty for her role in the sex ring

The court documents went on to point out that 'for over a decade, Giuffre has profited from her allegations against Epstein and others by selling stories and photographs to the press and entering into secret agreements to resolve her claims against her alleged abusers, including Epstein and his ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell'.

Although it is unclear how much money she received through a settlement with the Epstein Victims Compensation Fund (EVFF), the compensation was reportedly worth more than $121million.

'Epsteins abuse of Giuffre does not justify her public campaign against Prince Andrew,' the motion read, adding that her 'pattern of filing a series of lawsuits against numerous high-profile individuals should no longer be tolerated, as it continues to irreparably harm many innocent people'.

'Most people could only dream of obtaining the sums of money that Giuffre has secured for herself over the years,' Andrew claimed, noting that the money could serve as a 'compelling motive for Giuffre to continue filing frivolous lawsuits against individuals such as Prince Andrew'.

The court documents also said that Giueffre has created 'a media frenzy' in the press, which has led 'sensationalism and innuendo (to) prevail over truth'.

Andrew (pictured in London last week) - the ninth in line for the British throne - was served the lawsuit back on August 27 at the Royal Lodge in Windsor. Giuffre's lawyer David Boies filed the case under New York's Child Victims Act

Although it is unclear how much money Giuffre (pictured leaving the US Federal Courthouse in NY in August 2019) received through a settlement with the Epstein Victims Compensation Fund (EVFF), the compensation was reportedly worth more than $121million

Andrew - the ninth in line for the British throne - was served the lawsuit back on August 27 at the Royal Lodge in Windsor. Giuffre's lawyer David Boies filed the case under New York's Child Victims Act.

Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 while being held in jail as he faced sex trafficking charges. He served 13 months in a Florida prison after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

His partner Ghislaine, 59, is being held at the Manhattan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, and has pleaded not guilty for her role in the sex ring.

She faces up to 80 years if convicted of the charges, which she has consistently denied. According to Andrew's motion in September 2015, when Giuffre sued Maxwell for defamation, 'Maxwell denied Giuffres allegations against her and publicly stated that Giuffre was not a credible source or an honest person'.

'The parties reached a settlement in 2017, pursuant to which Giuffre purportedly received millions of dollars,' he added.

But the accusations didn't stop there. Giuffre also filed a lawsuit against lawyer Alan Dershowitz claiming Epstein passed her around to various men in his circle for sex, including Dershowitz.

The Harvard law professor countersued in 2019. The court documents said the two never met or had sex and even alleged that Giuffre 'made up the entire story for money'.

The counterclaim added that Giuffre's lawyers were behind her accusation. Dershowitz suggested that they 'pressured' her to falsely accuse him for money.

The document went on to call Giuffre a liar. 'She has told numerous provable lies about her age, who she has met, whether she had emails concerning Dershowitz,' it read.

Giuffre also filed a lawsuit against lawyer Alan Dershowitz (pictured) claiming Epstein passed her around to various men in his circle for sex, including Dershowitz

Since her escape from Epstein and Mawell's sex trafficking heist Giuffre (right with husband) married martial arts trainer Robert Giuffre in 2002. The couple moved to a suburb of Perth, Australia, and now have three children - two sons and one daughter

Andrew's legal team pointed out that after Giuffre sued the lawyer for sexual assault 'Professor Dershowitz threatened to seek judicial sanctions and summary judgment against Giuffre and her attorneys if they did not immediately withdraw the battery claim'.

'Giuffre voluntarily dismissed her battery claim against Professor Dershowitz,' it added, noting that she filed actions against Andrew 'only days prior' to the dismissal.

Then, in a further effort to throw out Giuffre's claims the court documents went on to point out that 'inexplicably,' she has not mentioned 'when she was purportedly sexually abused by Prince Andrew in New York; specifically what Prince Andrew supposedly did to her there; or specifically where the alleged abuse supposedly occurred'.

It added: 'Critically, even if her allegations were plausible, Giuffre concedes she was 17 years old at the time of the alleged abuse, and thus over the age of consent under New York law.'

Since her escape from Epstein and Mawell's sex trafficking heist Giuffre, who was born in California and moved to Florida when she was four, established herself in Australia.

She married martial arts trainer Robert Giuffre in 2002 and the couple moved to a suburb of Perth, Australia, and now have three children - two sons and one daughter.
Gladys Berejiklian has been spotted working out with her lawyer boyfriend at a local gym a day after she was grilled during her ICAC hearing.

The former NSW premier blew off steam with Arthur Moses during an early morning workout at Northbridge, on Sydney's lower north shore, at 7am on Saturday.

Ms Berejiklian managed to slip past media crews waiting outside her nearby office to get in the workout session unnoticed.

She exercised for at least an hour before then leaving the premises with Mr Moses in tow and the couple appearing to be in high spirits.

Ms Berejiklian was approached by Daily Mail Australia for comment following an intense grilling about her secret relationship with disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire during an ICAC hearing on Friday.

'Have a lovely day,' she replied, smiling.

Gladys Berejiklian has been spotted working out with her lawyer boyfriend at a local gym as she prepares to face a second ICAC hearing

The former NSW premier visited her local gym with Arthur Moses at Northbridge, on Sydney's lower north shore, at 7am on Saturday

Ms Berejiklian slipped past media crews waiting outside her nearby office to get in the early morning workout session, unnoticed

She worked out with Mr Moses for at least an hour before then leaving the premises with her boyfriend in tow

Supportive passersby recognised the former premier as she walked down the street dressed in a cap, sunglasses and activewear.

'We love you Gladys,' one resident said.

Ms Berejiklian and Mr Moses disappeared into the Northbridge Plaza before reappearing at a nearby cafe.

She was seen walking hand-in-hand with Mr Moses and putting her arm around him.

The couple enjoyed a coffee before Ms Berejiklian reapplied her lipstick and the pair set off for a leisurely stroll towards Clive Park.

They briefly stopped as they passed a property open for inspection before then continuing on their walk.

The former premier on Monday faces a second day in the ICAC witness box, after declaring if she had her time again she would still keep her relationship with Mr Maguire secret.

Ms Berejiklian was on Friday subject to more than five hours of questioning at the Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry investigating how her love for the disgraced Liberal MP may have affected the way she dealt with projects he pushed.

Ms Berejiklian was played several intercepted phone calls, during which she discussed some of those projects with the former member for Wagga Wagga.

In one, she can be heard saying she got '$170 million in five minutes' for a hospital in his electorate.

In another, she says a public servant would be sacked, but only after he 'fixed' a grant proposal Mr Maguire was advocating for.

Ms Berejiklian was approached by Daily Mail Australia for comment following an intense grilling about her previous secret relationship with disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire during an ICAC hearing on Friday

'Have a lovely day,' Ms Berejiklian said after she was approached by Daily Mail Australia with questions about her ICAC hearing on Friday

Passersby recognised the former premier as she walked down the street dressed in a cap, sunglasses and activewear

She agreed the pair loved each other, contemplated marriage and discussed having a child, but denied Mr Maguire constituted a family member.

'I had those feelings but I was never assured of a level of commitment which, in my mind, would have required me to introduce him to my parents or introduce him to my sisters,' she said.

'I regarded him as part of my love circle - part of the people that I strongly cared for - but I wouldn't have put him in the same category as my parents or my sisters.'

Even in hindsight, she would not disclose her relationship with Mr Maguire, she said.

Despite their feelings, Ms Berejiklian insisted he did not get any preferential treatment from her.

Ms Berejiklian told the inquiry she supported a $5.5 million upgrade to the Wagga Wagga Clay Target Club primarily because she thought it would improve the government's standing in the bush after a damaging by-election loss in 2018.

The $20.5 million plan to build a recital hall in Wagga Wagga won her favour because she felt the Riverina Conservatorium of Music had been messed around by the public service.

Ms Berejiklian's lawyers will on Monday get the opportunity to cross examine her.

Ms Berejiklian is all smiles as she walks with lawyer boyfriend Arthur Moses in Northbridge on Saturday
Lady Anne Glenconner  friend and confidante of Princess Margaret and best-selling author  grew up at Holkham Hall in Norfolk where the family and their staff lived cheek-by-jowl with a very persistent ghost.

Here, on the eve of Halloween, in a spine-tingling account, she explains how the spectral intruder became the star of her latest murder-mystery...

When I look back on my childhood at Holkham  a colossal Palladian mansion on the north Norfolk coast with a huge, imposing Marble Hall at its centre, ornate state rooms and four enormous wings  I have many fond memories.

We played hide-and-seek and rode our ponies and our bicycles around the 3,000 acres of grounds within the walls of the park.

I adored helping my beloved grandfather look after some of the family treasures, including the Codex Leicester, a priceless manuscript written by Leonardo da Vinci himself.

But I also have some darker memories  of my sister Carey waking up screaming night after night, haunted repeatedly by the ghost of a young woman who had suffered terribly when she lived at the Hall.

We first came across the ghost shortly after we moved into the Family Wing in 1948, having previously lived in a nearby house.

Lady Anne Glenconner (pictured)  friend of Princess Margaret  grew up at Holkham Hall in Norfolk where the family and their staff lived with a very persistent ghost

My family consisted of my father, Viscount Coke, who became the 5th Earl of Leicester on the death of my grandfather the following year; my glamorous mother; my sisters Carey, 14, and Sarah, four, and me, then aged 16.

Carey's bedroom was next to mine so I would regularly hear her scream out in terror. My mother would rush from her own room to comfort her, but Carey was inconsolable, crying and shaking.

This went on for at least a year. At first my mother assumed Carey was simply having nightmares, but my sister explained that she was being woken up by a lady dressed in old-fashioned clothes.

And when she told my parents more details of the lady's appearance, they realised she was describing Lady Mary Coke, nicknamed 'The White Cat' for her fair hair, pale skin and fierce eyes.

Two centuries earlier, Lady Mary had been kept as a virtual prisoner by her husband and his family  in what was now Carey's bedroom. She was long reputed to haunt the house, but no one had warned my sister.

Carey was badly affected by what she saw, always terrified of going to bed, exhausted and nervous, so she moved into a dressing room to sleep. Then a local clergyman came and exorcised the bedroom.

From then on Carey's 'nightmares' ceased, but Lady Mary continued to haunt other parts of the house  and does so to this day.

The household staff certainly knew about the ghost: they called her 'Our Virgin Mary'. She was most often spotted weeping, or flitting along a corridor before vanishing.

On occasion, she was given to mischief and would poke or pinch the servants as they made their way around Holkham, especially in the cellars and the passageways that ran under the house.

I knew of the existence of all these secret passageways, but I certainly never went down there alone.

She claims her sister Carey would wake up screaming night after night, haunted by the ghost of a young woman who had suffered terribly when she lived at Holkham Hall (pictured)

Seventy years later, I can vividly recall the dread of encountering this spectral lady, of suddenly feeling a hand on your back or brushing against your cheek when you thought you were alone.

It is these memories that have inspired my latest book, A Haunting At Holkham, a murder-mystery set there during the war and its aftermath. It draws heavily on my own experiences  with a fictional twist or two.

I'm glad to say that, unlike in the book, there were no suspicious deaths at Holkham in real life. But, the more I have learned about Lady Mary's life at Holkham, the less surprised I am that her restless spirit haunts it still.

She was born Lady Mary Campbell, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, and was just 19 when, in 1747, she was informed that she was to marry Edward, Viscount Coke, heir to the 1st Earl of Leicester and to the splendid Holkham Hall.

She must have been a strong-willed, spirited girl because she made it very plain that she had no wish to marry the viscount: he was dissolute, fond of gambling, cockfighting and women. Lady Mary treated him with disdain, which perhaps he deserved.

But her personal feelings could not stand in the way of a merger between two great families.

Edward, furious at how Mary had behaved during their courtship, abandoned her on their wedding night. In retaliation, she refused to let him consummate the marriage the following night  or ever. This impasse continued month after month, with Mary refusing to emerge from her bedroom.

At first her father-in-law, the Earl, was kindly hoping that she would soften and produce the all-important heir. But he lost patience. Since she refused to leave her bedroom, he had her locked inside it.

MOST HAUNTED COUNTRY HOUSES IN THE UK Aston Hall, West Midlands This magnificent 17th-century red-brick mansion was named as the UK's top haunted site in 2019, according to the Spectrum Paranormal Investigations. It was first occupied by Sir Thomas Holte, who allegedly murdered his cook by splitting her head in two, and who later locked away his daughter for 16 years until her death. The 'grey ghost' of his daughter still wanders the halls, as well as a lady in a green, high-collared dress who is said to have been Sir Thomas's elderly housekeeper, Mrs Walker. Samlesbury Hall, Lancashire Samlesbury, built in 1325, is renowned for its impressive medieval architecture, but it is also infamous as the haunting ground of the White Lady  thought to be Dorothy Southworth, whose home it was during the 17th century. When Dorothy, who was Catholic, fell in love with a Protestant neighbour, both of their families were outraged. Her lover was killed by his own brother as punishment, while Dorothy succumbed to a broken heart. Ham House, Surrey THIS grand 17th-century Stuart house was home to the ambitious Duchess Elizabeth Murray. Rumour has it she murdered her first husband. Later, ill health forced her to confine herself to a ground-floor apartment. Staff whisper 'Good afternoon your ladyship' before entering. Newton House, Carmarthenshire Newton House has been the happy home to the Rhys family for more than 300 years. But it has a regular spectre in Lady Elinor Cavendish, who was strangled. Visitors reported feeling hands trying to throttle them. Great Fulford Manor, Devon Owned by the Fulford family since 1190, the current residents are reality TV stars known for their shows Life Is Toff and The F****** Fulfords. Man of the house Francis Fulford has twice spotted a girl in a nightdress, while his wife reported being pushed down the stairs. Advertisement

He replaced her faithful maid with one who spied on Mary and reported back to her in-laws. Mary became paranoid, fearful that the servants would poison her.

When Mary's family learned that she was being held captive at Holkham, they tried to negotiate a separation. But it was only after a long year that the Cokes allowed her to leave, realising their efforts had failed.

Even then the battles continued, with Edward refusing to divorce her and she, in turn, refusing to be known as Viscountess Coke.

Just six years after their wedding, Edward's dissolute lifestyle caught up with him and he died, aged only 33. Mary was at last free, and at 26, became a merry widow indeed.

She lived in London, moving in literary circles, becoming lady-in-waiting to Queen Charlotte, wife of George III  a royal role that I would take on 200 years later for my friend Princess Margaret  and travelling around Europe, writing gossipy journals that were published to acclaim.

She never remarried  although there were rumours of a love affair with the Duke of York  and died in 1811, aged 84. She was buried in the Argyll family vault in Westminster Abbey.

It is true that only a year of her long life was spent at Holkham, but I believe the misery she suffered there was so intense it imprinted itself into the atmosphere and fabric of the house, leading her ghost to haunt it for ever more.

Interestingly, I suffered my own trauma in childhood, at the hands of a malevolent governess my parents hired to look after us while they were away in Egypt during the war.

This governess was all right with Carey, but for some reason she took a sadistic pleasure in tormenting, bullying and humiliating me.

No matter how hard I tried to please her, every night she would punish me by tying my hands to the back of the bed and leave me there all night.

I was terrified of her and although she was eventually sacked  not for her cruelty to me, which I never spoke about, but because she had taken me to Catholic Mass  I was deeply affected by her abuse.

Years later, simply receiving a letter from her made me physically sick. Writing about her in my memoir, Lady In Waiting, and casting her as the villain in my new novel, was very cathartic.

Princess Margaret was keen on ghosts: once, when Carey and I had visited Glamis Castle, the family home of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in Scotland, she delighted in telling us stories of the many ghosts said to haunt it, including a tongue-less lady.

But when I suggested we go ghost-hunting in the cellars at Holkham, she made up an excuse not to!

In the 1950s, my mother started up a pottery at Holkham, making hand-painted tea and dinner sets and mugs, which she and Carey designed, and I sold.

Knowing Lady Mary's propensity for mischief, my mother announced sternly: 'Lady Mary, you're not to go into the pottery as you'll break stuff.' She left the pottery alone.

I left Holkham Hall when I married Colin, Lord Glenconner, in 1956, but today I still live near by and sometimes visit; the current Earl of Leicester and his family are very welcoming.

And I keep up to date with all the goings-on in the house  including the supernatural ones. Lady Mary, it seems, is still a presence.

The Hall, now open to the public, requires a staff of around 250 people and several of them have encountered its resident ghost.

Lady Mary likes the attic  footsteps are often heard when no one is up there  and the cellar best. Locked doors in the cellar corridors are unlocked, without the key, and slammed.

One servant was walking along the corridor when a locked door opened and hit him. He came upstairs very shaken, with a black eye, insisting: 'Lady Mary's done that to me.'

And I have discovered that she definitely targets certain people.

In 2004, an electrician called Lou was working high up a ladder in the Chapel Wing. He looked behind him and saw his drawings for the work hovering in the air beside him, almost as if someone was handing them to him.

As he watched, they floated back to the floor. There were no windows open, no draught, no explanation.

The ghost of Lady Mary Coke (pictured) was called 'Our Virgin Mary' by the household staff and was most often spotted weeping, or flitting along a corridor before vanishing

On another occasion, he was using a tower scaffold in the drawing room to work on the chandelier. He left the room to get something. When he returned, two spare struts from the scaffolding had been moved. But nobody had been in there. Or at least no living person.

In 2005, poor old Lou was walking along a corridor connecting the North to the West side of the house when he heard a noise. He saw the door to a cupboard banging, as if someone was slamming it, but there was no one there. As he approached, it stopped.

Two of the house staff, Gary and Mark, once came out of the Strangers' Wing and walked through the North dining room into the Marble Gallery, Mark behind Gary.

As they did so, Mark felt a hand press down with some force on the crown of his head. He ducked down and swung round to remonstrate with the person, but there was no one there.

Gary had seen nothing either. Later that day the two men were in a basement corridor. They had unlocked one of the doors and gone through it. Then they heard a noise behind them. They turned round sharply to find the door had locked itself.

In 2007, Mark was about to enter the corridor beneath the Family Wing when he felt, but could not see, someone or something coming towards him. He bolted upstairs, hyperventilating in terror.

Another member of staff, Mike, went to open up the house one morning, starting with turning off all the alarms which go off if any of the doors in the house are unlocked. He went to the North dining room to begin the unlocking process, but and was surprised to find the door was already unlocked.

To his amazement, he then found all the doors of main state rooms wide open and the lights on. Yet he had the only key in his hand, and it had been in a locked key box all night. None of the alarms had gone off. There was no explanation.

Often, at night, the TV in Mike's room would switch itself on. Stranger still, he would wake to find the photograph of his mother on his bedside table turned to face the wall. It was only after Mike's father came to the room and loudly told the spirit to 'stop it' that she left him alone.

Fittingly for a literary type, Lady Mary enjoys moving the books around. This was once captured, accidentally, on camera.

In one photo they are the right way up on the bookshelves, but in the next they have been placed sideways in a bizarre manner. No living person had moved them. This mysterious shifting of books takes place all over the house.

Polly, the Countess of Leicester, who lives at Holkham now, has had two of the rooms exorcised, but I don't suppose it will stop Lady Mary from haunting the rest of the house.

In some ways, I'm glad she is still there. She connects Holkham's past to its present.

Tomorrow night, as Halloween events and parties across Britain get under way, I'll be thinking of Lady Mary  still with a shiver down my spine, but also with respect for a brave woman who turned the tables on her abusive husband, not only outliving him but continuing to haunt his family home for eternity.

In life, she was desperate to escape from it. But in death, it seems, she refuses to leave...

A Haunting At Holkham, by Anne Glenconner, will be published by Hodder & Stoughton on November 11 at 16.99.

To order a copy for 15.29 (offer valid to November 13, 2021, free UK P&P on orders over 20), visit www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937
It was the moment that Mohammad and Rohina Wardak had dreamt of but feared would never happen while the Taliban controlled Afghanistan.

Last night, on a damp, grey evening, the former translator for the British military and his wife stepped off an RAF plane on to English soil, their excitement matched only by relief.

This is a moment we have prayed for, dreamt of but did not believe could really happen as our hopes had been dashed so many times, our hearts broken and lives shattered, Mohammad, 30, said.

We have lived so long apart, cruelly and wrongly denied the chance everyone should have to live with their partner that this is an unforgettable, magical moment...we have survived apart and hope we can finally begin a new life together.

It was the moment that Mohammad and Rohina Wardak had dreamt of but feared would never happen while the Taliban controlled Afghanistan

The couple were on the third mercy flight, the largest yet, bringing vulnerable Afghans to the UK from countries bordering their homeland.

Among the 124 passengers were 29 Afghans from the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual) community who have been persecuted by the Taliban.

The flight also included interpreters and other Afghans who qualified to come to Britain under the Arap (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) and LOTR (Leave Outside the Rules) schemes.

Where the flight took off from has not been disclosed for security reasons.

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August, UK nationals and vulnerable Afghans, including Rohina, have been forced to make their own way to neighbouring countries from where they can fly to the UK.

For Mohammad and his wife of four years, 22, it has been an extraordinary struggle to be together, their case championed by this newspapers award-winning Betrayal of the Brave campaign.

They had feared they would be apart for years more after Rohina had failed to force her way through the crush around Kabuls airport to board an RAF evacuation flight in August as Western forces pulled out of Afghanistan.

Four times she battled to reach the airport after being told by UK officials a flight was waiting for her, but each time she was forced back.

Last night, on a damp, grey evening, the former translator for the British military and his wife stepped off an RAF plane on to English soil, their excitement matched only by relief

Twice she collapsed unconscious and was trampled on by the seething crowds.

Once she had to be carried clear, her feet bloodied by the crush.

At that time my wife had to go to hospital and we thought we would not be together for a long, long time and Rohina was beginning to question the marriage itself, said Mohammad, who now lives in Newport, South Wales.

Mohammad and Rohina had been engaged when Mohammad, who worked for four years with UK troops on the frontlines of Helmand, was relocated to Britain in 2015.

He returned to marry two years later but due to immigration rules, she was unable to join him and had to apply for a visa.

Had they been married when he was given refuge, then she would have been allowed to come to the UK automatically.

Rohina tried for more than two years for a visa  the processing hampered by the Covid crisis  but to her dismay in April she was refused by the British Embassy in Kabul, one of ten wives of ex-translators in the UK rejected.

In desperation, the families began an unprecedented legal action against the British government to allow them to join their husbands in this country.

The wives, whose cases were highlighted by the Daily Mail, accused the Home Office of endangering their lives and unreasonably denying them the right to a family life.

In early August the court ruled in the wives favour but by then they faced making it past Taliban checkpoints and then thousands besieging Kabul Airport.

On one heartbreaking day, one wife made it, but Rohina didnt.

After the Taliban seized control, Mohammad refused to give up.

As he heard that some Afghans, including translators and their families, were crossing into neighbouring countries, he decided he could not wait any longer and flew to the Middle East, begging the British High Commission for help.

A border pass was arranged for Rohina, who held a visa for the UK, and she travelled  but there was more agony as she was initially refused permission to cross.

It was quite awful, said Mohammad. We cried. We were 100 metres apart either side of the border.

Last night as they arrived, they thanked the British diplomats who helped their passage and the Daily Mails Betrayal of the Brave campaign.

Mohammad said: We believe this wonderful moment has been made possible with the help of your hard work, you never gave up on interpreters and their wives, you gave us hope when none seemed to be there and you will always be with us.
A U.S. government watchdog on Friday accused the State Department and Pentagon of suppressing information that lawmakers and the public need to understand the collapse of Afghanistan's former government and military and the chaotic U.S. troop pullout.

John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR), spoke out on Friday after it emerged that many of the routine documents had now been marked as classified.

'The full picture of what happened in August - and all the warning signs that could have predicted the outcome - will only be revealed if the information that the departments of Defense and State have already restricted from public release is made available,' said Sopko.

John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (pictured in February 2020) spoke out on Friday against continuing secrecy about spending in the country

Sopko was asked by Congress to produce a report into the August collapse of the Afghan army and government. Pictured are people running down the runway in Kabul on August 16, trying desperately to get out of the country the day after it fell to the Taliban

The evacuation of Afghanistan cost the lives of 13 U.S. service members, killed in a suicide bombing on August 26. The 13 are pictured being repatriated from Kabul

A wounded man is cared for after deadly explosions went off outside of the airport in Kabul on August 26

He published on Friday his latest report into the spending in Afghanistan, as requested by Congress who asked for an explanation of what went wrong.

Sopko said that it was time for transparency since the government of President Ashraf Ghani had collapsed.

'There is a lot of information that was classified or withheld from the American people over the years, particularly since 2015, to protect the Afghan government from embarrassment,' Sopko told NPR.

'And there is no Ghani government. There is no Afghan government anymore. So we think that information should be immediately released to SIGAR and to the American people and Congress in an unclassified format.'

Ashraf Ghani, the former president of Afghanistan, fled the capital on August 25 as the Taliban advanced

Asked what the information he wanted publishing was, he replied: 'It was, how good was the Afghan government fighting corruption?

'How good was the Afghan military able to stand on their own? - casualty rates for the Afghan military, efficiency rates, their ability to actually function as an independent military.

'That was information that the Ghani government requested the U.S. government not share with the American people. There's no reason to protect it any more.'

A State Department spokesperson said the department had requested 'some reports be temporarily removed to redact identifying information from public records and protect the identities of Afghans and Afghan partner organizations' due to security concerns about the evacuation effort.'

The spokesperson continued: 'The identifying information are the only details intended to be shielded.'

They added that SIGAR has the authority to restore the reports.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A woman in a burka is seen walking in Kabul on October 29

Taliban fighters are seen standing guard outside Kabul airport on August 31

Sopko said that after the Taliban seized Kabul, the State Department asked him to temporarily suspend online access to certain reports he issued to ensure the safety of U.S.-affiliated Afghans.

The department 'was never able to describe any specific threats to individuals that were supposedly contained in our reports,' said Sopko, who added he 'reluctantly' barred access to the documents.

The State Department, he continued, recently sought redactions of some 2,400 items remaining on SIGAR's website.

Some requests were 'bizarre,' such as excising Ghani's name from reports, Sopko said.

After a review, his agency found only four items meriting redaction, and left the remainder accessible.

Noting that Congress tasked him with investigating the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government and military, he said the Pentagon has since 2015 barred from public release a range of data purportedly at the former Ghani government's request.

Most of that information, including casualty data and unit strengths, was 'all you needed to know to determine whether the Afghan security forces were a real fighting force or a house of cards,' he said.

Asked by NPR whether the $89 billion that the United States spent on training and equipping the Afghan army was a waste, Sopko replied: 'I think the obvious answer is yes.

'I mean, you know, you build a military to fight the enemies. Well, when the military disappears or didn't even exist - I mean, that is the ironic thing.'
For the first time, a majority of MPs back changing the law to enable assisted dying in Britain, according to a poll.

In only two years, the number supporting the right for the terminally ill with less than six months to live to be allowed help to end their life has soared from 35 per cent to 58 per cent.

More controversially, 45 per cent of the MPs surveyed by YouGov believe there should also be a broader change in the law to include those suffering from Alzheimers disease and other types of dementia.

In 2019, only 16 per cent of MPs said they would support a change for those suffering from incurable illnesses.

For the first time, a majority of MPs back changing the law to enable assisted dying in Britain, according to a poll

The reason for the dramatic shift in sentiment can be traced back to the last election, with 140 MPs elected for the first time.

There were 312 under the age of 50, with the average age of the Commons now 52.

Younger MPs overwhelmingly favour an overhaul of the right to die legislation, with 86 per cent backing assisted dying for people with six months to live, and 69 per cent wanting similar rights for those with Alzheimers.

Support is also strong among Tory MPs in Red Wall seats.

Ben Bradley, 31, Tory MP for Mansfield, said: I support the change. I saw my grandad suffer for months in hospital before he died a couple of years ago.

'You wouldnt put a dog through that, never mind a human.

Currently, those judged to have assisted the suicide or attempted suicide of another person can be jailed for up to 14 years.

Last week a backbench Bill to allow assisted dying passed its first stage in the Lords.

In only two years, the number supporting the right for the terminally ill with less than six months to live to be allowed help to end their life has soared from 35 per cent to 58 per cent

The crossbencher Baroness Meacher, chairman of campaign group Dignity in Dying, who tabled the Bill, proposed that only terminally ill patients with full mental capacity and who were not expected to live more than six months, would be eligible to apply for an assisted death.

Downing Street has hinted that Tory MPs will be given a free vote when it comes to the Commons.

The YouGov poll was commissioned by My Death, My Decision, which campaigns to legalise assisted dying for those who are terminally ill or suffering from incurable diseases.

It surveyed 103 MPs. Trevor Moore, its chairman, said: The law prohibiting assisted dying has been way out of step with public opinion for decades.
Boris Johnson was accused of abandoning his pledge to 'level up' the country last night as a major section of HS2 looks set to be 'significantly scaled back'.

Northern leaders and the rail industry are braced for a downsizing of the UK's biggest infrastructure project in a report expected to be published during or after the Cop26 summit.

High-speed rail linking Birmingham and Leeds, also known as the 'eastern leg', is no longer expected to be laid in full.

It means HS2 trains will run at slower speeds on existing track for as much as 60 miles of the distance between the two cities.

Journey times could take about an hour rather than 40 minutes, according to sources familiar with plans being considered by ministers.

However, a compromise is said to have been struck following pressure from pro-HS2 northern leaders which could still see around 80 miles of high-speed track laid.

A purpose-built hub in the village of Toton, in Nottinghamshire, would be scrapped. Instead, about 50 miles of high-speed rail would link Birmingham and East Midlands Parkway station.

Northern leaders and the rail industry are braced for a downsizing of the UK's biggest infrastructure project in a report expected to be published during or after the Cop26 summit (Pictured: Boris Johnson on an HS2 site in September 2020)

Sources last night said the planned changes would represent a 'significant scaling back' of the project (Pictured: An artist's impression of the HS2 train on the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct)

A concept image of the proposed Old Oak Common Station, west London

At this point, HS2 trains would join the existing Midland main line, which would be upgraded.

This would take trains at a slower speed than envisaged up to the village of Clayton, in West Yorkshire, where around 30 miles of new high-speed rail would connect to Leeds.

Sources last night said the planned changes would represent a 'significant scaling back' of the project.

The proposals could save between 10billion and 20billion and comes after Treasury officials raised concerns about HS2's spiralling costs, which have tripled to more than 100billion over the past decade.

Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: 'It calls the promise to level up into serious question.'

Jim McMahon, Labour's transport spokesman, said: 'If [Government] fail to deliver, people in the Midlands and North will rightly feel betrayed after years of empty words and meaningless slogans.'

HS2 will link London to Birmingham in phase one before forking into two sections. The western leg connecting Birmingham with Manchester is expected to go ahead.

The Integrated Rail Plan is set to be published around mid-November after being delayed since January. The Department for Transport was contacted for comment.
The first group of almost 30 LGBT Afghans arrived in the UK on Friday after ministers and charities supported their evacuation from the Taliban-run country.

Among the evacuees are students and activists who had repeatedly stood up for equality for the at-risk LGBT community in Afghanistan, the Foreign, Common and Development Office (FCDO) said.

The 29 people will be supported by Stonewall, Micro Rainbow and other LGBT charities to set up their new lives in the UK.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain would continue to defend 'the right of all people to be themselves and love who they want'.

Pictured: A member of Border Force staff assists a female evacuee as refugees arrive from Afghanistan at Heathrow Airport on August 26, 2021 in London (file photo). The first batch of almost 30 LGBT Afghans arrived in the UK on Friday after ministers and charities supported their evacuation from the Taliban-run country

The FCDO said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people were being rescued from Afghanistan because they are at risk of potential discrimination and assault as a result of the Taliban takeover following Nato's exit from the central Asian country in the summer.

Since the end of Operation Pitting in late August, the UK has helped more than 1,300 people, including British and Afghan nationals, to leave Afghanistan.

Officials said the Foreign Secretary, along with UK and Canadian organisations Stonewall and Rainbow Railroad, had intervened to ensure this first group of LGBT arrivals safe passage to the UK this week.

Ms Truss, who is also minister for women and equalities, said: 'Britain is a fierce champion of freedom and the right of all people to be themselves and love who they want free from persecution.

'We played a key role getting these people out and will continue to do all we can to help at-risk Afghans leave the country.'

Further vulnerable LGBT Afghans are expected to arrive in the UK in the coming months.

The people will be supported by Stonewall, Micro Rainbow and other LGBT charities to set up their new lives in the UK, with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (pictured Wednesday) saying Britain would continue to defend 'the right of all people to be themselves and love who they want'

Nancy Kelley, chief executive of Stonewall, said her organisation had been campaigning to bring vulnerable Afghans to the UK for the 'last few months' and vowed to continue to push for international support to help those still in the Taliban-ruled country.

'We are proud that our campaigning and collaboration has resulted in the first group of LGBTQ+ Afghans arriving here in the UK to resettle and rebuild their lives, and for LGBTQ+ people to be recognised as a priority group for resettlement,' said Ms Kelley.

The UK Government said the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) would remain open to provide protection for people at risk.

The scheme will, the FCDO said, prioritise those who have assisted the UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for values such as democracy, women's rights, freedom of speech, and the rule of law.

Pictured: Afghan evacuees are seen inside a military plane on August 22. Since the end of Operation Pitting in late August, the UK has helped more than 1,300 people, including British and Afghan nationals, to leave Afghanistan

It will also focus on evacuating vulnerable people, including women, girls and members of minority groups at risk.

Under Taliban rule, LGBT people are among the most vulnerable in Afghanistan, with many facing increased levels of persecution, discrimination and assault, the UK government said.

Thousands of Afghans fled the country in August after the Taliban - a hard-line Islamist group - took control of the country following the withdrawal of US and other Western forces in the war-torn country.

The UK evacuated many of those looking to flee the country on planes in the Kabul Airlift, that saw planes fly people out between August 15 and August 30.
Prince Andrew's 'shocking' Newsnight interview will reportedly be used in the civil lawsuit against him filed by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, her lawyer has revealed.

Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for Roberts, said she and her team have looked over the infamous 2019 interview Prince Andrew, 61, gave to Emily Maitlis for 'inconsistencies'.

The managing partner at US firm Boies Schiller Flexner claimed the interview was 'very helpful' and said the Duchess of York and Andrew's daughters may be subpoenaed to question his alibi, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The Duke of York was last month served with court papers by Roberts who claims Andrew sexually abused her in 2001 when she was 17.

Prince Andrew, who has always strongly denied the allegations, was expected to file court documents arguing the case should be thrown out before last night's deadline.

Mrs McCawley said she plans to use his Newsnight interview as a basis for the sexual assault case and described his decision to appear on television as 'shocking'.

Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for Roberts, said she has looked over the infamous 2019 interview Prince Andrew (pictured), 61, gave to Emily Maitlis for inconsistencies

She added: 'I don't know who would have advised him to do that, it was a very wrong move on his part to expose himself in that way.'

Mrs McCawley also confirmed that her team would also be seeking to question his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie about his alibi given in the Newsnight interview.

In the interview, Andrew denied claims that he slept with Ms Giuffre on three separate occasions and said: 'I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.'

The duke also said he has no memory of a well-known photograph of him with his arm around Roberts's waist and has questioned whether it was his own hand in the image.

Asked about the claims made by Roberts, Andrew claimed he could not have had sex with Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex slave in 2001 because he was out with his daughter at Pizza Express in Woking.

He also said a medical condition after being shot at during the Falklands War left him 'unable to sweat' because Miss Roberts, who was 17 at the time, claimed that they danced together and he had been 'sweating profusely'.

The fallout from the interview saw the royal criticised for showing a lack of empathy towards Epstein's victims and a lack of remorse over his friendship with disgraced financier.

It was shortly after the interview aired that the Queen was effectively forced to sack Andrew from his senior royal duties to avoid causing more public backlash.

The Duke of York was last month served with court papers by Roberts (pictured) who claims Andrew sexually abused her in 2001 when she was 17, which he denies

Last month, Roberts served Andrew with court papers claiming that he sexually abused her in 2001 when she was 17.

Roberts alleges she was told by notorious financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to have sex with Andrew at Epstein's mansion in New York and other locations. The prince has always denied the allegations.

The prince's California-based lawyer Andrew Brettler was expected to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, according to a letter filed earlier this week. The deadline for Andrew to respond to the claims in her lawsuit passed yesterday.

During a hearing of the case last month, Brettler said the lawsuit was 'baseless, non-viable and potentially unlawful'.

This week, a judge backed Brettler's request for a 2009 settlement agreement between Epstein and Roberts to remain secret.

New York US District Judge Lewis A Kaplan made the ruling on Wednesday in a brief order after Brettler asked that the document remain sealed as the legal team fight to get Roberts's lawsuit thrown out.

In her lawsuit, Roberts claimed she was trafficked to London as a 17-year-old by Epstein and forced to have sex with the Prince at Ghislaine Maxwell's house.

She also alleged that Andrew knew she was a victim of sex trafficking by Epstein, and also knew she was a minor under US law.

Brettler said neither the prince nor Roberts contend that the release agreement must remain sealed, but they requested that it stay secret because it is subject to a protective order from another judge presiding over a federal civil action in New York.

The settlement agreement was reached between Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead at age 66 in his cell in 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial at a New York federal jail. His death was ruled a suicide.

Brettler said the agreement 'releases Prince Andrew and others from any purported liability arising from the claims Ms. Giuffre asserted against Prince Andrew here', and officially made the request to keep the agreement sealed to the Manhattan federal court on Wednesday.

In the Newsnight interview, Andrew said he has no memory of a photograph of him with his arm around Roberts's waist and has questioned whether it was his own hand in the image

But Roberts's attorneys argue that the Andrew's attempt to rely on the previous settlement agreement with Epstein to get the case dismissed will fail.

Miss Roberts's lawyers have indicated they will fight the move by the prince's team, saying there is 'no evidence' he was ever intended to be covered by the previous legal agreement.

'There is no evidence from any of the parties to the release, or Prince Andrew, that the release was ever intended to include Prince Andrew, and we believe the evidence will be that it wasn't,' wrote Roberts's lawyer, David Boies, in a court filing.

It comes after Roberts's lawyers said last month the Prince had officially been served with the lawsuit, but his legal team disputed this.

The issue of whether or not Andrew had been notified about the case  known as service of proceedings  was contested during the first pre-trial hearing of the civil case last month in New York.

But after it was confirmed the papers were served on 21 September, Andrew has until today to provide a response.

Ms Giuffre has accused Andrew of abusing her at Epstein's Manhattan mansion as well as his private Caribbean island, and at the London home of his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently in a New York jail awaiting sex abuse and grooming charges.

Roberts is suing the price for the alleged sexual abuse and is seeking unspecified damages.

Andrew has repeatedly denied that he has sex with Roberts or ever met her saying: 'I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever'

Roberts alleges she was told by Jeffrey Epstein (pictured) and Ghislaine Maxwell to have sex with Andrew at Epstein's mansion in New York. The prince has always denied the allegations

British police announced earlier this month that they have dropped their probe into the prince after conducting a review prompted by Giuffre's claims.

The Metropolitan Police had previously examined the allegations made by Giuffre against Andrew but did not open a full investigation, saying the case was a matter for the US authorities.

The police also said no action would result from allegations that Epstein's alleged accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, trafficked, groomed and abused women and girls in the UK.

Maxwell, a British socialite and Epstein's onetime girlfriend, goes to trial in November in New York on sex trafficking charges. She has pleaded not guilty.

A hearing in the Prince Andrew lawsuit is scheduled for next week.

Judge Kaplan has ruled, with the agreement of both parties, that all disclosures and depositions should be completed before July next year.

Judge Kaplan intends to draw a line under any amendments to the New York proceedings by December 15.

All disclosures relating to expert witnesses should be made by June 13 with the disclosure process complete a month later.
A Russian Communist Party MP and the latest Putin oppositional hopeful was cornered by rangers in a forest who allegedly found the carcass of an elk in his car.

Valery Rashkin, 66, was found in the woods outside the city Saratov in what the Communists have suggested was a Kremlin set-up.

Rangers headed to the area on Thursday evening to respond to reports of a shooting but found Mr Rashkin with a dead elk in his car, hunting authorities told Russian media.

Valery Rashkin, 66, said he was going to report the carcass and was on a walk while visiting the countryside

They also reported that an axe and two knives with traces of blood were found in the car, The Telegraph reported.

A clip released by news site Mash shows Mr Rashkin being questioned about the incident and being asked to get out of the car and confirm his identity.

He appears dazed and speaks little. When he is asked whether he has had anything to drink, he initially replies hesitantly but then answers 'no'.

Mr Rashkin has denied reports that he was allegedly drunk and said he refused a breathalyser test because it may have been rigged

Mr Rashkin's interrogators, who appear to be rangers, then ask him why he was travelling with the elk carcass in the back of his car as this is illegal and the MP said he was going to report it.

He later said he was visiting some friends in the countryside and saw a car driving away while on a walk through the woods.

Mr Rashkin later told the TV channel RTVi: 'I went to this place and found an elk. An almost cut elk.

Russian Comminist Party Leader Gennady Zyuganov (centre) with Valery Rashkin (right). State-media agency Tass reported the story without naming Mr Rashkin and said he was drunk and refused to take a breathalyser test

'I went back to the guys, stirred up one friend (they had a good tea there), invited them to take an elk and take it to the police.'

He added that his visit was spurred by the urge to go to places where he felt good and was familiar with in the midst of the pandemic.

State-media agency Tass reported the story without naming Mr Rashkin and said he was drunk and refused to take a breathalyser test.

The politician denied the allegation and said he didn't take the test because he was worried the results may be rigged.

The Communist Party said on Friday that the story, first reported by pro-Kremlin channels on Telegram, was set up like a smear campaign against Mr Rashkin because he's a potential anti-Putin opposition leader

He told RTVi: 'I wasnt drunk, but I didnt get a medical examination.

'This is the Saratov region. Here it is elementary to falsify the results, so I did not get involved with them.'

He added that he would take the incident to court.

The Communist Party said the incident appears like a Kremlin set up to frame the MP since Mr Rashkin is seen as a serious candidate for an opposition leader to rival Putin.

The 66-year-old MP is popular with young progressives and is openly a supporter of jailed Alexei Navalny.

The Communist Party said on Friday that the story, first reported by pro-Kremlin channels on Telegram, was set up like a smear campaign against Mr Rashkin.
The anti-Donald Trump group The Lincoln Project admitted to planting five people carrying tiki torches at a Charlottesville campaign stop by Virginia's Republican candidate for governor on Friday - a political stunt that tried to smear the surging GOP candidate ahead of Tuesday's tight election race.

The Lincoln Project only confessed to the attempt to derail GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin when eagle-eyed reporters identified those participating as operatives within the Virginia Democratic party.

Cameron Joseph, senior political correspondent with Vice, tweeted: 'They only took credit/blame after I told them I IDed someone in the photo.'

Lauren Windsor - who describes herself as 'Agnostic. Bisexual. Fashionista. Hapless romantic. Progressive pugilist swamp-slayer' - took credit for organizing the stunt on Friday evening.

'In my capacity as a communications consultant, I worked w @ProjectLincoln to coordinate today's Youngkin action in Charlottesville,' she said.

'I join them in the fight to defend our democracy from rightwing extremists and call for Glenn Youngkin to denounce Trump's 'very fine people.'

Five people holding tiki torches stand in the rain by the campaign bus for GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin in Charlottesville on Friday. The Lincoln Project has admitted to being behind the stunt, to discredit Youngkin

Lauren Windsor, a self-proclaimed 'progressive pugilist swamp-slayer' said on Friday evening that she had worked the The Lincoln Project to stage the stunt

Her actions managed to infuriate both Republicans, angry at the smear, and Democrats, who saw her use of Charlottesville as a political prop as crass, and likely to backfire.

Online sleuths named two of the five agitators as Camden Layton, the finance director for Virginia Young Democrats, and Colleen Wachenfeld, another Virginia Democratic employee whose background on Twitter was a picture of McAuliffe at a campaign event.

Layton has since denied he is one of the men pictured. Wachenfeld has not confirmed whether she participated.

Charlottesville TV station WVIR covered the campaign stop and reported Youngkin was inside a restaurant when the group dressed in matching hats, khakis and white button-down shirts appeared beside his campaign bus.

The former private equity executive and political newcomer is in a close race against former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe as Tuesday's Election Day nears.

Youngkin and McAuliffe are currently engaged in a remarkably fierce battle, in a state which Joe Biden won by 10 percentage points in the 2020 election.

McAuliffe was leading by five points two months ago, and is now trailing Youngkin in several polls - including by as much as eight percentage points in a FOX news poll.

The Democrats, with a rising sense of foreboding, have sent out their big guns: Barack Obama, Jill and Joe Biden, and, on Friday night, Kamala Harris and Pharrell Williams, to campaign for McAuliffe.

Commentators online believe that the sole woman among the five was Colleen Wachenfeld

The four men and one woman stood outside Youngkin's campaign bus, trying to smear the Republican by associating him with the neo-Nazi 'Unite The Right' rally

The five stood in the rain, posing as 'Unite The Right' white supremacists

Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, is seen on Friday campaigning in Charlottesville

Youngkin is taking on Terry McAuliffe, the Democrat contender, who was governor of Virginia from 2014-18 and is hoping to be re-elected

Kamala Harris is seen on Friday night campaigning for Terry McAuliffe in Norfolk, Virginia

Pharrell Williams was drafted in by the Democrats to campaign for McAuliffe on Friday night, in a sign of how concerned the party is

A McAuliffe loss on Tuesday would reverberate across the national political landscape, likely triggering all-out panic among Democrats.

For Republicans, it would be a burst of confidence and a road map for finding their way through post-Trump divisions ahead of 2022 midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress and dozens of state capitals.

Democrats have been caught off guard by Youngkin's ability to make the election about education, and divisive teaching within the state's schools. Loudoun County in Virginia has become the national epicenter for anger at the teaching of critical race theory - a reassessment of American history, to give renewed emphasis on the horrors of slavery and the uncomfortable truth of the past.

Critics of CRT say it is teaching children to hate their country and feel guilty for the color of their skin.

McAuliffe's team also privately points to the drag of Biden's weakened standing among Virginia voters - a shift that began in August after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

That exacerbated traditional headwinds for candidates whose party occupies the White House.

What is the Lincoln Project? The Lincoln Project was founded in late 2019 by a group of Republicans who were dismayed at the direction of their party under Trump. In December 2019 they laid out their principals in an op ed in The New York Times written by Steve Schmidt, senior advisor to John McCain for his 2008 campaign; John Weaver, chief strategist for Republican challenger John Kasich in 2016; Rick Wilson, a strategist for Evan McMullin's campaign; and George Conway, a DC lawyer. Conway's wife, Kellyanne, was at the time working in the White House as a senior advisor to Trump, and their political divide became a Washington DC obsession. The group initially made effective use of social media, playing Trump at his own game and trolling him online with memes and videos. Money flowed in by the tens of millions of dollars from donors eager to help. But the organization was soon facing questions about its leadership and financing. Weaver, who was married with two children, was accused of by 21 men sexual harassment in February 2021, and the group was accused of hushing it up. They have now begun an independent investigation. Questions were also asked about the use of the funds raised. Of the $90 million Lincoln Project has raised, more than $50 million has gone to firms controlled by the group's leaders. Only about a third of the money, roughly $27 million, directly paid for advertisements. In March 2021 one of the founders, George Conway - who left amid family problems in August 2020 - said the group should close permanently. Advertisement

In 2013, McAuliffe himself became the first Virginia candidate in 40 years to win the governor's office while his party was in power.

And within the campaign, there is concern that McAuliffe's experience, thought to be an asset when he got into the race, may actually work against him in a political environment that continues to favor outsiders.

Even before becoming governor, McAuliffe had been active in national politics for decades. He served as a former Democratic National Committee chairman and a chief fundraiser for Bill and Hillary Clinton.

The stunt on Friday was seen as a desperate 'dirty trick' by a side that realized it could well lose, and came as the scale of their effort in the state was revealed.

Records provided by the Virginia Public Access Project show $300,000 being spent to try and sabotage Youngkin's chances, Fox reported.

The group spent $17,100 on pro-McAuliffe efforts and just over $280,000 on anti-Youngkin efforts.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, anti-Youngkin spending included TV ad buys, digital ads, and 'media production.'

Photos from Friday showed the group holding large tiki torches.

Their appearance recalled two days of chaos in August 2017, when white supremacists gathered in the college town for a 'Unite the Right' rally - ostensibly to protest the planned removal of a Confederate monument.

The night before the planned rally, a group carrying tiki torches marched across the University of Virginia campus, clashing with a small group of anti-racist protesters.

The next day a car driven by a self-avowed white supremacist plowed into a crowd of peaceful counter-protesters, killing one protester, Heather Heyer, and injuring dozens.

McAuliffe staffers promoted a reporter's tweet about the group's appearance, using it to attack Youngkin and suggesting that those holding the torches were his supporters.

Youngkin staffers accused the McAuliffe campaign or Virginia Democrats of being involved, drawing disavowals.

'What happened today is disgusting and distasteful and we condemn it in the strongest terms. Those involved should immediately apologize,' McAuliffe campaign manager Chris Bolling said in a statement.

The Democratic Party of Virginia issued a statement saying neither the party nor its 'coordinated partners and affiliates' had anything to do with 'the events' at the campaign bus stop.

The Lincoln Project then weighed in, saying it was behind what it called a 'demonstration.'

The group is known for its provocative use of memes and stunts.

'The Youngkin campaign is enraged by our reminder of Charlottesville for one simple reason: Glenn Youngkin wants Virginians to forget that he is Donald Trump's candidate,' the group said.

White supremacists and neo-Nazis carrying tiki torches marched through Charlottesville on August 11, 2017 in a 'Unite The Right' rally to protest against the removal of Confederate statues

The group, chanting 'Jews will not replace us', formed a procession through the Virginia college town on August 11, 2017

The neo-Nazi group are seen circling a statue of Thomas Jefferson on August 11, 2017

The torch-lit procession and the racist chants outraged many Charlottesville residents

Virginia rejected Donald Trump in 2016.



Virginia rejected Donald Trump in 2020.



In November, Virginia will reject @GlennYoungkin, too. pic.twitter.com/12FOsOx5us  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 30, 2021

The incident comes at a sensitive time in the city.

A civil trial opened on Monday that will determine whether the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who organized the 2017 demonstrations should be held accountable for the violence.

Democratic Del. Sally Hudson, who represents Charlottesville in the General Assembly, condemned the torch-bearing incident as a 'stunt.'

'Charlottesville is not a prop. Our community is still reeling from years of trauma - especially this week. Don't come back, @ProjectLincoln. Your stunts aren't welcome here,' she tweeted.

The Youngkin campaign has not commented.

Trump supporters reacted with anger to the stunt, and several people - including the former president's son - speculated that McAuliffe's team was in fact behind it, but then used the Lincoln Project to take the fall when criticism mounted.

'No chance Lincoln Project staged this, even though a 'white supremacist' rally is right up Confederate Rick Wilson's alley,' said Donald Trump Jr.

'The VA dem operatives involved have already been identified & locked down their social media. Busted.

'Don't let Pedo Project take the hit for McAuliffe.'

Jack Posobiec, the alt-Right commentator, said: 'Virginia Democrat operatives dressed up as Neo-Nazis holding tiki-torches today to smear their opponent and attempted to pass it off as actually happening.'

Nick Adams, who describes himself on his Twitter bio as 'President Trump's favorite author', also thought it was a McAuliffe prank that backfired.

'So now the Lincoln Project is taking credit for a tiki torch stunt put together with Virginia Democrat Party employees,' he said.

'How stupid do they think we are?'

Brent Scher, editor of the Free Beacon, tweeted: 'I do not think it's out of realm of possibility that Lincoln Project is taking blame, because they have no shame and their reputation really can't get any worse.'

Dan Crenshaw, a Republican congressman for Texas, said: 'How much more proof do we need that the Lincoln Project is nothing but a bunch of deranged hacks?'

Andrew Kerr, a journalist with Daily Caller, said: 'Apparently, it's totally fine to dress up as tiki torch nazis as long as you play for the right team.'

Journalist Glenn Greenwald said: 'Needless to say, right-wing groups that perpetrated a fraud like this -- causing media figures and campaign operatives to spend all day swamping Twitter with an outright racist lie -- would be instantly banned from social media.'

And Brigitte Gabriel, the right-wing think tank founder, tweeted: 'Why hasn't the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled The Lincoln Project as a hate group? The just put together a white supremacist tiki torch rally.

'Seems pretty hateful to me.'

Other critics from the opposite side of the political spectrum took issue with Lincoln Project bringing back painful memories.

'My heart aches for Heather Heyer and for all her loved ones,' said Christine Pelosi, daughter of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

'Her death shook me to the core as an activist and mom.

'The 2017 deadly Nazi rally was bad enough; today's Lincoln Project tiki stunt was cruel.

'Some things are - or should be - beyond politics. This is one of them.'

CJ Paschall, an anchor with the local NBC affiliate in Charlottesville, tweeted: 'Tone deaf is putting it mildly.

'Charlottesville is already reliving some of the darkest days of the city's history with the trial underway.

'The trauma people continue to suffer is not your soap box.'

And Lizzie Hylton, political and legislative director of the clean energy group Clean Virginia, echoed Paschall's view.

'Charlottesville is a real city with real people - far too many of whom are still trying to heal from the massive trauma experienced on August 11th and 12th 2017,' she said.

'Bringing fake Nazis with tiki torches here for a political stunt is beyond f***** up. Shame on @ProjectLincoln.'

The Lincoln Project was founded in late 2019 by a group of Republicans who were dismayed at the direction of their party under Trump.

In December 2019 they laid out their principals in an op ed in The New York Times written by Steve Schmidt, senior advisor to John McCain for his 2008 campaign; John Weaver, chief strategist for Republican challenger John Kasich in 2016; Rick Wilson, a strategist for Evan McMullin's campaign; and George Conway, a DC lawyer.

Conway's wife, Kellyanne, was at the time working in the White House as a senior advisor to Trump, and their political divide became a Washington DC obsession.

The group initially made effective use of social media, playing Trump at his own game and trolling him online with memes and videos.

Money flowed in by the tens of millions of dollars from donors eager to help.

But within the organization, a crisis was brewing.

In June 2020, members of the organization's leadership were informed in writing and in subsequent phone calls of at least 10 specific allegations of harassment against co-founder John Weaver, including two involving Lincoln Project employees.

Questions were also asked about the use of the funds raised.

Of the $90 million Lincoln Project has raised, more than $50 million has gone to firms controlled by the group's leaders, AP reported.

Only about a third of the money, roughly $27 million, directly paid for advertisements that aired on broadcast and cable, or appeared online, during the 2020 campaign, according to an analysis of campaign finance disclosures and data from the ad tracking firm Kantar/CMAG.

In August 2020 Conway announced that he was withdrawing from the group, as his family was rocked by division. His and Kellyanne's daughter Claudia began posting extensively on social media, causing her parents anxiety and ultimately forcing Kellyanne to leave her job in the White House.

In March this year Conway said that he felt the Lincoln Project should close permanently, given the scandals.

A former senior adviser to the project, Kurt Bardella, tweeted: 'Just shut it down already  it's over.'

Conway agreed in his own tweet, writing: 'It's a shame, and we shouldn't forget the hard work of so many people and the positive things the organization did, but yes, I think this is right.'

He added: 'It's just really sad and depressing, and I hope it doesn't tarnish the work of so many people who devoted themselves to such a good cause.'
Staff at the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union have walked out over an internal dispute, forcing its annual conference in Leeds to close early.

Workers at the union's headquarters in London also stopped work yesterday following the outcome of a recent internal appeal.

It came after a faction of the union reportedly called fellow RMT staff 'scabs' and 'scum' following a vote at the meeting.

A letter penned by the aggrieved staff read: 'Our integrity as staff has now been called into question by our own employer.

'As lifelong trade unionists who proudly work for the RMT, this is utterly unacceptable  an injury to one is an injury to all.

'We have consulted our GMB reps and, with their support, have determined we can no longer continue to work at this AGM and will consider our position further in respect of the AGM going forward.'

General Secretary Mick Lynch (pictured) said he was working to resolve the dispute 'as soon as possible'

General secretary Mick Lynch wrote to his members: 'I have been advised that our head office staff have entered into dispute with the union and have collectively decided to take industrial action today.

'That will mean that I am without administrative support or services until further notice.

'I will be seeking discussions with the GMB representatives and their trade union officials as soon as possible in order to address the issues and the situation.

'I hope you will understand that there won't be an ability for head office to respond or provide services at this time.'

He added that he was working to resolve the dispute 'as soon as possible'.

It comes after RMT and ScotRail reached a deal on Wednesday to avert train staff striking during the COP26 climate summit, being held in Glasgow from Sunday.

The RMT trade union had demanded a 2.5 per cent pay rise backdated to April, and a so-called 'COP26 payment' for all staff in its final negotiating position.

The union confirmed the planned industrial action would be 'withdrawn immediately' after an agreement on a pay rise was reached.
These are the horrific shotgun wounds suffered by a mother when two brothers tried to kill her as she cooked cottage pie in her kitchen.

Emma Robinson was blasted through her window in Westerhope, Newcastle, last year by gunmen Thomas Lee, 21, and James Lee, 27, in an apparent revenge attack after a fall-out between the Lees and her son.

Miss Robinson was in her kitchen at 10pm on October 3 when she heard a loud bang and her kitchen window breaking before feeling something hit the side of her face and back.

The Lees brothers are now facing long prison sentences after jurors at Newcastle Crown Court convicted them of attempting to murder the mother.

These are the horrific shotgun wounds suffered by a mother when two brothers tried to kill her as she cooked cottage pie in her kitchen

Emma Robinson was in her kitchen on a Saturday night when she heard a loud bang and her kitchen window breaking before feeling something hit the side of her face and back

Emma Robinson was blasted through her window by gunmen Thomas Lee and James Lee in an apparent revenge attack after a fall-out between the Lees and her son

They were cleared of trying to murder their cousin, Jordan King, around 26 hours after shooting Miss Robinson but were found guilty of attempting to wound him with intent by firing a shotgun at him.

James Lee was also convicted of possessing ammunition when prohibited due to the fact it was within five years of him being imprisoned for nine months in 2017 for religious or racially aggravated harassment.

Thomas Lee of no fixed address and James Lee of Henry Nelson Street, South Shields, will be sentenced next week and face substantial prison sentences.

Jurors were told that Miss Robinson was in her kitchen at Fordmoss Walk when the window behind her smashed and she felt pain in her face, arm and back.

She had been shot but didn't realise what had happened initially.

Miss Robinson said: 'I was making cottage pie in the kitchen, facing the microwave.

'I heard a loud, like a bang but I don't know what type of bang but I could hear the glass at the same time.

'I felt something hit the side of my face and I turned round and it's obviously caught my back.

'I went straight through to the living room. There was glass everywhere.'

Asked to elaborate on the bang, she said: 'It was like an echo type thing then I felt something hit my face but I don't know if it was the glass or something else and something hit the top of my back.'

She added: 'I was in shock at the time. It more sinks in afterwards when you think it could've been really serious this.'

Simon Myerson QC, prosecuting, said: 'She briefly caught site of someone with broad shoulders out of the window, dressed all in black at the side outside the kitchen window and she thought it was a man.

'She couldn't think of any reason why anyone would do it.'

They were cleared of trying to murder their cousin, Jordan King, around 26 hours after shooting Miss Robinson

James Lee was also convicted of possessing ammunition when prohibited due to the fact it was within five years of him being imprisoned for nine months in 2017 for religious or racially aggravated harassment

Picture shows a police pursuit after Jordan King was shot at

Mr Myerson said anyone getting ready to fire at the kitchen in the dark would have known they were not firing into an empty room and that a woman was present.

At about 1.35am on October 5, Mr King was in his flat at St Keverne Square, about a mile away from Fordmoss Walk, when he was shot at.

Mr Myerson said it was not necessary for the prosecution to prove a motive for the attacks but told the jury: 'As far as we can tell, Jordan King was shot at because he had an argument with one or both of these men and Emma Robinson was shot because earlier on October 3, Thomas Lee and his father had been involved in an argument with her son.

'On October 3 in the afternoon, Thomas Lee was seen outside his father's address screaming in anger and saying on the phone 'I've done people's knees before, I've used a gun'.

'It appears these two shootings were carried out for revenge and because they were cross.'
Thousands of protesters have staged demonstrations in the streets to rally against vaccine mandates and sweeping new laws set to be introduced in Victoria.

Angry demonstrators waved placards calling for the resignation of premier Daniel Andrews as they marched towards Parliament House in East Melbourne on Saturday.

'Sack Dan,' one placard read. 'Make Victoria great again'.

One protester was filmed being tackled to the ground by officers after jumping on a police vehicle.

Protesters are outraged over plans for the state government to introduce new state of emergency laws that would give Mr Andrews sweeping powers to impose lockdowns and restrictions.

Thousands of protesters have staged demonstrations in the streets to rally against vaccine mandates and sweeping new laws set to be introduced in Victoria

Angry demonstrators waved placards calling for the resignation of premier Daniel Andrews as they marched towards Parliament House in East Melbourne on Saturday

On Thursday, the Public Health and Wellbeing (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021 passed Victorian Parliament's lower house, making it a step closer to reality.

'This is not about a virus,' one placard read at the protest. 'It's about government total control of the people.'

Vaccinations have also been mandated for all retail workers with Mr Andrews telling staff they will need to have received at least one dose by Friday.

Thousands of workers from all types of retailers have been affected, including staff at florists, fashion outlets, furniture retailers, stationery stores, technology vendors.

'Mandating jabs = violation of Nuremberg code,' another placard read.

Another banner read: 'Coercion is not consent'.

Former Victoria police officer and staunch lockdown critic Craig Backman addressed the crowd of angry protesters on the steps of parliament house.

He turned his attention to the police officers standing guard behind him and urged them to get behind the cause.

'This is not just about a jab or no jab,' he said. 'It's about the freedom. It's about democracy.

'So far, even though I know most you don't agree with it, but instead of showing loyalty to the people, you've shown loyalty to a pay cheque.'

The police officers remained unmoved as the crowd chanted: 'Stand with us. Stand with us.'

Their chanting later turned to outraged calls for Mr Andrews to resign.

'Sack Dan Andrews. Sack Dan Andrews,' they shouted.

Under the new law, the health minister, rather than the chief health officer, will be given 'broad powers' to introduce public health measures such as lockdowns, mask mandates and quarantine requirements.

A similar process is in place in NSW and New Zealand, where the health minister is directly accountable to parliament.

Protesters are outraged over plans for the state government to introduce new state of emergency laws that would give Mr Andrews unlimited power to impose lockdowns and restrictions

On Thursday, the Public Health and Wellbeing (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021 passed Victorian Parliament's lower house, making it a step closer to reality

The opposition, however, says the government is 'drunk on power', describing the proposed laws as 'the most extreme, dangerous and excessive laws ever brought before our state'.

'Daniel Andrews is attempting to sideline the Victorian chief health officer and grant himself unchecked power to declare a state of emergency,' Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said.

Mr Andrews said Mr Guy has repeatedly called for the public health orders to be made by elected officials rather than bureaucrats. As recently as October 5, Mr Guy said the orders should be 'ticked off by a minister or the premier'.

'This is exactly what the opposition leader asked for. Now apparently it's not the right thing,' Mr Andrews told reporters on Tuesday.

'There's some political game being played here and I just won't get involved in that.'

Health Minister Martin Foley said the laws would allow him to issue health orders based on characteristics such as age, location, vaccination status and occupation.

But he said it was 'conspiratorial nonsense' for the opposition to suggest rules could be enforced based on gender, sexual orientation or political belief.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton also maintained he was not being 'sidelined' by the laws.

The opposition, however, says the government is 'drunk on power', describing the proposed laws as 'the most extreme, dangerous and excessive laws ever brought before our state'

'There are expectations that the elected representatives in parliament, the minister in particular and the premier, should have accountability for the final form that public health directions take,' he said.

Professor Sutton will continue to provide health advice to the minister, which under the new laws must be tabled in parliament then made public.

An independent oversight committee will be established to review the public orders and their impact on human rights.

The laws also introduce safeguards around protecting contact tracing and QR code information, while an aggravated offence will be created for people or businesses who 'intentionally or recklessly breach' the rules.

The bill is expected to pass the lower house but in the upper house it will require the backing of three of the 11 crossbenchers.

Animal Justice MP Andy Meddick and Greens leader Samantha Ratnam have indicated they will support the bill, while Reason Party MP Fiona Patten wants to see the 'devil in the detail' before giving it a final 'thumbs up'.

If passed, pandemic-specific laws will replace the current state of emergency, which expires on December 15.
A threat of a possible ISIS attack on US soil has put put police on high alert after a law enforcement alert warned that the international terrorist group could strike malls and shopping centers in Northern Virginia.

On Thursday 'we received information concerning potential public safety impacts to malls and shopping centers across the region,' Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a press conference Friday afternoon.

Davis did not mention what type of warning they received from ISIS beyond calling it 'information that we have that we're simply acting on'.

However, CBS News reported the threat originated with ISIS and is the basis for the alert.

Police cruisers were seen on Friday patrolling the area around Fair Oaks Mall, which is located 20miles outside of Washington, DC.

'Sometimes the information we receive is not with great specificity but we have to respond to it nonetheless,' Davis explained.

Police in Northern Virginia have been warned of a potential threat at malls and shopping centers and said that the treat came from the international terrorist group ISIS, according to Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis (pictured)

'We have increased our police presence throughout the county to include major thoroughfares, transit hubs, shopping plazas and shopping malls,' he said, adding: 'It's just our responsibility to have a greater presence, to be more aware and to ask the community to have their eyes and ears peeled for suspicious activities.'

He said that the increased law enforcement presence will be in place 'where people gather' throughout Halloween weekend and into Tuesday, which is when Virginia's gubernatorial election is taking place.

On Election Day, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe battles surging GOP opponent Glenn Youngkin, who is reportedly more likely to win if voter turnout is low at the election next week.

However, Davis also noted that 'we routinely do this,' assuring that 'this is not necessarily out of the ordinary for us to ramp up a police presence during a holiday weekend'.

'We have increased our police presence throughout the county to include major thoroughfares, transit hubs, shopping plazas and shopping malls,' Davis said at a press conference on Friday

Increased law enforcement will continue through Halloween weekend and into Election Day on Tuesday, which Davis assured isn't out of the ordinary for a holiday weekend

Officers were already patrolling the area around Fair Oaks Mall (pictured), which is located 20miles outside of Washington, DC

According to CBS News , the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence chief John Cohen said earlier this week that since America's bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 30, the terrorist group wants individuals to act on their own in what they call lone-wolf attacks.

'Right now we're seeing a dramatic increase - or an increase - in online activity by media operations associated with different al Qaeda elements and Islamic State,' Cohen said.

The Arlington County Police Department and the Loudon County Sheriff's Office said they were not aware of any specific threats in their areas but they still encouraged people to be vigilant.

The worrisome announcement comes the same week as US intelligence agencies said they believe the Islamic State in Afghanistan could develop the capability to attack the United States in as little as six months, a senior Pentagon official told senators on Tuesday.

The Department of Homeland Security's intelligence chief John Cohen (pictured) said earlier this week that since America's withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 30 the terrorist group wants individuals to act on their own in what they call lone-wolf attacks

On Tuesday US intelligence agencies said they believe the Islamic State in Afghanistan could develop the capability to attack the United States in as little as six months. The worrisome announcement comes after American troops' abrupt exit from Afghanistan on August 30

The stark warning is just the latest reminder of the danger that remains after American troops abruptly left the country at the end of August and the Taliban retook control.

Colin Kahl, the principal adviser to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, said the US must remain vigilant against the threat from Al Qaeda and from the Islamic State's Afghanistan offshoot known as ISIS-K.

'I think the intelligence community currently assesses that both ISIS-K and Al Qaeda have the intent to conduct external operations, including against the United States, but neither currently has the capability to do so,' the Under Secretary of Defense told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

'We could see ISIS-K generate that capability in somewhere between six or 12 months. I think the current assessments by the intelligence community as Al Qaeda would take a year or two to reconstitute that capability,' Kahl added.

Kahl's comments echoed those of Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, who offered a similar six-month time frame recently.

His words were expected to trigger fresh criticism of the rapid end of America's 20-year war - an end that incited chaotic scenes at Kabul airport and resulted in the deaths of 13 US personnel in an ISIS-K suicide attack.

In response Biden has promised an 'over-the-horizon' counterterrorism capability, using drone strikes to limit terrorist threats to the US.
A class of sixth-graders in North Carolina assigned to study an image that featured a sexually explicit act as part of an assignment for art class has left their parents fuming.

Students at Kennedy Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina were assigned to study a piece of art by Kara Walker titled: 'Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred b'tween the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart.'

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district has pulled the imagery, but some parents still have questions why their middle schoolers were told to study an art piece with a sexually explicit act.

A sixth grade class at Kennedy Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina was assigned to study an art piece that depicted a sexually explicit act

Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred b'tween the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart by Kara Walker was included in the middle school curriculum

Walker, the artist of the piece, told MoMA: 'This work is based on purposeful misreadings of historical texts like Gone With the Wind'

Parent Samantha Davis 'was shocked' when she noticed the inappropriate image among her daughter's school assignments.

She told WSOC: 'I didn't think I needed to look up what my child was learning in an art class.'

'I understand the topic being appropriate for college and adults. I don't find this artist and what she depicts as something age-appropriate for middle school kids to see.'

Principal Kevin Sudimack sent a message to the parents after he was made aware of the image: 'It was brought to my attention that there were some inappropriate artist images that were inadvertently included in a 6th grade art lesson while the teacher is on maternity leave. I worked with the art teacher to have the pictures removed from the CANVAS platform.'

Principal Kevin Sudimack said the image was 'inadvertently' included in the lesson plan

While Davis appreciates that the image has been pulled from the curriculum she wants to know who approved the piece of art as he insisted: 'it shouldn't have been there in the first place.'

Sudimack released a statement which read: 'The digital and print resources teachers use within their classroom or on assignments should be vetted and researched before making them available to students.

'In this instance, there was insufficient review and inappropriate images became apparent when viewed beyond icons that included less detail. The link was immediately removed so students could not have access to the site. Parents were informed of the oversight and the process has been reiterated to staff.'

Walker, the artist of the piece, told the MoMA: 'This work is based on purposeful misreadings of historical texts like Gone With the Wind.' She wanted to depict the: 'punch-in-the-gut feeling of culpability in white washing or wishing away the unseemly, icky part of the story, of any story.'

This comes as schools across the nation battle with debates over different curriculums, namely critical race theory.

Another North Carolina school board recently passed an ethics policy allowing educators in Johnston County to be fired if they 'undermine' foundational United States documents or teach critical race theory in their classrooms.

The Johnston County School Board unanimously approved the curriculum policy changes on Friday after county commissioners decided to withhold $7.9 million in district funding.

The all-Republican board of commissioners said they would continue to withhold the funds until a policy was established to 'eliminate the possibility of CRT  Critical Race Theory  teachings and any other potentially divisive teaching topics.'

CRITICAL RACE THEORY: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? The fight over critical race theory in schools has escalated in the United States over the last year. The theory has sparked a fierce nationwide debate in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests around the country over the last year and the introduction of the 1619 Project. The 1619 Project, which was published by the New York Times in 2019 to mark 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived on American shores, reframes American history by 'placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the center of the US narrative'. The debate surrounding critical race theory regards concerns that some children are being indoctrinated into thinking that white people are inherently racist or sexist. Those against critical race theory have argued it reduces people to the categories of 'privileged' or 'oppressed' based on their skin color. Supporters, however, say the theory is vital to eliminating racism because it examines the ways in which race influence American politics, culture and the law. Advertisement

The newly passed policy  a revision to the district's code of ethics  states that teachers will face disciplinary action if they undermine the U.S. Constitution, describe racism as a permanent aspect of American life or teach that American historical figures weren't heroes, NBC News reported.

The code explicitly states that 'the United States foundational documents shall not be undermined' and 'all people who contributed to American Society will be recognized and presented as reformists, innovators and heroes to our culture.'

It also states that when 'discussing a controversial topic' all staff members should 'remain neutral and present the information without bias.'

April Lee, an 8th grade teacher and president of the Johnston County Association of Educators, told CBS 17 that critical race theory was not taught in the district's classrooms.

'I think that there's some confusion on teaching actual history that reflects the history of all people that live in the United States with critical race theory,' she said.

Lee also expressed that she disagrees with the policy, arguing that it is 'basically extortion.'

'I think it ties our hands, at least for some teachers, who won't feel comfortable because they'll feel like they'll be called into question,' Lee said.

She also reportedly accused the school system of 'selling our souls to the devil for $7.9 million.'

However, the Johnston County School Board is applauding those who helped devise the new policy.

'We had principals, law enforcement officers, teachers...' school board member Ronald Johnson said.

'It was probably the best group of people who could have reviewed this, reviewing this, so I'm very thankful.'
Hundreds of New York City firefighters took sick leave on Friday instead of complying with Mayor Bill de Blasio's deadline for all city workers to be vaccinated or be placed on unpaid leave - causing some firehouses to shut their doors because of staff shortages.

'The excessive sick leave ... because of their anger at the vaccine mandate for all city employees is unacceptable,' said FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro, who oversees a department where more than a quarter of its workers have not had one COVID vaccine shot.

Nigro said their decision to take sick leave could 'endanger the lives' of city residents called, adding it's 'contrary to their oaths to serve'.

All municipal workers were ordered to show proof of at least one dose of the vaccine by 5pm Friday or risk being placed on unpaid leave come Monday.

The FDNY has not closed any firehouses for good but it was not immediately clear which stations were forced to close.

'Despite these actions by some, the department will continue to respond to all calls for help that come our way,' Nigro said.

Hundreds of New York City's firefighters have protested Mayor Bill de Blasio's vaccine mandate, which officially took effect on Friday, with a sneaky loophole - paid sick leave

Even after a surge in vaccines before the mandate's deadline on Friday 10,951 firefighters; about 36,000 cops; and 10,000 emergency responders - around 4,300 of whom are employed by the fire department - have yet to get jabbed

De Blasio's mandate, which was announced on October 20, said that by 5pm on Friday all municipal workers were ordered to show proof of at least one dose of the vaccine or risk being placed on unpaid leave come Monday

He said FDNY workers were would be allowed to get the shot on Saturday and Sunday and wouldn't be put on unpaid leave if they showed up to work with proof of inoculation on Monday.

But on Friday a group of fix firefighters of Ladder 113 in Brooklyn were on duty when they drove a fire truck to State Senator Zellnor Myrie's office to tell his staffers they would 'have blood on their hands' if they continued to push the mandate, according to the New York Post.

Nigro said of what happened at the senator's office: '(They) should only be concerned with responding to emergencies and helping New Yorkers and not harassing an elected official and his staff.'

Despite the incident there was a surge in vaccination rates among Manhattan's public employees on Friday in a last-ditch effort to stay on payroll.

According to the Post, the FDNY saw firefighters' vaccination rate rise from 67 percent Friday morning to 72 percent by the end of the day.

The Emergency Medical Service (EMS) - which is part of the FDNY - saw a spike to 84 percent - up from 77 percent

Vaccination rates among NYPD's 55,000-strong police force rose from 80 to 84 percent.

The Department of Sanitation also saw a jump in vaccination rate, from 67 percent to 76, according to the Post.

These figures mean that 10,951 firefighters; about 36,000 cops; and 10,000 emergency responders - around 4,300 of whom are employed by the fire department - have yet to get jabbed.

Close to a quarter of the city's 7,200 uniformed sanitation workers also remain unvaccinated.

Firefighters rallied outside Mayor Bill de Blasio's residence Gracie Mansion on Thursday to protest his Covid-19 vaccine mandate for all city workers

NYPD and FDNY union members were seen holding placards that read: 'FDNY against tyranny (and) if we lose medical choice we lose all freedom'

In anti-vaccine protests earlier this week off-duty cops held the Thin Blue Line flag representative of police officers and the Blue Lives Matter movement

Unvaccinated city employees who got their first and second doses after the mandate was announced on October 20 were offered a $500 bonus as incentive to get their shots.

But De Blasio is still fearing a massive staff-shortage that could threaten public safety come next week and he took an opportunity during the NYPD's annual Medal Day ceremony to plead with unvaccinated cops to get their long-awaited vaccines.

The mayor said: 'Today, we honored people who made us safer. By getting vaccinated were making the city safer.'

After the ceremony, he told reporters outside of the Police Academy in Queens, according to the Daily News: 'My message to all city employees who are not yet vaccinated is: We care about you. We care about your health and your families health.

'We care about the health of the people we serve and come in contact with every day.'

Instead of inspiring people to get their jabs, De Blasio's edict has triggered furious protests and warnings that up to 40 percent of firehouses could close, with up to 150 fewer ambulances a day in service.

The two-month cycle theory has also been seen in the US during every surge including the summer 2020 wave and the winter 2020-21 wave

'The department must manage the unfortunate fact that a portion of our workforce has refused to comply with a vaccine mandate for all city employees,' Nigro said earlier in the week.

'We will use all means at our disposal, including mandatory overtime, mutual aid from other EMS providers, and significant changes to the schedules of our members. We will ensure the continuity of operations and safety of all those we have sworn oaths to serve.'

Mike Salsedo, 44, was among hundreds of firefighters protesting Thursday outside De Blasio's official residence Gracie Mansion. He said he believes he has natural immunity to Covid-19 after having the disease last year and doesn't need to be vaccinated - a stance that's contrary to the consensus among public health experts.

'I'm a man of faith, and I don't believe that putting something manmade into my body is good,' Salsedo said.

Another firefighter, Jackie-Michelle Martinez, said the ability to choose was 'our God-given right' as she questioned the city's decision to move away from its previous policy, which allowed workers to stay on the job if they had a negative Covid-19 test.

'If the weekly testing is working, why are you, Mayor de Blasio, eliminating it?' she asked.

Meanwhile, nationwide Covid-related infections and fatalities in the US have dropped to the lowest levels recorded since April 2021.

About 191million Americans have been fully vaccinated - nearly 58 percent of the population

On September 1 America was averaging 49.9 cases per 100,000 but as of Wednesday, this figure has dropped to 21.2 cases per 100,000.

These declines seem to follow a familiar two-month cycle since the pandemic began in early 2020 with cases and deaths increasing for about two months before declining, according to David Leonhardt of The New York Times.

Early explanations - such as the virus being seasonal like the flu or compliance of mask wearing and social distancing increasing and decreasing - have not held up.

However, more logical explanations include that as people have contracted Covid-19 over the last two months, the virus is (slowly) running out of people to infect.

'Since the pandemic began, Covid has often followed a regular - if mysterious - cycle. In one country after another, the number of new cases has often surged for roughly two months before starting to fall,' Leonhardt wrote.

'The Delta variant, despite its intense contagiousness, has followed this pattern.'

This means a variant may only need eight weeks to spread throughout a community before it begins to recede.
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Parts of the nation's capital were underwater on Friday night and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency for counties affected by severe weather, as the National Weather Service warned that the mid-Atlantic region could see one of the biggest tidal floods in a decade or two as heavy rain and winds pummeled the region.

The weather service said some areas could get the worst tidal flooding that they've seen since Hurricane Isabel in 2003 on Saturday as strong and persistent winds push water into the Chesapeake Bay. Several public school systems in Maryland were closed on Friday.

Hogan issued the state of emergency for areas of Maryland along the shores of the bay, the Potomac River and the Atlantic Coast currently under a coastal flood warning.

Rising water covers up stairs along the Tidal Basin after heavy rains caused tidal flooding in the Mid-Atlantic region in Washington, DC on Friday

The Potomac River in Washington DC appeared to burst its banks in some areas on Friday

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 29: Rising water covers a walkway along the Tidal Basin after heavy rains caused flooding

A group of people take photos with their phones as flood waters rise in downtown Annapolis, Maryland. The US National Weather Service implemented a flood watch for the cities of Baltimore and Annapolis as well as Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties. Washington, DC, and parts of Virginia faced the same alert

A tree is partially submerged in the Potomac River. A storm system with gusty winds and heavy rain is bringing significant coastal and tidal flooding to Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland

'Even if you are accustomed to nuisance flooding, this is much more serious and has the potential to be much more damaging over the course of the next 24 hours,' Hogan said early on Friday evening. 'We are taking this action to bring all necessary state resources to bear, and assist local jurisdictions in their response efforts.'

The state of emergency declaration includes Baltimore City and the following counties: Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne's, Prince George's, Somerset, St. Mary's, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester.

The governor urged Maryland residents and visitors to monitor weather forecasts and remain on alert as heavy rains, moderate to major flooding, and hazardous winds affect portions of the state Friday through Sunday.

'One of the biggest tidal flood events of the past 10-20 years (possibly since Hurricane Isabel at some locales), is expected Friday & Saturday. Those along tidal shores should get ready for exceptional tidal inundation!' the NWS tweeted.

Isabel struck the area in 2003, which caused $945m of damage in Maryland and Washington and killed one person.

The forecast for Saturday's powerful storm was set to drench parts of eastern US with heavy rain, winds and coastal flooding

Strong easterly winds are set to make the effects of flooding even worse as the gusts drive water ashore in low-lying areas

Weather forecasts show peak flood stages from the National Weather Service, color-coded by severity, through Saturday

The breadth of the storm was clearly visibly in images taken from a weather satellite in space

The local National Weather Service for Baltimore and Washington DC called the impending flooding one of the biggest in over two decades in a tweet

The NWS on Friday night said most of the rain had passed but there was now a serious risk of tidal and coastal flooding

The levels along the Potomac River and shores of Chesapeake Bay were expected to rise causing moderate flooding almost 6 feet above normal

Konrad Karandy of Annapolis, Maryland., puts sandbags in front of a restaurant in downtown Annapolis as the water from tidal flooding rises

A group of people wade through flood waters in downtown Annapolis, Maryland

The Japanese Pagoda statue is partially submerged as water rises along the Tidal Basin after heavy rains caused tidal flooding in the Mid-Atlantic region in Washington, DC

A woman reacts as she walks through a flooded street in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday

The bar manager at the Union Street pub speaks to Keith Harmon (L) and Heidi DeuPree, as he takes an order while they paddle through flood water in a canoe in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

Keith Harmon (back) and Heidi DeuPree paddle through flood water in a canoe in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

A police officer pulls a potted plant across a flooded street near a bar in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

People watch a man walk through a flooded street in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

A woman reacts as she walks through a flooded street in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Flooding from heavy rain hit parts of the US East Coast, particularly the area around Washington, with potential for some of the worst damage in decades

The bar manager at the Union Street pub hands a drink to Keith Harmon (L) and Heidi DeuPree as they paddle through flood water in a canoe in Old Town Alexandria

A bicyclist trudges through knee-high flooding in downtown Annapolis on Friday. The city is anticipating potential historic flooding conditions in low-lying areas

A man rides a bicycle through flood waters in downtown Annapolis, Maryland, on Friday, October 29

A group of people, pictured, wade through flood waters in downtown Annapolis, Maryland, on Friday

The agency reports that more than 20 million people are currently under a weather alert, as two-to-four feet of coastal flooding is expected to hit Baltimore and the nation's capital.

On Friday morning, water flooded streets near City Dock in downtown Annapolis. One man filmed was filmed kayaking through a flooded parking lot.

'The rain is coming in a lot right now,' said Leslie Butler, who had come to Annapolis for the day with her children and paused near City Dock during their visit. 'It's crazy high flood waters. I've never seen this before.'

Businesses in the area could be seen placing sandbags on Friday afternoon in an effort to protect their properties from flood damage.

Mission BBQ in Annapolis manager Konrad Karandy was one of those businesses who took advantage of the sandbags as he prepared for flooding and extreme weather conditions.

'We're prepping for the worst. My personal guess is four feet (of water), something like that,' Karandy told the news outlet.

A pair of friends appeared to be enjoying the extreme weather in Annapolis, but forecasters say conditions are dangerous

Astreet by the City Dock of Annapolis, Maryland is flooded near high tide on Friday

Chase Sutton, pictured, of Annapolis, Maryland kayaks over a street in downtown Annapolis Friday

A woman attempts to move her parked car from flooded Union Street as tidal flooding coincides with a powerful storm in downtown Alexandria, Virginia on Friday

The City of Annapolis Office of Emergency Management warned people to prepare for the possibility of extended road closures through the weekend. In Baltimore, officials offered residents sandbags and warned them to move vehicles from low-lying areas.

The flooding could affect all tidal shores in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia, the weather service said.

Water levels were already elevated Thursday evening, but high tides are expected to be the highest from Friday night until high tide Saturday morning.

Several counties are already under wind advisories, with gusts predicted to reach upwards of 60 mph.

'Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles,' the local NWS said.

Christopher Rodriguez, director for Washington DC's Homeland Security and Emergency Management, warned businesses in the area to have their flood insurance documents handy in preparation for what could amount to expensive and devastating damages.

'We want to make sure that our businesses that are along those coastal areas of our region, in particular our city, make sure you know where your insurance papers are, because flood insurance is going to be really helpful as we recover from this event over the next 48 hours,' Rodriguez told WJZ-TV.

The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial, pictured, located at the City Dock in historic Annapolis Maryland is surrounded by water from tidal flooding

A group of people walk on the sea wall as a man kayaks through the flooded parking lot in downtown Annapolis
Congregants at a Brisbane synagogue were confronted by the sight of a Nazi flag flying from a nearby apartment window, a local Jewish leader says.

Visitors to the synagogue reported seeing the swastika symbol hanging from a UniLodge complex on Margaret St in the CBD on Saturday morning, Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies vice president Jason Steinberg told AAP.

'That flag and that symbol, the Nazi swastika symbol, represents one of the most evil moments in human history,' Mr Steinberg said on Saturday.

Visitors to the Brisbane synagogue reported seeing the Nazi flag hanging from a UniLodge complex on Margaret St in the CBD on Saturday morning

'For that to appear in 2021 in Brisbane over a synagogue is just atrocious.'

Queensland Police confirmed they went to the apartment, seized the flag and issued the resident a notice to appear for public nuisance.

However Mr Steinberg wants the state's laws modified to make it clear showing the symbol is unacceptable.

'The state parliament is reviewing the hate crime legislation as we speak,' he said.

'We called on the banning of the swastika to be displayed and Nazi flags like this because at the moment ... it doesn't breach the serious hate or vilification law.'

Queensland Police confirmed they went to the apartment, seized the flag and issued the resident a notice to appear for public nuisance

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner labelled the display as 'sickening' and 'pure evil'.

'Under the current inadequate laws, this is likely to be classified as nothing more than a low-level 'public nuisance'. Not good enough!' he posted to Twitter on Sunday.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner labelled the display as 'sickening' and 'pure evil' and called for the flag to be banned in the state

Queensland Multicultural Affairs Minister Leanne Linard also took to social media to call out the 'disgraceful' act.

'Incidents like this are why the Palaszczuk Government launched an inquiry into serious vilification and hate crime,' Ms Linard posted on Facebook on Saturday.

'This is not who we are as Queenslanders and should be called out at every opportunity.'

Queensland Multicultural Affairs Minister Leanne Linard also took to social media to call out the 'disgraceful' act

On November 9, the Jewish community remembers Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, in 1938.

Nazis flew their flag in German streets and smashed synagogue windows on an evening of violence that effectively marked the beginning of the Holocaust, Mr Steinberg said.

'I'm obviously not saying we're living in Nazi Germany, but to see that brings for us as a community into the realisation that there are people on the streets of Brisbane who hate Jews. And that's not a nice feeling.'
A scuba diver has died in Sydney after being pulled from the water unconscious.

The man was diving off the coast of Inscription Point at Kurnell in Sydney's south on Saturday when he ran into trouble.

He was unresponsive when pulled from the water just after midday, with fellow divers attempting resuscitation before paramedics took over.

A scuba diver has died in Sydney after being pulled from the water unconscious

He was unresponsive when pulled from the water just after midday, with fellow divers attempting resuscitation before paramedics took over

Despite their efforts, the man could not be revived.

NSW Ambulance inspector David Matthews said bystanders did an incredible job to get the man to shore and immediately begin CPR.

'They were remarkable in devastating circumstances,' he said in a statement.

'As we head into the summer months, it's important to understand the dangers of the ocean and waterways. It's imperative to have a safety plan in case something goes wrong.'

The man is yet to be formally identified, with police establishing a crime scene as they prepare a report to the coroner.
External experts are set to be appointed by the BBC to ensure its content is impartial.

Tim Davie, the BBC's Director General, has decided to handle accusations of bias at the broadcaster.

Mr Davie has already cracked down on the issue by putting controls on staff sharing views on social media and an emphasis on neutrality in news roles, according to the Telegraph.

But the BBC will have the new experts from outside the corporation to analyse all the content the broadcaster puts out for signs of potential bias.

Investigators will do this by leading rolling reviews which look at different areas of output.

These will be everything from how tax news is covered to the contents of CBeebies programmes and will be done to ensure guidelines for impartiality are met across the company.

External experts are set to be appointed by the BBC to ensure its content is impartial. Tim Davie, the BBC's Director Genera (pictured), has decided to handle accusations of bias at the broadcaster by cracking down

The initiative has been unveiled in a 10-point action plan to maintain editorial standards.

It says: 'This strategic programme of reviews will have topics and review chairs - likely to be independent of the BBC.'

The action plan goes on to say that reviews will look beyond news and current affairs and will examine the treatment of the issue across the wider range of BBC output, for example in documentaries, children's programming and educational content.

External experts will consider how the broader output might contribute to overall public perceptions of impartiality, while recognising that audiences have varying expectations of output.

Experts will consider how the broader output might contribute to overall public perceptions of impartiality, while recognising that audiences have varying expectations of output

His new impartiality policy comes weeks after it was claimed that he 'blocked' a leading diversity campaigner from getting a job at the BBC.

He is said to have expressed concerns about appointing someone regarded as a 'campaigner' in the industry, sources told the Daily Mail.

The candidate, Marcus Ryder, 50, a former head of current affairs programmes at BBC Scotland, was the preference to become executive editor for Newsbeat and Asian Network News.

The BBC denied 'vetoing' Mr Ryder's appointment but a source said Mr Davies felt burnt in the wake of the controversy faced with Jess Brammar and was concerned about further backlash.

Ms Brammar has recently risen to the top-ranking job of editor of the BBC news channels after facing criticism throughout her recruitment for being openly left-leaning.

The candidate, Marcus Ryder, 50, (pictured) was the preference to become executive editor for Newsbeat and Asian Network News

The Guardian reported last week that Mr Davie had offered to meet with Mr Ryder following the reports.

The BBC said that it did not appoint anyone externally and then carried out an internal recruitment search which saw Danielle Dwyer, an assistant editor for Radio 1 and 1Extra Newsbeat appointed.

Before the new appointment was confirmed, the BBC had said of the process: 'We'd never comment on who has or hasn't applied for a job.

'After an external search, BBC News has decided that as this role is bringing together departments from across the country, we are looking for an internal candidate with an existing understanding of the BBC, so are not taking forward any external candidates for this particular post.

'This is a BBC News decision. It is wrong to suggest any veto has been exercised on any candidate.'
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Boris Johnson has said the Queen was on 'very good form' when he spoke to her this week after doctors told her to cancel any official visits and rest for at least another two weeks.

The Prime Minister gave an upbeat tone while talking about attending his weekly conversation with the 95-year-old monarch as she takes medical precautions after a working through a busy schedule.

'She's just got to follow the advice of her doctors and get some rest and I think thats the important thing. I think the whole country wishes her well,' Mr Johnson told reporters at the G20 summit in Rome.

The Queen is likely to take on fewer duties in the future as her aides reassess her work schedule, royal experts have claimed.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline the Queen 'hates letting people down' but that it was 'very likely' there will be a permanent change to her workload.

The 95-year-old will miss the traditional Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 13, but has vowed to attend the service at the Cenotaph the following day.

Royal sources said last night that Her Majesty views the occasion as 'unmissable' and as one of her 'most sacred duties'. Aides also insisted that the Queen was in 'good spirits' and stressed that her medical team were simply taking 'sensible precautions'.

In a round of broadcast interviews at the G20 summit in Rome today, the Prime Minister said: 'I spoke to her Majesty and she's on very good form. She's just got to follow the advice of her doctors and get some rest and I think that's the important thing. I think the whole country wishes her well.'

Mr Johnson received the health update on Wednesday when he spoke to the Queen for his regular weekly audience.

Earlier yesterday she was well enough to record her video message to be played at the opening of the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow on Monday.

But the latest announcement is unlikely to calm public concern over the monarch's health. It will be one of the longest, and most significant, absences as a result of ill health during her reign.

It comes after she was secretly taken to hospital for a night last week. The Palace has still not explained the reason for that admission, with royal aides saying only that it was for 'preliminary investigations'.

Since last appearing in public nearly two weeks ago, the Queen has only carried out virtual engagements, with the latest coming on Thursday when she virtually presented English poet David Constantine - who was at Buckingham Palace - with The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

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Since last appearing in public nearly two weeks ago, the Queen has only carried out virtual engagements, with the latest coming yesterday when she virtually presented English poet David Constantine - who was at Buckingham Palace - with The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry

In a round of broadcast interviews at the G20 summit in Rome, Boris Johnson (pictured visiting the Colosseum today) said: 'I spoke to her Majesty and she's on very good form'

Her Majesty has been recuperating at Windsor Castle for the past ten days following her stay in hospital last week. In a statement, Buckingham Palace said Her Majesty could still undertake some light duties including virtual audiences

The Queen's health over the years as she is advised to rest for two weeks The Queen is known for her strong constitution and no-fuss approach to her infrequent illnesses. Her doctors have recommended she continue to rest for the next two weeks following the 95-year-old monarch's overnight stay at King Edward VII's Hospital earlier this month, which was her first in eight years. She was treated at the private clinic for a nasty bout of gastroenteritis in 2013, when she also stayed for one night. The sovereign was recently seen using a walking stick at a Westminster Abbey service in early October, the first time she has done so at a major event. During the coronavirus pandemic, the Queen retreated to Windsor Castle for her safety, where she was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh in lockdown. The couple were vulnerable to Covid-19 because of their advanced age, but were protected by the so-called HMS Bubble, their reduced household of about 20 staff. On January 9 2021, the then 94-year-old Queen and the 99-year-old duke received their coronavirus vaccinations, with Buckingham Palace taking the rare step of confirming what would usually have been a private medical matter, as the national rollout of the injections gathered pace. Philip had heart surgery in March 2021, but returned to Windsor where he died a few weeks later in his sleep at the age of 99. In January 2020, the Queen missed her annual visit to the Sandringham Women's Institute due to a slight cold. The year she turned 90, the monarch called time on her overseas travels, leaving long-haul destinations to the younger members of her family, but she still maintains a busy diary of events. The monarch still rides her Fell ponies at Windsor, and drives, mainly around her private estates. The Queen missed the christening of her great-grandson Prince Louis in July 2018 but not because of illness. It was mutually agreed in advance by the monarch and the Cambridges that the Queen would not attend the celebration, which fell at the beginning of a busy week of engagements including the centenary of the RAF and a visit by US President Donald Trump. In June that year, the Queen pulled out of a service at St Paul's Cathedral because she was feeling 'under the weather'. In May 2018, the head of state had eye surgery to remove a cataract. She was treated as a day patient and did not cancel any engagements nor appearances, but was spotted wearing sunglasses. In November 2017, the Prince of Wales led the nation in honouring the country's war dead on Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph. It was the first time that the Queen, as head of state, had watched the ceremony from a nearby balcony, and was seen as a sign of the royal family in transition and an acknowledgement of her age. Just before Christmas 2016, the Queen and Philip both fell ill with heavy colds, forcing them to delay their trip to Sandringham by a day. The Queen was not well enough to attend the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene church and also missed the New Year's Day one. She later described it as a 'particularly grisly mixture of cold and flu'. She turned 90 in 2016 and, the same year, used the lift rather than stairs to enter Parliament for the State Opening, avoiding the 26 steps of the royal staircase at the Sovereign's Entrance. Buckingham Palace said the 'modest adjustment' to arrangements were made for 'the Queen's comfort'. The decision was attributed to the Queen suffering from knee pain. In 2014, the Prince of Wales stood in for the Queen for part of the Order of the Bath service to avoid her having to make an extra journey up and down some steep steps in full regalia. In November 2013, the Duke of Cambridge stepped in to represent the Queen at an investiture ceremony after she suffered some 'mild discomfort' with her ankle after a busy weekend of engagements including the service of remembrance at the Cenotaph. Her first hospital stay in 10 years came in 2013 when she was 86 after she suffered symptoms of gastroenteritis and missed an engagement in Swansea when she was due to present St David's Day leeks to the 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh. On March 3 2013, she was admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital to be assessed. A week of engagements, including a two-day trip to Rome, was cancelled. The Queen spent one night in hospital and left thanking staff and smiling before being driven to Buckingham Palace to rest. It was thought her public appearances were back on track until Buckingham Palace announced on the morning of the Commonwealth Day Observance service on March 11 that she regrettably could no longer attend 'as she continues to recover following her recent illness'. It was the first Commonwealth Day Observance service she had missed in 20 years, the last occasion being when she had flu in 1993. The Queen, who placed great importance to her role as Head of the Commonwealth, did however attend the Commonwealth Reception at Marlborough House on the evening of March 11 to sign the new Commonwealth Charter. Buckingham Palace insisted it was just the 'tail end' of the symptoms and that her condition had not worsened. But the next day she cancelled her engagements for the rest of the week, with her son, the Duke of York, saying later that it was sensible not to risk her coming out, but that she was not ill. Her illnesses have been few and far between over the years. She has suffered from back pain, and also had operations to remove torn cartilage from both knees. She caught measles when Prince Charles was two months old in 1949 and had to be separated from her baby son. The first time the Queen was actually admitted to hospital was in July 1982 when she had a wisdom tooth extracted at the King Edward VII Hospital in central London. The Queen's no-fuss approach to injury and illness was perfectly illustrated in 1994. She broke her left wrist when her horse tripped during a ride on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. The break was not diagnosed until almost 24 hours later when her arm was X-rayed and set in plaster at a hospital. It was the first time she had fallen in many years and the Queen had simply brushed herself down, remounted her horse and trotted on back to Sandringham. Advertisement

Commentator Mr Fitzwilliams said the Queen's new schedule 'will probably involve fewer duties being given'.

He added: 'The fact that the country's working life has changed is synonymous with reasons that the Queen's been advised it would seem very likely that there will be a reassessment of her work schedule.'

Mr Fitzwilliams said the Queen attended 295 engagements in 2019.

He added: 'In a way it's to be hoped that a balance is worked out because she will want to do what she can and it will be a blow to miss important engagements.'

He called the Monarch a 'master at virtual broadcasts', but added: 'She once said she had to be seen to be believed and knows that if she attends an event it has a certain cachet. The royal family project soft power superbly and the Queen, the worlds most experienced head of state, is uniquely skilled at this.

'She knows how in demand and indispensable she is and hates letting people down, that's the difficulty, but she is a master at crafted virtual broadcasts and has been advised to rest.'

The Mail understands that although the suggestion she could remain at Windsor for more than a fortnight was made out of 'caution', it is likely her diary could be affected for some time to come.

And while the monarch will be keen to get out and about as soon as possible, she will continue to be guided by what her doctors think is best.

This means other senior royals will have to pick up more engagements on her behalf whenever possible, particularly the Prince of Wales.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement last night: 'Following on from their recent advice that the Queen should rest for a few days, Her Majesty's doctors have advised that she should continue to rest for at least the next two weeks.

'The doctors have advised that Her Majesty can continue to undertake light, desk-based duties during this time, including some virtual audiences [the receiving of ambassadors], but not to undertake any official visits.

'Her Majesty regrets that this means she will be unable to attend the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday November 13.

'However, it remains The Queen's firm intention to be present for the National Service of Remembrance on Remembrance Sunday, on November 14.'

This meant, the Palace said, that she would 'regretfully' not be able to attend the traditional Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall with other members of the Royal Family.

But they said it remained the Queen's 'firm intention' to be present for the traditional Remembrance Sunday event in London the following day.

In the wake of the announcement, one royal source told the Mail: 'That's just unmissable, as far as the Queen is concerned. It would take something very serious indeed for her not to attend. It is one of her most sacred duties.'

Another added: 'It's just about the most inked-in engagement in her diary each year.' Indeed, she has missed the event only six times in her 69-year reign, either when pregnant or away on tour.

One royal insider said last night's announcement was made because the Queen takes her role as patron of the Royal British Legion so seriously, and wanted to offer them as much 'clarity' as she could at such an important time of the year.

'Queen of the World' author and Daily Mail journalist Robert Hardman told BBC's Today Programme this morning: 'She was out and about at the G7 summit in June, she's been opening the Welsh and Scottish Parliament, she was seen at Westminster Abbey albeit with a walking stick the other day.

'So we expect her to be at these things and when she's not it comes as a bit of a jolt, but she is very much sticking to the duties.

'I think one of the biproducts of this whole pandemic is she's got very used to doing these virtual meetings, and is actually quite a past master at them now, and she has I'm told already recorded her message for Cop.

'She is very sorry not to at Cop but again she's going to be there virtually which is more than can be said for some of these other leaders.'

The first sign something was amiss regarding her health came on Wednesday last week when Buckingham Palace announced that she was cancelling a two-day tour to Northern Ireland just hours before she was due to fly.

Palaces aides said she would remain at Windsor Castle, but hours later she was secretly whisked to the private King Edward VII Hospital in London, where she remained until the following day  her first overnight stay for eight years.

It has been confirmed, however, that the issue was not Covid-related and the Mail has been told she does not have a seasonal cold 'or anything like that'.

Palace sources insisted that her decision not to travel to Scotland was simply a 'sensible precaution' in light of her doctor's advice to rest and that she was determined the conference should be a success.

Another source said it would have been 'unwise' for the Queen to make the 800-mile round trip from Windsor to Glasgow for the major event which aims to agree crucial global action on climate change.

Yesterday, the monarch looked in good spirits as she spoke to Mr Constantine - who was accompanied by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage - on video conferencing platform WebEx.

Wearing a floral dress and a pearl necklace, she told him: 'I'm very glad to have the chance to see you if only mechanically this morning. Mr Armitage was then seen shaking his fellow poet's hand as he gave him the award and said 'very well done, congratulations.'

Her Majesty then joked: 'I don't know what you do with it. Do you put it in a cupboard?'

Her appearance via a Cisco Webex video call came came two days after she held a virtual Audience for the ambassadors from the Republic of Korea and Switzerland.

On Wednesday, royal experts suggested that there could now be a 'reassessment and possibly a slight gear change in the kind of work the Queen does'.

Announcing The Queen's engagement yesterday, Buckingham Palace said: 'Her Majesty The Queen today conducted a virtual Audience via video link from Windsor Castle.

'Mr. David Constantine was received by The Queen this afternoon via video link when Her Majesty presented him with The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

'The Poet Laureate, Professor Simon Armitage, was present.'

In response to Her Majesty's question about what he would do with the award, Mr Constantine said he would put it 'somewhere safe'.

He added: 'This evening I shall show it to my children and grandchildren, who are waiting in our house'

The Queen then replied: 'Ah right, well that will be nice. It is rather a nice medal isn't it?'

Mr Constantine, 77, is also a novelist and writer of short stories. He has published several poetry collections, including 'Collected Poems' in 2004 and 'Elder' in 2014.

The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry was was instituted in 1933 by King George V with the recipient chosen by a committee chaired by the Poet Laureate. Previous winners include John Betjeman, Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes.

Her Majesty will continue to work behind the scenes while next week's climate change summit takes place in Glasgow and record a video message - but there could now be a chance in the distances she travels in future.

Royal expert Roya Nikkhah said on Wednesday: 'We had some quite interesting background guidance yesterday from royal sources saying that although she's not going to be there in person, she is going to filming this video address this week and she is going to be working behind the scenes to make sure there are meaningful actions.

'And I thought what was really interesting was the guidance we had that she's very keen that other world leaders and heads of state don't use her absence as an excuse not to attend. So she's following it very, very closely.'

Ms Nikkah, royal editor of the Sunday Times, who was speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, added: 'It's quite a trip for a 95-year-old and she's had this incredibly packed both public and private diary for a few weeks, which has obviously left her pretty tired.

'And I think the feeling probably was  we don't know, because we're not doctors  but the feeling probably was from her doctors it was a little bit much for her to go up and do all that.

'And it's not just the travel  it's also being on. It's also entertaining and hosting world leaders, talking to them about climate change and all of that  I think the feeling probably is that's just a little bit too much at the moment until she's back to full strength.'

She continued: 'I think there will be a reassessment and possibly a slight gear change in the kind of work the Queen does, the distances she travels, but I don't think we will see  all being well, if the Queen is able to continue with public duties as we hope that she will be  I think we will still see her out and about as much as she and her doctors feel she can  but I think there will be a gear change, and her private secretaries and her diary secretaries looking at engagements that come in and thinking what does Her Majesty the Queen really need to be at, and what does she feel she really can do. So I think there will be a constant review going forwards now.'

Announcing the Cop26 decision, Buckingham Palace said earlier this week: 'Following advice to rest, The Queen has been undertaking light duties at Windsor Castle.

'Her Majesty has regretfully decided that she will no longer travel to Glasgow to attend the evening reception of Cop26 on Monday, November 1.

'Her Majesty is disappointed not to attend the reception but will deliver an address to the assembled delegates via a recorded video message.'

The palace has still not explained why the Queen was taken to hospital last week. After it was announced she had cancelled the Northern Ireland visit, the palace initially said the monarch was resting at Windsor.

It was only 36 hours later, after news had leaked out, that a spokesman confirmed she had been admitted to King Edward VII's hospital in London for 'preliminary investigations'.

Aides had hoped that the head of state would be well enough to lead the Royal Family at the summit, either in person or via video-link.

And earlier on Tuesday she returned to work at Windsor, where she is resting on doctors' orders, for the first time since last week.

The pictures show her face on a computer screen as she greeted the new ambassador from the Republic of Korea, Gunn Kim, who was at Buckingham Palace. She also spoke to the new Swiss ambassador, Markus Leitner.

The Queen's decision not to attend Cop26 will be a blow to organisers. There are few people on the world stage who command the same respect and authority as the British monarch.

Her Majesty beamed as she virtually presented English poet David Constantine - who was at Buckingham Palace - with The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry yesterday afternoon

The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry presented to David Constantine at Buckingham Palace, London, during a virtual audience by Queen Elizabeth II

Today's engagement came two days after the The Queen was photographed at Windsor Castle as she spoke to the South Korean ambassador and also held an audience the ambassador from Switzerland, Markus Leitner

With the head of state missing from the event, it is hoped no world leaders will use her absence as a reason not to attend the summit.

It previously emerged that Xi Jinping - president of China, now the planet's biggest polluter - is skipping the much-anticipated conference.

The Royal Family will still be represented by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge - both of whom have strong environmental campaigning credentials - as well as the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge.

Senior royal aides said the Queen will be working hard behind the scenes to make the summit a success.

She will film her video message at Windsor Castle later this week and has let it be known that she 'very much wants Cop26 to be a success and see meaningful actions'.

Earlier this month she criticised world leaders' inaction on addressing the climate change crisis.

At a reception following the official opening of the Welsh parliament, the Queen referred to Cop26 and said: 'I've been hearing all about Cop... still don't know who is coming. No idea. We only know about people who are not coming... It's really irritating when they talk, but they don't do.'

A palace source told the Mail that the Queen was being 'cautious and sensible' by changing her plans.

'Her Majesty is following advice - rest and light duties,' they said. 'She remains in good spirits. Her Majesty had audiences today and is expecting a call with the Chancellor this evening, as is the norm before the Budget. There are other light engagements in the diary.'

The monarch is being carefully looked after by the Medical Household, her team of royal physicians, but the Mail revealed last week that she had carried out 19 engagements in October - a phenomenal workload for a woman of her age.

Two weeks ago she was forced to start using a walking stick in public for the first time - a stark reminder of her advancing years.

October 16 -- Queen Elizabeth II attends Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire

October 13 -- Dame Imogen Cooper is received by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, London, where she was presented with The Queen's Medal for Music for 2019

October 12 -- Queen Elizabeth II uses a walking stick as she arrives to attend a service at Westminster Abbey in London

And last Tuesday the monarch was on her feet for almost an hour when she held a lavish reception for guests including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and US climate envoy John Kerry, where she looked bright and cheerful.

Buckingham Palace said she 'remains in good spirits', though a royal source told The Sunday Times: 'She is knackered.'

And an insider told the Mail: 'Her private office will constantly look at her diary and tweak it as and when is necessary.'

It also emerged that the Queen, who is deeply religious and rarely does not attend church, missed prayers at Windsor's All Saints Chapel in Windsor on Sunday.

She has been resting following medical advice to cancel her two-day trip to Northern Ireland.

The Queen had a busy schedule of engagements in the first weeks of October following her return from Balmoral.

Her hospital stay was kept a secret and only confirmed by the Palace when it was revealed by a newspaper.

It is highly unusual that any major engagement would be cancelled at the last minute, suggesting that staff are taking no chances with the elderly head of state's health.

She has faced a tumultuous 18 months, including the death of the Duke of Edinburgh as well as the acrimonious departure of Prince Harry and wife Meghan.

October 10 -- Queen Elizabeth II is seen on her way to The Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor as she returns to church

The Queen still keeps a busy diary of events and audiences and deals with her daily red boxes of official papers.

Since she returned to Windsor from her summer break at Balmoral, the Queen has carried out 15 engagements, listed in the Court Circular, including her audiences, plus an additional trip to Ascot.

Senior aides at Buckingham Palace are scrambling to devise a strategy for managing the Queen's workload after being accused of misleading the public over her health.

Sir Edward Young, the Queen's private secretary, last night faced calls to 'be ruthless' and purge the Monarch's diary of functions not central to her role as head of state.

Officials are understood to be drawing up a 'core' list of key events that the Queen will prioritise in the next 12 months, including the Platinum Jubilee to celebrate her 70-year reign in June.

It comes amid reports the Queen will be accompanied by one of her children or grandchildren when she appears in public in the future to avoid having to cancel and let down the public in the event of future health scares.

Another member of the Royal Family will be on hand to step in should she need company or assistance, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Meanwhile, the Palace's communications team is under pressure to be more candid should the 95-year-old Monarch require further visits to hospital.

The Queen's courtiers faced extensive criticism last week for failing to inform the public that she had been admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital in London on Wednesday and stayed there overnight for tests.

October 6 -- Queen Elizabeth II gestures as she meets members of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery to mark the 150th Anniversary of the foundation of A and B Batteries, at Windsor Castle

The media was told that she was resting at Windsor Castle and aides revealed the hospital stay only on Thursday night after news leaked out. The controversy has shone a spotlight on the growing challenge faced by the Palace in balancing the Queen's desire to be an active head of state with needing to protect her health.

Royal sources say the easing of Covid restrictions has resulted in a logjam of public events, adding pressure on the Queen's diary.

According to Buckingham Palace's Court Circular, she has held 13 separate audiences or meetings, attended seven major events and travelled almost 900 miles since leaving Balmoral on October 1.

In addition, every day she still reads Government papers, delivered to her in red boxes, and has a long list of private meetings.

'They have to find some kind of balance,' said Sally Bedell Smith, who has written a bestselling biography of the Queen.

Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said the Queen's autumn schedule had been more crammed than expected, but last-minute cancellations were inevitable in the future.

'Every now and again there will be this reminder that she is 95 and she can't do what was expected of her 10, 20 years ago,' Mr Little said.

Last week the BBC's veteran Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell faced a backlash last night after questioning whether Buckingham Palace undermined public trust by failing to reveal the Queen had been admitted to hospital.

In forthright comments, Mr Witchell said that journalists and the public had not been 'given the complete picture'.

He added: 'The problem, it seems to me, is that rumour and misinformation always thrive in the absence of proper, accurate and trustworthy information.'

But his remarks provoked criticism online. 'Nicholas Witchell is honestly so infuriating,' one Royal watcher wrote on Twitter. 'The Queen is 95 and like most her age, she'll be in and out of hospital for various tests because that's what happens at that age no matter how fit you are. She doesn't need to disclose her every move, let her have some dignity.'

October 4 -- The Queen is shown the baton that will carry her personal message at Buckingham Palace in London ahead of the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

October 2 -- Queen Elizabeth II shakes hands with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall looks on at the opening of the sixth session of the Scottish Parliament

The Queen was seen using a walking stick for the first time at a major engagement during a Westminster Abbey service on October 12.

On Thursday October 21, she was said to be in 'good spirits' after her hospital stay and back at her desk, undertaking light duties. But she missed a church service at Windsor on Sunday.

Royal sources had briefed the Sunday Times that the Queen was 'knackered' due to a busy social life and preference for late night television, as having a hectic run of engagements in October.

The Queen's husband of 73 years the Duke of Edinburgh died six months ago at the age of 99.

Buckingham Palace would not comment on whether the monarch has received her booster Covid-19 jab, but given her age it is likely she has already had it.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'Her Majesty The Queen today conducted two virtual audiences via video link from Windsor Castle.

'His Excellency Mr Gunn Kim was received in audience by The Queen today via video link and presented the Letters of Recall of his predecessor and his own Letters of Credence as Ambassador from the Republic of Korea to the Court of St James's.

Mrs Hee Jung Lee was also received by Her Majesty.

'His Excellency Mr Markus Leitner was received in audience by The Queen and presented the Letters of Recall of his predecessor and his own Letters of Credence as Ambassador from the Swiss Confederation to the Court of St. James's. Mrs Leitner was also received by Her Majesty.'
A new variant of the Delta virus has been detected for the first time in Australia in a hotel quarantine facility in New South Wales.

The Delta-plus variant, also known as AY.4.2, has been seen in several other countries and is the fastest growing strain of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom.

The case found in Sydney is so far the only infection linked to the variant in Australia but with the state welcoming home international travellers next Monday, experts say it's likely more cases will start to appear.

Aussies have however been urged not to 'panic' as there is yet to be any information which confirms it is more infectious than the current strain which plunged Sydney into a four-month lockdown.

The Delta-plus variant, or AY.4.2, has been seen in several other countries and is the fastest growing strain of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. It has now been detected in NSW (pictured Sydney)

Dr Megan Steain, a University of Sydney virologist, said it isn't unusual for more variants to be found.

'As long as this virus has opportunities to keep infecting people, we're going to see more variants popping up,' she told The Sydney Morning Herald.

'We can't be panicking every time we see a few more mutations.'

The Delta-plus variant was detected in mid-August but was revealed by health authorities this week.

In the UK, the variant is growing about 17 per cent faster than other variants, according to initial testing.

Experts have said that as NSW's borders are set to reopen next week, it's likely there will be more cases of the new variant (pictured Qantas cabin crew member)

Some experts have reportedly said the strain could be up to 15 per cent more transmissible than the most common variant - however this has not been confirmed.

Dr Norelle Sherry, a medical microbiologist at the Doherty Institute said the variant wasn't 'hugely worrying at this stage'.

'The apparent increased growth rate of this virus, compared to Delta, is still much less than the differences between the Alpha and Delta variants. That was a much bigger jump, compared to what we're seeing between Delta and AY.4.2,' she told the publication.

Australia's Chief Health Officer Professor Paul Kelly addressed the new strain last week and said it was not of 'concern'.

'Just to be clear, this is not a new variant, it is not a variant of concern or even of interest at the moment but we continue to have that very close vigilance of the international situation, to watch out for what next variant may come from this virus,' he told reporters.

'In the UK there is a lot of circulating virus there, mainly in teenagers, they have re-commenced school at the moment.'

There have been several other variants stemmed from Delta found all over the globe, such as one detected in NSW earlier this month.

NSW's Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant confirmed that variant had been found in eight infected residents but stressed there was nothing to suggest it was anymore dangerous than the current virus in circulation.

'There is no evidence that this new strain presents any differences regarding transmission, vaccine effectiveness or severity,' she said at the time.
Children are born with 'original sin' and need to be taught to be good, according to the country's so-called strictest headteacher.

Newly appointed Government adviser Katharine Birbalsingh, now the chairwoman of the social mobility commission, was slammed for 'whipping up division' in a Twitter spat.

Birbalsingh, formerly headteacher at St Michael and All Angels Academy in Camberwell, south London, said all children need to be 'taught right from wrong'.

She had responded to a comment from a social media user which read 'we are all born bad'. Birbalsingh, 48, wrote: 'Exactly. Original sin. Children need to be taught right from wrong and then habituated into choosing good over evil.

'That requires love and constant correction from all the adults in their lives over years. Moral formation is a good thing.'

Newly appointed Government adviser Katharine Birbalsingh (pictured), now the chairwoman of the social mobility commission, was slammed for 'whipping up division' in a Twitter spat

Her comments were blasted as 'unhelpful' by Saeed Atcha, who served as commissioner for young people for three years before his term ended yesterday. He said he hoped it was not 'a sign of things to come'.

He told the Times: 'When I read the comments, I just thought that the role of the chair of the commission is not to be making unhelpful comments like that and whipping up division.

'Social mobility is serious business and very complex and requires people coming together. It's a tone that the commission has used throughout our three years.'

Jessica Oghenegweke, another departing commissioner, said she disagreed with Birbalsingh. She said she had always viewed children 'in the best light' and any negativity came from an absence of support.

Sammy Wright, commissioner for schools and vice-principal at Southmoor Academy in Sunderland, said she supported Birbalsingh's point but didn't think it was very well phrased.

She said Twitter spats were not helpful for social mobility.

Boris Johnson visits Michaela Community School in Wembley, London in 2015, as children take part in a history lesson

Birbalsingh will 'level up opportunity and give everyone the chance to succeed' in her new role, according to Liz Truss, the women and equalities minister.

The former headteacher spoke about state education at the Conservative Party conference in 2010. She later resigned from St Michael and All Angels Academy in Camberwell, south London, to set up the Michaela Community School, in Wembley, northwest London.

She believes education should be centred on the teacher and the 'adult is the authority in the classroom'.

At her school teachers do not accept excuses, children must walk in single file and silence and lateness is punished by detention.

Following the resignation of the previous commission chairwoman Dame Martina Milburn in May 2020, it has been jointly led by Sandra Wallace and Steven Cooper.
Boris Johnson is bracing for a showdown with Emmanuel Macron at the G20 summit over the French fishing row.

The PM and Mr Macron are due to come face-to-face in Rome later as the bitter dispute risks escalating even further.

In a round of broadcast interviews this morning, Mr Johnson warned that the UK could trigger legal repercussions in the post-Brexit trade agreement as soon as next week.

But the chief of Calais port insisted this morning that Britain faces 'disaster' if Mr Macron follows through on a threat to block British trawlers from French ports.

In the latest stoking of the row, French PM Jean Castex has written to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen seeking backing for a new hardline stance against the UK.

Paris has so far threatened to increase checks on British boats, to initiate a 'go-slow' strategy with Calais customs arrangements, stop UK fishing vessels from landing in French ports and to increase tariffs on energy bills in Jersey.

They are demanding that Britain grants more licenses to French fishermen to access British waters.

Asked about the situation this morning, Mr Johnson said: 'We are very keen to work with our friends and partners on all these issues. If another European country wants to break the TCA  the Trade and Co-operation agreement  then obviously we will have to take steps to protect UK interests.

'If there is a breach of the treaty or we think there is a breach of the treaty then we will do what is necessary to protect British interests.'

Mr Johnson and Mr Macron are holding talks about the Iran nuclear programme along with Joe Biden and Angela Merkel in Rome this afternoon - and will meet one-on-one at the summit tomorrow.

Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron are due to come face-to-face in Rome later as the bitter dispute risks escalating even further

The Cornelis Gert Jan was ordered to divert to Le Havre after French authorities said it did not have a licence. Pictured in the port today

Britain must be punished for Brexit to show other EU states that 'leaving is more damaging than remaining', France's prime minister has said in a furious letter. In what is a further escalation of Britain's ongoing row with it's Channel neighbour over fishing rights, Jean Castex (pictured) wrote to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday in an attempt to get backing for a new hard line stance against the UK

The fishing row stepped up a gear yesterday after a UK trawler was detained by France amid fears the friction could spark a full-blown trade war. The Cornelis Gert Jan was ordered to divert to Le Havre after French authorities said it did not have a licence.

The trawler's boss claimed his vessel was being used as a 'pawn' in the fishing dispute and blasted the 'politically motivated' French.

President and chairman of the ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, Jean-Marc Puissesseau, said the row and subsequent threats over fishing rights were 'ridiculous'.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Puissesseau said there would be 'terrible' consequences if France carried out its threat of blocking British trawlers from French ports over the decision to deny 'only 40 little boats' licences to fish in UK waters.

'If no agreement can be found, it will be a drama, it will be a disaster in your country because the trucks will not cross (the border),' he said.

'I think it is a ridiculous point and I hope that the British will find an agreement, a solution to get out of this point.'

He added: 'For us in Calais, I think it is on Tuesday, we have to control more trucks getting out of our port and trucks coming from your country.

'But it will be terrible for both sides of the Channel: for you, for us, for the ports, the fishermen in your country, for the fishermen in our country. And that's only for 40 little boats which are not allowed to fish in your country, so I hope there will be an agreement on that over the weekend.'

Mr Johnson has stressed that the Government will do 'whatever is necessary' to ensure that British fishing fleets can go about their 'lawful' business.

In his letter, which was reported by the Telegraph, Mr Castex said: 'It ... seems necessary for the European Union to show its full determination to obtain full compliance with the agreement by the United Kingdom and assert its rights by using the levers at its disposal in a firm, united and proportionate manner.

'It is essential to make clear to European public opinion that compliance with the commitments entered into is non-negotiable and that leaving the Union is more damaging than remaining in it.'

News of it came as Mr Macron appeared to suggest the UK has not kept its Brexit pledges.

Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, he said Britain's 'credibility' was at stake over the dispute in what will be seen as a reference to the handling of post-Brexit fishing licences.

He told the newspaper: 'When you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility.'

Earlier yesterday, Mr Johnson demanded that French president Emmanuel Macron rein in his ministers fuelling tensions over fishing rights  and warned that the UK 'stands ready' to respond if Paris escalates the situation.

The PM fired a shot across Mr Macron's bows ahead of a meeting between the pair on Sunday - despite insisting that the cross-Channel relationship is one of the UK's 'best and oldest'.

The French ambassador to London has been summoned to explain a series of threats in the row over rights to fish in British waters.

France's fleet has been incensed that it has been refused permits, even though the UK authorities insist boats are granted access if they can prove they have historically been using them  in line with the post-Brexit trade deal.

A Scottish registered scallop dredger was also detained in Le Havre in an apparent ramping up on Thursday.

British embassy staff boarded the highjacked fishing boat on Friday evening to discuss the diplomatic row with the captain and his crew.

The two officials arrived in a Mercedes limousine from Paris, as one confirmed: 'We are here to see the British nationals.'

It comes as France's Europe minister Clement Beaune has been posturing about tough action by insisting the only language Britain understands is 'the language of force'.

Photographs showed the crew of the high-jacked fishing boat still remained in good spirits in Le Harve on Friday despite facing a 70,000 fine for allegedly poaching in French waters

Speaking to reporters en route to the G20 summit in Rome tonight, Boris Johnson (pictured) stressed that he did not believe French President Emmanuel Macron himself  who is facing a presidential election battle next spring - was making threats

Asked about claims France is ready to disrupt trade over Christmas in the dispute, Mr Johnson said: 'We will do whatever is necessary to ensure UK interests. But I haven't heard that from our French friends. I would be surprised if they adopted that approach.' (Pictured: Macron)

Mr Johnson also said that 'France is one of our best oldest closest allies, friends and partners' (pictured with Macron)

Boris and Carrie Johnson were pictured arriving in Italy Friday night for the G20 summit in Rome, donning black face masks featuring a Union Jack

Officials of the British Embassy were pictured arriving today at the British trawler detained in Le Havre's harbour, northern France

British Embassy Staff boarded the Cornelis Gert Jan to meet with the British crew, who were advised to stay onboard for their own safety as the row with France continues

The British boat's detention comes amid a flare-up of the ongoing dispute over fishing rights. This was sparked by licensing rules for EU fishing boats wanting to operate in waters around Britain and the Channel Islands

Lord Frost today warned Brussels that Britain will carry out 'rigorous checks' on all EU fishing boats in UK waters if France goes through with threats to block British vessels from French ports (Pictured: British Embassy staff meet with crew of seized British trawler)

British Embassy staff from Paris with the fishermen and French lawyer onboard the scallop trawler Cornelis-Gert Jan

The detaining of the ship comes as France's Europe minister Clement Beaune has been posturing about tough action by insisting the only language Britain understands is 'the language of force' (Pictured: British Embassy staff with the crew of the trawler)

Man believed to be the captain of the scallop trawler Cornelis-Gert Jan which has been impounded by the French Gendarmerie Maritime for 'illegally fishing' in the Bay of the Seine in french waters

The crew of the trawler (pictured) were warned to stay onboard for their safety as the fishing fallout between Britain and France continues

The man believed to be the captain of the British trawler was pictured being approached by media in northern France

The reported captain was seen walking with his lawyer after his crew were threatened with a 70,000 fine

British Embassy staff had arrived in a Mercedes limousine from Paris, as one confirmed: 'We are here to see the British nationals'

Speaking to reporters en route to the G20 summit in Rome tonight, Mr Johnson stressed that he did not believe Mr Macron himself  who is facing a presidential election battle next spring - was making threats.

Mr Johnson said: 'France is one of our best oldest closest allies, friends and partners.

'The ties that unite us and bind us together are far stronger than the turbulence that currently exists in the relationship.

'That is what I will say to Emmanuel who is a friend I have known for many years.'

But in an apparent dig at Mr Beaune and other allies of the French president, he said: 'There may be people on both sides of the Channel who may think they have an interest in promoting disharmony between the UK and France, promoting the impression of disharmony between the UK and France.

'I don't think Emmanuel shares that perspective personally at all.'

Mr Johnson said: 'On the particular issues that we have, we are puzzled about what is going on. We fear that there may be a breach of the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement implicit on what is happening and some of the things that are being said. We stand by to take the appropriate action.'

Sailors aboard the Cornelis Gert Jan trawler vowed to toast the Queen with Scotch Whisky from their Union Jack mugs

The Cornelis Gert Jan (pictured on Friday) was ordered to divert to Le Havre after French authorities said it did not have a licence

It comes after Environment Secretary George Eustice today urged France to drop its 'unacceptable' fishing row threats. Pictured: The crew appeared to be in high spirits onboard the scallop trawler this afternoon

Asked about claims France is ready to disrupt trade over Christmas in the dispute, Mr Johnson said: 'We will do whatever is necessary to ensure UK interests. But I haven't heard that from our French friends. I would be surprised if they adopted that approach.'

It comes after Lord Frost today warned Brussels that Britain will carry out 'rigorous checks' on all EU fishing boats in UK waters if France goes through with threats to block British vessels from French ports.

A rumbling row over post-Brexit fishing licences escalated this week as Paris threatened action if the UK does not grant permission to more French boats to work in British waters.

French ministers have said they could block British boats from ports and tighten checks on vessels if the UK does not give in by Tuesday next week.

Lord Frost, the Government's Brexit chief, met with his EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic in London today for talks on improving the Northern Ireland Protocol.

But the fishing row was also brought up as Lord Frost set out his 'concerns about the unjustified measures' threatened by France.

Lord Frost today warned Brussels that Britain will carry out 'rigorous checks' on all EU fishing boats in UK waters if France goes through with threats to block British vessels from French ports

Lord Frost, the Government's Brexit chief, met with his EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic in London today for talks on improving the Northern Ireland Protocol

Britain was last night preparing to retaliate after a UK trawler - the Cornelis Gert Jan (pictured right in in Le Havre, France, October 29, 2021) - was detained by France amid fears the fishing row could spark a full-blown trade war

The minister said if France goes ahead with its plans then the EU would be in breach of the Brexit deal and the UK would retaliate by rolling out tougher enforcement action in British waters.

The UK would also look to trigger formal 'dispute settlement proceedings' against the bloc.

A UK Government spokesman said after Friday's meeting: 'Lord Frost also set out to the Vice President our concerns about the unjustified measures announced by France earlier this week to disrupt UK fisheries and wider trade, to threaten energy supplies, and to block further cooperation between the UK and the EU, for example on the Horizon research programme.

'Lord Frost made clear that, if these actions were implemented as planned on 2 November, they would put the European Union in breach of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

'The Government is accordingly considering the possibility, in those circumstances, of launching dispute settlement proceedings under the TCA, and of other practical responses, including implementing rigorous enforcement processes and checks on EU fishing activity in UK territorial waters, within the terms of the TCA.'

Crew members of the scallop trawler Cornelis Gert Jan are pictured this morning in Le Havre shortening the mooring line

A European Commission spokesman said after the meeting: 'The Vice President encouraged the UK to intensify discussions with the European Commission and France in order to swiftly resolve the issue of pending fishing licences. All French vessels entitled to a licence should receive one.'

The focus of today's meeting was on negotiations relating to improving post-Brexit border rules in Northern Ireland.

The UK said this week's talks on the protocol had been 'conducted in a constructive spirit' but the 'gaps between us remain substantial' and more talks will take place in Brussels next week.
Boris Johnson today admitted that the chance of COP26 being a success is just six out of 10 as he begged China to do more to stop climate change.

In a round of interviews at the G20 summit in Rome - where he is trying to gain momentum ahead of the gathering in Glasgow next week - the PM warned that the outcome is still in the balance.

He painted a dire picture of the consequences if world leaders do not act, with civilisation at risk of plunging back into the 'Dark Ages'.

He said that when the Roman Empire collapsed it could 'no longer control its borders, people came in from the east' - and climate change could cause similar disaster with 'contests for water, for food'.

The premier conceded that there will be 'costs' from moving to a Net Zero economy - which he has promised the UK will do by 2050 - but he said it would also create high-skilled, high-paid jobs.

'If you increase the temperatures of the planet by 4 degrees or more as they are predicted to do remorselessly, you'll have seen the graphs, then you produce these really very difficult geopolitical events,' he said.

'You produce shortages, you produce desertification, habitat loss, movements contests for water, for food, huge movements of peoples.

'Those are things that are going to be politically very very difficult to control. When the Roman Empire fell, it was largely as a result of uncontrolled immigration.

'The Empire could no longer control its borders, people came in from the east, all over the place, and we went into a Dark Ages, Europe went into a Dark Ages that lasted a very long time.

'The point of that is to say it can happen again. People should not be so conceited as to imagine that history is a one-way ratchet.'

In a round of interviews at the G20 summit in Rome (pictured) - where he is trying to gain momentum ahead of the gathering in Glasgow next week - Boris Johnson warned that the outcome is still in the balance

Mr Johnson has conceded that he asked China's president X Jinping (pictured) in a call yesterday to bring forward the date of 'peak' emissions to 2025 rather than 2030, but was stonewalled

Mr Johnson walks the Spanish Steps with his wife Carrie last night ahead of the G20 summit

Mr Johnson has conceded that he asked China's president X Jinping in a call yesterday to bring forward the date of 'peak' emissions to 2025 rather than 2030, but was stonewalled.

'The point I made to our Chinese friends is that look they've made progress on overseas financing of coal. That's a good thing,' he said today.

'What China needs to do is find ways of making a more ambitious, nationally determined contribution.'

Told that China was not going to do that, Mr Johnson replied: `Let's see where we can get to.

'What I think the whole world needs to understand is you can reduce dependence on coal very fast.

'I reminded President Xi that last time I was  the first time I went to Beijing as the mayor of London, our country, the UK was 40 per cent reliant on coal to generate power. Today it's only 1 per cent. You can make progress very fast.'

Mr Johnson was remined that he said last month the chances of COP succeeding were only six out of 10, and was pushed on whether the prospects had improved.

'I'd say they're about the same. I think that everybody needs to focus,' he said.

'What the UK has been trying to do is take the abstract concepts of Net Zero that we talked about in Paris six years ago, and to turn them into hard, sharp deliverables in terms of reducing coal use, reducing the use of internal combustion engines, planting millions of trees and getting the cash that the world needs to finance green technology.'

When pressed that he should be more honest with the public on the costs of reaching Net Zero - estimated at a trillion pounds by 2050, although dealing with the effects of major climate would be bigger - Mr Johnson said: `Of course there are costs, but what you can do with green technology is produce hundreds of thousands of high wage, high skilled jobs.

'I think that is the point people understand. When I say that going green is easier, look at what we have done.

'The UK has cut climate emissions, cut CO2 by 44 per cent on 1990 levels, and yet our economy has grown by 78 per cent.'

The comments came amid fears that the Glasgow gathering could end up as a damp squib.

China's premier Xi Jinping has confirmed that he will not attend the event in person, although he will make a speech by video link.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also shunning the summit along with Brazil's Jair Bolsanaro.

COP26 begins next week at Glasgow's Scottish Event Campus (SEC) and will welcome 30,000 delegates, 10,000 police and as many as 200,000 protesters for the 13-day conference.

COP26 begins in Glasgow on Sunday and will look to build on agreements made at the Paris climate summit in 2015 where nations agreed to try to keep global heating to below 1.5C
A man wielding a metal bar during a fit of rage has terrified passengers trapped on a busy Adelaide train.

The man in his 40s was filmed yelling and swinging a metal bar while blocking the corridor of a Seaford line express train heading to the city on Saturday.

Jan McGinley, a witness onboard the train, said passengers watched on in fear as the man made threatening gestures with the weapon towards other commuters.

A man wielding a metal bar during a fit of rage on an express train in Adelaide has terrified trapped passengers on Saturday (pictured)

'If they got up they might have gotten attacked because this man was literally swinging a weapon at these people,' he told Nine News.

'He was threatening violence saying "I will f*** you up, I'll f*** you guys up".'

Terrified passengers were stuck on board the express train with the violent man for another 15 minutes before security intervened.

'They were scared and basically ready to defend themselves at any point because this man was swinging punches, swinging arms, elbows, you name it,' Mr McGinley said.

The witness pushed the emergency help button out of concern for an elderly woman who was sitting nearby.

But the frightening ordeal was not over until the train finally approached the city with security waiting at the platform.

Police eventually caught up with the man on a nearby street and established he didn't threaten any passengers on board the train.

He was issued a fine for disorderly conduct.

Commuters endured a frightening 15 minute ordeal until the express train approached a platform in the city where security guards were waiting
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President Joe Biden touted a win on the first day of G20 on Saturday when his fellow world leaders endorsed his plan for a global minimum tax.

The leaders of the world's top economies backed Biden's plan during their plenary session, after they took a group photo and before Biden sat down with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss Iran.

Biden was asked when nuclear talks with Tehran were scheduled to resume.

'Theyre scheduled to resume,' he said.

White House staff previewed the Saturday afternoon meeting as a way for the leaders to get on the same page.

In a joint statement released afterward, the leaders said they shared a 'grave and growing concern' over Iran's 'alarming' actions to develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.

The leaders said they hoped there could be a negotiated solution to bring both the Iran and U.S. back into full compliance with the Iran nuclear deal, which former President Donald Trump pulled the country out of.

'In this spirit, we welcome President Biden's clearly demonstrated commitment to return the U.S. to full compliance with the JCPOA and to stay in full compliance, so long as Iran does the same,' the leaders' statement said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Joe Biden ahead of their meeting on Iran

President Joe Biden talks with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during the opening session of the G20 summit in Rome

President Joe Biden (far left) poses with G20 leaders in Rome, Italy on Monday in advance of the two-day summit, which marks the first time in two years the leaders will have met in person

President Joe Biden (left) shakes the hand of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) as the G20 leaders meet for the first time in-person in two years. Standing in the middle is Democratic Republic of Congo's President and African Union Chair Felix Tshisekedi

THE JOINT STATEMENT ON IRAN FROM PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, U.K. PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON, FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON AND GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL We, the President of France, Chancellor of Germany, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and President of the United States, met in Rome today to discuss the risks posed to international security by Irans escalating nuclear program. We expressed our determination to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon and shared our grave and growing concern that, while Iran halted negotiations on a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) since June, it has accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps, such as the production of highly enriched uranium and enriched uranium metal. Iran has no credible civilian need for either measure, but both are important to nuclear weapons programs. These steps have only been made more alarming by Irans simultaneously decreased cooperation and transparency with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We agreed that continued Iranian nuclear advances and obstacles to the IAEAs work will jeopardize the possibility of a return to the JCPOA. The current situation underscores the importance of a negotiated solution that provides for the return of Iran and the U.S. to full compliance with the JCPOA and provides the basis for continued diplomatic engagement to resolve remaining points of contention  both our concerns and Irans. In this spirit, we welcome President Bidens clearly demonstrated commitment to return the U.S. to full compliance with the JCPOA and to stay in full compliance, so long as Iran does the same. We are convinced that it is possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on return to full compliance and to ensure for the long term that Irans nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes. Return to JCPOA compliance will provide sanctions lifting with long-lasting implications for Irans economic growth. This will only be possible if Iran changes course. We call upon President Raisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency. That is the only sure way to avoid a dangerous escalation, which is not in any countrys interest. We welcome our Gulf partners' regional diplomatic efforts to deescalate tensions and note that return to the JCPOA would result both in sanctions lifting allowing for enhanced regional partnerships and a reduced risk of a nuclear crisis that would derail regional diplomacy. We also affirm our shared determination to address broader security concerns raised by Irans actions in the region. We are committed to continuing to work closely with the Russian Federation, the Peoples Republic of China, and the European Union High Representative, as Coordinator, in resolving this critical issue. Advertisement

Additionally Biden held a separate meeting with Merkel and vice-chancellor Olaf Scholz who is likely to succeed her, a senior administration

Biden will host a bilateral meeting with President Recep Erdogan of Turkey on the sidelines of the G20 on Sunday, the official noted.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration bragged at the fact world leaders endorsed the president's plan to raise taxes on corporations making more than $850 million annually.

'The leaders all came out in support of a global minimum tax,' a senior administration official said after the meeting. 'The president emphasized the importance of this historic deal during his intervention. The president also mentioned that while we dont see eye to eye on every issue, we can tackle shared interests.'

The new global minimum tax of 15 percent is aimed at reversing the decades-long decline in tax rates on corporations across the world. The administration, led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, pushed for the tax for months. The plan was already endorsed by the finance ministers of each country but was formally endorsed by leaders on Saturday.

Each nation must go through its own government process to empliment the tax.

The new minimum tax rate only applies to firms with more than $850 million in annual revenue and is expected to raise roughly $150 billion in additional global tax revenue every year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

President Joe Biden poses for a picture as he arrives for the G20 leaders' summit in Rome on Saturday

President Joe Biden takes a selfie with health workers as he arrives Saturday at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Rome

President Joe Biden (left) greets French President Emmanuel Macron (right) as the G20 leaders take a so-called 'family photo.' The two leaders met Friday in Rome in advance of the summit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (center) and President Joe Biden (right) are pictured as they arrive Saturday at the G20 in Rome

President Joe Biden (left) speaks with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) Saturday at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Rome

Biden arrived at La Nuvola, 'the cloud,' in Rome on Saturday to kick off two days of meetings with G20 leaders - their first in-person gathering in two years.

He was greeted by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, representing the host country.

The president mixed and mingled with his global counterparts before the formal meetings began.

Biden was spotted chatting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - who he's expected to hold a bilateral meeting with once he moves on to Scotland on Monday for the COP26 climate summit - and Macron, who he spent time with Friday.

The president was also seen taking a selfie with healthcare workers, who were welcomed onstage with the leaders as a way to show appreciation for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 'overarching theme' of the day, said a senior administration official Friday night, is 'The United States is steadfastly committed to our allies and partners and to face-to-face diplomacy at the highest levels.'

President Joe Biden (left) and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) have a tete-a-tete at the opening of Saturday's G20

President Joe Biden (left) puts his hand on the shoulder of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) as they arrive for the opening session of Saturday's G20 in Rome

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi (left) greets President Joe Biden (right) at the G20 summit on Saturday

President Joe Biden arrives at the La Nuvola, 'the cloud,' in Rome on Saturday

President Joe Biden (right) stands alongside Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (left)

ALL BIDEN-SELF: President Joe Biden poses with the G20 leaders, taking a spot along the sidelines

President Joe Biden and world leaders attend the opening session of the G20 Saturday in Rome

WHO IS ATTENDING THE G20 LEADERS' SUMMIT? Argentina: President Alberto Fernandez Australia: Prime Minister Scott Morrison Brazil: President Jair Bolsonaro Canada: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau China: President Xi Jinping (virtually) France: President Emmanuel Macron Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel Japan: Not attending at the leader level (weekend election) India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Indonesia: President Joko Widodo Italy: Prime Minister Maro Draghi Mexico: Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon Russia: Not attending at the leader level Saudi Arabia: Foreign Minister Faisal bin Furhan Al Saud South Africa: Not attending at the leader level South Korea: President Moon Jae-in Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan The United Kingdom: Prime Minister Boris Johnson The United States: President Joe Biden The European Union: Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission Charles Michel, President of the European Council Spain*: Prime Minister Pedroc Sanchez *Spain is a permanent guest of the G20 Advertisement

While Biden is attending in person, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are no-shows, though Xi and Putin will participate virtually.

The Biden adminisration made clear the global minimum tax would be front and center of day one.

'In this session, G20 leaders will support the establishment of the historic global minimum tax to ensure that giant corporations pay their fair share no matter where they're located,' said a senior administration official Friday night.

'The deal works because it removes the incentives for the offshoring of American jobs, it's going to help small businesses compete on a level playing field, and it's going to give us more resources to invest in our people at home,' the official continued. 'It's a game changer for American workers, taxpayers, and businesses. And in our judgment, this is more than just a tax deal; it's a reshaping of the rules of the global economy.'

After the main session, Biden held a separate pull aside with Johnson, Macron and Merkel on Iran.

Johnson, Macron and Merkel make up the E3 - the European leaders who signed onto the Iran nuclear deal.

The four leaders posed for photos in front of flags before their sit down.

Biden is seeking a 'united' policy on Iran, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday, when he previewed the trip on board Air Force One.

It marked the first time the four leaders have sat together in person to discuss this particular issue, a White House official said.

'It's an opportunity to closely coordinate with our key European partners, at the leader level, on a joint negotiating position as we work towards a resumption of negotiations,' Sullivan said.

On Friday night, a senior administration said there would be no 'deliverable' to come from the get-together.

'They need to have private space to have a no BS conversation abour where we're at and where we need to go,' the official said. 'A lot of times, you have ... the meeting is fake, and then you have some deliverables. This is more like this is going to be a serious opportunity to check signals as we head into a really vital period on this issue.'

Trump nixed the U.S.'s participation in the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, angering European allies.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - JCPOA - had seen Iran scale back its nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sancations against its economy.

It will also be discussed during Saturday afternoon's meeting.

'Those will be the two main elements of the meeting,' Sullivan said. 'Fundamentally centering around a shared strategy and solidarity and unity in our approach, which of course will be a study in contrast with the previous administration since Iran was one of the areas of most profound divergence between the previous administration and the Europeans.'

Sullivan conceded he didn't know if Iran was ready to return to the negotiating table.

'It's not entirely clear to me yet whether the Iranians are prepared to return to talks,' he said. 'We have heard positive signals that they are, but I think we have to wait and see when and whether they actually show up at the negotiating table. And we're prepared to negotiate in good faith for a return to mutual compliance with the JCPOA. We hope they are as well.'

After that meeting, the president and First Lady Jill Biden will attend a closed-door dinner with the other G20 leaders and their spouses.
Junior doctors are plotting to 'take over the British Medical Association' in an effort to launch a series of crippling strikes.

Anonymous trainee doctors are reportedly organising on Reddit to seek election to senior positions in the BMA in order to steer the organisation to major strike actions.

Junior doctors are angry over their pay and conditions as well as the amount of student debt they face after completing six years at medical school.

Under the plan, pro-strike candidates will be nominated to stand for election with a concerted effort to gain support for radical action.

According to The Times, the plan is been organised on online messaging boards such as Reddit.

Junior doctors complain that their pay has fallen by 30 per cent during the past decade's austerity measures.

According to a post on Reddit: 'Can we take over the BMA? Serious question'.

A group of anonymous junior doctors are using online message board Reddit in an effort to organise possible strike action

The medics want to secure election to the British Medical Association in an effort to call strike action in opposition the Government's planned two per cent pay offer

The post continued: 'Given that current leadership clearly does not want to strike, is there anything we can actually do about it? I'm starting to think we can. We clearly have numbers and we want the same thing. I think if we translated that into rejoining to vote in elections, and used our numbers, we could purge these losers.

'Elections for reps seem to be won by low double-digit numbers of votes. We have the numbers on this subreddit to put people up for election, and elect them. The careerists don't have the social media presence we do. We can cut them right out of the picture if we organise ourselves. I quite like the idea of taking over the BMA. These d******* aren't ready for us.'

Anonymous medics claimed that as few as ten votes can swing an election at local level which could have major impacts nationally.

Other posters on the forum suggested: 'Our demands are simply fair pay, proper training protections, and post-grad exams paid for. Full strike. Maximum disruption. Maximum damage.'

New Health Secretary Sajid Javid is also facing the prospect of industrial action by GPs following the row over face-to-face consultations.

The BMA plans to ballot its members on industrial action after it rejected Mr Javid's plans for general practice.

Family doctors complain the number of GPs in the NHS has fallen by six per cent since 2006 leading to a 10 per cent increase in the doctor-patient ratio.

Commenting on the speculation about a potential strike action, Dr Sarah Hallett and Dr Mike Kemp, co-chairs of the BMA's junior doctors committee said: 'The junior doctor committee elections will be taking place in the autumn of 2022 and any member is welcome to put themselves forward to represent their colleagues.

'We regularly seek views and opinions from our membership and members are welcome to contact us if they have concerns, suggestions or alternative approaches to the work we are doing.

'We recently surveyed more than 6,000 BMA junior doctor members on their thoughts on the pay uplift for this year with nearly all respondents (96.6%) saying that the scheduled 2 per cent was completely unacceptable or inadequate.

'Our members were dismayed at not being included in this years pay award for NHS staff and said they felt devalued as a result.

'Earlier this month we therefore agreed to intensify pay campaigning, while retaining the option to ballot for industrial action later if change is not forthcoming. We remain determined that doctors are rewarded fairly for the work that they do.'
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Boris Johnson today looked as if he had to be held back by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau when he saw French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20 summit.

As the Channel fisheries row continues to intensify the PM and French President came face-to-face in Rome for a group photo of world leaders.

One hilarious image seemed to capture the moment Mr Trudeau held onto Mr Johnson's arm as they made their way onto the platform.

The photograph appeared to suggest the two world leaders were about to come to blows over the rising tensions caused by the fisheries row.

Mr Macron grinned as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen directed Mr Johnson to his spot.

In a round of broadcast interviews this morning, Mr Johnson warned the UK could trigger legal repercussions in the post-Brexit trade agreement as soon as next week.

But the chief of Calais port insisted this morning that Britain faces 'disaster' if Mr Macron follows through on a threat to block British trawlers from French ports.

French President Emmanuel Macron laughs as Boris Johnson is helped up the stage as he arrives for the group photo of world leaders at the La Nuvola conference center in Rome

Fishermen stand aboard the British trawler Cornelis-Gert Jan docked in the northern French port of Le Havre as it waits to be given permission to leave today

In the latest stoking of the row, French counterparts have claimed the British trawler-men arrested for allegedly fishing in French waters without a licence are pirates who deserve everything they get for endangering the fish-stock.

Emmanuel Montard criticised the UK scallop boats for jeopardising the livelihoods of future generations by over-fishing in the waters on the Normandy coast.

The 54-year-old trawler-man is one of dozens of residents of picturesque Port en Bessin, where family have been fishing for scallops for generations.

Standing on the dock of the Normandy port he told of his anger, saying: These British fishermen who come into our waters and work without a licence are pirates and deserve everything they get from French justice.'

Meanwhile, French PM Jean Castex has written to Ms von der Leyen seeking backing for a new hardline stance against the UK.

Paris has so far threatened to increase checks on British boats, to initiate a 'go-slow' strategy with Calais customs arrangements, stop UK fishing vessels from landing in French ports and to increase tariffs on energy bills in Jersey.

They are demanding that Britain grants more licences to French fishermen to access British waters.

Mr Johnson and Mr Macron are holding talks about the Iran nuclear programme along with Joe Biden and Angela Merkel in Rome this afternoon - and will meet one-on-one at the summit tomorrow.

Asked if there was a sense of 'de ja vu' after he and Mr Macron clashed over Brexit at the G7 summit earlier this year, Mr Johnson insisted he wasn't worried about the ongoing feud and said he's got 'bigger fish to fry'.

The captain leaves the scallop trawler Cornelis-Gert Jan with his lawyer. The boat has been impounded by the French Gendarmerie Maritime

Pictured: The man believed to be the captain of the the Cornelis Gert Jan seen on the boat this morning

A fisherman speaks to journalists from on board British trawler the Cornelis-Gert Jan Dumfries is docked in the northern French port of Le Havre as it waits to be given permission to leave today

British trawler the Cornelis-Gert Jan Dumfries is docked in the northern French port of Le Havre as it waits to be given permission to leave today

He told The i: 'It's about fish rather than sausages this time, I don't know if that's an improvement.

'Actually, there are bigger fish to fry, everybody knows that. Am I worried about that? The answer is no.'

Meanwhile, Mr Montard added: 'We have adopted strict rules to make sure that there are fish stocks for future generations. We can only fish for scallops four days a week and we dont start fishing for these shell-fish until October.

'We leave the scallops alone throughout the summer so they can reproduce. But these British, they work seven days a week and they fish all through the year. We all understand that they are fishermen and they need to make a living.

'But they are endangering the fish-stocks and jeopardizing the livelihoods for future generations. What will they do for work when all the fish are gone?

Emmanuel, one of ten crew members on the Kevin III scallop trawler, added: We are all from fishing families. My father was a fisherman and his father before him.

'We want our children to be able to be able to make a living from fishing too. But if the British take all the fish there will be nothing left for them.'

The Captain of the Kevin III trawler was even more forthright in his condemnation of the British fisherman.

He told MailOnline: Those British fisherman can all go and get stuffed. We will do whatever we have to the preserve our way of living.

The British have stopped us fishing around the Iles Normandes [Channel Islands] and so we will stop the British from landing their catch in France.

If that does not make them wake up then we will cut the electricity to the islands. They must understand that they cannot exist without us.

Fishermen from Port en Besson led the attack on the British fishing fleet operating in the Bay of Normandy in 2018, in what came to be known as the Scallops Wars.

The militant trawler-men also blockaded the Jersey port of St Hellier in May this year after the Channel Island authorities refused French boats fishing licences.

Asked about the situation this morning, Mr Johnson said: 'We are very keen to work with our friends and partners on all these issues.

The fishing row stepped up a gear on Friday after a UK trawler was detained by France amid fears the friction could spark a full-blown trade war. Pictured: A fisherman reacts after seeing a picture of him in a newspaper, in Le Havre's harbour, northern France, yesterday

Photographs showed the crew of the high-jacked fishing boat still remained in good spirits in Le Harve on Friday despite facing a 70,000 fine for allegedly poaching in French waters

Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron put on a show as G20 leaders posed for their family photo at a Rome summit today

'If another European country wants to break the TCA  the Trade and Co-operation agreement  then obviously we will have to take steps to protect UK interests.

'If there is a breach of the treaty or we think there is a breach of the treaty then we will do what is necessary to protect British interests.'

President and chairman of the ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, Jean-Marc Puissesseau, said the row and subsequent threats over fishing rights were 'ridiculous'.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Puissesseau said there would be 'terrible' consequences if France carried out its threat of blocking British trawlers from French ports over the decision to deny 'only 40 little boats' licences to fish in UK waters.

'If no agreement can be found, it will be a drama, it will be a disaster in your country because the trucks will not cross (the border),' he said.

'I think it is a ridiculous point and I hope that the British will find an agreement, a solution to get out of this point.'

He added: 'For us in Calais, I think it is on Tuesday, we have to control more trucks getting out of our port and trucks coming from your country.

'But it will be terrible for both sides of the Channel: for you, for us, for the ports, the fishermen in your country, for the fishermen in our country. And that's only for 40 little boats which are not allowed to fish in your country, so I hope there will be an agreement on that over the weekend.'

Pictured: French President Emmanuel Macron (right) is greeted by Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi (left) at the G20 summit in Rome today

Britain must be punished for Brexit to show other EU states that 'leaving is more damaging than remaining', France's prime minister has said in a furious letter. In what is a further escalation of Britain's ongoing row with it's Channel neighbour over fishing rights, Jean Castex (pictured) wrote to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday in an attempt to get backing for a new hard line stance against the UK

The fishing row stepped up a gear on Friday after a UK trawler was detained by France amid fears the friction could spark a full-blown trade war. The Cornelis Gert Jan was ordered to divert to Le Havre after French authorities said it did not have a licence.

The trawler's boss claimed his vessel was being used as a 'pawn' in the fishing dispute and blasted the 'politically motivated' French.

Mr Johnson yesterday stressed that the Government will do 'whatever is necessary' to ensure that British fishing fleets can go about their 'lawful' business.

In his letter, which was reported by the Telegraph, Mr Castex said: 'It ... seems necessary for the European Union to show its full determination to obtain full compliance with the agreement by the United Kingdom and assert its rights by using the levers at its disposal in a firm, united and proportionate manner.

'It is essential to make clear to European public opinion that compliance with the commitments entered into is non-negotiable and that leaving the Union is more damaging than remaining in it.'

News of it came as Mr Macron appeared to suggest the UK has not kept its Brexit pledges.

Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, he said Britain's 'credibility' was at stake over the dispute in what will be seen as a reference to the handling of post-Brexit fishing licences.

He told the newspaper: 'When you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility.'

On Friday Mr Johnson stressed that the Government will do 'whatever is necessary' to ensure that British fishing fleets can go about their 'lawful' business. Above: The PM and his wife Carrie arriving in Rome for the G20 summit

British Embassy staff from Paris leave the Cornelis-Gert Jan trawler following a meeting with its crew

Earlier on Friday, Mr Johnson demanded that French president Emmanuel Macron rein in his ministers stoking tensions over fishing rights  and warned that the UK 'stands ready' to respond if Paris escalates the situation.

The PM fired a shot across Mr Macron's bows ahead of a meeting between the pair on Sunday - despite insisting that the cross-Channel relationship is one of the UK's 'best and oldest'.

The French ambassador to London has been summoned to explain a series of threats in the row over rights to fish in British waters.

France's fleet has been incensed that it has been refused permits, even though the UK authorities insist boats are granted access if they can prove they have historically been using them  in line with the post-Brexit trade deal.

A Scottish registered scallop dredger was also detained in Le Havre in an apparent ramping up on Thursday.

British embassy staff boarded the highjacked fishing boat on Friday evening to discuss the diplomatic row with the captain and his crew.

The two officials arrived in a Mercedes limousine from Paris, as one confirmed: 'We are here to see the British nationals.'

It comes as France's Europe minister Clement Beaune has been posturing about tough action by insisting the only language Britain understands is 'the language of force'.

Speaking to reporters en route to the G20 summit in Rome tonight, Boris Johnson (pictured) stressed that he did not believe French President Emmanuel Macron himself  who is facing a presidential election battle next spring - was making threats

Asked about claims France is ready to disrupt trade over Christmas in the dispute, Mr Johnson said: 'We will do whatever is necessary to ensure UK interests. But I haven't heard that from our French friends. I would be surprised if they adopted that approach.' (Pictured: Macron)

Mr Johnson also said that 'France is one of our best oldest closest allies, friends and partners' (pictured with Macron)

Boris and Carrie Johnson were pictured arriving in Italy Friday night for the G20 summit in Rome, donning black face masks featuring a Union Jack

Officials of the British Embassy were pictured arriving today at the British trawler detained in Le Havre's harbour, northern France

British Embassy Staff boarded the Cornelis Gert Jan to meet with the British crew, who were advised to stay onboard for their own safety as the row with France continues

The British boat's detention comes amid a flare-up of the ongoing dispute over fishing rights. This was sparked by licensing rules for EU fishing boats wanting to operate in waters around Britain and the Channel Islands

Lord Frost today warned Brussels that Britain will carry out 'rigorous checks' on all EU fishing boats in UK waters if France goes through with threats to block British vessels from French ports (Pictured: British Embassy staff meet with crew of seized British trawler)

British Embassy staff from Paris with the fishermen and French lawyer onboard the scallop trawler Cornelis-Gert Jan

The detaining of the ship comes as France's Europe minister Clement Beaune has been posturing about tough action by insisting the only language Britain understands is 'the language of force' (Pictured: British Embassy staff with the crew of the trawler)

Man believed to be the captain of the scallop trawler Cornelis-Gert Jan which has been impounded by the French Gendarmerie Maritime for 'illegally fishing' in the Bay of the Seine in french waters

The crew of the trawler (pictured) were warned to stay onboard for their safety as the fishing fallout between Britain and France continues

The man believed to be the captain of the British trawler was pictured being approached by media in northern France

The reported captain was seen walking with his lawyer after his crew were threatened with a 70,000 fine

British Embassy staff had arrived in a Mercedes limousine from Paris, as one confirmed: 'We are here to see the British nationals'

Speaking to reporters en route to the G20 summit in Rome tonight, Mr Johnson stressed that he did not believe Mr Macron himself  who is facing a presidential election battle next spring - was making threats.

Mr Johnson said: 'France is one of our best oldest closest allies, friends and partners.

'The ties that unite us and bind us together are far stronger than the turbulence that currently exists in the relationship.

'That is what I will say to Emmanuel who is a friend I have known for many years.'

But in an apparent dig at Mr Beaune and other allies of the French president, he said: 'There may be people on both sides of the Channel who may think they have an interest in promoting disharmony between the UK and France, promoting the impression of disharmony between the UK and France.

'I don't think Emmanuel shares that perspective personally at all.'

Mr Johnson said: 'On the particular issues that we have, we are puzzled about what is going on. We fear that there may be a breach of the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement implicit on what is happening and some of the things that are being said. We stand by to take the appropriate action.'

Sailors aboard the Cornelis Gert Jan trawler vowed to toast the Queen with Scotch Whisky from their Union Jack mugs

The Cornelis Gert Jan (pictured on Friday) was ordered to divert to Le Havre after French authorities said it did not have a licence

It comes after Environment Secretary George Eustice today urged France to drop its 'unacceptable' fishing row threats. Pictured: The crew appeared to be in high spirits onboard the scallop trawler this afternoon

Asked about claims France is ready to disrupt trade over Christmas in the dispute, Mr Johnson said: 'We will do whatever is necessary to ensure UK interests. But I haven't heard that from our French friends. I would be surprised if they adopted that approach.'

It comes after Lord Frost today warned Brussels that Britain will carry out 'rigorous checks' on all EU fishing boats in UK waters if France goes through with threats to block British vessels from French ports.

A rumbling row over post-Brexit fishing licences escalated this week as Paris threatened action if the UK does not grant permission to more French boats to work in British waters.

French ministers have said they could block British boats from ports and tighten checks on vessels if the UK does not give in by Tuesday next week.

Lord Frost, the Government's Brexit chief, met with his EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic in London today for talks on improving the Northern Ireland Protocol.

But the fishing row was also brought up as Lord Frost set out his 'concerns about the unjustified measures' threatened by France.

Lord Frost today warned Brussels that Britain will carry out 'rigorous checks' on all EU fishing boats in UK waters if France goes through with threats to block British vessels from French ports

Lord Frost, the Government's Brexit chief, met with his EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic in London today for talks on improving the Northern Ireland Protocol

Britain was last night preparing to retaliate after a UK trawler - the Cornelis Gert Jan (pictured right in in Le Havre, France, October 29, 2021) - was detained by France amid fears the fishing row could spark a full-blown trade war

The minister said if France goes ahead with its plans then the EU would be in breach of the Brexit deal and the UK would retaliate by rolling out tougher enforcement action in British waters.

The UK would also look to trigger formal 'dispute settlement proceedings' against the bloc.

A UK Government spokesman said after Friday's meeting: 'Lord Frost also set out to the Vice President our concerns about the unjustified measures announced by France earlier this week to disrupt UK fisheries and wider trade, to threaten energy supplies, and to block further cooperation between the UK and the EU, for example on the Horizon research programme.

'Lord Frost made clear that, if these actions were implemented as planned on 2 November, they would put the European Union in breach of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

'The Government is accordingly considering the possibility, in those circumstances, of launching dispute settlement proceedings under the TCA, and of other practical responses, including implementing rigorous enforcement processes and checks on EU fishing activity in UK territorial waters, within the terms of the TCA.'

Crew members of the scallop trawler Cornelis Gert Jan are pictured this morning in Le Havre shortening the mooring line

A European Commission spokesman said after the meeting: 'The Vice President encouraged the UK to intensify discussions with the European Commission and France in order to swiftly resolve the issue of pending fishing licences. All French vessels entitled to a licence should receive one.'

The focus of today's meeting was on negotiations relating to improving post-Brexit border rules in Northern Ireland.

The UK said this week's talks on the protocol had been 'conducted in a constructive spirit' but the 'gaps between us remain substantial' and more talks will take place in Brussels next week.
The family of Troubles veteran Dennis Hutchings have demanded troops carry his coffin amid growing backlash towards the Ministry of Defence.

But the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said that Mr Hutchings cannot have military pallbearers carrying his coffin because he was not serving as a soldier when he died, according to the Telegraph.

Mr Hutchings was ill with kidney failure and required dialysis three times a week but travelled to Belfast to stand trial for murder after being charged for his alleged part in the fatal shooting of John Pat Cunningham 50 years ago.

The veteran, from Cawsand, Cornwall. contracted Covid during the trial and died earlier this month.

Dennis Hutchings (pictured) waves to supporters as he arrives at court earlier this month

Mr Hutching's family have said that Jimmy Savile, the BBC presenter, one of the most prolific sex offenders in British history, had seven Royal Marines carrying his coffin.

They think the 80-year-old is not being allowed a military funeral because of his charge for the shooting and the trial.

Mr Hutchings could not clear this name because of his death but questions were raised since he passed away from unionist MPs about the decision to prosecute him almost 50 years later.

His son John Hutchings, 48, said yesterday: 'It is shocking that my dad is being refused military pallbearers after serving 26 years in the Army and yet Jimmy Savile had Royal Marines carry his coffin.

'How can they give Jimmy Savile a military send-off but not my father? It's disgusting.'

Mr Hutching's family have said that Jimmy Savile (pictured), the BBC presenter, one of the most prolific sex offenders in British history, had seven Royal Marines carrying his coffin

Ahead of the funeral on Armistice Day which will be attended by thousands of veterans, his son is writing to the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace pleading with him to change the decision.

The former defence minister Johnny Mercer, a Conservative MP, who was a close friend of Mr Hutchings and accompanied him to the trial in Belfast, also blasted the Ministry of Defence over the decision.

Mr Mercer said: 'I don't know why we have to [have]this merry-go-round which makes the MoD and ministers look stupid. Get on with it and support the family.'

He said Mr Hutchings was never convicted of anything and that it is 'extraordinary' because the Secretary of State is a Northern Ireland veteran.

The MP said some things are very 'clear' and this is one of them and said the moral compass had been taken out and replaced with 'political expediency.'

He previously said military bosses were 'dodging' and 'blaming commanding offciers and ministers' for blocking the request of the Troubles veteran and his family.

The former defence minister Johnny Mercer (pictured left), a Conservative MP, who was a close friend of Mr Hutchings and accompanied him to the trial in Belfast (pictured), blasted the Ministry of Defence over the decision

At the time Mr Hutchings died, he had been brought for trial for a fatal shooting 50 years ago

Supporters gathered outside court for Mr Hutchings, who could not clear his name as he died

The funeral of Savile after he died in 2011 aged 84 saw him buried with a green beret at Leeds Cathedral.

He never served in the military but had ties to the Royal Marines .

After his death he was revealed as a serial sex offender who had abused children and pensioners in schools, hospitals and at the BBC.

It was also uncovered that Savile had abused people at psychiatric hospitals including Broadmoor.

Devon and Cornwall Police opened an investigation in 2013 into allegations that Savile had abused children at the main training camp of the Royal Marines, Lympstone near Exeter.

It is not known if the children and alleged victims of the assaults were those of serving soldiers or cadets.

The funeral of Savile after he died in 2011 aged 84 saw him buried with a green beret at Leeds Cathedral. He never served in the military but had ties to the Royal Marines and his coffin was carried by military

The MoD insisted last week in a statement that Mr Hutchings could not have pallbearers from the military because he was not a serving soldier.

Mr Hutching's relatives previously appealed for no political messaging at his funeral as he is buried next month.

They want as many people who want to go to attend but have asked for no banners, slogans or speeches.

Mr Mercer was also left outraged previously as MoD officials and politicians had not confirmed if his friend's coffin would be carried by soldiers from the Life Guards at his funeral.

Supporters stand outside court to protest against Mr Hutchings trial

Before the decision to not have soldiers carry Mr Hutchings coffin was announced in an MoD statement, Mr Mercer told MailOnline: 'I still can't get an answer as to whether Dennis' family will get his wish.

'Ministers claim its for Commanding Officers to decide; Commanding Officers then blame Ministers.

'It's not hard for someone to make a decision, but encapsulates how difficult this has been to make sure Dennis is looked after.

'Frankly I'm a little tired of reading all the vexed letters and emails from retired Military Officers and Ministers who decry the appalling treatment of this man, but did nothing to help him when they had the opportunity, or are too frightened to raise their head in public now.

'I've never understood the shame we seem to have towards this generation of Veterans. I know the wider country is fiercely proud of them. As am I.'

Mr Hutchings greets a supporter outside court during his trial

It is up to each regiment to decide whether it grants military funerals for retired soldiers.

But Mr Hutchings' family were reportedly told it could not be accommodated because he was no longer serving.

His son John said: 'I have only asked the Life Guards one thing in the last six-and-a-half years [since Mr Hutchings' arrest] and that is to have pallbearers in uniform.

'I was told you have to be a serving soldier but he was in court for his service as a soldier. It's bang out of order.

'He served 26 years in the Army, put his life on the line. I'm really, really disappointed with the decision. Dad loved the Life Guards.'

Mr Hutchings' partner, Kim Devonshire, added: 'He was on trial in Northern Ireland fighting on behalf of all the other soldiers, so he was still serving.

'He was representing more than 200 soldiers who could still be prosecuted over their service in Northern Ireland.'

Major Derek Stratford, who served alongside Mr Hutchings in the Life Guards, said he contacted the Life Guards Association on Friday to request pallbearers.

He said he was told 'the commanding officer had said no, it can't be arranged in this day and time'.

The 88-year-old added: 'I think it ought to be and I'm disgusted he can't have it.'

Ben Wallace (pictured), who served in the Scots Guards, stoked a military row last weekend as he appeared to back Mr Hutchings' family

Ben Wallace, who served in the Scots Guards, stoked a military row last weekend as he appeared to back Mr Hutchings' family.

Mr Wallace said: 'If he wants pallbearers at his funeral and the commanding officer is willing to release them, he served his country, he's not been convicted of anything.

'I did actually direct the [MoD] to help bring his body back from Northern Ireland, or facilitate it.'

Mr Hutchings family requested all those who want to come to the veteran's funeral not to turn it into a political rally.

They said in a statement: 'The family are aware of the great deal of interest from those who supported Dennis in attending his funeral.

'The family are grateful for all the incredible support over many years and are looking forward to welcoming as many people as can make it to Plymouth on November 11. All are welcome.

'Flags are permitted, banners are not. The family have specifically requested no political slogans, speeches or banners on the day.'

The MoD said: 'The MoD supported Mr Hutchings throughout his trial with legal representation and pastoral care, which will continue to be offered to his family.'

The spokesman added: 'We have not been approached to provide pallbearers for the funeral.' A spokesman for the Life Guards Association declined to comment.

The funeral for Mr Hutchings will be at St Andrew's Church in Plymouth on November 11, which is also Remembrance Day.

Dennis Hutchings: Army veteran pursued over historic Northern Ireland allegations... for which there was no proof The veteran (pictured when younger) was facing trial over the attempted murder of John Pat Cunningham in 1974 Dennis Hutchings was facing trial over the attempted murder of John Pat Cunningham. He was shot running from a British Army patrol in Benburb, Co Tyrone, back in June 1974. Mr Hutchings, who required kidney dialysis twice a week and has heart problems, was in the British Army for 26 years. He served five tours of Northern Ireland when the Troubles were at their worst. The former corporal major was cleared twice over the events which took place in the mid-1970s. Despite no fresh evidence, no witnesses and no new forensic leads, the retired soldier was accused again of attempted murder. Advertisement

Mr Hutchings is photographed on the far right in this picture from his time in in Germany in 1960
A woman was grabbed by a man and pushed into a canal as she was going on a jog.

The 42-year-old was running on the footpath of the Rochdale Canal at about 5.30pm at night when she was grabbed by a man.

She tried to get away but was pushed into the canal while the man ran off after the attack on Tuesday night.

The incident happened near a bridge overpass on the outskirts of the town.

The 42-year-old was running on the footpath of the Rochdale Canal at about 5.30pm at night when she was grabbed by a man. A stock image is used above [File photo]

The man is described as white, is his 20s, around 5ft 9ins tall and has scruffy, wavy hair.

Detective Constable Chris Davies, of Greater Manchester Police's Rochdale district, said: 'This was a terrifying experience for the woman, who was left feeling violated and scared.

'We will absolutely not tolerate this behaviour in Greater Manchester and are following all available lines of enquiry to locate the offender as soon as possible.

'Extra patrols will be present in the area whilst enquiries are ongoing. If you have any concerns or questions please feel to speak to our officers.'
A man has been jailed for 20 years for smuggling class A drugs into the UK, including a load that was hidden within a shipment of children's toys.

Chris Michaelides, 52, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to a string of offences, the Metropolitan Police said.

Michaelides, of Chigwell, Essex, was arrested following a cross-agency operation which dismantled an encrypted communications system.

Messages from Michaelides showed he was in contact with others based in the UK, Holland and the Czech Republic and was involved in the importation of cocaine.

The Met said his conversations indicated that the criminal enterprises had been going on for around six years.

Chris Michaelides, 52, pictured, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to a string of offences related to the importation of class A drugs

Officers managed to seize a large amount of cash following a string of raids on the gang's locations

Among the items recovered by police was this vintage Steyr Pieper pocket pistol

One arranged job involved a lorry carrying children's playing bricks that was also loaded with 50kg of high purity cocaine for import into the UK and onward distribution in April 2020.

The vehicle was intercepted, at which point the criminals tried again, setting up a similar importation, believed to be 37kg of cocaine, in June, police said.

Michaelides was arrested on July 1 and charged with conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of controlled drugs and conspiracy to supply a controlled drug.

He was also charged with possession of a number of illegal items, including a fraudulently obtained passport and a prohibited weapon.

Several large shipments of cocaine such as this one were intercepted by the National Crime Agency

Detective Inspector Lee Byne, from Specialist Crime, said: 'Thanks to great partnership working, the evidence we were able to gather against Michaelides was so overwhelming that he had no choice but to plead guilty to the charges laid against him.

'Michaelides played an instrumental part in this criminal network, which had been importing huge quantities of class A drugs - hidden in innocent shipments, including children's toys - for many years.

'The drugs he helped to import to the UK over those years no doubt devastated many lives and communities.

'The firearms and weapons we found at Michaelides' house once again demonstrates the undeniable link between drugs and violence.

'This is why disrupting all routes of drug supply continues to be central to our work to tackle violence on London's streets.'
First Lady Jill Biden joined the other G20 spouses Saturday for a private lunch at Villa Doria Pamphilj, looking friendly with U.K. Prime Minister's Boris Johnson's wife Carrie as they walked through the grounds.

Biden and Johnson, who bonded at the G7 in Cornwall, England in June, walked side-by-side, Biden in a brown blazer and camel dress, Johnson in a bright red Zara blazer and floral dress, as they concluded taking a group picture, according to the first lady's spokesman.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's wife Begona walked nearby.

A number of the spouses were seen touring Rome's Colosseum on Saturday, however the American first lady didn't attend.

On Friday, Biden spent time sipping Chardonnay at a restaurant in downtown Rome with French First Lady Brigitte Macron.

First Lady Jill Biden (fifth from left) joined other G20 spouses for a closed-door luncheon at Villa Doria Pamphilj on Saturday

First Lady Jill Biden was spotted chatting with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's wife Carrie (in red blazer) after a spouse luncheon at Villa Doria Pamphilj on Saturday. The two spouses walked behind Olga Khromchenko, a member of the Russian delegation

The G20 spouses walked around the grounds of Villa Doria Pamphilj on Saturday, where they took a group photo

First Lady Jill Biden is seen walking into a spouses luncheon Saturday at Villa Doria Pamphilj, a villa surrounded by Rome's largest public park

Dr. Biden wasn't photographed among the G20 spouses who visited the Colosseum on Saturday including Carrie Johnson (center in red), Italian prime minister's wife Serenella Cappello (sixth from right) and French First Lady Brigitte Macron (fourth from right)

Carrie Johnson is photographed taking in the Colosseum in Rome on Saturday with other partners of G20 leaders

Carrie Johnson (left) and Brigitte Macron (right) speak at the Colosseum in Rome on Saturday

(From left) Brigitte Macron, Carrie Johnson and Italian prime minister's wife Serenella Cappello at the Colosseum in Rome on Saturday

The two first ladies were practically twinning, as the petite blondes both wore navy suits paired with navy heels.

Both petite blondes wore navy suits paired with navy heels.

They got together at a restaurant called Il Marchese, ahead of their husbands' first meeting since France was blindsided by Australia pulling out of a submarine deal to join a security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom.

Afterward, Biden, 70, standing alongside Macron, 68, said the time spent together was 'wonderful.'

'It's nice, two friends together, just like sisters,' she cooed.

The two women sipped Chardonnay and ate small bites.

When asked about what they ate and drank, Biden played coy.

'Well,' she said, pausing. 'Practically nothing.'

'It's nice, two friends together, just like sisters,' First Lady Jill Biden (right) said after sipping Chardonnay with French First Lady Brigitte Macron (left) at Il Marchese in Rome

First Lady Jill Biden (left) and French First Lady Brigitte Macron (right) both sported navy suits and heels for their get-together at Il Marchese, which happened as President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron held a bilateral meeting in Rome early evening Friday

Biden waves at reporters staged outside Il Marchese, a restaurant located near the Tiber river in Rome

The French first lady arrived after Biden. She and the American first lady spent time together at spouses events in June at the G7

French First Lady Brigitte Macron (left) and First Lady Jill Biden (right) spoke with reporters after spending time together - while their husbands met - at a restaurant in Rome on the sidelines of the G20

Jill Biden's meeting with First Lady Macron is part of the first lady's packed schedule over four days in Italy.

Biden, whose family is from Italy, spoke glowingly about this year's G20's host country.

'We've come here so many times. I love Italy, Brigitte loves Italy. Who would not love Italy? There's nothing that we couldn't love about it right?' she said.

The Bidens, after the death of son Beau in 2015, even spent Thanksgiving in Rome, staying at the U.S. ambassador's residence, CNN reported Friday.

As she arrived at the restaurant, located on a narrow street near the Tiber river, Biden was asked about her earlier meeting with Pope Francis she attended alongside President Joe Biden.

'It was wonderful, he was wonderful,' she told the reporters staged outside the restaurant's door.

Macron, who arrived second, nodded in affirmation when asked if she was excited to meet with Dr. Biden.

First Lady Jill Biden (right), arriving in Rome early Friday morning alongside President Joe Biden (right), has her own packed schedule while in Italy through Monday

First Lady Jill Biden (center) speaks to children's theater performers at a G7 event alongside Carrie Johnson (left), the wife of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Brigitte Macron (right), who she'll meet with in Rome Friday afternoon

First Lady Jill Biden (second from right) and Brigitte Macron (right) stand side-by-side at a spouses event in June, which was part of the G7 in Cornwall

She and Macron had spent time together at a spouses event at the G7 in Cornwall in June, which marked the Bidens' first overseas trip since the president was sworn-in in January.

Earlier Friday, Biden had tea with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi's wife Serena Cappello at the Chigi Palace, while President Biden met with the prime minister.

After a weekend of private spouse events, the first lady will do a solo trip to Naval Support Activity Naples on Monday, where about 8,500 U.S. troops work.

There, the first lady will visit Naples Middle High School, which is a school operated through the Department of Defense, meeting with high school students and teachers and then delivering a speech.

The event will marry Biden's 'Joining Forces' initiative, which she started with former First Lady Michelle Obama in 2011 and restarted earlier this year, and her career as an English teacher.

Joining Forces provides support to military members, veterans and their families.

First Lady Jill Biden (center right) speaks with Uberto Vanni d'Archirafi (center left), the Senior Official of the Diplomatic Protocol of the Italian Republic, on the tarmac at Rome Fiumicino International Airport early Friday morning

First Lady Jill Biden (left) ushers President Joe Biden (right) toward the Beast as they arrive in Rome, Italy to participate in G20 events through Sunday

First Lady Jill Biden (center) hugs Sarb Edmund (second from left) the 89th Airlift Wing Senior/Training Protocol Specialist, as she and President Joe Biden depart for Rome from Joint Base Andrews Thursday

First Lady Jill Biden (right) and President Joe Biden left for Rome early Thursday afternoon. They will split up Monday with the president traveling to Scotland for COP26 and the first lady heading to Naples to visit a Defense Department-funded high school at a U.S. base

Biden continues to teach community college classes - making her the first, first lady to ever hold an outside job.

Biden had a similarly busy schedule on her first solo trip abroad - representing the United States at the opening of the Tokyo summer Olympics.

There, the first lady held court with then Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his wife Mariko, watched the Olympics with French President Emmanuel Macron, attended an event with heads of delegations at Tokyo's Imperial Palace and hosted an Olympics watch party for American diplomats at the ambassador's residence in Tokyo.

She stopped in Alaska and Hawaii to do COVID-19 vaccine advocacy.

In Honolulu, FLOTUS also attended a barbecue for military members and their families as part of Joining Forces.
Students and staff at Leeds University have demanded senior staff introduce themselves with gender pronouns in meetings.

They signed a letter insisting the university's vice-chancellor Simone Buitendijk also includes her pronouns in email signatures to show solidarity with the transgender community.

LGBT staff and student groups accused the university of having 'a deeply entrenched culture of transphobia' in the letter sent in August  a month before Ms Buitendijk took up the job.

It called on her to 'rapidly address and effectively rectify the current discriminatory situation'.

Students and staff at Leeds University (pictured) have demanded senior staff introduce themselves with gender pronouns in meetings

And it accused the university of being 'a hostile environment for trans staff and students', according to The Times, a claim the university denies.

The letter accused the university of storing transgender people's 'dead names'  their pre-transition names  in computer systems.

They called for 'a culture which encourages the sharing of pronouns when, for example, in meetings and seminars'.

The university said: 'We strongly deny the assertion that we have created a "hostile environment" for transgender staff and students, but recognise that we need to do more to alleviate concerns that have been put to us and are working with our community to do so.

They signed a letter insisting the university's vice-chancellor Simone Buitendijk also includes her pronouns in email signatures to show solidarity with the transgender community

'We have a clear and unwavering commitment to ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion for all.

'The use of pronouns  in emails or in meetings  is a personal choice. We do not have policies on this, but do provide support and resources to help inform that choice.'

It comes after a philosophy professor quit her job after being accused of transphobia.

Professor Kathleen Stock, 48, an expert in gender and sexual orientation, quit her job at the University of Sussex this week after a 'bullying and harassment' campaign labelled her a 'transphobe'.

Professor Kathleen Stock, 48, an expert in gender and sexual orientation, quit this week after a 'bullying and harassment' campaign labelled her a 'transphobe'

Professor Stock received death threats as a result of her 'transphobia'  an accusation she denies

Professor Stock received death threats as a result of her 'transphobia'  an accusation she denies.

The philosophy professor was at the centre of a blazing row  and a student-led protest  at the university after saying she believes gender identity does not outweigh biological sex 'when it comes to law and policy'.

She also said that people cannot change their biological sex, sparking anger from protesters.

Professor Stock quit her job on Thursday, saying it had been 'a difficult few years' and that she hoped other universities could learn from what had happened.
G20 leaders opened their first in person summit in two years on Saturday with a call for more COVID vaccines for poor countries amid ongoing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

The climate and global economy also topped the list of priorities for the leaders of the world's largest economies.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi welcomed President Joe Biden and other heads of state to Rome's Nuvola cloud-like convention center.

He opened the forum by calling for a redoubled effort to get vaccines to the world's least-prosperous countries.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi welcomes President Joe Biden as he arrives for the G20 Leaders' Summit at La Nuvola Congress Centre in Rome

The G20 leaders at the plenary opening session on Saturday

Draghi underlined that while 70% of people in rich countries have been vaccinated, only 3% in the poorest countries have had their shots, calling it 'morally unacceptable.'

Draghi urged a new commitment to multilateral cooperation: 'The more we go with all our challenges, the more it is clear that multilateralism is the best answer to the problems we face today,' he said. 'In many ways, it is the only possible answer.'

The Biden administration has argued the U.S. has committed to donating more than a billion doses of vaccine world wide.

'The United States has stepped up; we've committed to donate more than a billion doses. We've shipped more than 200 million vaccines to over 100 countries. Just this month, we announced 17 million vaccine doses to the African Union,' a senior administration official said.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres echoed the vaccine call.

'We are now in the second year of a global pandemic that has killed four million people,' he said in a speech before the meeting. 'Extreme climate events regularly devastate vulnerable communities.'

'You have come together, to determine the course of some of the most pressing issues we face: access to vaccines; extending an economic lifeline to the developing world; and more and better public finance for ambitious climate action.'

Saturday's opening session was focused on global health and the economy, with a meeting on the sidelines among Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to discuss next steps on Iran's nuclear program.

Additionally the leaders are set to acknowledge the existential threat of climate change, but stop short of radical new commitments to tame global warming.

After the G20 wraps on Sunday, most of the leaders will head to Scotland for the UN Climate conference known as COP26.

A recent U.N. environment report concluded that announcements by dozens of countries to aim for 'net-zero' emissions by 2050 could, if fully implemented, limit a global temperature rise to 2.2 degrees Celsius (4 F). Thats closer but still above the less stringent target agreed in the Paris climate accord of keeping the temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) compared with pre-industrial times.

The 'overarching theme' of Saturday, said a senior administration official Friday night, is 'The United States is steadfastly committed to our allies and partners and to face-to-face diplomacy at the highest levels.'

Also expected to be front-and-center in the first session of the G20 on Saturday: the global minimum tax.

'In this session, G20 leaders will support the establishment of the historic global minimum tax to ensure that giant corporations pay their fair share no matter where they're located,' said a senior administration official Friday night.

'The deal works because it removes the incentives for the offshoring of American jobs, it's going to help small businesses compete on a level playing field, and it's going to give us more resources to invest in our people at home,' the official continued. 'It's a game changer for American workers, taxpayers, and businesses. And in our judgment, this is more than just a tax deal; it's a reshaping of the rules of the global economy.'

He'll attend an event in support of women-owned businesses.

More pressing, however, will be his meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Iran.

Johnson, Macron and Merkel make up the E3 - the European leaders who signed onto the Iran nuclear deal.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) with President Joe Biden during the G20 summit in Rome

World leaders pose with medical personnel for a group photo at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit in Rome

Biden is seeking a 'united' policy on Iran, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday, when he previewed the trip on board Air Force One.

It will mark the first time the four leaders have sat together in person to discuss this particular issue, a White House official said.

'It's an opportunity to closely coordinate with our key European partners, at the leader level, on a joint negotiating position as we work towards a resumption of negotiations,' Sullivan said.

On Friday night, a senior administration said there would be no 'deliverable' to come from the get-together.

'They need to have private space to have a no BS conversation abour where we're at and where we need to go,' the official said. 'A lot of times, you have ... the meeting is fake, and then you have some deliverables. This is more like this is going to be a serious opportunity to check signals as we head into a really vital period on this issue.'

Former President Donald Trump nixed the U.S.'s participation in the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, angering European allies.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - JCPOA - had seen Iran scale back its nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sancations against its economy.

It will also be discussed during Saturday afternoon's meeting.

'Those will be the two main elements of the meeting,' Sullivan said. 'Fundamentally centering around a shared strategy and solidarity and unity in our approach, which of course will be a study in contrast with the previous administration since Iran was one of the areas of most profound divergence between the previous administration and the Europeans.'

Sullivan conceded he didn't know if Iran was ready to return to the negotiating table.

'It's not entirely clear to me yet whether the Iranians are prepared to return to talks,' he said. 'We have heard positive signals that they are, but I think we have to wait and see when and whether they actually show up at the negotiating table. And we're prepared to negotiate in good faith for a return to mutual compliance with the JCPOA. We hope they are as well.'

After that meeting, the president and First Lady Jill Biden will attend a closed-door dinner with the other G20 leaders and their spouses.
Australians across the country have bid farewell to television legend Bert Newton.

The death of the 83-year-old was announced late on Saturday night with tributes pouring in for the entertainer.

Politicians and fellow TV and radio personalities have farewelled the father and grandfather who died after a long health battle which saw him have one of his legs amputated.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a statement following the news, saying 'there will never be another like him'.

'Bert came into our homes and made himself very welcome. He was a regular guest and we always looked forward to his next visit,' he said.

'There was a familiarity that connected us to Bert, but it also connected us to each other. We could laugh together. That was his gift.

'Australians also understood his steadfast love for Patti and her steadfast strength.

Tributes have poured in for television legend Bert Newton who passed away at the age of 83

'To Patti and the family, Jen and I send our love, and we send the country's love as well.'

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese too shared his heartfelt condolences to Newton's loved ones.

'My heart goes out to his family who have lost a husband, a father and friend. And to Australia who have lost an icon,' he tweeted.

Former Labor leader Bill Shorten described Newton as a 'world class entertainer' and a 'true Melbourne legend'.

7 News presenter Michael User offered a standing ovation to Newton

Comedian Adam Hills said it was up to Australians to keep Newton's spirit alive in a touching tribute

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese shared his heartfelt condolences to Newton's loved ones

Comedian Rove McManus said he didn't know if he could accept the news of his beloved friend

Today Extra host, David Campbell said the late TV star was 'the ultimate showman'.

'The absolute and of an era. We all grew up with Bert. The ultimate showman. The man who made us all laugh,' he wrote.

Comedian Adam Hills sung his praises, declaring Newton as the 'ultimate entertainer'.

'Australian TV wouldn't be what it is without Bert. It's up to us all to take what he taught us, and keep his spirit alive,' he said.

Newton was a well loved entertainer having began his career in television in 1957

Bert is survived by his wife Patti (pictured together) and his two children and six grandkids

'Enormous love to his family. Take a bow, Bert. You deserve the applause.'

Rove McManus shared his own heartfelt tribute, having looked up to Newton throughout his own career in show business.

'I don't know that I'm ready to accept this yet,' he began.

'Today I lost a mentor and friend, our country lost an icon, but most importantly a family has lost their hero and soul mate. Sending love to all the Newtons, especially Patti. My heart is broken. Rest In Power, Albert Watson Newton.'

Channel 9 presenter Richard Wilkins said Australia had 'lost a legend' while 7 News' Michael Usher said Newton deserved a 'standing ovation'.

Australia's health minister Greg Hunt said Newton had 'lit up' the screens of families for decades.

'He was a part of very fabric of our television landscape and a key part of the continuing evolution of the silver screen,' Mr Hunt tweeted.

Former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack said the TV icon was a constant in many Aussies' living rooms.

'Farewell to a true Australian entertainment icon,' he shared.

Newton had been receiving palliative care at a clinic in Melbourne at the time of his death which has sent shockwaves around the nation.

His health battle began in March when he was hospitalised for a toe infection.

The infection deteriorated so severely that he underwent life-saving surgery in May to have his leg removed.

At the time of his surgery, Patti, his wife of 47 years, told the Daily Telegraph she had 'never seen anybody in more pain' than her husband on the morning of his operation.

Newton had to undergo surgery to have his leg amputated in May this year, having fallen ill from a toe infection

Bert and Patti have been married for 47 years and share two children and six grandchildren

She added: 'I just felt he could not go through pain like he was going through for much longer.'

Bert went into surgery at 7.50am on May 8 and Patti learned it had been a success at 3pm. 'It was a long day and a long wait,' she said.

Patti, 76, also spoke of her husband's fighting spirit, saying the grandfather of six agreed to the life-changing surgery because 'he has so much to live for'.

'This is not a death sentence,' she said, adding: 'He is lucky; he has got family all around him. The grandkids mean the world to him.'

On October 24, Patti posted a photo of a beaming Bert recovering in his hospital bed while surrounded by five of his grandchildren.

'That's what happiness is,' Patti captioned the photo.

His career in the entertainment industry started when he was just 11-years-old after he scored a gig on radio station 3XY in 1950.

He continued doing ad reads for the station throughout high school, and eventually dropped out of school to work there as a DJ.

He made the leap to television in 1957, just one year after the launch of commercial television in Australia.

His career in the entertainment industry started when he was just 11-years-old after he scored a gig on radio station 3XY in 1950. Bert is seen surrounded by his family

With a showbiz career spanning across eight decades, Newton was the last remaining link between the dawn of Aussie television and today's industry.

His first major gig on the small screen was as the host of The Late Show from 1957 to 1959.

He then jumped over to rival network Nine and formed a friendship and partnership with Graham Kennedy.

In his later years, he became best known for hosting Good Morning Australia from 1993 to 2005 and Nine's 20 to 1 from 2006 to 2011.

Bert married wife Patti in 1974 at St Dominic's Parish Church in Camberwell, in what ended up being one of the biggest celebrity weddings at the time.

The couple were besieged by fans and members of the media outside the church, and were barely able to make it through the crowd and into their waiting car to leave.
Police are appealing for information after the body of a man who was reported as missing last week was found in the River Thames.

Mohamed Mussa, 27, known by his friends as Mussa, was reported missing on Sunday October 17.

His body was recovered from the water near Hammersmith Bridge around 8am on Tuesday morning.

Known to his friends as Mussa, the body of 27-year-old Dutch National was pulled from the River Thames in the capital earlier this week after being reported as missing

The Dutch national lived in Wandsworth, and inquiries into his death are still ongoing.

He was last seen walking alone and was wearing a navy trench coat, light blue shirt, dark trousers and canvas trainers, the Metropolitan Police said.

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Shirley, from the Met's Specialist Crime Command, said: 'Our last sighting of Mohamed is of him walking past Simmons bar on Putney High Street towards Putney Bridge at 5.29am on Sunday October 17.

'We are confident he did not turn left down Lower Richmond Road or cross over the road towards the church and cinema, but are not clear on his next steps and we are now asking for the public's help in trying to ascertain exactly what happened.

Police are appealing for more information on the whereabouts of Mussa, who was last seen at 5.29am on Sunday October 17 as he walked past Simmons Bar on Putney High Street, pictured

'Were you on or heading towards Putney Bridge at around 5.30am that morning or driving on Putney High Street at a similar time?

'Please check any dashcam footage in case you captured anything that could help with our investigation and get in touch with us as soon as possible.'

Anyone with information can call 101 or the incident room on 0208 721 4266.

In a previous appeal the police reported that the last shown sighting of Mussa was at 4.02am on October 17, leaving Le Fez nightclub in Putney.
Former President Donald Trump is trying to block the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riots from getting its hands on more than 770 pages of files, call logs and notes as part of its investigation.

Earlier this month, the former president sued the National Archives to prevent it from transmitting those documents, and thousands more, to the House committee investigating the attack.

According to a sworn declaration from the National Archives released early Saturday morning, among the documents Trump wants to protect are 30 pages of his daily schedule, visitor logs and call records for both the former president and former Vice President Mike Pence.

It also includes documents from Trump's aides, including three handwritten notes from former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, 'multiple binders' of Kayleigh McEnany's 'made up almost entirely of talking points and statements related to the 2020 election,' files from former advisor Stephen Miller and deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin.

Other documentation Trump's legal team is trying to shield from the House Committee include the White House 'daily diary,' a memo about a potential lawsuit against several states that President Joe Biden won in the 2020 election, an email chain from a state official regarding election-related issues, talking points on alleged election irregularities in one Michigan county and draft remarks for the Save America rally - which preceded the riot at the Capitol.

Former President Donald Trump is suing the National Archives to prevent it from turning over more than 770 documents from his administration to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection

The Saturday filing, which came as part of the National Archives and Record Administration's opposition to Trump's lawsuit, details the effort the agency has undertaken to identify records from the Trump White House in response to a broad, 13-page request from the House committee for documents pertaining to the insurrection and Trump's efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election.

Billy Laster, the director of the National Archives' White House Liaison Division, who released the filing, said the agency has identified nearly 1,600 files for the request.

He said that the documents Trump is trying to exert executive privilege over 'all relate to the events on or about January 6, and may assist the Select Committee's investigation into that day, including what was occurring before, during and after the attack.

'Even assuming the applicability of executive privilege, however, the documents may assist the Select Committee in understanding efforts to communicate with the American public, including those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, on the subjects of alleged voter fraud, election security and other topics concerning the 2020 election.'

Laster also notes that the National Archives' search began with paper documents because it took until August for digital records from the Trump White House to be transferred to the agency.

The National Archives, he wrote, has identified 'several hundred thousand potentially responsive records' of emails from the Trump White House out of about 100 million sent or received during his administration, and was working to determine whether they pertained to the House request.

They were prepared to turn over the first tranche of documents by November 12, he wrote, according to Politico, but are now stymied by the lawsuit.

The National Archive has identified nearly 1,600 files related to the insurrection and Trump's efforts to undermine the 2020 election

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riots sent the National Archives a broad request for any documents related to the insurrection or Trump's efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential election

In his lawsuit, filed in federal court on October 15, lawyers representing the former president argued that the materials must remain secret under executive privilege.

They argue that the Constitution gives the former president the right to demand their confidentiality, even though he is no longer in office.

They also argue that the records request are part of a political scheme to defame the former president, calling the document request a 'vexatious, illegal fishing expedition' that was 'untethered from any legitimate legislative purpose.'

The lawyers claim that efforts to obtain his documents would erode all future president's ability to have candid conversations with advisers and allies.

And the lawsuit challenges the legality of the Presidential Records Act, arguing that allowing an incumbent president to waive executive privilege of a predecessor just months after he left office is inherently unconstitutional.

President Joe Biden has declined to assert executive privilege on most of Trump's records after determining that doing so is 'not in the best interests of the United States.'

President Joe Biden has declined to assert executive privilege over the documents

He said he would go through each request separately to determine whether that privilege should be waived.

Leaders of the House Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, and Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, have condemned Trump's lawsuit as 'nothing more than an attempt to delay and obstruct our probe.'

'It's hard to imagine a more compelling public interest than trying to get answers about an attack on our democracy and an attempt to overturn the results of an election,' they wrote in a statement after the suit was filed in federal court.

Lawyers for the House committee also wrote on Saturday that the 'Plaintiff's claims of executive privilege fail because the privilege is not absolute, and here is outweighed by Congress's compelling need for information about the extraordinary attack that occurred on the Capitol,' according to the New York Times.

'The committee's investigation into the January 6 attack plainly embodies a legitimate legislative purpose.'

They say the select committee must reject Trump's efforts to block the release, or they risk leaving future elections subject to abuse.

'The urgency of the work cannot be overstated,' House Counsel Doug Letter wrote in a 52-page legal brief delivered to Judge Tanya Chukan.

'The threat that brought the attack on January 6 is ongoing,' the brief said. 'Those who falsely claimed the election was stolen (including Mr. Trump) continue to do so.'

The lawyers also note that the Supreme Court has determined former presidents have less legal authority to demand confidentiality of Executive Branch records, according to Politico.

They also argue that a sitting president's denial of executive privilege should outweigh that of a former president's because courts have ruled that sitting presidents have a better perspective on Executive Branch interests.

The January 6 insurrection began shortly after President Donald Trump gave remarks at the Save America rally

It resulted in a group of pro-Trump protesters scaling the walls of Congress and breaking into the building in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election

Judge Tanya Chutkan has been among the most outspoken judges in the federal circuit in Washington D.C. to condemn the January 6 riots

Judge Chutkan has been among the most outspoken judges in the federal circuit in Washington D.C. to call the January 6 riots - when a group of pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election - a fundamental assault on democracy.

She is expected to hold a hearing on Trump's bid to block access to the records on Thursday.
The Lincoln Project co-founder Stuart Stevens has refused to apologize after the 'Never Trump' group admitted to planting five people carrying tiki torches in front of the Republican candidate for Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin's bus.

Stevens' statement came as liberals and Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe's staff joined conservatives in bashing the stunt. McAuliffe's campaign manager called it 'disgusting.'

CNN's Chris Cuomo asked Stevens, appearing with longtime Democratic strategist James Carville, if he wanted to apologize for the smear.

Stevens, a former Republican strategist, told Cuomo that this was what The Lincoln Project received millions in donations to do.

'No,' said Stevens. 'Listen, every day I hear people pleading with the Lincoln Project to help show Democrats how to win, how to play hardball. You know, this is an example.'

Stuart Stevens, a former Republican strategist and co-founder of the 'Never Trump' group, stood behind the stunt when questioned by CNN's Chris Cuomo Friday

It was to illustrate a point that Youngkin has not denounced Trump saying there were fine people on both sides in Charlottesville.  Democratic Strategist @JamesCarville pic.twitter.com/tVRTjkNJIU  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 30, 2021 Twitter Privacy Policy

Five people holding tiki torches stand in the rain by the campaign bus for GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin in Charlottesville on Friday. The Lincoln Project has admitted to being behind the stunt, to discredit Youngkin

Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate, is seen on Friday campaigning in Charlottesville

Youngkin is taking on Terry McAuliffe, the Democrat contender, who was governor of Virginia from 2014-18 and is hoping to be re-elected

Stevens instead called on Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin to denounce former President Trump.

'The question here is not about some guys who showed up at a rally,' said Stevens. 'It's why hasn't Glenn Youngkin denounced Donald Trump for saying that there are good people on both sides? I mean, that is absolutely outrageous. And it's because Glenn Youngkin wants it both ways. And I think that's the message that needs to be driven here.'

'You know, the Lincoln Project was the first in this race to put Charlottesville in an ad. And some people thought maybe it went too far. But we did it. And it worked. And then McAuliffe's campaign followed us and put Charlottesville in a very good ad they did. So I think the question here is, we can't ignore what happened in Charlottesville, the question is why hasn't Glenn Youngkin denounced Donald Trump?'

Stevens' comments are in line with The Lincoln Project's official statement on the matter.

'Glenn Youngkin has said: 'President Trump represents so much of why I am running,' the statement reads. 'Youngkin proves it every day by trying to divide Virginians using racial code words like Critical Race Theory and supporting a ban on teaching the works of America's only Black Nobel laureate.'

They added that they'll continue doing things like this until Youngkin disavows Trump.

'The Youngkin campaign is enraged by our reminder of Charlottesville for one simple reason: Glenn Youngkin wants Virginians to forget that he is Donald Trump's candidate,' they continued. 'We will continue to hold Glenn Youngkin accountable. If he will denounce Trump's assertion that the Charlottesville rioters possessed 'very fine' qualities, we'll withdraw the tiki torches. Until then, we'll be back.'

However, McAuliffe's campaign was quick to suggest they should apologize.

Chris Bolling, the executive director of Terry McAuliffe's Common Good VA PAC, tweeted out a disavowal of the stunt Friday.

'What happened today in Charlottesville is disgusting and distasteful and the McAuliffe campaign condemns it in the strongest terms,' he said. 'Those involved should immediately apologize.'

Chris Bolling, campaign manager for Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, denounced a Lincoln Project stunt to attempt to smear McAuliffe's Republican opponent

Bolling demanded 'those involved' apologize in a tweet

This comes as McAuliffe's numbers have continued to drop in the close race. After a poll from Fox News showing Youngkin leading by eight points, poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight shows the Republican with a slight lead over McAuliffe.

The site's polling average had McAuliffe leading by close to eight points himself as recently as early August. As of Friday, their methodology had Youngkin ahead by just over half a point.

The former private equity executive and political newcomer is in a close race against former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe as Tuesday's Election Day nears.

Youngkin and McAuliffe are currently engaged in a remarkably fierce battle, in a state which Joe Biden won by 10 percentage points in the 2020 election.

McAuliffe was leading by five points two months ago, and is now trailing Youngkin in several polls - including by as much as eight percentage points in a FOX news poll.

The Democrats, with a rising sense of foreboding, have sent out their big guns: Barack Obama, Jill and Joe Biden, and, on Friday night, Kamala Harris and Pharrell Williams, to campaign for McAuliffe.

Kamala Harris is seen on Friday night campaigning for Terry McAuliffe in Norfolk, Virginia

The Lincoln Project only confessed to the attempt to derail Youngkin when eagle-eyed reporters identified those participating as operatives within the Virginia Democratic party.

Cameron Joseph, senior political correspondent with Vice, tweeted: 'They only took credit/blame after I told them I IDed someone in the photo.'

Lauren Windsor - who describes herself as 'Agnostic. Bisexual. Fashionista. Hapless romantic. Progressive pugilist swamp-slayer' - took credit for organizing the stunt on Friday evening.

'In my capacity as a communications consultant, I worked w @ProjectLincoln to coordinate today's Youngkin action in Charlottesville,' she said.

'I join them in the fight to defend our democracy from rightwing extremists and call for Glenn Youngkin to denounce Trump's 'very fine people.'

Lauren Windsor, a self-proclaimed 'progressive pugilist swamp-slayer' said on Friday evening that she had worked the The Lincoln Project to stage the stunt

Her actions managed to infuriate both Republicans, angry at the smear, and Democrats, who saw her use of Charlottesville as a political prop as crass, and likely to backfire.

Online sleuths named one of the five agitators Colleen Wachenfeld, a Virginia Democratic Party employee whose background on Twitter was a picture of McAuliffe at a campaign event.

Wachenfeld has not confirmed whether she participated.

Charlottesville TV station WVIR covered the campaign stop and reported Youngkin was inside a restaurant when the group dressed in matching hats, khakis and white button-down shirts appeared beside his campaign bus.

Commentators online believe that the sole woman among the five was Colleen Wachenfeld

The four men and one woman stood outside Youngkin's campaign bus, trying to smear the Republican by associating him with the neo-Nazi 'Unite The Right' rally

The five stood in the rain, posing as 'Unite The Right' white supremacists

A McAuliffe loss on Tuesday would reverberate across the national political landscape, likely triggering all-out panic among Democrats.

For Republicans, it would be a burst of confidence and a road map for finding their way through post-Trump divisions ahead of 2022 midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress and dozens of state capitals.

What is the Lincoln Project? The Lincoln Project was founded in late 2019 by a group of Republicans who were dismayed at the direction of their party under Trump. In December 2019 they laid out their principals in an op ed in The New York Times written by Steve Schmidt, senior advisor to John McCain for his 2008 campaign; John Weaver, chief strategist for Republican challenger John Kasich in 2016; Rick Wilson, a strategist for Evan McMullin's campaign; and George Conway, a DC lawyer. Conway's wife, Kellyanne, was at the time working in the White House as a senior advisor to Trump, and their political divide became a Washington DC obsession. The group initially made effective use of social media, playing Trump at his own game and trolling him online with memes and videos. Money flowed in by the tens of millions of dollars from donors eager to help. But the organization was soon facing questions about its leadership and financing. Weaver, who was married with two children, was accused of by 21 men sexual harassment in February 2021, and the group was accused of hushing it up. They have now begun an independent investigation. Questions were also asked about the use of the funds raised. Of the $90 million Lincoln Project has raised, more than $50 million has gone to firms controlled by the group's leaders. Only about a third of the money, roughly $27 million, directly paid for advertisements. In March 2021 one of the founders, George Conway - who left amid family problems in August 2020 - said the group should close permanently. Advertisement

Democrats have been caught off guard by Youngkin's ability to make the election about education, and divisive teaching within the state's schools. Loudoun County in Virginia has become the national epicenter for anger at the teaching of critical race theory - a reassessment of American history, to give renewed emphasis on the horrors of slavery and the uncomfortable truth of the past.

Critics of CRT say it is teaching children to hate their country and feel guilty for the color of their skin.

McAuliffe's team also privately points to the drag of Biden's weakened standing among Virginia voters - a shift that began in August after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

That exacerbated traditional headwinds for candidates whose party occupies the White House.

In 2013, McAuliffe himself became the first Virginia candidate in 40 years to win the governor's office while his party was in power.

And within the campaign, there is concern that McAuliffe's experience, thought to be an asset when he got into the race, may actually work against him in a political environment that continues to favor outsiders.

Even before becoming governor, McAuliffe had been active in national politics for decades. He served as a former Democratic National Committee chairman and a chief fundraiser for Bill and Hillary Clinton.

The stunt on Friday was seen as a desperate 'dirty trick' by a side that realized it could well lose, and came as the scale of their effort in the state was revealed.

Records provided by the Virginia Public Access Project show $300,000 being spent to try and sabotage Youngkin's chances, Fox reported.

The group spent $17,100 on pro-McAuliffe efforts and just over $280,000 on anti-Youngkin efforts.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, anti-Youngkin spending included TV ad buys, digital ads, and 'media production.'

Photos from Friday showed the group holding large tiki torches.

Their appearance recalled two days of chaos in August 2017, when white supremacists gathered in the college town for a 'Unite the Right' rally - ostensibly to protest the planned removal of a Confederate monument.

The night before the planned rally, a group carrying tiki torches marched across the University of Virginia campus, clashing with a small group of anti-racist protesters.

The next day a car driven by a self-avowed white supremacist plowed into a crowd of peaceful counter-protesters, killing one protester, Heather Heyer, and injuring dozens.

McAuliffe staffers promoted a reporter's tweet about the group's appearance, using it to attack Youngkin and suggesting that those holding the torches were his supporters.

Youngkin staffers accused the McAuliffe campaign or Virginia Democrats of being involved, drawing disavowals.

The Democratic Party of Virginia issued a statement saying neither the party nor its 'coordinated partners and affiliates' had anything to do with 'the events' at the campaign bus stop.

White supremacists and neo-Nazis carrying tiki torches marched through Charlottesville on August 11, 2017 in a 'Unite The Right' rally to protest against the removal of Confederate statues

The group, chanting 'Jews will not replace us', formed a procession through the Virginia college town on August 11, 2017

The neo-Nazi group are seen circling a statue of Thomas Jefferson on August 11, 2017

The torch-lit procession and the racist chants outraged many Charlottesville residents

Virginia rejected Donald Trump in 2016.



Virginia rejected Donald Trump in 2020.



In November, Virginia will reject @GlennYoungkin, too. pic.twitter.com/12FOsOx5us  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 30, 2021

The incident comes at a sensitive time in the city.

A civil trial opened on Monday that will determine whether the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who organized the 2017 demonstrations should be held accountable for the violence.

Democratic Del. Sally Hudson, who represents Charlottesville in the General Assembly, condemned the torch-bearing incident as a 'stunt.'

'Charlottesville is not a prop. Our community is still reeling from years of trauma - especially this week. Don't come back, @ProjectLincoln. Your stunts aren't welcome here,' she tweeted.

Trump supporters reacted with anger to the stunt, and several people - including the former president's son - speculated that McAuliffe's team was in fact behind it, but then used the Lincoln Project to take the fall when criticism mounted.

'No chance Lincoln Project staged this, even though a 'white supremacist' rally is right up Confederate Rick Wilson's alley,' said Donald Trump Jr.

'The VA dem operatives involved have already been identified & locked down their social media. Busted.

'Don't let Pedo Project take the hit for McAuliffe.'

Jack Posobiec, the alt-Right commentator, said: 'Virginia Democrat operatives dressed up as Neo-Nazis holding tiki-torches today to smear their opponent and attempted to pass it off as actually happening.'

Nick Adams, who describes himself on his Twitter bio as 'President Trump's favorite author', also thought it was a McAuliffe prank that backfired.

'So now the Lincoln Project is taking credit for a tiki torch stunt put together with Virginia Democrat Party employees,' he said.

'How stupid do they think we are?'

Brent Scher, editor of the Free Beacon, tweeted: 'I do not think it's out of realm of possibility that Lincoln Project is taking blame, because they have no shame and their reputation really can't get any worse.'

Dan Crenshaw, a Republican congressman for Texas, said: 'How much more proof do we need that the Lincoln Project is nothing but a bunch of deranged hacks?'

Andrew Kerr, a journalist with Daily Caller, said: 'Apparently, it's totally fine to dress up as tiki torch nazis as long as you play for the right team.'

Journalist Glenn Greenwald said: 'Needless to say, right-wing groups that perpetrated a fraud like this -- causing media figures and campaign operatives to spend all day swamping Twitter with an outright racist lie -- would be instantly banned from social media.'

And Brigitte Gabriel, the right-wing think tank founder, tweeted: 'Why hasn't the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled The Lincoln Project as a hate group? The just put together a white supremacist tiki torch rally.

'Seems pretty hateful to me.'

Other critics from the opposite side of the political spectrum took issue with Lincoln Project bringing back painful memories.

'My heart aches for Heather Heyer and for all her loved ones,' said Christine Pelosi, daughter of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

'Her death shook me to the core as an activist and mom.

'The 2017 deadly Nazi rally was bad enough; today's Lincoln Project tiki stunt was cruel.

'Some things are - or should be - beyond politics. This is one of them.'

CJ Paschall, an anchor with the local NBC affiliate in Charlottesville, tweeted: 'Tone deaf is putting it mildly.

'Charlottesville is already reliving some of the darkest days of the city's history with the trial underway.

'The trauma people continue to suffer is not your soap box.'

And Lizzie Hylton, political and legislative director of the clean energy group Clean Virginia, echoed Paschall's view.

'Charlottesville is a real city with real people - far too many of whom are still trying to heal from the massive trauma experienced on August 11th and 12th 2017,' she said.

'Bringing fake Nazis with tiki torches here for a political stunt is beyond f***** up. Shame on @ProjectLincoln.'

The Lincoln Project was founded in late 2019 by a group of Republicans who were dismayed at the direction of their party under Trump.

In December 2019 they laid out their principals in an op ed in The New York Times written by Steve Schmidt, senior advisor to John McCain for his 2008 campaign; John Weaver, chief strategist for Republican challenger John Kasich in 2016; Rick Wilson, a strategist for Evan McMullin's campaign; and George Conway, a DC lawyer.

Conway's wife, Kellyanne, was at the time working in the White House as a senior advisor to Trump, and their political divide became a Washington DC obsession.

The group initially made effective use of social media, playing Trump at his own game and trolling him online with memes and videos.

Money flowed in by the tens of millions of dollars from donors eager to help.

But within the organization, a crisis was brewing.

In June 2020, members of the organization's leadership were informed in writing and in subsequent phone calls of at least 10 specific allegations of harassment against co-founder John Weaver, including two involving Lincoln Project employees.

Questions were also asked about the use of the funds raised.

Of the $90 million Lincoln Project has raised, more than $50 million has gone to firms controlled by the group's leaders, AP reported.

Only about a third of the money, roughly $27 million, directly paid for advertisements that aired on broadcast and cable, or appeared online, during the 2020 campaign, according to an analysis of campaign finance disclosures and data from the ad tracking firm Kantar/CMAG.

In August 2020 Conway announced that he was withdrawing from the group, as his family was rocked by division. His and Kellyanne's daughter Claudia began posting extensively on social media, causing her parents anxiety and ultimately forcing Kellyanne to leave her job in the White House.

In March this year Conway said that he felt the Lincoln Project should close permanently, given the scandals.

A former senior adviser to the project, Kurt Bardella, tweeted: 'Just shut it down already  it's over.'

Conway agreed in his own tweet, writing: 'It's a shame, and we shouldn't forget the hard work of so many people and the positive things the organization did, but yes, I think this is right.'

He added: 'It's just really sad and depressing, and I hope it doesn't tarnish the work of so many people who devoted themselves to such a good cause.'
This is the moment Insulate Britain activists prepare for a motorway road blockade with trust exercises and group hugs.

Footage filmed by UnHerd shows the protestors meeting at an Airbnb 'safehouse' off Edgware Road one day before causing rush-hour chaos in the capital.

Gathering in a circle, the activists put their arms around each other's shoulders and say: 'I have complete trust in you, and I have complete trust in myself.'

At one point the group burst into laughter as Cambridge-based organiser Louise Lancaster, who quit her job as a teacher to campaign, says: 'The heating seems to be impossible to turn off.

'It is very, very sad, having to open the windows.'

The clip's release follows the eco-zealots bringing parts of central London to a standstill on Monday, with several of them gluing their hands, feet or faces to roads.

Gathering in a circle, the activists put their arms around each other's shoulders and say: 'I have complete trust in you, and I have complete trust in myself'

Footage filmed by UnHerd shows the protestors meeting at an Airbnb 'safehouse' off Edgware Road one day before causing rush-hour chaos in the capital

At one point the group burst into laughter as organiser Louise Lancaster 9above), who quit her job as a teacher to campaign, says: 'The heating seems to be impossible to turn off'

Introducing himself to the group, Biff from Canterbury says: 'I'm prepared to lose my liberty, lose my home that I love, not see my family, have everything taken away by the government.'

Judy, an 82-year-old from South Wales who has been arrested four times in just over a year, adds: 'I've been around longer than other people to pollute this planet, and you know, to contribute to the state we're in.

'But I also remember what the world was like when I was young and what the countryside was like, what it was like to travel and the beautiful places and the wildlife, which is all being destroyed by what we're doing.

'And it's not necessary. It doesn't have to be that way.'

David, who is retired, also says: 'Anybody who understands this problem now, and does not begin to act, not write letters to their legislator or MP, get out into the streets, make themselves known and tell the Government this is unacceptable, and join with others around the world, they will be in a state of complicity.

'They'll just be observing the end of humanity. And knowing that it was coming.'

The video also shows the activists disrupting traffic early the next day by sitting in front of cars on Southwark Bridge while holding up a banner.

At one point, an activist says: 'The police have been very good. They probably won't thank me for saying they've been helpful but they have been, they've been great.'

They are eventually arrested and taken away in police vans.

Earlier this week, Insulate Britain activists switched up their protest tactics by walking towards oncoming traffic on the M25 in a separate protest.

Introducing themselves to the group, Biff (above) says: 'I'm prepared to lose my liberty, lose my home that I love, not see my family, have everything taken away by the government'

Judy, an 82-year-old from South Wales, adds: 'I remember what the world was like when I was young and what the countryside was like'

David, who is retired, says those who understand the issue and do not begin to act will 'just be observing the end of humanity'

The group said the decision to stop sitting in the middle of roads to block vehicles had been made following 'feedback' that many drivers were frustrated by their actions.

Demonstrations took place in both Essex and Hertfordshire, with around 20 arrests made on Friday.

At around 8.30am protesters briefly entered the carriageway near junction 28 and 29 of the motorway, intending to walk down the white lines marking traffic lanes.

But Essex Police said officers arrived at the scene 'swiftly' and 10 activists were removed from the road and arrested, with both carriageways reopening within 30 minutes.

Demonstrators later began walking along the white lines of the motorway at Junctions 21 and 22.

The new tactics were deployed for the group's 17th day of action, the last of which saw protesters have ink thrown in their faces by angry motorists.

A spokesperson for the group said safety was 'paramount' and the protests would not have proceeded if cars did not slow down sufficiently.

The video also shows the activists disrupting traffic early the next day by sitting in front of cars on Southwark Bridge while holding up a banner

The group on Southwark Bridge. The clip's release follows the eco-zealots bringing parts of central London to a standstill on Monday

He said prior to the protest: 'The intention is to enter the carriageway and walk towards the oncoming traffic along the white lines.

'If cars don't slow down and are hurtling along at full speed then we will be on the hard shoulder wearing our hi-vis with the banners.

'We would hope that it slows down anyway. We've had feedback that people are frustrated that they spent time in traffic queues.

'This is like a rolling traffic queue, so we'll move, and once they get to the front they will be able to move on.

'We're not planning to stop traffic but it could slow down to five miles an hour.'

Insulate Britain acknowledged it is knowingly breaching a High Court injunction that aims to prevent its disruptive activities.

Those who break the injunctions could be found in contempt of court and face a maximum penalty of two years in prison or an unlimited fine.

Activists have now blocked roads on 17 days since September 13, causing misery for drivers stuck in long queues of traffic.

Following Friday's demonstration, Essex Police Chief Inspector Lee Devall said: 'Not only will incidents of this nature be frustrating for road users trying to reach their destination, walking into fast moving traffic is extremely dangerous.

'I'd like to thank road users today for their patience and understanding.

'You've helped us to clear the area quickly, to keep people safe, minimise disruption, and keep Essex moving. We will continue to deal with these incidents robustly.'

View the full 20-minute film on YouTube here.
Penny Jackson posted a sick April Fool's joke about hanging her husband during lockdown - just months before she stabbed him to death on her 66th birthday.

The wealthy retired accountant murdered her husband David, 78, and calmly told police 'I should have stabbed him more' as he lay dying on February 13.

It today emerged Jackson made her Facebook cover photograph an image of a woman knitting a noose on April 1 last year - just ten months before she murdered her husband.

A caption above the image read: 'Quarantined with hubbie for two weeks  Gertrude is knitting something special for him!'

Jackson was this week found guilty of murder by a jury of eight women and four men after 10 hours and 43 minutes of deliberations. Judge Martin Picton sentenced her to life, with a minimum term of 18 years.

Penelope Jackson, 66, was this week found guilty of murder by a jury of eight women and four men after 10 hours and 43 minutes of deliberations

Pictured: Their daughter Isabelle Potterton (centre) on her wedding day with parents Jackson (left) and David (right)

It today emerged Jackson made her Facebook cover photograph an image of a woman knitting a noose on April 1 this year - just ten months before she murdered her husband

Jackson was arrested in her pyjamas on the street outside the couple's 450,000 luxury Somerset bungalow while her fourth husband lay bleeding on the kitchen floor inside.

As she was taken into custody, Jackson said: 'Do you usually have murderers where they're wearing Marks & Spencer pyjamas?'

The former Ministry of Defence accountant told Bristol Crown Court she lost control after decades of verbal and physical abuse. She claimed Retired Lieutenant Colonel David Jackson was a bully who pushed her to her limits until she could take no more.

It has been reported the Jackson's seemingly happy marriage was actually plagued by infidelity and lies.

But friends told the Daily Mail both sides were at fault, as they battled alcohol-fuelled rows sparked by the slightest thing.

Despite mother-of-three Jackson's attempt to paint herself as a victim, she left three marriages before she wed Mr Jackson in 1996.

The wealthy retired accountant (pictured) murdered her husband David, 78, and calmly told police 'I should have stabbed him more' as he lay dying on February 13

Jackson was arrested in her pyjamas on the street outside the couple's 450,000 luxury Somerset bungalow while her fourth husband lay bleeding on the kitchen floor inside. Pictured, the couple together

One of her former brothers-in-laws said: 'I can't honestly see Penny, especially the way she's disposed of three other husbands, being someone who would take abuse for all those years.'

Stewart Warrender, whose brother Alan, Penny's third husband, killed himself in 1993 after Penny left him, added: 'Narcissistic is probably the best word for the way she is. No empathy. For somebody to be like that there's got to be something wrong with them.'

In court, David's daughter from his first marriage, Jane Calverley, described Penny as more than her husband's equal, saying she would 'bait him'.

'He would squirm and look embarrassed, especially if we were out in company,' she said.

One friend, Veronica Statham, said of Penny: 'She could become quite overwhelming after a few drinks.'

Crime scene: The Somerset bungalow owned by Penny and David Jackson, as seen on February 13 with officers outside

David's brother, Alan Jackson, told the Mail this week he was an 'arrogant bully' and that 'Penny learned not to answer back when there was an argument brewing and they'd been drinking'.

Jackson's daughter said that her mother 'could get carried away and get a bit loud'.

Jackson married her first husband, builder Melvyn Porter, in Weston-super-Mare in November 1972, aged 17. Their first daughter, Rebecca, was born a year later; their second, Victoria, in 1977. When the youngest was two, Jackson walked out.

In April 1981, 26-year-old Jackson married husband number two, fellow Ministry of Defence civil servant Tony Rothwell. In court she claimed that their 'loving friendship' 'fizzled out' and they divorced.

Jackson was 32 when she married her third husband, 39-year-old Alan Warrender, an RAF chief technician, in January 1988. His first wife had died 18 months earlier from cancer and while Penny's own two daughters were not living with her, she became stepmother to Alan's two daughters.

She gave birth to her third daughter, Isabelle, in October 1990 by which time the family were living in Grantham in Lincolnshire.

The final, fatal blow was delivered after he had dialled 999, with the emergency services still on the line. When police arrived, they found Jackson's handwritten confession (pictured)

Two years later, while 43-year-old Alan was working in Saudi Arabia, Penny began an affair with the man who would become her fourth husband. After Alan took his own life in April 1993, his inquest, which found he died by carbon monoxide poisoning, was reported beneath the headline: 'Man took his life after marital stress'.

'He was found in the garage. He was drunk apparently, emotional, because she'd been having an affair,' his brother, Stewart Warrender, said. 'I was never fully satisfied with the inquest verdict. I was sceptical of a suicide. It could be more coercion. I feel strongly it wasn't properly investigated. I've always thought that.'

He added that there was ill-feeling in the family because Penny 'benefited enormously' from Alan's death. 'Alan's kids from his first marriage didn't get a bean. Penny inherited everything and was entitled to his pension too.'

Jackson and David married in 1996, by which time they were living near an army base in Hampshire and raising Penny's youngest daughter, Isabelle, to believe that David was her real father. She didn't discover the truth until, as a teenager, she was contacted by one of her half-sisters from Alan Warrender's first marriage.

Further tragedy followed when, two years after Penny and David's wedding, David's 28-year-old son Gavin, from his first marriage, took his own life, leaving a suicide note in which he is said to have written that he didn't want to end up like his father.

In court, Jackson alleged that David became aggressive in the wake of Gavin's suicide. Her daughter Isabelle agreed, and said when she was eight, David held a knife to her mother's throat.

Another time, he pinned her mother against the wall and he once smashed the mug Isabelle had bought for Mother's Day. David's brother, Alan Jackson, told the Mail that he could be an 'arrogant bully'.

'No-one deserves to die the way he did but I can believe that Penny would have been pushed to her limits,' he said. 'I don't think anyone will ever really know what kind of a life she had with David.'
Ghislaine Maxwell's brother said he believes prison guards have 'physically abused' his sister and her treatment inside a Brooklyn jail is a 'human rights' abuse that is 'designed to break her.'

Ian Maxwell told interviewers that he thinks his sister British socialite and Jeffrey Epstein's ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell has experienced 'physical abuse at the hands of her guards.'

'I don't see Ghislaine administering a black eye to herself,' he told Sky News. 'I think she has suffered some occasional physical abuse at the hands of her guards.'

He also said his sister's applications for pre-trial release have been constantly denied, despite her losing 15 pounds and incarceration making it harder for her to prepare a defense.

'It's designed to break her,' he told Sky News. 'That is just unjust. It's a fundamental abuse of human rights. And I find that quite shocking.'

Ghislaine was arrested and charged with sexual assault for allegedly grooming teenagers for her then-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein.

British socialite and Jeffrey Epstein's ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell's brother said her treatment inside a Brooklyn jail is a 'human rights' abuse that is 'designed to break her'

Ghislaine has been held inside Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, for almost 500 days now and allegedly experienced 'physical abuse' from her prison guards, Ian said

In a photo released by her lawyer earlier this year, Ghislaine can be seen with a black eye. Her brother reported that she has lost15 pounds and incarceration has made it harder for her to prepare a defense

He is also accusing US authorities of mounting a 'disinformation campaign' against his sister.

Ghislaine - who is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, until her trial next month - has been accused of procuring teenage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse.

She has been imprisoned for 486 days - which is longer than Epstein, who was found dead by apparent suicide in his prison cell - in a tiny, isolated cell while she awaits trial, set to start on November 29.

Her multiple applications to be granted bail pre-trial - which has been granted to other big named cases, such as Harvey Weinstein and Derek Chauvin - has been denied.

A federal judge cited her citizenship in three countries and immense wealth made her a flight risk.

Ghislaine has been charged with sex trafficking and now her family is questioning whether or not she will get a fair trial.

Ian blames the multiple news programs and documentaries that covered Epstein's crimes as being 'one-sided.'

'There isn't any possible other way of viewing this, other than the way the accusers have set it up, and their attorneys, and that strikes me as a campaign designed to prejudice my sister in the eyes of the public,' he told Sky News.

She has been charged with sexual assault for allegedly grooming young women for her ex Epstein to abuse (pictured: the couple in 2005)

Ian claimed he only met Epstein once while Ghislaine and him dated

Ian blamed Virginia Giuffre (pictured in pink) as one of the reasons his sister's supporters aren't going public. 'There is an image out there with her being next to Prince Andrew with his arm around her and Ghislaine in the back,' Ian said. 'That image is a very, very powerful image that has been gone around the world and has set the tone' (pictured: Prince Andrew with Giuffre and Maxwell (in white)

He blamed US authorities for the 'transference of presumed guilt' onto his sister and said Epstein's death was a failure for the US judicial system.

'There has just simply been a transference of presumed guilt on the part of Jeffrey Epstein without any corroborating evidence,' he told Sky News. 'Just simply because she had a relationship. He then dies, and they've got to find someone to pay the price.'

He said her reputation has been 'comprehensively trashed' and that she is being punished 'prior to conviction.'

'The mountain of allegations made against it [her reputation] and broadcasted and loud hollered around the world is so great, that I have to really ask myself, are we going to get a fair trial?'

Ian admitted to Sky News that he has not spoken to his sister since her incarceration, but would be 'shocked' if she was found guilty.

The last time Maxwell has seen Ghislaine was in London in 2019 when all the siblings came home to celebrate their father's 96th birthday and claimed he had only met Epstein once.

'I have absolutely no memory of Epstein at all,' he told Good Morning America in March. 'I had no knowledge of their life or the life that Ghislaine was leading in any great detail.'

Ghislaine is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center until her trial. She has applied multiple times to be released on bail pre-trial and a federal judge has denied her due to her citizenship in three countries and her immense wealth

Ghislaine (pictured in a court drawing) is set to go to trial on November 29

He also said she has loads of support inside, including from her siblings.

'We as a family are behind her, solidly behind her,' Ian told Good Morning America in March. He also confirmed her siblings are all behind her and believe her innocence.

'She is not Epstein. Epstein was guilty. He did time. And he was gonna do a hell of a lot more time. But she is not him. And I don't know how many times I have to say it,' he told Good Morning America.

'She deserves to be treated as Ghislaine, presumed innocent, get on with the defense, tell us what you've got to tell us, put it up, and then let the jury decide.'

Ian said he has not seen his sister in-person since June 2019, where all the siblings (pictured) came together to celebrate their father's 96th birthday in London. Ian also stated that all the siblings support their sister and believe in her innocence

Ghislaine's friends have also filed letters to support her failed bail applications and she has gotten plenty of mail while incarcerated, Ian said.

'Obviously there's a lot of cuckoo mail, and mail you don't want to be sharing with your nearest and dearest,' he told Insider. 'But there is also a huge postbag of supportive mail, from Americans who recognize that what's happening to her is unjust.'

Ian's convinced one of the reasons his sister doesn't have an outpouring of public support is because of one of Epstein's alleged victims Virginia Giuffre, who accused Ghislaine, Epstein, and other powerful figures, including Prince Andrew, of sexual misconduct.

'There is an image out there with her being next to Prince Andrew with his arm around her and Ghislaine in the back,' Ian told Insider.

'That image is a very, very powerful image that has been gone around the world and has set the tone,' he said. 'Certainly, it is the image in people's minds of this whole horrible business.'

Giuffre is not a complainant in Ghislaine's case.

Twenty-three other women have accused Epstein of assault.
A Tory councillor will contest the Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election for the Conservatives as the party looks to hold on to the seat following the death of former housing secretary James Brokenshire.

The Conservatives confirmed members in the area selected Louie French, a councillor of eight years who previously served as deputy leader of Bexley council from 2018 to 2021, to contest the seat.

A by-election will be contested after the former Cabinet minister died of lung cancer earlier this month, with the date yet to be confirmed.

Mr French said: 'James Brokenshire was a friend and mentor to me and it's an honour to have been selected as the Conservative candidate for Old Bexley and Sidcup, where I hope to carry on his excellent work.

Toey councillor Louie French will contest the Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election for the Conservatives following the death of James Brokenshire

'I will campaign to ensure that outer London areas like Old Bexley and Sidcup are not forgotten or left behind by the mayor of London and City Hall.

'And I will work to improve access to GPs and healthcare services, building directly on James' work with Queen Mary's Hospital, so residents can get a face-to-face GP appointment at a time that suits them.'

Mr Brokenshire (pictured in 2018), the Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup, previously served as Northern Ireland secretary and security minister. He died of lung cancer on October 7

In his last tweet on August 31, Mr Brokenshire shared a picture of himself on a walk with his 'amazing' wife Cathy, and said that his lung cancer had 'progressed'

Labour and the Reform Party have also declared their candidates.

With the constituency held by the Conservatives since its inception in 1983, Mr French will be seen as the favourite to become the constituency's next MP.

Party chairman Oliver Dowden offered his congratulations, saying: 'Louie will build on James' exceptional record as a strong voice tirelessly standing up for the people of Bexley.'

Mr Brokenshire, pictured with his wife Cathy, stepped down as Northern Ireland secretary in January 2018 on his 50th birthday after his cancer diagnosis

It comes as former Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice announced his candidacy in a bid to send Boris Johnson a 'powerful message' about the impact of his Government's policies after the Conservative administration raised the tax burden to the highest level since the 1950s.

The leader of the Reform Party - formerly known as the Brexit Party - said he would be standing on a ticket of low taxes and pledged to campaign for a referendum on the target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Describing the seat as 'traditionally Conservative', the former MEP said: 'Voters here did not expect the Prime Minister to deliver Con-Socialism, a highly taxed, highly regulated nanny state.'

The coffin of Mr Brokenshire is carried from St John The Evangelist church in Bexley, south-east London, after his funeral on October 21

Labour has already announced it will contest the seat with Daniel Francis, a Bexley councillor and former leader of Bexley's Labour group on the council, standing for the party.

Mr Francis, in a message on Twitter, said he had lived in the area for 20 years and vowed to work 'tirelessly' for the community if elected.

The Old Bexley and Sidcup constituency has been held by the Tories since its creation and also in its different guises since the 1950s, having previously been the seat of former prime minister Ted Heath.

Former local government secretary Mr Brokenshire won the south-east London seat with a majority of almost 19,000 at the 2019 general election.
An Instagram model broke her mother out of jail using a hidden rope and getaway bike after distracting the security guard, it is alleged.

Influencer Aida Victoria Merlano, 21, who is Colombian, allegedly managed to complete the daring plan to get her mother out of prison.

In a trial this week, prosecutors heard that the 21-year-old helped former politician Aida Merlano Rebolledo break out of a Bogota prison by climbing out of a third-story window and using a rope to get to the ground, according to the Sun.

El Tiempo footage captures the moment she jumped down from the window with a red cord and hit the ground, while onlookers are startled

The escape happened in October 2019 when Rebolledo was a senator but she was convicted after her election win as evidence of weapons, voter fraud and corruption was uncovered by authorities.

Rebolledo was sentenced to 15 years in prison within six months of her election win but broke out of jail just two weeks after.

Her daughter was charged for the elaborate escape mission at the time but has remained on bail and free and regularly posts snaps of herself to her 2.5m followers.

The prison break chance came when Rebolledo had a dentist appointment.

Influencer Aida Victoria Merlano, 21, (pictured left) who is Colombian, allegedly managed to complete a daring plan to get her mother, former politician Aida Merlano Rebolledo (pictured right) out of prison

Prosecutors heard the 21-year-old (pictured) helped Aida Merlano Rebolledo break out of a Bogota prison by climbing out of a third-story window and using a rope to get to the ground

She was accompanied by a prison guard and driver to the office of the dentist which was outside of the prison but was able to enter the appointment alone.

The trial heard Rebolledo was then left alone in the examination room.

El Tiempo footage captures the moment she jumped down from the window with a red cord and hit the ground, while onlookers are startled.

Rebolledo's daughter (pictured) was charged for the elaborate escape mission at the time but has remained on bail and free and regularly posts snaps of herself to her 2.5m followers

She then proceeds to jump on the back of a bike, allegedly driven by a man posing as a delivery driver, and flees the scene.

And when her mother's escape was all over the news, her daughter used the situation to her advantage.

A month after the daring mission, Merlano was featured on the cover of a magazine and posed naked in handcuffs.

The article headline read 'The Daughter of the Fugitive Congresswoman Confesses.'

A month after the daring escape mission, Merlano (pictured) was featured on the cover of a magazine and posed naked in handcuffs

Authorities eventually caught Rebelledo in January 2020, in Venezuela.

It was suspected that the fugitive congresswoman's daughter and the dentist were accomplices in the prison break and they were formally charged the following month by authorities.

During the trial the duo have protested their innocence but will face years behind bars if they are found guilty.

Merlano said in a social media video: 'Despite getting up every day knowing that I can go to jail for 21 years, I am happy because I have the conviction that happiness is a decision that one makes every day.

'Be happy today because you do not know what will happen tomorrow.'
A world-renowned writer and philosopher is calling for the worldwide regulation of artificial intelligence so that human data can't be 'hacked' on behalf of powerful corporations and governments.

Yuval Harari, a best-selling author and history professor, told Anderson Cooper that human beings could see more than just their film and TV and streaming choices known to these organizations, creating more algorithms to rule over their choices.

He compared the gathering of data to the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, pointing out that both Silicon Valley and China appear to be in a race to continue advancing these technologies.

Apps like Instagram and WhatsApp have sold for billions of dollars to investors, not because they produce revenue, but because they allow owners to control data.

Now, banks and lenders in the global financial markets use data to manipulate global financial markets.

Harari asked: 'Does your data go to California or does it go to Shenzhen and to Shanghai and to Beijing?'

World-renowned author and philosopher Yuval Harari is warning of the catastrophic effects deregulating artificial intelligence and data gathering could have on society

Harari spoke with CBS' Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes

Harari says the countries and companies that control the most data will control the world in the future

Harari claimed that the next step, brought on by the pandemic, will be making easier and more likely that our medical data will be taken from us

World-renowned author Yuval Harari warns humans will be hacked if artificial intelligence is not globally regulated.



Sunday, Harari tells @andersoncooper global cooperation is needed to prevent human data from getting into the hands of a powerful few. https://t.co/TShLK8ZHoB pic.twitter.com/biu4gcTFnf  60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 29, 2021 Twitter Privacy Policy

The feature, which airs Sunday night, is highlighted by Harari suggesting that the reach of artificial intelligence could leave our information in the hands of 'a powerful few.'

Harari claimed that the next step, brought on by the pandemic, will be making it easier and more likely that our medical data will be taken from us, sounding the alarm about 'biometric data,' such as facial images or fingerprint data or even DNA.

'It's data about what's happening inside my body,' he said. 'What we have seen so far, it's corporations and governments collecting data about where we go, who we meet, what movies we watch. The next phase is surveillance going under our skin.'

Harari argued that the countries and companies that control the most data will control the world in the future.

His solution, he tells Cooper, is that countries must begin working together to prevent this by regulating artificial intelligence and the collection of data across all nations.

One of Harari's major themes has been warning people of the dangerous changes artificial intelligence algorithms could lead to as they increase their grip on human life.

'Netflix tells us what to watch and Amazon tells us what to buy. Eventually within 10 or 20 or 30 years such algorithms could also tell you what to study at college and where to work and whom to marry and even whom to vote for,' he told Cooper.

He argues that the only solution is for countries to work together to regulate data gathering.

Harari claimed that the pandemic has only made it easier and more likely that our data will be taken from us

Harari's first book, Sapiens, was a New York Times' Bestseller

His proposed rules would keep data collection and concentration from allowing leaders to create dictatorships.

'One key rule is that if you get my data, the data should be used to help me and not to manipulate me,' he said. 'Another key rule, that whenever you increase surveillance of individuals you should simultaneously increase surveillance of the corporation and governments and the people at the top. And the third principle is that - never allow all the data to be concentrated in one place. That's the recipe for a dictatorship.'

The cooperation necessary to stop this from happening, Harari claimed, could lead to a potential positive for the rise of AI.

'The whole thing is that it's not just dystopian. It's also utopian. I mean, this kind of data can also enable us to create the best health care system in history,' he said. 'The question is what else is being done with that data? And who supervises it? Who regulates it?'

But Harari also told Cooper that humans are at risk of becoming 'hacked' if artificial intelligence does not become better regulated.

'To hack a human being is to get to know that person better than they know themselves. And based on that, to increasingly manipulate you,' Harari says.
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Britain's Covid crisis appears to be continuing to shrink with daily cases falling for the seventh day in a row today, official data has shown.

Department of Health bosses posted 41,278 new coronavirus infections today, down 8.2 per cent on last Saturday's figure of 44,985.

And Covid hospitalisations also fell 3.9 per cent to 1,038 on Tuesday, the latest date data is available for. It was down from the week before when 1,080 were admitted with the virus.

But the number of people dying the virus increased by nearly a quarter, up 23 per cent from 135 last Saturday to 166 today.

Hospitalisations and deaths both lag behind changes in daily infections because of the time it takes for the virus to incubate and disease to become severe.

The figures come after separate official data released yesterday showed more than a million people in England were infected with Covid on any day during the last week before half-term.

Bosses at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimate around one in 50 people  the equivalent of 1,102,800  would have tested positive on any given day during the seven-day spell ending October 22. It claims infections have risen by almost 13 per cent in a week, soaring to a level not seen since the darkest days of Britain's pandemic crisis in early January.

Meanwhile, separate figures from the UK Health Security Agency, which took over from the now-defunct PHE, yesterday showed the the R rate also rose and is now thought to be around 1.1 to 1.3, up from 1.0 to 1.2. It means for every 10 people infected, between 11 and 13 other will get the virus.

However, both estimates are based on old data and the fresher Government statistics show the country's outbreak has already started to shrink, even before children broke up for half-term.

Thousands of anti-vaccine passport protestors march through London Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of London this afternoon to protest against the possible introduction of vaccine passports as part of the Government's winter Covid 'Plan B'. Protestors marched through Piccadilly Circus in the centre of the city at around 1pm, holding signs reading 'no vaccine passports'. Few wore face coverings as they walked through the busy streets under the supervision of police. Some held signs saying 'medical freedom', while others flew the St George's flag. Video footage show some demonstrators clashing with officers outside the Australian Embassy as the most peaceful protest became more violent. In the video, protestors shout in the face of three officers standing outside the embassy. A woman pushes one of the officer before he pushes them back and a man shouts 'stop the violence'. London Metropolitan Police said: 'Demonstrators gathered outside Australian House as part of a protest taking place in central London today. 'Officers outside the property prevented demonstrators from causing criminal damage.' Advertisement

In other coronavirus developments:

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of London this afternoon to protest against the possible introduction of vaccine passports as part of the Government's winter Covid 'Plan B';

Wales is set to tighten Covid restrictions to tackle a rising number of hospital admissions;

A SAGE expert said further coronavirus waves cannot be ruled out and there is a lot of uncertainty about how the pandemic will pan out into the first half of next year;

Official data showed England's Covid vaccine drive for children is going even slower than thought, prompting calls for the NHS to speed up the roll out over fears it could leave No10 with no option but to resort to Plan B;

Health chiefs yesterday claimed Covid vaccines appear to work just as well against the more transmissible Delta variant offshoot as they do on its ancestor.

No10's advisers said it was likely that cases would eventually fizzle out in children because they have built-up such high levels of immunity following the back-to-class wave. They also claimed half-term would act as a natural fire-breaker by curbing indoor mixing of children.

'Professor Lockdown' Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist who sits on SAGE, yesterday argued Plan B  which would see the return of face masks and work from home guidance if the NHS becomes overwhelmed  'shouldn't be necessary', if cases keep dropping and the booster roll-out continues at speed.

Separate data from the country's largest symptom-tracking study on Thursday suggested Britain is 'worryingly close' to recording 100,000 new Covid infections per day.

Professor Tim Spector, the epidemiologist running the study, suggested the official Government daily count could be vastly underestimating the extent of Covid prevalence.

It comes as Health Secretary Sajid Javid today called on all secondary school and college students to get tested regardless of symptoms before they return to classrooms next week. ONS data showed 9.1 per cent of children in years 7 to 11 had the virus on any given day last week.

Mr Javid said: 'It is vital that they are taking free and easy rapid tests that will help detect Covid infections from those who are not showing symptoms to keep the virus at bay.'
Reality star Jim Bob Duggar, of the embattled TLC show '19 Kids and Counting,' has announced his candidacy for Arkansas State Senate, despite news of his son Joshua Duggar being arrested on federal charges of child pornography possession earlier this year.

Duggar, who had previously served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002, revealed the news on the Duggar family's official Facebook page on Friday.

'I'm running for State Senate because these are unprecedented times in our nation,' Duggar said in his announcement for his candidacy for District 7, which includes Springdale, Johnson, Goshen and Elkins in eastern Washington County.

'Out-of-control bureaucrats have put politics over common-sense policy with government mandates that force people to choose between earning a paycheck and violating their personal rights and beliefs. The foundational principles that have made our nation great are under threat like never before.'

Reality star Jim Bob Duggar, pictured right with wife Anna, left, of the embattled TLC show '19 Kids and Counting,' announced his candidacy for Arkansas State Senate

Duggar, who had previously served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002, revealed the news on the Duggar family's official Facebook page, pictured, on Friday

Pictured: Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, heads of the massive Duggar family, which includes 20 children and 22 grandchildren

Duggar announces he will run for Arkansas State Senate District 7, which includes Springdale, Johnson, Goshen and Elkins in eastern Washington County, pictured

'Now more than ever, we need a bold voice that is pro-family, pro-business, pro-gun and pro-life,' he added.

'It's time for conservatives to demand courageous leadership that puts Arkansas families, jobs, and our constitutional liberties first.'

The massive Duggar family, which includes 20 children and 22 grandchildren, have been in the news for all the wrong reasons since the reality show debuted back in 2008.

The show was cancelled in 2015 after allegations came to light of Duggar's oldest son, Joshua, 33, of sexually assaulting five young girls as a teen - four of them his sisters - in a 2006 police report obtained by In Touch magazine.

The Duggar family in 2014. Their show, 19 Kids & Counting, ran from 2008 until 2015

This undated photo provided by the Washington County Jail shows Joshua Duggar mugshot photo after his arrest on child pornography charges

Josh Duggar, pictured, being released from jail five months ago after making bail on federal child pornography possession charges

Joshua Duggar, pictured, was placed on the Arkansas sex offender registry for molesting his sisters in the years before his arrest on child pornography charges this April

While he was never officially charged for those allegations, Joshua Duggar was arrested earlier this year on federal child pornography possession charges, of which he pleaded not guilty.

Joshua Duggar was placed on the Arkansas sex offender registry for molesting his sisters in the years before his arrest on child pornography charges this April, according to court documents.

The papers, filed August 30, claim 'Joshua Duggar was placed on the sex offender registry and a legal proceeding was undertaken to remove Joshua Duggar from the sex offender registry.'

The claims were made by the city of Springdale and other defendants - referred to as the Springdale Defendants - in response to a lawsuit filed against them in 2017 by Duggar's four sisters.

Joshua Duggar, right, was seen for the first time with his wife, Anna, left, in late September since he was released from prison on bail almost five months ago

Duggar and his wife Anna share kids Mackynzie, Marcus, Meredith, Mason and Maryella together. Anna is set to give birth to their seventh child late next month

Two of Duggar's sisters - Jill Dillard and Jessa Seewald - later spoke out to reveal they were victims but that they had forgiven their brother.

Jill, Jessa, and their two sisters Jinger Vuolo and Joy Duggar filed a lawsuit in an Arkansas federal court in 2017 against the City of Springdale, claiming the release of the information to In Touch breached their privacy and caused 'extreme mental anguish and emotional distress.'

Joshua Duggar was seen for the first time with his wife, Anna, in late September since he was released from prison on bail almost five months ago, and has spent the intervening months living at a property in rural Arkansas.

On September 27, the former '19 Kids and Counting' star was back in the public eye as he attended an evidentiary hearing at a Fayetteville court ahead of his trial, which is scheduled to commence November 3.
A Maryland state legislator, who is also a doctor, has been fined $15,000 and reprimanded by the Board of Physicians for logging into remote legislative meetings from her operating room.

Terri Hill, 62, who is a Democratic delegate for the Maryland General Assembly and a board-certified plastic surgeon, appeared to at least two Zoom meetings from her operating room while she performed surgeries on two patients.

She has been fined $15,000 and was reprimanded by the Maryland Board of Physicians on October 19, 2021.

A complaint was filed against her in March by a retired doctor after the Baltimore Sun revealed she had appeared at two legislative meetings on February 19 and March 12 - both where her attendance was not required - from her operating room.

The lawmaker said in a statement that she 'accepted' the Board's decision.

'As a physician and a professional, I always look for ways to improve my practice,' she said. 'Sometimes this includes accepting constructive criticism from others. I accept the Board's decision that I could have done better.'

Maryland General Assembly Delegate Terri Hill, 62, has been fined and officially reprimanded by the Maryland Board of Physicians after the Baltimore Sun revealed she had attended at least two legislative meetings while performing surgeries

She attended two Zoom meetings (her box circled in red) on February 19 and March 12 while performing major surgeries on patients, who's consent forms do not reflect their approval. The first patient does not recall giving Hill verbal consent, the second did remember

Hill had her camera tilted toward the surgical lights and appeared on screen from the shoulders up. The Board's report cited that legislators could see 'blood-stained towels' occasionally and staff members throughout the meetings

Doctor Alan Robin filed the complaint and said he was 'outraged and appauled' to learn Hill was with patients while attending the meetings.

'To me, personally, surgery is a very serious thing,' Robin told the Baltimore Sun.

'She's endangering a patient's wellbeing by not focusing on the surgery and/or delaying a case by zooming with the legislature. This behavior is not appropriate and should not be allowed,' he said in March.

The Board of Physicians opened an investigation on Hill following the complaint and reviewed medical records and watched recordings of the meetings.

Hill claimed she asked for permission from both patients and said back in March: 'Had there been any safety or privacy concerns, then I wouldnt have done it.'

On February 19, she performed 'major adnominal surgery' on a patient, who does not 'recall' giving Hill consent to 'participate in a legislative committee meeting,' according to the Board.

When she logged on, Committee Chair Kumar P. Barve reportedly asked her: 'Are you at work? What's going on here?'

She reportedly responded: 'I'm at work, yes. You're at work. I'm at work.'

She was a sponsor of a bill and spoke for approximately three minutes before logging off, the report found.

The Board also stated that the patient recalled Hill's participation in the Environment and Transportation Committee meeting was a 'little discomforting' because the 'attention was taken away from her during the surgery,' the report said.

An unidentified physician's assistant said Hill stepped back from the table and spoke on the phone 'for a few minutes' before returning. Hill was allegedly in the middle of the suturing process when she took the call.

She has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within a year and has been reprimanded. She is still a licensed physician in the state of Maryland

On March 12, her patient was receiving 'major abdominal and back surgery' when she attended a Health and Government Operations Committee voting session.

The Board noted that Hill's 'camera was angled upward' toward the surgical lighting and only the 'top of the Respondent's [Hill] head and shoulders were visible' and she would 'occasionally shift' to reach for medical tools.

It was also noted that there were several staff members moving around in the background and that 'surgical equipment and blood-stained towels' were also occasionally visible.

The second patient stated she 'agreed' to let Hill participate in the voting session during surgery.

Hill reportedly did not speak during this meeting, besides to cast a 'yea' vote.

Neither patient's consent forms detailed that she would be taking a meeting during their surgery, the panel found.

A nurse who was also interviewed by the board said she felt it 'uncomfortable,' but didn't feel she had the authority to 'tell the physician what to do,' the report said.

In an interview with the board, Hill said the medical director told her to appreciate the 'sanctity' of the operation room and said she now understands 'the idea of "don't invite the public into the operating room."'

Hill has a year to pay the $15,000 fine to the Board of Physicians. Her license will not renewed until the fine is paid.

She remains a licensed physician in Maryland, according to the Baltimore Sun.

DailyMail.com requested a comment from Hill.
Vice President Kamala Harris got her third dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the White House on Saturday.

A White House official said her busy schedule of meetings and travel put her in the high-risk category and made her eligible for a jab.

On Saturday afternoon, she appeared in the South Court Auditorium, where she held up her sleeve for a member of the White House Medical Unit to administer the Moderna jab to her left arm.

'Got the booster shot,' she told reporters afterwards, 'and I want to encourage everyone to do the same when you are eligible.

'And as we have said from the beginning: the vaccines are free they're safe, and they will save your life.'

Vice President Kamala Harris gets her third shot of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the White House on Saturday. An official said her job made her eligible for the booster

'As we have said from the beginning: the vaccines are free they're safe, and they will save your life,' said Harris after getting her third jab on Saturday

President Biden, 78, got his third shot at the end of September after new guidance was published.

At 57, Harris is younger than the 65 years at which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people are eligible for a booster.

Nor has the White House said she has any underlying medical conditions that would make her eligible.

Instead, a White House official said her job put her at risk.

'The vice president is required to travel frequently and interact with many individuals in the course of conducting her official duties; she is considered at increased risk of COVID-19 exposure due to her occupation and meets criteria for receiving a booster shot,' said a White House official.

The vice president received her first doses of the Moderna vaccine in December last year and January.

In its guidance, the CDC says: 'Adults who work or reside in certain settings (e.g., health care, schools, correctional facilities, homeless shelters) may be at increased risk of being exposed to COVID-19, which could be spreading where they work or reside.'

It lists by way of example first responders, education staff, food and agriculture workers, manufacturing workers, corrections workers, U.S. Postal Service workers, public transit workers, and grocery store workers.

The jab puts Harris among the 16.6 million people to have received a booster, according to the latest CDC data.

But it also puts her at the center of a global dispute about whether rich countries are hogging vaccine supplies when most of the rest of world is unvaccinated.

President Joe Biden receives his COVID-19 booster shot on campus at the White House on September 27, soon after the CDC issued new guidance

The head of the World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on booster shots.

'I will not stay silent when companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the worlds poor should be satisfied with leftovers, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently.

'Because manufacturers have prioritized or been legally obliged to fulfill bilateral deals with rich countries willing to pay top dollar, low income countries have been deprived of the tools to protect their people.'

The White House defended its stance at the time.

'From Senegal to South Africa to India, weve made significant investments in boosting global productions of COVID vaccines,' said Press Secrertary Jen Psaki.

'At the same time, the president and this administration has a responsibility to do everything we can to protect people in the United States.'
Joe Biden took communion when he attended mass at St. Patrick's Church in Rome on Saturday night, the day after the president said Pope Francis told him he could continue to take the Holy sacrament.

First lady Jill Biden accompanied him to the religious service.

The English-speaking church is the main place of worship for the American Catholic community in Rome and is located near the U.S. Embassy. Speaker Nancy Pelosi attended mass there earlier this month when she was in Rome for a meeting of legislative leaders of G20 nations.

President Joe Biden (right) and First Lady Jill Biden arrive for mass Saturday night in Rome at St. Patrick's Church

President Joe Biden speaks with a member of the clergy after attending St. Patrick's Church during a break in the G20 summit in Rome

President Biden is spotted leaving mass Saturday night at St. Patrick's Church in Rome, Italy. He visited with Pope Francis Friday and was encouraged to keep taking communion

President Joe Biden walks out of St. Patricks Church after attending Mass during the G20 leaders summit

Biden, the nation's second Catholic president, stopped at the church after his first day of meetings at the G20 summit. He and the first lady are scheduled to attend a formal gala for the leaders of the world's biggest economies later Friday evening.

While Biden regularly receives Communion in his home dioceses in Washington and Delaware, it was significant that he also received Communion in Rome. The pope technically is the bishop of Rome, and while he delegates that to his vicar, St. Patrick's parish is technically in the pope's archdiocese. As such, Biden received Communion in the pope's archdiocese.

About 30 people were at the Mass, and security guards ringed the aisles. The Bidens sat in the last row that had been roped off as 'reserved.'

Mass was celebrated by the Rev. Joe Ciccone and two concelebrating priests. Biden waved to two women in the rows in front of him as he arrived with Jill by his side. No special announcement was made at the start of Mass.

The president put U.S. currency in the collection basket.

Before the collection was taken, a layman said from the altar that the parish welcomed all, including visitors, and noted that the parish receives no funding from the archdiocese of Rome or the Vatican.

The president, a devout Catholic, regularly attends Mass in Washington or near his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He carries rosary beads that belonged to his deceased son Beau and he keeps a photo of himself and the Pope behind his desk in the Oval Office in the first row of pictures next to ones with his family.

President Biden and Pope Francis with their translators at their private meeting at the Vatican on Friday

The Bidens attended mass at St. Patrick's, the English-speaking church that is the main place of worship for the American Catholic community in Rome

The Church of Saint Patrick at the Villa Ludovisi was one of the national churches in Rome of Ireland until 2017 when it became the national church of the United States of America. It is also known as St. Patrick's Catholic American Parish in Rome

President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Bide and Pope Francis during their private meeting at the Holy See - the Vatican released pictures of the meeting after it ended

President Biden, first lady Jill Biden, and Pope Francis with the American and papal delegations

During their meeting, Biden gave Pope Francis a handwoven chasuble from 1930 from Holy Trinity Church in DC, where he often goes to Mass. An accompanying note says as gift to pope, the White House also will donate winter clothing to charities as part of World Day for the Poor

President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, keeps a photo of himself and Pope Francis on his desk in the Oval Office, it can be seen above to the left of the president

Biden revealed on Friday that Pope Francis told him he's a 'good Catholic' and that the two men did not discuss the controverial issue of abortion during their 75-minute sit down behind the closed doors of the Vatican.

He also said the pope told him to keep receiving communion.

'We just talked about the fact he was happy that I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving communion,' Biden said after the meeting.

Biden met with the pontiff amid pressure from conservative Catholics in the United States about his abortion stance.

The U.S. Conference of Bishops is weighing whether to admonish Catholic politicians like Biden and Pelosi, who support a woman's right to an abortion - which Catholics consider a sin - yet also take Holy Communion at mass.

Biden said he did not take communion Friday. Asked whether he and Pope Francis discussed the U.S. Conference of Bishops, the president replied that's a 'private conversation.'

He also said that he and the pontiff exchanged prayers for one another. The president said he prayed for 'peace.'

And he revealed Pope Francis blessed his son Beau's rosary beads that he wears around his wrist. Beau Biden died in 2015 from brain cancer.

He said they talked about climate change, including the 'need' and 'moral responsibility' to deal with it during their meeting.

Biden's time with the pope on Friday was longer than either of his two predecessors' with the pontiff.

Biden, the nation's second Catholic president, was scheduled to be with the Pontiff for only an hour but received extra time. In 2017, Francis met then President Donald Trump for 30 minutes and, in 2014, Francis met with then President Barack Obama for 52 minutes. Biden's meeting with Pope John Paul, in 1980, in contrast, was only 45 minutes.

The meeting was 'wonderful,' Biden told reporters afterwards.

During their meeting, Biden presented Francis a woven chasuble, or liturgical vestment, made in 1930 by the famed papal tailor Gamarelli and used by the pope's Jesuit order in the U.S., where it was held in the archives of Holy Trinity Church, Biden's regular parish in Washington. President John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic U.S. president, also worshipped at Holy Trinity.

'I hope you find this gift from the United States appropriate,' Biden said.

Biden also presented the pope with a presidential challenge coin.

'I'm not sure this is appropriate, but there's a tradition in America. That the president has what is called a command coin,' the president explained.

Biden said it was meant for 'warriors and leaders.'

'And you are the most significant warrior for peace I've ever met,' Biden told the pope.

The president said that while the U.S. seal adorned the front of it, the back was unique.

'But I know my son would want me to give this to you because on the back of it I have the state of Delaware and the 261st, the unit my son served with,' he said, referencing the late Beau Biden and his service in Iraq with the Delaware Army National Guard.

'The tradition is, and I'm only kidding about this, the next time I see you you don't have it, you have to buy the drinks,' Biden continued. 'I'm the only Irishman you've ever met who's never had a drink,' the president added.

The pope spoke back to Biden in Italian, though was heard making a joke about whiskey.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis, 84, gave Biden, 78, a ceramic tile depicting the iconography of the pilgrim, as well as a collection of the popes main teaching documents, the Vatican said.

It was the fourth time the two men have met.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Joe Biden ahead of their meeting on Iran

President Joe Biden (far left) poses with G20 leaders in Rome, Italy on Monday in advance of the two-day summit, which marks the first time in two years the leaders will have met in person

Biden's sitdown with Pope Francis came as his administration is fighting Texas' abortion law, the most restrictive law in the nation, which bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected and that is normally after six weeks and before many women even know they are pregnant.

In mid-November the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will convene in Baltimore to debate whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be admonished for receiving Communion.

Meanwhile, Biden's administration touted a win on the first day of G20 on Saturday when his fellow world leaders endorsed his plan for a global minimum tax.

The leaders of the world's top economies backed Biden's plan during their plenary session, after they took a group photo and before Biden sat down with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss Iran.

'The leaders all came out in support of a global minimum tax,' a senior administration official said after the meeting. 'The president emphasized the importance of this historic deal during his intervention. The president also mentioned that while we don't see eye to eye on every issue, we can tackle shared interests.'

The new global minimum tax of 15 percent is aimed at reversing the decades-long decline in tax rates on corporations across the world. The administration, led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, pushed for the tax for months. The plan was already endorsed by the finance ministers of each country but was formally endorsed by leaders on Saturday.
At least 12 civilians were killed Saturday in a suspected terror attack near the airport of Aden, the Yemeni government's interim capital, a senior security official said.

'Twelve civilians were killed in an explosion' in the vicinity of Aden airport and 'there are also serious injuries', said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding that the cause of the blast was unknown.

It was not immediately clear whether the incident was an attack. One security source said the car exploded at an outer entrance to the airport near an airport hotel.

The explosion comes almost three weeks after six people were killed in a car-bomb attack that targeted Aden's governor, who survived.

Footage on Saturday showed people pulling out a body from a vehicle that had been completely destroyed, as firefighters put out flames nearby.

Moammar al-Iryani, information minister of the internationally recognized government, said at least six others were wounded, and posted graphic images showing wounded children.

People look at cars on fire at the site of an explosion outside Aden international airport in Aden, Yemen, October 30, 2021

Security personnel inspect the site of an explosion outside Aden international airport in Aden, Yemen, October 30, 2021

A still grab from a video posted on Twitter purportedly showing the aftermath of the explosion

Yemenis inspect the scene of a car bomb attack outside Aden airport in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, 30 October 2021

The explosion damaged buildings and an internet cafe in the area. Footage circulated online showed ambulances, sirens wailing, rushing to the site.

Aden is the temporary home of Yemen's internationally-recognised government, which has as part of a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia been fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi group for around seven years.

But tensions have also for years simmered within Aden itself between the government and southern separatist groups.

The government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) are nominal allies under the Saudi-led coalition.

The coastal city has been rocked by several explosions in the past years, which have been blamed on local affiliates of al-Qaida and the Islamic State groups.

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have also targeted the city with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones.

Earlier this month a car bomb in Aden targeting a convoy carrying the city's governor - an STC member - killed at least six people and wounded others. The governor survived.

Instability in the south complicates United Nations-led peace efforts to end the war in Yemen which has killed tens of thousands of people and left 80 percent of the population needing help.

Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014 when the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia.

Pictured: Still grabs from a video showing flames in the aftermath of the explosion

Yemeni firefighting service staff and bystanders gather at the site of a blast near the airport of the southern city of Aden, on October 30, 2021

Yemeni emergency service staff and bystanders gather at the site of a blast near the airport of the southern city of Aden, on October 30, 2021

Pictured: Aden International Airport in Yemen (file photo), near to where the explosion occurred today

The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States, to try restore the government to power. Despite a relentless air campaign and ground fighting, the war has fallen largely into a stalemate, and spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

On Thursday, a Houthi ballistic missile struck a residential neighborhood in the central province of Marib, killing at least 11 civilians and wounding 16 others.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for Saturday's blast, which is the deadliest in the area since December last year, when an attack targeting cabinet members ripped through Aden's airport.

At least 26 people, including three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, were killed and scores were wounded when explosions rocked the airport as ministers disembarked from an aircraft.

All cabinet members were reported to be unharmed, in what some ministers charged was a Huthi attack.

The internationally recognised government relocated to Aden from the capital Sanaa in 2014, forced out by the Huthis, who are fighting Saudi-backed Yemeni government loyalists.

In recent weeks, fighting has intensified around the government's sole remaining northern stronghold - the city of Marib in the oil-rich province of the same name.

The coalition has said it has killed a total of around 2,000 rebels around the city in almost daily strikes since October 11.

Yemen is also home to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which launches periodic attacks against both fighters aligned with the country's authorities and the insurgents.

Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced in Yemen's conflict, which the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

The explosion comes after Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries expelled Lebanese envoys in a diplomatic spat that risks adding to Lebanon's economic crisis, following critical comments about the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen by Lebanon's Information Minister George Kordahi.

Lebanese men hold a Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt flags during a protest in support of the kingdom against comments made by a Lebanese minister over the war in Yemen, in front of the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Saturday the latest crisis with Lebanon has its origins in a Lebanese political setup that reinforces the dominance of the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group and continues to allow endemic instability.

'I think the issue is far broader than the current situation,' Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told Reuters in a phone interview. 'I think it's important that the government in Lebanon or the Lebanese establishment forges a path forward that frees Lebanon from the current political construct, which reinforces the dominance of Hezbollah.'

He said this setup 'is weakening state institutions within Lebanon, in a way that makes Lebanon continue to process in a direction against the interests of the people of Lebanon.'

The row has triggered calls by some Lebanese politicians for the resignation of Kordahi, while others opposed such a move, which could undermine the government as a whole.

'We have no opinion about the government in Lebanon. We have no opinion as to whether it stays or goes, this is up to the Lebanese people,' the minister, speaking from Rome where he was attending the G20 summit, said.

Kordahi has been publicly backed by Hezbollah and has declined to apologise or resign over the comments.
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Nicola Sturgeon went barefoot to join in a ceremony with indigenous Americans who have arrived in Glasgow to take part in the Cop26 climate summit.

The First Minister took part in the ceremonial event with the Minga Indigena delegates at the international arts space Tramway in the Scottish city on Saturday.

She was joined by Panchita Calfin, a traditional healer from Patagonia, Chile, as well as Gloria Ushigua, coordinator of the Sapara women's organisation in Ecuador and Nashieeli Valencia, an indigenous rights defender from the Zapoteca peoples, Mexico.

The event started with a brief introduction, followed by a gift exchange and a ceremonial welcome.

The First Minister and indigenous leaders then mixed water from Scotland and Patagonia, Chile, together which Ms Sturgeon was given as a token of their meeting.

Nicola Sturgeon went barefoot to join in a ceremony with indigenous Americans who have arrived in Glasgow to take part in the Cop26 climate summit

The First Minister took part in the ceremonial event with the Minga Indigena delegates at the international arts space Tramway in the Scottish city on Saturday

Ms Sturgeon and indigenous leaders then mixed water from Scotland and Patagonia, Chile, together which Ms Sturgeon was given as a token of their meeting

Ms Sturgeon said: 'While Scotland is not at the negotiating table, my pledge is that the Scottish Government will do everything and anything we can to ensure their message is heard as part of a successful Cop26, alongside the doubling of our world-first climate justice fund for the world's poorest and more vulnerable communities'

Speaking about the event Ms Sturgeon said: 'I'm delighted to welcome the Minga Indigena to my home city for Cop26.

'As representatives of indigenous peoples and the Global South, they have an important message to convey on behalf of those least responsible for the global climate emergency, who are often first and most severely affected by its consequences.

'While Scotland is not at the negotiating table, my pledge is that the Scottish Government will do everything and anything we can to ensure their message is heard as part of a successful Cop26, alongside the doubling of our world-first climate justice fund for the world's poorest and more vulnerable communities.'

The Cop26 demands from Minga Indigena call for the Minga to be recognised as an official representative of Indigenous Peoples by the UNFCCC and that governments across the world promise to leave fossil fuels in the ground.

Speaking about the greet, Calfin Lafkenche said: 'A climate agreement is not possible without the genuine, dedicated, and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in the negotiations.

'Especially without being informed nor having consent regarding the vital aspects that concern our lands, territories, and resources which sustain our traditional ways of life.

The Scottish leader was joined by Panchita Calfin, a traditional healer from Patagonia, Chile, as well as Gloria Ushigua, coordinator of the Sapara women's organisation in Ecuador and Nashieeli Valencia, an indigenous rights defender from the Zapoteca peoples, Mexico

Ms Sturgeon holds hands with Mapuche elder Panchita Calfin (centre) during a special ceremonial gathering to welcome the Mapuche leader and Minga Indigena indigenous delegates in Glasgow

Speaking about the greet, Calfin Lafkenche said: 'A climate agreement is not possible without the genuine, dedicated, and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in the negotiations'

'We are the bridge between the earth, its rights, and modern societies.'

He claimed 70 per cent of the world's land is held by indigenous and other local communities.

Mr Lafkenche added: 'It is everyone's task to reach an understanding and move to a new paradigm where all humanity protect nature.

'We need to face the greatest challenge in history together. We are demanding the right to be heard.

'The Cop process does not allow for our people who have been historically marginalised to be fully heard in all the different negotiations. Justice should be a central focus.'

The Tramway will be hosting the Minga Indigena Summit to represent indigenous communities during Cop26 from November 4 to 12.

Minga Indigena is a collective of indigenous peoples from across the continent of the Americas stretching from Alaska to the southern tip of South America.

The event will be followed by the switching on of the No New Worlds artwork, a light instillation measuring 70 metres erected at Govan Graving Docks by a collective of British artists called Still/Moving.

The work of art highlights the links between climate change and historical and ongoing colonisation.
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Greta Thunberg received a rockstar reception as she arrived in Glasgow by train before being escorted by police guard ahead of the Cop26 summit, as world leaders prepare to discuss the climate crisis in the coming weeks.

The Swedish activist arrived at Glasgow Central station on Saturday evening at around 6.40pm, having taken a train from London, Euston, ahead of the international conference that begins formally on Sunday, with a summit of 120 dignitaries and heads of state starting the following day.

Activists from around the world are expected to cause chaos at the climate summit, with organisers expecting up to 100,000 people at a major demonstration Friday requiring a heavy police presence. Demonstrators are calling on world leaders to take steps to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5C degrees.

After leaving the train, Ms Thunberg was surrounded by police and other activists as she made her way around the station. She later took to Twitter to announce her arrival, writing: 'Finally in Glasgow for the #COP26! And than you for the very warm welcome,' along with a picture of her descending an escalator through the crowds.

She travelled to Scotland after she took part in a demonstration outside a bank in London on Friday.

There, she was also mobbed by other climate change activists at the protest outside the Standard Chartered headquarters, as they lobbied against the global financial system supporting the use of fossil fuels.

As Ms Thunberg was escorted through the station and the excited crowds, video footage picked up members of her group swearing at photographers. One Scottish man was heard asking her 'are you happy to in Glasgow,' to which one of her minders was heard replying: 'Get a life!'

Other climate activists from around Europe also arrived at the station on a specially chartered 'climate train' on Saturday evening. They were greeted with chanting and banners from groups assembled in the station.

More than 100 leaders, including Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden, are set to attend the summit, which is considered pivotal in the fight against climate change.

Gretas arrival in Glasgow ahead of Cop26 comes as

Pilgrimage groups have already marched through Scotlands second largest city ahead of the summit

The Daily Mail reported yesterday that eco-warriors are plotting to exploit gaps in Scottish law to wreak havoc in the city as Cop26 commences to put pressure on world leaders

There is a growing alarm among officials at the potential chaos from activists as police brace for the 'most complex and complicated policing operation ever seen in Britain'

The 100million policing operation at Cop26 represents the biggest police deployment on record in the UK

Downing Street said Cop26 will be one of the biggest events the UK has ever hosted

Speaking on Saturday, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Cop26 could be the 'world's moment of truth', as he urged leaders to use the Glasgow summit to bring about an end to climate change

Mr Johnson, who is due to fly from the G20 in Rome to Glasgow on Sunday evening, said: 'Cop26 will be the world's moment of truth

A few dozen protesters demanding that government leaders take incisive action on climate change had to be carried away by police from the main boulevard near the G-20 summit site in Rome

Inside, Boris Johnson looked as if he had to be held back by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau when he saw French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20 summit

The photograph appeared to suggest the two world leaders were about to come to blows over the rising tensions caused by the fisheries row, escalated when France detained a fishing trawler earlier this week

Greta Thunberg has arrived in Glasgow ahead of the Cop26 summit, as world leaders prepare to discuss the climate crisis

On Saturday evening, Ms Thunberg tweeted: 'Finally in Glasgow for the #COP26! And than you for the very warm welcome', along with a picture of her surrounded by fellow activists and police officer

The Swedish activist arrived at Glasgow Central station on Saturday evening, having taken a train from London Euston

Other climate activists from around Europe also arrived at the station on a specially chartered 'climate train' on Saturday evening

Nicola Sturgeon takes part in ceremony with indigenous Americans ahead of COP26 Nicola Sturgeon went barefoot to join in a ceremony with indigenous Americans who have arrived in Glasgow to take part in the Cop26 climate summit. The First Minister took part in the ceremonial event with the Minga Indigena delegates at the international arts space Tramway in the Scottish city on Saturday. She was joined by Panchita Calfin, a traditional healer from Patagonia, Chile, as well as Gloria Ushigua, coordinator of the Sapara women's organisation in Ecuador and Nashieeli Valencia, an indigenous rights defender from the Zapoteca peoples, Mexico. The event started with a brief introduction, followed by a gift exchange and a ceremonial welcome. The First Minister and indigenous leaders then mixed water from Scotland and Patagonia, Chile, together which Ms Sturgeon was given as a token of their meeting. Speaking about the event Ms Sturgeon said: 'I'm delighted to welcome the Minga Indigena to my home city for Cop26. 'As representatives of indigenous peoples and the Global South, they have an important message to convey on behalf of those least responsible for the global climate emergency, who are often first and most severely affected by its consequences. Advertisement

Ms Thunberg is expected to take part in other demonstrations during the two-week summit in Glasgow.

There will be a march through the city on November 5, organised by Fridays for Future Scotland - the Scottish branch of the movement inspired by her activism. The march is planned to go through the city's George Square.

The activist also extended an invitation to ScotRail and Glasgow's refuse workers that had originally planned to go on strike during the Cop26 summit.

She is also expected to speak at a rally taking place on Saturday hosted by the Cop26 Coalition.

However, Ms Thunberg has said her formal participation in the summit itself is uncertain.

In a preview for his BBC One show on Sunday, Andrew Marr asked Ms Thunberg if she had been invited to Cop26, and she responded: 'I don't know. It's very unclear. Not officially. 'I think that many people might be scared that if they invite too many radical young people, then that might make them look bad.'

Ms Thunberg, who has become one of the most recognisable faces of the climate movement, is one of the 100,000 people expected to descend of Glasgow for Cop26.

Pilgrimage groups have already marched through Glasgow as protests ramp up ahead of Cop26, while the Daily Mail reported yesterday that eco warriors are plotting to exploit gaps in Scottish law to wreak havoc.

Around 400 climate activists sized up potential loopholes during a meeting promoted by Extinction Rebellion (XR) earlier this week. Conspirators noted a recent High Court Injunction banning road blockades does not apply in Scotland  and that officers will be 'overwhelmed' by the scale of the protests.

It was also hinted protesters with charges against their name in England may get a blank canvas across the border as forces 'don't always communicate to each other'.

It comes amid growing alarm within rank-and-file officers about the potential for chaos as police brace for the 'most complex and complicated policing operation ever seen in Britain'.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is mobbed by a crowd as she walks after arriving at Glasgow Central Station ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain October 30, 2021

Climate activist Greta Thunberg walks after arriving at Glasgow Central Station ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain October 30, 2021

Greta Thunberg at Euston Station in London ahead of boarding a train to Glasgow where the Cop26 summit is taking place from Monday. Picture date: Saturday October 30, 2021

Archbishop of Canterbury warns Cop26 outcome is 'life or death' for millions of people The Archbishop of Canterbury has said the outcome of the Cop26 climate summit will be 'life or death for millions of people'. Justin Welby said the talks, due to begin in Glasgow on Sunday, are 'emergency surgery' for the world and leaders must deliver for 'the whole human family'. Dr Welby, who worked in the oil industry before being ordained, is due to visit the summit on Monday and will meet with groups including young members of the Anglican community and indigenous people. He warned radical action is needed but said there is still time to 'save our world from the worst of the catastrophe'. He said: 'The Cop26 climate talks are emergency surgery for our world and its people. 'The outcome will be life or death for millions of people. That's how seriously we must take this moment. 'The eyes of the world are on Glasgow: leaders must deliver for the whole human family. We can, and must, choose life, so that our children may live. 'If these talks do not deliver, we face a dark, disturbing future - but there is still time, just, to save our world from the worst of the catastrophe. 'This is a chance to start living in a way that is healthier, kinder, and better for everyone.' The Church of England has divested from coal companies and says it will pull investment by 2023 from oil and gas firms that are not on a pathway to zero emissions. It has also led the way on an initiative now supported by investors with funds worth 40 trillion US dollars to assess companies' climate performance. Dr Welby said he hopes the plight of communities most affected by climate change will be highlighted at Cop26. 'It is their voices that I hope are heard, along with those of everyone on the burning front lines of climate injustice: the poorest, most vulnerable, and marginalised people already living with droughts, floods and vanishing natural resources,' he said. Advertisement

Thousands of activists have gathered in Scotland's largest city this weekend to make their climate change concerns known to the world leaders who will be around the negotiating table.

Attendees had come from far and wide including several other European countries, with some having walked long distances, to voice their frustrations at UN conference.

Some protesters started making their voices heard around noon on Saturday, including members of Ocean Rebellion who led a 'dead merpeoples' demonstration, with activists lying still entangled in netting and litter near the Clyde in Glasgow to raise awareness of marine life loss.

Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) Faith, artists and other pilgrimage groups who have walked thousands of miles to Glasgow joined each other in a procession through the city centre on Saturday.

The event was said to be an 'opening ceremony' to a series of non-violent direct actions being planned in Glasgow, around the UK and the world during the United Nations climate change convention.

The procession started at 2pm at the McLennan Arch on Glasgow Green, where XR Scotland's 'Blue Rebels' formed a guard of honour for the pilgrims.

Those arriving in the city included Marcha Glasgow, a group of Spanish activists who took a ferry from Bilbao to Portsmouth to embark on a 30-day hike to Glasgow.

Camino to Cop26 members have walked from London and Bristol to Glasgow in just under two months.

Young Christian Climate Network activists arrived in the city on Saturday after walking 1,200 miles from Cornwall.

Ecumenical Pilgrimage for Climate Justice arrived in Glasgow from Poland, Sweden and Germany - and Pilgrimage for Cop26 has walked from Dunbar to Glasgow.

Glasgow-based artists Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich paraded with the Serpent of Capitalism, a 30-metre sculptural artwork alongside the pilgrimage groups.

Alex Cochrane, of XR Glasgow, said: 'Cop26 must end a growing crime against humanity by wealthy governments where the global south are sacrificed to bear the brunt of the global north's affluent, carbon-intensive lifestyles.

'We welcome the pilgrims of faith - and no faith - who are walking to Cop26 to demand governments also walk the walk for the global south.'

Yaz Ashmawi, of XR Pilgrim, said: 'Countries around the world are already suffering the consequences of our historic emissions in the west, and small island states like the Maldives will be submerged by rising seas if no immediate action is taken on the climate.

'As people of faith we have a spiritual duty of care to those who are less fortunate than us, so we have been using this walk to raise money for activists in financially disadvantaged countries that are already impacted, to empower them to join this conversation themselves.'

Ocean Rebellion activists stage a protest against bottom trawling fishing near the Scottish Event Centre (SEC) in Glasgow

Extinction Rebellion demonstrators take part in climate change protest in Glasgow, Scotland ahead of the start of COP26, Saturday

Environmental activists stage a protest ahead of the Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, 30 October 2021

Activists march during a 'Pilgrims Procession', an opening ceremony to a series of non-violent direct actions being organised by the Extinction Rebellion

Activists march during a 'Pilgrims Procession', an opening ceremony to a series of non-violent direct actions being organised by the Extinction Rebellion

Painted artwork is placed alongside the River Clyde ahead of the COP26 climate summit on October 30, 2021 in Glasgow

Police outriders practice their vehicle escort drills ahead of the COP26 climate summit on October 30, 2021 in Glasgow

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon took part in the ceremonial event with the Minga Indigena delegates at the international arts space Tramway in the Scottish city on Saturday. Ms Sturgeon and indigenous leaders then mixed water from Scotland and Patagonia, Chile, together which Ms Sturgeon was given as a token of their meeting

The 100million ring of steel at Cop26 in Glasgow is the police's BIGGEST ever deployment The 100million policing operation at Cop26 represents the biggest deployment of officers on record in the UK  larger than the London Olympics and the recent G7 summit in Cornwall. An average of 10,000 officers from Police Scotland and forces around Britain will be on duty every day for three weeks, with the UK Government picking up the bill. A ring of steel is being erected around the conference site on the north bank of the River Clyde as security forces brace for threats to the heads of state in attendance and potential disruption from climate change protesters. And police will even deploy specially trained officers equipped with high-tech devices that can bring down rogue drones using electromagnetic pulses. Police expect to make 300 arrests a day but sources warned if the number gets much higher, custody suites will be overwhelmed. Meanwhile, a report revealed last week almost half of Scotland's police officers have experienced high levels of fatigue in the previous fortnight, which does not bode well for a three-week conference during which many will have to work 12-hour shifts. Scotland's lawyers have also vowed to boycott weekend custody courts amid an ongoing row over legal aid cuts. This means the justice system could be plunged into chaos by the sheer number of people arrested at the event. American President Joe Biden is among more than 100 world leaders expected to attend the event. The summit will also feature a climate rally in Glasgow that could be attended by more than 150,000 people. Tens of thousands of delegates from 193 member states and four observer states will attend the summit, with the SEC conference venue designated a 'blue zone'  meaning it will be policed by the UN, with Scottish police only allowed to enter if there is a threat to life. Advertisement

The marches come the day before world leaders are to meet in Glasgow for the crucial climate conference where countries are under pressure to discuss and increase their ambition to tackle the climate crisis.

On Friday, Ocean Rebellion activists poured 'oil' in front of Glasgow's Cop26 venue in protest ahead of the event.

Another four XR protesters locked themselves to the Memorial Gates at the University of Glasgow using bike locks to demand that the establishment adopt the Green New Deal - a climate strategy developed by students and staff at the university.

Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, Scotland's most senior police officer, said his force will respond 'swiftly and robustly' to protesters who try to disrupt the summit.

He said the force - together with 7,000 officers from other parts of the UK who have been deployed to Scotland to help police Cop26 - was 'ready for the challenges that lie ahead'.

Speaking on Saturday, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Cop26 could be the 'world's moment of truth', as he urged leaders to use the Glasgow summit to bring about an end to climate change.

With the United Nations summit due to get under way on Sunday, the Prime Minister pressed fellow world leaders to seize the moment and deliver on the target of preventing global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5C degrees above pre-industrial levels.

Downing Street said Cop26 will be one of the biggest events the UK has ever hosted, with 25,000 delegates expected from 196 countries and the European Union.

Ministers, climate negotiators, civil society and business leaders are set to take part in talks and debates over the course of the two-week conference.

Mr Johnson, who is due to fly from the G20 in Rome to Glasgow on Sunday evening, said: 'Cop26 will be the world's moment of truth.

'The question everyone is asking is whether we seize this moment or let it slip away. I hope world leaders will hear them and come to Glasgow ready to answer them with decisive action.

'Together, we can mark the beginning of the end of climate change - and end the uncertainty once and for all.'

The Conservative Party leader has not struck an optimistic tone in the lead-up to the conference, repeating in interviews while in the Italian capital that he still rated the chances of success in Scotland as no more than six out of 10.

On Saturday, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (pictured with France's Emannuel Macron) said that Cop26 could be the 'world's moment of truth', as he urged leaders to use the Glasgow summit to bring about an end to climate change

A demonstrator wears a death mask during environmental protests at G20

Police in riot gear clear the road by moving the Climate Camp activists

US officials taste haggis ahead of Cop26 A group of US officials have enjoyed a tasting menu of Scottish cuisine, including Irn Bru and haggis, ahead of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow. The charge d'affaires at the US embassy in London, Philip Reeker, shared a video on Twitter of himself and fellow representatives whetting their appetites with an array of delicacies, including square sausage and Cranachan. 'That's not a bad soda,' said Mr Reeker as he sipped a glass of Glasgow-brewed Irn Bru. Other delights enjoyed by the American team include cullen skink - a soup made from smoked haddock, potatoes and onions - which the testers said 'looks like an omelette' but tasted 'fabulous'. Haggis was similarly well received, but when told it contains sheep's heart, lungs and liver, Mr Reeker responded: 'You probably shouldn't sell it with that.' Confronted with a deep-fried Mars bar, the officials seemed bemused by an apparent similarity between American and Scottish tastes, with one proclaiming: 'Wait a minute... this is Scottish?' One official felt there was room for improvement for square sausage, suggesting it could be accompanied by cheese or avocado. The culinary adventure comes ahead of two weeks in Glasgow for the US officials and did not go unnoticed by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. 'Enjoying the best of (Scotland Food and Drink) - thank you (Mr Reeker),' Ms Sturgeon tweeted. 'Wishing you a warm welcome to COP26 in Glasgow.' Advertisement

The Cop26 summit is aiming to urge countries to advance their net-zero commitments to the middle of the century and reduce emissions rapidly over the next decade through commitments on phasing out coal, switching to electric cars and planting trees.

Developed nations are also being urged to stump up the finance - 100 billion US dollars (73 billion) per annum - needed by poorer nations to deal with climate change.

Number 10 said there is also a need to finalise the Paris Agreement at the event.

The summit timetable will see the Prime Minister host an opening ceremony attended by dignitaries including the Prince of Wales, before giving a speech on Monday.

Charles and Sir David Attenborough, the Cop26 People's Advocate, will be among those to also address world leaders as British environmental advocates.

The theme of the opening ceremony, due to take place at midday, is 'Earth to Cop', which Downing Street said would deliver a message from the people for leaders to heed warnings and advance progress to tackle climate change.

On Monday evening, the Prime Minister will host a reception to welcome world leaders to Glasgow, alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall.

The Queen will address the delegates in a pre-recorded video after she was told by doctors to avoid the summit and rest following a hospital visit last week.

At the reception, guests will be offered refreshments of traditional Scottish canapes, Ridgeview vintage English sparkling wine and Cop26 blended whisky supplied by the Scotch Whisky Association.

Guests will enjoy music from a string quartet and brass quintet from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Meanwhile, a few dozen protesters demanding that government leaders take incisive action on climate change have been carried away by police from the main boulevard near the G-20 summit site in Rome.

Hours before the leaders of the United States, Britain, France and other economic powerhouse nations arrived on Saturday for the start of the two-day gathering, the activists blocked the road, holding banners, including one that read, 'From Rome to Glasgow, your solutions are the problem.'

Some wore death masks and others played soccer with a ball symbolizing the planet's health on the first day of the summit where climate concerns are a top issue for many of the world leaders in attendance.

Let me at him, Trudeau! Boris looks as if he's being held back by Canadian PM when he sees Macron at G20 - after vowing legal action over fisheries row as French fishermen call Brits 'pirates'

Inside, as world leaders posed for photographs at the G20 summit, Boris Johnson looked as if he had to be held back by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau when he saw French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20 summit.

As the Channel fisheries row continues to intensify the PM and French President came face-to-face in Rome for a group photo of world leaders.

One hilarious image seemed to capture the moment Mr Trudeau held onto Mr Johnson's arm as they made their way onto the platform.

The photograph appeared to suggest the two world leaders were about to come to blows over the rising tensions caused by the fisheries row.

Mr Macron grinned as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen directed Mr Johnson to his spot.

In a round of broadcast interviews this morning, Mr Johnson warned the UK could trigger legal repercussions in the post-Brexit trade agreement as soon as next week.

But the chief of Calais port insisted this morning that Britain faces 'disaster' if Mr Macron follows through on a threat to block British trawlers from French ports.

French President Emmanuel Macron laughs as Boris Johnson is helped up the stage as he arrives for the group photo of world leaders at the La Nuvola conference center in Rome

Fishermen stand aboard the British trawler Cornelis-Gert Jan docked in the northern French port of Le Havre as it waits to be given permission to leave today

In the latest stoking of the row, French counterparts have claimed the British trawler-men arrested for allegedly fishing in French waters without a licence are 'pirates' who 'deserve everything they get' for endangering the fish-stock.

Emmanuel Montard criticised the UK scallop boats for jeopardising the livelihoods of future generations by over-fishing in the waters on the Normandy coast.

The 54-year-old trawler-man is one of dozens of residents of picturesque Port en Bessin, where family have been fishing for scallops for generations.

Standing on the dock of the Normandy port he told of his anger, saying: 'These British fishermen who come into our waters and work without a licence are pirates and deserve everything they get from French justice.'

Meanwhile, French PM Jean Castex has written to Ms von der Leyen seeking backing for a new hardline stance against the UK.

Paris has so far threatened to increase checks on British boats, to initiate a 'go-slow' strategy with Calais customs arrangements, stop UK fishing vessels from landing in French ports and to increase tariffs on energy bills in Jersey.

They are demanding that Britain grants more licences to French fishermen to access British waters.

Mr Johnson and Mr Macron are holding talks about the Iran nuclear programme along with Joe Biden and Angela Merkel in Rome this afternoon - and will meet one-on-one at the summit tomorrow.

Asked if there was a sense of 'de ja vu' after he and Mr Macron clashed over Brexit at the G7 summit earlier this year, Mr Johnson insisted he wasn't worried about the ongoing feud and said he's got 'bigger fish to fry'.
A Southwest Airlines pilot reportedly told passengers 'Let's Go Brandon' as he signed off on a flight from Houston, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The pilot, whose name has not been released, was seen on TikTok video apparently telling the passengers about the weather outside as they landed.

'We're heading east at about 107 or 108mph,' the pilot, whose face is pixelated in the video, says. 'Clear visibility, mostly clear skies, about 77 degrees.'

'Thanks for coming out, flying Southwest Airlines, welcome home and let's go Brandon.'

Pilots were also reportedly heard repeating the message on their radios throughout the day, even as someone warned 'Southwest has a hot mic,' according to audio posted online.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, a spokesperson for the airlines said: 'The Southwest Team takes pride in providing a welcoming, comfortable, and respectful environment for the millions of customers who fly with the airline each year and behavior from any individual that is divisive or offensive is not condoned.'

They would not speak about the specific incident.

The term 'Let's Go Brandon' has exploded in conservative circles in recent weeks, after a reporter at a NASCAR race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama seemed to mistake chants of 'F*** Joe Biden,' for 'Let's Go Brandon,' after Brandon Brown, a 28-year-old driver won his first Xfinity Series.

The moment was immortalized in a song that hit the top of the charts, and the phrase has since been used by protesters and even public officials.

Republican Rep. Bill Posey, of Florida, ended an October 21 House floor speech with the phrase, South Carolina Republican Jeff Duncan wore a Let's Go Brandon facemask last week, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posed with a Let's Go Brandon sign at the World Series, and Sen. Mitch McConnell's press secretary retweeted a photo of the saying at a Virginia construction site.

A Southwest pilot reportedly said 'Let's Go Brandon' as he signed off a flight from Houston, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico

The term is a euphemism for 'F*** Joe Biden' that has gained popularity in recent weeks

The pilots' alleged use of the term comes amid growing tensions over President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate, which requires that all federal contractors - including airline employees - be vaccinated by December 8.

Video captured by right-wing investigative reporter Drew Hernandez earlier this month showed a long line of demonstrators outside Southwest's headquarters in Texas protesting the vaccine mandate, with some again chanting 'Let's Go Brandon.'

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association also filed a lawsuit earlier this month asking a federal judge to 'temporarily block the company from carrying out federally-mandated coronavirus vaccinations until an existing lawsuit over alleged US labor law violations is resolved.

It said the mandate 'unlawfully imposes new conditions of employment.'

The SWAPA ultimately lost the bid last week, after a federal judge ruled that the airline was simply following the law, even after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott banned companies from issuing vaccine mandates.

He had signed an executive order stating that the vaccine 'should remain voluntary and never enforced,' according to Breitbart, but Southwest maintained that the president's order 'supersedes any local rule.

'We will continue to follow all orders and keep our employees updated on any potential changes to existing policies,' it said.

The company also said it would not put staff members on unpaid leave if they are applying for or have received medical or religious exemptions to the vaccine.

Southwest Airlines employees gathered outside the company's headquarters earlier this month to protest the vaccine mandate

Some reportedly started chanting 'Let's Go Brandon'

Southwest pilots also lost a bid for an injunction of the mandate

DALLAS TX: Southwest employees chant LETS GO BRANDON in front of the South West headquarters to protest the airline vaccine mandate



Get More News: https://t.co/u7URmoOvPT pic.twitter.com/JwSKXrzqaa  Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) October 18, 2021 Twitter Privacy Policy

DALLAS TX: Southwest employees continue to gather in front of the South West headquarters to protest the airline vaccine mandate



Get More News: https://t.co/u7URmoOvPT pic.twitter.com/lXnV1O6vw8  Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) October 18, 2021 Twitter Privacy Policy

The airline has also faced backlash earlier this month, after it canceled more than 2,000 flights over Columbus Day weekend.

Some had suggested that the delays were due to an unauthorized employee walkout to protest the mandate, but Jacksonville Aviation Authority COO Tony Cugno said that the delays were in fact due to staffing issues at the Jacksonville International Airport.

He claimed that many controllers had been getting their first or second COVID-19 vaccinations, which required them to take two days off to recover - leaving JAX air control short staffed.

In a letter, obtained by ActionNewsJax, he said: 'A rumor is circulating in traditional and social, media outlets stating JAX Center was closed due to an organized walkout late Friday by controllers in response to the FAA's mandate that all employees get vaccinated for COVID.

'A contact at FFAA confirmed they did have some staffing issues at JAX center last Friday, however, those staffing issued were due to the following: Normal approved leave (and) controllers who received either their first or second dose of the vaccine and by policy are required to stay home for 48 hours to self monitor for side effects ... thus creating some staffing issues.'

The widespread flight cancellations over Columbus Day weekend left thousands of passengers stranded at the airports, including these people at Orlando airport

They also caused long lines at the airports as customers tried to figure out how to get home, with this line forming in Orlando

Southwest officials blamed the widespread delays on inclement weather, coupled with staff shortages and cuts to its operation

Southwest, though, vehemently denied that the delays were caused by a 'sick-out' and instead insisted that the problems were caused by a staffing shortfall and cuts to its operations.

In August, the airline announced that it would be cutting the number of flights in the fall after operational failures hampered its service in the summer.

It said that it would trim its daily schedule from September 7 to October 6 by 27 flights per day. Between October 7 and November 5, Southwest plans to cut 162 daily flights from its schedule. More flight cuts are planned for November and December, though the company pledged to protect holiday bookings.

Southwest Airlines President Mike Van de Ven issued a statement following the fiasco vehemently denying that the cancelations were the result of employees protesting its vaccine mandate

'Despite widespread rumors and speculation, the weekend challenges were not a result of unusual Southwest employee activity, and there simply is nothing in our data that indicates that particular reason, President Mike Van de Ven said following the fiasco, which left thousands of passengers stranded at the airports and caused long lines as customers tried to figure out how to get home.

Our employees worked heroically in the midst of these adverse conditions and many came in on off days, or flew additional trips, to help the airline recover.

He also told employees in that the airline was working to develop a plan to address several shortcomings, including tight staffing on weekends as well as chronic delays and cancellations, according to The Wall Street Journal.

'We are still not where we want to be with staffing, and in particular with our flight crews,' he said in a video message to his company.

'We simply need more staffing cushion for the unexpected in this environment and we are bringing new people onboard every day.'

As a federal contractor, Southwest Airlines is subject to the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate

But the company only has until December 8 to ensure that all of its employees are vaccinated under President Joe Biden's mandate for federal contractors, which is tougher than that expected for large companies, which would allow for regular COVID testing as an alternative to a vaccination.

Southwest's senior VP of operations and hospitality, Steve Goldberg, and Julie Weber, VP and 'chief people officer', wrote in a letter to staffers that if employees' requests for an exemption haven't been approved by December 8, they could continue to work while following mask and distancing guidelines until the request has been reviewed.

Employees currently have until November 24 to either get their vaccinations or apply for exemption, with the pilots' union that represents the vast majority of the airline's staff filing a lawsuit over the mandate.

Southwest will keep paying employees while they review the request and will allow those who are rejected to keep working 'as we coordinate with them on meeting the requirements (vaccine or valid accommodation).'

In addition, Southwest will give employees a chance to reapply for rejected exemptions if they have 'new information or circumstances.'

'This is a change from what was previously communicated,' the letter said. 'Initially, we communicated that these Employees would be put on unpaid leave and that is no longer the case.'

All new employees must still be fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, across the United States, 66.5 percent of all Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine as of Friday, and 57.8 percent were fully vaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control, however, maintains that community transmission remains high, with 73,705 new cases reported on Thursday and 1,091 deaths.
The business partner of billionaire Warren Buffet created a stir with the design of a dormitory on a California campus that he's bankrolling.

The problem many have is that 94 percent of the rooms Charlie Munger's proposed $1.5billion new living quarters at the University of California at Santa Barbara are on the interior of the building and have no windows.

One consulting architect dislikes the project - known as Munger Hall - so much that he quit it completely and wrote a letter explaining his decision.

'The basic concept of Munger Hall as a place for students to live is unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent and a human being,' California architect Dennis McFadden wrote in the letter.

McFadden argued that the design doesn't fit in with the campus or the environment that surrounds it

Charlie Munger (pictured right) is the vice chairman of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway

Munger donated $200million to the University of California at Santa Barbara to build Munger Hall based solely on his designs

Munger wants the 1,100 residents to spent time in common areas rather than their own rooms

A floor plan shows off one of the buildings' 'suites' which will house eight people each

'Even the rooftop courtyard... looks inward and may as well be on the ground in the desert as on the eleventh floor on the coast of California,' McFadden wrote.

McFadden went as far to compare the population density to that of Bangladesh and criticized that there were only two points of entry and exit.

'The project is essentially the student life portion of a mid-sized university campus in a box,' McFadden wrote. 'Munger Hall is an experiment in size and density with no precedent in student housing at that scale.'

Munger, 97, is the vice chairman of Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway company. He donated $200million to the school to fund the dorms with the promise that his designs be followed. His grandson is a UCSB alum.

He funded a similar building at the University of Michigan through a $110million donation.

His logic, he claimed, is that he wants residents to spend more time meeting each other outside their rooms in common areas.

'Architecture is a field where tastes vary, and everyone thinks he's an expert. And no two architects ever agree on anything,' Munger said.

McFadden doesn't like the idea of a single person's design going into the making of the dorm with what sounds like a gimmick.

'As the 'vision' of the single donor, the building is a social and psychological experiment with an unknown impact on the lives and personal development of the undergraduates the University serves,' he wrote.

Munger Hall, if finished, is set to be an 11-story building with over 4,500 beds. Each floor would have eight 'houses' that hold 63 students, with eight 'suites' in each house and eight beds per suite.

The suites also each have two bathrooms and a common area.

UCSB confirmed the project will go on as planned despite McFadden's resignation. They added that all campus housing is 'developed through an extensive campus participatory process with the assistance of Urban Design Associates.'

Each floor at Munger Hall would have eight 'houses' that hold 63 students, with eight 'suites' in each house and eight beds per suite

Architect Dennis McFadden has quit the project, calling the design 'unsupportable'

Munger donated $110million to have this building erected on the campus of the University of Michigan

UCSB claims it's facing a housing crisis with a waitlist of over 1,000 students searching for somewhere to live

Munger has no doubt he's at the start of a new trend in student housing.

'When this thing goes up and becomes an extreme success, which is absolutely inevitable, I think there will end up to be more buildings like it on the UCSB campus,' Munger said.

However, the rooms do have artificial windows, which Munger said resemble the Disney cruise ship's artificial portholes where 'starfish come in and wink at your children,' the Santa Barbara Independent reported.

UCSB said in a statement that the building will go forward as planned. The university also said all of the current housing projects are guided by a campus plan, which was 'developed through an extensive campus participatory process with the assistance of Urban Design Associates.'

The school says it's facing a housing crisis with a waitlist of over 1,000 students searching for somewhere to live.

'One of the reasons, and there are many, for the project is to address the University's substantive housing needs,' Banvard said. 'Good and affordable housing for students in a very competitive housing market.'

Munger promises that he only means well for the students of the school.

'I'm a product of education, public education,' Munger said. 'And I know how important schools are and the architecture of schools is, so naturally I drifted toward giving dormitories.'
President Joe Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 on Sunday, a senior White House official announced Saturday night.

The meeting comes after Erdogan backed down on a threat to expel 10 foreign ambassadors, including from the U.S., after he called them 'persona non grata' for a statement they released in support of jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala.

'I'm not actually even sure we would have had the meeting if he had gone ahead and expelled,' the senior official told reporters in Rome Saturday night. 'Certainly the president will indicate that we need to find a way to avoid crises like that one going forward.'

President Joe Biden (left) shakes the hand of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) as the G20 leaders meet for the first time in-person in two years. Standing in the middle is Democratic Republic of Congo's President and African Union Chair Felix Tshisekedi

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (center) and President Joe Biden (right) are pictured as they arrive Saturday at the G20 in Rome

'Precipitous action is not going to benefit the U.S.-Turkey partnership and alliance,' the official added.

Kavala has been in prison since 2017 and was accused of conspiring with an American professor and the CIA to spy on the Turkish government, organize protests in 2013 and help plan a coup attempt in 2016 that left 250 people dead.

Kavala has denied the charges.

Upon arrival at La Nuvola, 'the cloud,' in Rome on Saturday, where G20 leaders participated in their first in-person meeting in two years, Biden warmly greeted Erdogan, before the principles posed for their so-called 'family picture.'

Biden was originally expected to meet with Erdogan at COP26, the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, where he will travel next.

At the Sunday morning meeting, Biden will also discuss Turkey's request to purchase F-16 fighter jets, its defense relationship with the United States as well as a range of regional issues such as Syria and Libya.

Lawmakers have urged the Biden administration not to sell F-16s to Turkey and threatened to block any such exports, on the grounds that Turkey had purchased Russian missile defense systems and 'behaved like an adversary.'

Reuters reported earlier this month that Turkey had made a request to the U.S. to buy 40 Lockheed Martin-made F-16s and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.
The U.S. and European Union have reached an agreement to settle their diplomatic rift over Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs, the White House announced Saturday, as President Joe Biden is in Rome attending the Group of 20 summit.

The Trump administration had placed taxes on EU steel and aluminum in 2018 on the claim that the foreign products produced by American allies were a threat to U.S. national security.

Europeans and other allies were outraged by Trump's use of Article 232 to justify the tariffs, leading many to impose countertariffs on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced the agreement Saturday. They said that the Article 232 tariffs wont be removed entirely but that some quantity of European steel and aluminum will be allowed to enter the U.S. without tariffs under the deal.

'We were able to reach an agreement whereby the EU will drop their retaliatory tariffs (on American goods),' Raimondo said.

The agreement would ensure 'that all steel entering the U.S. via Europe is produced entirely in Europe,' Raimondo added.

The easing of the tariffs is a key step in unwinding one of Trump's legacies as Biden has tried to reset the U.S. relationship with Europe.

The deal eliminates Europe's retaliatory tariffs against U.S. products including whiskey and Harley-Davidson motorcycles that were set to double on Dec. 1, the U.S. officials said.

The U.S. and European Union have reached an agreement to settle their diplomatic rift over Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs as President Joe Biden is in Rome for the G20

President Donald Trump's administration had placed taxes on EU steel and aluminum in 2018

EU responded with countertariffs on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items

This back-and-forth hurt European producers and raised steel costs for American companies. The tariffs also did not achieve Trumps stated goals of creating jobs at steel mills. The Bureau of Labor Statistics show that jobs in the manufacturing of primary metals did rise slightly, to as much as 389,100 in 2019. But mills shed workers during the pandemic, and employment in the sector is roughly half of what it was in 1990.

'The agreement ultimately to negotiate a carbon-based arrangement on steel and aluminum trade addresses both Chinese overproduction and carbon intensity in the steel and aluminum sector,' Sullivan told reporters. 'It shows that we can solve the climate crisis while at the same time better protecting our workers - that we don't have to pick between climate or the economy.'

Biden has sought to mend fences with European allies following Trump's presidency to more broadly confront China's state-driven economic practices that led to Beijing building massive excess steelmaking capacity that has flooded global markets.

The European Union took steps in May to improve relations. On some retaliatory tariffs, the EU temporarily suspended planned increases. This meant that American whiskey faced a 25% tax in Europe, instead of a planned 50% tax. The two sides faced a December deadline to avoid the higher tax rate.

The announcement was welcomed by Chris Swonger, president and CEO of Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, after what he called 'three very difficult years of sagging American whiskey exports.'

'Lifting this tariff burden on American whiskeys not only boosts U.S. distillers and farmers, it also supports the recovery of EU restaurants, bars and distilleries hit hard by the pandemic,' Swonger said.
A tearful bride pleaded with gatecrashing protesters to leave her wedding which her her friend, controversial Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema, was officiating.

Protesters stood outside the small venue in Bribee, Arizona last Saturday - where guests were dressed in Native American costumes - with signs reading 'Sinema betrays Democrats' and 'People over profit senator sellout' for her resistance to passing President Biden's massive infrastructure bill.

This is the fourth time Sinema has been targeted by protesters. Early in October, a group of left-wing activists followed her into a bathroom stall as Arizona State University, where she teaches, and recorded the lawmaker while she was in a private stall and demanded that she support Biden's Build Back Better Agenda that would provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Days later, Sinema was confronted on a flight to Washington D.C. from Arizona, and after she landed, a group surrounded her and filmed her as they demanded to know what she would cut from the $1.75 trillion bill.

In the latest incident, as the protesters crowded the entrance to the venue, which had a sign that indicated it was a private event held for a 'Penelope and Grant', the bride herself berated the protesters.

'Thanks for ruining my wedding. I really appreciate it,' she is recorded saying sarcastically. 'It's just my wedding. I really wish I could enjoy my wedding without you ruining it,' to which a snarky protestor responds 'You know what she's (Sinema) ruining? Our lives!'

A tearful bride pleaded with gatecrashing protesters to leave her wedding which her her friend, controversial Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema, was officiating

The bride (pictured) confronted the protesters and said 'I really wish I could enjoy my wedding without you ruining it'

This is the fourth time Kyrsten Sinema (in orange) has been targeted by protesters. Early in October, a group of left-wing activists followed her into a bathroom stall as Arizona State University, where she teaches, and recorded the lawmaker while she was in a private stall and demanded that she support Biden's Build Back Better Agenda that would provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrant

Footage captured the Kyrsten Sinema in a multicolored dress and sunglasses dancing next to an inflatable unicorn without a care in the world

Sinema, who is friends with both the bride and groom, officiated the wedding.

The protesters spared no one, even the mother of the bride who pleaded with them to honor the special occasion.

'It's my daughter's wedding. Just for an hour  just let her get married, please. This person (Sinema) is not my daughter,' she says as she begins to cry.

The protesters eventually agreed to stand outside quietly, but one man later shouted at the senator during the ceremony.

Footage captured the senator in a multicolored dress and sunglasses dancing next to an inflatable unicorn ignoring the protesters.

The bride, pictured, told protesters: 'It's just my wedding. I really wish I could enjoy my wedding without you ruining it,' to which a snarky protestor responds 'You know what she's (Sinema) ruining? Our lives!'

The bride was spotted outside the venue carrying a water bottle when she confronted protesters

'It's my daughter's wedding. Just for an hour  just let her get married, please. This person (Sinema) is not my daughter,' the mother-of-the-bride begged protesters

The protesters spared no one, even the mother of the bride (pictured) who pleaded with the protesters to honor the special occasion

Guests were captured entering the wedding dressed in elaborate racist Native American costumes, equipped with headdresses and face paint

Protesters are seen at the wedding venue in Bisbee, Arizona holding placards

The protesters eventually agreed to stand outside quietly, but one man later shouted at the senator during the ceremony

A couple of guests were captured entering the ceremony dressed in elaborate Native American costumes, equipped with headdresses and face paint.

The protesters were shocked and groaned in disgust, while one person said 'man that is racist as hell.'

Sinema's spokeswoman Hannah Hurley said that the senator did not interact with or support the people in the costumes, which she called 'disrespectful.'

'While the Senator knows the bride and groom, she does not know and did not interact with the wedding guests who wore disrespectful and racist costumes to the ceremony, and she strongly condemns such behavior,' Hurley told the Daily Star.

DailyMail.com reached out to Sinema's office for comment.

The colorful senator has been the target of protesters for weeks now.

Earlier this month she was targeted by a group of protesters at Reagan National Airport after she landed in Washington D.C. for a Senate session.

Video footage showed Sinema on her cell phone as she made her way through Reagan National Airport, where a group of protesters were awaiting her arrival on a flight from Arizona.

This is the fourth time Sinema has been targeted by protesters. Early in October, a group of left-wing activists followed her into a bathroom stall as Arizona State University, where she teaches

The protesters recorded the lawmaker while she was in a private stall and demanded that she support Biden's Build Back Better Agenda that would provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants

Prior to that she was confronted by immigration protesters who followed her into a bathroom at Arizona State University, where she teaches, and recording the incident on phones.

They were there demanding she pass President Joe Biden's stripped back $1.7 trillion spending plan.

Currently the two key Democratic holdouts on the package are Senator Joe Manchin and Sinema, who have yet to register their support for the new framework he released.

Sinema released a statement saying negotiators had made 'significant progress' and that she 'looks forward' to getting things done  but did not say she would vote for it or mention the specifics of the deal.

'After months of productive, good-faith negotiations with President Biden and the White House, we have made significant progress on the proposed budget reconciliation package,' she said in the statement. 'I look forward to getting this done, expanding economic opportunities and helping everyday families get ahead.'

Progressives, who were already sore over social programs that got tossed out of the bill, had yet to say they would go along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's audacious play to try to hold a vote on a separate infrastructure package Thursday.

At a closed meeting with the House Democratic Caucus, Biden went well beyond a policy pitch  putting the need for agreement in terms of political survival.
The parents of a schoolteacher who died in January 2011 are suing a Pennsylvania medical examiner's office after it ruled she had killed herself by stabbing herself 20 times.

Ellen Greenbergs parents, Sandee and Joshua, have been granted a non-jury trial in their lawsuit against the coroner's office over her death in her Philadelphia apartment, CBS Philly reported.

Greenberg, 27, was discovered with 20 stab wounds in the kitchen of her Philadelphia apartment on January 26, 2011 by her fiance Sam Goldberg, with the Medical Examiner's Office initially ruling the death a homicide.

She was stabbed 10 times in the neck and the back of her head and 10 times in her stomach, abdomen and chest. A knife was still plunged in her heart.

At the time, police claimed that the door of Greenberg's apartment had been locked from the inside and that there were no signs of a struggle.

Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne subsequently changed the cause of death to suicide and the case was closed, according to the lawsuit.

Ellen Greenberg, 27, pictured, was stabbed 20 times in the kitchen of her Philadelphia apartment in January 2011, with the coroner ruling that the cause of death was a suicide

Greenberg is pictured with her parents Sandee and Joshua prior to her death. The couple are suing the medical examiner's office, insisting their daughters death was not a suicide

SUICIDE OR HOMICIDE?

More than ten years since the death of a Phila. school teacher - after she was found stabbed 20 times - her family is going to court Friday to argue her death was homicide.



The deposition of a medical expert will be used as evidence https://t.co/E47tdjfmkK pic.twitter.com/BZrOCD2CiC  Matt Petrillo (@MattPetrillo) October 15, 2021

Last Friday, the Greenberg family and their lawyer made their case in front of a city judge to argue her death was not a homicide, but rather a suicide.

'We are very pleased that the court is allowing this case to go to trial,' Sandra Greenberg, Ellens mother, told CBS Philly.

'We look forward to the trial in hopes of obtaining justice for Ellen.'

The Greenberg family had hired a team of experts following her death, who noted that a knife found in her apartment had been overturned, which suggested the possibility of a struggle.

Meanwhile, a stab wound on the back of her head likely rendered her unconscious and unable to fend off any possible attackers, and more importantly unable to continue stabbing herself, her family's lawyer argued.

'It makes no sense,' the Greenbergs' attorney, Joseph Podraza, told the Washington Post.

'People without pulses to not stab themselves repeatedly.'

Family attorney Joe Podraza, pictured. The case of a Philadelphia schoolteacher whose death by 20 stab wounds was ruled a homicide - then changed to suicide

Ellen, left, with father Josh Greenberg, right. The case of a Philadelphia schoolteacher whose death by 20 stab wounds was ruled a homicide - then changed to suicide

The image showing all of the injuries - 10 stabs to the back of the neck and 10 to the front of the body - and is consistent with being attacked from behind rather than any self-inflicted injury

Pictured: images showing knife wounds N and T After studying a sample of her spinal cord the family's neuropathologist found that these wounds had pierced her brain and severed the cord

Greenberg had even filled up her gas tank before coming home, and she didn't leave a suicide note, either, casting even more doubts on the likelihood that her death was caused by suicide.

Podraza added that her family has continued to get to the bottom of her cause of death, even as the last ten years have passed.

'They want to know what happened to their daughter,' he told the outlet.

Meanwhile, an attorney representing the city of Philadelphia cited the medical examiner's years of experience, while adding that Greenberg's death certificate does not stop authorities from further investigating her death as a homicide, even after the case was closed.

'The medical examiners determination is binding on no one If a prosecuting authority were convinced that Ellen Greenberg was murdered, there is no statute of limitations on homicide and they could pursue it,' the city argued in court filings, the paper reported.

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General had alleged that several death and suicide- related searches has been performed on Greenberg's laptop in the weeks leading up to her death.

Marlon Osbourne, pictured, was the medical examiner who ruled Greenberg's death a suicide

Pictured: the Philadelphia apartment building where Greenberg lived. Her body was discovered in the kitchen of her home with 20 stab wounds back on January 2011

According to Podraza, the hard-drive was subsequently examined by the FBI lab in 2011 and no such searches were found.

Podraza recently hired his own expert to examine the hard-drive, with the results confirming what the FBI concluded: Greenberg did not search for anything related to suicide prior to her death.

Additionally, Podraza commissioned a photogrammetry recreating each of Greenberg's 20 stab wounds.

Photogrammetry - a new technology which was unavailable at the time of Greenberg's death - is able to create a 3D anatomical recreation of a corpse.

It showed the size, depth, and length of each stab wound, with the creators concluding that all of them could not have been self-inflicted - particularly the ones to the back of Greenberg's neck and head.

'We do not believe Ellen Greenberg took her own life,' Podraza told DailyMail.com in January, 2021 on the ten-year anniversary of her death.

For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255
Left-wing activists are calling for a boycott of The Big Issue because it ran an interview with Countdown star Rachel Riley in which she expressed support for Sir Keir Starmers efforts to purge Labour of antisemitism.

Simon Maginn, who backs Sir Keirs predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, tweeted that he had written to Lord Bird, who co-founded the magazine 30 years ago to help raise funds for the homeless, to protest at Ms Rileys inclusion.

Very disappointed that @BigIssue would publish that Rachel Riley piece, he wrote.

Rachel Riley, 35, who has Jewish roots and is eight months pregnant with her second child, has spoken about the antisemitic abuse she has faced

Ill be boycotting you now until you offer a right of reply. There are many other ways of helping the homeless. I wont support or defend hate, and neither should you.

Jackie Walker, a former official with the pro-Corbyn Momentum group who was expelled from Labour over antisemitism allegations, tweeted: This is why you shouldnt buy Big Issue again.

Ms Riley, 35, who has Jewish roots and is eight months pregnant with her second child, has spoken about the antisemitic abuse she has faced.

Since the interview's publication Ms Riley has been called a Zionist shill, a Right-wing hag and a disgusting evil woman

In an interview with the latest Big Issue, she says Sir Keir has a tough job to try to bring his party back to what it was and suggests he and his frontbenchers know theyre not electable unless they rid it of antisemitism.

Since it was published, trolls have described Ms Riley  an ambassador for the Centre For Countering Digital Hate campaign group  as a Zionist shill, a Right-wing hag and a disgusting evil woman.

One even claimed: The homeless are suffering because of Rachel Riley.

Lord Austin, a former Labour Minister who quit the party in 2019 over its culture of extremism and antisemitism, slammed demands for a boycott.

Jackie Walker, a former official with the pro-Corbyn Momentum group who was expelled from Labour over antisemitism allegations, tweeted that people shouldn't buy The Big Issue again

These people are a complete disgrace, he said.

They would rather homeless people lose out and go hungry because The Big Issue contains an interview with Rachel Riley, who they hate because she campaigned against racism.

'I hope everyone will go out of their way to buy a copy this month.

Labour MP Neil Coyle said: Anyone suggesting we dont buy The Big Issue and ignore homeless people because it is also exposing racism reveals quite how these people sank Labour and why they must never again be trusted to be anything other than a factional cult.

Crossbencher Lord Bird, 75, was once in the hard-Left Workers Revolutionary Party. Ostensibly neutral, The Big Issue is seen as Left-wing.
Michael Smithyman, who had been jailed for killing his pregnant girlfriend, was the subject of a police report submitted to the Home Office and was reinterviewed by an elite Scotland Yard unit in 1993

Police chiefs have been accused of failing to fully investigate the confession of a jailed murderer who revealed how a house fire started 40 years ago, killing 13 young black partygoers.

The New Cross fire in South London in 1981 prompted a campaign for political action over allegations of a totally inadequate response from police and government.

No one has ever been tried for starting the blaze, but between 1991 and 1993 police received confessions from a jailed killer who gave the name of a suspect, and said he himself was present when it began.

Michael Smithyman, who had been jailed for killing his pregnant girlfriend, was the subject of a police report submitted to the Home Office and was reinterviewed by an elite Scotland Yard unit in 1993.

But the probe was shelved shortly afterwards, leaving some officers incensed by the failure to fully investigate the claim.

The eight-page briefing note states: 'It is suspected that Smithyman was the other person with [name removed for legal reasons] when the fire started and it is our belief he will admit his full complicity in the matter.'

Almost all victims of the blaze on January 18, 1981, were teenagers and all were black. Twenty-seven others were seriously injured. A survivor was so horrified by what he saw that he killed himself two years later. After police failed to find the culprit, the local community adopted the slogan '13 dead, nothing said'.

This year, the 40th anniversary of the blaze, campaigners say the story symbolises the police abuse and neglect by the state felt by many black people at the time.

The New Cross fire in South London in 1981 prompted a campaign for political action over allegations of a totally inadequate response from police and government

Prelude to an uprising For a generation of black Britons, the New Cross fire ranks alongside the Brixton riots and treatment of the Windrush migrants to Britain as a symbol of this country's troubled attitude towards race relations. The South London blaze and the failure to find the culprit helped crystallise the feeling that those in authority did not care for them. Film director Steve McQueen, who made a BBC documentary on the tragedy earlier this year, said the blaze and its aftermath were 'momentous events in our nation's history'. The tragedy led to a huge protest march in London in March 1981 and tensions then erupted into ferocious violence when the capital witnessed its worst civil disorder of the 20th Century with the Brixton riots that April. Some 300 police officers and 65 members of the public were injured in three days of violent unrest. Advertisement

Police initially thought the inferno was caused by a firebomb thrown through a downstairs window. But forensic evidence then suggested it began inside the house. Two inquests into the victims' deaths gave an open verdict.

Smithyman's alleged involvement first emerged when he was interviewed by police ten years after the fire following a tip-off by a previous associate called Paul Smith, who is now a property developer based in Clacton, Essex.

Already serving a life sentence for two murders, including that of his pregnant 22-year-old girlfriend April Sheridan, Smithyman gave a chilling account during 40 taped interviews of how the fire started.

He was 14 at the time and claims he had tried to gatecrash the party with another teenager. After being turned away, the other boy  whom he named  began the fire in revenge. Smithyman told police he went to a nearby adventure playground then returned to see a fire had taken hold at the house, and that people were jumping from upstairs windows.

Police notes seen by the MoS state that a senior officer wrote in a 1993 Home Office briefing document: 'He (the arsonist) describes the motive for the fire as a stupid prank purely to scare the partygoers because they had refused them entry to the party.'

But further investigations were not made nor charges brought. Sources close to the case claim that the allegations were hushed up because of 'political considerations'.

A source close to the inquiry said: 'Smithyman said he had a laugh with the arsonist while they were lying on a flat roof opposite the fire on the night.'

Chillingly, the source added: 'He said that while watching Rastafarians jumping out of the top-floor windows on fire, he referred to them as 'roastafarians'.'

Smithyman is now 56 and in jail at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire. He recanted on his confession, at about the time of a parole hearing in 2015, claiming he was not present when the fire started.

Magdalene Edwards, now 57, survived the fire by jumping from a window while three months pregnant, but her 16-year-old stepsister Rosalind Henry (pictured) died

Many close to the inquiry believe there was a lack of will to solve the case and it was 'swept under the carpet and these promising lines of inquiry ignored'.

A forensic report produced for the Met Police in 2011 ruled out a firebomb attack, concluding that the blaze started when someone in the house set an armchair alight.

Magdalene Edwards, now 57, survived the fire by jumping from a window while three months pregnant, but her 16-year-old stepsister Rosalind Henry died.

After being told of what Smithyman had claimed, she told the MoS: 'The case has never been investigated properly. Would the same happen if it had been 13 young white children? I don't think so.'

A Met spokesman said: 'We thoroughly investigated the circumstances of the fire in 1981. Over the years, a number of reviews and follow-up enquiries have been conducted. We will carefully consider any new information.'

Despite repeated requests, bosses at Whitemoor prison refused to say whether they had passed on to Smithyman a request from The Mail on Sunday to interview him.
He's never been shy about chewing out his critics  and last week controversial retail boss Sir Philip Green turned on photographers who snapped him outside an exclusive London club.

But perhaps he was just keen to show off his new gnashers, as the former Topshop tycoon was in town to visit his dentist.

One onlooker who saw the exchange outside Harry's Bar in Mayfair on Monday night said: 'Once he saw the paparazzi, he tried to get away but realised he wouldn't make it. He was not happy at all.'

But friends of Sir Philip, who is famous for his expletive-laden rants, last night insisted: 'He didn't shout at them and wasn't rude at all. They ran down the road chasing him as he was getting into a taxi.'

He's never been shy about chewing out his critics  and last week controversial retail boss Sir Philip Green turned on photographers who snapped him outside an exclusive London club

But perhaps he was just keen to show off his new gnashers, as the former Topshop tycoon was in town to visit his dentist

The 69-year-old is understood to have been on a brief visit to Britain from his 100 million super-yacht in Monaco, in part to have dental treatment.

He was accompanied by his wife Tina, 72, who was recently named in the explosive Pandora Papers about offshore tax havens.

The leaked documents showed that she bought four multi-million-pound properties while BHS  the department store she once owned with her husband  teetered on the brink of collapse.

Harry's Bar is a short walk from Topshop's former flagship store on Oxford Street. It was the jewel in the crown of Sir Philip's Arcadia retail empire before it collapsed last November, leaving 10,000 workers out of a job.

He was accompanied by his wife Tina, 72, who was recently named in the explosive Pandora Papers about offshore tax havens

The 69-year-old is understood to have been on a brief visit to Britain from his 100 million super-yacht in Monaco, in part to have dental treatment

Arcadia's assets, including the luxury furnishings of Sir Philip's boardroom, are being sold, the Topshop brand was acquired by online retailer Asos, and Ikea is set to move into the Oxford Street building following its 378 million sale last week.

The Greens previously sold BHS for 1 to former bankrupt Dominic Chappell, who was last year sentenced to six years in jail for tax evasion over the 2015 sale.

The chain collapsed the following year, and MPs subsequently dubbed Sir Philip 'the unacceptable face of capitalism' over the affair.

Despite the fall of the one-time high street retail king, the Greens are still worth 910 million, according to The Sunday Times Rich List, and continue to enjoy the trappings of their wealth.

In July, Lady Green and her son Brandon and daughter Chloe were spotted on the family's yacht Lionheart in Saint Tropez on the French Riviera.

If Sir Philip wants advice on how to deal with the paparazzi, perhaps he could consult Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, who, according to reports last month, has become friendly with 28-year-old Brandon.
Palace aides are drafting plans for the Duchess of Cornwall to take on a significantly greater role  and it is possible she could even be appointed to an elite group of senior Royals who can carry out duties on behalf of the Queen.

Her Majestys decision to cancel all public engagements for at least the next fortnight, as she recovers from an unknown ailment, has raised concerns about a potential leadership gap at the head of the Royal Family if her illness persists or should the 95-year-old Monarch be incapacitated in the future.

So far, the Queen has continued to carry out her duties as Head of State, despite having to reluctantly cancel a number of high-profile engagements over the past few weeks.

Palace aides are drafting plans for the Duchess of Cornwall to take on a significantly greater role - and she could even be appointed to an elite group of senior Royals who can carry out duties on behalf of the Queen (pictured, the Queen with Camilla in 2019)

The Monarch is still receiving her daily red boxes of Government documents. But constitutional experts last night expressed concern about the preparedness of the Royal Family if she becomes unable to fulfil the basic role of a Head of State.

Buckingham Palace says her medical team is simply taking sensible precautions and Boris Johnson yesterday described the Queen as being on good form when they spoke last week.

Significantly, however, sources say that Camilla, who was praised for a speech last week in which she called for more urgent action to tackle sexual violence against women, will be asked to help manage the workload.

Under rules enshrined in law and detailed on the official Royal website, four members of the family are currently entitled as Counsellors of State to take over from the Queen if she is unable to perform her duties  if, for example, she were abroad or unwell.

The 95-year-old Monarch's decision to cancel all public engagements for at least the next fortnight as she recovers from an unknown ailment has raised concerns about a potential leadership gap at the head of the Royal Family (pictured, the Queen last week)

These Counsellors are Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Andrew and Prince Harry, chosen because they are the four next in line to the throne and at least over the age of 18. This rules out Williams children George, Charlotte and Louis.

But neither Prince Andrew  who is fighting sex claims lodged in the US  nor Prince Harry, who has quit official duties and now lives in California, are currently working members of the Royal Family.

Vernon Bogdanor, the author of Monarchy And The Constitution and professor of government at Kings College London, said: A Counsellor not domiciled in the UK cannot act, so that excludes Harry. The next in line and over the required age of 21 would be Princess Beatrice. However, most of the functions of the Head of State can be devolved. It is not, for example, constitutionally necessary for the Queen to attend the State Opening of Parliament.

Officially, four members of the Royal family are currently entitled as 'Counsellors of State' to take over from the Queen if she is unable to perform her duties. These Counsellors are Prince Charles (pictured), Prince William, Prince Andrew and Prince Harry

Two Counsellors of State are required to act together in a quorum to perform crucial functions, such as providing Royal assent to bills passing through Parliament and appointing High Court judges. Without such assent, these functions of Government cannot be enacted.

Dr Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert at Bangor University, said the current situation posed a potential problem for the smooth running of Government. There is a small but genuine risk that the non-availability of Counsellors of State could impede the operation of the constitution. It could certainly make the day-to-day running of Government much more tricky.

The Counsellors of State are a Plan B from a constitutional point of view, but what happens when Plan B isnt quite ideal? The Queen may look to add the Duchess of Cornwall, who would become a Counsellor of State when Charles is King anyway. Or they could go down the line to Princesses Beatrice or Eugenie, or add more members of the family, like Princess Anne or Prince Edward to the list.

However, neither Prince Andrew (right), who is fighting sex claims lodged in the US, nor Prince Harry (left), who has quit official duties and now lives in California, are currently working members of the Royal Family

A source close to the Palace said: This is a constitutional headache. With an ageing monarch there are talks about what will happen if the Queen is unable to work for some reason. You cant have Andrew and Harry do it and Charles and William are extremely busy.

There is precedent for Counsellors of State stepping in. During the Queen and Prince Philips tour of New Zealand in 1974, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret enacted the Queens wishes to dissolve Ted Heaths Government.

Current Counsellors of State Counsellors of State are appointed from among the four adults next in succession (provided they have reached the age of 21). The current Counsellors of State are The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge, The Duke of Sussex and The Duke of York. Advertisement

Mr Johnson yesterday sought to allay any alarm about the Queen, saying the public must respect her need to rest for a short period of time.

Speaking to ITV News in Rome during the G20 summit, he said: I spoke to Her Majesty, as I do every week as part of my job, and she was on very good form. She has been told by her doctors that she has got to rest, and I think we have got to respect that and understand that. Everybody wishes her all the very best.

As well as speaking to Mr Johnson, the Queen talked to Chancellor Rishi Sunak ahead of his Budget announcement and recorded a speech at Windsor Castle which will be shown at the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow tomorrow.

The Queen was forced to cancel a trip to Northern Ireland earlier this month on the advice of doctors.

The announcement that she will rest for at least another fortnight means she will miss the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall. But she hopes to be fit enough to attend the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph on November 14. Prince Charles will lay a wreath on behalf of his mother, as he has done in recent years, with the plan for her to again watch from a nearby balcony.

Charles will then fly out for an official tour of Jordan and Egypt, effectively leaving William as the only Counsellor of State.

A Royal insider said: The Counsellors of State are there to provide a more temporary stopgap. I expect that quite an extraordinary series of events would be required to lead to a Regency. Her Majesty will be committed to carrying out her duties as long as she possibly can.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
In their gated compounds, wrapped up snug in their luxury beliefs, it's the easiest thing in the world for celebrities to disdain ordinary people.

It's so hard for them on the front line of fame  having monetised their very being and living a life of which most people can only dream.

The dafter ones use war metaphors: Gwyneth Paltrow claimed that reading nasty things about herself and her friends was 'almost like how, in war, you go through this bloody, dehumanising thing'.

The rest of us 'civilians', as Liz Hurley memorably described non-celebrities, don't understand.

Showbiz people are always keen on saving the planet  but private jets don't count because everybody knows that only dirty commercial flights cause pollution. Rather like food not really having calories if you eat it standing up.

In 2016, Leonardo DiCaprio flew 8,000 miles from France to New York and back  in a private jet  so he could accept an award for raising awareness of climate change.

In their gated compounds, wrapped up snug in their luxury beliefs, it's the easiest thing in the world for celebrities to disdain ordinary people. Gwyneth Paltrow (pictured) claimed that reading nasty things about herself and her friends was 'almost like how, in war, you go through this bloody, dehumanising thing'

Now the transgender crusade has struck a chord in Hollywood.

For example, Harry Potter actress Emma Watson snarking at J. K. Rowling, who had been accused of transphobia after questioning the phrase 'people who menstruate'.

Quoth Watson: 'Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren't who they say they are. I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are.'

Yet were it not for J. K. Rowling and the stratospherically successful Harry Potter franchise, Watson, a muppet who when single had described herself as 'self-partnered', might not have two pennies to rub together.

America has Hollywood; the UK has the BBC. Both share the Woke wangle of frantic virtue-signalling to cover up the slithering vipers' nests beneath.

In recent years the BBC has attempted to become Woke judge and jury of the nation. But how hypocritically such high-mindedness sits with the fact that Jimmy Savile's paedophilia was both an open secret and a running joke there.

It's so hard for them on the front line of fame  having monetised their very being and living a life of which most people can only dream. The rest of us 'civilians', as Liz Hurley (pictured) memorably described non-celebrities, don't understand

It wasn't until a few brave survivors came forward to testify against him that the Corporation  which, remember, is funded by us  seemed inclined to do anything about it.

Then BBC bosses were revealed as actively engaged in helping their highest-paid 'talent' pay as little tax as possible. To lose one moral/ethical compass could be an accident. To lose both looks like total bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, Hollywood and the BBC both fetishise diversity of colour while quashing diversity of views, as Woke always does.

It was announced last year that the BBC was to spend 100 million on 'diversity' while, at the same time, sending hired heavies to menace low-income women into paying the licence fee.

For the BBC, the transgender debate was a glorious dawn, and it fell over itself to be predictably namby-pamby about asking its staff to declare preferred pronouns in email signatures, be they 'she/her', 'he/him' or 'they/them'.

Showbiz people are always keen on saving the planet  but private jets don't count because everybody knows that only dirty commercial flights cause pollution. Rather like food not really having calories if you eat it standing up. In 2016, Leonardo DiCaprio (pictured) flew 8,000 miles from France to New York and back  in a private jet  so he could accept an award for raising awareness of climate change

In 2018, just weeks after the huge gap between the pay of men and women working for the Corporation was exposed, rather than put their hand in their (our) pocket and pay women the same as men, the BBC played a virtue-signalling blinder by appointing a Global Gender and Identity Correspondent, who tweeted excitedly: 'Thrilled to start as the BBC's first global Gender and Identity Correspondent, reporting on issues concerning women, sexuality, race, etc.' Love that 'etc'!

Indeed, during 2020's plague summer, the BBC caught Woke fever worst of all. It turned on itself in a racism-routing fit of zealotry, removing episodes of such excellent comedy shows as Fawlty Towers and Little Britain.

The same desperation to be down wiv da cancel-culture kids can also be seen on the retail front, especially in the 'journey' (a classic Woke word) of poor old Marks & Spencer.

Like the BBC, M&S saw itself as occupying a National Treasure position which blurred somehow with sainthood and whose integrity could never be questioned.

Turning one's back on one's loyal customers and chasing the Woke Wonga is another symptom of the malaise they share.

Woke is something of a mid-life crisis for commercial enterprises. They know that despite pursuing the youth market, it doesn't have any money. But oh, it makes retailers feel young again!

M&S had been on the rocks for a while, alienating its core of regular shoppers with store floors resembling TK Maxx after an earthquake. So it was shocking, though not surprising, when in 2018 it started selling hijabs.

Now the transgender crusade has struck a chord in Hollywood. For example, Harry Potter actress Emma Watson (pictured) snarking at J. K. Rowling, who had been accused of transphobia after questioning the phrase 'people who menstruate

Not any old hijabs, but hijabs for tots from the age of four, encouraging pre-school girls not to reveal their ears lest some man be driven mad with lust.

The next gaffe by M&S was counter-intuitive  but no matter. It was the next station of the Woke cross which must be knelt before: making the private spaces of women open to trans women.

'As a business, we strive to be inclusive,' it informed shoppers, 'and therefore we allow customers the choice of which fitting room they feel comfortable to use, in respect of how they identify themselves.'

The suffragettes didn't see this coming when they were throwing themselves under horses to fight for women's rights, did they?

The one good thing about Wokeism is that just when you think they have a chance of changing our strange and beautiful world into their own monotonous and malevolent image, they start squabbling among themselves.

M&S must have thought the cool kids would be queuing up to try its LGBT sandwich  lettuce, guacamole, bacon and tomato in rainbow-coloured packaging  especially as the profits would go towards a charity helping LGBT youth.

Nevertheless, many found it hard to swallow, with one person complaining: 'I felt so enraged I left the shop. Basically equating us to a sandwich? Can't imagine them doing this with other marginalised groups.'

Yet were it not for J. K. Rowling (pictured) and the stratospherically successful Harry Potter franchise, Watson, a muppet who when single had described herself as 'self-partnered', might not have two pennies to rub together

There's more. In the summer of 2020, an M&S shopper spotted a brassiere which seemed insufficiently sensitive to the death of George Floyd, the black man killed by a US police officer.

The shopper noted that while light-coloured bras bore such tempting titles as 'Fudge' and 'Cinnamon', the darker one was called 'Tobacco'.

'I saw it about two weeks after George Floyd's death  it was particularly raw to see at that time. Why not call it 'cocoa', 'caramel' or 'chocolate'  sweet dessert items?' she said.

'To see that 'tobacco' is for their skin tone will make young girls feel unwanted by society. Tobacco is referred to in society as bad, unhealthy, and highly likely to kill.'

Predictably, M&S snivelled: 'We have more to do and more to learn. We liaise with our store colleagues on a regular basis to determine which colours we need to offer our customer and we are also working with our BAME [Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic] colleague network to receive their input too.

'As part of this, we are reviewing our ranges, supported by our BAME network, to ensure we have lingerie items that are flattering and suitable for all customers.

'We are changing the name of the bra colour and are sorry for not moving faster.'

That is the difference between insurrectionary pre-Woke women and insipid Woke women in a nutshell: we burned our bras to show we didn't need establishment approval.

This lot are in a state because their bras have the 'wrong' name. Last year, too, McDonald's was accused of cultural appropriation for its new Jerk Chicken Sandwich. No doubt feeding one to a child will soon constitute abuse, but of course where there is real child abuse  such as fattening up 12-year-old children  there is Woke silence.

We are all Alice now, Alice in Wokeland, down the rabbit hole with no direction home.

The same desperation to be down wiv da cancel-culture kids can also be seen on the retail front, especially in the 'journey' (a classic Woke word) of poor old Marks & Spencer. M&S had been on the rocks for a while, alienating its core of regular shoppers with store floors resembling TK Maxx after an earthquake. So it was shocking, though not surprising, when in 2018 it started selling hijabs (stock photo)

And then there's the fashion industry, hammered by the Covid pandemic. So what did they do? Fearful of going broke, fashion went Woke.

The environmental impact of the clothing industry is calamitous.

Knowing this, and not wanting to lose a generation in thrall to Greta Thunberg, fashion had already attempted to cover its back  for creating much personal debt and ceaseless landfill fodder  with a lot of flim-flam about sustainability. Even before Covid, people were catching on to this: there is a reason clothes retailers were already suffering.

Meanwhile, fashion journalists were virtue-signalling like it was going out of style. Journalists signed up to 'diversity and inclusion objectives and training' while some newspapers were forced to appoint 'diversity specialists' at the same time as agreeing to 'a process for internal and external content review to track sentiment and coverage'.

It's a similarly depressing story at Vogue, the doyen of all fashion magazines, where the answer to everything is now diversity. (I am fully expecting diversity to be offered as a cure for cancer soon, such is its apparent omnipotence.)

Models within the magazine stopped being skeletal white girls and the cover stars followed suit: Beyonce, Oprah, Rihanna and Judi Dench. Now a far larger demographic of women can be objectified  rejoice!

Woke-speak, especially on matters of race, robs people of their individuality and reduces them to ticks and ciphers. Do the Woke read books? Do they have an intellectual hinterland? Unlikely, considering their raw terror at any view different from theirs.

But for some reason they believe they have the right to change a language  to abolish perfectly good words such as 'woman' and replace it with such monstrosities as 'Terf' (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) and 'Cis' (a person whose gender identity is the same as their sex assigned at birth).

If the Woke want to stick their fingers in the ears and sing 'La la la', that's their lookout. What is not an option is for them to put muzzles on the rest of us, to make some words unsayable and to change the meaning of others.

In the past decade or so many words have changed their meaning. 'Brave', for instance, once meant rescuing orphans from burning buildings, but now means talking about one's troubles in public. How is it brave to have a miscarriage? It's sad and awful  but brave? If miscarrying is brave, what are firefighters?

The word 'diversity' once meant a pleasingly wide range of viewpoints, but now means a selection of variously hued people all parroting the same liberal establishment platitudes. 'Community' once meant a cheery group of neighbours getting together for street parties, but now means a posse of peevish wallflowers going for gold in the Victimhood Olympics.

It's bad enough that these half-witted Wokers have access to computers, but when one considers that many of them work in publishing, it's like finding out that Johnny Depp runs a women's refuge.

I remember publishing in its heyday: the drunken bonhomie, the three-hour lunches. The idea of anyone who worked in publishing being offended by their writers was risible.

But now the Wokers appear to have got their hands on this last bastion of rollicking and roistering, with junior members of Penguin Random House recently 'confronting' senior staff over the planned publication of the next book by Jordan Peterson, the outspoken Canadian professor of psychology.

When I say 'confronting', I mean 'crying', the go-to move of Cry Bullies International, as Peterson himself had pointed out in a previous book: 'Anger-crying is often an act of dominance and should be dealt with as such.'

A thought: might it not be easier for those easily offended by differing ideas and viewpoints not to seek employment in arenas which deal with differing ideas and viewpoints, such as publishing?

Flower stalls are, I believe, lovely places to ply one's trade; soft furnishings, too, with emphasis on scatter cushions  no sharp corners! But publishing?

Did the long and splendid story that began with the invention of the printing press around 1436 really have to end up here? With publishing employees  who would seemingly be happier burning books than editing them  crying because they didn't like the words?

We really are in the midst of the Woke Trials now, being whirled into a dizzying danse macabre in which we have no idea where we'll end up. And, amid the stupidity of these witch-hunts, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I never foresaw that I would be living through such an age of barbarism and hysteria.

The one consolation among all this nasty nonsense is that Woke may have peaked. When I started this book at the beginning of 2020, I was looking at an alien landscape in which even such comforting cultural artefacts as knitting, of all things, had been contaminated by Wokeness.

But after a year of global lunacy, signs that an epidemic of common sense was just around the corner began to break through.

In December, Cambridge University  a breeding ground-zero of Wokeness like other universities  updated its Statement on Freedom of Speech so that speakers may be barred only if they are likely to use 'unlawful speech' or cause other legal problems.

In the same month the Scottish Parliament backed an amendment by Labour MSP Johann Lamont which meant that rape victims would be allowed to choose the sex of those examining them after an attack.

In such traumatic circumstances, many women feel safer with female medics touching them. For once, the actual injuries of women took precedence over the hurt feelings of men.

These are the most interesting of times  either a blessing or a curse, depending on whether one is of the tough or the tendertribe.

So where do we go from here?

In the end, the Woke are like Daleks  what comes after all the EXTERMINATE business? They turn on each other.

The end of Woke could conceivably see a glorious bout of infighting to the death, as the ever-growing number of allegedly oppressed minorities splinter in all directions and engage in one last big hissy-fitting Woke War of All Against All.

The human spirit (yes, that old thing) could rally at the eleventh hour and we might awake from our sleepwalking. And then we'll think 'It was all a horrible dream!' as we gaze around dazedly at each other, strangers and good companions, wondering what on earth had happened.

 Julie Burchill, 2021 l Abridged extract from Welcome To The Woke Trials, by Julie Burchill, published by Academica Press at 24.95.

To order a copy for 22.46, with free UK delivery, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937 before November 14.
An openly gay high school senior sharing her experience of being bullied was left in tears during a school board meeting Tuesday night, when she was heckled by a woman in the audience who called her story 'indoctrination.'

Mackenzie Atwood, the treasurer of the senior class at Franklin High School in Massachusetts, was given permission by the school board to respond to a question about what constitutes a protected class in the school.

'At the beginning of every school year, we have meetings discussing who is protected,' Atwood begins, noting that the term basically applies to everyone.

But, she said, 'Though everyone is said to be protected, that is not entirely true.

'When kids are coming to theater every single day telling me "Oh I got called a f***** yesterday" or "I got a called a racial slur in the hallway" that's not something to joke about - though it's something we've become so numb to that it's become a joke.

'So I think it's important to understand that, yes everyone is protected in the school, but being someone who is Caucasian is not something you're being bullied about.'

Mackenzie Atwood, the treasurer of the senior class at Franklin High School in Massachusetts, was granted permission to respond to a question from an audience member about what constitutes a protected class

She said that as a gay student she has been bullied, and she has heard from some of her friends who have been called a racial slur

At that point, people could be heard heckling the teenage girl, saying 'No, that's not-' as School Committee Chair Anne Bergen banged a gavel to silence the crowd.

Atwood then continues: 'Being homosexual, which I must say I am gay, call me what you want about that, I am being personally attacked in school about that.'

Members of the crowd once again tried to scream over her as she spoke, causing Bergen to tell the crowd: 'Quiet down, you will be asked to leave.'

The camera recording the meeting then turns back to Atwood, as she gets visibly more upset and cries out: 'It is extremely disgusting that you can look me in the eyes and say that I'm not being oppressed at this school.'

It is following that remark that one woman could be heard clearly saying: 'This has to stop, this is indoctrination.'

In response, Atwood replies that there is 'no such thing as the gay agenda,' as Bergen called for a brief recess in the meeting.

After the crowd started heckling her, Atwood became increasingly upset, saying: 'It is extremely disgusting that you can look me in the eyes and say that I'm not being oppressed at this school'

School Committee Chair Anne Bergen kept banging the gavel in an attempt to quiet down the crowd before she ultimately called for a recess

When the school board came back about 10 minutes later, Bergen once again told the crowd: 'I do not ever, ever want to ask anyone to leave, but this meeting will be conducted respectfully.

'There will be no shouting from the crowd,' Bergen said. 'That is not how we ever, ever conduct meetings in this building.'

She then turns the microphone back over to Atwood for one final thought before they moved on to other business.

With her last moment to speak, Atwood used the metaphor of a neighbor with a burning house telling the onlookers to look at how nice their house is. 'There are minority houses burning that we need to focus on first,' she said.

Atwood told CBS 4 she was still shaken up by the outburst two days later

District Superintendent Sara Ahern called the disruption 'appalling' and a violation of the district's core values of a safe and inclusive environment.'

She said 'the jeers from some audience members created a traumatic situation for the student and invalidated her statement of reality she so courageously shared.

Atwood told CBS 4 that she was still shaken up by the experience two days later.

'It's so invalidating because people love to believe that being gay is a choice,' she told the local CBS affiliate. 'It was very emotional.'

She also said she thinks 'parents and people' should just be 'more educated about people's identities.'

But, Ahern wrote in her letter to the community following the school board meeting, the outburst on Tuesday was not an isolated incident.

'Bias-based behavior is permeating layers of the community,' she wrote. 'As adults, I implore you to be more mindful of your behavior as you serve as important role models.

'Our children are watching,' she noted.

The incident at Franklin High School (pictured) comes amid an increase in unruly citizens interrupting school board meetings

The outburst last week came amid an increase in unruly citizens interrupting school board meetings over issues such as critical race theory and coronavirus precautions.

Last month, the National School Board association sent a letter to the Biden administration saying that the country's schools and educators are under 'immediate threat.'

They asked the federal government for 'law enforcement and assistance' from agencies like the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to manage the 'growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation occurring across the nation.'

The Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania school board associations have since voted to secede from the NSBA, according to Insider, saying a call for federal intervention is antithetical to the school boards' role of local control.
Visitors to Broadcasting House, the BBC's headquarters in London, are greeted by a statue of George Orwell, along with this sentence from his work: 'If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.'

The Orwell statue only appeared in 2017, towards the end of my time there  I was a BBC foreign correspondent for 25 years  but I've always felt that particular line stands for something important about the way journalism should be done.

I thought of it again last week, when a senior figure told me about 'a climate of fear' at the Corporation, surrounding stories on race and on transgender issues. A small but significant number of the BBC's staff had appointed themselves would-be censors, he said.

'We're fighting our own culture war within the Corporation,' he added. 'You live with the realisation that if I put a foot wrong, the mob will descend.'

Some at the BBC are worried about it going the way of the New York Times. You might remember that the opinion page editor at America's journal of record was forced out after publishing a piece by a senator saying the army should be sent in to deal with unrest over the death of George Floyd  a controversial view but one that certainly ought to have been within the bounds of public debate.

Then the paper's senior science writer had to resign for using the N-word in a private discussion about whether it was ever acceptable to use the N-word.

Friends on the newspaper messaged me about 'Maoist struggle sessions' with managers or groups of other journalists. Confess, repent, or be purged. Some subjects could not be broached without personal and professional ruin.

We have not reached that point with the BBC. Not quite.

PAUL WOOD: A senior figure told me about 'a climate of fear' at the Corporation, particularly surrounding stories on race and on transgender issues

But here at our national broadcaster I've been told about unacceptable demands to change or drop stories  demands made by members of two 'internal staff networks' which serve as support and discussion groups.

These are BBC Embrace, which represents Black, Asian and other ethnic minority staff, and BBC Pride, for LGBTQ staff. Delegates from these groups are accused of flinging around charges of 'racism' and 'transphobia'. There are claims of 'bullying, piling on and [using] threats of being cancelled'.

Those who spoke to me included a former senior BBC manager  acting as a conduit for the concerns of those inside  and current staff, including the senior figure who spoke of a 'mob'.

As you might expect, he does not want to be identified. 'There is a huge level of fear within the organisation, with people thinking that they're going to be the next to get monstered,' he said. 'This is a nightmare and will end very, very badly for the BBC. Literally, there are people who think we should start banning words they don't like and banning viewpoints they don't like.

'There are lots of things we hear in journalism that we don't agree with. But that's the whole bloody point, isn't it?'

A number of people inside the Corporation described this to me as a generational problem. Some younger, newer members of staff appear to think that on issues of identity politics  especially when stories touch their own 'lived experience'  the old rules of impartiality no longer apply.

The BBC, like all UK broadcasters, has a legal obligation to be impartial, of course. This means that news reporting should include the main points of view on a given question. This doesn't mean reporting without values. The BBC should treat racism, for example, as the evil it is.

PAUL WOOD (pictured): Those who spoke to me included a former senior BBC manager  acting as a conduit for the concerns of those inside  and current staff, including the senior figure who spoke of a 'mob'

But it seems that some of its journalists  and their supporters outside  think the cause of anti-racism is more important than the job of being a journalist. Using the fashionable American ideology of Critical Race Theory  which explains liberal democracy as the product of 'white supremacy'  you can label anything you don't like as racist.

The self-appointed guardians of this truth can make the case to censor almost anything.

Then there's the charge of being transphobic which, although it doesn't have quite the same reach, can be just as potent.

Last week, BBC Online ran a brave and important story about lesbians feeling coerced into accepting trans women as sexual partners  feeling, in other words, that they had to have sex with someone who is biologically a man but identifies as a woman. The coverage included an interview with a lesbian named Jeannie who said she was attracted only to biological females. As a result, she had been labelled transphobic, a genital fetishist, a pervert and a 'terf'  a trans exclusionary radical feminist  for expressing this preference.

The piece repeated the claim, a contentious one of course, that lesbians are being pressured to 'accept the idea that a penis can be a female sex organ'.

Thousands of people contacted the BBC to say they were glad to read about this difficult issue.

Yet I'm told the journalists behind the story had to 'fight like hell' to get it published. And that it was held up for several months because of internal opposition, with the campaign to censor it going all the way up to the BBC director-general.

It is to the BBC's credit that this story was eventually published.

Another investigation, about the influence of pro-trans lobby group Stonewall on publicly funded institutions, was also broadcast. Yet the journalist, Stephen Nolan, says he had been warned the subject of Stonewall was 'untouchable'.

In fairness, I should also say that there is a range of views on this at the BBC.

Another senior manager I spoke to saw no problem with any of the coverage and said he had never been lobbied by staff. An editor remembered only 'a couple of issues' in the past two years with ideological pressure for editorial changes.

It is true that the new director-general, Tim Davie, seems to be aware of the dangers.

The BBC has just published a review into its culture and practices, commissioned following the extraordinary failures that allowed the now-disgraced journalist Martin Bashir to secure his notorious Panorama interview with Princess Diana.

Headed by Sir Nicholas Serota, chairman of The Arts Council, the review touched directly on the culture war troubling so many within the BBC, saying: 'It is essential that when staff have strongly held views, these do not discourage content makers from reflecting the full range of public opinion on a subject. Editors have a responsibility to seek diversity of opinion and foster open editorial debate.'

The director-general has already accepted all of Serota's recommendations, including the need to monitor impartiality. Yet when there is talk of 'mob' rule at the BBC, our main source of news and our most important cultural institution, we should be truly worried.

Today, there is evidence from newsrooms across the Western world that freedom of thought and speech are in danger from this same 'cancel culture'. The very idea of what it is to be a journalist is under threat. That is why I am talking to others in the media about setting up our own organisation to support the idea of impartiality  at the BBC and elsewhere.

Most people at BBC News really do think of themselves as journalists, not campaigners (I know, having worked with them). But it is increasingly a struggle.

Now, more than ever, we need good, honest and fearless reporting of the complex world around us.

To paraphrase Orwell's words, this means having the freedom to offend at least some of the people, some of the time.

It's hard to do journalism while looking over your shoulder.
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Prince Charles joined Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and other world leaders at a gala dinner this evening marking the end of a G20 summit in Rome on Saturday night.

Sergio Mattarella - the Italian President - hosed the leaders at the 16th century Quirinale Palace in Rome where they feasted on salmon and sea bass - ahead of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow that kicks off tomorrow.

Pictures from the dinner showed the seating plan, with the Prince of Wales seen sitting on the bank of chairs to the left of the head of the table.

Mr Biden was seated next to the Italian President and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen - all at the head of the table with Mr Mattarella.

French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile was seated next to Biden's wife Jill on one side, while Mr Johnson was in one of the far corners from where the Italian President was seated. Mr Johnson's wife - Carrie - was also in attendance.

Their dinner menu included marinated salmon, risotto with pumpkin and white truffle, and sea bass, with a tangerine cream dessert.

The reception comes amid high tensions between Mr Johnson and Mr Macron as Britain and France continue to clash over post-Brexit fishing licences.

Macron and Jill Biden's seating arrangement, however, suggests that the US and France have repaired the relationship damage done over a multi-billion-dollar submarine deal that infuriated the French.

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (centre) is greeted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella (right) and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (left) as he arrives to attend a reception and dinner at The Quirinale Palace on October 30, 2021 in Rome

A handout photo made available by the Quirinal Press Office shows Italian President Sergio Mattarella (at the far side of the table) as he delivers a speech during an official dinner on the occasion of the G20, Rome, Italy, 30 October 2021

Pictured: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is greeted by Mattarella and Draghi

Earlier on Saturday, Johnson complained to Ms von der Leyen that French threats over fishing were 'completely unjustified' as a British minister said London was 'actively considering' invoking a Brexit dispute tool for the first time.

For her part, Von Der Leyen tweeted that the European Commission was 'intensively engaging for finding solutions' on both the fishing spat and another linked row with Brussels over their divorce pact's implementation in Northern Ireland.

The simmering feud over fish has already seen a British trawler detained in a French port and Paris' ambassador in London summoned to the Foreign Office for the type of dressing down usually reserved for hostile states not allies.

France is incensed that Britain and the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey have not issued some French boats licences to fish in their waters post-Brexit.

Paris has vowed that unless licences are approved, it will ban UK boats from unloading their catches at French ports from next Tuesday and impose checks on all products brought to France from Britain.

The dinner came after world's G20 world's major economies approved a global minimum tax on the largest companies, but were still haggling over the pressing issue of climate change.

A handout photo made available by the Quirinal Press Office shows Italian President Sergio Mattarella (C) as he delivers a speech next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), Dutch Queen Maxima (2L), US President Joe Biden (2R) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R) during an official dinner on the occasion of the G20, Rome, Italy, 30 October 2021

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (3rd R) and his wife Emine Erdogan (3rd L), Italian President Sergio Mattarella (2nd R) and his daughter Laura Mattarella (R), Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (2nd L) and his wife Maria Serenella Cappello (L) pose for a photo

In the first major announcement of the two-day G20 summit in Rome, the bloc endorsed a 'historic' agreement that would see multinationals subject to a minimum 15 percent tax, said US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who attended the talks.

The deal would 'end the damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation', she said in a statement.

The reform plan, already backed by almost 140 countries, seeks to end the practice of big corporates such as Apple and Google parent Alphabet of sheltering profits in low-tax countries.

But no consensus had yet emerged on a collective commitment on climate change, on the eve of the crucial Cop26 conference starting in Glasgow on Sunday.

A senior US official said elements of the final G20 statement 'are still being negotiated', adding that the Rome summit was about 'helping build momentum' before the UN climate talks.

At a gala dinner at his lavish Qurinale palace on Saturday evening, Italian President Sergio Mattarella urged leaders to act for the sake of 'future generations'.

'The climate change emergency looms over everything else,' the 80-year-old said, adding: 'The eyes of billions of people, of entire peoples, are upon us and the results we will be able to achieve.'

Stop playing games

Earlier in the day, thousands of climate protesters, many of them young, gathered in the city centre to demand tougher action.

'We're asking G20 leaders to stop playing games among themselves and finally listen to the people and act for the climate, as science has been asking for years,' Fridays for Future activist Simone Ficicchia told AFP.

Hosts Italy are pushing the G20 to collectively endorse the UN goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, one of the aspirations of the landmark 2015 Paris climate accords.

A demonstrator wears a death mask during environmental protests at G20

Police in riot gear clear the road by moving the Climate Camp activists

'From the pandemic, to climate change, to fair and equitable taxation, going it alone is simply not an option,' Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told leaders ahead of the closed-door talks.

But G20 members, many at different stages of economic development, remain at odds over the other major goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

The stakes are high, as the G20 - which includes China, the US, India, the EU and Russia - accounts for 80 percent of global GDP and nearly 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
It was a sleight of hand that critics say betrays the depth of Rishi Sunak's ambitions to be the next Prime Minister.

After his Budget last week, the Chancellor issued two different versions of Treasury graphics highlighting his announcements.

The one sent to fellow Tory MPs bore the Conservative Party logo, but those shown to the public carried Mr Sunak's signature instead.

One Tory MP last night described it as a blatant ploy to bolster his political profile. 'It's all about brand Rishi,' they said.

'All of this only makes sense if Boris was going next week. Boris isn't going anywhere, so this just annoys people.'

It was a sleight of hand that critics say betrays the depth of Rishi Sunak's ambitions to be the next Prime Minister (bottom right shows Conservative logo version sent to Tory MPs)

After his Budget last week, the Chancellor issued two different versions of Treasury graphics highlighting his announcements (bottom right shows Rishi Sunak's signature version shown to public)

It is not the first time that Mr Sunak has been caught replacing the Conservatives' branding with his own.

When furlough was extended in November, promotional images used the Conservative tree logo, but with his name underneath.

The latest move is part of an engrossing tussle between the Chancellor and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss over who may one day succeed Boris Johnson as leader.

The rivalry has drawn comparisons to the power struggle in the HBO drama Succession, where the scheming heir apparent, Kendall Roy, vies with sister Shiv to pursue patriarch Logan Roy's crown.

Tory MPs fear the dark saga of the power-hungry siblings  and their respective camps of loyalists  is almost matched by the ambitions of the two Cabinet rivals.

Just hours before Mr Sunak stood outside No 11 on Wednesday, Budget Red Box in hand, a striking article about Ms Truss's power dressing appeared in The Times.

Observers couldn't help but note the timing of the feature, not least because Ms Truss had chosen to give her first major interview as Foreign Secretary to The Telegraph last Saturday  on the same day Mr Sunak gave his pre-Budget interview.

Traditionally, Government media handlers leave the weekend clear for the Chancellor.

Aides to several other Cabinet Ministers said they were holding off announcements to avoid overshadowing the Treasury, so eyebrows were raised when the interview with Ms Truss appeared.

As the final touches were being put to the Budget, the two Cabinet rivals were described as being on 'constant manoeuvres'.

Anonymous reports that the Chancellor has been 'unashamedly' building support among grassroots MPs prompted sources close to Mr Sunak to point out that Ms Truss has been wooing 'Red Wallers' with dinners at 5 Hertford Street, a 2,850-a-year private members' club.

Westminster insiders say small groups of female MPs are also being invited to so-called 'Fizz with Liz' nights, although allies said many Cabinet Ministers entertained MPs after taking up new roles. A source close to Ms Truss said: 'There's obviously some rivalry [with Mr Sunak], but any [leadership] contest is all so far away.'

The one sent to fellow Tory MPs bore the Conservative Party logo (bottom right shows Conservative logo)

But those shown to the public carried Mr Sunak's signature instead (bottom right shows Rishi Sunak's signature)

Mr Sunak has caused some grumbling among backbench Tories, concerned by the cost of the pandemic and a 'tax and spend' Budget that drew comparisons with Labour's Gordon Brown.

Nor were they impressed by the tidal wave of media briefings before the Budget that drew a sharp rebuke from the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Using language that could have come from the ruthless Logan Roy, one MP said: 'The Treasury f***** up big time in the briefing. They massively overdid it.

It affects everyone. The Speaker then punishes the Government for misbehaving. There was no need.'

But another Tory source said Mr Sunak has given himself a 'get out of jail card' among Conservatives by pledging to lower taxes before the next Election if possible.

Ms Truss has wasted no time leveraging her new role. The Government Flickr account has featured 267 pictures of her and 104 of Mr Sunak.

And her brand is only set to grow after No 10 agreed she can recruit an Instagram guru.

Mr Sunak is the only other Minister with an image consultant, having recruited social-media expert Cass Horowitz last year.

Ms Truss is also working to make friends in the Foreign Office.

A source said: 'Liz knows how to treat her colleagues. It's one of the reasons she's so successful.'
Gladys Berejiklian saying Dominic Perrottet 'just does what I ask him to' shocked most, but has become a running joke between the NSW premier and his wife.

'Why do you do what Gladys asks you to do and not what I ask you to do?' Mr Perrottet said his wife Helen asked him.

The line was recorded from a phone call between Ms Berejiklian and her secret lover, corrupt MP Darryl Maguire, tapped by the Independent Commission Against Corruption when she was the NSW premier and Mr Perrottet was her treasurer.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (pictured left) with his predecessor Gladys Berejiklian

Mr Maguire said Mr Perrottet told him there was no money in the budget for two hospital projects in his Wagga Wagga electorate, but there was for a planned crackdown on graffiti.

Ms Berejiklian responded: 'I'll fix it'.

She called back later and said: 'I've already got you the Wagga hospital... I just spoke to Dom (Perrottet), and I said just put the 140 (million dollars) in the budget.

'And he said "no worries" - he just does what I ask him to.'

Ms Berejiklian added: 'We're giving Wagga more money than ever before. I just got you the one hundred and seventy mill... you can't tell me you've been hard done by.'

Mr Perrottet shared the joke between himself and his wife at a News Corp event on Friday.

The former premier has repeatedly stressed that she did nothing wrong and always worked in the best interests of the people of NSW.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (pictured right), with his wife Helen. The couple shared a private joke about former state premier Gladys Berejiklian

ICAC counsel Scott Robertson told the corruption inquiry into Ms Berejiklian on Friday that Mr Perrottet was not under investigation.

'There's no suggestion in any of the material before this commission, in this investigation of any improper conduct on the part of (Mr Perrottet), I just thought I should make that clear,' Mr Robertson said.

Other than the joke at Ms Berejiklian's expense, Mr Perrottet said he would not be commenting on the ICAC proceedings.

'That would be incredibly prejudicial as public hearings are underway and the independent commission will continue to do its work,' he told reporters on Friday.

'And ultimately, if there's anything the government needs to act on, arising out of those public inquiries, we will.'

ICAC is investigating whether Ms Berejiklian breached the public's trust while in a hidden relationship with Mr Maguire, including whether she had a conflict of interest in handling funding requests backed by him without disclosing their relationship.

Dominic and Helen Perrottet (pictured centre) with four of their six children

Ms Berejiklian's legal team tried to have evidence from Mr Maguire heard in private, but this was rejected by ICAC Assistant Commissioner Ruth McColl.

ICAC subsequently revealed the former premier and the disgraced Mr Maguire discussed getting married and having a child.

On a tapped call Mr Maguire compared the ICAC to the 'Spanish Inquisition' and said they could be tapping his phone.

'They could be taping your conversation with me right now. You wouldn't know,' he said.

You 'can't even have a conversation now, they're taping it', Mr Maguire said of the ICAC.

In another intercepted call, Ms Berejiklian said to Mr Maguire: 'The bottom line is if you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about.'

Gladys Berejiklian (pictured left) and Dominic Perrottet (right), the former and current NSW premiers

Opening evidence on Friday, ICAC counsel assisting Scott Robertson began with a killer question.

'If you were able to have your time again would you disclose your close personal relationship with Mr Maguire?' Mr Robertson asked.

Ms Berejiklian responded she didn't feel it was a commitment she could share with her parents, Arsha and Krikor, or her sisters.

'I didn't feel there was a sufficient significance to be able to do that in terms of significance,' she said.

The inquiry into Ms Berejiklian continues on Monday, which is expected to be the last day of public hearings.
Two men are fighting for life in hospital after a horror stabbing at a busy rooftop bar.

Emergency crews were called to Pink Monkey Bar and Grill in Burleigh Heads on Queensland's Gold Coast at about 10.15pm on Saturday.

One man had stab wounds to his chest and he other, in his 30s, suffered back injuries.

Emergency crews were called to Pink Monkey Bar and Grill in Burleigh Heads (pictured)

One man had stab wounds to his chest and he other, in his 30s, suffered back injuries. Pictured: Pink Monkey Bar

They were treated at the scene before being rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition.

Queensland Police said the incident is under investigation.
The sister of the retired colonel murdered by Penelope Jackson described her yesterday as an 'evil monster' and a controlling bully.

Jackson, 66, repeatedly stabbed her husband David, 78, with a filleting knife then told a 999 operator: 'I thought I'd got him in the heart, but he hasn't got one.'

Jurors rejected her claim that it followed decades of abuse.

Last night, Mr Jackson's heart-broken sister Jennifer told The Mail on Sunday that her older brother had been the target of belittling put-downs for years.

'There was only one bully in the relationship and it was Penny,' she said. 'She's an evil monster.'

Penelope Jackson, 66 with her husband David. She repeatedly stabbed him with a filleting knife then told a 999 operator: 'I thought I'd got him in the heart, but he hasn't got one'

Speaking from her Birmingham home, she said: 'She drank lots of white wine and would just start on him.

'She would bully and belittle him, putting him down, making all the decisions.

'She was not a victim of domestic abuse, he was the victim. My brother was too proud to admit she bullied him and walk away.'

Jailing her for a minimum of 18 years on Friday, Judge Martin Picton told Jackson he was sure her husband 'was nothing like the person you claimed'.

He added: 'I have no doubt that you intended to kill your husband.'

Jackson killed her husband after the pair rowed over a dish of bubble and squeak in February

Bristol Crown Court heard she killed him in February after they rowed over a dish of bubble and squeak she served at a virtual dinner shared online with daughter Isabelle Potterton and her husband, Tom.

When Jackson was arrested in her M&S pyjamas, she told police her husband 'got everything he deserved'. Her sister-in-law, a retired secretary, wept tears of gratitude with her husband Brian, both 78, when Jackson was found guilty after the three-week trial.

But former Ministry of Defence accountant Jackson showed no emotion when she was convicted.

'She was always a cold and callous woman,' Jennifer Jackson said. 'I didn't like her from the moment I set eyes on her and neither did our late mother. David was always the blue-eyed boy, his murder would have killed her.'

The mother-of-three said the family had reservations from the start about the pair's relationship, which began as an affair on an Army base. Soon after discovering her infidelity, Jackson's third husband, Alan Warrender, killed himself.

'They had a one-night stand and it went from there,' she said. 'She became pregnant and he wanted to do the right thing  even though the baby wasn't his. That's why he married her.'

Mr Jackson left his second wife Sheila and adopted Mrs Potterton, the daughter Jackson had with Mr Warrander. In their 28 years together the couple spent time at their second home in the Dordogne, went on world cruises and holidayed in Spain, but the pressure of lockdown caused tension.

Officers were called to the Jacksons's Berrow home in Somerset after paramedics reported a man had been seriously injured

Throughout the trial, the victim's family bitterly rejected Jackson's version of events that her husband had treated her with 'utter contempt' and violence for years.

Jennifer Jackson said: 'She was so sure of herself, she was planning her life for when she got out of prison, saying she was going to sell the 300,000 bungalow they lived in.'

The only incidents of domestic abuse witnessed by anyone were in 1998, after Mr Jackson's only son Gavin killed himself having had an affair while his wife, a niece of Mr Jackson's second wife, was expecting their first child.

Jane Calverley, Mr Jackson's daughter from his first marriage, said her father 'was not perfect', but he 'sought help for the pain he was feeling and inflicting on others back in 1998'.

Mrs Calverley said her family had seen Jackson 'belittling, tormenting and baiting' her father at the start of their relationship and that she was a woman 'no one in our family liked or trusted'.

Mr Jackson's first wife, Patricia, is said to have never stopped loving him and is struggling with his death.

Mr Warrender's sister-in-law Mary, 62, also dismissed the allegations, telling The Mail on Sunday: 'Penny would not have tolerated abuse from any man. She would get rid of people when it suited her.

;David had what she wanted, which was money and security.'

Jackson's lawyers are expected to appeal against her conviction. But Jennifer Jackson said: 'Justice has been done for my brother  a lovely man. She got what she deserved. I hope she never walks free.'
BBC presenter Andrew Marr wants the Corporations deputy political editor Vicki Young to replace Laura Kuenssberg.

While Jon Sopel, the BBCs North America correspondent, has been seen as the favourite to be the next political editor, Mr Marr  who held the influential post himself for five years  said Ms Young is a real talent.

I dont have any inside knowledge but I think Vicki Young, the current deputy political editor should get it, he said.

I think she would be brilliant, she is a real talent and it would be great to see her in the job.

BBC presenter Andrew Marr wants the Corporations deputy political editor Vicki Young to replace Laura Kuenssberg

I dont have any inside knowledge but I think Vicki Young, the current deputy political editor should get it, said veteran presenter Andrew Marr

It was rumoured earlier this month that Ms Kuenssberg, 45, was in talks to step down after six years, possibly to take a presenting role on Radio 4s Today programme.

Ms Young, who attended Truro High School for Girls before studying at New Hall, Cambridge, was promoted to be deputy political editor in October 2020 after 25 years of service at the BBC.

Her career at the BBC began as a reporter at BBC Wales before joining the One OClock News as a political correspondent.

It was rumoured earlier this month that Ms Kuenssberg, 45, was in talks to step down after six years, possibly to take a presenting role on Radio 4s Today programme

Ms Young was then a correspondent for BBC Breakfast from 2008 to 2011 and in 2015, Young was promoted to the role of BBC News chief political correspondent which was in response to Norman Smiths promotion to assistant political editor.

In 2014, she served as a sit-in reporter for Daily Politics and has also reported for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live.

Mr Sopel is rumoured to be leaving the US to return to the UK, though he insists it is to write a book.

Other BBC staff who have been tipped for the role include media editor Amol Rajan, diplomatic editor James Landale and Any Questions host Chris Mason.
Furious BBC business staff have condemned as 'ridiculous' a decision to relocate them from the centre of global finance in London to Greater Manchester.

In a letter to BBC chairman Richard Sharp, the World Service business team said they had 'deep concerns' that the quality of the Corporation's coverage would suffer as a result of the 200-mile move to Salford.

The plan was announced in March when the BBC said 400 jobs would be shifted from London to cities including Birmingham, Leeds, Cardiff and Glasgow.

It understood that the entire business unit of 40 radio presenters and producers has so far refused to relocate  and some have now left the BBC.

Furious BBC business staff have condemned as 'ridiculous' a decision to relocate them from the centre of global finance in London to Greater Manchester

Their letter to the chairman, seen by The Mail on Sunday, questioned whether the Salford move offered good value for money to BBC licence-payers.

'[The plan] includes a proposal to reduce the amount of air time dedicated to business and relocate all 40 of our global business and economics journalist posts from London, the world's pre-eminent financial centre, to Salford,' it said. 'This is a self-evidently ridiculous decision.'

The letter added: 'Only two of us are considering a move to Salford as a serious choice. The rest cannot relocate. The loss of experience of global business reporting will surely damage the programmes and, consequently, the World Service as a whole.'

The backlash deals another blow to the BBC's attempt to restructure its newsroom by moving entire teams to other parts of the UK.

Three in four staff at Radio 1's Newsbeat service have refused to move to a new base in Birmingham and Rory Cellan-Jones, the long-standing technology correspondent, quit after he was asked to relocate to Glasgow.

The World Service business division produces popular radio shows, including its flagship World Business Report.

It focuses on programmes for an international audience which, say staff, makes it even more important that they be based in London to gain access to major companies, global conferences and international business leaders who work in and visit the capital.

In the letter, they described Salford as 'starved of access to the people [they] need to meet'.

The team currently sits next to the BBC's World TV business team in London and shares resources which, according to the letter, 'has undoubtedly reduced duplication and has therefore been a cost-effective use of licence fee money'.

The World Service business staff suggested the relocation 'of another, UK-focused programme or support team' instead.

A BBC insider said 'We're also being asked to move for a pay cut because we lose London weighting [where staff receive a larger salary due to the higher cost of living in the capital] and the job descriptions are not clear.'

Another said: 'Our sources are in London and our fear is it's the beginning of a cost-cutting process whereby they will try to cover world stories using domestic journalists.'

Last night, a BBC spokesman said: 'We will continue to deliver quality business reporting to audiences around the world, including World Business Report.'
Convicted murderer Robert Durst has been pictured in a new mug shot taken from his hospital bed after he was transferred to a prison hospital in California earlier in the week.

Durst, who is 78-years-old, contracted COVID and appears frail in the image which shows him propped against a pillow, his eyes sunken and red.

In the picture, the estranged heir of a New York real estate empire, can be seen with a face mask pulled down around his chin while he looks deadpan into the lens.

Durst was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing his best friend Susan Berman at the Inglewood Courthouse in Los Angeles on October. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 and placed on a ventilator two days later.

He was moved from the Los Angeles jail system on Wednesday and is now hospitalized at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton that cares for seriously-ill inmates.

Durst appears sickly and delicate in his prison mug. https://t.co/vdhJkA3Bvq  TMZ (@TMZ) October 30, 2021

Robert Durst is pictured at his sentencing on October 14. He was subsequently diagnosed with COVID and spent a fortnight on a ventilator, before being transferred to a prison facility for seriously-ill inmates

The Northern California hospital facility in Stockton is for inmates with long-term and acute medical needs

The Northern California hospital facility is for inmates with long-term and acute medical needs.

Less than two weeks ago he was hooked up to a ventilator for oxygen.

'Durst will be evaluated for appropriate housing consistent with his security, medical, psychiatric, housing and program needs and other case factors,' the prison said in a statement.

Durst silenced his best friend Susan Berman in December 2000 to keep her from telling authorities how she helped him cover up the 1982 killing of his wife Kathleen McCormack Durst in New York, prosecutors said.

On October 22, New York authorities charged Durst with second-degree murder. Kathie Durstr disappeared without a trace in 1982, and her body has never been found.

After the Westchester County District Attorney in New York reopened Kathie's disappearance as a murder case this year, the woman's family told News 12 that they felt closer to justice than ever before, but were anxious over Durst's failing health.

Astonishingly, progress was made in that case when First Lady Jill Biden's first husband Bill Stevenson said he'd been having an affair with Kathie shortly before she vanished.

Durst appeared sickly during his sentencing with his lawyer of 20 years Dick DeGuerin saying how he 'looked worse than I've ever seen him.'

Durst already suffered from a variety of serious health problems before his hospitalization.

In a push to postpone Durst's trial indefinitely, DeGuerin rattled off a list of his 'life-threatening' health issues in June, according to NBC Los Angeles, including severe malnourishment, a recurrence of esophageal cancer, atrial fibrillation, chronic kidney disease, coronary disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and spinal disease.

When Durst was being treated for one of these maladies in a jail hospital that month, Deputy District Attorney John Lewin questioned the veracity of his sickness, telling a judge that the 78-year-old defendant 'is on record in his jail calls saying that he's going to fake dementia, that he's going to secure a mistrial due to COVID.'

Kathleen McCormack Durst (left), was 29 years old when she vanished on January 29, 1982. Her body was never found

Durst was sentenced to life in prison for the 2000 murder of his friend Susan Berman (left); a day later, he was hospitalized for COVID

Durst entered the courtroom with a wide-eyed vacant stare. Near the end of the hearing after Berman's loved ones told the judge how her death upended their lives, Durst coughed hard and appeared to struggle to breathe. His chest heaved, and he pulled his mask down below his mouth and began to gulp for air.

Durst was also acquitted of killing a neighbor in Texas in 2003 after testifying he shot the man in self-defense during a struggle for a handgun. He was cleared despite chopping the victim's body up afterwards, and dumping it in the ocean.

The multimillionaire whose grandfather founded one of New York City's premier real estate companies was considered a suspect in Kathie's disappearance, but evaded justice for 39 years.

The killing had been a mystery that haunted the women's' families for years before Durst participated in the 2015 HBO documentary 'The Jinx: The Life and Crime of Robert Durst' that unearthed new evidence and caught him in a stunning confession:

'What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course,' Durst mumbled on a hot mic as he went to the bathroom, unaware that he was being recorded, during an interview with filmmaker Andrew Jarecki - the real estate scion was arrested the day before the documentary aired after the recording was shared with police.



Berman is thought to have helped Durst cover his tracks after his wife's disappearance, posing as Kathie to phone her medical school to say she was sick on the morning after she was last seen alive.

Durst was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court last month of first-degree murder for shooting Berman point-blank in the back of the head.

Kathie Durst was last seen on Christmas of 1982, according to interviews conducted with her family by News 12.

Robert Durst in his wheelchair looks at people in the courtroom as he appears during his murder trial in September

Her brother, Jim McCormack, told the outlet that Durst had wanted to leave the holiday gathering, but Kathie was lingering. What happened next has haunted the McCormack family since:

'[Durst] walked over to her, grabbed her by the top of her hair and yanked her. And she went with that pull. My grandmother's eyes were as big as pizza pies. She grabbed her coat and she turns to me and says "It's OK, Jimmy,"' he said.

Eight years after his wife's disappearance, Durst quietly divorced her, citing 'spousal abandonment. She was not declared legally dead until 2019.

Durst was also charged - and acquitted in 2005 - of the 2001 murder of Morris Black (above) who he admitted dismembering

In an affidavit, Durst wrote that 'he received no communication from his wife' after she left their home in South Salem on January 31, 1982.

Sources close to the reopened case investigation told News 12 that Durst originally told police that he had dropped Kathie off at a train station in Westchester, then spoke to her on a payphone after she took a train to Manhattan.

Durst was also charged - and acquitted at a 2005 trial - of the 2001 murder of his neighbor Morris Black in Galveston, Texas, despite admitting to chopping his body up into multiple pieces with an ax and a bow saw.

Durst had claimed he accidentally shot Black in the head when they were both wrestling over Durst's firearm which Black had gotten hold of.

He dismembered his body and dumped it in the sea in plastic bags which were discovered by authorities.

The only body part never found was Black's head - making Durst's version of events difficult to disprove.

The real estate scion had wound up being neighbors with Black when he was reportedly hiding from New York authorities in the small town in Texas.

Prosecutors during his trial for Berman's murder argued Durst murdered Black when he discovered his true identity as the man suspected of killing his wife in New York.

DA Rocah reopened the investigation back in May into Kathie's disappearance - a case that has plagued the DA's office for decades.

The original investigation was only ever launched as a missing persons case and no search of the Durst's home was carried out.

In 2000, then-DA Jeanine Pirro reopened the case into Kathie's disappearance at a time when Berman's death was being investigated in LA and Durst was facing charges over Black's death in Texas.

Authorities searched a lake and the Durst couples home, but, once again, no charges were brought.
The port city of Genoa was once a medieval superpower to rival Venice and still has grand palaces and ornate churches to prove it.

But as much as youll want to wander the lanes of the historic centre, its hard to resist spending most of your time sampling the local cuisine or shopping at family-run stores to take home a taste of the province of Liguria.

Here's how to enjoy the city on a budget...

During a trip to Genoa, visit the likes of Gelateria Profumo and the fishing village of Boccadasse

Where to stay

Hotel Le Nuvole

Pick up your keys from the sister hotel next door, then enter this grand former townhouse that stands on a bustling pedestrianised square in the historic centre. Take the lift to the top floor and a stylish, boutique residence where your bedroom (one of 15) might have views of the fine church next door or a pavement cafe below. B&B doubles from 74 (hotellenuvole.it).

Hotel NoLogo

This few-frills place is in a good location off a pedestrianised street and has a large terrace with Jacuzzi. Its 56 rooms are decorated sparsely, but whatever you save on the bill, splurge it in nearby cafes and restaurants. A good-value breakfast costs 4 pp. Room-only doubles from 57 (hotelnologo.it).

Valery Guesthouse

A family-run B&B thats part of a 15th-century ex-convent. There are only two rooms, either sold together to families or groups  or one is kept empty if you take the other, so youll never be sharing with strangers. Theres a terrace with great views over the city. B&B doubles from 61 (valeryguesthouse.com).

What to see and do

Wander the lanes of Genoa, pictured, a city filled with grand palaces and ornate churches

Centro Storico

Genoas historic centre is crisscrossed by caruggi, medieval alleys that link squares and streets lined with shops, churches and cafes. Expect to get lost!

If you need help, guide Barbara Cudia charges from 30 pp for a group of four for three hours (hellogenoa.eu). Take one of 18 public lifts and funiculars (amt.genova.it) to make climbing the citys hills easy.

Boccadasse

Seaside stroll: Walk to charming Boccadesse, which is the perfect spot for sunset photos

Follow the locals and stroll along the mile-long Corso Italia, to the fishing village of Boccadasse in the early evening. It is the perfect spot for sunset photos  and you can stop off for cocktails or a fried fish snack.

Palazzo Spinola

The Palazzo Spinola National Gallery, built in 1593, contains works by Brea, Tintoretto and Rubens (entry 5.20, palazzospinola.beniculturali.it).

Il Gesu

Pictured is the 'amazingly rich baroque interior' of the 16th-century Il Gesu church

The 16th-century Il Gesu church on Piazza Matteotti looks dull from the outside, but has an amazingly rich baroque interior (culturainliguria.it).

Where to eat

Trattoria Rosmarino

Trattoria Rosmarino is an 'unpretentious' eatery close to the grand Piazza de Ferrari (pictured)

Genoa is the home of focaccia and pesto, and its restaurants make full use of delicious, local ingredients. Trattoria Rosmarino is an unpretentious place for lunch or dinner just close to the grand Piazza de Ferrari. It highlights the best produce from Liguria: a delicious dish of pasta and pesto is 9. Salt cod with potatoes and olives is 12.

Mercato Orientale

At this good-value lunchtime spot, you can dine at a dozen or so stalls under one roof  a starter here, a main there, dessert to take away  so mix and match.

The setting, with sun streaming in through the large upper windows, is rather wonderful. If you want a more formal sit-down meal, go upstairs where 24-year-old wunderchef Daniele Rebosio oversees the kitchen with mains averaging 20 (moggenova.it).

20 Tre

After visiting the 12th-century Abbey of San Matteo (pictured on the right), head to 20 Tre for dinner

This restaurant is a short stroll from the 12th-century Abbey of San Matteo, a handy reference point if you get lost while searching for it in the tight cluster of narrow lanes here. Your meal might include prawn tartare with apple and vermouth ice cream, home-made gnocchi with monkfish and crunchy asparagus, before a main that will cost about 16 (ristorante20tregenova.it).

Gelateria Profumo

Come to Italy and not have gelato? Unthinkable. This rather nondescript-looking ice cream shop is worth seeking out for its range of delectable flavours that are made on site daily.

The ices are hidden in metal jars, so all the more reason to taste before deciding. Its sister bakery nearby makes some of the most sumptuous cakes and pastries in town (villa1827.it).

Need to know

British Airways (ba.com), easyJet (easyjet.com) and Ryanair (ryanair.com) fly to Genoa. Volabus (amt.genova.it) links the airport to the city centre and costs 5 one way. Genoa tourist information: visitgenoa.it.
Competition for the coveted Strictly Come Dancing glitterball trophy is hotting up, with just a few weeks left to the sequined final. Guaranteed to be there is Anton Du Beke, who this year has slipped into his judges seat next to Craig, Motsi and Shirley as if it were made for him.

But if youre itching to see Anton on the dancefloor again, heres an exclusive chance to join him and his long-term dance partner and fellow Strictly favourite Erin Boag on a fabulous eight-day Danube river cruise.

After flying to Budapest, youll travel on a stylish Emerald Cruises Star-Ship, with stops at Linz in Austria and at the Unesco World Heritage-listed town of Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic.

Sail of the centuries: Admire the baroque Melk Abbey during your Danube cruise

OUR SPECIAL GUESTS You will be joined by Anton and Erin Having danced together for two decades, Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag are two of Britains all-time favourite ballroom stars. Their charisma, chemistry and sparkling choreography have wowed audiences all over the world. Anton, affectionately known as the King of Ballroom, holds the record as Strictlys longest-serving professional dancer. Advertisement

This memorable trip will take you to three of Europes great capitals, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest, and you will sail past terraced vineyards and apricot orchards en route to Melk and Durnstein in Austria.

In the Austrian capital, youll watch Anton and Erin perform at an intimate and historic venue, and the pair will also take part in a special interactive dance masterclass aboard ship.

Anton and Erin will also host an entertaining question-and-answer session, during which you can ask them about their lives and careers and find out what really goes on behind the scenes on Strictly. One Mail reader said of a previous trip: Its been such a wonderful experience seeing Anton and Erin perform. I cannot imagine anything better.

REASONS TO BOOK

Sail in style: Youll travel on an elegant Emerald Cruises Star-Ship which has an indoor pool with retractable roof, an open-air terrace, cinema and putting green, as well as beautiful staterooms and suites. You can choose indoor or outdoor dining. Your cruise will include EmeraldPLUS and EmeraldACTIVE excursions in each city  for example, a visit to a Hungarian folklore show in Budapest, or a guided biking tour through the picturesque Wachau Valley.

See Anton and Erin dance: Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag will give an unforgettable one-off performance in the unique setting of Vienna, home of the waltz. You will also join the stars for a cocktail reception and photo opportunity.

Join a dance masterclass: Work on your waltz and finesse your foxtrot during a fun dance class on board ship with Anton and Erin. You will also have the opportunity to hear the pair talk about their long-term partnership and love of dance during a private Q&A session.

Flexible booking policy: Book with confidence knowing that Emerald Cruises allows you to cancel up to 60 days before your cruise with no fees.
Lisa Wipfli has revealed the shocking injuries sustained by son Ted during a playground accident.

The 39-year-old wife of radio host Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli posted a photo of the couple's eldest son Ted to Instagram while admitting the five-year-old had 'fractured his nose'.

'The CT scan showed no damage to his brain which is a huge relief,' wrote Lisa.

Poor boy: Lisa Wipfli has revealed the shocking injuries sustained by son Ted (pictured) during a playground accident

Lisa added that the accident had occurred while Ted had been playing on the monkey bars.

'Such a brave boy,' wrote Lisa in the post, which accompanied a photo of Ted with a visible black eye and grazes on his nose and mouth.

She also revealed that she had been inundated with 'caring messages' since the accident.

Their firstborn: The 39-year-old wife of radio host Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli posted a photo of the couple's eldest son Ted to Instagram. Lisa and Ted pictured

The Wipflis moved into a $6.5million Rose Bay mansion shortly before the birth of their third child, daughter Francesca Vera Alice, in March last year.

Apart from Theodore, the couple also share son Jack, four.

They previously sold their Queens Park cottage for a reported $2.4million before moving into their Rose Bay home.

Family: The Wipflis moved into a $6.5million Rose Bay mansion shortly before the birth of their third child, daughter Francesca Vera Alice, in March last year. L-R: Francesca, Wippa, Jack, Lisa and Ted

Despite living a life of luxury at their mansion, Lisa credits being a 'bogan at heart' for her and her husband's down-to-earth personalities.

'We both come from very real families,' she told Daily Mail Australia earlier this year.

'I'm a Brissie girl. I'm a bogan at heart. I don't get caught up in any of those smoke and mirrors and all that silliness and Mike is the same, to be honest with you.'
She spent the week celebrating her birthday with family including fiance Orlando Bloom and their 14-month-old daughter Daisy.

And Katy Perry flew back home just to keep the celebrations rolling with some of her celebrity friends.

The Firework hitmaker - who turned 37 on Monday - was seen arriving to a restaurant in Los Angeles on Thursday night wearing a sweatsuit before changing into a glam blue dress.

On-the-go: Katy Perry who turned 37 on Monday - was seen arriving to a restaurant in Los Angeles on Thursday night wearing a sweatsuit

Quick change artist: The Firework hitmaker was later seen in a glam blue maxi dress

It was quite the star studded event as her famous pals including Nicole Richie, Samantha Ronson, Kelly Sawyer and Jamie Mizrahi were all in attendance.

Her hunky 44-year-old partner Orlando was also seen carrying their child.

Just days ago, Katy along with close friends and family had been staying at the luxury Nobu Los Cabos resort this week to celebrate her birthday, and on her actual day of birth the Pirates Of The Caribbean star penned a gushing tribute.

The star was wearing a birthday headband in the snap, which Orlando captioned with: 'We do life, we do love and it's fun. I'll celebrate you today and every day. I love you.'

Party time! It was quite the star studded event as her famous pals including Nicole Richie (pictured), Samantha Ronson, Kelly Sawyer and Jamie Mizrahi were all in attendance

Doting dad: Katy's hunky 44-year-old partner Orlando Bloom was also seen carrying their child 14-month-old Daisy

Sweet: Katy looked absolutely thrilled to be spending time with some of her nearest and dearest

Katy and Orlando are parents to daughter Daisy Dove Bloom, one, whom they welcomed in August 2020.

Orlando is also dad to Flynn, 10, with ex wife Miranda Kerr.

Katy and Orlando first met at the January 2016 Netflix Golden Globes/ Weinstein Company after party, sparking rumors of a romantic connection.

Soon after they were seen on several occasions spending time together, with images of the duo in Hawaii in February 2016 showing them kissing, confirming their burgeoning relationship.

Cute: Orlando shared a sweet snap on Tuesday featuring the birthday girl and her delicious looking dessert during her birthday trip to Mexico

Katy and Orlando split in March 2017 with their reps confirming the news and their desire to take 'respectful, loving space at this time.'

However five months later, the duo are seen getting cozy at a concert and they are back on romantically by February 2018.

Orlando proposed to Katy on Valentine's Day 2019 with a pink stone diamond surrounded engagement ring.

In March 2020 it was revealed that Katy and Orlando were expecting a baby together, with the pop star revealing the news by showcasing her baby bump in the Never Worn White music video.

They welcomed daughter Daisy in August 2020.
Sam Frost's job on Home and Away may be in jeopardy as Channel Seven confirmed this week that all staff must be double-vaxxed against Covid-19 by January.

But the former Bachelorette star, who recently revealed she is unvaccinated in an emotional video, didn't let the controversy of the past few weeks get her down as she filmed scenes on Tuesday, on the set of Home And Away.

It was business as usual for the 32-year-old, who was seen on the set of the long-running soap in Palm Beach, on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

Business as usual: On Tuesday, Sam Frost flaunted her fit figure in activewear while filming a jogging scene on the set of Home And Away, after revealing she is unvaccinated. Channel Seven confirmed this week that all staff must be double-vaxxed against Covid-19 by January

She was in character - as nurse Jasmine Delaney - dressed activewear and appeared to be filming a jogging scene on the beach.

Sam showed off her figure in a pink and fuchsia crop top with multicoloured leggings and grey training shoes.

The blonde beauty had her luscious locks up in a ponytail and wore a pair of AirPods in her ears.

She patiently waited at her mark as the cameras got in place before she was given the green light from her director to jog along the sand.

She's on the move! On Tuesday, she was seen on the set of the long-running soap in Palm Beach, on Sydney's Northern Beaches, in character - as nurse Jasmine Delaney - dressed activewear and appeared to be filming a jogging scene on the beach

Go figure! She showed off her figure in a pink and fuchsia crop top with multicoloured leggings

Ready on set: The blonde beauty had her luscious locks up in a ponytail and wore a pair of AirPods in her ears

Sam appeared to do the take a few times, before she was then took a break.

She was then seen with her script in hand as she took a stroll along the beach - likely running through her lines for her next scene.

The actress was joined by an adorable dog on the set who seemed interested in playing with her.

She picked up a stick and tossed it for the pooch to fetch for her.

Action: She patiently waited at her mark as the cameras got in place before she was given the green light from her director to jog along the sand

Running: Sam appeared to do the take a few times, before she was then took a break

This comes after a deadline was announced for staff of Seven Productions, which includes Home And Away, who will need to be double vaccinated against Covid-19 from January 10 to continue work.

According to a report in the Herald Sun on Friday, Director of Production at Seven West Media Andrew Backwell sent out an email to staff stating the network will 'only engage fully vaccinated presenters, cast and crew'.

A Seven spokesperson told the publication: 'To provide the safest possible work environment for cast, crew and presenters, Seven Productions have made the decision to only engage those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, taking effect in January next year.

Play time: The actress was joined by an adorable dog on the set who seemed interested in playing with her

Fetch! She picked up a stick and tossed for the pooch to fetch for her

Preparing: While playing with the dog, she had a script in hand and was likely running through her lines for her next scene

'Seven strongly encourages vaccination to protect our people, their colleagues and their families.'

While the network would not comment on individuals, the mandate is likely to affected Sam who recently stated that she was not vaccinated.

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, a Channel Seven representative said that the network will 'not comment or speculate on the vaccination status of individuals'.

Mandate: A deadline was announced for staff from Seven Productions, including Home And Away, who will need to be double vaccinated from January 10 to continue work. Earlier this month in an emotional video, Sam reveals she was unvaccinated and her mental health had suffered as a result of other people 'judging' her. Pictured is Sam with co-star Ada Nicodemou

The former Bachelorette star had deactivated her Instagram account on October 9, shortly after revealing in an emotional video that she was unvaccinated and her mental health had suffered as a result of other people 'judging' her.

The actress, who has played nurse Jasmine Delaney on Home and Away since 2017, called for less judgement towards unvaccinated Australians.

'I was really hesitant about doing a video or even speaking up about this sort of thing, but I feel like it's getting to a point now in the world where there's a lot of segregation,' she said in the video.

Emotional: The actress, who has played nurse Jasmine Delaney on Home and Away since 2017, called for less judgement towards unvaccinated Australians in her video. The former Bachelorette star had deactivated her Instagram account on October 9

Sam then said she hadn't been vaccinated, but claimed she had spoken to her medical doctor as well as a psychologist about her decision, however it's understood she does not have a valid medical exemption.

The reality TV star also added she could 'get in trouble' for coming out publicly as unvaccinated, before urging people to treat each other with more kindness and compassion.

Her video caused a great deal of controversy, mainly because of her use of the word 'segregation' when referring to the way society 'judges' unvaccinated people.

'Segregation' is typically used to describe societies that are divided due to race, religion or sexual orientation.

Back on the 'gram: Sam returned to Instagram on Wednesday, and thanked her loved ones including her colleagues, and said she'd been inundated with 'support and love'

Sam returned to Instagram on Wednesday, and thanked her loved ones including her colleagues, and said she'd been inundated with 'support and love'.

'Thank you for the enormous amount of support and love over the past few weeks,' she began in a post on Instagram Stories.

'I received thousands and thousands of beautiful messages and emails. I appreciate it, more than you'll ever know.

'Incredibly grateful for my friends, family and work colleagues who held my hand through the storm, and loved me unconditionally. Kindness always wins. With all of my heart, thank you.'
Their social calendar is often jam-packed.

And Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina made their latest outing together on Friday, joining forces to channel the style seen in musical drama film The Greatest Showman.

The couple, 49 and 33 respectively, were dressed in line with the night's theme, as Annabel's, an elegant private club in Mayfair, hosted their annual Halloween bash, Circus of Horrors.

Dressed up: Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina rocked a Greatest Showman-esque style for Circus Of Horrors Halloween bash in Mayfair on Friday

Model Sabrina appeared to be inspired by the film's lead character P. T. Barnum, sporting a highly decorative velvet blazer, comprising of red, white, black and gold hues.

Instead of following Hugh Jackman's character to the tee, she swapped smart black trousers for a mini skirt and over-the-knee socks.

Meanwhile her husband looked dapper in a pink waistcoat and attached cape.

Night out: The couple were dressed in line with the night's theme, as Annabel's, an elegant private club in Mayfair, hosted their annual Halloween bash, Circus of Horrors

Wow: Instead of following Hugh Jackman's character to the tee, she swapped smart black trousers for a mini skirt and over-the-knee socks

Smiles: Meanwhile her husband looked dapper in a pink waistcoat and attached cape

Bash: Blue Story star Micheal Ward (left) wore a Pac-Man adorned suit

Pose: Annabel's owner Richard Caring and his wife Patricia didn't miss out on the night

Inspiration: Idris and Sabrina joined forces to channel the style seen in musical drama film The Greatest Showman

Media and television personality Georgia Toffolo was also in attendance at the party.

Keeping things simple yet stunning, the 27-year-old stepped out in the West End wearing a square-neck dress, adding to her height with black heels.

Georgia - commonly dubbed Toff - had a loose wave in her blonde tresses and she accessorised with a chic handbag.

Out: Media and television personality Georgia Toffolo was also in attendance at the party

Twinning: Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark (l) and her good friend Ella Richards (r) mirrored each other's outfits

Gorgeous: 13 Reasons Why star Katherine Langford went for bold makeup

Annabel's famed Halloween event was sold out, with it being described 'an evening of frights and thrills.'

Each room was terrifyingly themed, from a haunted ticket office to a broken ballerina's dressing room.

Completing the faces at the costume-clad night were Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark with Ella Richards, Katherine Langford and Harrison Osterfield with his girlfriend Gracie James.

Couples night: Harrison Osterfield also showed up with his girlfriend Gracie James

Elsewhere on Friday night, Karren Brady cut a stylish figure as she enjoyed an evening out with husband Paul Peschisolido at Oswald's club in London.

The Apprentice star, 52, wowed in a black blazer-style mini dress teamed with black stiletto heels.

Meanwhile, Paul cut a dapper figure in a navy blazer teamed with dark jeans and brown boots.

The couple put on an affectionate display in a taxi before heading home following their night out.

Looking good: Elsewhere on Friday night, Karren Brady cut a stylish figure as she enjoyed an evening out with husband Paul Peschisolido at Oswald's club in London
The official trailer for the Will Smith-starring series, Best Shape Of My Life, was released on the actor's YouTube channel on Friday.

In the clip, the 53-year-old performer was seen during various parts of his weight loss journey, which appeared to culminate in an emotional discussion with his loved ones where he notably revealed that he previously considered suicide.

The program was originally announced to have been in production this past May, and it is currently set to be made available on YouTube Originals in the near future.

An inside look: The official trailer for the Will Smith-starring miniseries, Best Shape Of My Life, was released on the actor's YouTube channel on Friday

The trailer begins with Smith addressing the camera directly, and he notably stated that the series was initially conceived 'as a journey to get into the best shape of my life.'

The performer was then seen spending time with his wife, Jada Pinkett, who asked if he would look better than he previously did in iRobot after the transformation, to which he positively responded.

The Independence Day star also affirmed his commitment to 'lose 20 pounds in 20 weeks,' after which he was seen getting familiar with various exercises at a gym.

Smith went on to express that although he was ready to change his body at the start of the project, he had not expected to encounter non-physical difficulties during the process.

Starting off strong: The trailer begins with Smith addressing the camera directly, and he notably stated that the series was initially conceived 'as a journey to get into the best shape of my life'

Great expectations: The performer was then seen spending time with his wife, Jada Pinkett, who asked if he would look better than he previously did in iRobot after the transformation

'When I started this show, I thought I was getting into the best shape of my life, physically. But mentally, I was somewhere else,' he expressed.

The performer then expressed that he 'ended up discovering a whole lot of hidden things about myself' during the production of the show.

Smith also made a point of noting that he was also working on a book that would be 'exposing my life and so many things that people don't know about me' to the public as the project was being produced.

The actor was then seen surrounded by his loved ones, including his children, Jaden, Willow and Willard, and spoke about an event that happened to be 'the only time in my life that I considered suicide.'

Priorities: Smith notably stated that 'When I started this show, I thought I was getting into the best shape of my life, physically. But mentally, I was somewhere else'

Being open: The actor was then seen surrounded by his loved ones, including his children, Jaden, Willow and Willard, during an emotional family meeting

Baring it all: The actor notably spoke about an event that happened to be 'the only time in my life that I considered suicide'

The scene subsequently changed to the actor running along an idyllic beach, and he expressed that he was 'about to show the world how little I know about myself.'

Smith was then shown going through what appeared to be a moment of personal hardship, and he addressed the camera directly while speaking openly about his doubts concerning the program.

'I don't want to do any of this. I'm finished with The Best Shape Of My Life,' he said.

The performer was later seen at a meeting where he read from a manuscript and detailed openly how his public persona was largely falsified over time.

Plans: During the trailer, Smith expressed that he was 'about to show the world how little I know about myself'

Peaks and valleys: The actor was then shown going through what appeared to be a moment of personal hardship, and he addressed the camera directly while speaking openly about his doubts concerning the program

'What you've come to understand as Will Smith, the alien-annihilating MC, bigger than life movie star, is largely a construction, a carefully crafted and honed character,' he said.

The performer went on to note that the persona was 'designed to protect myself, to hide myself from the world, to hide the coward.'

The trailer ended with Smith wiping tears from his eyes during the family meeting, and Willow solemnly placed her head against her hands while closing her eyes.

The Best Shape Of My Life is currently scheduled to be made available on YouTube Originals on November 8th.
Home and Away's Sophie Dillman served as a judge at the spring fashion stakes for The Everest Day earlier this month.

And on Friday, she shared her joy over finally getting to dress up for the race day event after months enduring Sydney's lockdown.

The 28-year-old told The Morning Show hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies she had a great day with her friends as they celebrated freedom with champagne.

Fun! Home and Away's Sophie Dillman admitted to The Morning Show on Friday that she had been in 'track pants for months' during lockdown before dressing up for The Everest Day earlier this month

She laughed: 'I haven't worn anything but track pants in months, it was such a great day.'

Elsewhere, Sophie talked about her date to the event - her real life boyfriend and Home and Away co-star Patrick O'Connor.

Kylie was quick to compliment the actor on his suave ensemble - a nicely tailored blue suit.

Perfect pairing: Elsewhere, Sophie talked about her date to the event - her real life boyfriend and Home and Away co-star Patrick O'Connor. She piled-on the praise, saying: 'Honestly he looked very handsome it was such a fun day... he's much more fashionable than I am'

Sophie also piled-on the praise, saying: 'Honestly he looked very handsome it was such a fun day. He (choose his outfit) all on his own, he's much more fashionable than I am.

'If anything it's the other way around,' the actress joked of her own fashion sense.

She looked elegant at The Everest race day in a blue floral dress by Elliatt.

Glamorous: She looked elegant at The Everest race day in a blue floral dress by Elliatt

Meet cute: The pair originally met in acting school in Queensland before reconnecting on the set of Home and Away. She was cast as Ziggy Astoni in 2017, while Patrick began portraying Dean Thompson in 2018

The pair originally met in acting school in Queensland before reconnecting on the set of Home and Away.

Sophie has been on the soap for slightly longer having portrayed Ziggy since June 2017, while Patrick was cast as Dean Thompson in 2018.

Sophie, who previously worked as a nurse, spoke to Now To Love about their romance earlier this year.

Real life chemistry! Sophie, who previously worked as a nurse, spoke to Now To Love about their romance earlier this year

Summer Bay romance: 'We were work buddies first, and it's helped us work well together now, so we're lucky in that regard,' she explained

'We were work buddies first, and it's helped us work well together now, so we're lucky in that regard,' she explained.

'It's nice to have a relationship built on friendship.

'At the core we are best mates first and we treat each other like that, but it's also made our relationship stronger starting out that way,' she added.
She's been on our TV screens as the beloved Irene Roberts on the long-running soap Home and Away for almost 30 years.

But according to News.com.au, Lynne McGranger has revealed in her new memoir Acting Up: Me, Myself And Irene that she once heard she was almost axed from the show during a live radio interview.

In her book, the 68-year-old actress is said to have recalled the awkward moment which occurred back in 2019 while speaking to WSFM's Jonesy and Amanda.

Say what?! Home and Away's Lynne McGranger learned that she was nearly axed from the long-running soap during an on-air radio interview back in 2019

'I feel incredibly blessed to say that I've blissfully gone to work every day feeling confident, proud and, all in all, secure in my job,' she wrote.

'That is until 2019 when I was being interviewed by radio stars Jonesy and Amanda on WSFM.'

'Completely out of the blue, Jonesy chimed in with, 'It's amazing to think that they nearly wrote you out in 2002.''

McGranger said that her initial response to that revelation was: 'I'm sorry, what?''

The revelation: The 68-year-old actress recalled the awkward moment which occurred in 2019 during an on-air radio interview with WSFM's Jonesy and Amanda, where Jonesy told her 'It's amazing to think that they nearly wrote you out in 2002'

'If I'd had a drink in my mouth, I'm confident that droplets would have been flying through the air,' she added.

Jonesy told the veteran actress that the story of her potential axing was 'on Wikipedia'. Lynne had no idea.

She explained in her memoir there was 'plans to write Irene out' because the producers on Home and Away didn't have any new ideas of where to take her character 'now that her kids were gone'.

Reaction: A perplexed Lynne initially asked the radio hosts about the story, to which Jonesy told the Home and Away star that it was 'on Wikipedia'

Lynne recalled how she was in complete shock once the interview finished.

She went to tell her husband, Paul McWaters, immediately afterwards and told him that a 'woman named Coral had saved my bacon back in 2002!'

Coral Drouyn was a script producer who pleaded with producers to let Irene stay.

McGranger has played Irene Roberts for more than 28 years.

Home and Away star: McGranger has played Irene Roberts on the beloved soap (pictured) for more than 28 years. She joined the ensemble cast in 1993

She came on board the series in 1993, taking over the role from Jacquy Phillips who played the character in the two years prior.

Irene Roberts was initially written as a recurring character but was promoted to regular cast shortly after Lynne joined.

The veteran actress is one of the longest-serving stars on the Australian soap.

Lynne McGranger's memoir Acting Up: Me, Myself & Irene is out on November 2.
Rebecca Judd opted to skip Saturday's Derby Day in Melbourne to spend some quality time with her family.

The footy WAG shared a series of pictures to her Instagram Stories of herself and her children - son Oscar, 10, daughter Billie, seven, and twin sons Darcy and Tom, four - relaxing poolside at Hotel Chadstone.

In one photo, Rebecca, 38, showed off her trim physique in a black bikini with white trim as she luxuriated on a sun lounger with a coffee in hand.

Making her own fun: Rebecca Judd relaxed poolside with her family at a Melbourne hotel on Saturday, opting to skip this year's Derby Day festivities

She swept her brunette tresses back off her face and enhanced her striking facial features with elegant makeup.

Another image saw her four children, who she shares with AFL star husband Chris Judd, relaxing on sun loungers above the shallow end of the pool.

Rebecca's eldest son Oscar embraced one of the twins beamed for the camera, while the other twin made a peace sign.

Quality family time: The famous footy WAG shared a series of pictures of her and her children - son Oscar, 10, daughter Billie, seven, and twin sons Darcy and Tom, four - relaxing on sun loungers at Hotel Chadstone Melbourne

It's a different scene for the socialite, who is a usual attendee at Melbourne's Spring Racing Carnival.

Earlier this week, the mother of four showed off the results of her gruelling workouts in lockdown during a photo shoot for her own activewear brand Jaggad.

Rebecca flaunted her incredible six-pack abs in a series of sporty bikinis.

Wild thing! Earlier this week, the mother of four showed off the results of her gruelling workouts in lockdown during a photo shoot for her own activewear brand Jaggad

The media star looked absolutely sensational in an animal print zip-up two-piece and black wet-look swimsuit.

Joining her in the shoot was Jaggad co-owner Michelle Greene, who also posed in a wet-look bikini top and animal print shorts with matching shirt.

Ahead of the shoot, Rebecca had a spray tan in a portable booth that was set up at the location.

She was glowing head-to-toe and her brunette locks were styled in messy beach waves.
Rob Mills is a man in love and he wants the world to know.

While attending Melbourne's Derby Day on Saturday, the former Australian Idol star told Daily Mail Australia that 'things are going really well' with his ABC News Breakfast presenter girlfriend Georgie Tunny.

The 39-year-old also stayed mum when asked if an engagement is on the cards, instead repeating how things are 'going well'.

No engagement yet! Speaking to Daily Mail Australia while at Melbourne's Derby Day on Saturday, Rob Mills revealed he's not engaged but that his relationship with his long-term girlfriend and ABC journalist Georgie Tunny (both pictured) is 'going really well'

Rob said that it was an honour to have experienced Melbourne's gruelling 18-month lockdown with Georgie.

'Lockdown was fine for me, I live with my wonderful partner,' he proudly said.

The Dancing With The Stars All-Stars contestant has been dating Georgie since 2018.

The two looked more loved-up than ever in a snap shared to Rob's Instagram on Saturday, with the couple attending the Derby Day together.

Long-term love: Rob has been dating ABC presenter Georgie Tunny since 2018

Suave: Rob looked suave on the day in a grey three-piece suit, a white shirt, a polka-dot tie and black leather dress shoes

'#RaceReady @georgie_tunny and I working together for the first time! @channel10au @10sportau,' he captioned the picture of the two.

For the event, Rob wore a pinstriped three-piece grey suit, teamed with a white shirt and polka-dot tie.

Meanwhile his stunning reporter girlfriend Georgie donned a tuxedo-dress by Rachel Gilbert and accessorised with a matching monochrome top hat.

In August, the musical theatre performer revealed how he convinced her to go on a date with him.

In great spirits: He made a number of animated facial expressions, clearly in great spirits

Love at first sight: Rob first became enamoured with Georgie when he saw her on ABC News Breakfast. Pictured: Georgia with fellow presenter Michael Rowland

Rob explained to The Sydney Morning Herald that he first became enamoured with the 29-year-old when he saw her on TV.

'I flicked on the television to ABC News Breakfast and went, ''Who is that?!'' She was beautiful and articulate. I needed to know her,' he said at the time.

'I sent her a direct message on Instagram, which opened with, "I promise I'm not crazy".

Romantic: 'I flicked on the television to ABC News Breakfast and went, ''Who is that?!'' She was beautiful and articulate. I needed to know her,' he said

Although Georgie was initially unsure if the message was actually from Rob, it didn't take much to convince her to go on a date.

The television presenter was a 'massive fan' of Australian Idol when Rob was a contestant.

The couple have since taken the next step in their relationship, with Georgie moving into Rob's place in early 2020.

Sweet: 'I sent her a direct message on Instagram, which opened with, "I promise I'm not crazy'' he added. The television presenter was a 'massive fan' of Australian Idol when Rob was a contestant and agreed to a date

Earlier this month, Rob wrapped up his stint on Dancing With The Stars All-Stars, which is set to air on Channel Seven in 2022.

'It was harder, there's more pressure because there are people who have been there before.

'It was a really fun job, I wanted to go better than I did last time, after leaving the second week in. I can't wait for people to see it,' he added.
Grant Denyer hit out at the photographs and false rumours he was being unfaithful to his wife Chezzi with his Dancing With The Stars partner Lily Cornish, this week.

And his DWTS co-star Olympia Valance has weighed in on what transpired, giving perspective on the pressure of the upcoming Channel Seven show.

The 28-year-old told Daily Mail Australia on Saturday the speculation, which is false, is 'so ridiculous.'

EXCLUSIVE: Olympia Valance weighed in the false claims that Grant Denyer was unfaithful to his wife Chezzi with dance partner Lily Cornish, calling it 'so ridiculous' and 'really unfair'

She said that the show was 'hard' and explained: 'You're with your dance partner for so many hours a day, you go through so many ups and downs.

'I know that I cried about 100 times while I was there,' the former Neighbours star said.

'So people don't really understand what pressure we're under, how difficult it is,' she noted, giving insight into the high demands of rehearsals and the show.

Partners: Olympia, 28, said that Dancing With The Stars was 'hard' and explained: 'You're with your dance partner for so many hours a day, you go through so many ups and downs.' Pictured is Grant with Lily

'To have someone who is really your best friend while you're doing it - even my dance partner (Gustavo Viglio) he's my best friend.

'Photos like that taken out of context is really unfair,' Olympia added, in reference to the photos published by New Idea last week.

New Idea published a front-page story on October 18 falsely implying Grant was having an affair with dancer Lily Cornish.

While the photos were accompanied by the headline 'Grant Denyer Caught Out', the full set of images has since been released, offering a more complete picture of what happened.

Not alone: She explained that as contestants they are under plenty of pressure. 'To have someone who is really your best friend while you're doing it - even my dance partner (Gustavo Viglio) he's my best friend.' Pictured is Olympia and Gustavo

The original article falsely implied Denyer and Cornish were cheating on their respective partners - a claim Denyer and his wife Chezzi have strongly denied - but the photos themselves actually suggest a platonic relationship.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting any infidelity took place.

The image used for the cover appears to show him patting the young dancer's leg in a fatherly manner, which is what he maintains happened.

There were other moments when they acted like ordinary friends and colleagues.

The image used for the New Idea cover appears to show him patting the young dancer's leg in a fatherly manner, which is what he maintains happened. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting any infidelity took place

Shots of them looking chummy at the boat party and linking arms outside were seemingly cropped to make it appear as if they were alone.

In reality, they were surrounded by their co-stars, including the likes of former Bachelorette Angie Kent and The Morning Show host Kylie Gillies.

Denyer admitted on Thursday he had 'embarrassed' his family after he was pictured with his hand on Cornish's thigh in between rehearsals for the new season of DWTS: All Stars.

He explained to 2Day FM's The Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed & Erin the pictures actually showed him consoling his friend after she had received some sad personal news.

The images, he said, were taken by a paparazzo just moments after he and Cornish had finished speaking to his wife Chezzi over FaceTime.

Friends: He explained to 2Day FM's The Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed & Erin the pictures actually showed him consoling Lily after she had received some sad personal news. 'It's not up to me to divulge what it [the personal issue] is but I was just giving her a bit of a pep talk and fatherly advice,' he added

'It's such a horrible, made-up story that's embarrassing for everyone,' he said.

'It's not up to me to divulge what it [the personal issue] is but I was just giving her a bit of a pep talk and fatherly advice,' he added.

'I just gave her a tap on the leg and she sort of leaned in for a bit of a hug after a chat and that's the photo on the [New Idea] front page.'

Cornish also addressed the New Idea story, sharing a post to Instagram thanking her fans for being so understanding.

'Thanks everyone for the kind words and messages. I really appreciate the amount of love that has come out of this yucky / disrespectful situation. Killing it with kindness,' she wrote.

'Killing it with kindness': Cornish also addressed the New Idea story, sharing a post to Instagram thanking her fans for being so understanding. 'I really appreciate the amount of love that has come out of this yucky / disrespectful situation'

Denyer and his wife categorically denied the New Idea report in a series of social media posts.

Chezzi posted screenshots of the article - which falsely suggested her husband was having an affair with a woman half his age - on Instagram and blasted the magazine for fabricating such a 'gross and mean' story.

'What the actual hell is this front-page crap, New Idea,' she wrote, adding that the images had been completely taken out of context.

'Lilz [Cornish] is like our adopted daughter. We grew extremely close during her month long stay with us here in Bathurst. We absolutely adore her!

United: The Denyer's have categorically denied the New Idea report in a series of social media posts

'What the actual hell is this front-page crap': Chezzi posted screenshots of the article - which falsely suggested her husband was having an affair with a woman half his age - on Instagram and blasted the magazine for fabricating such a 'gross and mean' story

'Poor Lilz doesn't deserve this defamation of character New Idea, you should be ashamed.'

Grant later issued his own blistering statement, calling the article a 'brutal' attack on a '22-year-old kid' and a 'dad of three girls'.

'My wife and I are used to fabricated stories from these type of magazine, we've had a life of it but for Lily, she's a 22 yo kid!!' he wrote on Instagram.

Calling out: Grant later issued his own blistering statement, calling the article a 'brutal' attack on a '22-year-old kid' and a 'dad of three girls'

'This kind of treatment is brutally unfair and disgusting.

'I'm a Dad of 3 girls. And if any friend is having a bad day or a tough time in their life, I'm going to be there for them. End of story.'

While the magazine remained on newsstands for an entire week, the online version was promptly taken down following the Denyers' complaints.
Britney Spears had to be reminded by Sam Asghari that he's her fiance after accidentally referring to the 27-year-old actor as her 'boyfriend' on Instagram.

The hilarious flub occurred on Friday while the 39-year-old hitmaker was voicing her discontent regarding a recent trip to a private island that didn't go as planned.

'I wish I had cool pics to show from this place but it rained the whole d*** time...Im not really that upset because I've slept like a freaking baby...' the songstress began.

Whoops! Britney Spears had to be reminded by Sam Asghari that he's her fiance after accidentally referring to the 27-year-old actor as her 'boyfriend' on Instagram

Although it didn't end up being much of a vacation for her, Britney recognized her own privilege of being able to venture to private island in the first place.

'This trip wasn't a success but as my boyfriend always says, "stay GRATEFUL,"' concluded Britney, which prompted a swift response from Sam who was eager to correct her error.

His lighthearted comment simply read 'fiance,' along with a few emojis to further illustrate his point.

Sam and Britney got engaged in September after approximately five years of dating. They originally met on the set of Spears' Slumber Party music video in 2016.

On Thursday, Spears was thought to have touched down in Ladyville, Belize at the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport, before traveling to a 'private island'.

She eagerly shared the experience with her 35.5million Instagram followers in a video of herself boarding a helicopter with a female friend, before capturing footage in the air.

With the helicopter resting in the background, Britney posed on the tarmac in a pair of her signature short shorts and a black cardigan.

Total accident: The hilarious flub occurred on Friday while the 39-year-old hitmaker was voicing her discontent regarding a recent trip to a private island that didn't go as planned

No hard feelings: Her 27-year-old partner notably objected to being referred to as her boyfriend, and left a lighthearted comment on her post that simply read 'fiance,' and he also added a few emojis to further illustrate his point

Her blonde hair flowed out from under a white sunhat and a pair of sunglasses over her eyes as she smiled for the camera.

The Toxic hitmaker brought some items along for the ride, including a large leather purse and several books.

'Arriving on a private island  its nice here but waaaayyy too hot,' Spears captioned her post.

Adventure: On Thursday, Spears was thought to have touched down in Ladyville, Belize at the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport, before traveling to a 'private island'

Sun-soaked: The Belize Met Service can be seen in the background of the Toxic hitmaker's video - and sits near the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport in Ladyville

Making memories: She eagerly shared the experience with her 35.5million Instagram followers in a video of herself boarding a helicopter with a female friend, before capturing footage in the air

'Arriving on a private island  its nice here but waaaayyy too hot,' Spears captioned her post

At the start of her video, Britney appeared nervous to get on the helicopter as she playfully grimaced at the camera.

Next, she captured a brief video of the pilot and his small crew loading her belongings into the helicopter.

The Piece Of Me songstress shared several clips she'd taken en route to her private destination, including shots of the ocean below her and other small land masses.

Ready to roll: Her blonde hair flowed out from under a white sunhat and a pair of sunglasses over her eyes

Nerves: At the start of her video, Britney appeared nervous to get on the helicopter as she playfully grimaced at the camera

In the video's final moments, the helicopter landed on a wooden dock.

In a now deleted clip, Britney put her camera in selfie mode to capture her realtime reaction to flying in a helicopter.

She rocked a headset and appeared to be wearing a safety vest of sorts as she clenched her teeth.

Preparing for takeoff: Next, she captured a brief video of the pilot and his small crew loading her belongings into the helicopter

Realtime reaction: In a now deleted clip, Britney put her camera in selfie mode to capture her realtime reaction to flying in a helicopter

Missing from Thursday's private island adventure was Asghari.

The actor stayed behind in Los Angeles, where he was captured grocery shopping at Bristol Farms by TMZ.

During a brief chat with the outlet, Sam was asked if he was looking forward to his upcoming role in Hot Seat, which will see him star alongside Mel Gibson.

Stunning: The Piece Of Me songstress shared several clips she'd taken en route to her private destination, including shots of the ocean below her and other small land masses

Clenching: She rocked a headset and appeared to be wearing a safety vest of sorts as she clenched her teeth

Landing: In the video's final moments, the helicopter landed on a wooden dock

'Absolutely man, I love working and it's a huge role,' adding, 'I can't live off the stimulus checks.'

According to Deadline, the film is about an ex-hacker that is forced to break into high-level banking institutions by an anonymous man who planted a bomb under his chair at his office.

Asghari did not respond when asked about Spears' ongoing problems with her relatives amid the ongoing fallout of the conservatorship battle surrounding the pop star.

Back at home: Missing from Thursday's private island adventure was Britney's fiance Sam Asghari, who she got engaged to last month

Shortly after announcing the engagement last month, it was reported by TMZ that Spears and her team, including lawyer Mathew Rosengart, began putting together a prenuptial agreement.

Britney is coming off a major legal win after her father, Jamie Spears, was removed as her conservator after 13 years.

And while the 'Toxic' hitmaker is embracing her freedom, she is worried about making 'mistakes', and is particularly scared of the paparazzi, who she believes are trying to evoke her to 'do something crazy.'

Major: Britney is coming off a major legal win after her father, Jamie Spears, was removed as her conservator after 13 years

Weary: And while the 'Toxic' hitmaker is embracing her freedom, she is worried about making 'mistakes', and is particularly scared of the paparazzi, who she believes are trying to evoke her to 'do something crazy'

She wrote: 'I'll just be honest and say I've waited so long to be free from the situation I'm in  and now that it's here I'm scared to do anything because I'm afraid I'll make a mistake !!! For so many years I was always told if I succeeded at things, it could end  and it never did !!! I worked so hard but now that it's here and getting closer and closer to ending I'm very happy but there's a lot of things that scare me !!!

Spears also revealed that she was recently given the keys to her car back after 13 years of being unable to drive herself anywhere.

And she warned her family that if she ever does a tell-all interview, she won't hold back.

She continued: 'I started experiencing that when I got the keys to my car for the first time 4 months ago and it's been 13 years !!!! I haven't done anything to be treated the way I have for the past 13 years!!! I'm disgusted with the system and wish I lived in another country!!!'
Paris Hilton made sure to take time out of her day to celebrate her and her fiance Carter Reum's 23rd month as a couple.

'Happy 23rd Monthiversary, my fiance. You mean the world to me,' wrote the 40-year-old heiress who put her love for Carter on display in a series of intimate snaps taken throughout their relationship.

The 40-year-old venture capitalist proposed to Paris on February 13 - just days before Paris' birthday. The romantic gesture occurred while the couple were vacationing on a private island.

Tribute: Paris Hilton made sure to take time out of her day to celebrate her and her fiance Carter Reum's 23rd month as a couple

All 10 of the images show the couple, who started dating back in December 2019, snuggled up with each or staring into each other's eyes.

'We've only just begun, my love It's so soon until we're married and I cannot wait to be your wife! #ForeverHiltonReum sounds more beautiful by the day,' The Simple Life alum began her caption.

'I am so happy I found you in this lifetime. It's like you showed up at the perfect time. Happy 23rd Monthiversary, my fiance. You mean the world to me. #ParisInLove'

Also included were a few artsy black-and-white pictures of the couple posing together with their eyes locked.

Her world: 'Happy 23rd Monthiversary, my fiance. You mean the world to me,' wrote the 40-year-old heiress who put her love for Carter on display in a series of intimate snaps taken throughout their relationship

Engaged: The 40-year-old venture capitalist proposed to Paris on February 13 - just days before Paris' birthday. The romantic gesture occurred while the couple were vacationing on a private island

Most of the photos depicted them arm-in-arm; some of them were shot indoors while others caught them enjoying the great outdoors.

The online love fest also comes ahead of the premiere of the 13-part Peacock series, Paris In Love, which documents their romance, leading up to their nuptials.

In a prior anniversary-related post, Hilton revealed she's undergoing IVF treatments with her 'soulmate' to ensure a 'boy and girl twin', after dating him for a year.

And more recently, for her 21st Monthiversary, she called him the love of her life, and gushed about 'never getting over the feeling of butterflies in my stomach when I'm around you.'

The couple got engaged this past February, with Reum proposing with a massive emerald-cut diamond ring from Jean Dousset.

Fast approaching: Page Six is reporting that the pair will tie-the-knot on November 11 at Hilton's late grandfather's estate in Bel-Air, in Los Angeles

Precious moments: All 10 of the images show the couple, who started dating back in December 2019, snuggled up with each or staring into each other's eyes

Only just begun: 'We've only just begun, my love It's so soon until we're married and I cannot wait to be your wife! #ForeverHiltonReum sounds more beautiful by the day,' The Simple Life alum began her caption

Page Six is reporting that the pair will tie-the-knot on November 11 at Hilton's late grandfather's estate in Bel-Air, in Los Angeles.

Hilton previously teased that the wedding festivities would be a three-day long celebration with multiple outfit changes.

'Its gonna be like a three-day affair. We have a lot happening,' she revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in August, adding, 'Lots of dresses, probably 10. I love outfit changes,' she explained, while noting that all wardrobe changes could be described as 'high maintenance, she's 'not a bridezilla  at all.'

Peacock announced that the new Paris In Love docuseries will begin streaming November 11, with new episodes dropping every following Thursday, as reported by Variety.

Major celebration: Hilton previously teased that the wedding festivities would be a three-day long celebration with multiple outfit changes
Rebel Wilson has just released her debut children's book, Bella The Brave.

But she revealed to The Morning Show's Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies that it is the first book in a series.

The 41-year-old confirmed an upcoming series of books and said: 'I think the next one will be about body positivity and then the third one about siblings.'

Best selling in the making! Rebel Wilson reveals she has more books in the works after releasing her debut children's book Bella The Brave, this week

'There's so many stories that I have from my childhood to utilise, it was hard to chose which ones go first, but I think, for me overcoming shyness really was the first big obstacle in my life,' she said.

The actress explained she drew inspiration from her own experience as a 'painfully shy' child.

'The first book is about overcoming shyness and it talks about a story where my mum dragged me to a local community centre to join the girls' choir,' she said.

Important stories: The 41-year-old confirmed an upcoming series of books and said: 'I think the next one will be about body positivity and then the third one about siblings'

Inspiration: 'There's so many stories that I have from my childhood to utilise, it was hard to chose which ones go first, but I think, for me overcoming shyness really was the first big obstacle in my life,' she said. Pictured is Rebel with her Cabbage Patch doll

Rebel shared that she was a 'painfully shy' kid and would 'go all red when the teacher would asked me a simple question, even though I knew the answer'.

The actress, who also shared a photo from her first acting role as Red Riding Hood, noted that through creative arts, she learned to express herself and eventually overcome her shyness.

Rebel has risen through the ranks to become one of Australia's most bankable and recognisable acting exports.

Slowly gaining confidence: The actress, who also shared a photo from her first acting role as Red Riding Hood (pictured), noted that through creative arts, she learned to express herself and eventually overcome her shyness

Taking on the world! Rebel has risen through the ranks to become one of Australia's most bankable and recognisable acting exports, having starred in Hollywood comedies including the Pitch Perfect trilogy, The Hustle, Isn't It Romantic and Bridesmaids

She has starred in a slew of Hollywood comedies including the Pitch Perfect trilogy, The Hustle, Isn't It Romantic and Bridesmaids.

Aside from professional success, Rebel has undergone an incredible weight loss transformation, dropping 35kgs after calling 2020 her 'Year of Health.'

In an interview with Sunrise this week, the Pitch Perfect star said she'd been to the doctor last week for her 'yearly check-up' and had been given a clean bill of health.

Changes: Aside from professional success, Rebel has undergone an incredible weight loss transformation. Rebel Wilson has lost a staggering 35kg (77lbs, or 5.5st) since embarking on her 'Year of Health' at the start of 2020. Pictured left in 2018; and right earlier this year

'He was like, "Oh my god, all your labs and your blood work is the best it's ever been and, you know, it's kind of remarkable,"' she added.

Rebel said she was now focused on 'maintaining it' and 'improving her life for the better' after struggling with emotional eating for years.

'I'm proud of myself for improving my life for the better,' she added.
She gave up booze and took up walking last year in an attempt to overhaul her life.

And those small steps are clearly paying off for Chrissie Swan, who shared another image displaying her dramatic weight loss on Friday.

Posing at a lunch for former AFL star Jonathan Brown, the 47-year-old TV host looked slim and fabulous in a royal blue blazer worn with black jeans.

Big dividends: Small lifestyle improvements are clearly paying off for Chrissie Swan, who shared another image displaying her dramatic weight loss on Friday

In a subsequent post by the radio star, she praised her new alcohol-free lifestyle by admitting that not having a hangover 'really helped' her Pilates ability.

Swan overhauled her life during last year's lockdown.

And the Celebrity MasterChef Australia star was looking slimmer than ever in an Instagram Stories post shared earlier this month.

Chrissie showed off her weight loss in a flirty blue summer frock.

Kicking goals: In a subsequent post by the radio star, she praised her new alcohol-free lifestyle by admitting that not having a hangover 'really helped' her Pilates ability

Wow! Chrissie overhauled her life during last year's lockdown. And the Celebrity MasterChef Australia star was looking slimmer than ever in an Instagram Stories post shared earlier this month

The maxi-dress featured a cinched in waist, and flowed around Chrissie's slender form.

The outfit was designed by her friend, Rebecca Thompson and retails for around $249.

Chrissie announced she'd given up alcohol and turned to meditation and walking during Melbourne's gruelling 112 lockdown last year.

Quit: Chrissie announced she'd given up alcohol and turned to meditation and walking during Melbourne 's gruelling 112 lockdown last year

'I'm not one for New Year's resolutions but I've become serious about carving out some "me time" this year,' Chrissie wrote on Instagram in July.

After saying she had 'read everything there is to read about self care,' she took action during the city's 112-day lockdown.

'I've never done anything about it, until now. Learning how to meditate kicked it off for me and I realised after the first 10 min block that it was the first time in ages I'd stopped and slowed down with my own well-being top of mind.'

'I stopped drinking booze of any kind (alcohol is diabolical for sleep and anxiety too)' she said

Before: The brunette stunner has slimmed down considerably. Pictured in 2017

The Celebrity MasterChef Australia star also revealed she 'doesn't put pressure on' herself, but walks 'somewhere' most days.

'Sometimes for 20 minutes, sometimes for an hour. Sometimes three little walks, sometimes none!' she said.

In April, the mother-of-three added that her sleep had also improved since giving up alcohol.

'I stopped drinking booze of any kind (alcohol is diabolical for sleep and anxiety too)' she explained.
Amy Hembrow looked every inch the blushing bride at her wedding to fiance Rory Carmody in Queensland on Saturday.

In footage shared to sister Tammy Hembrow's Instagram Stories, the 31-year-old stunned in a white whimsical slim-fit gown at the nuptials, which were held at an idyllic outdoor location.

The understated yet elegant dress was teamed with a statement jewelled headpiece and her hair was styled in a sleek chignon.

The blushing bride! Amy Hembrow, 31, stunned in a slim-fit whimsical gown and statement crown at her wedding to fiance Rory Carmody in Queensland on Saturday. Sister Tammy shared a gorgeous clip to her Instagram Stories of the bride posing in the elegant design

'The beautiful bride,' Tammy captioned a gorgeous clip of Amy posing in the lush green surrounds with a glass of champagne in hand.

Proud sister and bridesmaid Tammy, 27, also looked stunning in a plunging white silk frock that offered a glimpse of cleavage.

Her blonde locks were styled into a sleek ponytail and her striking facial features were enhanced with glamorous makeup.

Gorgeous: The understated yet elegant dress was teamed with a statement jewelled crown and her hair was styled in a sleek chignon

Proud sister: 'The beautiful bride,' Tammy (right), 27, captioned the gorgeous clip of Amy posing in the lush green surrounds with a glass of champagne in hand

Stunning: Tammy looked incredible in a plunging white silk frock that offered a glimpse of cleavage. She styled her blonde locks into a sleek ponytail and opted for glamorous makeup

Tammy was understandably in a celebratory mood, sharing a sweet clip of herself posing with groom Rory, before leaning in to embrace beau Matt Poole.

The fitness mogul's children Wolf, six, and Saskia, five, shared with ex-fiance Reece Hawkins also looked cute as a button, with Saskia donning a white Princess-style dress and Wolf looking smart in suspenders.

On Friday, Amy enjoyed pre-wedding celebrations at a cottage with sisters Tammy, Emilee and Starlette Thyne.

Emilee, 29, captured footage of their relaxing sleepover to her Instagram Stories, as well as a clip of herself getting a blow-dry hours ahead of Amy's big day.

A day to remember: Tammy was understandably in a celebratory mood, sharing a sweet clip of herself posing with groom Rory, before leaning in to embrace beau Matt Poole

Precious: The fitness mogul's children Wolf, six, and Saskia, five, shared with ex-fiance Reece Hawkins also looked cute as a button, with Saskia donning a white Princess-style dress and Wolf looking smart in suspenders

Pre-wedding celebrations: On Friday, Amy enjoyed pre-wedding celebrations at a cottage with sisters Tammy, Emilee and Starlette Thyne. Pictured from L to R: Starlette, Amy, Emilee and Tammy

Amy treated the sisters to a sweet bridesmaid gift box including a pair of elegant white heels, and shared a sweet message to each, thanking them for their support.

Emilee, who is Amy's maid of honour, shared a photo of the gift card, which read in part: 'You have been an amazing help and I love you so so much! You're an amazing business partner and sister and I'm so lucky to have you by my side.

'You are forever one of my best friends and I'm so happy I get to share this day with you.'

'I love you so, so much': Emilee, 29, who is Amy's maid of honour, shared to her Instagram Stories a gift box from the bride, containing a pair of strappy white elegant heels and a heartfelt message

Beautiful: Emilee also shared footage of the stunning surrounds of their cottage to her Instagram Stories

Picturesque: The cottage where the girls enjoyed a glamorous sleepover offers views of lush greenery and sprawling hills

Emilee then shared stunning footage of the sisters relaxing on the balcony of the quaint cottage, with views of lush greenery and sprawling hills.

'This is so relaxing, oh my gosh, can I just live out here? Can you imagine how peaceful it would be to live out here?' she asked her over one million followers.

The social media sensation later shared a clip of herself getting a sleek blow-dry on early Saturday morning ahead of the ceremony, while dressed in white pyjamas.

Preparations: The social media sensation also shared footage on early Saturday morning of herself getting sleek blow-dry ahead of the ceremony

Bride-to-be: Pictured is bride-to-be Amy, 31, who looked radiant as she doted on Emilee's precious newborn daughter Giselle Dream

Bride-to-be Amy looked radiant as she doted on Emilee's precious newborn daughter Giselle Dream.

Amy also took to her Instagram Stories on Friday, sharing a sweet photo of the family cosying up to one another on a bed as they relaxed in their matching sleepwear.

Their mother Nathalie Stanley was also present, looking like the proud mother-of-the-bride as she enjoyed quality time with her brood.

Family time: Amy also took to her Instagram Stories on Friday, sharing a sweet photo of the family cosying up to one another on a bed as they relaxed in their matching sleepwear

Doting aunt: Meanwhile proud sister and multi-millionaire Tammy shared this precious photo herself cradling Emilee's newborn daughter Giselle Dream

Sweet treat: The fitness mogul allowed herself a treat day, sharing a photo of cinnamon scrolls the family had been indulging in

Delicious: Tammy later shared footage of a table on the balcony laden with pancakes, eggs and bacon, sourdough bread and croissants, along with Champagne, fresh orange juice and smoothies

Engaged! Amy announced her engagement to her longtime love Rory (left), during their holiday in Japan back in June 2019

Proud sister and multi-millionaire Tammy shared footage to her Instagram Stories of cinnamon scrolls they had been indulging in.

The fitness mogul also posted a precious photo of herself cradling Emilee's newborn daughter Giselle Dream.

Amy announced her engagement to her longtime love Rory, during their holiday in Japan back in June 2019.

Prized bling: Rory chose a fine band shaped in a subtle 'V' and encrusted with diamonds

Eschewing tradition, Rory selected a fine band shaped in a subtle 'V' and encrusted with diamonds.

In December 2019, she announced that she was pregnant with their first child in an episode of their podcast Hanging With The Hembrows.

The couple welcomed daughter Aurora on April 14 2020.
Karlie Kloss shared an Instagram photo album of some of her 'fall favorites' and some autumnal Insta Stories this Friday ahead of Halloween.

The 29-year-old supermodel posted multiple heartwarming pictures and videos of her taking her infant son Levi to the pumpkin patch.

She also included a snap of her husband Joshua Kushner kissing her on the cheek in front of a seasonally appropriate orange sunset.

Baby mine: Karlie Kloss shared an Instagram photo album of some of her 'fall favorites' and some autumnal Insta Stories this Friday ahead of Halloween

In one picture Karlie and Joshua walked their little bundle of joy between an arrangement of pumpkins - while the baby himself was dressed as a jack-o-lantern.

Levi's parents have apparently given their little one several costumes ahead of his first Halloween as another picture showed him dressed as a hot dog.

Karlie also dressed the baby up as a lion for one trip to the pumpkin patch, where she had herself filmed tossing him playfully into the air and catching him.

She was accompanied on that excursion by Derek Blasberg and his twin babies Elizabeth and Frederick whom he welcomed in May via surrogate.

Sweetness: The 29-year-old supermodel posted multiple heartwarming pictures and videos of her taking her infant son Levi to the pumpkin patch

Married life: She also included a snap of her husband Joshua Kushner kissing her on the cheek in front of a seasonally appropriate orange sunset

Off he goes: In one picture Karlie and Joshua walked their little bundle of joy between an arrangement of pumpkins - while the baby himself was dressed as a jack-o-lantern

One sweet photo captured three generations of the family - Karlie, her firstborn child and her mother Tracy all sitting together in a field.

Karlie also enjoyed some quality time with her friends with whom she could be spotted in her Instagram album cuddling up on a sofa.

Her celebrity friends got a look in as well - namely Serena Williams with whom she was pictured posing up at an event.

Karlie also took the show to her Insta Stories where she treated fans to a glimpse of herself taking Levi - in his lion outfit - to the zoo.

Cute as a button: Levi's parents have apparently given their little one several costumes ahead of his first Halloween as another picture showed him dressed as a hot dog

Laughing it up: Karlie also dressed the baby up as a lion for one trip to the pumpkin patch, where she had herself filmed tossing him playfully into the air and catching him

Having a ball: She was accompanied on that excursion by Derek Blasberg and his twin babies Elizabeth and Frederick whom he welcomed in May via surrogate

The proud mother sat on the floor and held her baby up on his feet as he gazed through the glass at a polar bear who looked straight back at him.

Her Insta Stories had included a traipse through some of her Halloween costumes past including one year when she dressed as a raunchy vampire.

Karlie's old outfits included Marilyn Monroe, as well as a couple's costume where she and Joshua both dressed as skeletons.

Her post comes just two weeks after it emerged she and Joshua are asking a staggering $23.5 million for their sprawling two-story Manhattan penthouse.

Through the years: One sweet photo captured three generations of the family - Karlie, her firstborn child and her mother Tracy all sitting together in a field

All together: Karlie also enjoyed some quality time with her friends with whom she could be spotted in her Instagram album cuddling up on a sofa

Duo: Her celebrity friends got a look in as well - namely Serena Williams with whom she was pictured posing up at an event

Last month it was reported they had bought an even larger penthouse listed at $42.5 million in the same historic Puck Building as the home they have just listed.

For north of three decades the Puck Building, designed in the 19th century by the German architect Albert Wagner, has been in the hands of Kushner Companies.

The family grew when Karlie became a mother on March 11 of this year, welcoming her firstborn son Levi Joseph with Joshua.

She reportedly announced that he was called Levi Joseph after a yeshiva in Israel accidentally leaked the name and sex.

Incidentally: Her post comes just two weeks after it emerged she and Joshua are asking a staggering $23.5 million for their sprawling two-story Manhattan penthouse

Such fun: Karlie also took the show to her Insta Stories where she treated fans to a glimpse of herself taking Levi - in his lion outfit - to the zoo

Eyes meet: The proud mother sat on the floor and held her baby up on his feet as he gazed through the glass at a polar bear who looked straight back at him

Yeshiva Reishit in Bet Shemesh published the name while congratulating the parents in the 'Mazel Tov' portion of their email newsletter, Page Six reported.

Joshua, whose brother and sister-in-law are Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, is said in the email to have gone to the yeshiva in 2003.

His blonde bombshell wife has publicly expressed her political disagreements with her in-laws on multiple occasions.

When you got it: Her Insta Stories had included a traipse through some of her Halloween costumes past including one year when she dressed as a raunchy vampire

Feeling the itch: Karlie's old outfits included Marilyn Monroe
Tyga and ex-girlfriend Camaryn Swanson were seen heading to separate Halloween parties after she accused him of domestic violence earlier this month.

The rapper, 31, could be seen after donning a costume to play a ghostly nun as he arrived at a bash at The Reserve nightclub in Los Angeles.

Influencer Camaryn, 22, gave onlookers a glimpse at her midriff as she arrived in a ruby red bra top and matching trousers for another party at celebrity haunt Catch LA.

Awkward encounter? Tyga (left) and ex-girlfriend Camaryn Swanson (right) were seen heading to separate Halloween parties after she accused him of domestic violence earlier this month

She wore a pair of devil horns on top of red wig as she teetered on a pair of towering platform heels before heading into the venue.

The former couple are believed to have begun dating in 2014 but they didn't go public with their romance until late 2015, eventually splitting in March 2017.

Earlier this month, it emerged Tyga was cooperating with authorities after accusations he became physical with Camaryn in the early hours of the morning.

History: The former couple are believed to have begun dating in 2014 but they didn't go public with their romance until late 2015, eventually splitting in March 2017

Incident: Camaryn claimed that during their argument 'Tyga put his hands on her', a source told TMZ

The pair allegedly got into a spat after she showed up to his mansion 'screaming in the middle of the night' at 3 a.m.

Camaryn claimed that during their argument 'Tyga put his hands on her', a source told TMZ.

Family members, who were present during the incident, believed Camaryn 'appeared to be under the influence', but Tyga 'still let her inside to talk'.

Scary incident: After allegedly showing up to the rapper's mansion 'screaming in the middle of the night', the influencer (pictured in Jue) claimed 'Tyga put his hands on her'

The fashion designer, who is represented by Genflow Talent, called her mother following the fight to pick her up, before phoning the cops.

The outlet reported that responding officers saw 'visible marks' on her and 'took a report for felony domestic violence.'

Tyga wasn't arrested and declined to speak with law enforcement at the time.

Better days: The pair went Instagram official in February, with the influencer sharing a sweet snap of their date at Disney World in Florida, captioned with hearts

The pair went Instagram official in February, with the influencer sharing a sweet snap of their date at Disney World, Florida, captioned with hearts.

It is unclear when they split, but insiders told TMZ they broke up before their latest row.

Prior to dating Camaryn, Tyga famously had a high-profile relationship with Kylie Jenner, 24, but they split in 2017.
Selma Blair was spotted stepping out in Los Angeles in a fashionable pair of Daisy Dukes this Friday.

The 49-year-old Cruel Intentions actress complemented her shorts with a pair of large royal purple aviators.

Her latest outing comes after news emerged that Selma is planning to publish a memoir entitled Mean Baby.

Legging it: Selma Blair was spotted stepping out in Los Angeles in a fashionable pair of Daisy Dukes this Friday

Selma's book will feature stories from her childhood as well as about living with Multiple Sclerosis, a chronic neurological disease.

The autobiography is set to be released in April 2022 from Knopf Press.

Mean Baby will be released in a hardcover version, as well as an eBook and audiobook version, narrated by Selma.

Off she goes: The 49-year-old Cruel Intentions actress complemented her shorts with a pair of large royal purple aviators

The star's book title comes from a family reference about her.

Selma said that she 'was a disagreeable child with a terrible disposition,' hence the title Mean Baby, she told People.

She would also bite her three older sisters when she was a child, which was another reason behind her title.

A memoir: Selma's book is set to be released in April 2022 from Knopf Press; seen in her documentary

Selma recalled that her 'childhood' was 'spent in worship of her mother, an adolescence of love and pain, her destructive ways of coping with an illness she did not known she had, her life as a model and muse, her struggles and successes in Hollywood, and her battle with depression as a young mother,' per the outlet.

Selma, who has 10-year-old son Arthur with ex Jason Bleick, said that since doing a stem cell transplant in 2019 she is seeing 'huge improvements' in her MS symptoms, she said in an earlier People interview.

She spoke about her MS and how she uses deals with body flare ups: 'My version of MS really screws with my mind. It's triggered by my own emotions and fears, adrenaline, as well as lights and sounds. I am working on those things.'

Family is everything: Selma, who has 10-year-old son Arthur with ex Jason Bleick, said that since doing a stem cell transplant in 2019 she is seeing 'huge improvements,' she said in an earlier People interview; seen

Adding: 'If you see me start to shake, it means my nerves got big. Getting into a ball for a minute and resetting myself helps. Or I'll jump into the cold pool and swim.'

Selma's documentary, Introducing, Selma Blair is currently streaming on discovery+ and in theaters.

Selma, who was born in Michigan, began her acting career in the mid-1990s after 75 auditions, getting a TV ad.

She later landed a spot in a children's television show in 1995 before getting a role in a film in 1997.

Her breakthrough role came in 1999 in the coming of age drama Cruel Intentions alongside Sarah Michell Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe.
Michelle Keegan has admitted she was stunned when she was refused wine in a supermarket because she didn't have any ID on Friday night.

The actress, 34, was unable to purchase the drink after failing to prove she was above the legal drinking age of 18.

Retailers must ask people for ID if they look under 21 or 25 ,and Michelle confessed she was both 'buzzing' that the supermarket staff through she was still such a young age, but also devastated she was unable to walk away with her bottle.

Shock! Michelle Keegan, 34, has admitted she was stunned when she was refused wine in a supermarket because she didn't have any ID on Friday night

The Brassic star took to her Instagram Stories to share a picture of the wine sitting at the back of the checkout counter after she was denied the purchase.

She wrote: 'Just been refused to buy alcohol because I didn't have my ID on me.

'Part of me is absolutely buzzing by this but the other part of me really wants that bottle.'

Blunder: The actress, 34, was unable to purchase the drink after she was unable to prove she was above the legal drinking age of 18, leaving her 'buzzing' and equally devastated

The incident came off the back of a long day of filming for Brassic's fourth series in Manchester on Friday.

Michelle was forced to stop filming the third series of the show last year, in order to isolate, after she was exposed to COVID-19.

But, luckily, the star didn't actually contract the potentially deadly virus.

Shock: Michelle was forced to stop filming the third series of Brassic last year, in order to isolate, after she was exposed to COVID-19 (pictured in character)

A source told MailOnline at the time: 'Michelle had to take time away from the Brassic set. She has once again been laying low in Essex with her husband Mark Wright.'

The Brassic insider added at the time: 'She only missed one day of filming. But she needed to isolate after she came into contact with someone in Manchester who had it.

'Luckily it all happened very quickly and Michelle did not return to the Brassic set before isolating. So it didn't affect filming too much.

'She has spent last two weeks in total isolation. She will go back to filming at the end of this week.'

Brassic follows the story of Lancashire native Vinnie (Joe), who suffers from bipolar disorder and his best friend Dylan, played by Damien Molony, from whom he has been inseparable since childhood.

A tainted past, the boys have dealt, scammed, bribed and conned their way through adolescence.

Now, on the brink of adulthood, their dealing and stealing is catching up with them, with the repercussions of their crimes heading their way.

Michelle plays alongside them as a single mum seeking a better life for herself and son Tyler (Jude Riordan).

While navigating complicated relationships with the show's leads Dylan and Vinnie, she still strives for a good childhood for her son.
Love Island stars Anna Vakili and Yewande Biala put on a glamorous display as they headed to dinner at Chinese restaurant Hakkasan in London on Friday.

The former pharmacist, 31, and the former professional scientist, 27, certainly caught the eyes of onlookers as they paraded their toned pins through Mayfair.

Anna sent temperatures soaring as she flashed her ample assets in a cutout electric blue minidress.

What a pair! Love Island stars Anna Vakili and Yewande Biala put on a glamorous display as they headed to dinner at Chinese restaurant Hakkasan in London on Friday

The Love Island star clutched a neon orange miniature handbag and added inches to her enviable frame with a pair of white heels.

She accentuated her natural beauty with a full face of glam make-up, and made sure to show her affection towards Yewande as she clutched her hand.

Meanwhile, her pal ensured she was the centre of attention in an unmissable orange mini dress, which showcased her svelte waist.

Wow! Anna sent temperatures soaring as she flashed her ample assets in a cutout electric blue minidress

Stunning: The Love Island star clutched a neon orange miniature handbag and added inches to her enviable frame with a pair of white heels

Hot stuff: She accentuated her natural beauty with a full face of glam make-up, and showed off her peachy bottom as she span round for photographers

She wore her gorgeous dark brown locks in beachy waves and had flawlessly applied a full face of make-up.

The Irish star completed her outfit with a pair of hoop earrings and carried a brown Louis Vuitton handbag.

Earlier this year, Anna revealed that she is reversing 100,000 of plastic surgery and body modifications.

She admitted that she has gone 'a lot more towards the natural look' and hopes reversing some of her procedures will help to achieve her desired appearance.

The reality star revealed that she will undergo a boob reduction and will have her porcelain veneers removed, but won't ditch her lip filler or regular Botox injections.

It comes as a collection of reality stars, including Chloe Sims, Molly-Mae Hague and Chloe Ferry, have recently been embracing a more 'natural look' with fans.
Instagram model Olivia Mathers was trolled last week for sharing an emotional post about doing yard work.

And journalist sisters Amy, Sophie and Kate Taeuber, hosts of the influencer podcast Outspoken, have rushed to her defense amid all the backlash.

'Sometimes there is no context for those who are just taking a look into their worlds,' one of the trio commented.

Drama: Influencer Olivia Mathers (pictured) has been defended by Australia's biggest influencer podcast after she was trolled for an emotional post about mowing the lawn

'For people who haven't followed this closely, and seen the [Instagram] reel where she explains her backyard transformation, it's a bit of a what the f**k moment, and I can see why people were so confused about it.'

Another agreed: 'I scoffed when I saw the Celeb Spellcheck's post and thought how ridiculous.

'But when I looked at Olivia's page, she had a whole highlight reel of her backyard maintenance. And she was doing a lot of hard work. I was really impressed.'

On her side: Journalist sisters Amy, Sophie and Kate Taeuber (all pictured), hosts of the podcast Outspoken, said they were 'impressed' by Olivia's backyard makeover

One more sister added: 'I feel like there was some really personally comments towards Olivia, and I did feel sorry for her.

'Because at the end of the day, she is a 24-year-old girl and it's pretty impressive that she has managed to purchase her own house on the Gold Coast,' she continued.

'To me, reading between the lines, it seems like perhaps she has split from her long-term partner, Jake, who she bought the house with, so perhaps that is why she is so proud of herself.'

Laughs: The 24-year-old model became the laughing stock of social media after sharing her revelatory lawn-mowing experience

The 24-year-old model became the laughing stock of social media after sharing her revelatory lawn-mowing experience.

She said she was 'so proud' of her achievement, which had literally reduced her to tears, and encouraged her 632,000 followers to dare to try new things.

'I've had happy tears through this process... Happy tears because I am just so f**king proud of myself. It's so easy to be faced with an unknown / new situation and say "I can't",' she wrote alongside a photo of her perfectly trimmed backyard.

Proud: She said she was 'so proud' of her achievement, which had literally reduced her to tears, and encouraged her 632,000 followers to dare to try new things. She also posted a 'before and after' video showing her grass-trimming efforts

She continued: 'My advice and something I am only just learning is, give yourself more credit and challenge yourself to create results you want in life, in every aspect. It's damn f**king empowering.'

Olivia also praised her mother for inspiring her to 'defy the odds.'

'Shoutout to my weapon of a mum [for] setting the absolute best example of someone who doesn't give up and continues to defy all odds,' she said.

Proud: Olivia also praised her mother for inspiring her to 'defy the odds'

'I'm so lucky to have the best role models and people that believe in me.'

Her post caught the attention of notorious 'snark' account Celeb Spellcheck, which reposted the image alongside the blunt caption: 'You mowed the lawn.'

Followers of Celeb Spellcheck were quick to roast Olivia for her dramatic display, with one commenting: 'My three-year-old did more yard work than this today.'
Molly-Mae Hague was flanked by a burly bodyguard as she boarded a train in Manchester on Saturday.

Her trip to London coincides with the Pride Of Britain Awards, which will take place later in the day the capital.

It comes just days after she and her boyfriend Tommy Fury, both 22, were the victims of a 800,000 burglary at their rented Manchester home.

Emerging: Molly-Mae Hague was flanked by a burly bodyguard as she boarded a train in Manchester with her entourage on Saturday

The former Love Island contestant certainly put her best fashion foot forward in a brown shearling coat, which she layered above a chic black Prada top.

Donning a pair of black leggings, she completed her ensemble with coordinating boots while clutching a Costa coffee cup.

Having tied her luscious blonde locks into a sleek bun, she lugged an oversized onyx suitcase across the platform, while her entourage rolled along coordinating cases, including a Louis Vuitton number.

Coincidence? Her trip to London coincides with the Pride Of Britain Awards, which will take place in the evening in the capital

Shock! It comes just days after she and her boyfriend Tommy Fury, both 22, were the victims of a 800k burglary at their rented Manchester home

Stunning: The former Love Island contestant certainly put her best fashion foot forward in a shin-length brown shearling coat, which she layered above a chic black Prada top

Molly-Mae has been left living in fear after 'an experienced gang' broke into the home she shares with Tommy, in Manchester and 'took everything' including jewellery and designer goods.

A source told MailOnline: 'Molly's taking no chances - she's hired 24/7 Confidentiality Protection as well as her other security. She has completely moved out of her apartment now and will never return...

'She's upping the security before returning to the spotlight at her Halloween Pretty Little Thing meal in Manchester on Thursday night'.

At around 10pm on Thursday 21 October, while the influencer and boxer were in London at her Beauty Works Christmas launch, an 'experienced gang' targeted their flat and stole the vast quantity of goods.

Sources revealed to MailOnline that the couple will 'never return' to the property after being left 'extremely shaken up' and terrified by the crime.

Tragic: Molly-Mae has been left living in fear after 'an experienced gang' broke into the home she shares with Tommy, in Hale, Manchester and 'took everything' including jewellery and designer goods

The insider said: 'They will never return back to their apartment again unfortunately they feel they have been targeted and don't feel safe there any more. They really loved living there its a shame they have been forced out of their home.'

While Molly Mae and Tommy partied in London, the gang descended on their block of flats, in which there are five other properties.

An insider detailed: 'It seems to be an experienced gang who know what theyre doing as they have had machinery and waited for Molly and Tommy to be away...

'They have approached the property from the rear and smashed through their balcony windows and doors to gain access to their apartment. There is five apartments in the block but other neighbours were out too...

'They have stolen approx 800k worth of belongings leaving them with nothing left other than what they had on them in their suitcases in London on the night of event..

Wow: Molly-Mae was dripping in 180,000-worth of designer jewellery while the robbery took place (pictured top left 37,400 Cartier bangle and 3,800 bracelet, bottom 30,000 rings)

'Molly was pictured that night when the robbery happened at her Beauty Works x Molly Mae event in London. They seemed to have got scared off and departed quickly possible across the park at the back. Its called Halecroft Park.'

In the wake of the incident, a representative for Molly told MailOnline: 'Molly is doing well considering the circumstances. It has been a very distressing time but she is trying to be as positive as possible'.

A representative for Greater Manchester Police told MailOnline: 'On Friday 22 October 2021 police received a report of a burglary at a property in the Hale Barns area...

During the burglary a number of items were taken, including jewellery. Enquiries are ongoing and no arrests have been made.'
Ioan Gruffudd's estranged wife Alice Evans has blasted the actor for abandoning his family for a 'babe half his age'.

The actress, 50, once again took to Twitter on Saturday to also claim that said Ioan unblocked her on Instagram minutes before he posted a picture of his new girlfriend.

Her words came after she recently revealed that she was was 'heartbroken' and felt 'dead' after Liar star Ioan, 48, went Instagram official with his new love Bianca Wallace, 29, on Tuesday, prompting Alice to accuse her ex of having a three-year romance.

Upset: Ioan Gruffudd estranged wife Alice Evans has blasted the actor for abandoning his family for a 'babe half his age'

She wrote: 'THAT is what keeps coming back to me. He knows Ella follows him on Instagram.

'He unblocked me just a few minutes before posting it. I think he'd gotten to the loved-up point when he just didn't care.

'It was a 'Bianca for President' moment and f*** what the offspring thinks.'

Another tweet said: 'My heart went cold when I realized how meticulously planned it had been.

'Silly thing is, when I saw he'd unblocked me I had a moment of hope that perhaps he was ready to talk to me again. How wrong!'

Distress: Her words come after she recently revealed that she was was 'heartbroken' and felt 'dead' after Liar star Ioan, 48, went Instagram official with new girlfriend Bianca, 29

And she replied to comments defending Ioan, tweeting: 'He wasn't in pain. For God's sake. He was fine (when he was here, which was about 3 months a year.) Then his d*** got stuck inside a babe half his age. And that's when he started treating me like s*** and making up stories.'

She added: 'We haven't even started mediating. It's insanity . . . The kids haven't even been told he's not coming back. His toothbrush is still next to the sink! I feel like I'm hallucinating.'

In a separate set of tweets on Saturday night Alice also wrote that several of her friends had met Bianca and that they had been aware of their romance.

She said: 'I have just found out that all his friends and family were in on it and had met her etc. Gobsmacked again, And nobody thought it would be a good idea for him to let us know?

Reaction: She wrote: 'THAT is what keeps coming back to me. He knows Ella follows him on Instagram. 'He unblocked me just a few minutes before posting it. I think he'd gotten to the loved-up point when he just didn't care'

Sad: Another tweet said: 'My heart went cold when I realized how meticulously planned it had been'

Awkward: And she replied to comments defending Ioan, tweeting: 'He wasn't in pain. For God's sake. He was fine (when he was here, which was about 3 months a year.) Then his d*** got stuck inside a babe half his age'

'I think they came out to our friends as a couple probably two years ago, nice.'

It comes after earlier on Saturday Alice revealed she's 'starting the treadmill all over again' in the wake of his new romance with Bianca.

She re-shared a French post featuring several throwback images of her, with the star suggesting she plans to get back to her former self in the wake of the drama surrounding her marriage.

Alice excitedly told how she planned to return to her former self after responding to a supportive message from a French fan, which featured throwback snaps of Alice looking slimmer.

As the fan sent their support to Alice, calling her a 'sweet woman' who is 'kind and generous' and 'very talented', Alice was quick to respond in French.

Difficult: In a separate set of Tweets on Saturday night Alice also wrote that several of her friends had met Bianca and that they had been aware of their romance

Her reply translated as: 'My favorite francasia! Thank you for finding these beautiful photos (or I have a few pounds less!

'Today I start the treadmill all over again !!! I love you'.

Her comments come as she opened up on how she felt about seeing the Instagram photo that confirmed her estranged husband had moved on to someone new, remarking that Ioan had broken her heart twice.

Writing for the Daily Mail, she wrote: 'My mind went blank for a second. Then I realised he was sitting next to a young girl I'd never seen before. She was tagged in the post @iambiancawallace.

'Then I got that feeling. The feeling nobody in a relationship  even one that's seen better days wants to feel: My God. They are a couple. He has a girlfriend! But, he's my husband...'

Plan: It comes after earlier on Saturday she re-shared a French post featuring several throwback images of her, with the star suggesting she plans to get back to her former self in the wake of the drama surrounding her marriage

Alice went on to detail her devastation at the news as well as opening up about the betrayal and humiliation of her marriage breaking down publicly.

Detailing her hurt, she penned: 'He still denied he was seeing someone else, and sugar-coated it for the children by saying that maybe we wouldn't get divorced.

'Had he been honest, had he said: 'I have fallen in love with someone else,' then perhaps I wouldn't have been so tormented.'

She went to reveal her heartbreak at how things had panned out, telling how Ioan had betrayed her twice.

Devastating: Her comments come as she opened up on how she felt about seeing the Instagram photo that confirmed her estranged husband had moved on to someone new, remarking that Ioan had broken her heart twice

She explained: 'Now I am heartbroken. I feel dead. He's broken my heart twice. The first time when he told me he no longer loved me and the second time this week when I found out he had another woman. I have not heard a word from him since news of his relationship broke.'

Alice continued: 'All of a sudden I'm on my own, but I'm pretty resilient. I just wish he had told me the truth much sooner. I'm a problem solver, a realist and a pragmatist.

'Of course, if he had done that, I would have been upset. But I would think, 'OK, let's sort this out', and then we would have discussed, you know, how much he thought he was in love with this woman. How much?

'I might have been able to persuade him to salvage us. Let's somehow be a two-parent family until our children were at least teenagers.'

It came after Alice launched yet another Twitter tirade, this time attacking her critics and made just hours after she continued to blast her former spouse.

She launched her furious attack on the couple moments after both Ioan and Bianca went 'Instagram official' on Tuesday- as she accused the Liar actor of engaging in the romance for three years.

Upset: 'I am heartbroken. I feel dead. He's broken my heart twice. The first time when he told me he no longer loved me and the second time this week when I found out he had another woman'

On Thursday, despite claiming to withdraw from Twitter 'herewith', she continued in her diatribe, this time hitting out at those criticising her for her handling of the situation - including an attack on Ioan and Bianca's friend Amy Douglas.

After her initial outburst earlier in the week, wardrobe assistant Amy - a friend and co-worker of Ioan, who worked with the star and Bianca on Australian series Harrow - denied Alice's claims in a series of tweets.

She accused Alice herself of being 'abusive,' and insisted they didn't begin speaking until filming for series three began in 2020.

On Thursday, Alice accused wardrobe assistant Amy of using a fake account to message her after she had been blocked.

The message purportedly from Amy read: 'Literally all you care about right now is the fact he was asking you not to post pics of him yet he posted this pic with the lady...

Anger: It came after Alice launched yet another Twitter tirade, this time attacking her critics and made just hours after she continued to blast her former spouse (pictured together in 2018)

'This has nothing to do with your sorrows of a broken family, its all about YOUR EGO. You're just pissed u lost a man to parade around. Entitled as f'.

Alice then replied: 'Wait, I blocked you so now you're posting your 'Moody Twin' (mmm catchy) sock account? Get the fuck away from me you slimy perv. Go try to sell some of your horrible clothes.

When a supporter wrote: 'I am ALL about the sisterhood! Women have a hard enough time as it is I feel passionately that we should build each other up, and even *hold* each other up when necessary. Red heart', Alice soon replied.

Hitting back: Alice was speaking to followers in her latest update

She penned: 'I agree with this so heartily. Part of me wants to get #TeamAlice trending but the other half of my brain says shut the f**k up you big head it's about ALL of us... not just you!'

Another message from the account she claimed Amy was hiding behind read: 'I'm not even talking about the guy, i couldn't care less about the guy!...

'We're talking about her ugly behaviour & trashing not just him but M.Markle, actress friend, new lady, calling people b**ches, extras in derogatory way. Yet all of you keep skipping this part. Address it'.

Sizzling: Prior to her latest onslaught on tweets, sources spoke to The Sun about the scenario, with insiders stating: 'Ioan has denied so many things since they separated'

Alice then wrote: 'Source it, t**t. It's very very dangerous for people who are trying to get into retail to attack others on line for no reason. I'm sure you can imagine why.... (Oh wait, maybe you're not that bright...)' .

Prior to her latest onslaught on tweets, sources spoke to The Sun about the scenario, with insiders stating: 'Ioan has denied so many things since they separated...

'At times Alice began to doubt herself and wonder if she had things wrong in her own mind. But now she feels as though this confirms all of her beliefs.

'She had asked him many times if this was all about someone else, but Ioan told her it wasn't  even though she suspected that may have been the case because his behaviour towards her changed so dramatically.

Ouch: She also revealed her young daughter is 'inconsolable' over her father's new romance

'Now that she knows he has met someone else  and it's someone he has known for so long  all of her other suspicions and doubts have come flooding back and it has totally floored her.

'Stuff she had been able to bury and move on from is now back at the forefront of her mind and she has all of those suspicions and uncertainties again. It's a terrible time for her.'

An industry insider continued: 'He seemed to feel his relationship with Alice was over anyway and didn't go to huge lengths to hide anything....

'He and Bianca certainly seem very happy and comfortable together. Hopefully it works out for the best for everyone in the end.'

Alice also alleged that Ioan told her that he would leave her if she 'gained weight' in her latest tirade against her estranged husband. She also revealed her young daughter is 'inconsolable' over her father's new romance.

Fat shaming: Alice also alleged that Ioan told her that he would leave her if she 'gained weight' in her latest tirade against her estranged husband

Ioan revealed his romance with Bianca Wallace by sharing a loved-up image on his social media account, with Alice then launching various tirades on Ioan, accusing him of engaging in the romance for three years.

It comes after Ioan filed for divorce from Alice in March, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason behind their split.

In her latest string of ranting tweets, Alice shockingly alleged that Ioan told her more than once that he would leave her if she 'gained weight'.

Her comments came in response to a tweet which read: 'Some words of caution for new side chick and marriage wrecker @BiancaWarren... don't gain an ounce of weight.

'@IoanGruffudd likes his women anorexic skinny. Time to dig out the thighmaster and cigarettes.'

Alice replied to the tweet with a row of crying laughing faces, before insisting that the Twitter user was 'not wrong' in their claims.

She added: 'You're not wrong. He told me several times over the years that he couldn't abide 'fatties' and he would leave if I gained weight. I guess he was true to his word this time!'
Danniella Westbrook is reportedly 'really poorly' in intensive care and doctors are fearing for her brain after a sinus infection.

The former EastEnders star, 47, was rushed to hospital on Thursday when she took to Instagram to share an image of ambulances outside a hospital in Liverpool.

The true extent of her illness has now emerged, it's feared that the infection could 'track back to her brain'.

Nasty infection: Danniella Westbrook, 47, is reportedly 'really poorly' in intensive care and doctors are fearing for her brain after a sinus infection

A source told The Sun: 'Danniella is really poorly. She ended up in ICU after antibiotics for a sinus infection didn't work.

'Experts were concerned infected mucus could track back to her brain, but she is being well cared for in hospital and is on the mend.'

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Danniella for comment.

Traumatic: The former EastEnders star was rushed to hospital on Thursday when she took to Instagram to share an image of ambulances outside a hospital in Liverpool

Her hospitalisation comes after she vowed to turn her life around following years of drug abuse and relapsing onto 'cocaine and champagne' earlier this year.

Danniella kept things cryptic when she revealed the news to her followers, as she shared the same image twice showing the hospital front.

In her second post of the same shot, she added the word 'Liverpool' over the top.

The actress' battle with drugs has been well-publicised, and she famously had her nose reconstructed after her septum collapsed from excessive cocaine use in 2002.

At the height of her use it was reported she would take up to five grams of cocaine a day, blowing close to 250,000 on the drug.

New beginnings: Her hospitalisation comes after she vowed to turn her life around following years of drug abuse and relapsing onto 'cocaine and champagne' earlier this year

The star has since embarked on multiple rehab stints in order to battle her demons - and revealed she was finally clean in June last year, after attending a clinic in Mijas, Spain.

Danniella first appeared in EastEnders in 1990 at the age of 16 and acted on the soap for three years.

She returned in 1996 but her time was cut short when her off-screen behaviour got her sacked.

New look: The star has since embarked on multiple rehab stints in order to battle her demons - and revealed she was finally clean in June last year, after attending a clinic in Mijas, Spain

She returned again shortly after, but was axed again in 2000 after further disruptive behaviour, admitting she blew 100k on cocaine at the time.

The part was recast between 2002 and 2005, and played by Kim Medcalf, but Danniella returned to the role once more in 2009 until 2010.

She was back once more in 2016 for the storyline surrounding on-screen mother Peggy Mitchell's death, which is to date her final appearance.
Love Island's Chloe Burrows and Toby Aromolaran enjoyed some 'last minute shopping' as they joined a bevvy of stars getting ready for the 2021 Pride Of Britain Awards.

The blonde bombshell, 25, and her man, 23, appeared to be in a suit store ahead of their big red carpet appearance at the star-studded ceremony.

Flashing a peace sign while donning a pair of casual grey joggers and khaki slides, Chloe wrapped up in a black padded jacket for a stunning mirror selfie.

Retail therapy: Love Island's Chloe Burrows and Toby Aromolaran enjoyed some 'last minute shopping' ahead of Friday night's Pride Of Britain Awards

Meanwhile, Toby wore a tracksuit emblazoned with the letter 'M' which he layered beneath a sandy puffer jacket.

'Last minute Pride Of Britain shopping :)))),' his girlfriend wrote in her caption.

She had earlier posted a sleepy-looking selfie of herself resting her head on Toby's knee, while announcing that he had gotten himself a haircut.

Preparations: Meanwhile, their former co-star Liberty Poole shared a shot of a delicious glass of champagne with her followers, while announcing she had arrived at her hotel

Trim: She had earlier posted a sleepy-looking selfie of herself resting her head on Toby's knee, while announcing that he had gotten himself a haircut

Meanwhile, their former co-star Liberty Poole shared a shot of a delicious glass of champagne with her followers, while announcing she had arrived at her hotel.

'Arrived at hotel let the getting ready commence [sic],' she penned.

Their fellow Love Island alumni Millie Court and Liam Reardon posed alongside one another during a car journey to the Big Smoke.

Millie flashed her decolletage in a plunging brown cardigan while Liam donned a white T-shirt featuring a Nike motif.

What a pair! Their fellow Love Island alumni Millie Court and Liam Reardon posed alongside one another during a car journey to the Big Smoke

Jokers: Faye Winter and her boyfriend Teddy Soares got in on the action too, with the former estate agent posting a video to Instagram of the pair larking about in a lift

Faye Winter and her boyfriend Teddy Soares got in on the action too, with the former estate agent posting a video to Instagram of the pair larking about in a lift.

Having tied her blonde tresses into a tousled ponytail, she grinned towards the camera while placing a loving hand over Teddy's shoulders.

Carol Vorderman couldn't contain her excitement as she shared a clip from the winners' dinner, where champions of the ceremony meet for the very first time and leave as 'one family'.

Beaming: Carol Vorderman couldn't contain her excitement as she shared a clip from the winners' dinner

Lovely: She told how champions of the ceremony meet for the very first time and leave as 'one family'

Happy: The attendees certainly appeared to be having a blast

Excited: The band Westlife arrived at the Grosvenor Hotel on Park Lane ahead of the awards

Icons: Westlife made a low-key arrival at the hotel ahead of the main event

She wrote in her caption, 'Tonight is the eve of the Pride of Britain awards and it's very important to us as we have our Winners' Dinner.

'We bring all of our award winners together, have a beautiful meal and then I run through the show (without spoiling any surprises) and tell them of each others stories and have a bit of a laugh.

'One of our winners is 12 today so we had a Happy Birthday and a big cake.

All smiles: The band all looked in good spirits

'When everyone arrives here today they are all separate families who don't know each other and ALWAYS when they leave tonight they leave as one family with joy and respect for each other.

'It's a beautiful night and all of us who've worked for so many years as a team on the awards say it's our favourite night .

'Tomorrow is the big one @prideofbritain @dailymirror but tonight is just as special .

'Night night everyone from a happy soul.'

Thrilled: She wrote in her caption, 'Tonight is the eve of the Pride of Britain awards and it's very important to us as we have our Winners' Dinner

Spectacular: She also showed off an area of the hotel, which was being transformed into a bar

Dr Ranj Singh looked dapper in a black suit as he posed with a stunning pal ahead of the big night.

The blonde bombshell coordinated the This Morning personality with a shimmering onyx dress and wore her luscious locks in gorgeous curls.

'We're coming for ya @prideofbritain!' he wrote in his caption, followed by a purple heart.

Debonair: Dr Ranj Singh looked dapper in a black suit as he posed with a stunning pal ahead of the big night
He wanted to step away from making movies for a while.

Less than a month after announcing that he was taking a break from acting, Ryan Reynolds has already signed on to a new project.

The actor, 45, will have a starring role in Imaginary Friends, a comedy written and directed by The Office star John Krasinski.

Annoucning the end before it begins: Reynolds signed on to Imaginary Friends, a movie centered around a man who talks to the imaginary friends of others

Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge will also take a major role in the movie, as will Harry Potter actress Fiona Shaw.

Imaginary Friends will follow a man who talks to imaginary friends that other people outgrew. He finds that the friends are very resentful from such an action.

Production is set to begin next summer, giving Reynolds a little time off before he has to get back on set. The film is currently scheduled for a Thanksgiving 2023 release.

A star-studded movie: Reynolds will star alongside Krasinski, who will write and direct the film (pictured 2020)

A popular face: Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag fame will also take on a major role in the movie

The star's decision to sign on to the movie comes just a day after he revealed that he tends to fixate on his projects.

I tend to bite off way more than I could or should chew. I think maybe it's just that Canadian sensibility: "Well, I said I was going to, so I have to deliver this,"' the Canadian 45-year-old said in his WSJ. magazine cover story, which hits newsstands November 13.

'I will do that at the cost of my own well-being sometimes. I fixate on things. That's sort of the engine of anxiety. I lay awake at night, wrapping and unwrapping every possible scenario. I slept at a perfect right angle for so many years.'

Anxiety-inducing: Reynolds' decision to keep acting came just a day after he revealed that he tends to fixate on work because of his anxity (Pictured 2019)

Needing a break: Reynolds announced his decision to step away from acting in an Instagram post that featured photos from the movie musical Spirited (pictured August 2021)

Reynolds announced his break from acting in an Instagram post that featured snaps from behind the scenes of his new movie musical, Spirited.

In the caption of the post, he told fans that he enjoyed collaborating with many talented actors in the film, but it still took its toll.

''Perfect time for a little sabbatical from movie making. I'm gonna miss every second working with this obscenely gifted group of creators and artists,' he said.

Reynolds also added, 'These days, kindness matters as much as talent. I've been lucky to work with folks who are flush with both.'
She has been the face of the Pride Of Britain Awards for 22 years.

And Carol Vorderman gave her Instagram followers a peek at her dressing room on Saturday, hours before she is set to take to the stage at Grosvenor House, London, to present the prestigious awards.

The 60-year-old presenter showcased her outfit, a zipper dress with white, red and brown detailing, completed with a belt.

Presenter: Carol Vorderman gave a peek of her Pride Of Britain dressing room on Saturday as she prepared to host the awards ceremony for the 22nd time

Beaming into the camera as she posed for a selfie, Carol wrote on her story: 'Um dressing room', followed by a hands up emoji.

Treating her fans even further, the former Countdown presenter panned her camera around a vast room at the 5-star Mayfair hotel, which was in the process of transforming into a funky bar.

The walls were adorned with neon lights, the Pride Of Britain angel and a large sign reading 'Celebrating Our Heroes.'

Informing her fans of the preparation, the mother-of-two wrote: 'They're getting the first Drinks place for everyone ready tonight @prideofbritain'.

Impressive: The former Countdown presenter panned her camera around a vast room at the 5-star Mayfair hotel, which was in the process of transforming into a funky bar

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards returns to screens on Thursday 4th November, hosting a star-studded audience for the first time since 2019 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The annual award show honours the nations unsung heroes as stars of TV, sport, politics and showbiz come together to celebrate 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things.'

For the first time in the show's 22-year history, Carol will be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33, who was recently revealed as her new co-host.

Stepping up: For the first time in the show's 22-year history, Carol will be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33, who was recently revealed as her new co-host (pictured at the awards in 2019)

Upon the announcement earlier this month, Ashley said: 'I feel like I've been a part of Pride of Britain for a few years now but the chance to co-host it next to Carol, who is a complete legend and a pro, is amazing.

'Its such a special show and a hugely emotional and inspiring night.'

While Carol said of Ashley: 'Ashley is a wonderful person and Im delighted that hes joining me because he has been involved for a few years now and it just feels right.

Co-hosts: Carol said: 'Ashley is a wonderful person and Im delighted that hes joining me'

'The Pride of Britain Awards are an incredibly special evening and show to be a part of.'

Pride of Britain sees a night of 'extraordinary stories of bravery, selflessness and phenomenal fundraising feats' as well as a plethora of astounding surprises, laugh out loud situations and emotional moments as the nation comes together to honour the achievements of truly inspirational people.

Among the winners are quadruple amputee Harmonie-Rose Allen who wins the Child of Courage Award for inspiring the nation with her courage and unbreakable spirit.

While the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to campaigner Rosemary Cox, who set up the first Organ Donor Register in the UK, helping save thousands of lives.

Campaigning sisters Amy and Ella Meek, 18 and 16, have been named Pride of Britain's first ever Environmental Champions for setting up a charity to help fight the global scourge of plastic pollution.

Meanwhile, this year's Special Recognition Award goes to Gee Walker, who forgave her sons killers and devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory.

Speaking about the ceremony, Carol said: 'My favourite part of the Awards are the winners and how happy they are that theyre being celebrated.

'These incredible people make you want to be a better person. And even though everyone says how much it makes them cry, it is a celebration too of all the truly extraordinary things they have done.'

Thought-provoking: 'These incredible people make you want to be a better person' Carol said of the ceremony

Ashley Banjo says: 'I have so much respect and admiration for all of the winners and I cant wait to meet them, see the look on their faces as they are surprised and celebrated and to experience this really special moment with them.'

While Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of award partner TSB adds: 'I have been bowled over by the bravery, courage and determination of all the winners.

'Helping people in our local communities is at the heart of what we do at TSB  thats why we are especially proud to sponsor the TSB Community Hero Award. It is truly humbling to see the extraordinary things people have done to make a difference and support those most in need in their communities.'

Nominated by the public, the winners are from all walks of life, of all ages, and from all over the country.

Since the first ceremony in 1999, royalty, prime ministers, and hundreds of leading figures from showbusiness, sport, politics and the arts have all taken part.

Legends: Marcus Rashford (l) and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore (r) were among those honoured in the ceremony

The awards attract an audience of around five million viewers every year in a primetime slot on ITV - making it the highest rated awards show of its kind on British television.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 2020's ceremony featured prerecorded segments of recipients receiving their awards at home, while a host of big names headed to The Royal Hospital Chelsea to film links ahead of the show.

As the awards aired on ITV, landmarks across London, including the London Eye, BT Tower and County Hall, turned red, white and blue in celebration of the winners.

Marcus Rashford and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore were among those honoured in the ceremony, which awarded the remarkable achievements of Brits who have selflessly contributed the the nation and the world.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, will be broadcast on ITV on 4th November at 8pm.
Molly-Mae took to the red carpet at the Pride Of Britain Awards on Saturday, hours after breaking her silence on her 800,000 Cheshire home burglary.

The Love Island star, 22, put on a defiant display following a 'difficult week' as she arrived among the star-studded guest list at The Grosvenor House Hotel.

Molly-Mae showcased her incredible figure in a deeply plunging brown gown, which featured cut-out sections across the midriff.

Defiant Molly-Mae took to the red carpet at the Pride Of Britain Awards on Saturday, hours after breaking her silence on her 800,000 Cheshire home burglary

The showstopping gown featured semi-sheer panelling and she teamed the sexy number with a pair of towering strappy heels.

Molly-Mae wore her blonde locks swept back into a chic bun and opted for a bronze pallet of make-up to enhance her naturally pretty features.

Moments before arriving after the ceremony, Molly-Mae broke her silence on the burglary as she posted a heartfelt message on Instagram.

Struggles: The Love Island star, 22, put on a defiant display following a 'difficult week' as she arrived among the star-studded guest list at The Grosvenor House Hotel

She wrote: 'An overwhelming week. I can't thank you all enough for all your kind messages regarding what happened to our home last week. We are eternally grateful to have such incredible and kind followers.

She went on in the post of her holding hands with boyfriend Tommy Fury: 'We are safe and that's all that matters. Onwards and upwards now...'

Molly-Mae arrived at the awards in a bespoke gown by herself and PrettyLittleThing.

'We are safe and that's all that matters': Molly-Mae broke her silence on her 800k Cheshire home burglary

Helping hand! Molly-Mae was helped out by her manager Francesca Britton on the red carpet

She spoke with MailOnline from the red carpet prior of the event and said she was 'focusing on having a good night' after the tragic event last week.

She then spoke on her health: 'I'm feeling really good. I'm just happy to be here at this event. I'm really excited to get inside. It's such an emotional evening.'

Molly also revealed that there is lots in the pipeline from her at PrettyLittleThing saying that she is 'constantly working.'

The outing at the event is one in a handful since the burglary happened on October 22nd.

Incredible: Molly-Mae showcased her incredible figure in a deeply plunging brown gown, which featured cut-out sections across the midriff

Glam: The former Love Island star later arrived the Pride of Britain awards in a bespoke gown by herself and PrettyLittleThing and was 'focusing on having a good night' at the event

Molly and her boyfriend Tommy Fury were in London at the time celebrating her launch with BeautyWorks.

Molly-Mae has been left living in fear after 'an experienced gang' broke into the home she shares with Tommy, in Manchester and 'took everything' including jewellery and designer goods.

A source told MailOnline: 'Molly's taking no chances - she's hired 24/7 Confidentiality Protection as well as her other security. She has completely moved out of her apartment now and will never return...

Tragic: The outing at the event is one in a handful since the burglary happened on October 22nd in the home she shares with boyfriend Tommy Fury

'She's upping the security before returning to the spotlight at her Halloween Pretty Little Thing meal in Manchester on Thursday night'.

At around 10pm on Thursday 21 October, while the influencer and boxer were in London at her Beauty Works Christmas launch, an 'experienced gang' targeted their flat and stole the vast quantity of goods.

Sources revealed to MailOnline that the couple will 'never return' to the property after being left 'extremely shaken up' and terrified by the crime.

The insider said: 'They will never return back to their apartment again unfortunately they feel they have been targeted and don't feel safe there any more. They really loved living there its a shame they have been forced out of their home.'

While Molly Mae and Tommy partied in London, the gang descended on their block of flats, in which there are five other properties.

An insider detailed: 'It seems to be an experienced gang who know what theyre doing as they have had machinery and waited for Molly and Tommy to be away...

Wow: Molly-Mae was dripping in 180,000-worth of designer jewellery while the robbery took place (pictured top left 37,400 Cartier bangle and 3,800 bracelet, bottom 30,000 rings)

'They have approached the property from the rear and smashed through their balcony windows and doors to gain access to their apartment. There is five apartments in the block but other neighbours were out too...

'They have stolen approx 800k worth of belongings leaving them with nothing left other than what they had on them in their suitcases in London on the night of event..

Molly was pictured that night when the robbery happened at her Beauty Works x Molly Mae event in London. They seemed to have got scared off and departed quickly possible across the park at the back. Its called Halecroft Park.'

In the wake of the incident, a representative for Molly told MailOnline: 'Molly is doing well considering the circumstances. It has been a very distressing time but she is trying to be as positive as possible'.

A representative for Greater Manchester Police told MailOnline: 'On Friday 22 October 2021 police received a report of a burglary at a property in the Hale Barns area...

During the burglary a number of items were taken, including jewellery. Enquiries are ongoing and no arrests have been made.'
Catherine Tyldesley upped the glamour on Saturday night as she cradled her growing baby bump at the Pride Of Britain Awards.

The 38-year-old actress, who is expecting her second child with husband Tom Pitfield, glowed on the red carpet at The Grosvenor House Hotel, wearing a white sequinned gown.

The former Coronation Street star wowed in the showstopping number, which boasted mesh detailing and a flowy trail that fell to the floor.

Gorgeous: Pregnant Catherine Tyldesley was the epitome of elegance as she cradled her growing bump on the red carpet at the Pride Of Britain Awards

Catherine is set to be a mother for a second time, already sharing a six-year-old son Alfie with her husband-of-five years, Tom.

Earlier this month, the actress revealed the news to HELLO! magazine, admitting she 'burst into tears' when she found out she was pregnant for the second time.

'We're absolutely elated. We feel so lucky. When we found out, I just burst into tears,' the Salford-born star told the publication.

Stunning: The 38-year-old actress, who is expecting her second child with husband Tom Pitfield, glowed on the red carpet at The Grosvenor House Hotel

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards returns to screens on Thursday 4th November, hosting a star-studded audience for the first time since 2019 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The annual award show honours the nations unsung heroes as stars of TV, sport, politics and showbiz come together to celebrate 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things.'

Host Carol Vorderman, 60, will once again take the helm, but this year, for the first time in the show's 22-year history, she'll be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33, who was recently revealed as her new co-host.

Expecting: The former Coronation Street star wowed in the showstopping number, which boasted mesh detailing and a flowy trail that fell to the floor

Upon the announcement earlier this month, Ashley said: 'I feel like I've been a part of Pride of Britain for a few years now but the chance to co-host it next to Carol, who is a complete legend and a pro, is amazing.

'Its such a special show and a hugely emotional and inspiring night.'

While Carol said of Ashley: 'Ashley is a wonderful person and Im delighted that hes joining me because he has been involved for a few years now and it just feels right.

'The Pride of Britain Awards are an incredibly special evening and show to be a part of.'

Pride of Britain sees a night of 'extraordinary stories of bravery, selflessness and phenomenal fundraising feats' as well as a plethora of astounding surprises, laugh out loud situations and emotional moments as the nation comes together to honour the achievements of truly inspirational people.

Red carpet: Catherine is set to be a mother of a second time, already sharing a six-year-old son Alfie with her husband-of-five years, Tom

Among the winners are quadruple amputee Harmonie-Rose Allen who wins the Child of Courage Award for inspiring the nation with her courage and unbreakable spirit.

While the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to campaigner Rosemary Cox, who set up the first Organ Donor Register in the UK, helping save thousands of lives.

Campaigning sisters Amy and Ella Meek, 18 and 16, have been named Pride of Britain's first ever Environmental Champions for setting up a charity to help fight the global scourge of plastic pollution.

Meanwhile, this year's Special Recognition Award goes to Gee Walker, who forgave her sons killers and devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory.

Speaking about the ceremony, Carol said: 'My favourite part of the Awards are the winners and how happy they are that theyre being celebrated.

Co-hosts: Host Carol Vorderman, 60, will once again take the helm, but this year, for the first time in the show's 22-year history, she'll be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33

'These incredible people make you want to be a better person. And even though everyone says how much it makes them cry, it is a celebration too of all the truly extraordinary things they have done.'

Ashley Banjo says: 'I have so much respect and admiration for all of the winners and I cant wait to meet them, see the look on their faces as they are surprised and celebrated and to experience this really special moment with them.'

While Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of award partner TSB adds: 'I have been bowled over by the bravery, courage and determination of all the winners.

'Helping people in our local communities is at the heart of what we do at TSB  thats why we are especially proud to sponsor the TSB Community Hero Award. It is truly humbling to see the extraordinary things people have done to make a difference and support those most in need in their communities.'

Nominated by the public, the winners are from all walks of life, of all ages, and from all over the country.

Since the first ceremony in 1999, royalty, prime ministers, and hundreds of leading figures from showbusiness, sport, politics and the arts have all taken part.

The awards attract an audience of around five million viewers every year in a primetime slot on ITV - making it the highest rated awards show of its kind on British television.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 2020's ceremony featured prerecorded segments of recipients receiving their awards at home, while a host of big names headed to The Royal Hospital Chelsea to film links ahead of the show.

Legends: Marcus Rashford (l) and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore (r) were among those honoured in the ceremony

As the awards aired on ITV, landmarks across London, including the London Eye, BT Tower and County Hall, turned red, white and blue in celebration of the winners.

Marcus Rashford and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore were among those honoured in the ceremony, which awarded the remarkable achievements of Brits who have selflessly contributed the the nation and the world.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, will be broadcast on ITV on 4th November at 8pm.
Vogue Williams looked very elegant as she walked down the red carpet of the Pride of Britain awards on Saturday night.

The Irish media personality, 36, was sensational in a green satin gown with cut out side panelling while her husband Spencer Matthews opted for a white dinner jacket and black trousers.

The blonde beauty carried a gold box bag in her hand as she linked arms with the dapper Spencer, 33.

Stunning: Vogue Williams, 36, looked very elegant as she walked down the red carpet of the Pride of Britain awards on Saturday night, while Spencer Matthews, 33, opted for a white dinner jacket

Vogue wore her mid length tresses in a side parting and were styled in stunning soft waves.

Her make up was done done up amazingly consisting of black eyeliner and clear lip gloss while she elevated her height with gold strappy sandals.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards returns to screens on Thursday 4th November, hosting a star-studded audience for the first time since 2019 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Elegant: The Irish media personality looked sensational in a green satin gown with cut out side panelling

The annual award show honours the nations unsung heroes as stars of TV, sport, politics and showbiz come together to celebrate 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things.'

Host Carol Vorderman, 60, will once again take the helm, but this year, for the first time in the show's 22-year history, she'll be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33, who was recently revealed as her new co-host.

Upon the announcement earlier this month, Ashley said: 'I feel like I've been a part of Pride of Britain for a few years now but the chance to co-host it next to Carol, who is a complete legend and a pro, is amazing.

'Its such a special show and a hugely emotional and inspiring night.'

While Carol said of Ashley: 'Ashley is a wonderful person and Im delighted that hes joining me because he has been involved for a few years now and it just feels right.

'The Pride of Britain Awards are an incredibly special evening and show to be a part of.'

Pride of Britain sees a night of 'extraordinary stories of bravery, selflessness and phenomenal fundraising feats' as well as a plethora of astounding surprises, laugh out loud situations and emotional moments as the nation comes together to honour the achievements of truly inspirational people.

Among the winners are quadruple amputee Harmonie-Rose Allen who wins the Child of Courage Award for inspiring the nation with her courage and unbreakable spirit.

Looking good: The blonde beauty carried a gold box bag in her hand as she linked arms with the dapper Spencer

While the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to campaigner Rosemary Cox, who set up the first Organ Donor Register in the UK, helping save thousands of lives.

Campaigning sisters Amy and Ella Meek, 18 and 16, have been named Pride of Britain's first ever Environmental Champions for setting up a charity to help fight the global scourge of plastic pollution.

Meanwhile, this year's Special Recognition Award goes to Gee Walker, who forgave her sons killers and devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory.

The awards attract an audience of around five million viewers every year in a primetime slot on ITV - making it the highest rated awards show of its kind on British television.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 2020's ceremony featured prerecorded segments of recipients receiving their awards at home, while a host of big names headed to The Royal Hospital Chelsea to film links ahead of the show.

As the awards aired on ITV, landmarks across London, including the London Eye, BT Tower and County Hall, turned red, white and blue in celebration of the winners.

Marcus Rashford and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore were among those honoured in the ceremony, which awarded the remarkable achievements of Brits who have selflessly contributed the the nation and the world.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, will be broadcast on ITV on 4th November at 8pm.

Glam: Her make up was done done up amazingly consisting of black eyeliner and clear lip gloss while she elevated her height with gold strappy sandals
Bella Thorne flaunted her figure Friday night in a sheer black turtleneck and black leather-paneled pants.

The 24-year-old actress turned up the sex appeal in the flamboyant top, which was bejeweled across her chest and sparkled in the moonlight as she headed out in New York City.

The redhead siren took the look up a notch by adding a generous helping of blingy jewelry as she stepped out to attend Rolling Loud music festival.

Hot stuff: Bella Thorne flaunted her figure Friday night in a sheer black turtleneck and black leather-paneled pants

Bella wore open-toe heels with a rhinestone strap. The footwear displayed her deep red pedicure.

The Midnight Sun star rocked large diamond double hoop earrings as well as chunky, sparkling bangles around her wrists.

Her opulent jewelry display continued with a set of rings, including one with an emerald stone surrounded by diamonds.

A vision: The 24-year-old actress turned up the sex appeal in the flamboyant top, which was bejeweled across her chest and sparkled in the moonlight as she headed out in New York City

Bejeweled: The redhead siren took the look up a notch by adding a generous helping of blingy jewelry as she stepped out to attend Rolling Loud music festival

Bella's fire engine red hair was parted on the side and blown out into a sleek, flowing style that spilled beyond her shoulders.

The Florida native wore a full face of makeup accentuating her eyes, cheeks, and her full pout.

She exited her NYC hotel with a friend and entered a nearby black vehicle before making her way to the popular music fest.

Night out: She exited her NYC hotel with a friend and entered a nearby black vehicle before making her way to the popular music fest

Strike a pose: After the show, Thorne appeared in Instagram Stories with a series of outtakes from her hotel room for her 24.8 million followers

After the show, Thorne appeared in Instagram Stories with a series of outtakes from her hotel room for her 24.8 million followers.

With a closeup snapshot she wrote: 'My eyes were grey yesterday. Crazy!!'

She was certainly feeling the Halloween spirit as she shared a snap dressed as a sexy bunny on Saturday morning.

Eye spy: With a closeup snapshot she wrote, 'My eyes were grey yesterday. Crazy!!'

Tease: Then, in a final image, the stunner wrote, 'Come get me,' with an eyeball emoji

Spooky: She was certainly feeling the Halloween spirit as she shared a snap dressed as a sexy bunny on Saturday morning

She switched gears into another rabbit get-up, this one more geared to the Playboy style bunny as she sported a platinum blonde wig with a strapless red corset suit.

Bella was recently overseas with her Italian-born fiance Benjamin Mascolo, 28, to attend the premiere of their joint film Time Is Up in Rome.

The two filmed the movie in Italy amid the pandemic last fall. And the actor proposed in March.

The couple was first romantically linked in April 2019.
Former Coronation Street stars Lucy Fallon and Katie McGlynn both put on showstopping displays as they joined celebrities at the Pride of Britain awards.

Katie, who was recently eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing, was the epitome of elegance in a figure-hugging black strapless gown at Grosvenor House on Saturday night.

The Hollyoaks star, 28, accessorised her glamorous attire with a simple glittering silver necklace and showcased her natural beauty with a palette of nude make-up.

Katie, who starred as Sinead Tinker in Coronation Street, wore her brunette tresses in a half-up half-down style, which she secured in place with a giant black bow.

Gorgeous: Katie McGlynn, who was recently eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing, was the epitome of elegance in a figure-hugging black strapless gown at the Pride of Britain Awards

Meanwhile, Lucy, who played Bethany Platt in the ITV soap until last year, showed off her sensational sense of style in a cream strapless gown decorated with cutout flowers.

The actress, 25, wore a pair of dainty silver heels with her ensemble and styled her golden locks in an elegant updo, while she perfected a golden smokey make-up look.

Katie's red carpet appearance saw her able to stun in another stunning gown, similar to many of the impressive dresses she was able to wear during her time on Strictly.

Katie and her professional dance partner Gorka Marquez, 31, were given the boot from the ballroom dance contest during Movie Week earlier this month.

Unique: Meanwhile, Lucy Fallon, who played Bethany Platt in the ITV soap, showed off her sensational sense of style in a cream strapless gown decorated with cutout flowers

After her elimination, Katie described being part of the competition as a 'lifetime achievement' and said she would never regret her time on the show, adding that Gorka had 'a lot of patience' with her.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards returns to screens on Thursday 4th November, hosting a star-studded audience for the first time since 2019 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The annual award show honours the nation's unsung heroes as stars of TV, sport, politics and showbiz come together to celebrate 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things.'

Host Carol Vorderman, 60, will once again take the helm, but this year, for the first time in the show's 22-year history, she'll be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33, who was recently revealed as her new co-host.

Upon the announcement earlier this month, Ashley said: 'I feel like I've been a part of Pride of Britain for a few years now but the chance to co-host it next to Carol, who is a complete legend and a pro, is amazing.

'It's such a special show and a hugely emotional and inspiring night.'

Show-stopping: The actress, 25, wore a pair of dainty silver heels with her ensemble and styled her golden locks in an elegant updo, while she perfected a golden smokey make-up look

While Carol said of Ashley: 'Ashley is a wonderful person and I'm delighted that he's joining me because he has been involved for a few years now and it just feels right.

'The Pride of Britain Awards are an incredibly special evening and show to be a part of.'

Pride of Britain sees a night of 'extraordinary stories of bravery, selflessness and phenomenal fundraising feats' as well as a plethora of astounding surprises, laugh out loud situations and emotional moments as the nation comes together to honour the achievements of truly inspirational people.

Among the winners are quadruple amputee Harmonie-Rose Allen who wins the Child of Courage Award for inspiring the nation with her courage and unbreakable spirit.

While the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to campaigner Rosemary Cox, who set up the first Organ Donor Register in the UK, helping save thousands of lives.

Campaigning sisters Amy and Ella Meek, 18 and 16, have been named Pride of Britain's first ever Environmental Champions for setting up a charity to help fight the global scourge of plastic pollution.

Meanwhile, this year's Special Recognition Award goes to Gee Walker, who forgave her son's killers and devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory.

All smiles: The Hollyoaks star Katie, 28, accessorised her glamorous attire with a simple glittering silver necklace and showcased her natural beauty with a palette of nude make-up

Speaking about the ceremony, Carol said: 'My favourite part of the Awards are the winners and how happy they are that they're being celebrated.

'These incredible people make you want to be a better person. And even though everyone says how much it makes them cry, it is a celebration too of all the truly extraordinary things they have done.'

Ashley Banjo says: 'I have so much respect and admiration for all of the winners' and I can't wait to meet them, see the look on their faces as they are surprised and celebrated and to experience this really special moment with them.'

While Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of award partner TSB adds: 'I have been bowled over by the bravery, courage and determination of all the winners.

'Helping people in our local communities is at the heart of what we do at TSB  that's why we are especially proud to sponsor the TSB Community Hero Award. It is truly humbling to see the extraordinary things people have done to make a difference and support those most in need in their communities.'

Nominated by the public, the winners are from all walks of life, of all ages, and from all over the country.

Farewell: Katie and her professional dance partner Gorka Marquez , 31, were given the boot from Strictly Come Dancing during Movie Week earlier this month

Since the first ceremony in 1999, royalty, prime ministers, and hundreds of leading figures from showbusiness, sport, politics and the arts have all taken part.

The awards attract an audience of around five million viewers every year in a primetime slot on ITV - making it the highest rated awards show of its kind on British television.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 2020's ceremony featured prerecorded segments of recipients receiving their awards at home, while a host of big names headed to The Royal Hospital Chelsea to film links ahead of the show.

As the awards aired on ITV, landmarks across London, including the London Eye, BT Tower and County Hall, turned red, white and blue in celebration of the winners.

Marcus Rashford and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore were among those honoured in the ceremony, which awarded the remarkable achievements of Brits who have selflessly contributed the the nation and the world.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, will be broadcast on ITV on 4th November at 8pm.
Sharon Stone returned to the spotlight on Saturday night for the prestigious Pride Of Britain Awards.

Back in August, the 63-year-old actress urged everyone to pray for her nephew after he was found in his crib with total organ failure - but he sadly died a few days later, just days before he turned one.

Since the tragic news, the Love Lace star has been largely out of the limelight but she jumped straight back in with a beaming smile, dressed in a sophisticated black-belted gown.

Return: Sharon Stone was back in the spotlight to present an award at the prestigious Pride Of Britain Awards - following the tragic death of her nephew

Flaunting her ageless beauty, Sharon looked on cloud nine as she stunned in her billowing finery for her first appearance at the annual awards ceremony.

Thespian Hannah Waddingham joined the mother-of-three on the star-studded red carpet, and they appeared to share a heartfelt moment as they embraced before kneeling on the floor.

The American film star will be presenting an award to former Syrian refugee Hassan Alkhawam, who, since arriving in the UK in 2017, has helped other vulnerable families.

Red carpet: Since the tragic news of her nephew's death, the Love Lace star has been largely out of the limelight but she jumped straight back in with a beaming smile

Sharon told The Mirror how she was excited to catch up with her old friend Simon Cowell, as they are seated on the same table: 'I havent seen him in years and Im thrilled to get to see him.

'Its really lovely to see people again and realise that if we get vaccinated, if we take Covid tests we really can safely see each other again.'

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards returns to screens on Thursday 4th November, hosting a star-studded audience for the first time since 2019 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Glamorous: Flaunting her ageless beauty, Sharon looked on cloud nine as she stunned in her billowing finery

The annual award show honours the nations unsung heroes as stars of TV, sport, politics and showbiz come together to celebrate 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things.'

Host Carol Vorderman, 60, will once again take the helm, but this year, for the first time in the show's 22-year history, she'll be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33, who was recently revealed as her new co-host.

Upon the announcement earlier this month, Ashley said: 'I feel like I've been a part of Pride of Britain for a few years now but the chance to co-host it next to Carol, who is a complete legend and a pro, is amazing.

Beautiful: The Love Lace star was dressed in a sophisticated black-belted gown

'Its such a special show and a hugely emotional and inspiring night.'

While Carol said of Ashley: 'Ashley is a wonderful person and Im delighted that hes joining me because he has been involved for a few years now and it just feels right.

'The Pride of Britain Awards are an incredibly special evening and show to be a part of.'

Embrace: Thespian Hannah Waddingham joined the mother-of-three on the star-studded red carpet

Pride of Britain sees a night of 'extraordinary stories of bravery, selflessness and phenomenal fundraising feats' as well as a plethora of astounding surprises, laugh out loud situations and emotional moments as the nation comes together to honour the achievements of truly inspirational people.

Among the winners are quadruple amputee Harmonie-Rose Allen who wins the Child of Courage Award for inspiring the nation with her courage and unbreakable spirit.

Special: The women appeared to share a heartfelt moment as they embraced before kneeling on the floor

While the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to campaigner Rosemary Cox, who set up the first Organ Donor Register in the UK, helping save thousands of lives.

Campaigning sisters Amy and Ella Meek, 18 and 16, have been named Pride of Britain's first ever Environmental Champions for setting up a charity to help fight the global scourge of plastic pollution.

Meanwhile, this year's Special Recognition Award goes to Gee Walker, who forgave her sons killers and devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory.

Speaking about the ceremony, Carol said: 'My favourite part of the Awards are the winners and how happy they are that theyre being celebrated.

Moment: Hannah looked delighted to be spending time with the film star on the big night

'These incredible people make you want to be a better person. And even though everyone says how much it makes them cry, it is a celebration too of all the truly extraordinary things they have done.'

Ashley Banjo says: 'I have so much respect and admiration for all of the winners and I cant wait to meet them, see the look on their faces as they are surprised and celebrated and to experience this really special moment with them.'

While Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of award partner TSB adds: 'I have been bowled over by the bravery, courage and determination of all the winners.

Co-hosts: Host Carol Vorderman, 60, will once again take the helm, but this year, for the first time in the show's 22-year history, she'll be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33

'Helping people in our local communities is at the heart of what we do at TSB  thats why we are especially proud to sponsor the TSB Community Hero Award. It is truly humbling to see the extraordinary things people have done to make a difference and support those most in need in their communities.'

Nominated by the public, the winners are from all walks of life, of all ages, and from all over the country.

Since the first ceremony in 1999, royalty, prime ministers, and hundreds of leading figures from showbusiness, sport, politics and the arts have all taken part.

The awards attract an audience of around five million viewers every year in a primetime slot on ITV - making it the highest rated awards show of its kind on British television.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 2020's ceremony featured prerecorded segments of recipients receiving their awards at home, while a host of big names headed to The Royal Hospital Chelsea to film links ahead of the show.

Legends: Marcus Rashford (l) and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore (r) were among those honoured in the ceremony

As the awards aired on ITV, landmarks across London, including the London Eye, BT Tower and County Hall, turned red, white and blue in celebration of the winners.

Marcus Rashford and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore were among those honoured in the ceremony, which awarded the remarkable achievements of Brits who have selflessly contributed the the nation and the world.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, will be broadcast on ITV on 4th November at 8pm.
Holly Willoughby was accompanied by her mother Lynne at the Pride Of Britain Awards on Saturday night.

In a heartfelt Instagram post, the presenter, 40, wrote: 'On a night where we celebrate heroes Im out with mine [sic] #prideofbritain', alongside a beaming mother-and-daughter photo.

The lookalike women looked nothing short of sophisticated as they prepared to hit the red carpet.

Lookalike: Holly Willoughby was accompanied by her mother Lynne at the Pride Of Britain Awards on Saturday night

Holly opted for figure hugging pink gown which boasted an elegant bardot neckline and mermaid skirt.

The glamorous number skimmed her curves perfectly as she made her way into the event.

Meanwhile Lynne glowed in a stylish white dress which consisted of sheer sleeves and sparkling detail.

Gorgeous: Holly opted for figure hugging pink gown which boasted an elegant bardot neckline

The This Morning star was glowing as she wore a perfectly applied layer of make up complete with dark pink lip colour, matching eye shadow and layers of blush swept across her cheeks.

Her blonde bob was styled in in a middle parting and fell just above her collarbone elegantly.

She elevated her height with white strappy sandals as the train of her dress trailed behind her.

Holly later posed with her mum Lynne who looked stunning in a long white flowery gown which had elegant 3/4 length sleeves.

Amazing: The television presenter opted for figure hugging pink gown which boasted an elegant bardot neckline and mermaid skirt

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards returns to screens on Thursday 4th November, hosting a star-studded audience for the first time since 2019 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The annual award show honours the nations unsung heroes as stars of TV, sport, politics and showbiz come together to celebrate 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things.'

Host Carol Vorderman, 60, will once again take the helm, but this year, for the first time in the show's 22-year history, she'll be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33, who was recently revealed as her new co-host.

Upon the announcement earlier this month, Ashley said: 'I feel like I've been a part of Pride of Britain for a few years now but the chance to co-host it next to Carol, who is a complete legend and a pro, is amazing.

Stunning: The glamorous number skimmed her curves perfectly as she made her way into the event

'Its such a special show and a hugely emotional and inspiring night.'

While Carol said of Ashley: 'Ashley is a wonderful person and Im delighted that hes joining me because he has been involved for a few years now and it just feels right.

'The Pride of Britain Awards are an incredibly special evening and show to be a part of.'

Pride of Britain sees a night of 'extraordinary stories of bravery, selflessness and phenomenal fundraising feats' as well as a plethora of astounding surprises, laugh out loud situations and emotional moments as the nation comes together to honour the achievements of truly inspirational people.

Among the winners are quadruple amputee Harmonie-Rose Allen who wins the Child of Courage Award for inspiring the nation with her courage and unbreakable spirit.

While the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to campaigner Rosemary Cox, who set up the first Organ Donor Register in the UK, helping save thousands of lives.

Glam: The This Morning star was glowing as she wore a perfectly applied layer of make up complete with dark pink lip colour, matching eye shadow and layers of blush swept across her cheeks

Campaigning sisters Amy and Ella Meek, 18 and 16, have been named Pride of Britain's first ever Environmental Champions for setting up a charity to help fight the global scourge of plastic pollution.

Meanwhile, this year's Special Recognition Award goes to Gee Walker, who forgave her sons killers and devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory.

Speaking about the ceremony, Carol said: 'My favourite part of the Awards are the winners and how happy they are that theyre being celebrated.

'These incredible people make you want to be a better person. And even though everyone says how much it makes them cry, it is a celebration too of all the truly extraordinary things they have done.'

Effortlessly chic: Her blonde bob was styled in in a middle parting and fell just above her collarbone elegantly

Ashley Banjo says: 'I have so much respect and admiration for all of the winners and I cant wait to meet them, see the look on their faces as they are surprised and celebrated and to experience this really special moment with them.'

While Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of award partner TSB adds: 'I have been bowled over by the bravery, courage and determination of all the winners.

'Helping people in our local communities is at the heart of what we do at TSB  thats why we are especially proud to sponsor the TSB Community Hero Award. It is truly humbling to see the extraordinary things people have done to make a difference and support those most in need in their communities.'

Nominated by the public, the winners are from all walks of life, of all ages, and from all over the country.

Since the first ceremony in 1999, royalty, prime ministers, and hundreds of leading figures from showbusiness, sport, politics and the arts have all taken part.

The awards attract an audience of around five million viewers every year in a primetime slot on ITV - making it the highest rated awards show of its kind on British television.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 2020's ceremony featured prerecorded segments of recipients receiving their awards at home, while a host of big names headed to The Royal Hospital Chelsea to film links ahead of the show.

As the awards aired on ITV, landmarks across London, including the London Eye, BT Tower and County Hall, turned red, white and blue in celebration of the winners.

Marcus Rashford and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore were among those honoured in the ceremony, which awarded the remarkable achievements of Brits who have selflessly contributed the the nation and the world.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, will be broadcast on ITV on 4th November at 8pm.

Like mother like daughter: Holly later posed with her mum Lynne who looked stunning in a long white flowery gown which had elegant 3/4 length sleeves
This year's Pride of Britain awards has seen an array of stunning celebrities turn heads in glamorous ensembles on Saturday night.

And host Carol Vorderman did not fail to impress in a corset-style midnight blue gown embellished with eye-catching silver patterns as she graced the red carpet.

The former Countdown presenter, 60, who is hosting the awards ceremony for the 22nd time, let her dress do all the talking as she simply styled her golden tresses in loose waves for the glamorous occasion.

She accessorised her glitzy ensemble with an elegant silver choker necklace and enhanced her age-defying looks with a palette of bold make-up.

Age-defying: Host Carol Vorderman did not fail to impress in a corset-style midnight blue gown embellished with eye-catching silver patterns as she graced the red carpet

Stunning: The media personality, 60, who is hosting the awards ceremony for the 22nd time, let her dress do all the talking as she simply styled her golden tresses in loose waves

Earlier in the evening, Carol couldn't contain her excitement as she shared a clip from the winners' dinner, where champions of the ceremony meet for the very first time and leave as 'one family'.

She also gave her Instagram followers a peek at her dressing room just hours before she was set to take to the stage at Grosvenor House, to present the prestigious awards.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards returns to screens on Thursday 4th November, hosting a star-studded audience for the first time since 2019 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The annual award show honours the nation's unsung heroes as stars of TV, sport, politics and showbiz come together to celebrate 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things.'

Glam: She accessorised her glitzy ensemble with an elegant silver choker necklace and enhanced her age-defying looks with a palette of bold make-up

Host Carol Vorderman, 60, will once again take the helm, but this year, for the first time in the show's 22-year history, she'll be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33, who was recently revealed as her new co-host.

Upon the announcement earlier this month, Ashley said: 'I feel like I've been a part of Pride of Britain for a few years now but the chance to co-host it next to Carol, who is a complete legend and a pro, is amazing.

'It's such a special show and a hugely emotional and inspiring night.'

While Carol said of Ashley: 'Ashley is a wonderful person and I'm delighted that he's joining me because he has been involved for a few years now and it just feels right.

'The Pride of Britain Awards are an incredibly special evening and show to be a part of.'

Pride of Britain sees a night of 'extraordinary stories of bravery, selflessness and phenomenal fundraising feats' as well as a plethora of astounding surprises, laugh out loud situations and emotional moments as the nation comes together to honour the achievements of truly inspirational people.

Presenter: Carol will once again host the show, but this year, for the first time in the show's history, she'll be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33, who was revealed as her co-host

Among the winners are quadruple amputee Harmonie-Rose Allen who wins the Child of Courage Award for inspiring the nation with her courage and unbreakable spirit.

While the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to campaigner Rosemary Cox, who set up the first Organ Donor Register in the UK, helping save thousands of lives.

Campaigning sisters Amy and Ella Meek, 18 and 16, have been named Pride of Britain's first ever Environmental Champions for setting up a charity to help fight the global scourge of plastic pollution.

Meanwhile, this year's Special Recognition Award goes to Gee Walker, who forgave her son's killers and devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory.

Speaking about the ceremony, Carol said: 'My favourite part of the Awards are the winners and how happy they are that they're being celebrated.

'These incredible people make you want to be a better person. And even though everyone says how much it makes them cry, it is a celebration too of all the truly extraordinary things they have done.'

Sensational: Carol appeared to be in excellent spirits as she joined an array of celebrities, including Molly Mae-Hague and Holly Willoughby, on the red carpet

Ashley Banjo says: 'I have so much respect and admiration for all of the winners' and I can't wait to meet them, see the look on their faces as they are surprised and celebrated and to experience this really special moment with them.'

While Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of award partner TSB adds: 'I have been bowled over by the bravery, courage and determination of all the winners.

'Helping people in our local communities is at the heart of what we do at TSB  that's why we are especially proud to sponsor the TSB Community Hero Award. It is truly humbling to see the extraordinary things people have done to make a difference and support those most in need in their communities.'

Nominated by the public, the winners are from all walks of life, of all ages, and from all over the country.

Since the first ceremony in 1999, royalty, prime ministers, and hundreds of leading figures from showbusiness, sport, politics and the arts have all taken part.

Thrilled: Carol couldn't contain her excitement as she gave her Instagram followers a peek at her dressing room just hours before she was set to take to the stage

The awards attract an audience of around five million viewers every year in a primetime slot on ITV - making it the highest rated awards show of its kind on British television.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 2020's ceremony featured prerecorded segments of recipients receiving their awards at home, while a host of big names headed to The Royal Hospital Chelsea to film links ahead of the show.

As the awards aired on ITV, landmarks across London, including the London Eye, BT Tower and County Hall, turned red, white and blue in celebration of the winners.

Marcus Rashford and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore were among those honoured in the ceremony, which awarded the remarkable achievements of Brits who have selflessly contributed the the nation and the world.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, will be broadcast on ITV on 4th November at 8pm.
Tilda Swinton was hard at work as she filmed a scene on the streets of New York City in a fiery ensemble.

The Academy Award-winning actress, 60, wore a red leather coat, a matching handbag and tall black boots.

Her hair was worn down with bangs that nearly covered her eyes, and it was dyed a blood red.

A fiery ensemble: Tilda Swinton wore a red leather coat, a lighter-toned handbag and tall black boots

The Doctor Strange actress stood in the street next to a silver car with its trunk wide open.

The scene is part of an upcoming Julio Torres project that is currently untitled. Torres wrote for Saturday Night Live for several years. This project will be his directorial debut.

Torres, who also appears as an actor in the upcoming project, starred in the scene alongside Swinton. He wore a blue jacket over a white T-shirt and a pair of black pants.

An intense scene: Swinton seems to be very distraught while standing in the street during the scene

A multitalented artist: Jose Torres will wear a lot of hats in his upcoming project which he wrote, directed and will star in

The Bob's Burgers actor held several boxes in his hands and wore a gray backpack. His character appeared to be helping Swinton take her things to the car.

While Swinton is hard at work on this series, it is nowhere near the only project that the Snowpiercer actress has in the work.

She's finished shooting several projects that are currently in post-production. Those projects are: The Eternal Daughter, Pinocchio, Asteroid City and Three Thousand Years of Longing.

Outside of the Torres project, she will also soon start filming The Killer, the upcoming David Fincher project where she'll star opposite Michael Fassbender.

Keeping busy: Swinton has already completed a number of projects that are currently in post-production and has several more on the way

Walking her out: Torres' character seems to be helping Swinton's get to the car with all of her stuff in boxes

The Isle of Dogs actress' career has continued to rise and one of her kids is going into the family business. Her 24-year-old daughter Honor attended the premiere of her movie The Souvenir: Part II earlier this month.

She wore a dazzling black dress, which she teamed up with a coordinating handbag.

Donning a pair of onyx Doc Martens, the movie's leading lady smoldered for a flurry of photographers, having applied a coordinating gothic eye-shadow look.

She wore her gorgeous sandy tresses in damp waves and accessorized her ensemble with a pair of gleaming white earrings.
Actor Idris Elba looks more like Lucifer than Luther as he attends the most glamorous Halloween fancy-dress party.

The 49-year-old donned a black cape, pink waistcoat, long wig and piercing blue contact lenses for the bash at Mayfair nightclub Annabel's, while his model wife Sabrina, 32, adopted a sultry ringmistress look for the Circus Of Horrors theme.

The couple wowed the star-studded bash thrown by club owner Richard Caring on Friday.

The 73-year-old tycoon wore a creepy ringmaster's outfit as he posed for a picture with his Brazilian wife Patricia, 40.

Meanwhile, Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark and pal Ella Richards, granddaughter of Rolling Stones rocker Keith, looked suitably eerie as the Grady Twins from The Shining.

A guest tells me: 'The party was wonderfully debauched.

Idris Elba, 49, donned a black cape, pink waistcoat, long wig and piercing blue contact lenses for the bash at Mayfair nightclub Annabel's, while his model wife Sabrina, 32, adopted a sultry ringmistress look (pictured together)

Former I'm A Celeb winner Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo rocked up in a little black dress

Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark and pal Ella Richards, granddaughter of Rolling Stones rocker Keith, looked suitably eerie as the Grady Twins from The Shining

Richard Caring and Patricia Caring attend Annabel's Annual Halloween Party 'Circus of Horrors'

'Everyone was confessing their sins.'

Tell me more!

P.S. Didn't former I'm A Celeb winner Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo get the memo about it being fancy dress?

She just turned up in an LBD!



Soho House founder Nick Jones must have read Boriss memo on levelling up  hes creating two more members clubs in the North.

Jones has earmarked a site in Glasgow, according to my sources, and plans are afoot for a Manchester outpost.
Laura Whitmore looked stunning in a green velvet suit at Saturday's Pride Of Britain awards ceremony.

The Irish media personality, 36, wowed in the ensemble which she paired with an oversized black bow tie as she joined Celebrity Juice co-star Emily Atack, 31, at the annual event honouring the countries heroes.

Laura wore embellished black peep toe heels as she posed up a storm on the red carpet.

Stunners: Laura Whitmore, 36, looked stunning in a green velvet suit at Saturday's Pride Of Britain awards ceremony while Emily Atack, 31, opted for a sexy satin two piece

She carried a small half moon box bag in her hand while her stunning visage was made up with black winged eyeliner and a slick of scarlet lip stick.

The Love Island presenter slicked her blonde tresses back into a chic low ponytail.

Emily, meanwhile, stunned in a the elegant ensemble which boasted a thigh skimming split which ensured her slender pins were on display.

Her blonde locks were styled straight as they neatly fell down her back.

Emily opted for a smokey eyeshadow look and nude lipgloss across her full pout.

Looking good: Laura wore stunning black peep toe heels as she posed up a storm on the red carpet

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards returns to screens on Thursday 4th November, hosting a star-studded audience for the first time since 2019 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The annual award show honours the nations unsung heroes as stars of TV, sport, politics and showbiz come together to celebrate 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things.'

Host Carol Vorderman, 60, will once again take the helm, but this year, for the first time in the show's 22-year history, she'll be joined by Diversity star Ashley Banjo, 33, who was recently revealed as her new co-host.

Amazing: She carried a small half moon box bag in her hand while her stunning visage was made up with black winged eyeliner and a slick of scarlet lip stick

Upon the announcement earlier this month, Ashley said: 'I feel like I've been a part of Pride of Britain for a few years now but the chance to co-host it next to Carol, who is a complete legend and a pro, is amazing.

'Its such a special show and a hugely emotional and inspiring night.'

While Carol said of Ashley: 'Ashley is a wonderful person and Im delighted that hes joining me because he has been involved for a few years now and it just feels right.

Fashionista: The Love Island presenter slicked her blonde tresses back into a chic low ponytail

'The Pride of Britain Awards are an incredibly special evening and show to be a part of.'

Pride of Britain sees a night of 'extraordinary stories of bravery, selflessness and phenomenal fundraising feats' as well as a plethora of astounding surprises, laugh out loud situations and emotional moments as the nation comes together to honour the achievements of truly inspirational people.

Among the winners are quadruple amputee Harmonie-Rose Allen who wins the Child of Courage Award for inspiring the nation with her courage and unbreakable spirit.

While the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to campaigner Rosemary Cox, who set up the first Organ Donor Register in the UK, helping save thousands of lives.

Campaigning sisters Amy and Ella Meek, 18 and 16, have been named Pride of Britain's first ever Environmental Champions for setting up a charity to help fight the global scourge of plastic pollution.

Meanwhile, this year's Special Recognition Award goes to Gee Walker, who forgave her sons killers and devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory.

Stunner: Emily, meanwhile, stunned in a the elegant ensemble which boasted a thigh skimming split which ensured her slender pins were on display

Speaking about the ceremony, Carol said: 'My favourite part of the Awards are the winners and how happy they are that theyre being celebrated.

'These incredible people make you want to be a better person. And even though everyone says how much it makes them cry, it is a celebration too of all the truly extraordinary things they have done.'

Ashley Banjo says: 'I have so much respect and admiration for all of the winners and I cant wait to meet them, see the look on their faces as they are surprised and celebrated and to experience this really special moment with them.'

Glamour puss: Her blonde locks were styled straight as they neatly fell down her back

While Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of award partner TSB adds: 'I have been bowled over by the bravery, courage and determination of all the winners.

'Helping people in our local communities is at the heart of what we do at TSB  thats why we are especially proud to sponsor the TSB Community Hero Award. It is truly humbling to see the extraordinary things people have done to make a difference and support those most in need in their communities.'

Nominated by the public, the winners are from all walks of life, of all ages, and from all over the country.

Gorgeous: Emily opted for a smokey eyeshadow look and nude lipgloss across her full pout

Since the first ceremony in 1999, royalty, prime ministers, and hundreds of leading figures from showbusiness, sport, politics and the arts have all taken part.

The awards attract an audience of around five million viewers every year in a primetime slot on ITV - making it the highest rated awards show of its kind on British television.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 2020's ceremony featured prerecorded segments of recipients receiving their awards at home, while a host of big names headed to The Royal Hospital Chelsea to film links ahead of the show.

As the awards aired on ITV, landmarks across London, including the London Eye, BT Tower and County Hall, turned red, white and blue in celebration of the winners.

Marcus Rashford and the late Captain Sir Tom Moore were among those honoured in the ceremony, which awarded the remarkable achievements of Brits who have selflessly contributed the the nation and the world.

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, will be broadcast on ITV on 4th November at 8pm.

Anticipated: The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards returns to screens on Thursday 4th November, hosting a star-studded audience for the first time since 2019 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic
Hailey Bieber stunned her 38.5 million Instagram followers on Saturday as she revealed multiple Britney Spears Halloween costumes.

The ambitious endeavor resulted in four tributes to the pop star's influential looks stretching from 1998 to 2001.

The 24-year-old model embodied the high-profile pop culture moments, ranging from Britney's best music videos to her classic Rolling Stone cover.

Surprise: Hailey Bieber stunned her 38.5 million Instagram followers on Saturday as she revealed multiple Britney Spears Halloween costumes

Hailey's travel back in time started with a recreation of the look for Britney's ...Baby One More Time music video.

Hailey spared no detail as she posed in front of a set of lockers in the signature grey sweater, white button up shirt, and pigtails secured with soft pink fuzzy scrunchies.

The runway star even added a binder and pen as props for the themed photoshoot, echoing the famous first scene of the video when Brit anxiously taps her writing utensil as she waits for the school bell to ring.

Making sure not to cut corners, Bieber nailed Britney's blended look of youth, innocence, and boredom.

Paying tribute: The ambitious endeavor resulted in four tributes to the pop star's influential looks ranging from 1998 to 2001

Job well done: The 24-year-old model embodied the high-profile pop culture moments to a tee

Cool and creative, Mrs. Bieber included short gifs incorporating movement to extend her portrayal of the songstress.

And in Instagram's Stories feature, fans were treated to more snapshots of the ensembles.

A full-body photo of the catwalk goddess was posted, showing off the bottom half of the legendary look from Brit's debut single.

It showed Hailey in a figure-flattering black mini skirt, knee-high socks, and chunky black shoes with a silver buckle.

Even more: A full-body photo of the catwalk goddess was posted, showing off the bottom half of the legendary look from Brit's debut single

Following her lead: Hailey's travel back in time started with a recreation of the look for Britney's ...Baby One More Time music video

Seeing red: Continuing her walk down memory lane, the Arizona-born beauty moved on to Oops!...I Did it Again

One-piece: The Who's In My Bathroom? YouTuber squeezed into the fiery red latex catsuit seen on the entertainer in the early aughts

Continuing her walk down memory lane, the Arizona-born beauty moved on to Oops!...I Did it Again.

The Who's In My Bathroom? YouTuber squeezed into the fiery red latex catsuit seen on the entertainer in the early aughts.

Remarkably, the beauty maven went as far as nailing the hitmaker's body language as she struck familiar poses in the skintight one-piece.

Completing the look, Hailey's frosty blonde-highlighted hair was styled in a side part as the sleek, straight locks extended below her chest.

The blueprint: Remarkably, the beauty maven even nailed the hitmaker's body language as she struck familiar poses in the skintight one-piece

Next up was the controversial 1999 Rolling Stone cover shot by David LaChapelle, in which an 18-year-old Britney Spears clutched a curly-corded white phone in one hand while snuggling a purple Teletubby.

The siren recreated the look, lying on a hot pink satin sheet in white boy shorts with a black polka dot pattern.

She's dressed in a lacy black bra and an opened white shirt as she stares at the camera with a come-hither look.

Hailey showed off brunette bangs as her long hair flowed out behind her head.

Sizzling: The siren recreated Britney's controversial 1999 Rolling Stone cover shot by David LaChapelle, lying on a hot pink satin sheet in white boy shorts with a black polka dot pattern

The original: Bieber recreated the look, lying on a hot pink satin sheet in white boy shorts with a black polka dot pattern

Last look: And finally, the mega celebrity pulled out all the stops to emulate Ms. Spears in the monumental Slave 4 U music video

And finally, the mega celebrity pulled out all the stops to emulate Ms. Spears in the monumental Slave 4 U music video.

The fashionista oiled up for her take on the sweltering look from the 2001 hot and heavy music video.

The former Miss Baldwin showed off her toned figure in a hot pink bra with a sleeve attachment and matching underwear worn over dark pants, just like the music artist did.

And the Vogue cover star's eyes were done up in the same smokey charcoal eyeshadow that Spears sported back in the day.

Turning up the heat: The fashionista oiled up for her take on the sweltering look from the 2001 hot and heavy music video

No feat was too much for the supermodel, as she even rocked a blonde wig with damp-looking waves to channel the queen of pop.

Equally, no detail was too minute - Hailey even added the same thin blue and pink bangles worn in the visual.

Hailey's Halloween salute came with help from artist Amber Asaly. Also assisting were hairstylist Clayton Hawkins, makeup guru Mary Phillips, and stylists Chloe & Chenelle Delgadillo.

In the post's caption Bieber wrote, 'Happy Halloweekend. The first concert I ever went to was the queen @britneyspears and I've been shook ever since.'

Identical: The former Miss Baldwin showed off her toned figure in a hot pink bra with a sleeve attachment and matching underwear worn over dark pants, just like the music artist did
Here's the queen of costume drama, creating some drama in a costume

Phoebe Dynevor donned a daring bikini while on holiday in Barbados last week  and as if her choice of two-piece didn't create a big enough splash, at one point she leapt into the turquoise Caribbean waters from a floating pontoon.

The 26-year-old actress had swapped Bridgerton for Bridgetown, the island's capital, for a break ahead of the premiere of her big-screen debut, The Colour Room.

Phoebe Dynevor donned a daring bikini while on holiday in Barbados last week

The 26-year-old actress had swapped Bridgerton for Bridgetown, the island's capital, for a break ahead of the premiere of her big-screen debut, The Colour Room

She said the 'baggy-style' 1920s clothes she wore in the film were a welcome costume change from the corsets she donned as Daphne Bridgerton in the hit Netflix drama, which returns for a second series next year

And she soaked up the sun in a skimpy 115 Las Olas polka-dot bikini during a trip to a beach near the upmarket Sandy Lane resort.

As these striking pictures show, the actress initially appeared pensive as she strolled across the sand and sat on the deck.

Whether her thoughtful demeanour relates to her recent split from American comedian Pete Davidson is unclear.

They had become close enough for him to be introduced to her parents Sally, who plays Sally Webster in Coronation Street, and screenwriter Tim  but they parted ways in August after a five-month romance, with insiders blaming distance and work commitments.

And she soaked up the sun in a skimpy 115 Las Olas polka-dot bikini during a trip to a beach near the upmarket Sandy Lane resort

As these striking pictures show, the actress initially appeared pensive as she strolled across the sand and sat on the deck

Despite becoming one of Hollywood's most sought-after actresses, Ms Dynevor has admitted to lacking confidence.

'I'm full of anxiety. I have a fear of failure, letting someone down,' she told one interviewer. 'I meditate, I have a therapist, I walk every day.'

The actress flew back to Britain from the Caribbean on Thursday to attend a preview of The Colour Room, in which she plays pioneering Stoke-on-Trent feminist and ceramic artist Clarice Cliff.

She said the 'baggy-style' 1920s clothes she wore in the film were a welcome costume change from the corsets she donned as Daphne Bridgerton in the hit Netflix drama, which returns for a second series next year.
Sofia Richie appeared to be gearing up for Halloween as she headed to an event toting a medium-sized pumpkin on Friday afternoon in Beverly Hills.

One day after returning to her natural chestnut brown hair, the 23-year-old model rocked a Coors Light x The Laundry Room t-shirt and black leggings.

The influencer, who has more than 6.9 million Instagram followers, styled her look with a pair of Dr. Martens boots and oversized shades.

Festive: Sofia Richie appeared to be gearing up for Halloween as she headed to an event toting a medium-sized pumpkin on Friday afternoon in Beverly Hills

Before getting out of her car, she posed for a selfie, which marked her return to her natural roots after years of dyeing her tresses blonde.

'Back to my roots,' she captioned the close-up of herself, while looking like a natural beauty with minimal makeup on her flawless face.

Her snap also showed off her dazzling accessorizes, including a diamond ring and bracelet.

Fall vibes: One day after returning to her natural chestnut brown hair, the 23-year-old model rocked a Coors Light x The Laundry Room t-shirt and black leggings

Stylish: The influencer, who has more than 6.9 million Instagram followers, styled her look with a pair of Dr. Martens boots and oversized shades

Sofia, who broke up with Scott Disick after a three-year romance in 2020, has been happily dating music executive Elliot Grainge for the past few months.

After she and the reality star broke up last summer  just days shy of her 22nd birthday  Sofia was linked to a slew of eligible bachelors including Cha Cha Matcha founder Matthew Morton and Israeli shipping heir Gil Ofer.

By March, however, Sofia posted her first snap of Elliot to her Instagram and they have continued to take their love all over as they've vacationed in St. Tropez, Santa Barbara and Palm Springs.

New look: Before getting out of her car, she posed for a selfie, which marked her return to her natural roots after years of dyeing her tresses blonde

'Back to my roots,' she captioned the close-up of herself, while looking like a natural beauty with minimal makeup on her flawless face

One month after they debuted their romance a source told Us Weekly that the pair were 'very happy together,' and things were getting more 'serious.'

'They started out as friends before they became a couple, and are now getting serious. Their relationship took off and they have been getting closer and closer and spend practically every day together.'

It was also noted that her family approved of the relationship after having concerns over she and Scott's age difference  which ultimately contributed to their split.

Meanwhile, Disick has been 'slowly been dating' after parting ways with Amelia Gray Hamlin after 11 months together, according to People.

Better off: Sofia, who broke up with Scott Disick after a three-year romance last year, has been happily dating music executive Elliot Grainge since 2021 (pictured in 2017)
She has been seen getting cosy with her new beau The Only Way Is Essex star James Lock.

And Megan Barton-Hanson put on a sultry display as she arrived at Maya Jama's Halloween bash presented by Bacardi Rum alongside her new boyfriend, 34, on Saturday night.

The Love Island star, 27, flaunted her ample assets in a skimpy white halter-neck top and blue latex skirt as she transformed into Julia Roberts' character Vivian in Pretty Woman.

Sexy: Megan Barton-Hanson put on a sultry display as she arrived at Maja Jama's Halloween bash presented by Bacardi Rum transformed into Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman on Saturday

Eye-popping: The Love Island star, 27, flaunted her ample assets in a skimpy white halter-neck top and blue latex skirt as she posed with new boyfriend James Lock, 34

She showcased her incredible figure with her cut-out ensemble, and channelled Vivian's style further with a pair of fishnet stockings and knee-high latex boots.

The brunette bombshell looked jaw-dropping in the barely-there outfit while her voluminous tresses cascaded across her shoulders in loose waves.

Megan touched up her look with a bold smokey-eyed make-up look and a slick of vibrant red lipstick as she struck a pose with her new beau.

The original: She showcased her incredible figure with her cut-out ensemble, and channelled Vivian's (pictured) style with a pair of fishnet stockings and knee-high latex boots

Stunning: The brunette bombshell looked jaw-dropping as her voluminous tresses cascaded across her shoulders in loose waves

The 1990 romantic comedy often poses inspiration for Halloween costumes and Megan captured attention in the standout outfit.

Meanwhile, James appeared to be dressed as Richard Gear for the Halloween party, who plays Vivian's love interest Edward Lewis in the hit movie.

The TV personality cut a sophisticated figure in a grey suit and waistcoat, which he teamed with a black tie and black shoes, while he swept his brunette locks back off his face to complete the look.

Halloween: Megan touched up her look with a bold smokey-eyed make-up look and a slick of vibrant red lipstick as she struck a pose with her new beau

Megan is not the first celebrity to channel her inner Julia Roberts this Halloween, as her fellow Love Island star Maura Higgins also put on a sexy display as the character on Friday.

The new couple's Halloween appearance comes after they were seen getting cosy in London earlier this month.

The pair packed on the PDA as they walked through the streets of the UK capital, sharing a steamy kiss as they flaunted their new romance.

Megan and her hunky beau were also seen sharing a kiss as they left Amazonico restaurant in Mayfair.

Pretty Woman: Megan made sure all eyes were on here as she put together her own sultry version of the well-recognised Julia Robert's ensemble

Classic: The 1990 romantic comedy often poses inspiration for Halloween costumes and Megan captured attention in the standout outfit

Twins! Megan is not the first celebrity to channel her inner Julia Roberts this Halloween, as her fellow Love Island star Maura Higgins also put on a sexy display as the character on Friday

An onlooker told The Sun at the time: 'Megan and James looked inseparable.

'You couldn't have squeezed a cigarette paper between the two of them.

'They were clearly having a great time and seemed very taken with each other.'

It is understood the couple started dating after meeting while filming Ex On The Beach.

It comes after James enjoyed a brief fling with TOWIE's Chloe Brockett, 20, which caused quite a stir on the latest series of the show.

And on Friday, Amy Childs, 31, remained insistent James Lock, 34, is not over his ex Yazmin Oukhellou, 27, despite him telling Yazmin he's moved on after their split earlier this year.

In TOWIE scenes set to air on Sunday night, Yaz has a heartfelt chat with Amy and Saffron Lempriere, 29, when she reveals she had a missed call from Lockie after he broke his relationship news.

Claiming she feels 'nothing' for James, Yaz recounts the 'awkward' moment James told her he was seeing someone, to which Amy declares: 'Not over you.'

Romance: The new couple's Halloween appearance comes after they were seen getting cosy in London earlier this month

'I don't think he's over been over her,' she says, turning to Saffron, who adds: 'I don't think they've ever been over each other. It's a Halloween kind of love, you two.'

Yazmin hits back: 'It's a dead kind of love and I'm not ready to resurrect it just yet.'

Amy then asks if Yazmin has head from him since then, to which she responds: 'Well, speaking of the dead and resurrections, I actually had a call that night after I saw him.

'A missed call. Maybe he drop called me.'

However, a suspicious Amy chimed in: 'Yeah, if he drop called me, fine. I'm 'A' for Amy. Why Yaz? He wanted to ring ya!'

James revealed to Yaz he was seeing someone else during last Sunday's episode of TOWIE.

Yaz and Lockie were known for their tumultuous two-year relationship but it ended following an 'explosive row' in Dubai.
News

Free smoke detectors once again available, safe heating tips given

The Englewood Fire Department has resumed giving out free smoke detectors this year in an effort to help protect homes.

According to Englewood Fire Department Chief Billy Roach, the Athens Fire Department, Riceville Volunteer Fire Department and the Etowah Fire Department will be distributing free smoke detectors as well.

It is funded through a grant by the Tennessee fire marshal and I think it is great that they offer this, Roach said. The fire marshals office actually has data that shows how many people have actually been saved thanks to smoke detectors, so I think this is a great program. Having smoke detectors in the house is one of the most important things that we can do.

He noted the amount of smoke detectors per house is based upon the size of the house.

We try to put them outside of each bedroom and most houses will have four to six, depending on the size of the house, he stated. If it has a basement we will put them in near the stairs.

In addition to the departments distributing free smoke detectors, the EFD will also install them into homes for residents.

As part of the requirement for the grant we have to do the installation of the detectors, Roach said. The best way to contact us if you want smoke detectors would be to email us at englewoodrural@outlook.com or contact us through city hall.

As colder weather begins to set in, Roach gave a few reminders of fire safety to the community as well.

Heat units need to be checked prior to turning them on, he noted. It is recommended that chimneys be cleaned and we recommend everyone check their smoke detectors to make sure that they are operating correctly.

One cause of fires during the colder months is from the use of space heaters.

You need to make sure that you do not put anything in front of or around them. You need to have at least five feet of clearance or more, Roach said. We need to be prepared for any kind of weather issues as well. I think Texas showed us last year with the failure of their electric system that we just need to be prepared with supplies and alternative heating sources that are safe.

High temperatures are expected to hover in the upper 50s to mid 60s for the next couple of weeks and expected lows could reach the low 30s during that time period in the local area.

We had a lot of fires last year during cold spells that were catastrophic, especially in things like apartments where people werent prepared for it, so I think we need to be prepared for the cold weather and make sure to have a safety plan in case of an emergency on how to escape a fire, Roach noted. Share that with your kids, have a meeting place set up and once you get out of a fire do not go back in it for anything.
Kathryn Hunter is from McMinn County and holds a bachelor's degree in Forest Resource Management from the University of Idaho and a Master of Forestry from Yale University. She has worked with the USDA Forest Service locally as well as living and working in natural resource management and protected area conservation in eight foreign countries.
This past weekend in Washington, D.C., Red Bull held the finals for the USA leg of their Dance Your Style competition, with the winners headed to South Africa in December for the global finals. Its no secret that Jamaica is the origin of countless styles around the world from wining and ticking to bogle and bruk up, so it was a pleasure to see dancehall make its appearance when dancers DAndre Nero and Marie Poppins went head to head (and toe to toe) to one of the genres most timeless tracks  Sister Nancys Bam Bam.

The competitors dont get to choose their music in the battle round, so its always interesting to see how they adapt different styles to unexpected genres. Nero The Professor, born DAndre Young in Chicago, rocked the classic tune with ease and went viral on social media with his signature style combining elements of stance and bruk up. Bruk up is derived directly from Jamaican dancehall and popular up in dance culture. The Kangz Kastle founder and top boy took a few moments to share his dancehall inspirations with us. Our conversation, lightly edited for clarity, can be found below.

So what was going through your head when you first heard Sister Nancy come on during the competition?

So hearing that song, its funny, thats in my [dance] playlist. I dance to a lot of different music. Theres so much you can do to these [Dancehall] songs. When that song came on, I felt the sauce come through, I felt the swag. The bruk up come through, you know what Im saying? The iso(lation)s. I was like, you just gotta float. You gotta float to the beat. You gotta bring the music to life. Thats the most important thing. When youre dancing to those type of songs, it brings out a different beast in you. You either wanna attack the music or you wanna be the music. In that moment, I chose to be the music.

When I heard the song, I wasnt even scared. Im like okay, just give me a chance to play. Imma bring them into my world. Let me show them what my playground looks like. People go into these battles thinking they need to be someone else, but I want to be myself at all times, regardless.

What role does Dancehall play in your overall dance lifestyle?

Flex culture, man. As far as like, flexing and stuff like that. People think because I bone break, Im a flexer. But Im definitely not. Bruk up is derived from Jamaica. Thats a party dance. Most people dont know that. Bruk up is a party dance. When youre popping your shoulder, thats in essence, like bussing your gun in a celebration. When you see people do that hard arm pop, just know thats the party flavor right there. People really getting into that bag. Dancehall is just crazy, bro! When you hear that music, youre going to either want to grind on somebody or get up and dance. But either way, youre dancing regardless.

What is Kangz Kastle and what does that movement mean to you?

Kangz Kastle is a non-profit organization. It was derived from the Future Kangz, a group I was part of.People would always ask Whos in the Kastle? or we would say Come to the Kastle and it just became a thing. I just wanted to build something with my friends and my girlfriend, for myself, for the dance community and really empower the youth and push Black culture in a new direction. Its going to be the next big thing.

Another Red Bull dancer, , said to me the other day: People are not going to understand who you are or what you do until you push it down their throat. So Ill tell you this: Im going to be a legend. I stand by that. Theres nothing that God said you cant do this, Im His child. Hes put me on this earth to do great things and one of those things is going to be to put the culture of dance back in the right hands and really just empower the youth. Theres so much untapped potential in the youth. You can make a living off dance. Were giving these rappers, these artists, entire careers just off Tik-Tok dances. Dancers are like the new deejays.

Do you see yourself coming to Jamaica? You know its home of some of the best dancers in the world.

I want to! Definitely, for sure! That shit would be fire (laughs). Im so down to go.

Red Bull Dance Your Style footage via Stance Elements / MC & Saatchi
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Windy early with showers becoming likely after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds NE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
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Balakrishna, Rana and several others from Telugu film industry went to Bengaluru to pay their last respects for the Kannada star

A day after Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar succumbed to heart attack while working out at the gym many celebs from the film industry have been pouring into Bengaluru to pay their last respects to the actor. Among the attendees at the Kantheerava Stadium, where Puneeths body was kept for public viewing, were actor, choreographer and director Prabhudheva; Rana Daggubati; and Balakrishna. Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai also attended the solemn occasion.

Even as the late actors fans and followers have been in shock over the news of the untimely death, celebs at the public viewing couldnt seem to hold back their emotions. While Balakrishna and Rana were seen tearing up, Prabhudheva was seen working hard to control his emotions.

The last rites of the late actor will be performed at Kantheerava Studio, where Puneeths parents were also buried, once his daughter Vandita arrives from the US in a government-chartered special flight.

The city of Bengaluru, where the actor lived, has been on high alert since the news of the actor, who was fondly called Appu and Powerstar, went public. The Karnataka Government has also declared two days of public mourning.
TIRUPATI: In a classic case of an innocent person falling victim to the smear campaign by political parties, a 58-year-old man was thrashed by cadres of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) at the public meeting of former Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu in Kuppam on Friday.

Shouting at the victim - identified as Mohan, an employee working with tourism department - that he was trying to hurl a bomb on Naidu, the TDP cadres thrashed him and caused injuries. All he did was put his hand in his bag and try to take out mobile phone to click the picture of Naidu, at a time when the TDP chief was accusing YSRC leaders of threatening him that they would hurl a bomb on his car if he visited Kuppam.

According to sources, the tourism employee, who was suspected as an anti-social element by the TDP workers, in reality came to Kuppam to meet Naidu to share his grievance. Mohan reportedly sought the help of a TDP leader in Kuppam to arrange an appointment to meet the party chief for submitting his grievances.

However, Mohan, who attended the public meeting of Naidu, was thrashed by the TDP workers after they suspected him as an antisocial element belonging to the ruling party. Eye witnesses said Palamaner DSP C.M. Gangaiah, CI Sadiq Ali and team, who were at the meeting, reacted swiftly and rescued the tourism employee from the attack, otherwise the situation might have turned worse.

Someone in the public shouted that the 58-year-old was trying to take a bomb from his bag to hurl it on Chandrababu Naidu. On hearing this, other people started beating him. We reacted quickly and rescued the man from the attack. He was later shifted to hospital for treatment and now he is doing well, Sadiq Ali told this correspondent.

Meanwhile, the police are trying to identify the persons, who aired bomb rumour and thrashed the tourism employee. Strict action will be taken against the people spreading rumours, and attacking innocent people, the police said.
Aryan Khan walks out of Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail 22 days after being arrested in drugs-on-cruise case. (ANI)

Mumbai: Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, walked out of the Arthur Road prison, after 22 days in the central Mumbai facility following his arrest during a drug raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

Aryan came out of the prison shortly after 11 am, a day after a special court issued his release memo.

Immediately after walking out of the prison, he entered a waiting car and drove to his house Mannat in suburban Bandra, 12 km away.

He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Thursday. Shah Rukh Khan's actor-friend Juhi Chawla stood as surety for the 23-year-old before the special court, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).

The HC on Friday afternoon made available its operative order in which it imposed 14 bail conditions on Aryan Khan and his co-accused in the case, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, who were also granted bail, stipulating their release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount.

The relief to the trio came just a day before the HC was scheduled to take a two-week break for Diwali.

In the five-page order, signed by Justice N W Sambre, the high court said the trio will have to surrender their passports before the NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court.

Also, they will have to attend the NCB office each Friday between 11 am and 2 pm to mark their presence, the HC said.

The judge will give a detailed bail order with reasons next week.

Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha were arrested by the NCB on October 3 and booked under relevant sections of the NDPS Act for possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs and conspiracy and abetment.

Their arrest came a day after the NCB raided the cruise ship and claimed to have seized banned drugs. So far, 20 people have been arrested in the case and two of them were granted bail by the special NDPS court earlier this week.
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday asked the media to refrain from misreporting on the Mullaperiyar Dam in the interest and wellbeing of both the States - Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and said only 500 cusecs of water (against 514 according to some news reports) was released by the Tamil Nadu State Water Resources Department officials with prior intimation to Kerala.

Flaying a section of media for inaccurately reporting that the dam water was released by Kerala on Friday, The Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said, The misreporting on the Mullaperiyar Dam in a section of media appears to be intentional. This should be avoided in the interest and wellbeing of the States concerned, he said in a statement here.

Explaining, the Minister said the Madurai regional Water Resources Department decided to open the dam after taking into account the surging water-level in the reservoir. It was opened on the morning of October 28 by the engineers of the Water Resources Department as the water in the dam continued to rise. Prior intimation was given to Kerala government, as per the standing guidelines and the water was released in the presence of the Kerala Water Resources Minister and Kerala officials, he said.

This being the case, a section of the media falsely reported that the Kerala government had opened the dam, the Minister said and recalled his statement on Friday that 500 cusecs of water was let out from 7.30 AM. As per the storage position at 8 AM today, the reservoir has 138.85 feet water with an inflow of 3,404 cusecs. About 2,340 cusecs of water was drawn through the tunnel to the Vaigai Dam with a discharge of 875 cusecs, he said. The quantum of water to be released would vary according to the inflows, the Minister added.

Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department is monitoring the level of water in the dam on a regular basis as accorded by the Central Water Commission (CWC) and as per the order of the Supreme Court. There is no doubt that the dam can impound water up to the permitted level of 142 feet depending upon the inflows from November 30. It is the Tamil Nadu government which owns, maintains and operates the Mullaperiyar Dam (located in Kerala), as per the 999-year lease agreement signed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 1886, he pointed out.

Earlier in the day, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam demanded the Chief Minister M K Stalin to clarify on media reports claiming 514 cusecs water was released from the dam by Kerala.
According to police, the youth had taken up the test in 2019 and 2020, but could not clear. . (Representational image)

Coimbatore: Apprehensive over the outcome of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), a 20-year old medical aspirant allegedly died by suicide in the district.

K Keerthivasan of Sangarayapuram near here had appeared for the entrance exam held in September for the third time, results of which are expected in a couple of days.

According to police, the youth had taken up the test in 2019 and 2020, but could not clear. So he tried his luck for the third time this year.

With National Testing Agency publishing the answer key, the youth was said to be upset and told his parents that he may not be able to clear the test this year also, they said.

Despite the advise from his parents to wait for the results, Keerthivasan allegedly consumed pesticides on Friday afternoon and was admitted to Pollachi Government hospital. The doctors attending to the youth referred him to the Government hospital here, where he died at night, they added.
Voters outside a polling station in Badvel Assembly constituency in Kadapa district after exercising their franchise in the bypolls. (ANI)

Kadapa: Voting for the by-election in Badvel Assembly constituency in the district is underway with voters queueing up to exercise their franchise.

Polling will be held from 7 AM to 7 PM, a senior election official said on Saturday.

According to Kadapa Superintendent of Police KKN Anburajan, as many as 281 polling stations for the by-poll were set up out of which 148 have been identified as "critical."

Over 2,000 police personnel including central armed police forces have been deployed at necessary places.

The assembly seat fell vacant following the death of ruling YSR Congress Party legislator Gunthoti Venkata Subbaiah in March.

The party has fielded Subbaiah's widow Sudha as its candidate while the opposition Telugu Desam Party announced that it would not nominate anyone to the by-poll respecting the widow of the demised MLA, terming it "traditional values".

BJP's candidate Suresh Panathala backed by actor Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party is in the fray, while Congress nominated P Kamalamma as its candidate.

Counting of votes will be taken up on November 2.

The constituency has over 2.16 lakh eligible voters.
Minister KTR while delivering the keynote address on Growth: Drafting the future of Indo-French relations in a post-Covid-era at the Ambition India Business Forum in Paris on Friday. (Photo:Twitter)

HYDERABAD: Minister K.T.Rama Rao announced that the TS government was willing to develop a dedicated industrial cluster for French companies, particularly SMEs.

He said that Telangana state has been on the forward march, thanks to the foresight of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and his investor-friendly policies and the industrial ecosystem prevalent in the state.

The minister invited French businessmen to explore investment opportunities in Telangana while delivering the keynote address on Growth: Drafting the future of Indo-French relations in a post-Covid-era at the Ambition India Business Forum in Paris on Friday. He highlighted the TS-iPASS industrial policy and availability of 2 lakh acres in the 'land bank.

"While national policies are the prerogative of the Union government in our federal structure, states also enjoy considerable autonomy in multiple operational issues like allotment of land, providing approval and permissions, helping companies get trained manpower, and preferential procurement policies," he said, according to a release from his office. Rao highlighted the welfare schemes and developments taking place in Telangana.

On TSiPASS, he said, Telangana is the most progressive state in India. Our policy allows for self-certification and also promises 15-day clearances by statute. And if we don't deliver within the 15-day window, on the 16th day, it is deemed approved.

Telangana has a large land bank of about two lakh acres with the TSIIC. They are strategically located and have the best of infrastructure like power, water, waste disposal, and connectivity, he said.

He said that under Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK), the government would train people at its own cost, transforming them into quality human resources.

Rao urged companies keen on investing in India to study what other states are offering. He said that Telangana would go a step further and come up with the most viable offer.
Actor Rajinikanth (R) receives the Dadasaheb Phalke Award from the Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu, during the 67th National film awards and Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2019 held in New Delhi. (Photo: AFP)

Chennai: South superstar Rajinikanth, on Thursday, has been admitted to Kauvery Hospital in Chennai after he went there for a 'routine checkup'.

The actor, who was in New Delhi a few days back to receive the esteemed Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to cinema, had gone to the hospital for a routine checkup, where he later had to be admitted.

During his visit to the national capital, Rajinikanth had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind.

Earlier, in December 2020, the star had been admitted to the Apollo hospital, Hyderabad, due to fluctuating blood pressure and exhaustion.

The 70-year-old star has featured in Bollywood as well as South Indian films and has a humongous fan following. The '2.0' star had made his debut in 1975 with K Balachander's 'Apoorva Ragangal' and has completed more than 45 years in the Tamil film industry.

He has delivered hit films such as 'Billu', 'Muthu', 'Baashha', 'Sivaji', and 'Enthiran'. Rajinikanth was last seen in AR Murugadoss's 'Darbar'. He will next be seen in his upcoming film 'Annaatthe', which is currently slated to release on November 4.
All polling materials have been handed over to polling personnel at the central distribution centre in Government Junior College in Huzurabad. These personnel will reach their polling stations latest by Friday night and be ready for polling from Saturday 7 a.m.  Representational image/PTI

KARIMNAGAR: Election Commission of India (ECI) has increased by two hours time for voters to exercise their franchise in the super-charged Huzurabad by-election in Karimnagar district on Saturday.

Generally, the polling starts at 7 in the morning and ends at 5 p.m. For Huzurabad, however, polling will be from 7 a.m. to 7 in the evening.

Police will be deployed at 306 places in five mandals of the constituency. Section 144 will be in force throughout the assembly segment. About 3,880 security personnel, including central forces, are being deployed to prevent any untoward incidents. There will be 1,715 polling personnel of the Election Commission with 421 control units, 891 voting machines and 515 VV PAT units.

All polling materials have been handed over to polling personnel at the central distribution centre in Government Junior College in Huzurabad. These personnel will reach their polling stations latest by Friday night and be ready for polling from Saturday 7 a.m.

Strict Covid norms will be followed including hand sanitisation and checking of voters body temperature by health staff before anyone can enter the polling centre. In case any Covid patients come to exercise their franchise, PPE kits and hand gloves will be provided to them, so that they too can exercise their voting right.

District collector and election officer R.V. Karnan, returning officer Ch. Ravinder Reddy and police commissioner V. Satyanarayana supervised arrangements being made for polling.
HYDERABAD: Chief Electoral Officer Shashank Goel directed officials to identify the persons who demanded money on Thursday for voting in the Huzurabad byelection, by verifying video footage and book cases against them.

The videos of voters, especially women, staging protests in front of the house of a sarpanch alleging that he did not distribute the amount although he received the same from the party went viral on Thursday. Some alleged discrimination in distribution saying they got lesser amount than others.

The Election Commission of India (EC) took a serious view of the protests. "Demanding money to cast votes is an offence like offering money to lure voters. Strict instructions have been issued to officials in Huzurabad constituency to verify video footage to identify those who demanded money and also those who distributed money, inquire at the ground level and book cases under relevant sections of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)," Goel told this newspaper.

At present, bribery of voters is a non-cognisable offence under CrPC and is punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to one year, or with fine, or both, under sections 171B and 171E of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The EC has been seeking for long to make it a cognisable offence but is pending with the Centre. A cognisable offence is one for which police can carry out an arrest without a warrant and initiate investigations.

Karimnagar police commissioner V. Satyanarayana on Friday warned the people who came onto the roads alleging that the political leaders were not giving money for casting their votes.

Speaking to media personnel, he said not only giving money to lure voters by leaders of political parties but also taking money by people to sell their votes was considered a crime. He said the police would lodge cases against the people who staged dharnas and road blockades demanding money for votes.
TS Discoms and TSRTC sought the government's approval for the hike in the last week of September but the government kept these proposals on hold due to the Huzurabad Assembly bypoll. (DC file photo)

HYDERABAD: The stage is set for a hike in power tariff and TSRTC ticket fares soon. The TS Discoms and TSRTC sought the government's approval for the hike in the last week of September but the government kept these proposals on hold due to the Huzurabad Assembly bypoll.

With the bypoll now out of the way, the state Cabinet is expected to meet after Diwali to discuss and finalise the quantum of increase.

At a meeting held by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan on September 21, transport minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar and energy minister G. Jagadish Reddy requested the Chief Minister to hike RTC bus fares and power charges saying that the TSRTC and TS Discoms were reeling under serious financial crises due to non-revision of tariffs for long. They pleaded for an immediate hike in the charges.

They reportedly told the Chief Minister that power charges were last hiked in April 2015 while the RTC fares in December 2019. Responding to this, the Chief Minister asked both the ministers to submit proposals to the Cabinet.

A week later, on September 28, the Election Commission of India released the schedule for the Huzurabad Assembly byelection. With this, the government kept hike proposals on hold.

TSRTC chairman Bajireddy Goverdhan and managing director V.C. Sajjanar informed the Chief Minister that diesel prices had gone up by Rs 22 per litre during the last one-and-a-half years. This imposed an additional annual burden of Rs 550 crore on the RTC.

They said the prices of tyres, tubes and spare parts had increased significantly, pushing the RTC into further losses. This caused an additional burden of Rs 600 crore per year.

The officials said the RTC suffered losses of nearly Rs 3,000 crore due to Covid and subsequent lockdowns and restrictions, adding that the Hyderabad region alone was incurring a loss of Rs 90 crore per day. They said all the 97 bus depots were running in losses.

The Chief Minister had said in the Assembly in March 2020 the government had not carried out its plan to increase bus fares due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Unless the charges were hiked, it was difficult to sustain TSRTC due to increased operational costs and Covid losses, they said.

Similarly, TS Transco CMD Prabhakar Rao, who was also present in the meeting, brought to the Chief Ministers notice the huge losses incurred by TS Discoms due to non-revision of tariffs for the last six years and the Covid situation. They urged the Chief Minister to hike power charges to help Discoms tide over the losses.
The by-elections have been necessitated as the seats fell vacant following the death of Sindgi JD(S) legislator M C Managuli and BJP's C M Udasi from Hangal. (Representational Photo:AP)

Bengaluru: Voting is underway for the bypolls in Sindgi and Hangal assembly constituencies in Karnataka, election officials said on Saturday.

The polling began at 7 am will go on till 7 pm.

A total of 19 candidates are in the fray in the two constituencies, including six from Sindgi and 13 from Hangal. Two candidates from Sindgi are women.

The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

There are a total of 4,39,148 eligible voters, including 230 service voters from both constituencies, who can cast their votes at 560 polling stations.

The by-elections have been necessitated as the seats fell vacant following the death of Sindgi JD(S) legislator M C Managuli and BJP's C M Udasi from Hangal.

While Ramesh Bhusanur, who came second behind Managuli in 2018 polls, is the BJP candidate from Sindgi, Shivaraj Sajjanar is its candidate from Hangal constituency.

The Congress has named M C Managuli's son Ashok Managuli, who has joined the party, as its candidate from Sindgi, while former MLC Srinivas Mane is its candidate from Hangal.

The JD(S), which was the first to announce its candidates, has fielded 33-year-old post graduate Naziya Shakeel Ahmed Angadi from Sindgi and 35-year-old B.E, M.Tech graduate Niyaz Shaikh from Hangal.

This is the first electoral challenge for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai after taking charge. Retaining Hangal is even more important for him as it is the neighbouring constituency to his Shiggaon assembly segment.

The Congress, by ensuring a win, wants to give momentum for its preparations in the run up to 2023 assembly polls in the state, while the JD(S) is looking to retain Sindgi seat and thereby prove that it still commands a support base in the northern districts.

Congress leaders have alleged that the JD(S) deliberately fielded minority candidates for the Hangal and Sindgi by-elections to help the BJP.
Even after this order, the compensation had not been paid to Bakkuri Linganna. With that, he and the others filed a contempt case before the high court in 2019.  DC

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday told the state government it is not doing charity by paying compensation to farmers whose properties were acquired. Nor are the farmers beggars to beg for their compensation, the court said.

This was stated by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Sharma and Justice A. Rajasheker Reddy, while dealing with a contempt case filed by people whose land was acquired 55 years ago.

This is not an isolated case of delay in paying the land compensation. Hundreds of petitions and PILs were filed by farmers before the high court complaining either that they have not been paid the compensation or that the issues related to compensation remained unsolved. In some cases, those who lost land have not been paid any amount. You (government) are not doing charity by way of paying a compensation. Moreover, the farmers are not beggars, Chief Justice Sharma observed.

He wondered why so many cases filed about land compensation were pending for long.

Justice Reddy observed that the petitioners would not get even an acre at current prices with the amount offered long ago by the government. How can land be acquired without paying compensation, he asked.

The bench also noted that farmers were committing suicide as they were not paid sufficient compensation for their land when it was acquired. The government cannot touch the land without paying the compensation, it pointed out.

In the present case, the petition was filed by Bakkuri Linganna and five others, whose land measuring three acres and three guntas was acquired in 1966 for the Sriram Sagar project. The award was passed in 1991 but this has not been implemented so far. The execution petition has been pending before the lower court since 2008.

Meanwhile, the HC suo motu took up a Public Interest Litigation based on a letter sent by the district judge, Mahbubnagar, as to how the office was overloaded by a large number of pending execution petitions filed on land acquisition suits. The HC had directed the state government in that case to pay compensation in all the execution petitions relating to land acquisition that were pending at all district courts within six months.

Even after this order, the compensation had not been paid to Bakkuri Linganna. With that, he and the others filed a contempt case before the high court in 2019. After two years, too, two undertakings given by government counsel that the compensation would be paid to petitioners were not honoured.

On an earlier occasion, a division bench headed by Justice Ramachandra Rao summoned the principal secretary of the finance department, Ramakrishna Rao, to explain the delay.

On Friday, he appeared before the high court. Special government pleader Harender Pershad told the court that the award amount calculated by the petitioners to the tune of Rs 52.7 lakh was not correct. It was valued at Rs 10 lakh and the amount had been deposited into their accounts recently, he said.

Petitioners counsel Gudi Madhusudhan Reddy objected to these contentions and drew the attention of the court to the fact that earlier undertakings were furnished by the land acquisition department, in which they agreed to pay the compensation along with three components of interest. The court adjourned the hearing to December 16.
HYDERABAD: Every political watcher in India will agree with the point the BJP in Telangana has been making for years now  the TRS led by K. Chandrashekar Rao is the most corrupt politician in the country ever, alleged BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Saturday.

Talking to Deccan Chronicle while watching the news unfold of rapidly rising voting percentage across Huzurabad Assembly constituency, and taking alerts from leaders and activists on the ground, Sanjay asked, Is there any party or leader who can spend between Rs 6,000 and up to Rs 20,000 per vote in an Assembly constituency for a bypoll? Add to it hundreds of crores already spent during the last five months of the campaign.

KCRs greatest achievement is to have pioneered the practice of hiring a private agency to distribute money to buy votes for the first time in India. This will be his lasting legacy when his career ends in 2023, said Sanjay.

Predicting a humongous victory for BJP candidate Etala Rajendar, Sanjay said, People have understood that the primal reason for KCRs arrogance is the money he has earned through corruption. KCR has succeeded in the past purchasing MLAs for Opposition parties, luring leaders at different levels but is now set for a state-wide downfall because the self-respecting people wont sell their souls or votes.

Having brought the party to a tipping point of popularity from virtual electoral oblivion after taking charge as state unit president, Sanjay is working on the second phase of his padayatra.

Even while we are campaigning for Huzurabad, we have been focussing on organisational growth. The BJP strength is growing across all 119 Assembly segments. Every section of society is joining us. You would be surprised to know that after I declared that we will not be afraid to contest elections with support of over 80 per cent of Hindus, thousands of Muslims, from progressive liberals and intellectuals to women, are migrating to the BJP, he said.

When quizzed about farmers issues, including the ban on sowing of paddy, the declarations by Siddipet district collector P. Venkatrama Reddy that he would not allow sale of paddy seeds even if the Supreme Court or Telangana High Court gives a directive to the contrary, the BJP state chief said, The arrogance of KCR and his son and other family members has now percolated across the party and government. They treat common people like dirt. They have contempt for courts and democracy. We will fight against the undemocratic ways of the TRS in every area.

Asked whether the farmers were angrier with the Centre or the state government, Sanjay said, For years, the farmers in Telangana did not know how many programmes and welfare schemes of the BJP-led Centre they were enjoying because the local sarpanches and officials made it appear as if they were TRS schemes. When the Food Corporation of India was procuring paddy, KCR told farmers he was doing it. Now farmers are demanding that they be allowed to sow paddy and that the state must buy it. TRS lies trapped under the debris of their own lies. Farmers will sound the death knell for the TRS government.

Elaborating, Sanjay said, During my padayatra across nearly 20 Assembly segments so far, I explained to farmers how they are getting Rs 900 Central subsidy of urea per bag, which works out to nearly Rs 5,000 per acre per season. Same with DAP. When they realise how much Prime Minister Modi is doing for farmers, but they are not getting benefits, or Kisan Fasal Bima or bonus because of CM KCR, Telangana farmers have made up their mind to vote BJP.

Did KCR even write to the FCI on how much crop Telangana may grow? Did he even initiate a ground survey? He just does not care about farmers or anyone else, except during elections, Sanjay alleged.

Dismissing the prospects of a face-off between the Congress and the BJP, Sanjay said, Revanth Reddy is an agent of KCR, foisted to divide the anti-TRS votes. Congress is fighting the BJP, not the TRS. Every time the BJP announces a programme, Revanth, on the directions of KCR, organises another one on the same day. People know that the Congress has been purchased by the TRS.

Why would people of Telangana, sick and tired of one corrupt family-ruled party want to replace it with another, he questioned.

On the Dharani portal, Sanjay said, There seems to be serious lapses in terms of constitutional norms while implementing Dharani. The BJP will explore all options.

In the post-Huzurabad phase, Telangana will see a new struggle, a new movement for self-respect, for pro-poor politics, for justice, equality and dignity. Family rule, corruption and hubris will make way for nationalistic minded governance. The BJP will win Huzurabad today and Telangana tomorrow, Sanjay said, with supreme confidence.
Tension prevailed at several polling stations in Gopavaram, Porumamilla and Atlur mandals after the BJP leaders accused the YSRC of using non-locals to cast bogus votes. (Representational photo:AFP)

ANANTAPUR: Tension prevailed at several polling stations in Gopavaram, Porumamilla and Atlur mandals after the BJP leaders accused the YSRC of using non-locals to cast bogus votes and also a few police officers of mingling with the ruling party. BJP state unit president Somu Veeraraju alleged that a sub-inspector, Chandrasekhar from Gopavaram Mandal, threatened the BJP agents to make people vote in favour for YSRC.

Our party agents were threatened to go out from polling stations in Buttayipalli and Jogireddypalli villages. No Central forces were posted in border villages while local police supported the YSRC to cast bogus votes, he observed.

About 40 women were sent back from S. Venkatapuram polling station for not having ID cards and reportedly came to cast bogus votes, after the BJP leaders alerted the police. BJP senior leader G.V.L. Narasimha Rao represented the Central Election Commissioner in New Delhi against bogus votes by non-locals. BJP candidate Suresh who visited the polling stations in Goparavarm had a heated argument with YSRC cadres at Varikunta village and blamed them for casting bogus votes cast in the first hour of polling in border villages.

Many voters went back for not having their names in the voter list, he noticed. However, the YSRC leaders lashed out at the BJP and the TD with no ethics in politics. YSRC candidate Sudha observed that the BJP had no cadres in the village and appointed TD activists as booth agents in most of the villages.

In the last polls, the YSRC candidate got more than 40,000 majority where 76.37 per cent of polling was recorded but this time, the polling confined to 68.12 per cent in the bypoll.
HYDERABAD: Several poll management agencies and survey teams predicted a comfortable win for Etala Rajendar, former minister and BJP candidate, in the Huzurabad Assembly constituency which went for bypoll on Saturday.

Much to the shock of the ruling party, a majority of voters did not hesitate to reveal their choice after coming out of polling booths in an election that is considered most expensive so far with the two main rivals  the TRS, whose campaign was spearheaded by finance minister T Harish Rao and the BJP's Rajendar, whose unceremonious ouster by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao from the Cabinet finally led to the bypoll  spending hundreds of crores of rupees.

In an hitherto unheard-of practice, parties distributed as much as Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 per vote in several places and yet the beneficiaries, the electorate, openly shared their choice with the pollsters. At one stage, the ruling party camp sought to maintain that it was part of the poll strategy to create hype over the BJPs chances though silent vote was cast in favour of the TRS candidate.

Mission Chanakya, a city-based poll management firm, which has been accurately predicting poll outcomes for the last several years, announced its exit poll result according to which Rajendar would win with almost 19 per cent margin by securing 55.68 per cent votes against the nearest rival belonging to the TRS who is predicted to end up with 36.56 per cent. The Congress share will be less than five per cent, it said.

Mission Chanakya, headed by Shivakeshav Amuka, a former journalist, hit the bulls eye in predicting 2018 Assembly polls, the GHMC elections, the Dubbak and the Nagarjunasagar bypolls. It even predicted a 19,000-vote margin for the TRS candidate in the recent Sagar bypoll.

The ruling partys overall credibility has been on a downslide and the fall is rapid, said Shivakeshav whose company was also engaged by Rajendar for poll strategy. The agency claimed to have worked on the 20,000-odd voter sample and the margin of error it suggested was as low as three per cent.

According to Mission Chanakya, women supported Rajendar in large numbers and Dalit Bandhu did not fully help the TRS while it consolidated vote among the rest of the communities in favour of the BJP candidate.

Political Laboratory, another agency, predicted around a 23,000-vote margin for Rajendar who it said would be ahead of the TRS in all mandals except Illendukunta. It, however, said that the alleged distribution of money to the committed voters by the TRS might cause anxiety to the BJP candidate.

Kautilya Solutions, in its exit poll, predicted a margin of about 13,000 votes for Rajendar who it said would secure 47 per cent vote and the TRS 40 per cent.

Hyderabad-based Atmasakshi group said Rajendar would get 50.5 per cent vote against 43.1 per cent vote of the TRS candidate Srinivas Yadav. Anti-incumbency, mess up with Dalit Bandhu, image of Rajendar, unrest among unemployed youth and massive support of women voters help him win with a margin of 10,000 to 12,000 votes.
Hyderabad: Rubbishing exit polls which predicted victory for the BJP in Huzurabad, the TRS expressed confidence that it would win the bypoll with a comfortable majority.

Finance minister T. Harish Rao, who spearheaded the party's campaign for five months, said, "Our ground reports say that TRS will register a victory with a good majority on November 2. I thank all party leaders and cadres who worked very hard for the past five months for the victory of the TRS. Their efforts will be paid off. I also thank voters for coming out in large numbers to cast their votes in favour of the TRS."

TRS general secretary and MLC Palla Rajeshwar Reddy said, "We don't believe in exit polls. We are eagerly awaiting the counting of votes on November 2. The polling trend clearly showed that people in Huzurabad want the TRS to win to continue the development and welfare programmes effectively for the remaining two years of the TRS government."

TRS MLA and government whip Guvvala Balaraju said the huge turnout was an indication of 'positive vote' for the TRS government and it would prove correct on November 2. "Let BJP leaders be under the illusion for two days that they will win based on exit polls. They will come to know the reality on November 2," he said.

TRS MLA A. Jeevan Reddy said, "Women and youth in large numbers voted for the TRS. I can't say how much of a majority the TRS will secure but the victory is certain with a good majority."
For Prime Minister Modi and for India, Bangladesh is not merely just another neighbouring country. It is a land which he has visited himself and which has an old connection. (Representational image: AP)

Fifty years ago when India was gearing up to wage the Liberation War that would deliver linguistic freedom to hundreds of thousands of Bengalis living in the then East Pakistan, no one would have imagined that the land of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would one day be polarised by communal flames, that too within decades, to witness one of the most heinous attacks on the religious freedom of Bengali Hindus during the peak of their main festival, the Durga Puja.

The violent attacks on the Durga Puja celebrations as well as on Iskcon temples across Bangladesh recently bear the ominous warning that the country has undergone a obscurantist change as much water has flown in the river Padma. (The Ganga, after flowing into Bangladesh, is known as the Padma.) That the minority population such as Hindus would not be safe under the rule of the Awami League, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, cannot be a concern only for India, which is the biggest home for the Hindus in the world.

It also throws light on how the rapid radicalisation of Muslims, as had been advocated by a section of the political class, including the ruling dispensation, has turned Bangladesh into a major contributor to the quiet rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Indian subcontinent, which has borne the brunt of terrorism time and again in the past. Extremist outfits like the Jamaat ul Mujahideen Bangladesh and its dark shadow have made deep inroads into the rural areas of the country to make it a hard-line Islamic state.

This unprecedented development triggered repercussions in India like a wildfire for obvious reasons. The ruling BJP, which brags about championing the cause of Hindutva, lost no opportunity in portraying how vulnerable Hindus have become outside the country, while making the loudest possible outcry globally. It also pointed fingers at the silence of several other Opposition political leaders, including Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, who is known to politically champion the cause of Muslims and is also known as a good friend of Sheikh Hasina.

However, the top leaders of the BJP, including the members of the Union Cabinet, have not been at all vocal on the issue. This is reflected in the muteness of its main faces in the government. Starting from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Union home minister Amit Shah to external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, all have stayed away from lending their voice to their partys clamour for justice to the Hindus of Bangladesh. The external affairs ministry, in fact, responded to the situation by just sending out a stern message of concern to Bangladesh at the diplomatic level.

This is perhaps a rare occasion in the past seven years of BJP rule when the party and its government did not appear to be on the same page, at least in public. While many in the party and beyond keep on guessing the reasons for this, bilateral relations, others feel, have emerged as the main obligation for the sake of the countrys long-term interests. To the BJP and the RSS, the nation has always come first and on top above all in the agenda. There is no doubt that Prime Minister Modi and Mr Shah are the products of the same ideology. What they choose to do is, therefore, bound by the government they run.

The pivot of their stand lies in Azaadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav, a year-long celebration that has been underway across the country to mark its military victory over Pakistan fifty years ago that led to the birth of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971. It may be noted that Mr Modi himself launched the celebrations in 2020 to uphold and consolidate Indias deep bonds with Bangladesh which, apart from being hit by radicalism, is also being avidly wooed by China for its expansionist dreams.

This year-long event is due to conclude on December 16 this year, when the top political representatives from Bangladesh are also expected to participate. Any critical reaction by the Prime Minister on a specific and untoward issue across the border would have certainly worsened the mood in the run-up to the grand culmination of the celebration in the national capital. Had he broken his silence, it might also have become a point of discord in the long run diplomatically between the two nations, especially after Sheikh Hasina has harshly condemned the communal violence herself, and launched stringent action against the offenders.

For Prime Minister Modi and for India, Bangladesh is not merely just another neighbouring country. It is a land which he has visited himself and which has an old connection politically, economically and culturally with India, above anything. That is why when Hindus came under attack there, the Prime Minister also averted a diplomatic crisis like a statesman by dealing with the situation at the governmental instead of at the party level.
Apple Inc is eating into its rivals' smartphone market share as the iPhone maker navigates through a global chip crunch better than other mobile phone makers, according to data providers.

Higher iPhone shipments helped Apple gain at least 3 per cent market share in global smartphones in the third quarter, even as overall shipments shrunk by about 6 per cent due to the chip shortage, according to data from market research firms Counterpoint, IDC, and Canalys.

Given how closely tech companies guard smartphone sales data, the shipment figures are the best indication of who customers prefer.

"We are expecting another massive quarter for Apple and our expectation is they'll take a similar 20 per cent shipment share in calendar year Q4," Counterpoint analyst Tarun Pathak said.

Apple has weathered the supply crunch better than many other companies due to its massive purchasing power and long-term supply agreements with chip vendors even though iPhone 13 production hit a snag due to factory closures in Asia and high demand in the second half of the year.

"Shortages are worst at the low-end, so Apple is less exposed than many of its competitors because it skews heavily toward premium," Ben Stanton, analyst at Canalys, told Reuters.

The shipments of pricier phones drove revenue to a record $100 billion in the third quarter, according to Counterpoint.

The Cupertino, California-based company's supply prowess was displayed in China where it posted a staggering 83 per cent annual sales growth last quarter, remaining one of top choices for big spenders in the world's second-largest economy.

Apple increased shipments in the third quarter, while market leader Samsung Electronics and rival Xiaomi Corp saw a drop as customers were lured by the price cuts to the iPhone 12 series and the faster processor and bigger camera in the latest iPhone 13 devices.

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Capital market regulator SEBI has warned billionaire Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Ltd for executing Rs 1,407 crore of related-party transactions without prior approval of the audit committee.

In a warning letter, which Vedanta as per SEBI directions disclosed to stock exchanges, the regulator said it will take action if such actions were repeated in future.

The mining conglomerate's independent auditors had in the firm's annual report for fiscal year 2020-21 flagged related-party transactions.

"With regard to the qualified opinion in respect of the company executing related party transactions worth Rs 1,407 crore without prior approval of the audit committee, the company has submitted that the said transaction was ratified later (after a period of about 47 days)," SEBI said in the October 28 letter.

Without disclosing the nature of the transaction, the company stated that the transaction was done at an arm's length and in ordinary course of business.

"In this regard, attention may be drawn to Regulation 23(2) of SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015, which states that all related party transactions shall require prior approval of the audit committee," SEBI said. "Accordingly, the submission of the company that the transactions were done at arm's length distance is not tenable."

On the auditor's observation over delay in disclosure of the outcome of board meeting of October 3, 2020, the company submitted that the delay was due to unforeseen circumstances and that it will ensure that the same is not repeated.

"The aforesaid non-compliances are viewed seriously. you are hereby warned and advised to ensure compliance with all applicable provisions of SEBI Regulations," the regulator said in the letter. "Any such aberration in future would be viewed seriously and appropriate action would be initiated."

SEBI asked Vedanta to place its letter before the company's board of directors and disseminate the same to stock exchanges.

Vedanta in the filing said that the firm's board at its meeting held on October 29 took note of the SEBI letter.

The board "has advised the company to ensure adherence to all applicable provisions," it said. "We would also like to state that the company has always been meticulous in complying with all the provisions of the Companies Act and SEBI Regulations and will continue to do so."

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On the coastline near India's southern tip, workers toil on a pier carrying a conveyor belt that cuts a mile into the Indian Ocean where the azure waters are deep enough for ships to berth and unload huge cargoes of coal.

The belt will carry millions of tonnes of coal each year to a giant power plant several kilometres inland that will burn the fuel for at least 30 years to generate power for the more than 70 million people that live in India's Tamil Nadu state.

The Udangudi plant is one of nearly 200 coal-fired power stations under construction in Asia, including 95 in China, 28 in India, and 23 in Indonesia, according to data from U.S. nonprofit Global Energy Monitor (GEM).

Read | World should shut nearly 3,000 coal plants to keep on climate track: Study

This new fleet will produce planet-warming emissions for decades and is a measure of the challenge world leaders face when they meet for climate talks in Glasgow, where they hope to sound the death knell for coal.

Coal use is one of the many issues dividing industrialised and developing countries as they seek to tackle climate change.

Many industrialised countries have been shutting down coal plants for years to reduce emissions. The United States alone has retired 301 plants since 2000.

But in Asia, home to 60 per cent of the world's population and about half of global manufacturing, coal's use is growing rather than shrinking as rapidly developing countries seek to meet booming demand for power.

More than 90 per cent of the 195 coal plants being built around the world are in Asia, according to data from GEM.

Also read: 11 years: That's how much time we have to fix climate

Tamil Nadu is India's second-most industrialised state and is one of the country's top renewable energy producers. But it is also building the most coal-fired plants in the country.

"We cannot depend on just solar and wind," a senior official at Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corp told Reuters.

"You can have the cake of coal and an icing of solar," he said, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak to media.

Hooked on coal

Despite dramatic jumps in renewable energy output, the global economy remains hooked on coal for electricity. In Asia, coal's share of the generation mix is twice the global average - especially in surging economies such as India.

In 2020, more than 35 per cent of the world's power came from coal, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Roughly 25 per cent came from natural gas, 16 per cent from hydro dams, 10 per cent from nuclear and 12 per cent from renewables like solar and wind.

This year, coal demand is set for a new record, driving prices to all-time highs and contributing to a worldwide scramble for fuel.

Record coal demand is contributing to a rapid rise in emissions in 2021 after a fall last year, when restrictions on movement for billions of people to slow the pandemic caused fuel use to plummet.

While some of the new coal plants under construction will replace older, more polluting stations, together they will add to total emissions.

"The completion of the capacity that is already under construction in these countries will drive up coal demand and emissions," said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst with the Centre for Research on Energy and Clear Air.

The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the new plants alone will be close to 28 billion tonnes over their 30-year lifespans, according to GEM.

That's not far off the 32 billion tonnes of total worldwide CO2 emissions from all sources in 2020, according to BP, highlighting how tough it will be for leaders gathering in Glasgow - including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi - to make meaningful progress on climate change.

India's Environment Secretary Rameshwar Prasad Gupta told Reuters in a recent interview that India was on track to reach its target of cutting back the country's carbon footprint, and with that coal, too, would fall - but it cannot be abolished.

"Look, every country has its strengths. We have coal, we have to depend on it," Gupta said.

"Our position is once you take up targets of reducing carbon intensity, that will have impact ... Leave it to us whether we do it in coal, or somewhere else."

Anil Swarup, a former Coal Secretary, took the same line in an interview. "Renewable energy expansion is critical, but coal will remain India's main energy source for the next 15 years at least, and production needs to be ramped up to address our energy needs," he said.

China Crunch

Across India, 281 coal plants are operating and beyond the 28 being built another 23 are in pre-construction phases, GEM data show.

These numbers are dwarfed by China, the top global coal miner, consumer and emitter, whose leader, President Xi Jinping, is not expected to attend COP26. More than 1,000 coal plants are in operation, almost 240 planned or already under construction.

Together, coal plants in the world's second-largest economy will emit 170 billion tonnes of carbon in their lifetime - more than all global CO2 emissions between 2016 and 2020, BP data show.

Despite also boasting the world's largest renewables capacity, China is now suffering a major energy crunch and has urged coal miners to raise output.

That's likely to boost coal consumption in the near term, even though China plans to reduce coal use from 2026.

Even so, total global coal consumption looks set to rise, driven by accelerating use in South and Southeast Asia, where projects under construction will raise coal-burning capacity by 17 per cent and 26 per cent respectively.

Afterlife

Even in economies committed to slashing emissions, coal's grip remains strong.

Japan, with its nuclear power industry in crisis since the Fukushima disaster, has turned to coal to fill the gap and is building seven large new coal-fired power stations.

Leading generator JERA plans to add clean-burning ammonia to be used with coal to help meet its target to be carbon neutral by 2050, and potentially keep old units operating longer.

On a bay near Nagoya, JERA's 30-year-old, 4,100 megawatt Hekinan station - once Asia's largest - supplies electricity to the likes of auto giant Toyota Motor Corp.

Like many power plants, Hekinan's boilers rely on fuel from top exporters such as Australia, where coal is both a vital source of revenue - $18 billion in the current financial year - and a bone of contention with allies urging ambitious emissions cuts. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australian-pm-refuses-commit-phasing-out-fossil-fuels-2021-09-26

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to attend the Glasgow talks. But resources minister Keith Pitt has said there would be demand for coal for decades and made it clear the country would not be swayed by pressure from banks, regulators and investors to hobble the industry.

"While the market exists, Australia will look to fill it," Pitt said.

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It's been barely a couple of weeks since Google formally began rolling out the new Android 12 software for mobile phones. Now, the company has announced a new feature drop - Android 12L- with L meaning 'Large' exclusively for tablets, foldable phones, and Chromebooks with wide screens.

Some of the new premium foldable devices slated for next year will come Android 12L out-of-box. Google has also assured that the same 12L update to existed phones with a software update in early 2022.

Google has given a sneak peek at two key features of the Android 12L- refined split experience and optimised user interface for large screen.

Split screen: To make full use of the widescreen, Android 12L includes a new taskbar on large screens that lets users drag and drop an app into split-screen mode and instantly switch apps on the fly.

Google says the Android 12L automatically enables all apps to enter split-screen mode, regardless of whether the apps are resizable or not.



Split-screen for devices with the widescreen panel. Credit: Google



Optimised user-interface: Google has refined the user interface on large screens across notifications, quick settings, lock screen, overview, home screen, and more.

On large screens, the notification shade takes advantage of the space by showing Quick Settings and notifications in a new two-column layout.



Two-column layouts show more and are easier to use. Credit: Google



The lock screen also uses a larger two-column layout to highlight notifications and clock, and system apps like Settings are also optimized.



Reference Device definitions. Credit: Google



Also, Google engineers have given focus key interactions such as screen unlocking. For instance, the lock screen pattern and PIN controls on tablets will be displayed at the side of the screen for easier reach, and users can simply tap the other side of the screen to bring the pin/pattern controls over to that side.

For foldable phones, Android 12L optimises the home screen grid and polishes the fold-unfold transition, so that users will be able to move seamlessly from a single exterior screen to the larger unfolded screen, reinforcing continuity while preserving their choices.

Google in a bid to seek feedback and weed out bugs in Android 12L, will soon release a developer preview to the Lenovo P12 Pro model (here).

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
No matter who is in power, they always resent the soft power commanded by artists. But something more bizarre is now happening. Celebrity for some reason connotes evil, just like liberal has become a bad word.



Chinmayi Sripada



I vividly remember reading that Indira Gandhi had banned Kishore Kumar from All India Radio. Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, had banned the harmonium on the radio because he didnt like its sound. M F Hussain was humiliated for his paintings, and Salman Rushdies book was banned. All these incidents are eye-opening.

If artists are celebrated, it is because of their talent or something that sets them apart from the crowd, Shah Rukh Khan has always maintained that he is here to entertain people and he will do so for as long as he can. When one saw him in Swades, one wished he would do more such films because we actually saw the actor in him. I maintain that I am not a Shah Rukh fan or someone who goes glassy eyed watching his films. But he is what he is because he has proved his talent and he has shown that he is unique.

It is not that artists are not getting the respect they deserve. But they have become easy targets. Film and theatre have always been used to communicate with the masses, right from days of the freedom movement. But now their role is slowly being curtailed. Artists are expected to feel guilty or not feel guilty about what they do or dont do. Often, those with social capital will always be soft targets, because the ones targeting them always aspire to be in their position. So they make sure that by disrespecting them their social capital is diminished. Extortion is another method to exploit them.

Establishments across the world have always been afraid of artists because of their popularity. We saw how Charlie Chaplin stood up against the establishment. But the dissent acceptable then is not acceptable now. I feel reading and understanding history will make people humble and give them a context.

You see very few artists getting involved in anything political. They would rather prefer to be involved in their art because this is an era of reaction and celebrities are routinely trolled. I was subject to a lot of abuse when I spoke my mind after Disha Ravi was arrested. In February this year, the police arrested 22-year-old Bengaluru-based climate activist Disha Ravi, who was allegedly linked to Swedish climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg. She was charged with sedition, saying she created and shared an online document to support the farmers protest. I had shared my views on social media and immediately there were comments saying that I deserved to be molested. Did I ever deserve such a comment for speaking my mind?

All political parties are the same and work to spin situations to their advantage. Celebrities who dont want to comment or who take their time to express their views must be allowed that freedom. It is all right if they want to remain silent. They must be respected.

Palpable silence

When Aryan Khan was arrested, everybody went into self-preservation mode because not everybody can face what Shah Rukh had to face.

If people remembered to do the right things then they would have made the right decision about who goes to power. This is a country where the Hathras case, where a 19-year-old Dalit woman was gang-raped in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh by four upper-caste men. She died two weeks later in a Delhi hospital. These gruesome incidents are so easily forgotten and people move on.

Some celebrities speak their mind and face the heat, while others remain silent rather than hail the leader. A few quietly help those in trouble. On the other hand, you also find celebrities with no qualms about cosying up to the establishment. And this has always been the case through history and now this is amplified today because of social media.

(As told to Nina C George)
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has paid a tribute to Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar, saying that his sudden death following a heart attack was shocking.

Puneeth, the 46-year-old powerstar known for films such as Appu, "Veera Kannadiga" and Maurya", died in a hospital in Bengaluru following a massive heart attack.

He was the son of matinee idol the late Rajkumar and Parvathamma.

Bachchan took to his blog post late Friday evening and wrote he was saddened by two deaths of close ones -- Puneeth and that of a family friend.

"There have been two deaths of the near and dear since the morning and there is a grief that cannot be put in words. One of them, the news has been shocking.

"Puneet Rajkumar, the younger son of the legendary icon of Kannada cinema, Raj Kumar and a star in his own right, passed away today. He was just 46 years, and this has put all of us in great shock. The family of late Raj Kumar have ever been extremely close. My prayers condolences," Bachchan wrote.

T 4079 - .. a day of remorse and prayer .. two close to the family passed away today .. it is too dark ..  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) October 29, 2021

The 79-year-old blogged that the other person who died was the mother of a family friend.

Puneeth, who was known to be a fitness enthusiast, was rushed to Vikram Hospital after he complained of chest pain following a two-hour workout in the gym, doctors treating him said. He died shortly after.

Also read: 'Power Star' Puneeth championed the Rajkumar legacy

His death was mourned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, among others.

Several big names from the South film industry, including veteran actor Chiranjeevi, Mahesh Babu, Siddharth, as well as names from Bollywood like Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt, also paid tributes to the actor.

Puneeth began his career as a child artist appearing in movies like "Thayige Thakka Maga", "Vasantha Geetha" and "Bhagyavantha".

He made his debut as a leading man with 2002 movie "Appu" and followed it up with movies like "Abhi", "Veera Kannadiga" and "Maurya", "Ajay" and "Arasu".

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A well-preserved Mayan canoe, estimated to be about 1,000 years old, has been found in Mexico during construction work on a major rail link, the country's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said.

A team of INAH underwater archaeologists found the pre-Hispanic vessel between the southern states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo in a cenote -- underground rivers that are common in the Yucatan Peninsula and sacred to the Maya people.

It was found during work on the "Maya Train", President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's controversial tourism project which is intended to link Caribbean resorts with ancient archaeological sites.

"The small boat could have been used for the extraction of water from the cenote or for the deposit of offerings during rituals," INAH said in a statement Friday.

It is the first canoe of this type so well preserved from the Mayan region, researchers said.

Previously, only fragments of these boats have been found in Guatemala and Belize.

The canoe has been initially dated to between 830 and 950 AD, but a November analysis, with the support of the University of Paris, will seek to determine its age and wood type, INAH said.

In Mexico, where several pre-Hispanic societies such as the Aztecs and the Maya flourished, archaeological finds are common.

In September, the remains of a staircase were found in a pyramid in the Xochitecatl Archaeological Zone.

In January this year, authorities said that more than 8,000 archaeological objects had been found in the first four sections of the Maya Train's construction.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson described France on Friday as one of Britain's best, oldest and closest allies, promising to try to ease tensions with President Emmanuel Macron when they meet at the weekend.

A row over post-Brexit fishing rights has further strained relations between the neighbours, who have been at odds over everything from Britain's departure from the European Union to London's security pact with the United States and Australia.

Officials hope the meeting in Rome on the sidelines of a G20 summit of the world's biggest economies will not overshadow the gathering which Johnson hopes will prepare the ground for more action at the United Nation's climate summit in Glasgow.

"France is one of our best, oldest, closest allies, friends and partners," Johnson told reporters on a plane to the G20 meeting.

"The ties that unite us and bind us together are far stronger than the turbulence that currently exists in the relationship. That's what I'm going to say to Emmanuel who's a friend I've known for many years."

Johnson's words echoed those of US President Joe Biden, who met Macron on Friday, and said the United States did not have an older and more loyal ally than in Macron.

London and Paris have clashed over post-Brexit fishing rights in recent weeks and the situation escalated on Thursday when France seized a British fishing boat in its waters and warned it would take further measures.

In response, Britain has threatened to open trade dispute proceedings, raising the stakes in a row that is part of a wider dispute over trading arrangements between Britain and the EU.

On the particular issues we, were puzzled about whats going on," said Johnson.

We fear there maybe a breach of the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (Brexit trade deal) implicit in what is happening and some of the things that are being said ... Obviously were going to take the appropriate action."

But he hoped there would be no new fish war to replicate a sausage war with the EU earlier this year that threatened to overshadow a meeting of the G7 countries.

"This time it's fish rather than sausages, I dont know if thats an improvement but look actually there are bigger fish to fry, everybody knows that," he said.

"The issue is how much more progress can we make and to what extent can we keep 1.5 alive ... Were going to have to do more but what can we do now to make sure we have a fighting chance," Johnson added, referring to the world's attempts to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius this century. (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper Writing by Kate Holton.

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Pakistan has quietly allowed the Taliban-appointed diplomats to take charge of the Afghan embassy and consulates in the country, a media report said on Saturday.

Although Pakistan does not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government in Kabul, it still issued visas to the appointed diplomats.

Sardar Muhammad Shokaib has started working as the first secretary in the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, while Hafiz Mohibullah, Mullah Ghulam Rasool and Mullah Muhammad Abbas have been assigned to the Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi consulates of Afghanistan, The Dawn newspaper reported.

Shokaib would effectively be the Afghan charge daffaires in Islamabad.

Also read: Afghan Taliban appoint new envoy to run embassy in neighbouring Pakistan

The Afghan embassy in Islamabad has been without an ambassador since July when the last envoy under the previous regime, Najibullah Alikhil, left because of controversy due to alleged abduction of his daughter Silsila Alikhil.

No details about Shokaib were shared but according to a report by Voice of America, he is an ethnic Pashtun from Zabul province who served in the Information and Cultural Department in southern Kandahar and was associated with a Taliban magazine.

He reportedly once worked as the Taliban spokesman under the name of Qari Yousaf Ahmadi and was arrested in Pakistan and later lived in Peshawar for several years.

Pakistans Foreign Office spokesman Asim Iftikhar tried to play down the new appointments by saying that it was an "administrative matter".

With regard to appointment of new staff in the Afghan embassy, this is an administrative matter and is meant to enable the embassy to perform its functions, primarily the consular functions as you are aware there are millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and there are visa issues as well, he said.

Pakistan has been trying to convince the world to diplomatically engage with the Taliban after they establish their de-facto control on Afghanistan on August 15. However, the world is skeptical about them and looking to judge them on promises to respect human rights before any kind of recognition.
Washington on Saturday called on Tigrayan rebels to withdraw from the Amhara and Afar regions in northern Ethiopia where fighting has intensified.

A statement from the State Department also urged the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) to "halt its advances in and around the cities of Dessie and Kombolcha."

Tigrayan rebels said Saturday they have secured "full control" of the strategic northern Ethiopian city of Dessie, sparking a furious denial by the government even as residents reported a retreat by federal forces from the area.

The rebels' capture of Dessie marks a new step in their offensive in the nearly year-long war, after they retook most of Tigray from federal forces in June and expanded their presence into neighboring regions.

"We urge the TPLF not to use artillery against cities and recall our strong objections to the ENDF airstrikes in Mekelle and other areas of Tigray which have cost countless lives," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in the statement, referring to the Ethiopian National Defense Force.

"There is no military solution to this conflict, and all parties must begin ceasefire negotiations without preconditions."

Dessie, which is located in the Amhara region neighboring Tigray, lies about 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Residents had earlier reported a heavy military build-up in the area, as civilians fleeing conflict-hit towns farther north poured into Dessie seeking refuge.

Much of northern Ethiopia is under a communications blackout, and access for journalists is restricted, making battlefield claims difficult to verify independently.
Aam Aadmi Party MLA Sanjeev Jha on Saturday urged Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to allow people perform Chhath Puja on the banks of Yamuna river.

In a letter to the Lt governor, the AAP leader said Chhath Puja celebrations cannot cause pollution in the river as the devotees clean the ghats (river banks) to perform the rituals.

He also sought an appointment from the Lt governor to discuss the issue with him.

This comes a day after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) said that Chhath puja celebrations will be allowed at designated sites in the city, except on the banks of the river Yamuna.

"I have requested Lt governor to allow Chhath puja on the banks of the Yamuna river because people who believe in Chhath puja clean the ghats and the rivers before performing the rituals," Jha said in a statement.

Chhath puja "never causes" pollution in Yamuna, he added.

In his letter to the Lt governor, the AAP MLA noted the DDMA has stated that Chhath Puja cannot be celebrated on the banks of the Yamuna.

"Whereas, every year, Delhi's Purvanchalis observe Chhath puja on the banks of the Yamuna," he contended.

Drawing attention of the Lt governor on the issue, Jha said the divisional commissioner told him at a meeting that Chhath puja cannot be celebrated on the banks of Yamuna this year "because it increases the level of pollution in the river as it happens during Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga puja celebrations".

"I want to tell you that on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja, idol immersion takes place in the river, whereas Chhath Puja is a festival which is celebrated completely in nature's companionship," the AAP MLA said in his letter to the Lt governor.

People who have faith in this puja clean the ghats and rivers before performing rituals, he added.

The four-day Chhath Puja this year falls on November 8-11.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Pope Francis to visit India as the pontiff gifted him a silver plaque with the inscription The Desert will become a Garden during a meeting in the Vatican on Saturday.

Modi met the head of the Catholic Church even as the Christians in Karnataka and other states ruled by his Bharatiya Janata Party had not only been alleging persecution but also been opposing laws already introduced or proposed to be introduced to ban religious conversions.

The Prime Minister is currently on a visit to Rome to attend the G-20 summit. He met the Pope at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Saturday. He earlier had an interaction with the representatives of Hindus and Sikhs living in Italy.

Also Read | PM Modi meets French President Macron on sidelines of G20 summit

Modi gifted Pope Francis a silver candle-stand and a book on the commitment to the environment. The pontiff had reciprocated by gifting the Prime Minister a bronze plaque with the inscription The desert will become a Garden. He also gifted Modi volumes of papal documents, his message for World Day of Peace and the document on Human Fraternity, which he and Grand Imam of Al Azhar had signed in Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019.

The Prime Minister extended an invitation to Pope Francis for an early visit to India. The Pope accepted the invitation with pleasure, calling it the greatest gift, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla told journalists.

Also Read | PM's decision to invite Pope Francis to India historic: Catholic Bishops' Council

This was the first meeting between a Prime Minister of India and the Pope in more than two decades. The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had last visited the Vatican and met the then Pope, John Paul II, in June 2000.

Modi and Pope Francis discussed the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences for people around the world. They also discussed the challenges posed by climate change. The Prime Minister briefed the pontiff about the ambitious initiatives taken by his government in combating climate change as well as its success in administering one billion Covid-19 vaccination doses in India. The Pope appreciated Indias assistance to countries in need during the pandemic, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Arindam Bagchi, said.

Also Read | Climate, Covid, corporate tax on the G-20 agenda in Rome

The Press Office of the Holy See stated that the Pope and the Prime Minister had discussed the cordial relations between India and the Vatican City.

Pope Francis had on October 2, 2016, stated that he would visit India and Bangladesh in 2017 as part of a tour to Asia. Though the Catholic Bishop Council of India had conveyed to the Modi Government its request for inviting the pontiff for a visit to India, the proposed papal visit had not taken place so far, with New Delhi citing difficulties in scheduling it.

The Pope had visited two other South Asian nations  Myanmar and Bangladesh  from November 27 to December 2, 2017, but not India.

Also Read | G20 host: We must vaccinate 70% of world by mid-2022

Pope John Paul II was the last pontiff to visit India. He had visited as many as 14 cities across the length and breadth of India during his 10-day tour in February 1986. He had again visited India in November 1999, but his itinerary had then been limited to New Delhi only. His successor Pope Benedict XVI had given India a miss during his eight-year-long papacy.

The last papal visit to India had taken place when Vajpayee had been heading the BJP-led government in New Delhi  a fact the Prime Ministers Office, as well as the MEA, underlined after Modis meeting with Pope Francis on Friday.

The meeting between the Prime Minister and the Pope took place just days after Metropolitan Archbishop of Bengaluru, Peter Machado, reiterated his concerns over a proposed survey of the churches in Karnataka by the police. Machado, the President of the Karnataka Region Catholic Bishops Council, also said that he would meet Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai again to convey concerns of the Christians of the State over the BJP governments plan to introduce a new law to ban religious conversions.

Also Read | PM Modi to call upon G20 leaders to ensure mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccines, inoculation certificates

Uttar Pradesh, which is also ruled by the BJP, also introduced a new law earlier this year to ban religious conversions.

The BJPs mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its other offshoots have since long been accusing the Christian missionaries in India of converting the Hindus, either forcibly or by offering them money or employment.

The BJP government's move to restrict the flow of foreign funds to some non-profit organisations, including Compassion International and other Christian NGOs, operating in India also drew criticism  not only within the country but also from outside, including the United States.

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Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, walked out of the Arthur Road prison, after 22 days in the central Mumbai facility following his arrest during a drug raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. Aryan came out of the prison shortly after 11 am and was welcomed by fans with dhol and tashas outside Mannat.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan, who spent another night in jail, is expected to be released today.

On Friday, the 23-year-old Aryan was expected to be released from the Arthur Road prison. But it was a sort of cliffhanger situation of sorts for SRK, his wife Gauri Khan, and their battery of lawyers.

It took time for completing the formalities and the bail, and release order could not reach the prison before the stipulated time of 5:30 pm.

Also Read | HC orders Aryan Khan to furnish Rs 1 lakh personal bond, asks him to surrender passport

The junior Khan is now expected to be released by Saturday noon.

In fact, SRK or King Khan, as he is popularly known, had left Mannat, his palatial Bandra bungalow to receive his son in the jail, however, he returned back.

SRKs family friend and actor-activist Juhi Chawla stood surety for Aryan.

We are happy that Aryan has got bailwe expect the boy to be home soon, said Juhi.

Also Read | HC orders Aryan Khan to furnish Rs 1 lakh personal bond, asks him to surrender passport

After Judge Nitin Sambre finalised the bail order, Aryans advocate-on-record Satish Maneshinde received it and rushed to the Mumbai Sessions Court, where it was presented before the Special NDPS Court.

"My papers are complete, I am producing the surety of Juhi Chawla, who has known Aryan Khan since childhood. They are professionally associatedthe court has accepted surety, he Manshinde.

Once the order was received, the legal team from the Sessions Court in Fort rushed to the jail in Chinchpokli, however, were caught up in traffic jams and could not reach in time.

Also Read | Picture not over yet: Malik targets Wankhede after Aryan Khan's bail

Apart from conditions like Aryan will have to surrender his passport and will have to report to the NCB office every Friday, the three were asked to submit a surety of Rs 1 lakh each, according to the operative order.

In the five-page order, signed by Justice Sambre, the high court said that the trio will have to surrender their passports before the NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court.

Also, they will have to attend the NCB office each Friday between 11 am and 2 pm to mark their presence, the HC said. The judge will give a detailed bail order with reasons next week. The HC said if the trio violates any of the conditions imposed then the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which is probing the cruise drugs case, shall "straightaway apply to the special judge/court for cancellation of their bail."

Also Read | DH Toon | Aryan Khan case: 'May you get over the hangover soon!'

"Each of the applicants/accused shall execute a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with one or more sureties in the like amount," the order said.

The HC said that the accused shall not personally or through anyone make any attempt to influence witnesses or tamper with the evidence. The high court directed the trio to surrender their passports before the special NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court. T

The accused should give prior intimation to the NCB before leaving Mumbai and shall provide their itinerary. It added that Aryan Khan, his friend Merchant and Dhamecha, a fashion model, shall not indulge in any activity similar to the activities on the basis of which the present case stands registered against them for offences under the NDPS Act.

The HC further said that the trio shall not establish any contact with any of the co-accused in the case or anyone involved in similar activities, and join the investigation as and when called by the NCB.

(With PTI inputs)

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After one carriageway of the Delhi-Haryana road was opened following the removal of barricades at Tikri border, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha on Saturday asserted that if the Centre wants to open the passage completely, it should also open the way for dialogue for fulfilment of farmers' demand on agri laws.

The morcha, which is spearheading the protests against three central farm laws enacted in September last year, maintained that farmers have never blocked roads.

On Saturday, after 11 months, authorities on Saturday opened one carriageway of the road from Delhi to Haryana after barricades were removed at the Tikri border.

Read more: Police remove barricades from protest sites; farmers assert agitation to continue

The SKM said the Delhi Police tried to open a 40-foot passage at Tikri border for traffic on Friday even though talks between the administration and farmer leaders were inconclusive.

"The Delhi Police Commissioner in a media interview said that they would like to restore normalcy for commuters. There was heightened tension in the area for some time, with farmers stepping up their protection at the morcha site. Farmers are pointing out towards the possibility of accidents," the SKM statement said.

"The SKM has always maintained that it is the police which had blocked the roads. The SKM has already clarified that it has allowed two-way movement of traffic in the past, and will do so in future too at the morcha sites.

"If the government wants to open the passage completely, it also has to open the passage to fulfilment of the farmers' demands," the SKM said in the statement.

Whether the farmers' agitation will continue in the same location or whether it will move into Delhi is a collective decision that will be taken at an appropriate time, the statement added.

Earlier on Saturday, the carriageway was opened following meetings between farm union leaders and the police.

The Delhi Police on Thursday evening started removing the barricades and concertina wires it had put at Tikri Border on the Delhi-Rohtak highway.

The police had also removed similar blockades on one of the carriageways of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway at Ghazipur border on Friday.
A high voter turnout of nearly 71 per cent was recorded till 5 pm on Saturday in West Bengal's four assembly constituencies where bypolls were held, an official said.

Barring a few stray incidents, polling, which began at 7 am, passed off peacefully in all four constituencies, the Election Commission official said. According to the official, Dinhata registered 69.97 per cent turnout till 5 pm, Shantipur 76.14 per cent, Khardah 63.90 per cent and Gosaba (SC seat) 75.91 per cent.

The final poll percentage at 6.30 pm will be available only on Sunday. "Voting has been peaceful and there was no problem anywhere across the four segments," he told PTI.

Scuffle between TMC and BJP supporters was, however, reported outside a booth in Khardah, where saffron party candidate Joy Saha apparently caught hold of a "fake voter" and handed him over to the police. "

The man is a Bangladeshi infiltrator. He came here to cast his vote in favour of the TMC," Saha said. TMC candidate and state minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay dubbed the allegations as baseless. Security personnel had to use baton to disperse the crowd outside the Khardah booth.

According to TMC members, deceased MLA Kajal Sinha's son, Arjodeep, was injured in the melee and had to be hospitalised.

The ruling party activists gheraoed Saha's car and staged a sit-in on G T road for some time. Kajal Sinha's death due to Covid-19 necessitated the bypoll in Khardah. TMC MP Sougata Roy claimed that Saha's security personnel assaulted Arjodeep.

"People of Khardah will give a befitting to the BJP for beating up Kajal Sinha's son. Joy Saha's security personnel mercilessly assaulted Arjodeep," Roy said.

During the day, senior CPI(M) leader Tanmay Bhattacharya had also claimed that his car was attacked when he was about to enter a party office in Khardah. He accused TMC activists of carrying out the attack, an allegation that the ruling party denied. Similar brawls among activists of rival political parties were also reported from Shantipur in Nadia district and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas district.

In Santipur, Nadia district, BJP's Jagannath Sarkar gave up his assembly membership to retain his Lok Sabha seat. Gosaba in South 24 Parganas fell vacant following the death of sitting TMC MLA Jayanta Naskar.

In Dinhata constituency of Coochbehar district, TMC candidate Udayan Guha accused Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nisith Pramanik of entering booth number 232 with armed guards.

"Such an incident has created a reign of fear in the area. This is unacceptable. We have complained to the EC," Guha told reporters.

Pramanik, whose resignation from the assembly led to the bypoll in Dinhata, denied the allegations as "politically motivated". The EC had ordered strict maintenance of Covid-19 guidelines during the by-elections to the four seats. It deployed 27 companies of central armed forces in Dinhata, 22 in Santipur, 20 in Khardah and 23 in Gosaba, an official said.

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Fresh tension brewed between Assam and Mizoram along the inter-state border in Hailakandi district after a blast near a police outpost and arrest of a Mizoram policeman for his alleged involvement in it, a senior official said on Saturday.

The "low-intensity blast" took place near the Baicherra forward outpincluding seven Assam ost of Assam Police at around 1:30 am on Friday, Hailakandi Superintendent of Police Gaurav Upadhyay told PTI.

The incident occurred around three months after a clash between police forces of the two North-eastern neibhours on a disputed border area in Cachar district left seven people including six Assam policemen dead.

"Our outpost was on a hillock and the blast took place just below it. After the explosion, we immediately cordoned off the area with the help of neutral central forces and started an investigation," the Hailakandi SP said.

On Friday morning, an Indian Reserve Battalion (IRBn) personnel of Mizoram Police was found loitering in the area and he could not explain his presence there, Upadhyay said.

"We picked him up and during interrogation, we found his involvement in the blast. We arrested him yesterday and produced him in a court, which sent him to judicial custody," he added.

The blast took place just two days after Assam Police objected to the construction of a bridge at Kachurthal area on the Assam side that was abandoned after a confrontation erupted over it in August.

"After our objection and at the Centre's intervention, Mizoram had stopped construction of the bridge. But on October 26, they again started working on it. When we objected, they left the place without taking their equipment," Upadhyay said. On August 20, a few workers from Mizoram were trying to build a bridge at Kachurthal under Ramnathpur police station.

Around 40-50 security personnel from Mizoram reached the site when Assam Police had objected to the construction. Two days later, in order to assert the position of Assam and to ask Mizoram forces to retreat from the Assam side of the bridge, a party of around 200 Assam Police personnel and commandos under Upadhyay's leadership had reached Kachurthal and the issue was settled.

"Today, the Mizoram administration came to the bridge site and dismantled the construction that they had started. They also took away all their equipment and machinery," the SP said.

A clash between police forces of Assam and Mizoram on the disputed border area in Cachar district on July 26 left seven people - six Assam Police personnel and a civilian - dead and over 50 others injured.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on August 22 issued notices to the Centre, Assam and Mizoram over the deadly border clash between the two Northeastern states in July, stating that "grave violation of human rights" took place.

Assam's Barak Valley districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi share a 164.6 km long border with Mizoram's three districts of Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit. The long-standing dispute has its origin in a notification of 1875 issued during the British era that differentiated Lushai Hills from the plains of Cachar, and another of 1933 that demarcates a boundary between Lushai Hills and Manipur.

Mizoram insists the inter-state boundary should be demarcated on the basis of the 1875 notification, a corollary to the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) Act, 1873. Mizoram leaders have, however, been arguing against the demarcation notified of 1933, claiming that the Mizo society was not consulted, while Assam wants that notification to be enforced.

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Two severed legs, wrapped in a polythene bag, were recovered from near a dustbin in Khanapara area of Guwahati on Saturday, a police officer said.

The legs, first spotted by some local rag pickers, have been sent to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital here for examination, he said.

The toes had nail paint on them, leading to the suspicion that they belonged to a woman.

"We have alerted nearby police stations for any report on a missing person. We have also informed our counterparts in neighbouring Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya," he said.

An investigation into the case has been initiated, the officer added.

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Thousands of fish were found floating dead in Kameng river in Arunachal Pradesh's East Kameng district after the water of the river suddenly turned black, triggering panic, officials said on Saturday.

The water of the river turned black due to high content of total dissolved substances (TDS), a district fisheries official said.

Thousands of fish were found dead in the river on Friday at Seppa, the district headquarters, District Fisheries Development Officer (DFDO) Hali Tajo said.

According to preliminary findings, the cause of the deaths is large presence of TDS, which creates low visibility and breathing issues for aquatic species, in the water, he added.

Also Read | Fall in oxygen level kills hundreds of fish in Guwahati pond

"As the river water contains high TDS, the fish were unable to inhale oxygen," Tajo said.

The TDS in the river was 6,800 mg per liter, much higher than the normal range of 300-1,200 mg per liter, he said, quoting a report.

Tajo appealed to the people not to consume the fish as it may cause serious health issues.

The East Kameng district administration issued an advisory, asking people to avoid venturing near the Kameng river to catch fish, and not to consume and sell the dead fish till further order.

Residents of Seppa blamed China for the rise in the TDS in the river, alleging that the colour of the water turned black due to construction activities by the neighbouring country.

Seppa East MLA Tapuk Taku appealed to the state government to immediately constitute a committee of experts to ascertain the cause behind the abrupt change in the colour of the Kameng river's water and the death of a large quantity of fish.

Expressing concern, Taku said this incident never happened in the Kameng river.

"If it continues for more than a few days, the aquatic life from the river will be totally eliminated," he said, adding that the sudden change in the colour of the water might be due to a huge landslide in the upper belt of the district.

"There may be other reasons as well. The state government should immediately constitute a fact-finding committee to study the situation at the earliest," he said.

The Siang river at Pasighat in East Siang district turned black in November 2017.

The then Congress MP from Arunachal East Ninong Ering wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention, claiming that it was the result of the construction of a 10,000-km-long tunnel in China, which diverted water from Siang to Xinjiang province in the Taklamakan desert.

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India will produce five billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of the next year, not only for its own citizens, but for the people around the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the leaders of the other G20 nations on Saturday.

The Prime Minister, however, underlined that it would be easier for New Delhi to help other countries with the Covid-19 vaccines when the World Health Organization (WHO) would approve the Covaxin developed and produced by India's Bharat Biotech, and put it on the Emergency Use List.

Modi is currently on a tour to Rome to take part in the G20 summit, which is being hosted by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Also Read | PM Modi meets French President Macron on sidelines of G20 summit

As he participated in the G20 session on global health and global economy in Rome, the Prime Minister highlighted the success of his government in administering the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccines to over a billion people in India. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla quoted the Prime Minister saying that India would support the endeavours by the international community to address the problem of vaccine inequity by supplying Covid-19 jabs to other developing nations. Modi also referred to Indias medical supplies to over 150 countries around the world since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Shringla told journalists in Rome.

The Prime Minister called upon the G20 nations to ensure mutual recognition of the Covid-19 vaccines developed or being developed and the certificates issued to the inoculated people by the authorities in countries around the world.

Also Read | PM's decision to invite Pope Francis to India historic: Catholic Bishops' Council

He also referred to Indias contribution to the fight against pandemic.

The Modi government sent out 107.15 lakh doses of the Made-in-India vaccines to foreign nations as grant till April 22 this year, in addition to the 357.92 lakh doses exported commercially and 198.628 lakh doses contributed to the COVAX, an initiative launched by the WHO for equitable distribution of the antidote against the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

New Delhi paused its Vaccine-Maitri initiative after the shortage of the jabs came to the fore during the brutal second Covid-19 wave in India and slowed down the inoculation programme in the country itself. It, however, restarted sending out vaccines to other countries early this month.

Shringla quoted the Prime Minister calling upon the G20 nations to make India a partner in diversifying the supply chains in the post-Covid-19 era. He noted that India remained a trusted partner for the world despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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India and the United States have agreed to expand sharing of intelligence inputs about potential terrorist threats, particularly from Afghanistan, where the Taliban took control on August 15.

The two nations will also step up cooperation in law-enforcement training, including at the central academy of police training in Hyderabad.

The senior officials of India and the United States had a meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism in Washington earlier this week. They decided to further expand terrorist threat information sharing and exchanged information about priorities and procedures for proscribing terrorist groups and individuals.

They called on the Taliban to ensure that the territory of Afghanistan is never again used to threaten or attack any country, shelter or train terrorists, or plan or finance terrorist attacks, according to a joint statement issued after the meeting. The two sides committed to continue close consultations on developments in Afghanistan and potential terrorist threats emanating from the country, which had gone back under control of the Taliban on August 15 last. They exchanged views on countering narco-terror networks and trans-national illegal weapons smuggling networks.

Read | G-20: PM to call for united approach over Afghan crisis

The inter-agency delegations of India and the US were led by Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary for Counter Terrorism at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and John T Godfrey, the acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism of the State Department of the American Government, respectively. They pledged to further expand cooperation on law enforcement, information sharing, exchanging best practices, and increasing strategic convergence on counterterrorism challenges.

The US reiterated its commitment to standing together with the people and Government of India in the fight against terrorism. The US side joined India to strongly condemn use of terrorist proxies and cross-border terrorism in all its forms and called for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack to be brought to justice. They called for concerted action against all terrorist groups, including groups proscribed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 1267 Sanctions Committee, such as al-Qaeda, ISIS, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

They discussed ways to prevent ability of international terrorists to travel. They also jointly decided to further expand terrorist threat information sharing, and exchanged information about priorities and procedures for designating terrorist groups and individuals.

The Indian and American officials shared best practices on countering terrorism financing and use of the internet for terrorist purposes and decided to continue counter terrorism cooperation in multilateral fora. They emphasised importance of upholding international standards on anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism by all countries, according to the joint statement. They discussed mutual legal and extradition assistance and opportunities for bilateral law enforcement training, including at the Central Academy for Police Training in Hyderabad, India. Both sides applauded ongoing Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) training.

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Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "24-carat gold", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said he is perhaps the only leader after Mahatma Gandhi with deep understanding of Indian society and its psychology.

Singh, a former BJP president, said Modi's political journey of last two decades as head of government should be taught in management schools as a case study on "effective leadership and efficient governance".

Speaking at length about the last two decades of Modi's political journey, Singh said, "A true leadership is identified by its intent and integrity and in both cases, Modiji is 24-carat gold. There is not a single stain of corruption on him even after being the head of a government for 20 years."

He was speaking at the valedictory session of a national conference on 'Delivering Democracy: Reviewing 2 Decades of Narendra Modi as Head of Govt'.

Singh said Modi is not merely a person, but an idea, a thought.

"If we look at his political journey of the last two decades, we will find that new challenges kept coming before him. But the way he faced those challenges should be taught in management schools as a case study on effective leadership and efficient governance," the defence minister said.

Singh said the way Modi overcame challenges, it shows his deep understanding of Indian society. "He is perhaps the only leader after Mahatma Gandhi with deep understanding of Indian society and its psychology."

Referring to the systematic changes that the Modi government is trying to bring in, Singh said the government has changed many times in this country, "but for the first time efforts are being to made change the system. You can find loopholes in this effort but Modiji's intent cannot be disbelieved."

Touching upon the government's agenda of a self-reliant India, the defence minister said hundred years ago Mahatma Gandhi spoke about 'Swadeshi' and after him, Deendayal Upadhyaya spoke about it.

"Now Modiji has brought Swadeshi 4.0 with new context and subtext. This is not a campaign against anyone but a positive effort to strengthen local products and brands," Singh said.

Talking about Modi's tenure as Gujarat chief minister, Singh said he took the state on the path of holistic development and worked for the progress of every section of the society.

The defence minister said Modi gave the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' and then as prime minister added 'Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas' to it.

"Yeh nara 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' dete huiyae Narendra bhai Modi ne Gujarat mein panth nirpekshta ki ek nai ibarat likh di (By giving this slogan of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', Narendra Bhai Modi in Gujarat wrote a new chapter of unbiasedness towards any religion)," Singh said, adding secularism does not mean unbiasedness towards any religion.

Singh also cited various reforms and schemes started by Modi as Gujarat chief minister.

Stating that there is no difference between Modi's words and deeds, the defence minister said he accepted the crisis of credibility in Indian politics as a challenge and overcame it.

Discussing Modi's commitment to development, Singh said for a long time, promotion of trade, industry and business was avoided in this country.

"It was believed that if you stand with business and industry then your social commitment is weak. Modiji gave a tough challenge to this misconception. He recognised and respected industry and entrepreneurs in nation building, supported and promoted them also," Singh said.

Singh shared details of his long association with Modi when they were chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat respectively, and said Modi's amazing decision-making ability and imaginative power impressed him the most.

Modi served as chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 till his election as prime minister in 2014.

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Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become more powerful as the Congress party is not serious about politics, and also accused the grand old party of not taking decisions.

Apparently targeting the BJP-led central government, she said there was enough of Delhi's 'dadagiri' (bullying).

Addressing media persons in Panaji on the last day of her three-day visit to the coastal state, where Assembly polls are due early next year, Banerjee also said that the country is suffering as the Congress could not take decisions.

"I cannot say everything right now because they didn't take politics seriously. Modiji is going to be more powerful because of the Congress...If one cannot take decision, why the country should suffer for that?" she said.

Also read: Delhi's dadagiri has to be put to an end: Mamata Banerjee

"They (Congress) got opportunity (in the past). Instead of fighting against BJP, they contested against me in my state. Don't you think when they contested against me, when they contest my political party in Bengal..., she said.

Banerjee said the TMC believes in distributing seats for the regional parties in elections. TMC has announced that it will be contesting all 40 seats in the upcoming Goa elections.

"I want that the regional parties should be strong. We want that the federal structure should be strong. We should make states strong, if states are strong, then the Centre will be strong. Delhi ka dadagiri amka naka (We don't want Delhi's bullying), enough is enough," she said.

When asked about what decisions she thinks Congress should be taking, she said, "I am not going to discuss the Congress because this is not my party. I have set up my regional party and without any support of anybody, we formed three times government."

"Let them decide. That is my system also, I don't interfere with any other political party's business, I can say about my political party and our fight will continue. We are not going to bow down our head to BJP," she added.

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Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday took a swipe at Union Home Minister Amit Shah for sharing a dais with his junior colleague Ajay Mishra, under a cloud over the recent violence in Lakhimpur Kheri in which eight people were killed.

In a post on Twitter, Yadav also tagged a photograph of the two ministers during a programme of Uttar Pradesh's ruling BJP here on Friday.

"Jhoothi doorbeen lekar dhoondne ka dhong pura tha, jabki bagal mein chora jagat dhindora tha (the pretense of searching with false binoculars was complete, the person being searched was standing alongside)," the SP president posted.

The reference was to Shah's remark during his speech on Friday that no 'bahubali', as politicians with a criminal history or strongmen are often called, can be found even if you look for them with binoculars.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Polls: Former BJP ally SBSP extends support to Akhilesh Yadav

Praising the law and order situation under the Yogi Adityanath government, Shah had said, "Before 2017, seeing the bad condition of the law and order of Uttar Pradesh my blood would boil. In the era of the earlier government, girls could not come out of the house. There were two-three 'bahubalis' in every district but today, even if I look with binoculars, I do not see any 'bahubali' anywhere.

On October 3, of the eight people killed during the violence in Lakhimpuri Kheri, four were farmers. Union Minister of State for Home Mishra's son Ashish has been arrested. Some farmers claimed that Ashish Mishra was in one of the vehicles that ran down the four farmers, an allegation denied by him and his father. Opposition parties, including the SP and the Congress, have demanded the dismissal of Ajay Mishra.

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The Delhi BJP leadership strongly objected to the DDMA's decision not to allow Chhath Puja on the banks of the Yamuna and asserted that they will reach sites in the vicinity of the river to celebrate the festival, notwithstanding the ban.

BJP MP from Northeast Delhi Manoj Tiwari said the move is like "playing with the religious beliefs of Poorvanchalis", while West Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Singh said he will celebrate Chhath at Yamuna ghat only.

Poorvanchali is a term used for natives of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Also Read | DDMA allows Chhath Puja celebrations at designated places amid strict Covid protocols

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in its order released on Friday said Chhath Puja celebrations will be allowed at designated sites in the city except on the banks of the Yamuna River.

Tiwari in a statement said he was "stunned" to know that devotees are not allowed to worship on the banks of the Yamuna during Chhath celebrations.

"I am stunned to know that the Delhi government has again banned Chhath celebrations on the banks of Yamuna. This is an effort to play with the religious beliefs of Poorvanchalis. Anti-Hindu policy of Arvind Kejriwal is getting exposed. We Poorvanchalis do not accept this," Tiwari said in a statement in Hindi.

There are over 1,000 Chhath ghats across the city of which 10-15 major ghats are located alongside the Yamuna. A majority of Chhath devotees of the city go to Chhath ghats along the Yamuna.

Tiwari, a former Delhi BJP president, said the city government had earlier denied permission to celebrate Chhath, but allowed it later.

"Now they are saying you cannot celebrate Chhath on the banks of Yamuna. This is complete injustice (to Poorvanchalis). Why are you (Kejriwal) doing this only with Chhath?" Tiwari asked.

West Delhi MP Singh also expressed his anger over the decision and said he will celebrate Chhath at Yamuna ghat only.

"Chhath is the biggest festival for brothers and sisters of Poorvanchal and putting restrictions on it is like playing with their beliefs. Kejriwalji, I will myself go to Yamuna to ensure Chhath Puja is celebrated there. Stop me if you can," Singh said in a tweet in Hindi.

Chhath, celebrated after Diwali by people belonging to Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, involves the offering of 'Arghya' by fasting women to the Sun god in knee-deep water.

Earlier, in an order issued on September 30, the DDMA had prohibited Chhath celebrations at public places, including at riverbanks, water bodies and temples, in view of the threat posed by Covid-19.

Following this, the BJP staged protest across the and also at the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and demanded that public celebration of Chhath be allowed in Delhi.

On October 14, Kejriwal wrote a letter to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to allow Chhath Puja in Delhi.

In a meeting attended by LG Baijal and Kejriwal, the DDMA earlier this week allowed Chhath Puja celebrations at designated spots in the national capital amid strict Covid protocols.

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A lawyer was shot at by three assailants in a village here, police said Saturday.

Afzal was shifted to a hospital after the three men opened fire at him on Sunday evening in Nagla Rudurpur village that falls under Khatoli police station, they said.

The incident took place when the lawyer was returning to his village from Muzaffarnagar on a bike, they added.

Police suspect old enmity to be the reason behind the attack.

Further investigation in the case is on, they said.

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After a rap from the Supreme Court, Delhi Police have removed the barricades on roads leading to Haryana on the Tikri borders, where farmers have been protesting against the three farm laws for the past 11 months.

Similar clearing of roads was also underway at the Ghazipur border with Uttar Pradesh in East Delhi, which triggered speculation about the continuance of the farmers' protests.

Delhi Police is rectifying its mistake after submitting an affidavit in the Supreme Court. The farmers' agitation will continue as before. Farmers are present in large numbers at the protest site, Dharmendra Malik, spokesperson of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) said.

Malik said there have been attempts to weaken the agitation but farmers were ready to take on every challenge to break such efforts.

A farmer leader said traffic movements were allowed on the Delhi-Haryana stretch along the Tikri borders on Saturday for light vehicles including bikes, auto-rickshaws and cars and ambulances.

Also Read | 'We stand vindicated', say farm unions as cops begin removing barricades at farmers' protest sites

The opening of the road stretch at the Tikri border would help thousands of commuters of Bahadurgarh and Delhi as well as those travelling between the national capital and going to Rajasthan from Haryana.

While the police removed a large portion of the barricades, wirings and iron nails from NH-9 (the Delhi-Meerut Expressway flyover) at Ghazipur border by Friday evening, the tents and other temporary structures erected by the protesters continued to remain there.

Multiple layers of iron and cement barricades along with concertina wires were put up by the police last year. The arrangements were further beefed up after the January 26 violence in Delhi during the farmers protest against three new agriculture laws of the Centre.

The process to remove the barricades started following the October 21 Supreme Court direction calling for unblocking of the roads that have remained out of bounds for commuters due to the laws protests at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur border points.

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The principal of a school in Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur dangled a Class 2 child upside down from the first floor of the building, punishing him for eating golgappas as other children watched in shock, an official said on Friday.

Following the incident, which occurred on Thursday, an FIR was lodged against Principal Manoj Vishwakarma of the Sadbhavna Shikshan Sansthan Junior High School under Ahraura police station and he was taken into custody, the police said.

A video of the shocking incident has gone viral on social media.

Police said the school headmaster inflicted the shocking punishment on the child for having 'golgappas' at a stall outside the school without informing the teacher.

After the child came back to the school, the headmaster caught hold of him by his ankles and dangle him upside down from the first floor of the school building, police said.

Scared by the shocking treatment, the child began crying and told his parents about the incident after reaching home, the police said.

The childs father Ranjit Yadav subsequently lodged a complaint with the police following which an FIR was lodged on Thursday night, Mirzapur District Magistrate Praveen Kumar Lakshkar.

On coming to know about this, the district basic shiksha adhikari too investigated the matter and on the basis of his report, an FIR was registered against the school headmaster, the DM said.

The FIR was registered against Vishwakarma under relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice Act and Indian Penal Code, even as the teacher tendered an apology to the childs father, regretting his act.

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The beleaguered Congress in Punjab is now fraught with the prospect of its MLAs likely to align with rebel former Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh, who has announced he will be forming a new party for the coming elections just months away.

Captain maintains many of the party MLAs were in touch with him and they would come out openly in support for him at an appropriate time. Alarmed over the imminent crisis, Congress central leadership is ensuring it keeps its flock of disgruntled MLAs together. As the developments unfold, Rahul Gandhi has been meeting some of the Congress MLAs in New Delhi.

Captain, when asked how many MLAs were in touch with him had quipped, "If Rahul Gandhi needs to have back-to-back meetings with Punjab Congress MLAs, what does it mean?

Read | Channi meets Rahul Gandhi after Amarinder Singh's announcement on floating his own political party

Amarinder Singh needs MLAs on his side to stay in the reckoning in the elections. He has also maintained he would try to forge an alliance with breakaway factions of the Akali Dal. For Singh, this election will determine the traction he commands, having served almost two terms as chief minister.

Congress leaders in Punjab, especially party chief Navjot Sidhu and cabinet minister SS Randhawa, have been attacking Amarinder Singh even on personal issues. As the Congress versus Congress fight gets murkier and real issues grappling Punjab take a back seat in the melee, Capts Pakistani friend Aroosa Alam hogs newspaper columns with Randhawa and others raking up the issue in public domain. Sidhu has termed Capt a spent cartilage.

Also Read | Will launch party once EC clears name, symbol: Amarinder Singh

But all this unsavory war of words may not augur well with the new Congress dispensation in place in Punjab after the Captain's unceremonious exit. He has so far refrained from any personal attack on Congress leaders. Amarinders seat-sharing agreement with the BJP, which as it is does not enjoy much political groundswell in this border state, will itself be a challenge. BJP which earlier would fight only 23 seats in Punjab as an ally of the Akali Dal (its former ally), has now said it would fight all the 117 assembly seats.

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The G20 Summit in Rome during the weekend is likely to see the leaders of the rich nations endorsing Prime Minister Narendra Modis proposal to work out a global mechanism for mutual recognition of the anti-Covid-19 vaccines and inoculation certificates issued by the governments of the different countries.

Modi arrived in Rome early on Friday to attend the summit, which would be hosted by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Saturday and Sunday.

He is expected to call upon the G20 nations to ensure mutual recognition of the anti-Covid-19 vaccines developed or being developed and the certificates issued to the inoculated people by the authorities in countries around the world.

The Prime Minister had a meeting with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Rome on Friday. He discussed the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic during the meeting.

He also had a bilateral meeting with the Italian Prime Minister.

Also read: PM Modi to hold one-on-one meeting with Pope Francis

The EU leaders and the Italian Prime Minister lauded the Government of India for the progress in inoculating people with anti-Covid-19 vaccines, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla said. He said that Modi had also discussed with the EU leaders and the Italian Prime Minister climate change and the situation in Afghanistan.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that Indias proposal for mutual recognition of the vaccines and the inoculation certificates had already received tremendous support from the other G20 nations.

Goyal is New Delhis sherpa for the G20 Summit and he has been in Rome for the past three days overseeing preparations for the Prime Ministers participation in the conclave.

He told journalists in Rome on Friday that the G20 had endorsed Indias position that extensive Covid-19 immunisation was a global public good.

He said that the discussions were going on among the officials of the G20 nations to incorporate in the summit communique the call for mutual recognition of the Covid-19 vaccines, test reports and the inoculation certificates in order to ease international travels and thus help revive the global economy hit hard by the pandemic.

There is a broad consensus on the issue. All nations want to bring back normalcy, said the Commerce and Industry Minister.

India had to press some European Union nations hard earlier this year to make them individually exempt its citizens inoculated with Covaxin or Covishield from travel restrictions as the two anti-Covid-19 vaccines had not been among the ones approved by the bloc for its Green Pass programme.

The Green Pass  formally known as the EU Digital Covid Certificate  was recognised by the members of the EU from July 1.

It is proof in digital format or on paper that a person has been vaccinated against the Covid-19, tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 infection or recovered from infection.

Some of the EU nations later started recognising the vaccination certificates issued by the Government of India to the people inoculated with Covishield, which was developed by the AstraZeneca PLC and the Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in India.

Also Read | PM Modi holds productive interaction with European Council

The Covaxin, however, is still hardly recognised by any other country, as the World Health Organization has not yet approved it and put it on its Emergency Use List.

The British Governments new travel rules, which came into effect on October 4 last, too had initially refused to recognise travellers inoculated with Covishield in India as fully vaccinated and to exempt them from mandatory quarantine requirements on arrival in the UK.

After New Delhi had warned of reciprocal measures, the British Government had on September 22 revised its travel rules to recognise the Covishield as one of the approved anti-Covid-19 vaccines, but still refused to recognise the certificates issued to people, who had been inoculated with the jab in India.

Prime Minister Boris Johnsons Government finally relented and agreed to exempt travellers inoculated with the two doses of the anti-Covid-19 Covishield vaccine in India from mandatory quarantine requirement on arrival in the UK.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a one-on-one meeting with Pope Francis on Saturday at the Vatican City ahead of the delegation-level talks during which they are expected to discuss a range of areas of interests in terms of the general global perspectives and issues such as Covid-19.

"The Prime Minister will have a separate call. He will be meeting his Holiness on a one-on-one basis. And that could, after a certain period of time, be followed up by delegation-level talks, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters here on Friday while briefing the details of the Prime Ministers engagements in Italy.

Also Read | PM Modi holds productive interaction with European Council

Shringla said the Vatican has not set any agenda for the talks. I believe tradition is not to have an agenda when you discuss issues with His Holiness. And I think we respect that. I'm sure the issues that will be covered would cover a range of areas of interests in terms of the general global perspectives and issues that are important to all of us, he said.

"Covid-19, health issues, how we can work together...and this is something that, I think would be the general trend in the discussions," he added.

In his departure statement on Thursday, Modi said he will be visiting Rome and the Vatican City from October 29-31.

"During my visit to Italy, I will also visit the Vatican City, to call on His Holiness Pope Francis and meet Secretary of State, His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin," Modi said.

From Rome, Modi will travel to Glasgow, the UK, at the invitation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The Union Health Ministry on Friday expanded the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the universal immunisation programme for the entire nation with the hope of reducing death among children by 60%.

The nation-wide rollout comes a few years after the vaccine was introduced in five states - Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh - that account for nearly 70% of Indias pneumonia burden.

Pneumonia is a leading cause of death among children under five years old, globally and in India. The nationwide rollout of PCV will reduce child mortality by around 60%, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, flagging off the expansion.

According to a 2019 UNICEF analysis quoted by the Union Health Ministry in Parliament, India stands second in the world with regard to deaths of children caused by pneumonia with nearly 1,27,000 deaths in 2018. Surprisingly, the ministry doesnt have any updated information on its own on Indias pneumonia burden.

A January, 2021 report by the ministry on PCV cites statistics from 2010 with officials admitting that the pneumonia data wasnt updated since the last decade when 1,05,000 pneumonia deaths had occurred in Indian children younger than five years.

In 2010, 3.6 million cases of severe pneumonia were reported in children younger than five years in India. The estimated incidence of severe pneumonia was 30.7 per 1,000 children per year in those less than five years of age, and 87.3 in children aged less than one year.

The three-dose vaccine was administered to children at 1.5 month, 3.5 months and 9 months in Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh since 2017 with support from GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, benefitting more than 20 lakh children. Subsequently, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh were brought into the programme.

Indias infant mortality rate has come down to 30 per thousand live births in 2019 from 47 in 2010 and 129 in 1971. Despite the decline in IMR over the last decades, one in every 33 infants die within the first year of their life at the national level, according to the latest bulletin released by the Registrar General of India.
The Kerala health department is keeping its fingers crossed as primary school children come back to school from November 1 after nearly one and half years even though serosurvey showed that around 60 per cent of students in the state didn't have antibodies against Covid-19.

Classes for standards one to seven and tenth and twelfth will commence initially and classes for eighth, ninth and eleventh standards will commence by November 15.

Kerala health department sources said that the chances of formation of Covid clusters among children could not be ruled out.

A senior doctor in the state health department said that while a serosurvey conducted in September showed that only 40 per cent of students in the 5-17 age group in Kerala had antibodies, a May serosurvey done at the national level showed the number to be around 55 per cent. Even though the number vindicates the Kerala government, it also highlights the risk involved in opening schools.

Also Read | India's vaccination coverage crosses 106 crore doses

This decision, however, is based on experts' opinions that Covid infection would not be severe among children. Moreover, since the vaccination among adults in Kerala was progressing well with over 52 per cent being fully vaccinated and 95 per cent having gotten the first dose, chances of Covid-19 spread among adults through children could be minimised, said the doctor.

The existing online classes would continue and attendance at offline classes would not be mandatory. A large chunk of parents are unlikely to send their children to school from Monday, said government sources. Schools have received guidelines to adhere to Covid-19 guidelines and only vaccinated teachers would be allowed to come to schools.

Kerala still has a comparatively high number of Covid-19 cases. On Saturday, 7,427 fresh cases were reported taking the total active cases to 78,624. The seven-day average test positivity rate was 10.49 per cent on Friday.

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The opposition AIADMK on Saturday demanded that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin clarify the release of water from the Mullaperiyar reservoir by Kerala, and sought his immediate intervention into the issue.

Taking strong exception to the release of water before the dam could reach its full level capacity of 142 feet, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam claimed that Kerala had released 514 cusecs of water from Mullaperiyar in the presence of Tamil Nadu officials on Friday.

This proves that the ruling DMK is doing what it had not said. That is, before (the Assembly) elections, the DMK said it will raise its voice for our rights. Now (after capturing power) it is lending its hands (of support), Panneerselvam sarcastically remarked.

Also read: Mullaperiyar dam shutters raised further

In a statement, Panneerselvam accused the Kerala government of going against the Supreme Court verdict (in 2014) that water could be stored upto 142 feet in the Mullaperiyar dam.

Media reports indicate that 514 cusecs water was released from the reservoir by Kerala in the presence of Kerala Irrigation Minister, Kerala Revenue Minister and Idukki district collector, the former CM said.

Farmers associations from Theni, Madurai, Dindigul, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts have registered their protest against Keralas move, in their submission before the Theni District Collector, claiming that this would deprive their districts of water as they lacked direct access to dam water.

The farmers had also said this would deny Tamil Nadus rights, the AIADMK senior said condemning the neighbouring State.

He said experts have already clarified that the dam was safe enough to impound water till its full level capacity. Eyebrows are being raised if the water was released in consultation with Tamil Nadu government and the farmers of the five districts.

The Tamil Nadu government is duty bound to answer. I request the Chief Minister to immediately intervene in the issue of Mullaperiyar dam, which is the lifeline of the ryots in Tamil Nadu, and openly inform the true situation to the people and farmers of the State, he said.

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A magistrate's court here on Saturday issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in an alleged extortion case registered in suburban Goregaon. This is the second such order against Singh this week.

On Tuesday, a court in neighbouring Thane had issued an NBW against him in connection with another extortion case registered against him. The crime branch of Mumbai Police said it approached the Mumbai court for issuance of an NBW as Singh did not respond to its summons to join the investigation.

Also Read | Court issues non-bailable warrant against 'untraceable' Param Bir Singh in extortion case

The summons were issued to Singh twice, once at his official residence here and another at his Chandigarh address, said a police official.

The court issued a warrant against businessman Vinay Singh and alleged gangster Riyaz Bhatti too. Besides Singh, dismissed assistant police inspector Sachin Waze is also an accused in the case registered at Goregaon police station. Builder-hotelier Bimal Agrawal, the complainant, had alleged that Singh and others tried to extort money from him.

Also Read | Virat Kohli slams 'spineless people' for abusing Shami over his religion

Singh was shunted out from the post of Mumbai police commissioner in March 2021 in the aftermath of the discovery of an SUV with explosives near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence in south Mumbai and the arrest of Sachin Waze in the case. Singh later accused then Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption.

The IPS officer is also facing an inquiry by the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau, and a case filed by a police officer from Akola against him under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act).

Recently the Maharashtra government had told the Bombay High Court that it did not know Singh's whereabouts.

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The Kutch police on Saturday arrested six persons for allegedly assaulting a Dalit family, reportedly for visiting newly-inaugurated Ram temple in the village.

After the incident was highlighted by several leaders, including independent MLA Jignesh Mevani, who demanded action against the accused, the state government announced Rs 21 lakh ex-gratia to the victims' family.

"We have arrested six persons so far and two are under surveillance in the hospital where they are admitted. The victims have stated in the FIR that they were attacked for visiting the newly-inaugurated village temple. I won't be able to say for sure what led to the assault as we are yet to catch other accused to get other version," said Superintendent of Police, Kutch (east), Mayur Patil.

On October 26, two incidents occurred at Ner village in Bhachau taluka. Patil told reporters that in the first incident, a group of 20 accused attacked relatives of the victims' family for resisting cattle which had entered their farm about 4 km away from the village. The accused persons thrashed Govind Vaghela and his uncle Ganesh for resisting. The duo escaped and came back home.

Later, the same group came to Govind's house in the village holding axes, sticks and rods and assaulted the family members including his father Jagabhai, 64, his wife Baddiben, son Bhura and nephew Hasmukh. Several videos of the victims in pool of blood have gone viral on social media platforms.

The victims' family has alleged that it was part of the conspiracy by the accused who were against their community visiting the temple earlier this month. The police have registered two separate FIRs against 20 accused for attempt to murder, conspiracy and sections Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (prevention of atrocities) Act.

Police said that earlier this month, one of the victims, Jagabhai, had complained that upper caste villagers were not accepting his contribution for the temple. Jagabhai was pacified by the village leaders, saying that donations had already been collected seven years ago when temple construction began and there was no need for further donation.

"Then, Jagabhai told the villagers that he wanted to visit the temple for darshan. The villagers accepted it and he visited the temple during pran-pratishtha ceremony. A week later, his family members were assaulted in two separate incidents for which we have registered FIRs,"Patil told reporters.

"Now, these cases are being presented in media and social media as upper caste vs SC community or village vs one SC house which is, perhaps, far from facts. I would like to say that three to four years back Jagabhai won an election with 80% votes in the village and every community voted for him. Jagabhai is a respected panchayat member. So, to say that entire village is against a community or a caste is far from the facts. As far as legal actions are concerned, we have already arrested six of the accused," he said while adding that 12 different teams have been formed to nab other accused.

Meanwhile, Gujarat government announced financial assistance of Rs 21 lakh to the six victims and while stating that "necessary steps are being taken."

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The climate change conference in Glasgow, which is the 26th meeting of the United Nations Conference of Parties (CoP) and is set to begin on Sunday, is said to be the last chance for humanity to take steps to avert a global disaster. The meeting, to be attended by heads of state from 120 countries, is crucial as it is the culmination of years of international efforts to find a common ground and strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The meeting was to have been held last year but was put off due to the pandemic. All countries had made undertakings to voluntarily reduce carbon emissions at the 2015 Paris Conference. CoP26 was expected to review the progress on this, and that might be done in Glasgow. One benefit of the postponement is the return of the US, under President Joe Biden, to the table, reversing Donald Trumps withdrawal from it. The participation of the US is important. There cannot be any useful climate agreement without the world's second-biggest carbon emitter being a party to it.

Discussions and negotiations on climate change have underlined the need to formulate strategies that would help to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. This was agreed upon in Paris. But this would demand achievement of a 45% reduction in carbon emissions from 2010 levels by 2030 and then net zero' emissions, which means emission levels that can be naturally absorbed, by 2050. These are extremely difficult, even impossible, targets, especially for developing countries. The US, the European Union (EU) and Britain have declared net zero targets by 2050; China has set a 2060 target. India has not accepted it. As in the case with the US, no agreement will be possible at Glasgow without the worlds biggest and third-biggest emitters on board.

Developed countries have to go much farther than they have agreed to do till now to ensure that there is an agreement. This is because the present situation is the result of the huge emissions by them in the last 150 years. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities demands that they compensate developing countries for the mitigation steps, transfer appropriate technologies to them and support them in other ways to implement their development and climate change strategies. But they have not honoured their commitments in these respects. It is difficult to predict whether there will be an agreement acceptable to all countries at Glasgow. It is even more difficult to say if even the best agreement will be good enough to reverse the climate change threat.
When Mark Zuckerberg appeared on screen at Facebooks virtual Connect conference Thursday, smiling as he wandered through sterile rooms filled with midcentury modern furniture, he looked like a man unburdened.

Whistleblower? What whistleblower? Cascading, yearslong trust crisis that has regulators fuming, employees bailing and lawmakers comparing Facebook to Big Tobacco? Hmm, doesnt ring a bell.

Instead, Zuckerberg and his lieutenants cheerfully laid out their vision for the so-called metaverse, the immersive virtual environment that Facebook  which, as of Thursday, has been renamed Meta, although everyone except for a few professionally obligated financial journalists will probably keep calling it Facebook  is trying to build.

Read more: Facebook changes company name to 'Meta'

As with most of Facebooks strategy announcements, Thursdays rebranding formalised a shift that has been underway for years. The company already has more than 10,000 people working on augmented and virtual reality projects in its Reality Labs division  roughly twice as many people as are on Twitters entire staff  and has said it plans to hire 10,000 more in Europe soon. Earlier this week, the company announced that it would spend about $10 billion on metaverse-related investments this year, and it has been acquiring VR startups in what could amount to a metaverse land grab.

There are several types of questions one could ask about this metaverse strategy. The first and most basic is: What is a metaverse, and what will Facebooks version of one look like?

That question was answered, at least partially, by Thursdays presentation. Zuckerberg painted a picture of the metaverse as a clean, well-lit virtual world, entered with virtual and augmented reality hardware at first and more advanced body sensors later on, in which people can play virtual games, attend virtual concerts, go shopping for virtual goods, collect virtual art, hang out with each others virtual avatars and attend virtual work meetings.

This vision of an immersive digital realm is not new  it was sketched out almost 30 years ago by science fiction author Neal Stephenson  but Zuckerberg is staking Facebooks future on the bet that it will become real, saying that the metaverse will be a successor to the mobile internet.

Another obvious question you could ask is Will this work? Its impossible to say for certain, of course, although personally, Im sceptical that Facebook  a lumbering bureaucracy whose biggest breakthroughs in the past decade have mostly come by buying competing apps or copying their features, rather than developing its own ideas internally  will create an immersive digital universe that people actually want to spend time in.

But the most interesting question, to my mind, is: Why is Zuckerberg doing this? After all, its not a prelude to a huge corporate reorganisation or a sign of a chief executive who wants to give himself an easier job, as was the case when Google renamed itself Alphabet in 2015 and Larry Page handed over day-to-day control of Google to Sundar Pichai. And even though some have speculated that the Meta rebranding is meant to distract from Facebooks most recent round of scandals, its bizarre to think that announcing a radical plan to reinvent the digital world would make critics less sceptical of the companys motives.

To understand why Zuckerberg is going all in, it helps to understand that a successful metaverse pivot could help solve at least four big, thorny problems that Facebook faces here in the terrestrial world.

The first is one Ive written about before, which is that Facebooks core social media business is ageing, and younger users are abandoning its apps in favour of TikTok, Snapchat and other, cooler apps. Facebooks youth problem hasnt hurt it financially yet, but ad revenue is a lagging indicator, and there is plenty of evidence that even Instagram  the supposedly healthy app in Facebooks portfolio  is rapidly losing the attention of teenagers and 20-somethings.

The bleakest version of what Facebook might become in the next few years, if current trends hold  a Boomer-dominated sludge pit filled with cute animal videos and hyperpartisan garbage  is clearly not the kind of thing the company wants as its flagship product. (Zuckerberg explicitly endorsed a youth-focused strategy this week, saying that the companys new focus was attracting and retaining young users.)

Read more: What's in a name? Meta Materials soars after Facebook identity switch

The metaverse could help with the companys demographic crisis, if it encourages young people to strap on their Oculus headsets and hang out in Horizon  Facebooks social VR app  instead of watching TikTok videos on their phones.

Another problem that Facebooks metaverse strategy could address, if it works, is platform risk. For years, Zuckerberg has been irked that because Facebooks mobile apps run on iOS and Android, its success is highly dependent on Apple and Google, two companies whose priorities are often diametrically opposed to its own. This years app tracking transparency changes by Apple, for example, dealt a blow to Facebooks advertising business by making it harder for the company to collect data about users mobile activity. And if smartphones remain the dominant way that people interact online, Facebook will never truly control its own destiny.

Zuckerberg has been talking about the strategic benefits of the metaverse since at least 2015, when he wrote to his lieutenants that we need to succeed in building both a major platform and key apps to improve our strategic position on the next platform.

A metaverse strategy, if it worked, could finally get Facebook out from under Apples and Googles thumbs by steering users to Facebook-owned platforms like Oculus, where it doesnt need to worry about getting kicked out of the app store for snooping on users activity or aiding the illegal trafficking of domestic workers. And it would mean that if Facebook wanted to charge for, say, virtual clothing inside one of its metaverse apps, it could do so without paying a 30% fee to a rival. (On Thursday, Zuckerberg obliquely criticised Apple and Google, saying their gatekeeping of the mobile app ecosystem was stifling innovation, stopping people from building new things, and holding back the entire internet economy.)

The third problem that Facebook faces is regulatory risk. Facebook is not on the verge of being broken up, exactly, but regulators are making enough noise about restricting its growth (by establishing new privacy laws or preventing it from acquiring the next Instagram, for example) that it makes sense to place bets in some areas, like VR and AR, that are less likely to be regulated any time soon. In addition, since so many of Facebooks regulatory problems stem from the way its apps are used for fractious political debate, the metaverse could allow it to point to a kinder, gentler social universe that hasnt yet been co-opted by angry partisans. (One group that conspicuously wasnt pictured hanging out in the metaverse during Thursdays presentation? Politicians.)

The fourth problem, of course, is the reputational damage that Facebook has sustained as a result of its many missteps and scandals. For years, anything that Facebook does  even projects that have nothing to do with social networking, like introducing a cryptocurrency wallet  has been tainted by association. And given that dozens of media outlets are still poring through a years worth of damning internal research, the companys public image is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Zuckerberg, whose new public persona is something like above-it-all futurist, professes not to have been motivated to rename Facebook by a desire to escape the companys baggage. But Facebooks toxic brand has had real consequences. It has demoralised the companys workforce and made it harder for Facebook to attract and retain talented employees. It has sunk partnerships, set advertisers on edge and turned Zuckerberg  who, despite his professed ambivalence, wants to be remembered as a visionary technologist rather than a destroyer of democracy  into a world-historic villain.

Building the metaverse wont solve any of these problems overnight. It probably wont solve them at all and could, in fact, invite new kinds of scrutiny that Facebook wouldnt have faced if it had simply spent the next several years focusing all of its attention on fixing the issues with its existing products.

But it would be wrong to write off Facebooks metaverse as just a marketing gimmick, or a strategic ploy meant to give the company more leverage over its rivals. (Although it is both.) If it works, Zuckerbergs metaverse would usher in a new era of dominance  one that would extend Facebooks influence to entirely new types of culture, communication and commerce. And if it doesnt, it will be remembered as a desperate, costly attempt to give a futuristic face-lift to a geriatric social network while steering attention away from pressing societal problems. Either possibility is worth taking seriously.

Regardless, this isnt a vanity stunt for Zuckerberg. In the metaverse, he has found what may be an escape hatch  a way to eject himself from Facebooks messy, troubled present and break ground on a new, untainted frontier. No wonder he looks so happy.
Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "24-carat gold", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said he is perhaps the only leader after Mahatma Gandhi with deep understanding of Indian society and its psychology.

Singh, a former BJP president, said Modi's political journey of last two decades as head of government should be taught in management schools as a case study on "effective leadership and efficient governance".

Speaking at length about the last two decades of Modi's political journey, Singh said, "A true leadership is identified by its intent and integrity and in both cases, Modiji is 24-carat gold. There is not a single stain of corruption on him even after being the head of a government for 20 years."

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The seeds for Karnatakas unification on November 1, 1956 were first sown in Dharwad.

On July 20, 1890, the Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha (KVS) was founded by R H Deshpande, which eventually became the centre for a growing consciousness about Karnatakas language and culture.

The challenge was that Kannada-speaking regions were split under different administrative units, and the Kannada organisations faced the mammoth task of bringing people together.

In the initial meetings of the KVS at Dharwad and Bengaluru, there was apprehension about whether to mobilise people politically or bind them culturally. Later, both these goals were understood to be the same.

Linguistic community

And with this understanding, the objective of reorganisation of the state on the basis of a linguistic community was set.

The Karnataka Sabha, established in Dharwad in 1916, is considered the first political organisation to work in this regard.

Its office bearers submitted a memorandum to Montagu Chelmsford Commission in 1917 and argued for the consideration of their political demand. Their demands grew more vocal and at a meeting in Dharwad in 1917, a resolution was passed seeking statehood for Kannada speakers.

In 1920, leaders and members representing different forums and organisations convened the Akhila Karnataka Rashtriya Parishat which gave an impetus to the demand for Kannada statehood.

A large number of people also attended the annual session of the Indian National Congress at Nagpur in 1920. Here, permission was accorded for the formation of a separate committee for Karnataka affairs.

And so began a movement based on a political ideology.

Between 1920 and 1936, the emergence of new associations saw the clash of ideas and even disagreements.

During this period of political confusion, two new forums were established namely, All Karnataka Unification Parishat and Karnataka Unification Committee.

Between 1936 and 1947

The process of linguistic mobilisation and the creation of Sindh and Orissa boosted the confidence of Kannada-speaking people. The formation of the Ekikarana Sangha in 1936 at Bangalore further raised peoples hopes.

During World War II (1939 - 1945) and its aftermath, this linguistic identity was subsumed by the national question.

After the countrys independence, the movement gathered steam once again, with people in the border areas of present-day Karnataka being mobilised.

In 1948, the Central Government in a newly-independent country constituted the Linguistic State Coordination Commission also called the Dhar Committee after its chairperson S K Dhar

In December 1948, another committee consisting of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramaiah was formed.

The government also constituted the States Reorganisation Commission consisting of three members, including the Chairperson.

The members, Fazl Ali (Chairman), K M Panikkar and Pandit H N Kunzru, were non-party men.

Soon after the first national elections in 1952, non-Congress parties and forces jointly formed a new forum called Akhanda Karnataka Rajya Nirmana Parishat. Its first session was held at Davanagere on May 28, 1953. It was decided that starting from August 9, 1953, one week would be for Struggle for Unification.

When the States Reorganisation Commission visited Bangalore, Mangalore, Kodagu, Hubli, Dharwar, Belgaum, Mysore and other places, leaders met them and forwarded their plea.

On September 30, 1955, the Commission submitted its final report in which the formation of a new state was mentioned.

The new state, officially inaugurated on November 1, 1956, came to be called Mysore and was the result of a political and cultural struggle imbued with the emotions of an entire people.
Coastal Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Mattaru Rathnakar Hegde said that the Authority is mulling over developing Mastya grama at Sasihithlu on the outskirts of Mangaluru.

The project will be set up under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana at an estimated cost of Rs 7.5 crore.

I have already discussed the project with Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, Dairy farming, Information and Broadcasting Dr L Murugan , who in turn has promised 60 % of the project cost provided the state government shares 40 % of the cost, he told mediapersons here on Saturday.

Mastya grama will have all the fishing activities from unloading to retail and wholesale selling, fish drying, cold storage, rest room for fisherwomen and so on. Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat has also placed a demand for setting up Mastya grama at Malpe as well.

To give emphasis on hygiene in the fish drying process, the CDA is planning for a solar fish drying unit at Malpe. The drying of fish using solar energy will help in the export as well. A feasibility study on the same is being initiated. Atleast 20 cents land is required for the same.

We are in constant touch with the Fisheries College for fish drying using solar energy projects. The Nirmithi Kendra has been asked to work on the estimated plan for the same. The fish drying unit using solar energy will benefit fisher women, he explained.

On the direction of Dr Rajneesh Goel, Additional Chief Secretary, the CDA is in talks with CSIR- National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) for conducting tests on the quality of sea water in three coastal districts of Karnataka.

A preparatory meeting has been held with officials from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. Not much studies have been carried out on sea water so far, he said. The Authority is also planning for geo-tagging of coastal Karnatakas bar boiled rice and has held talks with agriculture department officials.

During 2021-22, the CDA had prepared an action plan for 194 works including footbridges, fish markets, roads, community halls, classrooms, hanging bridges and so on. Of which, 24 works have been completed. Additional 22 works worth Rs 3.5 crore have been submitted to the government for approval. Owing to Covid-19 pandemic, the budgetary allocation to the Authority was only Rs 9 crore during the year.

Rajyotsava, Deepavali

The CDA will observe Kannada Rajyotsava and Deepavali, at its office in Mangaluru on November 2 at 4 pm. The Covid warriors like doctors, para medical staff, Asha workers will be felicitated on the occasion.
Thousands of grieving fans continue to flock the city's Kanteerava stadium on Saturday to pay their final respects to Kannada film star Puneeth Rajkumar, whose last rites is likely to be performed by this evening.

Considered as the Kannada cinemas reigning star, Puneeth, youngest of the five children of thespian and matinee idol Dr Rajkumar, passed away at the age of 46, after suffering a cardiac arrest on Friday.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Rajkumar, the family has donated Puneeth's eyes.

Mortal remains of the actor, wrapped in the national tri-colour, have been kept at the Kanteerava Stadium, to enable fans and well-wishers to pay homage all day on Saturday. A steady stream of people from across the state have been pouring into the arena since last evening.

Also Read | Puneeth Rajkumar's last rites to be held tomorrow, says CM Basavaraj Bommai

Several film and political personalities also paid their respects to the departed soul. Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot accompanied by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and other ministers of the state cabinet, Telugu actor Nandamuri Balakrishna, ace choreographer Prabhu Deva, were among those who paid their respects today.

"The feeling is like losing a son of our house," a tearful elderly woman fan said here. "Our Appu (as Puneeth is fondly called by fans) might have physically gone, but he will remain with us through his acting and the impact he has left on us because of his good and friendly nature," said a young fan.

The state government has announced that Puneeth's last rites will be conducted with state honours at Dr Rajkumar Punyabhoomi in Kanteerava Studio, next to his father and mother.

The late actor is survived by wife Ashwini Revanth and daughters Drithi and Vanditha.

Speaking to reporters Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the last rites will be performed after Puneeth Rajkumar's daughter arrives from the US, and called on the people to maintain peace and see off their "favourite actor" in a dignified way.

"There is a sea of people descending to pay last respects to Puneeth Rajkumar and the government has made arrangements for it at Kanteerava Stadium. As we want the further process also to go on smoothly, police and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials are at work. Necessary works are on at Kanteerava Studio for last rites, where only family members and dignitaries will be allowed," he said.

Necessary arrangements have been made for quick immigration clearance and others procedures, as soon as Puneeth's daughter reaches Delhi from the US. Bommai further said depending on her arrival, the timing of the final rites will be decided, and route by which the mortal remains will be taken to final resting place is being worked out.

"My only appeal is, yes, Appu's death has caused us a lot of pain, but it is our duty to send him off peacefully and with utmost respect, so everyone should cooperate. Without getting emotional everyone should behave responsibly. People have cooperated in a good way so far, continuing in the same way will be our true tribute to Dr Rajkumar and Appu," he added.

The CM's request for peace comes in the backdrop of the large-scale violence that took place in the city, following the death of Puneeth's father Dr Rajkumar in 2006.

Check out latest DH videos here
KBC13: Rajkummar Rao reveals Amitabh Bachchan's touching gesture for his late mother on the night she died in 2016

Actor Rajkummar Rao who recently graced the hot seat on Amitabh Bachchan hosted Kaun Banega Crorepati 13 for a special episode revealed how his late mother was a big fan of the Bollywood superstar. The Hum Ho Humare Do actor revealed how couldnt fulfill his mothers wish to meet Amitabh one day but died in 2016 before he could make that happen.

Rajkummar, however, did receive a video from Big B on request which he later played in front of her picture after she died. On the show, Rajkummar told Amitabh, My mother was your big fan. She loved you a lot. She told me that when she got married in Gurgaon, she only brought one thing with her, that was your poster and she pasted it in my father's bedroom. So my father felt so insecure, he was like, it is an arranged marriage and she has brought a poster of Amitabh with her. My father was so insecure that he asked her if she was with him or with Amitabh.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sony Entertainment Television (@sonytvofficial)

Recalling how she always wanted to meet the superstar, Rajkummar then revealed how he was shooting for Newton when he got the news of her demise. The actor said he felt rather guilty about never having fulfilled her wish to come to Mumbai and meet the Bollywood superstar.

Rajkummar then went on to reveal how he had contacted Amitabh on the night of her demise and asked him to make a video which he promised no one else will see. That very night when (she died), I contacted you and told you about it. I asked you if it was possible for you to make a short video for her and I will not show it to anyone else and I'll just play the video in front of her photo because she just wanted to meet you once. And sir, you instantly made a video for her and I played it in front of her photo and for some reason sir the video disappeared from the pen drive on its own. Nobody knows where the video is. I think it was meant to be between you and her and thank you so much for doing this, the Shahid actor revealed.

Kriti Sanon who is seen in Hum Do Humare Do opposite Rajkummar was his partner on the hot seat with him.
Bigg Boss 15: Salman Khan sings for Katrina, fans think he's teasing her about wedding with Vicky Kaushal

Katrina Kaif and Rohit Shetty will be gracing the Bigg Boss 15 stage this weekend to promote their upcoming film Sooryavanshi. Fans can no doubt expect a lot of fun with Katrina and Salman coming together again after having shot together for an international schedule of Tiger 3 together.

The news of Katrina Kaifs wedding to actor Vicky Kaushal is doing the rounds for some time now and the recent promo of Bigg Boss 15 where Salman is singing for the actress had now led fans to think that he is teasing her about her impending nuptials. In the promo Katrina can be seen asking Salman to sing for her and the actor gladly obliged and also threw in some whacky dances moves into the mix making her laugh.

It was Salmans choice of lyrics to the song Oh mere dil ke chain which led fans to flood the comments section with comments about him teasing her about her wedding. Salman sings Tera kya hoga soocho toh zara

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ColorsTV (@colorstv)

Some of the comments to the promo read -

Salman bhai Tussi Great Ho indirectly taunt mar rahe ho

Maybe it heard the news about Vicky and Katrina's engagement...

Shadi pr kya gaana gaoge

Vicky kaushal k bare me taunt maar raha hai salman

Katrina be like Shaddi main zaroor aana

Katrina and Vicky Kaushal are rumoured to be tying the knot in December in a destination wedding in Rajasthan.
STONEWALL [ndash] Funeral services for Maple Hamilton, 78, of Stonewall, OK will be 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021, at the Stonewall First Baptist Church with the Apostle Gary Bruner officiating. Interment will be in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Stonewall, OK. Mrs. Hamilton passed away in a Deni
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Louth Library Service will host an audience event with award-winning author Roddy Doyle as part of the Louth Decade of Centenaries programme 2021.

Louth Library Service in conjunction with Libraries Northern Ireland has facilitated a cross border reading group initiative. Reading groups on both sides of the border have been reading Roddy Doyles A Star Called Henry.

The reading initiative focuses on the power of fiction to challenge set narratives and explores themes in the novel, his portrait of a Dublin during the period of the Irish Revolution of 1916-1921.

The initiative will culminate with an interactive Q& an online session with Roddy on November 3rd which is free and open to all.

There are still some copies of A Star Called Henry, available to borrow in library branches.

Audiences can register for free on the crowdcast platform www.crowdcast.io/e/ roddydoyle

The Louth Decade of Centenaries programme has been funded by the Commemorations Unit of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
A Cork man who was convicted of the manslaughter of a French man in the city had part of his jail term suspended back in 2016 but now he has been sent back to prison for failing to comply with the probation service.

Judge Helen Boyle said Daniel OSullivan was fortunate to have such a dedicated probation officer in Sharon Kennedy in Waterford. Ms Kennedy described Daniel OSullivan as a young man with great potential who needed to address his heroin addiction and related issues in order to realise that potential.

Found on street in Waterford

As recently as July, Ms Kennedy said she encountered Daniel OSullivan begging on the street in Waterford and was clearly struggling with addiction and homelessness. Unfortunately, he did not take up her offer to attend with her at the probation service to address his issues.

Defence barrister Dermot Sheehan said of the 28-year-old, He understands he needs treatment for heroin.

"He wants to get on with his life, free from the chains on him at the moment  his addiction to heroin, begging on the street and homelessness.

The situation is pathetic for him now. He is a bright young man with a lot of potential if he could just free himself of the shackles of heroin."

Judge Boyle said, This young man certainly has to spend time in prison. He is very lucky to have a probation officer who works so hard for him and speaks so highly of him.

Sentence partially suspended

In 2016 he was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter with the last three years suspended on conditions that included compliance with the probation service.

Judge Boyle said she would revoke the suspension on one year of that period. Daniel OSullivan, who is originally from Mallow, County Cork, is now commencing that one-year sentence.

Original case

OSullivan of Carrowkeel, Mallow, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to the manslaughter of French man, Vincent Morgain, aged 34, on Lower Oliver Plunkett St in Cork on September 15 2015.

Sergeant Dave OCallaghan said OSullivan and two others bought a 700ml bottle of vodka at 10.30am and he passed out after drinking most of it quickly. By lunchtime he and the two others left the boardwalk on Lapps Quay and went to Lower Oliver Plunkett St where Mr Morgain and a woman were sitting in a doorway at the back of Jurys Inn hotel.

They had a bag with some drink in it. One of the three men grabbed the drink and when Mr Morgain stood up, OSullivan punched him, knocking him to the ground where he banged his head.

He struggled on his hands and knees to get up and OSullivan kicked him in the head, an attack that was witnessed by passers-by and motorists.

A number of people went to the assistance of Mr Morgain who was unconscious on the ground when OSullivan and the others walked away.

A passing ambulance brought him to hospital but he died five days later on September 15, 2015.

Blunt force trauma to the head was one of the main causes of death and excess alcohol was also noted by the pathologist.

Mr Morgain lived in Kerry from 2000 and worked in several hotels but ended up with a severe drink problem and came to Cork a year before his death. His family in Kerry had wanted him to return home to France but he told them he wanted to be self-sufficient.

His mother, Liliane Thomas, said at the sentencing hearing five years ago, Vincent was very kind.

"He was prepared to go without to please others and he thought more of others than of himself.

The accused expressed deep remorse for his actions.
A man with autism spectrum disorder who denied communicating with a 14-year-old girl for the purpose of sexual exploitation was found guilty by the unanimous decision of a jury after less than two hours of deliberation.

The accused, who was 26 at the time, was involved in a classic case of grooming of the 14-year-old girl, the prosecution barrister said at the end of his trial but the defence claimed the accused hadnt a clue what he was doing.

The jury of ten men and two women found him guilty on two charges at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The accused man pleaded not guilty to communicating with the 14-year-old by Facebook messages for the purpose of facilitating sexual exploitation of the child. He also denied the charge of sending sexually explicit material to the child.

The case relates to Facebook messages sent between April 16 and July 7, 2018. He was found guilty on both charges and remanded on bail by Judge Helen Boyle for sentencing on November 23.

Prosecution barrister Brendan Kelly said, This is a classic case of grooming.

He said that the jury could see from the texts that they commenced in an innocuous and friendly manner and gradually escalated in nature became more sexual over time.

The prosecution barrister urged the jury to go over the text evidence and he referred to some particular texts including one where the defendant wrote, Can I ask you something  dont take this the wrong way or anything  have you tried fingering yourself. Do you mind if I ask you do you know how to do it. Maybe you dont know how to do it right. If you ever want me to talk you through it or help you just ask Just a friend helping a friend.

Mr Kelly BL said the defendant also asked the 14-year-old in a text if she was familiar with the concept of friends with benefits.

Mr Kelly said. On several different occasions the accused seemed to be concerned that these messages might have been checked by the teenagers mother It shows absolute knowledge that what he was doing was wrong It is abundantly obvious he knew what he was doing was wrong.

Defence barrister, Donal OSullivan, said of the accused having autistic spectrum disorder, He was 26 at the time but the reality is that he was not 26  that is the elephant in the room.

Mr OSullivan said there was no exchange of phone numbers and that the texts were sent by Facebook messenger which did not require any knowledge of phone numbers.

The defence barrister said the 14-year-old contacted the defendant first and in most of their conversations by text she was the one who initiated contact.

He is an isolated man. He struggles with social interactions. He does not have friends The prosecution asks you to draw the worst inference. But he never attempts to set up a private meeting with her. If there was such a meeting he probably would have run away.

He never said to her to delete messages. And the vast majority of them are unobjectionable. I dont like saying this with my client sitting behind me but he didnt have a clue.

"He was contacted for the first time in his life by a girl and he didnt know how to act. He had no experience. He is trying to be cool in the eyes of a 14-year-old girl.

"He sends off all sorts of stupid, objectionable  and they are objectionable  and idiotic messages but there was nothing behind them  he hadnt a clue.

A victim impact statement is to be prepared before sentencing next month. A new report and risk assessment is also to be prepared on the accused by a clinical psychologist.
A CORK TD has called on the Government to tackle the overcrowded class sizes in Irish schools.

The comments were made by Cork South Central TD Donnchadh O Laoghaire, Sinn Feins education spokesperson, during the partys Ard Fheis on Saturday.

Our education system is underfunded, understaffed and overcrowded, he said.

We need to properly fund our schools and to put a stop to the unfair practice of seeking extortionate voluntary contributions from parents.

During his remarks, Mr O Laoghaire accused the current Government of leaving a catastrophe in its wake, with classes too big in buildings too small, crippling costs for families, and staff under enormous pressure to keep the lights on.

Mr O Laoghaire added that the country needed to decrease class sizes to meet the EU average, which is 20 students per class.

Figures published by the Department of Education in August showed that the average class size in Ireland was at its lowest levels in 20 years, down from 24.1 students in 2020 to 23.3 in 2021.

However, more than four in five children were still in a class larger than the EU average last year.

The average number of students in Ireland's classrooms has only marginally changed in the past 20 years.

Earlier this month, the INTO welcomed the commitments given in Budget 2022 for reducing class numbers but said that Ireland was significantly out of kilter with the rest of Europe.

It is time to radically transform our education system. We need to rapidly bring down class sizes, Mr O Laoghaire said.

And we need to ensure that every child with special educational needs has a school place that is suitable for their needs."

Meanwhile, Cork North Central TD Padraig OSullivan has called for measures to be taken to address the substitute teacher crisis in schools.

I have been inundated with messages from school principals who are struggling because of the critical shortage of substitute teachers, he said in a statement released this week.

The Fianna Fail TD added that he had heard of retired teachers returning to schools to fill gaps and said that he believed there were measures that could be put in place to help.

We could allow trainee teachers or people doing undergraduate degrees to substitute. We can request that teachers who are on existing 22-hour contracts help out," he said.

There could be suitable people who might have qualified abroad that we could allow to substitute."

However, he said that under no circumstances should special education teachers be drafted to cover absences.

Every effort must be made to address the shortages before schools resume after the midterm break.
By Cate McCurry, PA

Four people have been taken to hospital after two cars collided in Dublin.

One car set on fire after it crashed into another vehicle on the Longmile Road on Saturday morning.

Gardai from Clondalkin were called to the scene of the collision.

The driver of the car that set on fire and two passengers were taken to St Jamess Hospital in a serious condition.

The driver of the second car was also taken to hospital with injuries.

Gardai said that one lane remains closed with two lanes open to traffic while investigations are ongoing.
Press Association

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the pandemic has exposed the broken system in a partitioned Ireland.

In her address to the partys Ard Fheis, Ms McDonald said Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have been in Government for too long.

It is the partys first annual conference in two years due to Covid restrictions.

The writing is on the wall for Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, Ms McDonald said.

Things were bad enough when these parties pretended to oppose each other. But by god things have gone to the dogs since the boys clubbed together. They have no answers to the big questions that affect your life.

They are out of touch, out of ideas and out of time. So, lets call time on their century-old stranglehold on power, their divisive politics of the haves and have nots.

Housing crisis

Their cynical politics that seeks to normalise a housing crisis.

They say change is impossible. Well never accept that.

Michelle ONeill will become the next first minister if Sinn Fein emerges as the largest party in Northern Ireland, Ms McDonald said.

She also said Sinn Fein is already preparing for the next Assembly election.

The days of Fenians need not apply are over, she added.

The days of treating any citizen or group of citizens as less than or second-class are gone.

At the last election, you told us its an Ireland that is stronger and fairer, where workers and families come first.

Micheal Martin and Leo Varadkar couldnt stomach that. They clubbed together to stop a government for change. In truth, they can block change. They can delay change. But they cannot stop it.

Neither can the DUP. The unionist electoral majority is gone. The days of domination are over. Those who hanker for the past, who disrupt the present and who threaten our future need to realise that there is no going back.

This new generation is moving on. Together. The DUPs boycott of North-South Ministerial Council meetings, their ongoing attempts to scupper the protocol, the electioneering and the showboating are attempts to block the change so many people from all communities demand.

Ms McDonald has vowed to become the next Taoiseach.

Its time now for a government for you and your family.

To everyone who feels that the Ireland of today doesnt work for you but who believes that the Ireland of tomorrow can, let me say this: I know you have had it with governments giving tax breaks to millionaire executives while homeless children eat dinner off cardboard on the street.

Governments for the developers and bankers, for the cosy club and the insiders.

Its time now for a government for you and your family.

That puts workers and families first. Sinn Fein will deliver that government for the people. We want to lead that government. I want to lead as Taoiseach if you give us that chance.

Irish unity

Ms McDonald said Sinn Fein will start a peoples conversation in January on Irish unity.

We want to hear from everybody, she told the Ard Fheis.

It is time for Irish unity. Planning and preparation must start now.

The onus is on the Irish Government to prepare for referendums and reunification. A citizens assembly is urgent.

A responsible government would establish it immediately. That is what a Sinn Fein government will do.
With Halloween right around the corner, people across the state are hunkering down with their pumpkin-spice beverages and their Halloween candy to enjoy their favorite scary movies. This is exactly the kind of escapism we need right now.

But just like any good horror movie, theres a twist: The really spooky activities are happening at Clerks offices in our local cities and townships.

I have spoken at length about how we have litigated the November 2020 General Election over and over again. The ballots have been tabulated, canvassed, certified, audited, risk-limiting audited, and then re-audited. The results havent changed.

But that has not stopped half of the country from working themselves up into a lather about the notion that there was some kind of fraud involved in the election. We know where the Big Lie started, and which Great Pumpkin lookalike was the biggest spreader of misinformation.

There have been plenty of jump scares along the way, certainly January 6th was the biggest of them all. But as with any great horror movie, the worst scares are the ones that are slow burns, that are rooted in truth and take the whole movie to resolve. In the election context, it is the slow coup that is taking place at the local and county level. Elections Administrators are slowly being taken over by fringe, partisan operatives, rather than the career public servants that we have been so fortunate to have in charge of our elections for the last few decades.

I find myself yelling at the TV for democracy to turn around, because the murderers are right behind it! But just like the characters in the movie, people are not paying attention to their surroundings and what is happening right under their nose.

Veteran Elections Administrators are resigning, retiring, or opting not to run again because of the constant pressure and stress of the job. The people who are replacing them do not know the first thing about elections, except what they are hearing from Mike Lindell, who is trying to use his pillows to suffocate democracy.

County Republican Party Chairs are nominating hyper-partisan individuals to be in charge of canvassing and certifying the election results. These are the people who are charged with verifying the work of the local and county clerks after an election and who ultimately certify election results. While the Board of Canvassers consists of two Democrats and two Republicans, the job is meant to be approached in a bi-partisan way. Replacing them with partisan operatives will have a significant impact on that process.

In addition, the people who are running for elected office to oversee our elections are even more radical. One of Michigans Secretary of State candidates is an open QAnon supporter, who recently attended a QAnon Conference in Nevada and infamously toured the activities in Maricopa County, hoping to replicate them here in Michigan.

It is happening in other positions that oversee elections as well, including County Clerks and city and township clerks. Several of my county clerk colleagues have already announced that they will not be seeking re-election for another term because of the vitriol, threats of violence, and harassment.

These County Clerks are being attacked at their own partys meetings with all manner of wild accusations and ill-informed conspiratorial beliefs. Its a greatest hits of debunked myths that include tabulators being connected to the internet (they arent), votes being switched (they werent), and unreliable election software (it isnt).

Local Clerks have also experienced threats of violence and many are leaving for other positions. The people that are replacing them do not understand the position and are taking extreme measures that are damaging our democracy.

In Irving Township, the local clerk came to the Barry County Board of Commissioners with a new conspiracy theory that a suspicious van with antennas was connecting to the elections printer via the internal sim cards. *If that sentence doesnt seem to make any sense to you, youre right.

In Adams Township, Clerk Stephanie Scott had gone so far down the QAnon rabbit hole that she refused to do Public Accuracy Testing and preventative maintenance on her townships tabulators prior to the November 2021 Election. As a result, the Secretary of State had to take the extraordinary action of removing her from her Election responsibilities. Shortly thereafter, her tabulators inner machinery was found to be missing, and an investigation is ongoing.

In every horror movie, someone always warns the protagonists that they should turn back or stay away from the inevitably haunted place. It is advice that any horror movie buff knows would save them, and advice that those characters would routinely ignore.

We likely wont know the full effects of this slow-moving coup until 2024, when County Clerks are up for election. But we know the direction that were going, and we know that the road takes us to a place where democracy will be confronted by these horror movie monsters.

We need to turn back now, before its too late.
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday declared the parent company's name is being altered to Meta to mark a future beyond just its troubled social network. The name change arrives at a time when the company fights criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, its algorithmic decision making and the policing of abuses on its platforms. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the company's live-streamed virtual and augmented reality conference, said the new name denoted its focus on building the metaverse.



"Right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can't possibly represent everything that we're doing today, let alone in the future. We've learned a lot from struggling with social issues and living under closed platforms, and now it is time to take everything that we've learned and help build the next chapter," he said. "We've learned a lot from struggling with social issues and living under closed platforms, and now it is time to take everything that we've learned and help build the next chapter," Zuckerberg said.

READ ALSO : Mark Zuckerberg eyes deeper commerce integration across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp

The tech giant announced that the change would bring together its different apps and technologies under one new brand and that it would not change its corporate structure. The names of the apps that it builds  Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp  will remain the same. The metaverse, a term first coined in a dystopian novel three decades ago and now attracting buzz in Silicon Valley, refers broadly to the idea of a shared virtual environment which can be accessed by people using different devices.



The company launched a new sign at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Thursday, replacing its thumbs-up "Like" logo with a blue infinity shape. Sceptics pointed out that the name change appears to be an attempt to change the subject from the Facebook Papers, a leaked document trove that has revealed the ways Facebook ignored internal reports and warnings of the harms its social network created or magnified across the world. Zuckerberg said he expects the metaverse to reach a billion people within the next decade.
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Sandra Ellen Dunn Locke of Elkmont, Alabama, passed away at Cape Canaveral Hospital on October 31, 2021. She was a loving and caring wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. Sandra is survived by her husband, Anthony Locke and their daughter, Ashley Norman; her son, Andrew Tybergh
Vaccine misinformation has been pervasive issue on Facebook for years, and it wasn't until earlier this year that the website finally introduced policies that would address the problem. Now, the social network has expanded those policies and its COVID-19 vaccination efforts to include kids shortly after the FDA authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five to eleven.

In the coming weeks, it will send in-feed English and Spanish reminders to users in the US that the COVID-19 vaccine is now available for kids. Those reminders will also include a link that'll help users find the nearest vaccination site. Perhaps, more importantly, it will expand its anti-vaccine misinformation policies to remove claims that COVID-19 vaccines for kids do not exist and that the vaccine for children is untested. It will also remove any claim that COVID-19 vaccines can kill or seriously harm kids, that they're not effective for children at all and that anything other than a COVID-19 vaccine can inoculate children against the virus.

Facebook says its fight against vaccine misinformation is part of an ongoing effort in partnership with the CDC, WHO and other health authorities. It promises to keep on updating its policies and ban any new claim about the COVID-19 vaccine for children that will emerge in the future. The website, which now operates under its parent company Meta, says it has removed more than 20 million pieces of content from Facebook and Instagram since the beginning of the pandemic. As of August 2021, it has also banned 3,000 accounts, groups and pages for repeatedly breaking its health misinformation policies.
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About 3,000 mostly Central American migrants advanced along a highway near Mexico's border with Guatemala after some rejected overtures from immigration agents to stop, preferring instead to take their chances on the trek toward the U.S.
A woman approached John Lujan, the Republican candidate for Texas 118th House District, in the parking lot of the Universal City Library, a popular voting spot in the area.

Im voting for you, she said to Lujan, stressing the you.

Thats great, Lujan said. But you cant do it here.

The library was an early voting polling place, but only for voters to cast ballots in a totally different election thats happening at the same time, with eight proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution, bonding projects and other local issues. Election Day is Tuesday, and polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The 118th District special election had just four early voting polling places  the closest of which is about a 15-minute drive from the library. If voters went to one of those four spots, they had to wait in separate lines and cast two separate ballots to be counted in both elections. Lujan was stationed at the library Wednesday to help people navigate and, hopefully, salvage a few votes.

The confusion has vexed both Lujan, 59, and Frank Ramirez, the 27-year-old Democrat he faces in the special election runoff.

Its an act of voter suppression to dilute who is able to get to the polls, Ramirez said, accusing Gov. Greg Abbott of waiting until the last minute to set the date of the election to sow chaos. Republican leadership wants to make sure that people are voting in one election thinking they voted in both. And so thats the biggest challenge is making sure that our residents know that there is an opportunity for them to vote in both elections.

RELATED: Democrats suggest Abbott gave GOP candidate advance information on runoff date

For each election, there are separate voting booths, separate lines to wait in, separate databases where the votes will be counted and separate mail-in ballots. In order to weigh in on both elections, voters need to cast a ballot in each.

Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacquelyn Callanen, who worked on her first Texas election in 1986, has never heard of a split arrangement like this before. Callanen blames Abbott for delaying his announcement of the special election date until Oct. 11, a week before early voting began.

We were just waiting, and waiting and waiting and waiting, Callanen said, adding that it takes weeks or months to properly plan for an election. That gave us four days, from that Monday to Friday.

She said her staff worked 18-hour days to get the special election ballots and materials ready.

Abbotts spokeswoman did not reply to a request for comment on the matter.

A spokesman for the Texas Secretary of States Office said: Usually the timing of the election order is a major factor in determining whether they can program the ballots and voting equipment in time to run both elections at the same time.

Yet despite the odd setup, turnout for the 118th special has already eclipsed the marks set in the first round of the race, before the two-candidate runoff. This is unusual, Callanen said, as the first round of special elections usually draws more votes than the second.

It could also be a reflection of enthusiasm, fueled by statewide and even nationwide political interest in Tuesday nights results. The 118th is a majority-Hispanic district, and the election can be seen as a test of whether Republicans can entrench gains they made in 2020 among Hispanic voters in Texas.

STATEWIDE IMPACT: Republicans hope to beat Democrats to the punch in San Antonio House District 118

The district has elected Democrats for its entire history, except for when Lujan won a previous special election and held the office for less than a year. But it has trended toward the GOP and is now only marginally Democratic. The race is expected to be close.

In the first round, Lujan received more than 40 percent of the vote while second-place Ramirez received 20 percent. Combined, the three Democratic candidates and two Republicans finished in almost a dead heat, with the Republicans edging ahead by less than 100 votes.

Both sides cry foul

TAMIR KALIFA, STR / NYT

In separate interviews, each of the candidates said the early voting situation put him at a disadvantage.

Lujan said two of the early voting locations were concentrated in more Democratic areas of the district, so the more conservative voters had to drive farther.

Ramirez said the limited number of early voting locations was particularly unfair to lower-income voters who tend to vote Democratic.

Ramirez has turned the political temperature up in the race in a way Lujan has resisted, accusing the Republican of working with Abbott to find out the date of the election in advance, a claim that Lujan denies.

The South Side of San Antonio, which makes up much of the district, has historically not received as much investment as other, wealthier areas of the city, Ramirez said.

Its always been marginalized, for the most part. And thats who is really feeling the heat from this. Its those people who may not have access to the polls as easily available to them as maybe someone in the more developed sides of town, Ramirez said.

Bragging rights at stake

Tamir Kalifa /New York Times

With the election serving as a test of whether Republicans can retain support of Hispanic voters without Donald Trump on the ballot, a political science professor from the University of Texas San Antonio cautions against reading too much into the results.

If Lujan wins, Republican will crow about the fact theyre making inroads, this is a Republican moment now, it bodes well for Republicans across the state. Oh my gosh, I can see the hyperbole from Abbott already, Taylor said. Expect overreach for both parties whoever wins or loses, for what it means and the future of Texas. And honestly, not to be that mean, but it doesnt mean that much.

Lujan was encouraged by state GOP leaders to get in the race, with House Speaker Dade Phelan personally calling him and asking him to run. Lujan said he told party leaders upfront that he needed financial help in the race, and they delivered  he has raised about $500,000, more than twice the $210,000 raised by Ramirez.

The candidates Early voting ended Friday in the special election for House District 118. Election Day is Tuesday. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. John Lujan, Republican A former sheriff's deputy, firefighter and current business owner, Lujan, 59, says he has tried torun a positive, nonpartisan campaign. Nowhere on the flyers he handed out Wednesday at the Universal City Library did it say he is a Republican, and he has stressed in multiple interviews that voters should choose based on personal qualifications rather than party affiliation. "I get after people when they ask me whether I'm a Democrat or a Republican, then when I say 'Republican,' they say they'll vote for me. And I'm like, well why?" Lujan said. His platform includes investment in the state foster care system, spending on police and firefighters and border security, as well as supporting public schools. Lujan said he voted for Donald Trump in 2020, although he doesn't want his campaign to be a referendum on the former president. Outside the Universal City Library on Wednesday, he wore a simple blue polo with his campaign logo and a Thin Blue Line wristband, commonly associated with the Blue Lives Matter movement that arose as a pushback against Black Lives Matter. He recently saw a commercial criticizing Abbott, saying the governor is anti-women and supportive of policies that entrench a wage gap between men and women. "Wow, that's intense," Lujan thought, and then suddenly it shifted. Lujan watched as his own face popped on the screen, and the advertisement said Lujan also was anti-women. At Lujan's information technology company, where he employs 150 people, Lujan says a female employee jokingly told him: "Hey, you need to pay up." He said heasked his company's lawyer if there was anything to be done about the advertisement, saying it portrayed him falsely. "Quit crying, you're in politics," the lawyer told him. Frank Ramirez, Democrat Ramirez, 27, began his career in politics as an aide to former Rep. Tomas Uresti, who represented the 118th District. After ultimately serving Uresti as chief of staff, Ramirez worked for San Antonio Councilwoman Ana Sandoval, focusing on zoning and planning issues until he left in August to focus on his campaign. Ramirez's policy platform includes public investment in schools and infrastructure. He's also pitching his election as a way to push back against Republican leadership in the state, which he says is attacking voting rights and gerrymandering political maps. "I've already personally knocked on more than 1,000 doors in this district," Ramirez said in a September interview. "All I know is that I've lived in my community for my whole life." He said he expects the election to be decided "on the fringes of the margins," and that his strategy is an all-out ground game blitz to win over voters. He noted that the only time a Republican has held the 118th seat was when Lujan won a special election in 2016. "We have an opportunity to change how special elections are perceived in the South Side," Ramirez said. "People are energized; people are excited about a young candidate. And I think that's going to be the change." Toward the end of an interview Wednesdayat his campaign office housed in a strip mall, Ramirez said the space actually used to be the district office for Uresti, whom he described as a mentor. "We're in the exact same room that I sat in 4 years ago or so," Ramirez said. See More Collapse

Although Hispanic voters have traditionally been a reliable Democratic constituency, if the 2020 results signal a sea change going forward, it would be enormously helpful for Republicans in key electoral states such as Florida, Arizona and Texas.

This is definitely the height of, or rather the apex, of the political movement that were seeing unfold. The Republican Party sees this as a stepping stone to the rest of South Texas; they see it as an opportunity to bolster their fundraising and bolster their energy going into the 2022 cycle, Ramirez said.

Whichever way the election swings, Tuesday is expected to be a long night. Because of the two concurrent elections, ballots in the 118th District race will need to be driven into the main Bexar County elections headquarters to be tallied, probably delaying results, Callanen said.

Im just so proud of my staff, and Im proud of the election officials, because they werent ready for this either, she said.

edward.mckinley@chron.com
Kyle Arnold, MBR / TNS

State Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit against the Biden administration on Friday over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors, making Texas the 12th state to do so this week.

The 34-page lawsuit argues that the president overstepped his authority in implementing the vaccine requirement for federal employees and contractors, a rule that he announced in September alongside a plan to require vaccines or regular testing at private businesses with at least 100 workers. The rule for federal contractors, set to take effect Dec. 8, does not offer an alternative testing option.
File Photo/Hearst Connecticut Media

A man died Friday night after a vehicle plowed into him as he was crossing Fredericksburg Road on the Northwest Side, according to a police report.

The man was pushing a walker across the road in the 3600 block shortly before 9 p.m. when a southbound vehicle struck him, hurling him about 40 yards, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two incumbents have challengers and two candidates are seeking an open seat on the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District board in Tuesdays elections.

All say they are focused on academic recovery for students hurt by the coronavirus pandemics disruption to learning, but they have varying opinions on how the district handled its transition to virtual learning last school year.

Several candidates, including the challengers, said the board made the right decision when it voted to not require masks in August. Some said they were determined to bridge an ongoing political divide in the community over pandemic safety measures.

Place 4

Trustee Edward Finley, 64, is seeking re-election to his Place 4 seat against challenger Dudley Wait, 54. Finley was first elected to the board in 2005 and has served as its secretary, vice president and president.

He said his background in the information technology industry is why he consistently advocates for students to have the best technology and for teachers to be properly trained in it.

In 2009, when the spread of the H1N1 virus caused the district to close for five days, the district struggled to connect students learning virtually at home but was more prepared as a result when the coronavirus pandemic closed schools statewide in March 2020, Finley said.

The total conversion to at-home learning didnt come without its bumps, he said, but the district worked quickly to buy laptops and hot spots for students who didnt have them.

When the governors order came down, we were pretty much ready to go, Finley said. That minimized the student loss.

He hopes to continue the work of managing the districts growth.

We need to make sure the buildings are capable, that we have the resources in there; and with future bond issues, we need to be paying down our outstanding bonds as quickly as we can, Finley said.

The board was right to keep face coverings optional at the start of the current school year, Finley said. He said he believes cloth masks are not very effective at slowing the virus.

Finleys challenger, Wait, a former paramedic and city administrator, said the board could have worked harder to accommodate families who favored and opposed a mask mandate, a debate over which he said he was neutral.

On ExpressNews.com: School boards in San Antonio get an earful from parents on masks - Northside ISD approves mandate

COVID has polarized our society, put one side against the other, Wait said. The maskers vs. the non-maskers. The vaxxers vs. the non-vaxxers. It is like weve all come into this great big arena, and half of us are one side and half of us are on the other and we are just screaming at each other.

The district might have arranged to keep masked students together in classrooms, separated from those who chose not to wear them, so that all families could feel comfortable, he said.

The board needs to find ways to build consensus and collaboration in our community, Wait said. Both sides may not get everything they want; but hopefully at the end of the day, both sides get what they can live with.

Wait served 14 years as the EMS director for the city of Schertz and four years as an assistant city manager there. He is the operations manager for the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, or STRAC, which coordinates hospital trauma centers and emergency rooms.

Having worked in public safety during the H1N1 outbreak in 2009, the boards handling of the coronavirus pandemic prompted him to run this year, Wait said.

In the 11- or 12-year window (between H1N1 and the coronavirus) there were things the board didnt act upon that I think would have made our district one of the best prepared, he said.

Place 5

Place 5 trustee Gary Inmon, 54, faces a challenge from Amy Thomas, 49.

First elected in 2000, Inmon is the districts longest-serving board member and has been its president for three terms. He was on the board of the Texas Association of School Boards for 11 years.

Inmon was arrested in 2017 for allegedly assaulting his stepson, which he said was in self-defense during an altercation. Separately, in the same year, his law license was suspended; and in 2019, he pleaded guilty to two felony charges for his handling of an elderly womans estate.

The fight with his stepson did not result in a charge, and the matter of the estate was resolved several years ago and I accepted an offer of deferred adjudication, Inmon said in a text message. It has not in any way affected my ability to continue serving the District.

Via email, he said the impending loss of two experienced trustees who did not seek re-election this year makes it crucial for voters to retain both himself and Finley on the board.

Ed and I remain committed to preserving the conservative values and high expectations of our community and it is clear that our opponents want to take our board and district in a very different direction, Inmon wrote. I am just as fired up today about our District as I was during my first board meeting 20+ years ago.

Thomas said she is a concerned parent who wants to restore high academic achievement and rebuild community trust in the district. She cited her work as a volunteer and advocate for district schools, and alongside her husband when he was a youth and childrens pastor at Everyday Christian Fellowship.

On ExpressNews.com: How good is the COVID info for San Antonio schools? Depends where you live

Via email, she said the district should have been better prepared for the pandemic but had no plan in place to transition our students from in person learning to remote learning  even though during the swine flu, it was recognized by the Superintendent at that time, that such a plan was needed in case of another emergency.

Inmon said his legal problems in 2019 were the subject of an ongoing smear campaign. Thomas did not bring it up  but Wait, the Place 4 candidate, did.

The deference shown to Inmon by fellow trustees was a problem, Wait said. Some had initially called for him to resign, which was the right response to an indiscretion in (a board members) personal life that would prevent anybody they oversee from working for the district, Wait said.

Place 7

Belinda Evans, 70, and Anthony Lehman, 33, are seeking the Place 7 seat held by the boards president, Amy Driesbach, who did not seek re-election.

Evans is retired from a teaching career and said she earned an education specialist degree in K-12 leadership from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix to prepare for her board run.

She said she wants the board to address learning gaps caused by the pandemic and work on ways to keep students safe, provide teachers with more resources to prevent burnout and create more collaboration among students, teachers, staff, parents and other community members.

Evans said she agreed with the boards vote to strongly recommend but not mandate the use of masks in schools because it takes into consideration the perspectives of all district residents.

Lehman is a former firefighter and is now an EMT for a private contractor at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. He said he wants to improve career technology pathways, crediting a program at the district when he was a student there for making him employable at age 19.

Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox

The board should pay attention to food insecurity and try to get more parents involved in their schools, Lehman said.

The experience of helping his kids through virtual learning was an eye-opener and helped him see how much teachers go through, he added. And it made me realize how much more involved I needed to be.

Place 6

Dan Swart is running unopposed for Place 6 to replace David Pevoto, who has served on the board since 2007.

Correction: A previous version of this article mistated the type of degree Belinda Evans earned in K-12 leadership.

claire.bryan@express-news.net
Susana Mendez Segura has been in what she called nervous anticipation for storms and the winds theyll kick up.

This is our first wind event of the year, she said on her Facebook page this week, sounding breathless. That means PECANS!!!

For avid foragers like her, gusts mean Texas nuts will fall to the ground for harvesting.

If shes lucky, Mendez Segura will pick enough to last an entire year.

Otherwise, her social media page is more likely to be filled with outrage about what politicians do and dont do; what constitutes a valid reason to dial 911 and what doesnt; and how to access help if youre in need.

She all about all of that.

By day, Mendez Segura, 48, is project coordinator for the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center. For well over a year, she has overseen the restoration of the historic Lermas Nite Club, where so many conjunto greats once played to legions of fans.

It was threatened with demolition. Mendez Segura attended every city of San Antonio meeting about it.

She was similarly involved in trying to save the historic La Gloria and Univision buildings, which were demolished.

She isnt a trained preservationist, rather a dedicated community organizer, a quick study who asks lots of good questions and is unafraid of unraveling red tape.

San Antonio needs more like her.

Mendez Segura learned about historic restoration on the fly; about ordinances, codes and due diligence on the job; and about all the ways government and bureaucrats protect themselves first and the public that pays them second.

She has a way of beating them at their own game. She doesnt just come ready to fight, but to win.

Shes poderosa but also what my mother might have called mitotera, a Spanish word derived from Nahuatl that often refers to an ancient dance circle performed by Aztecs and other tribal groups.

The word has come to refer to someone unafraid to be in the middle of a fray and who is able to remain calm in it.

During the February freeze, Mendez Segura was at her best, out in front of a self-appointed brigade.

Its members checked on neighbors, distributed water, charged cellphones and helped get those at most risk into warming stations in a city too afraid to call them shelters.

She was among the first responders and among the loudest to complain about what she saw as a failure of government to recognize what the impact would be of the power grids failure.

A Texan born in Piedras Negras, only because her mother wanted to be near her mother during childbirth, Mendez Segura attended Texas A&M University-San Antonio and worked or volunteered for various nonprofits before the Esperanza, including San Anto Cultural Arts, the Southwest Workers Union and the Sierra Club.

She was engaged in environmental justice work in efforts to clean up rivers and in whats called a toxic triangle around the former Kelly AFB.

She also waitressed, made and sold jewelry, worked at a call center and ran a small shop that carried Mexican goods. She ran her shop in flea markets.

She has stretched her portfolio to include advocacy for the homeless. Theyre her neighbors, too.

She listens to police scanners various times a day  while riding the bus, walking to work and downtown for meetings and at home.

Shell report on shootings, fires, car jackings and other incidents live on Facebook. But she calls out the nonsense.

Someone called the cops for a man punching the air, she reported this week.

Interesting to note that some of your neighbors call police for code violations, and the cops take the call, she writes in another post. They just checked a garage sale permit that was not valid. P.S. Some of your neighbors are (expletives).

She doesnt drive much, so she walks everywhere, putting her on the ground closer to neighbors, including the houseless, she says.

She knows where they hang out and makes big batches of soup or beans for them. She serves them in coffee mugs that are dutifully returned.

They feel comfortable asking her for socks and hygiene products. She collects both and distributes them. Her living room serves as a staging area for continual crises.

On Sundays, she and her parents deliver meals to the homeless. Soon, shell start collecting gloves, hats and scarves.

Leftover food goes into the Esperanzas Little Library, where residents take what they need.

So many of her colorful reports are about her chickens. They spent the big freeze in her bathtub.

After pecans, Mendez Segura has other foraging favorites, including wild chile piquin, mallow and bastard cabbage, also known as wild mustard.

Catch it when its young, she says.

The fall weather will have her out and about even more. Shell forage greens others wont recognize as edible.

She offers more advice.

You should generally stay away from highways, she warns, noting that she goes just about anywhere. But you do you.

eayala@express-news.net
Greg Abbott told us everything we needed to know about him back in 2014. He told us everything by saying nothing.

In the summer of 2014, Texas was experiencing a surge of unaccompanied Central American kids at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a move he called Operation Strong Safety, then-Gov. Rick Perry deployed 1,000 National Guard troops to the border. Perry said their mission was to deter and refer: deter unauthorized border crossings with their mere presence and refer information about such crossings to Border Patrol agents.

At the same time Perry deployed those troops, a loosely aligned coalition of armed, vigilante militia groups (including Oathkeepers and Three Percenters Club) headed for the border.

With these militias taking it upon themselves to supplement Border Patrol agents, National Guard troops and local law enforcement officials, the situation felt chaotic and dangerous.

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Frustrated over the militia presence on the border, a dozen Texas congressional Democrats wrote a letter to Abbott, who was then the states attorney general as well as the 2014 Republican Party nominee for governor.

The letter asked Abbott to clarify the jurisdiction these militia groups have to patrol alongside local law enforcement and Border Patrol agents.

The congressional Democrats said they were deeply disturbed by images of armed and masked militia groups purportedly patrolling our Texas border in response to the arrival of unaccompanied children from Central America to our state.

Abbott brushed off the letter. He refused to say one negative word about the militias taking the law into their own hands. His spokeswoman, Lauren Bean, called the letter a partisan political stunt.

It could have been that Abbott lacked the moral compass to see a problem with militia marauders patrolling the borders. Just as easily, however, it could have been that Abbott was so lacking in political courage that he couldnt bring himself to alienate right-wing extremists by telling them to stand down.

Thats the way it generally goes with Abbott. In the Venn diagram of his public life, moral bankruptcy overlaps with political cowardice to the point where they become indistinguishable.

The tougher Abbott talks, the more fearful he is. With two Republican primary challengers  Don Huffines and Allen West  making the case that the governor is not sufficiently hawkish when it comes to border policy, Abbott is employing tactics that carry some of the stench of that 2014 militia uprising.

Abbotts Operation Lone Star program has employed Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers to arrest migrants at the border for criminal trespassing.

Its a bid for a state takeover of our federal immigration system, motivated by a desire to embarrass Democratic President Joe Biden.

As Jasper Scherer reported earlier this month for Hearst Newspapers, these trespassing arrests have overloaded the court systems of small Texas counties and resulted in migrants being stuck in jail for weeks without being charged or provided a chance for legal representation.

On ExpressNews.com: Chaotic rollout of Gov. Abbott's migrant arrest plan fuels confusion, claims of violated rights

Abbotts border tactics have prompted 26 U.S. House Democrats, including San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro, to send a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The Oct. 29 letter said Operation Lone Star is wreaking havoc on Texas judicial system and militarizing the states border communities. It asked for federal guidance on the legality of Abbotts program.

When Perry deployed National Guard troops to the border, it was a highly controversial move. But at least Perry declined to give those troops the power to make arrests at the border.

Say this, however, for Abbotts brass-knuckles approach: It has swayed one of his most prominent conservative detractors, Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Abbott appeared on Carlsons show this past week and received gratitude from the host for Operation Lone Star.

Abbott said Biden seeks open borders because he and his administration are truly trying to redesign the United States of America in a lawless way.

Contrary to these open-borders claims, Biden has essentially shut down this countrys asylum process by continuing his Republican predecessor Donald Trumps use of a federal public-health law (Title 42) to deny asylum seekers a chance to enter the country. Bidens one stated exception has been for unaccompanied minors.

Over the past four months, federal officials have recorded an average of more than 200,000 border-enforcement encounters per month.

If, as Abbott and others claim, Bidens policy is simply to send home the Border Patrol and let undocumented immigrants saunter into the United States whenever they choose, how do you explain all those border-enforcement encounters?

Abbott doesnt have to explain anything. He just has to keep pandering.

ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
Tucked into the recesses of our memory, it no longer seems as horrible as it did four years ago.

Other events have overtaken it in our consciousness, many of them just as horrific, including the siege of the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Four years later, however, the fog of time is sure to dissipate.

Hate is on trial in Charlottesville, Va., with white supremacists returning to the scene of the two-day rally that killed one person and threatened thousands of others.

Plaintiffs are seeking damages against the organizers of the far-right rally, claiming they violated civil rights and plotted violence.

As the country watched, far-right extremists rallied to protect the privilege and entitlement that came with their skin color, spewing their ugly philosophy of racial superiority.

In its raw, naked hostility, the protest revived memories of Nazi Germany, the hate as palpable as the guns and torches wielded by a mob screaming, Jews will not replace us.

Defendants brought with them to Charlottesville the imagery of the Holocaust, of slavery, of Jim Crow, and of fascism, the plaintiffs said in the complaint. They also brought with them semi-automatic weapons, pistols, mace, rods, armor, shields, and torches.

The civil trial, which began in a federal courtroom this week, will force us to relive an episode that exposed the underbelly of a nation at war with itself, a conflict in which there could be no winners.

Buried for decades under a veneer of civility and cooperation, the rally proved racism was there all along, waiting for a time and place to explode.

August 11-12, 2017, was one of those times, and Charlottesville was one of those places.

The nine plaintiffs maintain that organizers conspired to perpetrate racially motivated violence during the two-day event.

One of the most chilling aspects of the rally was that, despite their thuggish appearance and behavior, the organizers were remarkably astute and sophisticated, meticulously planning their activities online.

One message of this case is that these events  like Charlottesville, like Jan. 6  theyre not these spontaneous, flukish events that just happen, said Karen Dunn, a co-counsel for the plaintiffs, according to the Washington Post. There is an enormous undercurrent of planning, of intent and of purposefulness that we all need to wake up to.

As bad as the rally itself, however, was the attempt to whitewash the atrocity afterward. Then-President Donald Trump initially defended an event for which there was no defense, saying there were good and bad people on both sides. The comment further polarized an already divided country, bigots on one side, progressives on the other.

One thing this event taught us  or should have taught us  is that the evil acts were absolute. Forget the context or the impact. The hate was palpable, in our face, with no equivocation.

And what happened to the perpetrators of these vile acts? Alex Fields Jr., was sentenced to life in prison for driving his car into a group of peaceful protesters, murdering civil rights activist Heather Heyer and injuring 35, but he was among the few participants punished for the violence. Civil rights leaders viewed the prosecutorial efforts as tepid, and it distressed them.

What some view as a lack of accountability, which may have emboldened extremists to assault the Capitol, represents another important element of the trial  perhaps the most important. It goes beyond allegations against gun-wielding crazies; it involves their philosophy. Yes, hate is on trial, for it was hate that caused the perpetrators to lose their humanity by denying it in others.

All these people will be back in town, Rabbi Tom Gutherz, of the only synagogue in Charlottesville, told reporters before the trial. Its disturbing to think that once again this hatred  this way of thinking, is right here walking our streets.

It would be even more disturbing if the perpetrators, along with their philosophy, were allowed to roam freely again. The rally represented a reckoning in this country, an inflection point. Would this nation, flawed though it is, defend the values of liberty and justice advanced since our founding? Or would it become a nation predicated on liberty and justice for some? The outcome of the trial may give us the answer.

Were hopeful that justice will be done, Gutherz said.

Every American should share that sentiment.

Robert Seltzer is a former member of the Express-News Editorial Board. He is the author of Amado Muro and Me: A Tale of Honesty and Deception.
The number of abortions in Texas fell by almost half following the states enactment of the countrys most restrictive abortion law, a new University of Texas study found.

Senate Bill 8 bans abortions after six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. It is enforced not by the government, but rather by civilians empowered to file civil suits against those they suspect to have broken it, collecting at least $10,000 from the defendants if their cases are successful.

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Monday on a pair of cases challenging the law.

The nearly 50 percent drop marks the largest recent downturn in accessibility to the procedure following major state-level policy changes, according to the study from the Texas Policy Evaluation Project. It found that 2,164 abortions were provided in September 2021 compared with 4,313 during that month in the previous year.

The fact that many facilities maintained pre-SB8 staffing levels in the face of reduced patient volume, coupled with the increased availability of financial assistance for abortion care, may have prevented even greater declines, the study authors wrote.

Clinics had time to prepare for the law to take effect and made adjustments to fit in as many patients as possible before then, authors noted. Once it took effect, with fewer people eligible to have abortions, scheduling was also likely easier for those who were eligible.

Others might have made decisions to miss work, school or other responsibilities knowing that their time was limited given the new law, the authors added. An increase in donations after the passage of the law also could have helped some low-income patients cover the cost of their abortion and get it sooner.

By contrast, there was about a 13 percent decline in abortions statewide after the implementation of House Bill 2 in 2013. That bill created barriers for abortion clinics that were later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet its restrictions caused the shuttering of more than half of the Texas facilities where abortions were performed.

RELATED: Poll reveals Texans views on abortion law that may surprise some

Even more impactful was Gov. Greg Abbotts March executive order banning all elective procedures, which included abortions, causing abortions to decrease by 38 percent.

The UT study also examined wait times at out-of-state facilities and found that they were longer in most cases in September 2021 compared with wait times in July of the previous year, the most recent data available.

Researchers said this suggests that the facilities are seeing a surge of patients  even though neighboring states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma have about half the number of abortion facilities combined, and provide about a third as many abortions per year as Texas. They found it was common for patients to experience wait times longer than two weeks at many locations.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

These waits may push pregnant people past the limit for medication abortion or into the second trimester of pregnancy, when procedures have a somewhat higher risk of complications compared to those obtained earlier in pregnancy, the authors wrote.

Wait times in Louisiana, which has three clinics, for example, ranged from eight to 19 days in September, compared with about eight days in July. In Oklahoma, which has four clinics, it had been between two and 12 days. Last month, it rose to between five and 23 days.

The study authors said the data signifies a crisis to come, especially if restrictions in other states go into effect, such as proposed changes to Oklahomas abortion laws.

As services become further limited in Texas and nearby states, more people will be unable to obtain facility-based abortion care, the authors wrote. Among those most affected will be minors who cannot involve a parent in their care, immigrant families who fear encounters with police and border enforcement, parents who have limited childcare options, and people living at or below poverty, many of whom are Black, Latinx, and other people of color.

taylor.goldenstein@chron.com


Croatia Airlines recorded a net loss of 22.2 million euros during the first three quarters of the year and although some improvements were made in the second and third quarters, the company noted it still faces reduced demand and uncertainty relating the coronavirus pandemic. Overall, the airlines financial performance is a minor improvement on last years loss of 23.1 million euros but significantly behind its 2019 nine-monthly result which amounted to 6.5 million euros in the red. Despite some positive developments during the second and third quarters, the company is still facing reduced demand and ticket sales, resulting in the limited flow of income, which may reopen the question of maintaining liquidity, especially if we take into account the uncertainty surrounding the duration of the crisis, Croatia Airlines said. It added, The company is undertaking all measures to actively manage liquidity and optimise the business. It is continuing to apply strict cost cutting measures. Croatia Airlines recorded a net loss of 22.2 million euros during the first three quarters of the year and although some improvements were made in the second and third quarters, the company noted it still faces reduced demand and uncertainty relating the coronavirus pandemic. Overall, the airlines financial performance is a minor improvement on last years loss of 23.1 million euros but significantly behind its 2019 nine-monthly result which amounted to 6.5 million euros in the red. Despite some positive developments during the second and third quarters, the company is still facing reduced demand and ticket sales, resulting in the limited flow of income, which may reopen the question of maintaining liquidity, especially if we take into account the uncertainty surrounding the duration of the crisis, Croatia Airlines said. It added, The company is undertaking all measures to actively manage liquidity and optimise the business. It is continuing to apply strict cost cutting measures.





During the first nine months of 2021, Croatia Airlines handled 556.514 passengers, representing a decrease of 4.3% on the same period last year. Only during the third quarter did we see a more notable improvement on 2020, but this is still far from the result achieved during the pre-pandemic 2019, the Croatian carrier said. The airline welcomed 168.518 travellers on domestic flights, up 18%, while 373.242 passengers flew on the airlines international operations, a decrease of 3%. The remaining 14.739 travellers were carried on charter services, which accounted for just 3% of total operations. The average cabin load factor stood at 50.7%, which is the same as last year. On domestic routes, the average loads amounted to 45.4%, down 5.1 points, while the average cabin occupancy on international services improved by 1.4 points to 52.5%.

Croatia Airlines noted that the number of bookings made for the second half of the year are lower than that of 2020. An increase in the number of bookings for Croatia Airlines flights was recorded during the second quarter, however, if we look at the following six months in comparison to the same period last year, booking figures are down 34%, the carrier said. In a positive development, towards the end of the third quarter, the carrier saw a surge in forward booking by 68%, however it is still 64% below 2019 levels. These oscillating booking figures show the extend of the crisis, which is impacting demand and the dynamic of incoming bookings, the national airline noted.








COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP)  Fraternity and sorority presidents at the University of Missouri were told this week that fraternity events were allowed to resume on Friday.

The email from the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life said that events such as new member education and social functions may resume, The Columbia Missourian reported.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP)  Incomplete demographic information that Nevada prison officials provided lawmakers preparing to redraw the state's political maps is prompting questions and frustration two years after the Legislature passed a law to count incarcerated residents in their home communities during the once-in-a-decade redistricting process.

The data gap suggests Nevada's efforts to end so-called prison gerrymandering are far from complete as lawmakers prepare to implement a recently passed ban of the practice for the first time later this year.

Here we are, in 2021, with half of the people that we arent being able to identify. Thats problematic to me because I would like to see everyone counted, state Sen. Roberta Lange, a Las Vegas Democrat, said in a Wednesday hearing.

Most states count inmates as part of the population where their prisons are located. Detractors say the practice, known as prison gerrymandering, artificially inflates the population and voting power of rural, mostly white prison towns at the expense of minority communities disproportionately incarcerated. In Nevada, where 51% of the population is white, 58% of the prison population is Black, Latino, Native or of Asian descent.

Its taking people who would otherwise count for representation in their own communities and moving them to areas that arent just far away from home, but also look very different, said Yurij Rudensky, redistricting counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice. Certain areas are essentially getting a windfall because they happen to house prison facilities.

The extent to which people in Nevada prisons are reallocated has significant implications on the population and, in turn, voting power communities across the state will have through the next decade.

Roughly 20% of the population in rural Pershing County resides in the Lovelock Correctional Center and a 2019 law requires the prison's 1,345 inmates be counted at their last known address when lawmakers redraw the state's political maps.

Prison officials provided addresses for less than half of Lovelocks inmates. Though far from complete, reallocating 644 to their home communities shrunk Pershing County's population by 9.7%.

Republican Pete Goicoecheas state Senate district includes three of Nevadas seven correctional centers. Reallocating about half of the prison population to pre-incarceration addresses removed 3,804 residents, 2.4% of his districts population.

He said the law accounts for many inmates not having addresses and thinks it makes sense for some, for example those serving life sentences, to count prison addresses. He considers inmates' interests when voting on budgets for the prison system, but sees them differently than other constituents.

Lets be honest, most of them, at the point theyre incarcerated, theyre felons and dont have the ability to vote. I don't go in to campaign in the prisons. You wouldnt because it really doesnt have an impact on the electorate, Goicoechea said.

The Census Bureau reported in August that 19,575 Nevada residents lived in correctional facilities for adults, which includes people in jails and federal prisons from Nevada and other states. Nevada's inmate reallocation law only applies to state prisons. Officials initially sent 12,214 address records in February.

Redistricting staff worked with the Department of Corrections to use as many of the addresses as possible, but said Wednesday that only about half had the needed information. Only 6,275 people  about 51% of prison officials' initial submission  were reallocated to their last known residential address per the 2019 law.

Theres a significant number of inmates who will remain counted at the prison site either because theres insufficient evidence that they were Nevada residents before incarceration or insufficient evidence of their address in general, legislative attorney Asher Killian said.

Nevada is one of 11 states that reallocates inmates to their pre-prison addresses during redistricting. State law requires prison officials compile the last known residential address of each offender immediately before the offender was sentenced" and send the information to the state demographer.

Prison officials turned over a complicated and admittedly incomplete dataset that included four categories of inmate addresses noting shelters, family addresses and planned parole addresses that they didn't know how to interpret.

Out of the 12,214, redistricting staff verified 5,592 previous addresses and 683 parole address of confirmed Nevada residents. Department of Corrections spokesperson Teri Vance said race and ethnicity data was provided, but legislative staff say they cannot use it because it was reported differently than census data.

Department of Corrections economist Alejandra Livingston said language barriers, substance abuse, unwillingness to provide addresses and the fact that many people lived in temporary residences before being incarcerated made it difficult to gather addresses.

Prison staff, she said, drew from a database that primarily uses information people self-report during their intake and is used primarily for other purposes, like mail-forwarding or escape investigations. Gaps were present for inmates serving long sentences because the department only recently switched from a decades-old database to one from the Canadian firm Syscon.

Lawmakers asked what prison officials did upon learning about the data gaps. Livingston said staff requested missing information from inmates about their last known addresses, assigned someone to look through hard-copy files and began efforts to train staff in data-entry.

Vance, the department spokesperson, acknowledged problems and prison officials were training staff and reviewing address records to reach full compliance with the law in the future.

Our Information Technology Division will streamline the number of address types currently available by default; then, training will be provided to staff so that they aware of how to utilize the options and regarding the importance of encouraging inmates to provide as accurate information as possible, she said.

But unlike in California, where the director of the state's redistricting database told NPR she started working on reallocation seven years ago, Nevada's eleventh-hour efforts to gather missing addresses are unlikely to matter by the time lawmakers redraw political maps later this year.

___

Metz 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 newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  Sanford Health, a dominant provider of health care in the Upper Midwest, said that 97% of its workforce has complied with a mandate to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Monday or potentially lose their job.

Sanford announced in July it was mandating COVID vaccinations for all its employees, citing the spread of more contagious variants.

The health care provider has 46 hospitals, 1,500 physicians and more than 200 Good Samaritan Society senior care locations in 26 states and 10 countries. It is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and has major medical centers in Fargo and Bismarck, North Dakota, and Bemidji, Minnesota.

The company, which bills itself as one of the largest rural health care systems in the country, has a total of about 48,000 employees. Based on its estimates, fewer than 1,500 employees system-wide remained unvaccinated.

More than 90% of clinicians and 70% of nurses in the organization were already fully vaccinated when the mandate was announced this summer, system officials said. Sanford officials on Friday would only provide the overall vaccination rate among all employees.

The vaccine mandate has worked, Dr. Doug Griffin, Sanford's vice president and medical officer in Fargo, said in a statement. As a result of our high employee vaccination rate, we have also seen a decline in Covid-19 infections and sick leave among staff.

Employees who are not fully vaccinated or dont have an approved exemption by Nov. 1 will be suspended for up to 60 days without pay and removed from the work schedule, Griffin said.

Continued failure to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine requirements within 60 days will result in the employee being considered to have voluntarily resigned from their employment, he said. We anticipate during this time that employees will make an effort to comply with the policy and overall we expect the number of staff departures tied to the mandate will be minimal, Griffin said.

Critics of mandatory vaccination argue it takes away peoples right to make their own medical decisions. The Biden administration, public health officials and many business leaders agree that vaccine requirements are legal and prudent actions necessary to help the world emerge from a pandemic that has killed more than 700,000 Americans and nearly 5 million people worldwide.

The defiant workers make up a small fraction of the overall workforce, with many cities, states and businesses reporting that more than 9 out of 10 of their workers are complying with mandates.

The American Hospital Association earlier announced its support of hospitals and health systems that implement mandatory COVID vaccination policies for health care workers.

Tessa Johnson, who heads the North Dakota Nurses Association, said the group, which is a member of the hospital association, also supports hospitals and health systems with mandatory vaccination policies.

Johnson said she knows of no widespread resignations at Sanford or other health systems due to the mandatory policy. Sanford employees are already required to have several other vaccines, including annual flu shots that also need to be completed by Nov. 1. As with all vaccines, the hospital will allow certain exemptions for medical or religious reasons when it comes to the coronavirus shot.

Ive heard stories of nurses walking out in waves but that is not the case, Johnson said. Its not the first time weve been mandated to do something and it probably wont be the last time, she said.

___

Associated Press writer Dave Kolpack contributed from Fargo, North Dakota.
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Kalki Koechlins main coping mechanism through the tough phases of her pregnancy was humour. She started doodling and journaling at that time, and it took a beautiful shape in her book The Elephant In The Womb. She speaks to us about her learnings

Shes vibrant, shes fun, shes incredibly talented, and, very recently, she became a mother. While she had her hands full with her 10-month-old  Sappho  this National Award recipient also found the time to do something new  write a book. Her journey through pregnancy to motherhood threw up several challenges and she relied on trusted friends to help her. She also found solace in doodling and journaling, the result of which she finally thought was worthy of sharing with the world at large, albeit in a way that is as quirky as her personality.

Thats how Kalki Koechlins

was born. The book, a unique graphic narrative, is brilliantly illustrated by Valeriya Polyanychko, and presents a combination of personal essays, think pieces, journal entries, reflections and anecdotes. It started with a little poster I made during my pregnancy, full of illustrations and funny comments; I had shared it on social media at the time, the vibrant actor tells us. Soon, she realised there was way more where the poster came from, so, about one month postpartum, she contacted Polyanychko and asked if shed be up for a project. Soon, she had a publisher in Penguin. Nothing like a deadline for inspiration! she laughs.



Despite it being a book on motherhood, we think almost anyone could read the book, nod in agreement with what she says, and laugh out loud at some of the statements and illustrations. Koechlin is candid and her bits of humour are wonderfully

on the ball

. She mentions that humour was her main coping mechanism, and it helped her many times through tough phases. Partly, it is a book for new mums and something I wish people would gift to a new mum, but it is also a book everyone surrounding a mother (and thats pretty much all of us!) should read. After all, we were all brought into the world by a mother, and we ought to be more curious about that whole life-giving process, she says.



Although she put it all together postpartum, Koechlin often went back to her pregnancy journals and doodles to refer to notes. Of the newer experiences such as breastfeeding and sex postpartum, she wrote about them as the experiences unfolded. Once she had a chapter ready, it was easy for her to intersperse it with instructions for Polyanychko of where and of what she wanted illustrations. Val mostly got where I was coming from; she is a close friend so I could also always pick up the phone and share personal details if something needed reworking. It was a close collaborative process, she reveals.







Fast Five

Next Story : This New Air Purifying Range Of Home Linens Is A Must-Have

An Elephant In The Womb  Declarations Of A Sudden MotherNow that she is discovering new things every single day with Sappho (I guess its for life now!), Koechlin is looking forward to working on season 2 of Made In Heaven after having wrapped up Goldfish with Deepti Naval, directed by Pushan Kripalani. And her book? Im just happy that its out there. Now its in your (the publics) hands and will have a journey of its own.No such thing. Too many books to love. Recently enjoyed The Mental Load by Emma. And Less by Andrew Sear Greer. And Girl In White Cotton by Avni Doshi. Love the graphic novel Maus. Love Age Of Innocence by Edith Wharton.Same. Too many. Love all of Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare. Love the poets  EE Cummings, Jaques Prevert, Sylvia Plath and Charles Bukowski. Love the Russians  Chekov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Gogol...Nothing. I always will want to add more and re-write and tidy up the work. But it's done, its out there and Im happy.A Little Life by Hanya YanagiharaKalhatty in the Nilgiris. Mist and no mobile network. My idea of heaven on Earth.Images courtesy: Kalki Koechlin; Illustrations courtesy: Valeriya Polyanychko
Next Story : TN Govt Says Single Women Are Now Family, Eligible For Ration Cards

Get ready to witness the festival of lights in its most literal sense! Since the past four years, the birthplace of Lord Ram  Ayodhya  has been witness to Deepotsav before Diwali. This is to bring to light and spread awareness about the rich culture of the Ayodhya. For the uninitiated, Deepotsav is held during Chhoti Diwali, where the entire town of Ayodhya lights earthen lamps or diyas to mark the occasion.In this years Deepotsav, the Ayodhya administration and the UP government is planning to attempt for a record in the Guinness Book of World Records by lighting approximately 7.5 lakh diyas at Ram Ki Paidi Ghat on the banks of Saryu River on Diwali eve. In 2020, there were 6,06,569 diyas at the Ram ki Paidi Ghat and, in 2019, 4,04,226, a record at the time. The Ayodhya Deepotsav will commence on November 1 this year.A team from the Guinness Book of World Records will also be present to judge the event. Around 12,000 volunteers have stepped up from Ram Manohar Lohia Awadh University to make the event a roaring success. Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, whose government has successfully held this mega event since 2017, will honour and grace the celebrations as the chief guest of the event.Besides illuminating the city with 7.5 lakh diyas, there will also be laser shows at night and about 500 drones will showcase glimpses of Lord Rams life and its important milestones. Other attractions, like the 3D holographic and 3D projections mapping at Ram Ki Paidi, have also been planned.On the first day, Ramlila, a folk re-enactment of the life of Lord Ram as per the Ramayana, will be staged by a cultural team from Janakpur, Nepal.The brain behind the magnificent sets of Baahubali is said to have approached the government to design the Deepotsav sets. Get ready to witness the festival of lights in all its glory in Ayodhya to celebrate Lord Rams return from exile. In this year of celebrations, Deepotsav promises to be the grandest of all years!
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COVID-19 has taken away many loved ones over the last one and a half years. Another veteran actor, Yusuf Hussain succumbed to the complication earlier today. He was being treated in Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai and breathed his last today morning.

Sharing the tragic news, Hansal Mehta who is married to his daughter Safeena posted on social media. He posted a picture of the actor and said, "He was life - if life itself had to have a physical form. Today he is gone. To remind all those women in heaven that they are 'Duniya ki sabse khubsurat ladki' and all the men that they are 'Haseen naujwaan'. And then to end with a booming 'love you love you love you'. Yusuf Saab I owe this new life to you. I am truly orphaned today. Life will never be the same. I will miss you terribly. My Urdu will remain broken. And yes - love you love you love you!
EQS Group-Ad-hoc: Beaconsmind AG / Key word(s): Annual Results

Beaconsmind AG releases its full-year results for the period July 2020 to June 2021, with 56% growth in revenue



29-Oct-2021 / 20:30 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS Group - a company of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



beaconsmind AG (ISIN: CH0451123589, EURONEXT: MLBMD, VIENNA: BMD) releases its full-year results for the period July 2020 to June 2021, with 56% growth in revenue



Zurich, Switzerland - October 29, 2021, 6:00pm CEST - beaconsmind (ISIN: CH0451123589 - Ticker: MLBMD), a SaaS provider in Location-Based Marketing (LBM) for retail chains unveils today its full-year results for the period July 2020 to June 2021, which corresponds to its 2020/2021 financial year. Results are below guidance given during its listing in February 2021 with revenue growth of 56% to CHF780K and negative EBITDA of CHF2.0M. The core driver for underperformance in revenue growth is the COVID19 pandemic's impact on beaconsmind's clients, which led to the postponing of roll-outs of the beaconsmind solution in stores. For the next twelve months, the number of stores expected to be rolled out by beaconsmind's key clients amounts to several thousands, compared to a currently installed store base in the hundreds. The company is ready to fulfil global project orders in a record time, with an installing capacity of at least 100 stores per week, compared to under 30 at the time of listing in February. This capacity build-up and related increase in operating fixed costs are the main drivers for the increased loss, in addition to the costs of the listing of the company shares on EURONEXT ACCESS market in Paris in February 2021 and the listing on the Vienna Stock Exchange in March 2021. The company's salesforce was strengthened during the period and resulted in a record number of new client acquisitions. The company first won the DEPOT account, one of the largest home furniture specialists in the German-speaking countries with over 500 stores across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Then, beaconsmind won the Roberto Cavalli account, the haute couture fashion house, and Maison-B-More, an established UAE fashion retail group. The company now has a specialised salesforce in place across several retail verticals, with a very strong momentum in the pipeline of potential accounts. This investment in sales was an absolute priority for beaconsmind, as the company aims to move away from a high dependency on one large anchor client and strives to diversify its expected revenue base by expanding in new verticals like department stores, supermarkets/hypermarkets, logistics, culture, and Hotels/Restaurants/Cafes. Finally, the company expanded its geographical reach by opening an outpost in Dubai, UAE, where it partnered with the Seed Group, a company of The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, to bring location-based marketing software and solutions for retail chains to the Middle East region. Thanks to this partnership, beaconsmind now has direct access to the companies of the royal family of Dubai, such as Emirates airlines, and the Jumeirah Group, which alone opens potential implementation of beaconsmind's solution across a significant portfolio of hotels, dining, retail and wellness locations across the Middle East, Europe and Asia. The Seed Group is supporting beaconsmind with market entry facilitation as well as office headquarters and acts as a local sponsor. Max Weiland, CEO of beaconsmind AG, said "Throughout the period, the number of project orders held-up has been constantly growing. Although I am disappointed that the orders were delayed by our clients because of operational reasons and COVID19, I am delighted by the work performed by our team to prepare their imminent fulfilment. Furthermore, our diversification, both in terms of geographies and client verticals, is already bearing fruit, with a record number of accounts wins in the period in Europe and the Middle East. We are extremely excited about our pipeline and prospects, and look forward to winning some ground-breaking accounts in the coming months."



About beaconsmind

Founded in 2015 in Switzerland, beaconsmind is a pioneer in the field of location-based marketing (LBM) software for retail chains. beaconsmind helps retailers run successful location-based marketing campaigns. By fitting stores with bluetooth beacons that precisely locate and identify customers, and by integrating its Software Suite, beaconsmind opens a brand-new channel for retailers to interact with their customers, fundamentally transforming the shopping experience. Thanks to its solution, retailers can converge digital and physical shopping and address the convenience gaps of each. For more information, please visit www.beaconsmind.com beaconsmind

Max Weiland, Founder & CEO

maxweiland@beaconsmind.com

Tel.: +41 44 380 73-73 Media Relations

Nicolas Merigeau

NewCap

nmerigeau@newcap.fr Investor Relations / Strategic Communication

Louis-Victor Delouvrier

NewCap

lvdelouvrier@newcap.fr 29-Oct-2021 CET/CEST News transmitted by EQS Group AG. www.eqs.com




SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Korea's National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) announced that it would hold a '2021 IoT KOREA ONLINE BUSINESS MEETING' for 3 days from November 2 to 4, 2021 to support the overseas expansion and exchange of Korean IoT companies.

This event was prepared to connect excellent Korean IoT companies with international business partners as they are having difficulties in developing sales channels in the global markets due to COVID-19. In the event, the Korean companies will have a one-on-one remote meeting with local buyers in Europe and North America for pitching, exploration of new buyers who meet their needs, and so on.

The online business meetings will be participated in by 20 Korean IoT companies that have a competitive edge. They will introduce goods and services in areas related to COVID-19 response and AI/5G, including security, safety, location control, smart factory, and materials.

For more information on participating companies, see '2021 IoT KOREA ONLINE BUSINESS MEETING' on the website (http://www.iotkbiz.com/html/main.php).

Meanwhile, the NIPA is a quasi-governmental agency of Korea that implements a supportive project on information and communication businesses. As an agency specialized in ICT industry innovation, the NIPA is contributing to economic development and the increased quality of lives of Koreans by enhancing the competitiveness of the ICT industry in Korea and fostering its growth engines. For more information, see the website (https://www.nipa.kr/).

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1672361/NIPA_IoT_Korea.jpg
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - October 29, 2021) - Mega Heads NFT announces a new a project with new community-driven collectables. Each Mega Head is a unique, non-fungible token (NFT) on the Ethereum Blockchain.

The fascinating mega heads NFT bringing revolutionary in the business world. With only a supply of 555 Mega Heads, you are ready to explore the world of the market.





Mega Heads NFT

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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With Mega Heads, services such as an online marketing consultancy, you are guided towards the right track; also, with marketing plans services, you will rule and survive for a long time into the targeted market. With the help of Mega Heads, you are ready to boom and jump your career to the next level.

However, Holding a Mega Head allows you to be a part of the Mega-Metaverse in the year 2022. Mega Heads will also be having a $10,000 Treasury after the public sale ends, which will be paid out in Ethereum.

Thus, leading the world to the market of value. Mega Heads owns an NFTworld that will soon be the headquarters for all who wish to boost their revenue. However, the benefit does not end here. Mega Heads will grant you rewards if you refer to others. The future of Mega Heads lies in the hands of Mega head holders who collectively decide the glorious path for its future.

With innovative ideas, adequate resources, and coordination, Mega Heads will bring every vertical of popular culture. Moreover, with the collection of 80% of the Mega Heads, the team will donate $5,000 to a non-profit organization that the Mega Heads community will decide. Thus giving significance to the holder of Mega Heads is enough to prove its popularity quickly. With the exclusive services, Mega Heads is ready to urge the market of NPA. Mega Heads is suitable for beginners with a knack for innovation and creativity, supporting the Ethereum network.

Media Contact:

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Website: https://megaheads.io

Email: Headsmega@gmail.com

Phone: 5053624347

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/101332
Organized by the prestigious Galien Foundation and Business France, the Prix Galien Medstartup rewards the best Franco-American collaborations in the pharmaceutical sector.

ACTICOR BIOTECH received this award for its collaboration with Pr James Grotta at the Memorial Hermann Hospital, TX.

Acticor Biotech, a clinical stage biotechnology company working on treatment for the acute phase of thrombotic diseases, has been awarded the prix Galien Medstartup Award in the category "BEST COLLABORATION IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL OR BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY" for its collaboration with Pr James Grotta at the Memorial Hermann Hospital, TX.

This collaboration aims to prepare an international clinical trial ACTISAVE to evaluate the efficacy of glenzocimab in patients suffering from acute ischemic stroke. ACTISAVE (NCT05070260) will be an adaptive phase 2/3, multinational, randomized, double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled, parallel group, single dose, efficacy and safety study of glenzocimab used as an add-on to standard of care therapy for acute ischemic stroke.

"This joint recognition marks the milestones we have reached in our work on glenzocimab to treat the acute phase of ischemic stroke, and it highlights the importance of close collaboration between a sponsor and clinical expert," Commented Gilles Avenard, CEO of Acticor Biotech.

"The current medical need in the treatment of ischemic stroke requires collaborations with all parties to change the way we can treat patients. At the Memorial Hermann Hospital, we are looking to improve the time to needle of patients by developing the use of Mobile Stroke Unit, but also are hopeful of the new options that glenzocimab could bring in the treatment of acute phase of ischemic stroke," reacted James Grotta, professor of neurology and director of Stroke Research, Clinical Institute for Research and Innovation, Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center and the Director of the Mobile Stroke Unit Consortium.

This eighth edition of the Galien Medstartup Awards was chaired by Bernard Poussot, Director of Roche Holding and former Chairman CEO of Wyeth. This year again, the event featured a remarkable world-renowned panel, rewarding the most innovative projects in the healthcare industry.

About glenzocimab (ACT017), the Therapeutic Candidate

Acticor Biotech is developing glenzocimab (ACT017), a humanized monoclonal antibody fragment (Fab). This therapeutic candidate is directed against a novel target of major interest, platelet glycoprotein VI (GPVI), and inhibits its action. Evidence of the antithrombotic efficacy of glenzocimab and the safety of its inhibition of GPVI has been established both ex vivo and in vivo. This target is involved in growth of the thrombus but not in physiological hemostasis, which thus limits the bleeding risk associated with its inhibition.

https://acticor-biotech.com/technology/

About glenzocimab and Stroke

Glenzocimab is being currently assessed as an add-on to standard of care therapy for ischemic stroke. Acticor Biotech has recently announced the completion of patient enrolment in ACTIMIS (NCT03803007), a multinational, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-parallel, escalating dose phase 1b/2a safety and efficacy study of glenzocimab. Acticor recently announced the recruitment of the first patient in France in ACTISAVE (NCT05070260). ACTISAVE is an adaptive phase 2/3, multinational, randomized, double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled, parallel group, single dose, efficacy and safety study of glenzocimab used as an add-on to standard of care therapy for acute ischemic stroke.

About Acticor Biotech

Acticor Biotech is a clinical stage biotechnology company, a spin-off of INSERM (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), dedicated to developing an innovative treatment for cardiovascular emergencies, including ischemic stroke. Acticor Biotech has been built on the expertise and research undertaken by its co-founders: Dr. Martine Jandrot-Perrus at INSERM Paris and Prof. Philippe Billiald at Paris-Sud University and Dr Gilles Avenard. Acticor Biotech is a partner in the BOOSTER consortium, dedicated to the management of, and novel treatments for, cerebrovascular accidents in emergency situations.

Acticor Biotech is supported by a panel of European and International investors: Karista, Go Capital, Newton Biocapital, CMS Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, Anaxago, Primer Capital, Mediolanum farmaceutici Armesa Foundation.

For more information, go to: https://acticor-biotech.com/

Disclaimer

This press release does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction (other than France). Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States unless they have been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or are exempt from registration. The shares of Acticor Biotech have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act and Acticor Biotech does not intend to make a public offer of its shares in the United States.

This information does not contain a solicitation for money, securities or other consideration and, if sent in response to the information contained herein, will not be accepted. This announcement contains statements that are "forward-looking statements" or could be considered as such. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words 'believe', 'estimate', 'anticipate', 'expect', 'intend', 'may', 'will', 'plan', 'continue', 'ongoing', 'possible', 'predict', 'plans', 'target', 'seek', 'would' or 'should', and contain statements made by the Company regarding the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are warned that none of these forward-looking statements offers any guarantee of future performance. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. The Company makes no undertaking whatsoever to publish updates or adjustments to these forward-looking statements, unless required to do so by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211030005005/en/

Contacts:

ACTICOR BIOTECH

Gilles AVENARD

Directeur General

gilles.avenard@acticor-biotech.com

NewCap

Mathilde BOHIN Olivier BRICAUD

Relations Investisseurs

acticor@newcap.eu

T.: 01 44 71 94 95

NewCap

Annie-Florence LOYER

Relations medias

afloyer@newcap.fr

T.: 0 1 44 71 00 12
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute, a global non-profit foundation with one agenda: Impact on Humanity, has today announced projects with world-class universities and academic publisher Springer Nature to make an impact on humanity.

The FII Institute has partnered with world-class universities Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, HEC-Paris and leading science journal Nature. It has also pledged significant support to clean energy research being undertaken at Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy.

The announcements came during the second day of the FII 5th Anniversary taking place in the Riyadh this week. As a global nonprofit foundation, these relationships will support the work of the FII Institute to make an impact in five areas: AI, Robotics, Education, Healthcare, and Sustainability.

FII Institute CEO Richard Attias said the institute is delighted to welcome the latest group of academics to the THINK pillar of the FII Institute.

"The academic quality of these institutions reinforces the FII Institute's mandate to be a truly global catalyst for change. We are proud to have secured such high-profile educational agreements that will cover a hugely diverse range of research from ways to achieve zero net carbon goals to harnessing the power of AI and new research into the concepts behind the circular economy, which will make an impact on humanity."

Discussions, debates and presentations at the current FII revolve around investments that will create the greatest benefits for humanity, as multiple sectors witness a renaissance in the post-COVID era. The platform brings together world leaders, experts, innovators, and media in a global forum to explore pioneering solutions addressing society's challenges and propel action towards their realization.

President of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Hicham El Habti said he is "looking forward to seeing UM6P and FII continuing to join efforts towards making an impact through daring, experimenting and disrupting. I am confident that this collaboration will allow us to achieve the mutual goals of being impact generators through innovative research, capability building, education and investing in and for the future."

Dean of HEC-Paris in Qatar, Pablo Martin de Holan said "We are delighted to work with FII to advance understanding of how to reconcile business models with the circular economy. HEC Paris is committed to creating actionable knowledge that will contribute to the solution of the global challenges of our time and help train the women and men who will lead the massive transformations that are required for a better, more sustainable, and more just world for us and future."

Director of Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Yi Cui, said he was grateful for the generous support from the FII Institute and the contribution to the clean energy research at Stanford.

Chief Publishing and Solutions Officer of Springer Nature, Steven Inchcoombe, said: "through this partnership we aim to provide the research community and key decision makers with information they can use to accelerate solutions to key societal challenges."

About FII Institute

FII Institute is a global nonprofit foundation with an investment arm and one agenda: Impact on Humanity. Committed to ESG principles, we foster the brightest minds and transform ideas into real-world solutions in five focus areas: AI and Robotics, Education, Healthcare and Sustainability.

We are in the right place at the right time - when decision makers, investors and an engaged generation of youth come together in aspiration, energized and ready for change. We harness that energy into three pillars - THINK, XCHANGE, ACT - and invest in the innovations that make a difference globally.

www.fii-institute.org

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1674544/FII.jpg
Above is a view of the land that once housed the Champlain Tower South in Surfside after the rubble was cleared out on Aug. 10.
In this photo from Aug. 23, 2014, people attend a rally against police violence in the Staten Island borough of New York City. Eric Garner, 43, died while he was being arrested for allegedly selling loose cigarettes in front of a bodega and was put into a chokehold during a confrontation with police.
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FILE - In this June 6, 2021 file photo, a youth receives a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the central Israeli city of Rishon LeZion. The pharmaceuticals Pfizer and BioNTech say they have requested that their coronavirus vaccine be licensed for children aged 5 to 11 across the European Union. If authorized, it would be the first opportunity for younger children in Europe to be get immunized against COVID-19. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
Bettina Lerman was on a ventilator for weeks after getting COVID-19 and hadn't responded to doctors' efforts to wake her from a coma when her family made the difficult decision to take her off of life support.
This Oct. 23 photo shows the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M., where actor Alec Baldwin pulled the trigger on a prop gun while filming "Rust" and unwittingly killed a cinematographer and injured a director. The gun supervisor for the film has no idea where the real bullet came from, she says.
Coquet and Vaudou: Collectible Perfumes

New Fragrances

Berlin creative agency Alexx and Anton, headed by Alexander Weeber and Anton Cobb, is known by its art works for Hermes, Prada and Yves Saint Laurent Beaute, as well as fashion magazines. Their distinctive aesthetic is tinged with the macabre, a cabinet-of-curiosities approach to fashion.

In October 2021, Alexx and Anton launched Coquet and Vaudou fragrances, in collectible limited edition ceramic bottles, to extend their aesthetic into the olfactory world.

To compose Coquet and Vaudou, they called on Paris-based perfumer Will Inrig, who interned at Chanels laboratory before founding his own atelier. His previous creations for brands include Homesick. by the Observer Collection and controversial Acide by Editions M.R. He is the co-author of several books on natural raw materials.



Amid the Flood, we come of age. No longer innocent, we must decide. We choose a side, deny or believe, mock or mend, profit or pray. These contrary tendencies, selfish or communal, decadent or devout, hedonistic or holistic, exist in everyone. They divide and constitute humanity. They are yin and yang, independent and interdependent in the storm.



Coquet and Vaudou represent this dualism, at once individual and collective, self-indulgent and repentant. They are the first perfumes by creative collective Alexx and Anton, imagined as a fork in the road, a choice between two paths towards maturity. Each is an ideology that completes and contradicts the other, inviting the public to choose for themselves, - brands description.



Coquet Extrait de Parfum

Like a spicy bud that swears to bloom, Coquet is a warm satin sheet and a cold shoulder, a lovers stage whisper, a one-night stand on judgment day. Like a decadent bouquet of white flowers doused in caramel, swathed in cashmere, and tossed from the penthouse of a NYC skyscraper; Coquet is the scent that rides the breeze as the bouquet passes the 7th floor window.

Coquet is individualism. It depicts an egoistic dandy, motivated by conquest and conceit. Charm is his cloak of invisibility, enslaving him to his appetites. He seduces with no intention of involvement and evades intimacy, repeating, I am beautiful. It is a perfume on parade: horses and heels, feathers and fists.

The main accord, carnation, represents vanity and spite, as in Roman mythology: Diana, the goddess of the hunt, favored a shepherd boy who refused her advances. Offended, she plucked out his eyes and threw them to the ground, where they grew into carnations. This motif is accompanied by opulent white florals, spicy clove, sweet amber and the velvety musk Cashmeran. Key to the formula is a rectified black pepper oil from Madagascar, whose fragrance is piquant, leathery and animalic.

Coquet Alexx and Anton

Top notes: Black Pepper, Clove and Ylang-Ylang;

Middle notes: Carnation, Lilac, Peony and Rose;

Base notes: Cashmeran, Oakmoss, Opoponax and Vetiver.



Vaudou Extrait de Parfum

With saffron and magnolia wafting from a ruined manor in the French Quarter across the Saint Louis Cemetery, Vaudou is released from suffering and resolves to stay.

Vaudou is collectivism. It portrays the shared trance, the oral tradition, salvation by transformation, beings in the dark. The main theme consists of two oils used in Louisiana Voodoo rituals: magnolia flower for devotion and Haitian khus khus (vetiver) for mediumship. In other words, magnolia is the bond and khus khus, the boundary. These are accompanied by earthy materials recalling dirt from a graveyard, intercession, the Guede.

In the background are incenses common to many religions  benzoin, cypriol, frankincense, myrrh, sandalwood  a syncretic approach to worship, a mixture of creeds and cultures, survival by consensus.

The whole is underlined by an overdose of Corps Racine, a molecule that smells of greens and roots. Together, these ingredients form an unlikely blend, a crumpled petition, a gris-gris to be worn on different parts of the body according to purpose. The result is ambiguous, for essential to faith is doubt.

Vaudou Alexx and Anton

Top notes: Magnolia and Saffron;

Middle notes: Nagarmotha, Olibanum, Moss and Vetiver;

Base notes: Benzoin, Myrrh and Sandalwood.

Coquet and Vaudou are presented in a variety of handmade 30 ml ceramic bottles, no two exactly alike. Each one is uniquely crafted and signed by Japanese ceramist Yasuhiro Cuze.

Coquet is colored white and Vaudou, black; light and shadow, profane and sacred, image and reflection. The different bottle shapes recall ancient Persian chessmen, rival sets on the same board, the environmental endgame.

Coquet and Vaudou fragrances are available as Extrait de Parfum on the brand's official website, priced 295 euros.
Launch Update  @NASA's @SpaceX #Crew3 mission is now targeted for Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 1:10am ET due to a large storm system elevating winds and waves in the Atlantic Ocean along the Crew Dragon flight path for the Oct. 31 launch attempt. Learn more: https://t.co/WdCdLAKnd4


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Fujitsu appoints Branko Panich as Executive General Manager of Consulting for Australia and New Zealand

SYDNEY, October 28, 2021Fujitsu today announced the appointment of Branko Panich as Executive General Manager of Consulting, Australia and New Zealand. In his role, Branko is responsible for expanding Fujitsus consulting expertise and capabilities to support strategic industry engagements and business growth.

Brankos appointment signals Fujitsus strategic move to cement the organisation as a trusted advisor to customers through the provision of consulting services including digital transformation, ICT strategy, sourcing strategy, CIO advisory, ICT operating model, cost optimisation and change management.

Branko brings more than 30 years experience in consulting and the technology sector, having held executive roles at high-profile organisations including Deloitte Australia, Booz & Company and National Australia Bank. Most recently, Branko was a Partner and National Head of Digital Transformation in Grant Thorntons Management Consulting division.

Graeme Beardsell, Chief Executive Officer, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand, said, Brankos extensive consulting experience and in-depth expertise in driving digital transformation projects will be instrumental to our continued commitment to delivering value to our clients. His appointment fuels our ambition to continue growing the Fujitsu business as one of the leading ICT providers in the region, and I am thrilled to welcome him onboard.

Branko Panich, Executive General Manager of Consulting, said, I am delighted to join Fujitsu and look forward to building and deepening our relationships with both new and existing customers. A key area of focus as we expand Fujitsus existing consulting business is to help customers accelerate their digital transformation goals, a proven differentiator to help drive growth in the market.

Branko Panich is a member of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealands Customer Industry Engagement Leadership Team and reports to Kathy Cakarnis, Vice President, Customer Industry Engagement, Australia and New Zealand.

Online resources Read the Fujitsu blog:

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For regular news updates, bookmark the Fujitsu newsroom: Read the Fujitsu blog: http://blog.au.fujitsu.com Follow Fujitsu on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/FujitsuAU Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fujitsu-australia-limited Find Fujitsu on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FujitsuAustraliaNewZealand For regular news updates, bookmark the Fujitsu newsroom: https://www.fujitsu.com/au/about/resources

Fujitsus Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 represent a set of common goals to be achieved worldwide by 2030. Fujitsus purpose  to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation  is a promise to contribute to the vision of a better future empowered by the SDGs.

About Fujitsu Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 126,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.6 trillion yen (US$34 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. For more information, please see www.fujitsu.com.

About Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 126,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.6 trillion yen (US$34 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. For more information, please see www.fujitsu.com/au.

Media Contacts Christopher Zahn

Edelman for Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand

Email:christopher.zanh@edelman.com

Phone: 0420 404 191 Edelman for Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand0420 404 191

All company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.
Ethan Beachy, Bermudian Springs Football: Ethan rushed for 3 touchdowns and rushed for 2 more TDs in a 33-21 win over Littlestown.

Honey Strosnider, Fairfield Cross Country: Honey posted the fastest time among Times Area girls' runners in the YAIAA Championships after placing 16th in 21:07.3

Landon McGee, Gettysburg Football: Landon rushed for an area-high 235 yards and a touchdown in a 27-10 win over New Oxford

Denae Bello, Delone Catholic Girls' Volleyball: Denae combined for 20 kills, 23 digs and 45 serve-receive point in 3 matches for the Squirettes

Drew Cole, Gettysburg Cross Country: Drew was the fastest among Times Area runners at the YAIAA Championships, placing 19th in 17:25.0

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TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nobel Resources Corp. (TSX  V: NBLC) (the Company or Nobel) is pleased to announce that effective October 29, 2021 its common shares commenced trading on the OTCQB Venture Market (the OTCQB) in the United States under the stock symbol NBTRF.



The OTCQB is a U.S. trading platform that is operated by the OTC Markets Group in New York, and is the premiere marketplace for early-stage and developing U.S. and international companies. Participating companies must be current in their reporting and undergo an annual verification and management certification process. The OTCQB Venture quality standards provide a strong baseline of transparency, as well as the technology and regulation to improve the information and trading experience for investors. Investors can find real-time quote and market information for Nobel at https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/NBTRF/overview.

Nobels common shares will also continue to trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol NBLC.

Nobel has also granted a total of 1,660,000 stock options to various directors and officers pursuant to its stock option plan. The options may be exercised at a price of $0.84 per option for a period of five years from the date of grant. The grant of options remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Nobel

Nobel Resources has the right to acquire 100% interest in the Algarrobo Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) project and 100% of the Salvadora project, potential IOCG style high grade copper properties in Chile. The country is a top mining jurisdiction as it is strategically located close to infrastructure and has world-class IOCG deposits within the Major Candelaria belt. Chiles mining capabilities benefit from close to surface, high grade mineralization within the mining face and has the necessary permitting in place.

For further information, please contact:

David Gower

Chief Executive Officer

dgower@nobel-resources.com

www.nobel-resources.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, regarding the Companys OTCQB listing, stock option grants and the Companys future plans. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward- looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Nobel, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration activities; risks associated with operation in foreign jurisdictions; ability to successfully integrate the purchased properties; foreign operations risks; and other risks inherent in the mining industry. Although Nobel has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Nobel does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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.
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jury selection is scheduled to enter its fifth day Monday in the long-anticipated showdown between insurance behemoth United and three groups of Nevada emergency department clinicians. The clinicians, who filed their case in Clark County, Nevada district court in April 2019, seek $10.5 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages.

At issue is whether or not United has paid the appropriate rate for more than eleven thousand claims that arose when the clinicians provided emergency care to United insureds. The clinicians allege gross underpayments which pose grave financial harm to them in light of their commitment never to balance bill patients. Ironically, it is this commitment that emboldened United to kick emergency providers across the country out of network in 2019 and perniciously start lowering reimbursement payments.

TeamHealth has ten cases pending against United regarding these gross underpayments, seeking tens of millions of dollars. Despite Uniteds campaign of delay and obstruction, discovery has revealed an intentional scheme under which provider contract terminations are a huge generator of Uniteds internal profit  creating over $1 billion in revenues annually. The nature of the scheme is as yet unknown to Uniteds stakeholders but is expected to be revealed in the course of the looming trial.

Uniteds profits come from Uniteds so-called Shared Savings Program, which provides United a percentage of the savings the company achieves by systematically underpaying out-of-network providers. United bases its administrative fee on the difference between undiscounted billed charges and the amount that the company actually pays - not on the smaller difference between prior contracted rates or rates historically accessed from rental networks. The administrative fee routinely exceeds the amount allowed the provider. United recognizes the terrible optics that creates  but proceeds anyway because this scheme generates billions of dollars.

United anticipated at the outset of its Shared Savings scheme that its members would be exposed to balance bills. To reduce that potential exposure, United launched a nefarious multi-part plan to get balance billing outlawed. First, United recruited independent academic researchers to advance a narrative that private equity backed physician groups were terminating contracts and seeking payment of billed charges. This became the Yale Study authored by Zack Cooper. Coopers paper blames physicians  not United  for surprise billing, but by his own admission states, Unfortunately, there is no systemic evidence on the frequency that patients are balance billed or exposed to the full costs of an episode of care.

With its independent study in hand, United lobbied Congress to ban balance billing and advanced a formula that allowed United to determine appropriate payments to out-of-network physicians (its own manipulated median contracted rate).

United is so embarrassed about its conduct and the facts that will come out at trial that they have repeatedly tried to seal the courtroom and keep the evidence out of the public eye  and away from the Congressmen they misled with their tainted and biased study. Nonetheless, our legal team has successfully fought to shine the light on Uniteds nefarious conduct, and beginning Tuesday, those facts will finally be in the public arena.

The Nevada trial should be the most significant view behind the managed care curtain in recent history  all of which has been largely attorneys eyes only going into the trial.

About TeamHealth

At TeamHealth, our purpose is to perfect the practice of medicine, every day, in everything we do. We are proud to be the leading physician practice in the U.S., driven by our commitment to quality and safety and supported by our world-class operating team. To improve the experience of our physicians and advanced practice clinicians, we empower clinicians to act on what they believe is right, free clinicians from distractions so they can focus on patient care, invest in learning and development to promote growth in the clinical field and foster an environment where continuous improvement is a shared priority. Through our more than 15,000 affiliated healthcare professionals and advanced practice clinicians, TeamHealth offers emergency medicine, hospital medicine, critical care, anesthesiology, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, obstetrics, ambulatory care, post-acute care and medical call center solutions to approximately 2,900 acute and post-acute facilities and physician groups nationwide. Join our team; we value and empower clinicians. Partner with us; we deliver on our promises. Learn more at www.teamhealth.com.

The term TeamHealth as used throughout this release includes Team Health Holdings, Inc., its subsidiaries, affiliates, affiliated medical groups and providers, all of which are part of the TeamHealth organization. Providers are physicians, advanced practice clinicians and other healthcare providers who are employed by or contract with subsidiaries or affiliated entities of Team Health Holdings, Inc. All such providers exercise independent clinical judgment when providing patient care. Team Health Holdings, Inc., does not have any employees, does not contract with providers and does not practice medicine.

###




FSIS ISSUES PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT FOR SALAME STICK PRODUCTS



DUE TO POSSIBLE SALMONELLA CONTAMINATION







WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2021  The U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert because Euro Foods, a Freeland, Penn. establishment, produced ready-to-eat (RTE) Italian-style salame stick products that may be contaminated with Salmonella. A recall was not requested because FSIS has not identified a specific contaminated lot or lots, and it is believed that potentially affected products are no longer available to be directly purchased by retail consumers.







The Italian-style salame stick items were produced prior to October 25, 2021. The following product is subject to the public health alert [view labels]:







2-oz packages containing Citterio Premium Italian-Style Salame Sticks ALL NATURAL with best by dates up to January 23, 2022, located next to the barcode.



The products subject to the public health alert bear establishment number EST. 4010 inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to retail locations nationwide and exported to Bermuda.







FSIS has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state public health partners to investigate a multistate outbreak of 21 Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:- illnesses in eight states with onset dates ranging from September 18, 2021 through October 3, 2021. The epidemiologic and traceback investigation identified that ill people consumed Citterio Italian-style Salame Sticks produced by Euro Foods Inc. FSIS continues to work with federal and state public health partners to determine if there are additional illnesses linked to these products.







Consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses. The most common symptoms of salmonellosis are diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 6 hours to 6 days after eating the contaminated product. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Most people recover without treatment. In some persons, however, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Older adults, infants, and persons with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop a severe illness. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact their health care provider.







FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers refrigerators or freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.







Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.




Miami, FL, Oct. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robert C Gaylord is a principal in MacroStrategies, a boutique consulting firm specializing in international political and business risk, currency risk, commodities and business intelligence. For 30 years he provided comprehensive studies and advice to senior members of the US government. His unique ability to understand global risk and its consequences on energy and strategic commodity markets caused him to move from principal advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force for Saudi Arabia, to Special Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Terrorism, Mideast Policy, Latin America policy and global energy markets. As an international business executive he led companies in the US, Latin America and Europe. Today he advises senior executives on energy markets, strategic commodities and global risk factors and is an expert on international security and counter-terrorism. especially as it applies to the commercial aviation and maritime transportation industries.





USAF Colonel (RET) / Deputy Director of Strategic Initiatives for Joint Chiefs of Staff joins Greed as Chief Strategist

$GREED Editorial - 30 October 2021

Byline - Colonel Robert Gaylord

Captain Awesome (Peter J. Parente) has been a friend of mine for years through the thick and

thin of businesses, economic fluctuations, international instability, good times and bad. He

approached me at the inception of $GREED because he saw a fundamental weakness in the

crypto universe - the lack of transparency of who is building out this universe and the general

inability of investors to asses their risk when they cannot even put their finger on who is

involved. His vision was to make a place where investors would know who was involved, create

an investment that had value over the long term and build out a trustworthy value chain based on

offering innovative new ways to enjoy your investment that motivates you to hold it.

Captain Awesome asked me to be involved due to my international business and security

experience, particularly in the area of international currency risk. Traditional currency risk

involves the currencies of nations as affected by governments, international events, wars and

rumors of wars, domestic and international regulation, central banking policies, commodity

supply chains and disruptions to international lines of communication. In some ways crypto

currencies are insulated from these risks because the crypto universe tends to operate outside

of regulation and the prying eyes, hands, and feet of governments. But in many ways crypto

currency risk is even more problematic for these same reasons. There are definitely

new risks that investors must acknowledge and understand before jumping in.

$GREED was developed to give investors a place to put their money that is transparent and

designed to reward investing (holding) versus speculation. As we wait to see if governments

are successful in trying to regulate the crypto world (what they really want to do is tax crypto

investments because they see their value), we move on. Like any currency, crypto will go up

and down - it will be used by most people for good and by some people for bad. It offers

promising rewards now and has the potential to enable even governments to mitigate their own

currency risk in unstable times.

Pictured : United States Air Force Colonel, Robert C. Gaylord flying a high Altitude U2 Reconnaissance mission above 60,000 feet protected by his pressure suit designed to protect him from the hazardous ultra high altitude environment. You can walk on the moon with this suit. Unfortunately Colonel Gaylord will not be able to use this suit while piloting the $GREED Rocket. Stark industries is currently working on our suits so we can walk amongst the STARS.

Awarded Air Medal for his U2 Service

Additional awards include:

Legion of Merit, Defense

Defense Meritorious Service Medal

Humanitarian Service Medal

Presidential Unit Citations

Not Investment Advice

The information provided in this release is not investment advice, financial advice or trading advice. It is recommended that you practice due diligence (including consultation with a Professional financial advisor before investing or trading securities and cryptocurrency.

Information Accuracy

All the information provided is subject to change at any time due to market conditions or source retractions including editorial modifications.

For more information, press only:

Peter Parente

info@greedtoken.com

Email

For more information:

Website: www.greedtoken.com

There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. Moreover, nothing contained in this PR should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment or security, or to engage in any investment strategy or transaction. It is your responsibility to determine whether any investment, investment strategy, security, or related transaction is appropriate for you based on your investment objectives, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance. Consult your business advisor, attorney, or tax advisor regarding your specific business, legal, or tax situation.
Palm City - Margaret Jan Crandall passed away at home on November 14. Her daughter Martha and her husband Robert were at her side. Jan Crandall, nee Schmults, was born on June 2, 1935, in Barrington, Rhode Island. During WWII, the family lived in Newport where her father, Ernest, worked at t
Amos R. Miller, 74, of Goshen, died Thursday, Nov. 18, at Goshen Hospital, after a brief illness. He was born Sept. 15, 1947, in Goshen, to Robert and Lizzie (Hershberger) Miller. On Oct. 19, 1967, in Middlebury, he married Polly Ann Bontrager. She survives. Survivors in addition to his wife
In the face of the global chip shortage, Bosch is increasing its capital expenditure. Just a few weeks after opening its new wafer fab in Dresden, Bosch has now announced another nine-figure investment in its chip manufacturing facilities. In 2022 alone, Bosch plans to invest more than 400 million in expanding its wafer fabs in Dresden and Reutlingen, Germany, and its semiconductor operations in Penang, Malaysia.

Most of the capital expenditure is earmarked for Boschs new 300-millimeter wafer fab in Dresden, where manufacturing capacity is to be expanded even faster in 2022. Around 50 million of the planned sum will be spent on the wafer fab in Reutlingen near Stuttgart in the coming year.

Bosch will invest a total of 150 million in additional clean-room space here from 2021 to 2023. In Penang, Malaysia, Bosch is also building a test center for semiconductors from scratch. Starting in 2023, the center will test finished semiconductor chips and sensors.
Greene County historian Tim Massey is an award-winning writer for Civil War News with more than 40 photos featured on various magazine covers. He has served on various boards and held positions in several historic organizations. He can be reached at horses319@comcast.net.
GREENWICH  Students from Greenwich High led the political debate Friday afternoon, asking candidates for the Board of Education about issues ranging from the states mask policy in schools and to needed improvements in school buildings.

Republicans Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony and Cody Kittle and Democrats Laura Kostin and Kathleen Stowe, the boards current vice chair, took part in the Zoom debate, which was organized by Greenwich Highs We The People Club and the League of Women Voters of Greenwich.

The Republicans are running in a competitive race for two seats on the board. With two candidates for two spots, the Democrats are all but guaranteed seats.

Republican candidate Megan Galletta was invited but declined due to a work conflict. Kara Philbin, who is running as a write-in candidate, was not included.

GHS students put together the questions, which were asked by students Sophie Citron and Alyssa Feng. The debate was split into two parts, with the Democrats and Republicans asked the same questions but separately.

When asked how to prevent another building emergency, such as the ceiling collapse that occurred last winter at North Mianus School, Kittle said there are big issues facing the district with school buildings. He pointed to the condition of Central Middle School and said he would put repairs there high on the priority list.

A lot of what the board should be doing is quite boring  and structural safety and buildings would be one of those things that probably doesnt get a lot of attention unless its being politicized, Kittle said. North Mianus was not flagged as a problem and the way they installed the ceiling 20 years ago was done incorrectly.

It presents a good opportunity to step back and do a deeper review and try to think of structural issues that may exist in buildings from previous work done and go and double-check those, he said. That would be a very good use of spending.

It could have been a tragedy had the ceiling collapsed when school was in session, Mercanti-Anthony said. The only reason we moved on so quickly is because it happened over (school) break, he said.

We havent gone back and seen why wasnt this flagged during the building review, Mercanti-Anthony said. What was the breakdown in the system that allowed it to happen? What else could there be there? Thats the kind of detailed work thats the purview of the board. We cant just move on now and talk about other things.

The mask requirement in schools, which is a state mandate from Gov. Ned Lamont, was the topic of another question.

More Information Board of Ed candidates There are four seats up for election on the Board of Education in Greenwich, and not more than two can be elected from one party. Voters can vote for up to four candidates. There is a write-in independent candidate as well. The Democratic candidates are Laura Kostin and incumbent Kathleen Stowe. The Republican candidates are Megan Galletta, Cody Kittle and Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony. Kara Philbin is running as a write-in independent candidate. . See More Collapse

If and when mask use is left to the district to decide, Kittle said several factors should be considered, including the latest research on student safety.

It is not OK for leaders to say were doing this because someone else told us to, but were not going to give you any further justification, he said. Its incumbent on whether its the school board or the superintendent or individual principals if they make a choice they should be able to justify it. You have to look at the data at the time to see what is an appropriate trade-off.

Mercanti-Anthony said he was not in favor of lifting mask mandate now.

I think masks are currently keeping us safe, he said. When the decision is made, its going to be made by experts who are much higher up the food chain than the Greenwich Board of Education.  It doesnt make sense to get ahead of the CDC. I hope its sooner rather than later, though. I dont like my kids going to school in masks. Hopefully it will end soon but right now the priority has to be keeping everyone in school and keeping everyone safe.

For the Democrats, when it came to the issue of masks, Stowe said she was chair of the Policy Committee that came up with the districts first mask policy, which allowed students to return for in-person classes for the start of the 2020-21 school year.

Stowe said she was proud of how the board worked with school and district administration to make the return to classrooms happen.

I know this has not been an easy couple of years, said Stowe, who is the only current school board member on the ballot. I think we all want to be back to life without masks. As for vaccines, obviously there has been no decision on that (for students), but your teachers are forced to get vaccinated under executive order or (undergo) weekly testing. We have a very highly vaccinated community, and I know thats whats making a difference in keeping our (case) numbers down and keeping us in school.

Kostin said it was not the job of the board to act as health officials. She said she hoped that the town and state health departments would let the community know soon when it could get back to normal.

I hate masks, Kostin said. I have more masks than shoes. Its so depressing, and Im sure all of you feel the same way. It is not normal to exist in a global pandemic. It is so hard for students especially.

Though she was unable to attend the debate, Galletta provided a statement afterward and said that one of the most pressing issues is the declining district test scores, which she said was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Across all learning levels. from special education, ESL, grade level and advanced learners, we need to identify and remediate the gaps due to months of remote and hybrid learning, Galletta said in a statement. Our special education students suffered tremendously during COVID without the interaction and support provided by the caring and attentive teachers and staff members that they trust.

She said she would strive to empower administrators to promote a standards-based, ethical, enriching, and challenging curriculum, addressing the needs of a diverse community of students.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
GREENWICH  With approval of a new Citizens Police Advisory Committee, residents will be granted some oversight into the Greenwich Police Departments internal affairs and process of investigating citizen complaints of allegations of officer misconduct.

The Board of Selectmen approved the new committee unanimously, despite some concerns raised the rules over its membership.

One of the aspirations of this advisory committee is so there is an increase in communication, Chief of Police James Heavey said. We dont have a lot of civilian complaints. We dont have a lot of internal affairs investigations. But we do take them seriously and investigate them thoroughly. This would be an opportunity under 21st-century policing and the (Connecticut) police accountability bill. Were trying to meet the challenge and the request for further information.

The committee is designed to assist in enhancing the transparency and public accountability of the Greenwich Police Department by reviewing monthly performance reports, citizen complaints and internal affairs investigations.

This is a starting point, First Selectman Fred Camillo said before the vote at the boards meeting last Thursday.

We have a very good police force with great police officers and a good track record, and we want to be proactive and reflect modern policing, Camillo later added.

The first selectman, in their role as police commissioner, will retain the sole authority in discipline matters, unless otherwise directed to by the town charter or the labor contract with the Silver Shield Association. But the new committee will allow for more public input although it does not have subpoena power.

Membership of the committee

The committee will have 10 members, who will each serve a three-year term. No members have been announced yet.

To be eligible, prospective committee members must be town residents and over the age of 17. They must also be graduates of the GPDs Citizens Police Academy, a course offered at least twice a year that explains police duties through classes; specialized training, including firearms training; and a ride-along with officers.

Officials with the YWCA Greenwich raised concerns about the academy requirement, saying it could limit membership. Earlier this month when the committee was formally proposed, YWCA Greenwich President and CEO Mary Lee Kiernan and Erin Crosby, the nonprofits director of womens empowerment and racial justice, said single parents, second-shift workers and women who lack access to after-hours child care might find it a hardship to attend the academy.

At the Oct. 13 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, Crosby said the requirement would favor financially advantaged residents and could potentially exclude people who have disproportionally experienced harmful and unjust policing.

A motion from Selectwoman Jill Oberlander received unanimous support to adjust the requirement to allow committee members to attend training sessions during their term.

That wont fully satisfy the concerns from the YWCA or from the GPD, which wants members to be knowledgeable its work, Oberlander said, but she said it was a good compromise.

Camillo agreed it was a good change. Were trying to make it easier for people to do this, he said.

Town Administrator Ben Branyan said he understood the concerns from the YWCA and said this was a starting point, with further revisions possible.

Each community has a different need and approach, and I think this is tailored as a good first starting step, Branyan said. By no means is it perfect ... but I think this is a good first step, And if changes are needed, we can implement those through a policy change.

More on members

Camillo said he favored night meetings because most people work during the day. But he said he wanted to explore the option of a Zoom component so members could possibly take part from home.

We want to reach as many people in the community as possible, and were open to more suggestions going forward, he said.

Selectwoman Lauren Rabin said the committee should be representative of our demographics in town.

Heavy said the GPD was looking to increase the opportunity for residents to take part in the Citizens Police Academy, including offering some classes on Zoom or on weekends.

If someone wants to serve on the advisory board, we can certainly make sure they get an adequate amount, Heavey said.

According to Branyan from 2015 to 2020, there was an average of 12 internal affairs investigations per year in the Greenwich Police Department and an average of 18 citizen complaints a year during that same time frame. No major incidents have been reported recently in Greenwich involving police violence. But protests were held locally last year, as occurred across the national, to protest of the murder of Minnesota resident George Floyd at the hands of police officers.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
GREENWICH  Its been a disruptive time for restaurants and other small businesses in Greenwich and around the region.

Some normalcy returned earlier this year as the COVID-19 crisis slowed. But now small businesses are facing other big challenges due to labor shortages, supply chain disruptions and higher prices for basic commodities.

Diners are likely to see higher prices when they eat at restaurants, and some menu items will be unavailable for the foreseeable future. A recent survey taken of restaurants in Connecticut shows a dramatic rise in operating costs, with lower profit margins.

Labor shortages have become a significant problem, restaurant managers say. The shortage is often attributed to benefits that workers have accumulated during the pandemic, though experts say the situation is more complicated.

A shift in attitudes toward the typically demanding work and long hours that restaurants entail is also cited, and surveys have shown that many restaurant workers have transitioned into other sectors of the economy or different areas of the hospitality field.

People have left the industry, said Mark Moeller, a restaurant consultant in southern Connecticut.

Doug Grabe, who operates the Little Pub in Cos Cob, as well as four other Little Pub locations, said, Labor is always an issue, and weve got to figure out how to make the work attractive. Some positions will not come back, and thats OK.

During COVID we heard that many restaurant workers left to relocate in less expensive areas of the state, or simply changed to higher paying jobs, said Marcia OKane, president of the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce.

Its been said that the restaurant industrys lack of health insurance became a factor for some. For others who were laid off, they simply didnt come back and took advantage of the unemployment insurance that was extensively being offered, she said. Its possible that if higher wages and attractive benefits could be offered to restaurant employees that workers might come back  but at a higher cost to the consumer.

On Greenwich Avenue, an Asian-style steakhouse has posted not just one but two signs seeking help.

At Putnam Restaurant, owner Nick Nikas says the business has been especially challenging in recent weeks, though he has seen few staffing problems with his longtime employees.

Theyve been here many years, and theyre loyal, he said. But help is challenging. Ive heard of friends who have to close restaurants because they cant get help. Talking with people in the business, theyre finding it very difficult to get help, even paying more.

Help wanted

Labor shortages have also been felt in other industries. At the Sam Bridge Nursery on North Street, staffing has been a continual problem, said manager Maggie Bridge, manager of sales and marketing.

Right now we need to make hires in every department: retail, production and landscaping. We have had ads running for ages. We offer competitive wages, benefits, a great place to work and more. We get an incredible number of applicants  and only a few people are actually willing to come in for an interview, she said.

Another major problem for restaurants and other businesses has been supply-chain shortages. Its a nightmare, said Nikas. Supplies are hard, and some you cant even get. And everything we have in the restaurant - soda, steak, eggs  the prices have gone through the roof.

Grabe, owner of the Little Pub, said some menu items have been removed because of shortages and higher costs.

For example, lobster has been off the menu all summer, and lump crab meat became an issue in July, so we took crab cakes off the menu, he said. But theres a silver lining in that its given us the opportunity to stretch our legs creatively and use ingredients we might not have thought of.

Necessity is the mother of invention and we find ourselves inventing a lot these days, Grabe said.

Even basics such as napkins have been hard to come by, he said, due to shipping problems and port access on the West Coast.

Were in constant communication with our vendors to forecast our needs, and when we come across a supply of something we know we will need, to-go containers or napkins, we are buying a month ahead of demand to mitigate the risk of not having any. So storage space is at a premium, Grabe said. Meanwhile, most of what we need is sitting in a container ship a mile off the port of Long Beach, (California), waiting to be unloaded and moved to the East Coast. Its bizarre. ... Its a juggling act.

At the Elm Street Oyster House, manager Anthony Salvatore said the operation was short-staffed earlier in the year.

At the beginning, it was tough, a lot of people were working double shifts, he said, but the restaurant is now fully staffed. People have been here for years, he said, and that sense of mutual loyalty was an important factor in maintaining staff.

But things are tight, he said, and ordering has become a major challenge. Even the small notepads that waiters use to take orders have become hard to come by, Salvatore said. Gesturing to the bar, he added, Tequila  very difficult to get.

Survey results

Scott Dolch, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, released the results of a survey of restaurant operators earlier this month. The survey showed 90 percent of operators are paying more for food, and 79 percent of restaurants are reporting higher labor costs. Nearly every business, 91 percent, said smaller profit margins were the result.

This new data shines a light on how the pandemic has placed a heavy burden on restaurant owners and their staff; from food costs to hiring new employees, local restaurants are struggling to make ends meet, he said in a recent statement about the survey.

Moeller, the restaurant consultant who owns the Recipe of Success in Westport, says diners are accepting the higher prices. Were all paying higher prices when we go out to eat, but were OK with that, because we know the restaurants are struggling, he said.

In the longer term, he says, restaurants in Connecticut and elsewhere will have to adapt to a permanently smaller staffs.

He thinks technology  such as scanning a menu and ordering on a phone  will become a standard feature at fast-casual restaurants.

Technology will be a big one, to weather the storm and maybe come out on the other side on a positive note. And streamlining the operations will be a big one. Operate on less tables and less seats. And save money on labor, you dont need an extra busboy or server or two. And streamline the menu, increase the efficiency, keep all the ingredients together, to make things easier (to prepare), he said.

Moeller says restaurants fulfill a basic need, and said they would adapt to meet the challenges of the times. Restaurants are part of the fabric of our being, part of our everyday life, he said. People love to go out. Thats not going to change.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP)  A Dutch woman charged seven years ago with raising money for the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab has been extradited to the U.S. to face trial.

Farhia Hassan, 38, made an initial appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria after being brought to the U.S. on Thursday on charges of conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization. She was ordered held pending her next hearing.

Prosecutors say Hassan helped raise money by telling donors it would fund schools and orphans when it was actually going to terrorists. The indictment alleges that al-Shabab cells in Nairobi, Kenya, and Hargeisa, Somalia received payments over a period from 2011 through 2014.

She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

While Hassan was in the Netherlands fighting extradition over the last seven years, her lawyers in the U.S. were working to get the charges against her tossed out. The defense lawyers argued that the U.S. lacked jurisdiction to charge a Dutch woman with giving money to a Somali terrorist group. And they said the long delays in bringing her to trial amounted to a denial of her speedy trial rights.

But Judge Anthony Trenga ruled last year that the case could move forward. He said that several of Hassan's co-conspirators were based in the U.S., and that the U.S. has a legitimate interest in prosecuting supporters of a group designated as a terrorist organization.

He also ruled that Hassan's own efforts to fight extradition were responsible for the trial delays. Hassan's lawyer Jessica Carmichael declined comment after Friday's hearing.

Two of Hassan's co-defendants, Muna Osman Jama of Reston, Virginia, and Hinda Osman Dhirane of Kent, Washington, were convicted back in 2016 and received prison sentences of 12 and 11 years, respectively.

At trial, defense lawyers argued that the amounts contributed by the women were negligible, amounting to a few thousand dollars in total from a group of about 15 women. They also said the money was intended to care for injured al-Shabab soldiers and that providing funds for medicine in an armed conflict cannot be considered a criminal act under international treaties.

The defense also raised First Amendment issues, saying their advocacy for al-Shabab should not be fodder for a criminal conviction.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  Facing staff shortages, public schools in Nebraska's largest city have turned to bilingual high school students to interpret when families talk with teachers during report card conferences.

The Omaha school district has some full-time bilingual liaisons, but students and their families speak more than 100 different languages, and more than 18,000 students have received services for limited English speakers at some time while in the district.
Democratic concerns about President Joe Biden's flagging approval ratings, slow-moving agenda and struggles to sell his accomplishments have burst into public view as candidates, party officials and strategists worry that missteps that have led to a dead heat in the Virginia governor's race could foretell trouble in next year's midterm elections.

Fear of a defeat that could echo in 2022 is gripping the party as Republicans seek to capitalize on Biden's unpopularity and on rising anxieties among Americans about the pandemic, immigration, inflation and supply-chain bottlenecks. The GOP also is opening new culture disputes over issues such as education, a move that polls show is gaining traction with voters.

A year after Biden defeated Donald Trump and set the stage for Democrats' takeover of the federal government, GOP officials are voicing more confidence than their Democratic counterparts about the overall terrain on which contests for Congress and statehouses will be fought. The first major test comes Tuesday in Virginia, where Democrats' nine-year statewide winning streak is at risk as Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a former governor, seeks a second term against a relentless campaign by Republican Glenn Youngkin in a state Biden won easily in 2020.

Democrats fret that they have worsened the typical off-year challenges they would face with a long and messy path toward twin infrastructure and domestic policy bills that has so far left them without a campaign counterpunch for Republican attacks on other issues and has drawn attention to Democratic infighting.

Biden advisers voiced confidence that after breakthroughs in recent days, they are closing in on realizing their domestic agenda. They predicted that passage of the two sweeping proposals would revitalize the president's image ahead of the 2022 elections and improve his standing on the pandemic and the economy, the two issues they feel are at the top of voters' minds. But other Democrats are less convinced that the political problems that have taken root this year will be easily eradicated.

One of their overarching concerns is whether, even if they manage to ram programs through Capitol Hill, party leaders will be able to sell their programs to the public in the coming year. One of Biden's top 2020 pollsters, Celinda Lake, recently said she was struck by data showing how few people recognize that the massive pandemic relief bill Biden signed in March was passed without the support of a single Republican in Congress. Democratic elected officials are urging Biden to champion his agenda more aggressively.

"The last time I checked, we passed a $1.9 trillion - that's with a 't' - covid relief bill," said Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., who represents much of Fairfax County. "How can anyone give credit to us if we are not talking about it? And we have completely stopped talking about it. And to me that is astounding. Just astounding.

"With respect to the reconciliation bill, we ought to have a better name for it," he continued, referring to the arcane procedural maneuver congressional leaders have used as shorthand for the sweeping proposal to expand the social safety net.

The president's approval rating, a highly correlated indicator of party success in off-year elections, began a steep decline with the resurgence of the coronavirus in July and the botched military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August. But it has continued to fall in recent weeks nationally and in Virginia as Democrats have focused on protracted legislative negotiations, a development that McAuliffe and advisers have indicated is a drag on McAuliffe's campaign.

The frustration reached a new level among strategists Thursday night when Democratic leaders again delayed a vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill whose passage McAuliffe has said would help him win Tuesday's election. The vote will not be taken before Election Day, leaving it as a potential selling point for 2022 candidates, but less so for this year's crop.

Biden and Democratic congressional leaders have devoted most of their energy in recent months to a divisive intraparty debate over the social spending plan and a related holdup in House approval of the infrastructure bill, which passedthe Senate in August. Biden has opted not to directly pressure these Democrats to relent and hold an infrastructure vote first.

One Biden adviser, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect private conversations, defended what Biden did Thursday when he released a revised framework for the social spending plan that he said flatly will win passage. The adviser argued that it was helpful in Virginia and elsewhere, since it shows the party's priorities.

But the result of Biden's approach has been open-ended talks that have showcased Democratic self-doubt and public bickering between figures such as Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va. McAuliffe has derided these deliberations and repeatedly urged Democrats in Washington to deliver results. Other Democrats are echoing his frustration.

"We have gotten lost in process. And the process argument is not helping anybody. It's not helping in Virginia," said Dan Sena, a former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee whose political consulting firm now works for Del. Hala Ayala, Prince William, the Democratic nominee for Virginia lieutenant governor. "Candidly, it's only helping the other side."

Exasperation with the legislative logjam has extended across the party spectrum and beyond Virginia. Democrats are struggling to retain the support of independent voters they had firmly in their corner as recently as last year. New Jersey also has a gubernatorial election Tuesday, and Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is polling in the high single digits ahead of his Republican opponent - roughly half Biden's victory margin in 2020.

The Democratic Party's base also has grown tired of the bickering. Jeff Jackson, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate running in a contested primary in North Carolina, said he spoke to hundreds of people at a recent event at a brewery.

"Senator Manchin's name came up about 10 times," said Jackson, a state senator. "There's a lot of frustration there."

Some Biden allies point to the Democrats' narrow majorities in Congress and wide range of views in their ranks, arguing that it was inevitable that Biden would be mired in complex back-and-forths for months since he could not afford a single defection in the Senate and few in the House. To others, the public negotiations amount to an unforced error.

"For the good of the party, for Virginia, for his own presidency, it is hard to understand why more hasn't been done to stop what has become a debilitating decline," said Simon Rosenberg, a longtime Democratic strategist who advised party candidates in the 2018 congressional elections. "Many things could have been tried, including passing the infrastructure bill. But here we are, and I, for one, am skeptical that the bills which failed to prevent this decline over the past five months will somehow magically restore his standing."

Democrats view the Virginia election as an early test of their messaging and candidate profiles, as well as of voter attitudes and the composition of the electorate a year after Trump lost. Although the state has turned a darker shade of blue in recent years, it is filled with the kinds of suburban and exurban swing counties, rural conservative pockets and liberal cities that have effectively turned it into a midterm-election laboratory.

McAuliffe has at times distanced himself from less popular elements of Biden's record and has acknowledged that Biden's unpopularity poses a challenge, even as the two campaigned together in Arlington days ago. Onstage, they made relatively little mention of the president's record; Biden acknowledged "we've got more to do" before ticking through initiatives he is still trying to pass. They spent most of their time tying Youngkin to Trump as part of a larger Democratic effort to energize core voters.

Trump has raised the prospect of running for president in 2024 and continues falsely to claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. These are two factors Democrats hope will motivate a party base that has proved more difficult to rouse after Trump left office. Part of the challenge, Democratic strategists said, is Biden's limited accomplishments in recent months.

"There should be a postmortem, and the answer they are going to find is if we want to get things done, they have to lead," another Democratic election strategist said. "Biden is not a senator anymore. Things don't have to come out of committees."

Biden's advisers say the current difficult moment is almost certain to pass. They expect the pending bills to play a central role in the party's campaigns next year, which they hope to use to reframe Republicans as obstructionists who look out for wealthy interests.

"Six and eight months from now, when it really matters, the environment is going to be different," Biden pollster John Anzalone said. "We are going to have a Democratic narrative that I think is really powerful about helping working families lower costs on health care and child care and elder care. And we are going to have a narrative of helping people succeed in a tough economy, and the Republicans aren't going to have a narrative."

Republicans have taken advantage of the void left by their opponents' infighting to lay out an argument that Democrats have failed to deliver security, health and prosperity across the board. They point to crises on the southern border, the Afghanistan withdrawal and rising costs, which economists pin largely on supply-chain issues but which Republicans ascribe to Democratic stimulus efforts.

In Virginia, Youngkin has zeroed in on another newly powerful issue: education. The issue typically has played to Democrats' advantage, but polls in Virginia show a stark shift in attitudes. Youngkin and other Republicans are hoping to unify their base and the moderate suburban voters who of late have spurned the GOP by focusing on how schools have dealt with the coronavirus, racial justice curriculums and transgender equality.

Youngkin has run a barrage of ads singling out McAuliffe's comment during a televised debate that he didn't think "parents should be telling schools what they should teach."

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott, R-Fla., compared McAuliffe's remark to the protest slogan "defund the police," which Republicans successfully pinned on some Democrats in the 2020 elections, even though almost all party leaders opposed the idea.

"I think one thing that is going to happen in '22 is we are going to have an unbelievable turnaround in school boards, and it's going to get out a lot of voters that normally wouldn't vote," Scott said. "They are going to come out to vote, and they are going to vote Republican, so I think it is going to be good for us."

In Virginia, special elections are planned next year for at least two school board seats in Loudoun County, the center of the political battle over education. Democrats are worried about getting caught flat-footed on the issue.

Lake, the Biden campaign pollster who now does surveys and research for the Democratic National Committee and other Biden allies, said that while GOP attacks on critical race theory are not likely to resonate, the argument that Democrats are not on the side of parents requires a more robust response than the party has presented thus far. "That's the one we need a better strategy on," she said.

The issue has taken center stage in the final stretch of the Virginia race. Youngkin recently released an ad featuring a woman who fought against the Toni Morrison book "Beloved" in schools. At the McAuliffe rally with Biden, Democratic aides handed out copies of the book to reporters with a flier accusing Youngkin of wanting to ban books.

Several Democratic voters who attended the rally dismissed the substance of Youngkin's attacks. But one man said the accusations might still work.

"I will tell you what: Fear always works stronger," said the man, who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Nazir.

"It's easy to scare people," he said, adding, "There are a lot of gullible people."
I was at home ... 3 oclock in the morning. Someone woke me up.

Standing in the museum that he curates, Sagan Kotturan CHamoru, traditional jewelry carver Johnny Cake Siguenza recalls what he believes was an encounter with the taotaomona.

I got up, got in my truck and drove all the way down to Matapang Beach, he said.

Much of the ground was dug up because of construction. He parked, left his truck running, and fell asleep about 10 feet away.

I woke up and right next to me was this, he said, holding up a piece of bright orange clamshell, or spondylus, hanging on a cord around his neck.

At the museum, ancient spondylus, sinahi, fishooks and other artifacts, some of which are thousands of years old, are displayed from the floor to the ceiling. Its all part of Siguenzas personal collection, but the trip to Matapang more than 30 years ago led to one of his first discoveries.

Educating

The taotaomona, Siguenza believes, helped him find many of the artifacts. And he has promised to use the items to help educate the world, but mainly our people, about taotaomona, CHamoru culture and who we are as a taotaotano.

I believe my ancestors are still lingering here. ... What you see in here are their belongings. It belongs to our taotaomona people, he said.

As a younger man, he left the island for about 15 years and was shocked when he returned to see how things had changed for his nieces and nephews, who grew up without hearing the stories about the sainas that Siguenzas grandmother raised him on.

So I dedicated myself to go out in the jungle and lived in jungle, he said.

He spent four years and nine months at sites such as Hilaan.

Encounters

Siguenzas excursions into the jungle, or halom tano, which have continued over the years in short trips of four to five days at a time, have been peppered with encounters with taotaomona.

I hear someone mumbling, I hear somebody walking right next to me. I feel like someone is touching me on a shoulder. Im not going to lie, it scares me  he said.

But retrieving the artifacts he now showcases at the museum has always been a matter of respect, something Siguenza said is a basic requirement for anyone who gets near the ancient grounds has to adhere to.

Anyone would get angry if you took something from their house without permission, he said, and the same applies to the taotaomona.

I did a lot of asking, he added, and made a promise to share whatever he found.

The ancestral spirits are commonly told to be able to make people ill, something which the curator and carver of traditional jewelry found hard to believe as a child.

They say when you get pinched they like you; magodai they call it. Theres people today that see shadows, see silhouettes, they get scared. You know, Oh watch out, the taotaomonas gonna get you.

Respect

But hes brought a number of friends along to search for the timeworn artifacts, and not everyone treats the ancient sites that Siguenza frequents with proper respect.

He recalled an instance where someone put their feet up on a lusong, a stone mortar used to process food or medicine. Shortly after, they came down with something resembling chicken pox, which Siguenza attributed to the taotaomona. The only solution, he said, was to go back and ask for forgiveness.

Now, when visitors come to his musuem, or Sagan Kaohao, he makes sure that they carry themselves with the proper decorum.

The location of the museum is fitting. Hes spent some time poring through the dirt displaced through development of the islands tourist district, which was likely a major population center before the Spanish conquest of Guam in the 17th century.

Across the street, he pointed, they were dumping over there, so Id go over, ... rake everything up, and found a couple sling stones.

Haunted

Sagan Kotturan is located in repurposed staff housing for the old Guam Memorial Hospital  CHamoru Land Trust property that has been eyed by hoteliers and others for decades.

Siguenza, along with others from Inadahen i Linala Kotturan Chamoru, managed to secure it for the cultural center in 2006, and spent years cutting back vines and sword grass.

Ive heard a lot of stories about this place, that its haunted, he said of the old hospital grounds. I wouldnt doubt it.

I hear noises. Even in here, I hear walking, he said, though its rare, and never anything to be worried about.

I answer them back, whatever I need to say, Lao pura gi fino CHamoru, all in our language. Maila halom, maila yan bisita ha esta gui kosas-miyu  come on in, this all belongs to you guys. I give them thanks for accepting me to have this.
A continually growing line of people formed outside the American Job Center in Anigua Saturday for a chance at securing a job with the Department of Public Health and Social Services.

Applicants hoped to get one of 70 positions at a job fair to hire employees for COVID-19 response efforts by Public Health, held in collaboration with the Guam Department of Labor.

Im out here looking for the best opportunity I can. Guam doesnt have a lot of opportunities now, said Dylan Cabe, 19, of Yigo, while in line with his resume and other application materials in hand.

Everyone out here is just trying to get a job and make a difference, Cabe said.

He said he has applied anywhere he can daily, but that its hard to get a call back since everyone is applying for the same jobs.

Position openings at Public Health include processing of laboratory specimens, case investigation, health disparities, community outreach, administrative duties, nursing and other jobs. Applications still can be submitted via email to covidhire@doa.guam.gov until positions are filled. When a position is filled, it will be removed from the online listings.

Hopes

Jared Arellano, 25, from Dededo, has an associates degree in computer science and brought a print out of the job listings with an entry level technology job marked in the hope of getting that position to learn and grow more in that field.

Im hoping to get picked up for a job because I have been out of work since the pandemic started. Ive been applying to places, but they havent been picking me up, said Arellano.

Catherine Babauta, 60, of Sinajana, who learned about the job fair through social media posts, said she just wants a job and is looking for any opportunity.

Babauta was laid off from her job at United Airlines during the pandemic and said it was especially hard because she was almost at retirement but now needs to find work.

Losing my job ... was traumatic for me because I was 29 years with the company, and they decided they were going to do a reduction in force, Babauta said.

Lauren Murphy, 20, of Hagatna, said she came to the job fair because, Ive been having a really hard time finding a job any other way.

Murphy said she has applied for about 15 jobs since she moved to Guam four months ago with her husband, who is in the military, and has not heard back from any of them.

I thought this would be the best way by actually meeting someone in person, said Murphy.

She is a phlebotomist with lab work training, so shes hoping for a position as a lab technician.

The beginning

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero visited the job fair and said it was created because of a need to expand services as a result of the pandemic, which includes hiring more workers in the health care sector.

What better way to lift them up than to create jobs for our people? This is just the beginning, Leon Guerrero said.
Protesting vaccination mandates by the governor, about 50 people gathered with signs at the ITC intersection Saturday.

The march began at Archbishop Felixberto Flores Memorial Circle and continued down Chalan San Antonio to the ITC intersection. Participants held signs and flags and encouraged like-minded individuals to honk their car horns in support.

Organized by the Guam Freedom Coalition, the March Against Mandates was held to protest COVID-19 vaccination requirements established in executive orders by the governor for employees, businesses and schools.

The Guam Freedom Coalition is not an anti-vaccination group. Whether you are vaccinated or not, we are fighting for the freedom to choose. We are welcoming all people, said event organizer Liz Forbes, 42, of Yigo.

Forbes, who first began protesting several months ago at an event in Adelup, said different people are protesting for different reasons, but she felt compelled to protest for her three children.

She said her children should have the freedom to grow and live without an unknown vaccine in their body and that the high recovery rate for children without underlying conditions makes the vaccine unnecessary.

Major issue

Event organizer Gennady Belyshev, 40, of Yona, said this is the most recent of about 12 protests the group has held or participated in so far. He said people being fired from their jobs or discriminated against and shamed at work for not being vaccinated is a major issue and result of vaccine mandates.

We want to come out here and let the people know you are not alone, you are a free person, you live in America and you should be able to choose what goes into your body, said Belyshev.

The mandates arent going to do anything for peoples health or the island, said Dededo resident Maria Fegurgur, 52.

Its against our constitutional rights to be forcing us or forcing our children to take something that we dont want to take, said Fegurgur, who was invited to the march by someone she knows on Facebook.

It was her fifth protest against the executive order, which she said is ruining peoples lives by interfering with their personal business and health choices about their bodies.

Henry Dukhie, 71, of Yigo, said he is standing against the vaccination mandates because they violate his constitutional rights and those of all citizens, regardless of what political party they belong to.

The government doesnt have the authority to tell us to take a vaccine. Thats our choice and thats part of the freedom of choice that some of the signs are saying, said Dukhie.
Housing occupants and others wait to be processed for COVID-19 testing at the Guma Trankilidat elderly housing facility in Tumon in Aug. 20, 2020, photo.




Haiti Economy : Donation of 75 million from the World Bank for job creation in Haiti





Michel Patrick Boivert Minister of Economy and Finance and Laurent Msellati, Head of World Bank Operations in Haiti signed a Financing Agreement relating to a Private Sector Employment and Economic Transformation Project (PSJET) financed by a grant approved by the World Bank to the tune of US $75 million from the International Development Association (IDA) over a period of 6 years.



"The grant will help to spur growth in Haitis private sector, with an emphasis on firms owned by women. The main aim of the initiative is to create jobs by enhancing MSMEs access to finance and business development services. Encouraging growth in these Haitian small enterprises is essential to helping the country reduce poverty, stem violence and create a more positive future for the Haitian people," said Laurent Msellati, Manager of World Bank operations in Haiti.



In recent years, the private sector has been affected by successive socio-political crises. The COVID-19 pandemic and the August 2021 earthquake exacerbated the already difficult business environment. The Private Sector Jobs and Economic Transformation Project will improve the capacity of viable micro, small and medium sized enterprises to grow, contribute to economic diversification and strengthen the economys resilience to climate change and natural hazard shocks.



"By focusing on private sector employment and economic transformation, the project is part of the post-COVID-19 economic recovery plan which aims to give a strong incentive to growth and the creation of jobs", said Michel Patrick Boisvert, Haitis Minister of the Economy and Finance. "At the start of the project, special attention will be paid to micro, small and medium enterprises, in the areas affected by the earthquake, in order to enable them to benefit from improved access to finance and support services."



The project will also support the resilience and growth of value chains through improved business development services and greater access to financial resources.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : Shipwreck off Grosse Pointe at least 39 victims





On the night from Friday October 29 to Saturday October 30, 2021, a small overloaded boat providing the Marigot/Anse-a-Pitres transport, carrying cement, food products, fuel and a large number of passengers wrecked off the coast of the locality of Grosse Pointe in the South-East department.



According to the South-East Civil Protection Directorate, the provisional toll would be 20 survivors and at least 19 dead. Marigot's interim executive agent, Rene Danneau, informs us that the search is continuing to find survivors.



The fuel shortage in the department prevented the rescuers of the Service Maritime et de Navigation d'Haiti (SEMANAH) from coming to the aid of the victims in time and also slowed down the search process by the authorities.



Reacting to this tragedy, Prime Minister a.i. Ariel Henry said

"We learned, in pain and with emotion, the sad news of the sinking of a boat this morning, ensuring the Anse-a-Pitre / Marigot route and which resulted in the death of 19 of our compatriots. We offer our condolences to the families of the victims and to the Haitian people. Faced with this new tragedy which has occurred in deplorable conditions, we wish to assure the families of the victims, as well as the survivors, of the full support of the Government and the local authorities."



S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





The vehicle of investigating judge Orelien targeted

Friday, October 29 in the afternoon, the vehicle of the examining magistrate Garry Orelien in charge of the file of the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, was the target of a shot at Delmas 33. The magistrate and the registrar Cadet Elysee who were in the vehicle were not injured



21 Haitian migrants arrested on a beach in Haulover Park

21 Haitian migrants in an irregular migratory situation were arrested, on October 27, on a beach in Haulover Park, in Miami Dade (Florida) These migrants, including women and children, were disembarked on the beach by a boat which left right after. They were taken into custody to be interviewed.



New Government Commissioner in PAP

Former Government Commissioner Jacques Lafontant, who resigned as head of the prosecution in July 2020, is the new Government Commissioner of Port-au-Prince. He replaces Frantz Louis Juste in this position since September 14, 2021, who was transferred to the Parquet of Mirebalais.



Brazil : Family reunification visa applications resumed

The Brazilian Embassy in Port-au-Prince recalls that the appointment system for BVAC Family reunification VISA applications has been resumed since October 25, 2021. It informs all concerned that the system can accommodate a limited number of appointments per day. No fees are associated with making appointments. Online application procedure : https://haiti.iom.int/bvac/ht/node/76



South-East : Very high rate of Covid

Newton Jeudi, the Departmental Director of the Ministry of Health reveals that the rate of Covid-19 positivity is rising sharply in the South-East department, specifying that 60% of people tested are positive, deploring that despite this, the Sudesters refuse to be vaccinated. The Ministry updating the Covid situation with between 5 and 7 days of delay https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35125-haiti-diaspora-covid-19-daily-bulletin-589.html will know us in a week that it was the real situation...



Ariel Henry spoke to Kenneth Merten

On Friday, Prime Minister Ariel Henry received behind closed doors at his Official Residence Ambassador Kenneth Merten, the new Charge d'Affaires ai of the United States in Haiti. The two discussed the general situation in the country and in particular the fuel shortage, insecurity and the elections.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2021/10/30 | Source

Korean movie "Kwito: Rabbit's Eight Difficulties" added to HanCinema database

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"Kwito: Rabbit's Eight Difficulties" (2021)

Directed by Go Sun-woong

With Kim Jun-soo, Yu Taepyungyang, Min Eun-kyung, Yoon Seok-an, Heo Jong-yeol, Kim Geum-mi,...

Synopsis

Act 1.

Tobu deceived the dragon king and returned to the place where he lived with the turtle, saying he left his liver on land. He wants to scold the turtle and meet his wife and children who came to meet him and enjoy. However, Tobu was caught by an eagle and Tomo was also shot by a catcher and killed. Toja fell into despair after becoming a heavenly orphan during the creation period. Despite the dissuasion of the surrounding rabbits, the earthenware, which left China full of Samjaepalan, faces the blue ocean for the first time and longs for an unknown world of archery that looks peaceful. Meanwhile, the turtle, who missed Tobu, accidentally encounters Toja, who wishes to go to hydrangea, while holding a mountain god ritual to find another rabbit, and heads to the sea with Tonyeo, who cannot leave him alone.

Act 2.

The aquatic animals that needed a rabbit liver for the ailing dragon king capture Toja and Tonyeo, but they use improvisation to avoid the danger of having their ships ripped apart. In the end, for the future of the hydrangea, the military commander Jukkumi, who does not want to save the tyrannical dragon king, tries to help them. Tonyeo and Toja, who volunteered to volunteer for hydrangeas due to the difficulties of living in the mountains, there are also pals in the mountains here, so they were suggested to present a proper role play. Toja and Tonyeo, who got the last chance to survive, performs 'Pallanga' in front of the dragon king and aquatic animals, and a commotion arises among the people of the hydrangeas who feel the sympathy...

Release date in Korea : 2021/11/11
Published on 2021/10/30 | Source

Korean movie "Sexy Man and Woman" added to HanCinema database

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"Sexy Man and Woman" (2021)

Directed by Sun-Woo Young

With Ha Jin, Gil Dong, Choi Jeong-ah-I, Kim Tae-seok,...

Synopsis

Dong-chan, who is working in another region due to his new job, meets Hyeon-joo, who lives next door from his new place. Is it a coincidence or is hos workplace also related to Hyeon-joo in the same building?

No release date in Korea yet
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Veterans Day 2021. Weve come a considerable way in the last five decades. It is n
Russian warplanes again targeted the border area with the Sanjak of Alexandretta north of Idlib, during which six raids were carried out against the former headquarters of mercenaries of the "23rd Division" of Turkey in the vicinity of the Qah district, which contains a large number of camps for IDPs, there were no reports of casualties.

The aerial bombardment, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, coincided with a rocket bombing carried out by the forces of the Government of Damascus on the outskirt of the Turkish occupation points at al-Nayrab, San and Magdelia in the eastern Idlib countryside, in conjunction with several Russian UAVs hovering in the sky of the area.

On 27th October, Russian warplanes carried out raids on the Qah border area with the Sanjak of Alexandretta north of Idlib, during which they targeted the former headquarters of the "23rd Division" mercenaries of Turkey.

T/S

ANHA
Before the eyes of the international community in particular, the Turkish occupation state threatens north and east Syria and the Tel Rifaat area in al-Shahba to launch its attacks and occupy the areas and commit massacres and violations against the peoples of the region. International silence legitimizes Turkish attacks to exterminate peoples.

On this subject, the co-chair of the General Council of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, Muhammad Sheikho, said: The policy of the Turkish occupation state towards the Kurdish people is not new.

Sheikho added: "We must not forget that the attacks of the mercenaries of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) in 2012 on the city of Serekaniye, were supported by the Turkish army.

"The Turkish state resorted to military action and attacked with all its weapons, warplanes and internationally prohibited weapons, the regions of Afrin, Serekaniye and Gire Spi, so that these regions would bear witness to its crimes," Sheikho said.

On the threats of the Turkish occupation army and the economic situation inside Turkey, Sheikho said: "The Turkish attacks and threats to northern and eastern Syria and the city of Tel Rifaat in al-Shahba region are a result of the problems that the Justice and Development Party is experiencing inside Turkey in terms of economic and social terms. He attacks northern and eastern Syria to draw the attention of the Turkish people outside Turkey under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

As for the international silence, Muhammad Sheikho explained during his speech that "the silence of the international community regarding the brutal attacks against the peoples of the region encourages the occupation to kill and commit massacres against the peoples of the region, and I say to the countries of the world: The presence of the Turkish occupation poses a threat to the stability of Syria in general and northern and eastern Syria in particular."

The co-chair of the General Council of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, Muhammad Sheikho, called on the peoples of the region to stand united against any attack by the Turkish occupation on the region.

A

ANHA




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Developer plans 84-unit apartment building near greenway trailhead

Proposed Southgate Apartments

The developers of an 84-unit apartment building proposed for Hendersonvilles south side on Friday heard from a few people concerned about how the project might impact stormwater runoff and traffic congestion in the area.



Whenever you add something in that part of town, those issues are on everyones mind, said Ken Fitch, a city resident who lives in Hyman Heights.

The four-story apartment building is proposed for 3.63 acres off Kanuga Road on Israel Street. The property is also adjacent to the Fresh Market located off Church Street in town.

Fitch was one of only three people who spoke during a Neighborhood Compatibility Meeting held at Hendersonvilles City Operations Center.

Technical difficulties prevented speakers from joining a similar meeting online earlier this month. City staff arranged for the second meeting on Friday to allow people to ask questions and make comments online through Zoom.

The city scheduled the meeting after developers Suzanne Godsey of Sitework Studios and property owner David W. Royster III of Capitol Funds, Inc. applied for a conditional rezoning from Secondary Business to Central Mixed Use Conditional Zoning District. Royster through Capitolf Funds owns the Fresh Market and the property proposed for the apartment building.

Godsey said the proposed project calls for apartments with one, two and three bedrooms, parking for residents and a biological retention pond to catch and hold stormwater runoff. Gates are proposed for the propertys entrance off Church Street through the Fresh Market parking lot and its exit onto Israel Street. The property might also include a spur onto the planned Ecusta Trail. The greenway's trailhead is near the retention pond.

One of the things we really like is it is a great infill property, Godsey said.

Fitch said he was concerned about whether the proposed retention area was enough to prevent problems from stormwater runoff because the area is prone to flooding. He said he also had concerns about whether the entrance off Church Street would cause problems for a new roundabout proposed for that location.

Godsey said an engineer is working with developers on the stormwater issue. The developers are also working with the N.C. Department of Transportation on how the entrance will impact the proposed roundabout.

We are looking at that really closely. We are well aware of that area, she said of the stormwater issue.

Fitch also questioned the propertys connection to the Ecusta Trail.

How does that function? People want to know how that works, he said.

Godsey said the spur would connect the trail to the apartment complexs retention and parking areas. It would serve as a way to connect the trail to the shopping center that includes the Fresh Market, she said.

Another online participate said he runs a business in the area and was also concerned about flooding.

This is a big hole right now to catch water, he said of the area proposed for the apartments. I want to make sure we are not flooded out.

Members of the city staff said plans to address flooding will need to be reviewed by the city before any approval is given to the development.

The rezoning application will move to the citys tree board and planning board before reaching Hendersonvilles City Council. The issue will likely come before the planning board in December and the council in January, city planners said.
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Press Release

29 October 2021

London, UK - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the global Travel & Tourism sector, announces that its 22nd Global Summit will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the end of 2022.

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WTTCs annual Global Summit is the worlds most influential and Travel & Tourism event. Saudi Arabia has been leading a new global approach to redesign tourism and this summit in Riyadh will see industry leaders gathering with key government representatives to drive support for the sectors ongoing recovery, moving it to a more safer, resilient, inclusive and sustainable future.

The event in Saudi Arabia will follow the next highly anticipated Global Summit which is taking place in Manila, Philippines, from 14-16 March 2022.

Speaking from the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said:

Since the very beginning, when the pandemic brought international travel to an almost complete standstill, Saudi Arabia has shown its total commitment to our sector, ensuring it has remained at the forefront of the global agenda."

It has been instrumental in leading the recovery of a sector which is critical to economies, jobs and livelihoods around the world."

For that we are grateful and want to recognise their incredible efforts by bringing the Global Travel & Tourism sector to the Kingdom next year.

His Excellency Al Khateeb, Minister for Tourism for Saudi Arabia said:

I welcome the decision to choose Saudi Arabia as the host country for the next WTTC Global Summit in 2022. This is a critical forum for the private sector and government to come together to redesign tourism for the future, and it is fantastic to hold this event in the Kingdom. This is recognition of Saudi leadership to help the global tourism sector recover, and importantly, become more sustainable. I look forward to welcoming all WTTC Members next year.

Further details of the WTTC Global Summit in Riyadh will be announced in due course.

To coincide with this announcement, latest research from WTTC shows the Middle Eastern Travel & Tourism sector is set to grow by 27.1% this year ahead of Europe and Latin America.

The research also shows that if governments prioritise Travel & Tourism, jobs in the sector could reach 6.6m in 2022, approaching pre-pandemic levels.
It all started with a Breakfast Jack.

Nearly 50 years after tucking into the ham, egg and cheese sandwich at a Houston Jack in the Box, Manny Colorado is still a big fan  such a big fan that he has become one of the regions biggest franchise owners of the fast-food chain.

Colorado, co-owner of HV Restaurants, has expanded his Jack in the Box holdings to 90 locations in Texas with the newest at 11911 Eastex Freeway. It is one of 592 Jack in the Box restaurants in Texas, including 238 in the Houston metro areas, which has been identified as a market for growth by the San Diego-based chain.

The newly built restaurant on the Eastex Freeway has a contemporary look with grays and reds inside. In the center, modern pendant lighting hangs above a large table with plenty of outlets for customers to charge devices while dining. Traditional booth seating lines the perimeter.

The walls are adorned with spirited sayings such as If you crave it we will serve it and Hunger has no curfew in reference to the chains 24 hour service at many locations.

Top 5 burger chains Number of U.S. locations: McDonald: 13,441 Burger King: 7,095 Wendy's: 5,895 Sonic: 3,600 (est.) Jack in the Box: 2,219 Source: Bloomberg Intelligence See More Collapse

On HoustonChronicle.com: Jersey Mike's to triple the size of its Houston footprint

The design is completely different inside and out, Colorado said. Its got more of a futuristic look to it.

Colorado became a Jack in the Box franchisee four years ago after more than 30 years with Burger King and a stint with Dennys. After opening eight locations in Houston and south Texas in the past three years, he and his partner, Mohammed Ahmed, aim to open five or six restaurants in the next five years.

The openings are part of Jack in the Boxs strategy to expand in existing and new markets after a decade of holding its store count essentially flat. The 60-year-old chain has 2,219 stores in 22 states, with California as the largest market with 941 stores, followed by Texas. It is the nations fifth largest burger chain behind McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys and Sonic.

The majority of the chains business occurs outside of its dining room, which has helped Jack in the Box outperform some of its competitors during the pandemic.

Jack in the Boxs same store sales are up 17.5 percent compared with two years ago, said Michael Halen, senior restaurant analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. For burger chains overall, same store sales are up 9.3 percent during the period.

They do a lot of their business through the drive-thru, which really helped, Halen said. Sales have done very well since the beginning of the pandemic.

The newest prototype store, which has yet to arrive in Houston, has double drive thru lanes and areas for pick up by third-party delivery services and mobile orders placed through a new loyalty app. Some of Houstons busiest locations use outside order-takers who assist customers in their cars.

Colorado said customers spend an average of $9.50 to $10 at his stores. Sales per location average about $1.5 million.

As staffing has become more challenging, Colorado has raised wages, which start at more than $9 an hour, and offers 30-day and 90-day bonuses to help retain employees. Each location has 20 to 30 employees.

katherine.feser@chron.com

twitter.com/kfeser
New Hope Housing Savoy, a 120-unit apartment project, will bring a new option for low-income families in southwest Houston upon completion in 2023.

New Hope Housing Savoy will be tucked among several office buildings on a 3.9-acre tract at 6315 Savoy, just north of U.S. 59 in the Sharpstown area. The complex will contain one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, with 13 units set aside for families fleeing domestic violence. Rents will range from $400 to $1,400, based on income eligibility and availability.

In addition to housing, the non-profit New Hope provides access to services such as medical and mental health care, financial planning and jobs training. The Savoy project is a few blocks away from the fully occupied New Hope Housing Dale Carnegie with 170 single-room occupancy units.

The secret to providing housing to people with low incomes is to make sure they not only have an inspiring place to live, but also that they have access to the services that people like you and me just write a check for, said Mack Fowler, chairman emeritus of New Hope Housing.

The organization serves people who are on limited incomes or are at risk of homelessness.

RELATED: Photo tour: Houstons award winning apartments

Addressing community leaders at a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, New Hope Housing President and CEO Joy Horak-Brown said the project will provide much needed affordable rentals to people who work in the community.

If you think about the teachers aide at a school you pass by in this neighborhood whose income is $19,000 a year and is living in one of these broken-down apartments and is paying 50 percent of her income in rent, she can now live in one of these apartments at New Hope Housing paying 30 percent of her income in rent, Brown said.

The $34 million project represents the nonprofit organizations 11th development in Houston. GSMA is the project architect and Camden Builders is the builder.

GSMA designed the four-story building with two courtyards, including one with play equipment for children. Features include an onsite family services coordinator, community spaces for social activities and exercise classes, a library and a business center.

The project is receiving $13.2 million through the city of Houstons Harvey Multifamily Program using federal funds administered through the citys Housing and Community Development Department. Four multifamily communities have opened under the program, and another 19 are under construction out of 38 total projects, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

Other funding sources include state tax credits from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and numerous Houston philanthropic organizations. PNC Bank purchased the syndicated tax credits for the project.

Turner said Houston is making headway in providing affordable housing and, along with Harris County, has successfully housed 5,000 people over the last year.

By working with philanthropies and others who are willing to chime in, I believe in this city we can keep people from being on the streets if we work collaboratively together, the mayor said at the event.

NHH Savoy, slated to open in summer 2023, is in a diverse, densely populated region near employers, parks, a community center and public services.

This particular development is close to stores, public transit, libraries, Turner said. Its where peoples holistic needs can be met.katherine.feser@chron.com

twitter.com/kfeser
Charles Cunningham, city council member for the city of Humble announced on Oct. 19 his running for Texas State Representative in House District 127, following current Representative Dan Huberty, who himself has announced that he will not seek reelection.

Aside from his four year-long career as a city council member, Cunningham has served the area for over 30 years as a deacon. He served on the Humble ISD school board for 12 years in various positions, as well.

With the retirement of Representative Huberty, who previously served on the Humble ISD school board, Cunningham felt a sense of urgency in his absence to tackle state and local issues personally.

I want to thank Representative Huberty for his service to our area, said Cunningham. I look forward to continuing to fight in the Texas Legislature to enact common sense conservative solutions to our shared challenges.

Cunningham says that he runs to ensure the Texas dream is alive and well for future generations, hoping to stand against progresssive and mob mentality political ideologies.

Infrastructure, specifically flooding is one of his main concerns. As the city representative to the Houston-Galveston area council, he claims to have been working on that closely with the council so as to prevent future severe flooding.

When asked on his stance regarding Senate Bill 8, the recent anti-abortion bill signed into law by Greg Abbott, Cunningham stands in neither affirmation, nor negation at present, awaiting the courts precedings on the matter.

I know that theres going to be a court challenge, but that is the law of the land right now, explained Cunningham. We will see what the courts have to say, but I am pro life.

Outside of being vocally pro-life, Cunningham has not stated his personal opinion regarding the morality of the bill, though he made a point to say that he is in favor of the law.

As for his opinion on federal mask and vaccine mandates to protect against Covid-19, he has also taken an anti-mandate stance. He said, Each individual has a right to live how they want to live.

I dont believe there needs to be a mandate on either, says Cunningham. Ive got my shot, and Ive got family members who didnt get the shot.

When asked about the social responsibility of the unvaccinated to wear masks in public, he reiterated this point, and went on to say that he personally would not mandate public mask wearing if given the authority.

Another issue of which he says is of concern is public safety. According to Cunningham, he wants to address the issue of the revolving door, which he explained as an issue of citizens being let out on bond after being accused of serious crimes.

Cunningham says that the most important quality for an individual in his position to have is the ability to serve, which he believes he is able to provide with his knowledge of utilities from his time spent as Key Account Power Consultant for CenterPoint Energy.

With his background, Cunningham states that he is confident that he will be able to serve the community with an understanding of how energy works to better protect against severe weather conditions, such as the winter storm faced this February.

According to Republican candidate Cunningham, he is still getting funding for his campaign together, and has already received overwhelming support from the local community. At the time of this announcement, a Democratic candidate has yet to announce.
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (AP)  A Maryland man was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison for sex crimes against a minor, prosecutors said.

Timothy Ford, 40, of Columbia was sentenced to 25 years with all but nine years suspended for a 2019 incident in Columbia, the Howard County States Attorney Office announced in a news release. Ford pleaded guilty last year to human trafficking and filming a child engaged in a sex act.
GENEVA (AP)  The World Health Organization said Friday that its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is running unopposed for a second five-year term.

Tedros, the first African to head the U.N. health agency, has overseen its complex response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has overshadowed his tenure. Trained in biology and infectious diseases with a doctorate in community health, he is also the first WHO chief who is not a medical doctor.

The U.N. health agency made the announcement after the deadline for candidacies for the next term expired last month and Tedros name was proposed by 28 countries: more than half of them European, and three African: Botswana, Kenya and Rwanda. The formal selection of the next director-general takes place at the WHOs next assembly in May.

A former health and foreign minister from Ethiopia, Tedros  who goes by his first name  received a strong endorsement when France and Germany announced their support for him shortly after the nomination period closed.

Tedros has repeatedly aired concerns about the deadly Tigray conflict in Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian government shunned his candidacy over his criticism and positions in the former Tigrayan-dominated national government. It has accused him of supporting the rival Tigray forces.

Tedros has been a leading voice urging wealthy countries with large COVID-19 vaccine stockpiles and the big pharmaceutical companies that make them to do more to improve access to the jabs in the developing world  a call that has largely gone unheeded. He has also called for a moratorium on booster shots so that more doses could be made available quicker to poorer countries, which has also mostly fallen on deaf ears.

WHO says more than 60 countries are now administering about 1 million booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines each day  about three times the number of first-time vaccine doses being administered daily in lower-income countries.

In recent weeks, WHO has faced mounting pressure over revelations in September from two independent experts who found that 21 WHO workers were accused of sexually abusing people during the agency's response to an Ebola outbreak in Congo between 2018 and 2010, out of a total of 83 alleged perpetrators connected to the mission.

The Code Blue Campaign, which campaigns to end sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. peacekeepers and other staffers, called that the largest finding ever of sexual abuse in a single U.N. initiative in a single country or time period.

On Thursday, the European Union's executive Commission said it temporarily suspended payments that fund WHO humanitarian operations in Congo in the wake of the revelations  a move that could affect millions of euros used for programs like emergency response, polio eradication and pandemic response in the African country.

The reported facts are shocking, a Commission statement said. Our thoughts are with the victims and survivors of these misdeeds and the priority is to ensure that they are fully supported.

___

Follow all AP stories on the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.
Theres an old saying, Politics makes strange bedfellows. Thats certainly the case in The Woodlands, where voters in this master-planned community of nearly 120,000 will go to the polls on Tuesday and decide whether to retain their status as as the states only township or incorporate and become a city.

The question Im hearing over and over from residents and business owners alike is Why? said Montgomery County Commissioner Precinct 3 James Noack, a conservative who lives in The Woodlands and opposes incorporation, on Friday. Why would we want to do this in the first place? Who wants this?

Supporters of the ballot measure include several township board members, including longtime chairman Gordy Bunch, as well as the Texas Patriots PAC, the tea party organization for Montgomery County and north Houston.

An array of business, political, and civic leaders have come out against the measure, including Noack; The Woodlands Chamber of Commerce; the Montgomery County Hispanic Chamber; the Howard Hughes Corp., which acquired The Woodlands Development Co. a decade ago and owns much of the undeveloped land; U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, a Republican; and Georges Coffee Club, a civic group named for George Mitchell, the billionaire, oilman and visionary who founded the township in 1974.

The civic group noted that it doesnt make public statements on political matters, but had to make an exception in this case.

In this unique situation the vast majority of club members feel so strongly that there simply are too many unanswered questions at this point in time to support incorporation now, the members explained in a statement.

Caught in between these unusual coalitions are the voters of The Woodlands, who have been blanketed with slickly produced flyers arguing against incorporation. Many remain confused by the question and the fact that its being posed right now  in an off-year, during a pandemic, and in response to a problem that may exist, but hasnt been specified, exactly.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Should The Woodlands become a city? Voters will decide on Nov. 2

Incorporation held a lot of appeal for years to township residents, especially after the city of Houston swooped in and annexed Kingwood 25 years ago. The reasoning was that incorporation would serve as a bulwark against annexation by Houston, 30 miles to the south, or Conroe, to the north. But that threat has been allayed by agreements with both of those cities, as well as laws passed by the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature that basically say no community  read, The Woodlands  can be annexed without the consent of its residents.

Proponents of incorporation say that annexation is not the issue anyway. They argue this is about local control in the face of ongoing development that could fundamentally change the nature of the community, which the Chronicle described in 2014 as a meticulously planned community nestled in pine trees that's part well-kept neighborhoods and part gleaming skyscrapers. It boasts an outdoor performing arts center, a thriving Market Street shopping district and man-made canals.

The Township cant address these threats, but the City of The Woodlands can, says the Texas Patriots PAC on its website.

And, in its telling, incorporation wouldnt cost residents a thing: rather than contracting with Montgomery and Harris Counties for core services such as law enforcement and road maintenance, the new city could simply pay for those things itself, without higher taxes (a companion ballot measure would set a maximum property tax rate of 22.31 cents per $100 of valuation).

If Woodlands residents vote to become a city, taxes wont go up and government wont grow, asserted Dr. Shelly Sekula-Gibbs, a township board member who supports incorporation, in a September letter to residents. She also said the move would give residents more control over roads and development and prevent clear-cutting of trees.

COVID-19 funds have also become an issue. In June, the township board hired a $50,000-a-month lobbying firm, based in Washington, D.C., to make the case for federal COVID relief funds  after failing to secure them from the county or the state. Bunch has argued that The Woodlands, given its population, would be due some $30 million under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, if it were a city.

Since The Woodlands is not currently a city, its hard to assess the claims made by proponents. But by the same token, theres reason to be skeptical of the rosy picture theyre painting

Township directors are elected, just as mayors and city council members are in regular cities. And they do have the capacity to rein in development, in theory. If theyve instead issued variances that have enabled overbuilding, thats a reason to oust them, not scrap the townships governing structure.

And consider the COVID funds. Bunchs argument is reasonable enough, but at odds with other recent developments in the region. Houston is a city, for example, and we arent getting a nickel of federal Harvey relief funds under the plan put forth by the states General Land Office. Seriously, not even a cent! Just because youre a city, in other words, doesnt mean you always get your way  especially with a Texas governor and legislature eager to wrest control of decisions from local leaders.

Its easy to see why so many disparate groups have come out against incorporation. The process would be disruptive. It would likely involve new costs for residents, depending on which study you believe  and in the event of dueling studies, taxpayers should keep in mind that nothing is free. And once incorporated, The Woodlands would remain a city, rather than the unique township it is today.

The Chamber considers that this is not the best time for The Woodlands to take a step from which it will not then be able to retreat, the Montgomery County Hispanic Chamber said in a statement.

Incorporation advocates shouldnt feel overly optimistic heading into Tuesdays election, given that many voters are unclear on what the benefits of incorporating would be.

And voters who are understandably confused by the case for incorporation should consider that to be a mark against the idea. As it stands, advocates for incorporation havent made a clear case. If thats indeed the best path forward for The Woodlands, its an idea that should be put to voters during an even-numbered election year, after a thorough debate.

erica.grieder@chron.com
The 5-year-old boy missed 12 days of school as the 2019 school year began, and his Alief campus left his mother four voicemails.

Finally, someone from the Alief Independent School District elementary school spoke to the mom during a home visit on the 12th day of absence, records show, but the boy would again miss class 10 days later.

The attempts two years ago to get the child back into a classroom would be one of the last before the boy and his three older brothers seemingly fell off the radar. Until last weekend.

Last Sunday afternoon, the eldest called 911 with an emergency: His 8-year-old brother had been dead for nearly a year in a west Harris County apartment that the siblings were forbidden from leaving. Sheriffs deputies found soiled carpets, no furniture or power and roaches crawling on the skeletal remains.

The scant details that have emerged encapsulate the worst fears that child abuse advocates shared when Houston-area school districts lost touch, in some capacity, with nearly 190,000 kids during spring 2020. Classrooms became vacant as instruction turned virtual, but many kids rarely, if ever, connected.

The number of child abuse and neglect reports in both Harris County and the greater Houston region decreased about 7 percent in 2020, Department of Family and Protective Services figures show, and that decrease is likely because kids were interacting with fewer adults who often report abuse, such as teachers, pediatricians and extended family, experts say.

Here we have an extreme example of what can happen when kids fall through the cracks, said Teresa Huizar, executive director of National Childrens Alliance, an organization aimed at ending child abuse. They fell through essentially every crack that was surfaced by the pandemic.

Authorities have said the slain child, Kendrick Lee, was beaten to death by his mothers boyfriend around Thanksgiving at CityParc II at West Oaks Apartments. Both the mother, Gloria Williams, 35, and her boyfriend, Brian Coulter, 31, were arrested in connection to his death last week.

Two of the children saw the fatal beating, and Coulter allegedly abused the others, frequently, when he drank. The kids, authorities have said, were possibly locked in different parts of the apartment.

Theres been so many events that have happened in the last year or two, from the pandemic to the civil unrest to the power outages and the arctic freeze in Texas in February and to think of those children having to fend for themselves and do this all alone  and not even have the basic necessities that they need, said Estella Olguin, a spokeswoman for Harris County Resources for Children and Adults. It is unbelievable.

Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Pandemic disruptions

Under Texas law, anyone who suspects neglect or abuse must report it. Professional reporters, a designation that includes individuals who have contact with youngsters, are required to report any concerns within 48 hours.

Once reported, the department has 30 days to decide if there are threats to the safety of the children in a home. Probes of incidents posing an immediate risk to a child must be started within 24 hours while investigations of incidents that dont present an immediate risk of harm should be started within 72 hours, per agency protocol.

At the end of an investigation, protective services makes rulings on each allegation of reason to believe, ruled out, unable to complete or unable to determine.

The states Child Protective Services, which assumed custody of the three survivors last week, confirmed it had a history with the family but a spokeswoman said she could not share any information due to confidentiality laws. There was no active investigation when the children were found, and they remained in the custody of their mother, according to the agency.

While the number of abuse and neglect reports decreased from 38,672 in 2019 in Harris County to 35,797 in 2020, the number of investigations completed remained about the same from 25,695 in 2019 to 25,253 in 2020.

Although numbers of calls to the hotline slowed during the peak of the pandemic in the spring and summer of 2020, by fall of last year numbers had returned to historically average levels, spokesperson Melissa Lanford said.

Any interruption to normal life  such as a hurricane or pandemic  can remove kids from places where abuse may be observed or where they may be comfortable confiding in an adult, said Kerry McCracken, executive director of The Childrens Assessment Center, an organization that aims to help heal child victims of sexual abuse.

When life is disrupted and they dont have access to those trusted adults, McCracken said, they dont have the opportunity to report.

The Harris County Sheriffs Office, the main investigating entity, did not receive any reports of foul odors or other suspicious activity regarding the unit, either.

Neighbors, however, said they had complained to the front office of the apartment complex about an overwhelming odor that plagued them for weeks. One of them, Titania Shorter, who had scrubbed her front porch with Clorox and searched the bushes for any dead animals, said she never saw an employee investigate.

Tracking hard-to-reach students

As the pandemic shuttered school campuses across the world, the Texas Education Agency asked districts in May 2020 to log numbers and percentages of students who had not been in contact.

That month was the last that the boys were enrolled in Alief ISD, spokesman Craig Eichhorn said. The school attempted a home visit when the kids did return the following school year, but it was unsuccessful.

Three neighboring districts  Fort Bend and Spring Branch ISDs and Stafford Municipal School District  did not have records of the children being enrolled, spokespersons for each said. It was unclear if they may have been enrolled elsewhere.

TEA asked districts to use one of nine indicators for kids who were affected by the pandemic, ranging from engaged for the majority of remote instruction to not contactable at all. For a dashboard on its data portal, the agency used two designations  engaged and not fully engaged.

A greater percentage of younger kids were considered not fully engaged in spring 2020 in the Houston region, which includes 47 school districts in seven counties, according to the data TEA asked districts to track.

For instance, roughly 22 percent of 144,797 students in prekindergarten and kindergarten and 17 percent of 456,850 kids in grades 1 through 5 fell in that category. About 12 percent of 347,266 high school students were categorized as such.

The state also asked districts to develop strategies to locate those hard-to-reach students.

HISD officials did that by asking students what they needed to participate in school and what was occurring in their lives, be it food or wifi or technology, said William Solomon, the districts director of strategy and innovation. The district bought laptops and wifi hotspots and tried to ensure food was available through banks.

While some of the students or their guardians could be reached over the phone, the district also canvassed neighborhoods and held phone banking sessions.

And there was a sense of urgency that has continued into this school year.

We have an ethical obligation to make sure that kids have everything they need to be successful, Solomon said. Every day a kid is not in school is a day that they are losing out not only on instruction but also food, also people who care about them, also an opportunity to be in a safe space. And at the onset of the pandemic, when everybody was learning virtually, that was all any of us were talking about.

Mark Mulligan

Lost lives

Kendrick, the 8-year-old whose remains were found in the apartment, is one of several children whose alleged abuse went unnoticed during the pandemic in Texas.

Between September 2019 to August 2020, 251 children died as a result of abuse and neglect in Texas, according to an annual report from protective services. There were another 92 neglect and abuse cases that nearly resulted in fatalities, the report shows.

Samuel Olson, 5, was allegedly killed at the hands of his fathers girlfriend, 29-year-old Theresa Balboa, while quarantined together in April. His body was found June 1 in a Jasper motel room. Olson was reportedly last seen at school on April 30 and wasnt reported missing by his father until May 27.

Amari Boone, 3, was allegedly killed by foster caretakers in April 2020 in the Fort Worth area. When he was admitted to the hospital, the toddler had bleeding in his brain and several broken bones, law enforcement reported.

In Irving, police say Jeremiah Degrate Rios, 2, was beaten to death by his mothers boyfriend, 23-year-old Arturo Santiago Pena-Almanza Jr. in September. The man reportedly told investigators that he hit the child over the head several times because the boys behavior enraged him.

A few weeks after Coulter allegedly killed Kendrick, he and Williams moved out of the apartment but left the boys and the body. It remains unclear whether any relatives or friends had suspicions or concerns about the youngsters well-being.

You just wonder, said Olguin, who is not involved in the investigation, like how its possible?

alejandro.serrano@chron.com
SAN ANTONIO  Maybe Elizabeth McLaughlin thought she was on mute.

She wasnt.

Now the San Antonio family law attorney is in hot water for lashing out at state District Judge Mary Lou Alvarez during a court session held via Zoom video conferencing Thursday.

When Alvarez denied McLaughlins objection to having one of her cases assigned a visiting judge, the attorney didnt hide her displeasure.

What a bitch, McLaughlin uttered, with more than 100 Zoom participants listening in.

The remark got McLaughlin banned from Presiding Court  albeit temporarily  and marked the latest in a series of cyber blunders during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced many civil court proceedings to take place online.

McLaughlin, 69, issued a no comment via email Friday when asked about the incident.

Reached Thursday evening, Alvarez, 46, said McLaughlins comment was disturbing and hurtful. She also called it disrespectful and possibly racist, ageist and discriminatory.

Im trying to think about it from a place of grace and humanity, but she wouldnt do it to a male, white judge, Alvarez said.

She said procedure, respect and proper decorum are crucial because courts perform important work that affects peoples lives.

I have never been sworn at, said the civil court judge, who was elected to the bench in 2018 and is currently seeking re-election. I dont know very many attorneys who would use profanity and vulgarity toward the bench.

McLaughlin immediately apologized to the judge on Zoom. Alvarez, nevertheless, excused the attorney from Presiding Court on Thursday and Friday.

However, McLaughlin later asked to attend Fridays docket call, a request the judge granted.

File photo

Past disciplinary actions

McLaughlin graduated from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1976 and has been practicing in San Antonio for more than 30 years, according to her website.

The State Bar of Texas has disciplined McLaughlin several times, most recently prohibiting her from practicing law from August 1994 to July 1999. It found that she had failed to inform a client that she had withdrawn from a divorce case, resulting in the case being dismissed for want of prosecution, records show.

McLaughlin received a fully probated suspension for six months in 1993 but was allowed to continue practicing. The reasons for that suspension were unclear because the investigation results werent properly documented. Pages were missing from the Bar grievance committees report.

The committee also publicly reprimanded McLaughlin for professional misconduct in 1990 and 1992.

TEXAS TAKE: Sign up for Texas politics and policy news, curated by the Chronicle's Austin bureau

Whether the Bar will initiate a complaint over Thursdays incident remains to be seen.

Alvarez, though, has the authority to punish McLaughlin  such as holding her in contempt of court.

Im still thinking about that, the judge said. I may not be the one to decide. That may be for another court.

The range of punishments for contempt of court is a fine of up to $500, confinement in the county jail for up to six months, or both.

A Zoom proceeding is equivalent to being in the courtroom, and so the judge has the ability to control the decorum to make sure all the rules within the courtroom are followed, state District Judge Ron Rangel said Friday. He is the administrative judge over the civil and criminal district judges.

If she feels that somebody is being disruptive within the courtroom, then she has the right to act accordingly, he added.

The dispute, then the slur

During Thursdays Presiding Court proceeding, Alvarez had assigned McLaughlins case to visiting Judge Larry Noll.

McLaughlin opposed the assignment, but Alvarez overruled her objection, saying she had already objected to being assigned another visiting judge.

McLaughlin responded that opposing counsel had raised the objection to the first assignment, not her. The attorney added she was allowed her own objection  Texas code indicates each party to a case is entitled to one objection  but the judge still sent her case to Noll.

Thats when McLaughlin used the slur.

I cant, in my wildest dreams, believe that someone of her experience would do that, Alvarez said. As a member of the judiciary, I have higher expectations for people before the court.

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Its not unprecedented for judges to be cussed at in court, however.

In July, a St. Louis County, Mo., an attorney was held in criminal contempt and sentenced to a week in jail for saying (expletive) you to the judge during a hearing, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Massachusetts highest court ruled in April that a 16-year-old Black girl was wrongly jailed after calling a judge a dumb white (expletive) and other things, WCVB-TV reported.

Before Fridays Presiding Court docket, Alvarez instructed participants to maintain courtroom decorum.

Courtroom decorum is expected of everyone, but especially those who are licensed to practice law in our state, in our courts, she said.

pdanner@express-news.net

ezavala@express-news.net
Greg Abbott told us everything we needed to know about him back in 2014. He told us everything by saying nothing.

In the summer of 2014, Texas was experiencing a surge of unaccompanied Central American kids at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a move he called Operation Strong Safety, then-Gov. Rick Perry deployed 1,000 National Guard troops to the border. Perry said their mission was to deter and refer: deter unauthorized border crossings with their mere presence and refer information about such crossings to Border Patrol agents.

At the same time Perry deployed those troops, a loosely aligned coalition of armed, vigilante militia groups (including Oathkeepers and Three Percenters Club) headed for the border.

With these militias taking it upon themselves to supplement Border Patrol agents, National Guard troops and local law enforcement officials, the situation felt chaotic and dangerous.

Frustrated over the militia presence on the border, a dozen Texas congressional Democrats wrote a letter to Abbott, who was then the states attorney general as well as the 2014 Republican Party nominee for governor.

The letter asked Abbott to clarify the jurisdiction these militia groups have to patrol alongside local law enforcement and Border Patrol agents.

The congressional Democrats said they were deeply disturbed by images of armed and masked militia groups purportedly patrolling our Texas border in response to the arrival of unaccompanied children from Central America to our state.

Abbott brushed off the letter. He refused to say one negative word about the militias taking the law into their own hands. His spokeswoman, Lauren Bean, called the letter a partisan political stunt.

It could have been that Abbott lacked the moral compass to see a problem with militia marauders patrolling the borders. Just as easily, however, it could have been that Abbott was so lacking in political courage that he couldnt bring himself to alienate right-wing extremists by telling them to stand down.

Thats the way it generally goes with Abbott. In the Venn diagram of his public life, moral bankruptcy overlaps with political cowardice to the point where they become indistinguishable.

The tougher Abbott talks, the more fearful he is. With two Republican primary challengers  Don Huffines and Allen West  making the case that the governor is not sufficiently hawkish when it comes to border policy, Abbott is employing tactics that carry some of the stench of that 2014 militia uprising.

Abbotts Operation Lone Star program has employed Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers to arrest migrants at the border for criminal trespassing.

Its a bid for a state takeover of our federal immigration system, motivated by a desire to embarrass Democratic President Joe Biden.

'WREAKING HAVOC': Texas Democrats denounced Abbott's border arrests and called on the Justice Department to investigate.

As Jasper Scherer reported earlier this month for Hearst Newspapers, these trespassing arrests have overloaded the court systems of small Texas counties and resulted in migrants being stuck in jail for weeks without being charged or provided a chance for legal representation.

Abbotts border tactics have prompted 26 U.S. House Democrats, including San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro, to send a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The Oct. 29 letter said Operation Lone Star is wreaking havoc on Texas judicial system and militarizing the states border communities. It asked for federal guidance on the legality of Abbotts program.

When Perry deployed National Guard troops to the border, it was a highly controversial move. But at least Perry declined to give those troops the power to make arrests at the border.

Say this, however, for Abbotts brass-knuckles approach: It has swayed one of his most prominent conservative detractors, Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Abbott appeared on Carlsons show this past week and received gratitude from the host for Operation Lone Star.

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Abbott said Biden seeks open borders because he and his administration are truly trying to redesign the United States of America in a lawless way.

Contrary to these open-borders claims, Biden has essentially shut down this countrys asylum process by continuing his Republican predecessor Donald Trumps use of a federal public-health law (Title 42) to deny asylum seekers a chance to enter the country. Bidens one stated exception has been for unaccompanied minors.

Over the past four months, federal officials have recorded an average of more than 200,000 border-enforcement encounters per month.

If, as Abbott and others claim, Bidens policy is simply to send home the Border Patrol and let undocumented immigrants saunter into the United States whenever they choose, how do you explain all those border-enforcement encounters?

Abbott doesnt have to explain anything. He just has to keep pandering.

Gilbert Garcia is a metro columnist for the San Antonio Express-News.

ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
About 30 years ago I took a film history class in community college. As the films were shown in chronological order, we quickly came upon cinemas stickiest hairball, The Birth of a Nation.

To discuss D.W. Griffiths monument to white racism is to run aground on artistic contradiction. On the one hand, it is socially and historically reprehensible. With buffoonish and menacing Black characters played largely by white actors in blackface, and a story that celebrates white hegemony, The Birth of a Nation wants the viewer to consider how much better off wed all be if the Confederacy won the Civil War. Reprehensible.

Then again, Birth represented a quantum leap in film editing, cinematography, storytelling and most other elements of filmmaking. It was the first blockbuster. For some reason, the class instructors  there were two of them, both of them white men  chose to focus on these qualities and completely ignore the loud, clear racism. This puzzled me at the time. Yes, it was 1990, and we werent quite as sensitive to such matters then. But still. How do you teach The Birth of a Nation without discussing its violent minstrelsy?

These memories came back to me with the news of what happened this month at the University of Michigan. Bright Sheng, a respected music professor, was starting his course on how to adapt a play into an opera. To this end he decided to show Laurence Oliviers 1965 film adaptation of Shakespeares Othello. Olivier, who was nominated for an Oscar along with three of his costars, played the part in blackface, a decision that raised eyebrows even then. He looks like a Rastus or an end man in an American minstrel show, wrote Bosley Crowther, the New York Times film critic. You almost wait for him to whip a banjo out from his flowing, white garments or start banging a tambourine.

Blackface is an ugly historical remnant, and Shengs students were not pleased. They complained that Sheng hit play on the film on the first day of class without little explanation beforehand.

Im saddened by the numbness I feel when I consider professor Shengs decision and my schools response, wrote one of his students in an essay on Medium. He goes on to lament a pattern of racism and sexism at the University of Michigan music school and in classical broadly.

Sheng apologized. The students, deeming the apology insufficient, complained some more. Sheng had noted in his apology how many Black students he had mentored, which infuriated his critics, and he then apologized for mishandling the apology. Sheng, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, eventually stepped down from the class, though he continues to teach individual studios and will return to the classroom next semester.

Some have argued that Sheng was canceled, a specious if popular concept used primarily by those who defend the willfully offensive. Others would like to kick the likes of Oliviers Othello to the curb for good. Their outrage is understandable  especially in the absence of any kind of context or explanation of blackfaces problematic history. That was what puzzled me about my experience with Birth of a Nation, a far more hateful work than Othello. I can do formalism as eagerly as the next person, but youre just going to act like nothings wrong here? Maybe a mention of how The Birth of a Nation brought the Ku Klux Klan back to life? Nope. Its a masterpiece. Move along.

Ive always thought the tensions inherent to The Birth of a Nation make it all the more worth studying. What does it mean that the first blockbuster in movie history is drenched in racism? That this most popular art form took its biggest leap forward in hate? Those questions have, as it turns out, been the subject of at least three dissertations, one by Melvyn Stokes that was published as a book. All this is to say, you cant study racism unless you look it in the eye.

What would be an ideal introduction to Oliviers Othello in 2021? Ill give it a shot: Were going to look at a version of Othello that made the unwise and frankly offensive decision to use blackface. Were using this film because of its fealty to Shakespeares play, not because of Oliviers choice to present the title Moor character as a minstrel character. But we should also discuss the troubling history of blackface and race in Shakespeare. Othello is largely about fear and torment of the Other, and in subsequent years, Black actors (including Laurence Fishburne, Adrian Lester and Chiwetel Ejiofor) often play the jealous Moor. Blackface is highly demeaning, though the film industry clearly thought otherwise in the 60s: all four primary actors in Othello, including Olivier, received Oscar nominations, still the only time this has ever happened for a Shakespeare film adaptation. And if anyone is too offended to continue, we can arrange for you to do a different assignment.

Thats not being woke. Thats being thorough. Its expanding the universe within which your lesson lives.

As for students, especially those who would object to showing Othello even when properly introduced and discussed, you cant face down what disturbs you without studying it. There are people out there who disingenuously take your words out of context for political gain and ideas to fit their own beliefs. This gets harder for them when you can call them on it from a place of knowledge. That means knowing the good, the bad and the ugly, which, despite our best efforts to separate them, often coexist. So dont flinch. Dont duck. Look straight ahead. Know the enemy. Despite what opponents of Critical Race Theory would have you believe, to study history is, to a great extent, to study racism.

I feel bad for everyone involved in laffaire dOthello. It seems like a chance to learn was lost, as was a chance to teach.

Vognar is a freelance writer in Houston.
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Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

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If you have been using the Internet to make just about any online transaction, chances are you have an active digital ghost. And you need to know what to do with it.

Whenever you use the internet to socialize, shop, sell, send or receive payments, you leave behind a trail of relatively permanent information known as your digital footprint. Its like your digital ghost that describes your profile and stays active long after you stopped using an app or a website or a social media channel.

Does it sound spooky? If your private information falls into the wrong hands, it can become scary in real life.

The type of personal information could be anything like your name and address to more specific data like hospital records, tax return details or banking information. Cybercriminals might steal and sell it in the black market and you could be the next victim of identity theft.

Simply opening up an online account means a password has been created. Yet more than half (54%) of people surveyed by Kaspersky said they dont know how to check if their passwords have been leaked. This is alarming considering that data breach is one of the common ways that data theft can occur. A data breach exposes confidential, sensitive, or protected information to an unauthorized person. The files in a data breach are viewed or shared without permission. Anyone can be at risk --- from individuals to high-level enterprises and governments.

In the Philippines alone, data breaches have been reported within government agencies and big companies in the last five years.

With 4.66 billion Internet users as of early 2021, more than half of the worlds population are now connected. Our reliance on technology keeps on growing even while were functioning in the middle of a global pandemic. This shows us the need to protect the privacy of our personal data and online interactions all the more today if we want to ensure that technology will continue to play a positive and essential role in our lives, said Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.

To find out how you are keeping your digital ghost active, try to review this list of examples of online activities:

Online shopping:

Buying online from e-commerce websites

Signing up for coupons or creating an account

Downloading and using shopping apps

Registering for brand newsletters

Online banking:

Using a mobile banking app

Buying or selling stocks

Subscribing to financial publications or blogs

Opening a credit card account

Social media:

Using social media on any of your devices

Logging into other websites using your social media credentials

Connecting with friends and family

Sharing information, data, and photos with your connections

Joining a dating site or app

Reading the news:

Subscribing to an online news source

Accessing articles on a news app

Signing up for a publications newsletter

Reposting articles and information you read

Health and fitness:

Using fitness trackers

Using apps to receive healthcare

Registering your email address with a gym

Subscribing to health and fitness blogs

How to protect your digital privacy? Here are some recommendations from Kaspersky:

Use search engines to check. Enter your name into search engines, both first and last names. If any of the results show you in a negative light, contact the site administrator to see if they can remove it. You can also set up Google Alerts to keep an eye on your name. Reduce the number of information sources that mention you. If you are not comfortable with websites that share your information such as real estate sites and online white pages, contact the websites and request to remove your information. Limit the amount of data you share. Before submitting a form with your personal data to an organization, consider if its worth it. Or ask if there are other ways for you to get information or service from them without sharing your data. Double check your privacy settings on social media. Review these settings and ensure they are set to a level you are comfortable with. Avoid oversharing on social media. Avoid disclosing your phone number or email address in your social media bio. Its also a good idea to avoid liking your own bank, healthcare provider, pharmacy, etc. as this can lead cybercriminals to your critical accounts. Avoid unsafe websites. Transact with a secure website --- one that has a security certificate (a clue is when a URL begins with https:// rather than http://) and has a padlock icon to the left of the address bar. Never share any confidential information on unsecured sites, especially payment details. Be wary about using public wifi. Only send personal information when youre using a secure, private connection because you dont know who set up the public wifi network or who else might be watching. Delete old accounts. Get rid of dormant accounts to minimize your exposure to potential data breaches. Create strong passwords and use a password manager. The more complex your password is, the harder it is to crack. Use long passwords with at least 12 characters, a mix of upper and lower case letters plus symbols and numbers. Try to avoid using the same password for all your accounts and change them regularly. Keep an eye on your medical records. Practice good hygiene by reviewing your medical records periodically. Identity thieves target medical and health information not just financial data. Criminals may use your personal information to obtain medical treatment in your name. Or in the current scenario, use your COVID vaccine records to their advantage. Update your software. Cybercriminals can easily access a victims device and data by exploiting vulnerabilities in an outdated software. Make use of software with a strong privacy protection feature. Kaspersky Total Security has Private Browsing that stops a website from tracking your activities and collecting your data. It also has Anti-Phishing to protect you from fake websites that can try to steal your identity. The latest version of Kaspersky Total Security (KTS) has also been enhanced to detect the latest and most sophisticated phishing scams.

For the whole month of November, Filipino customers can enjoy up to 50% discount on Kaspersky solutions available here.
HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, today announces a new member of the G-series family and the most affordable 5G Nokia smartphone yet  the Nokia G50. It packs the signature Finnish quality for a phone that can go the distance and users can love, trust and keep for longer, all for an accessible price.

Get the superfast 5G for less

Get early dibs on the Nokia G50 exclusively on Shopee. The Nokia G50 is already available for pre-order on Shopee for only Php13,990 from November 1 to 7 only. Shopee exclusive selling dates start on November 8 and will last until November 14.

A future-ready phone thats also great for today, the Nokia G50 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 Mobile Platform and boasts two-day battery life and 18W fast-charging technology. It also packs a 48MP triple-lens camera with AI.

Aside from customer demand, we at HMD Global saw the growing 5G deployment across the country as an opportunity to bring Filipino fans a reliable technology thats better for the pocket and the planet. The Nokia G50 has a superior build quality, modern features and stunning design thats accessible at a friendly price point. It comes with software security updates so fans can use them for much longer. Through this new 5G phone, we strengthen our Love It, Trust It and Keep It philosophy, encouraging people to buy devices less frequently in line with our goal of reducing carbon footprint and countering the upgrade culture across regions. - Sancho Chak, general manager for Philippines, Hong Kong and Thailand, HMD Global

Benefit from superfast 5G for less

5G networks are expected to cover 40 percent of the worlds cellular service by 2024 and handle 25 percent of all mobile traffic data. Nokia G50 is a phone thats equipped for whats to come. Featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 MP thats designed to optimize future technology, its future-proofed with 5G for tomorrow.

A smartphone that considers the future

Whether its today or two years from now, you can count on Nokia G50 to be up to date with the latest software. Its already prepared to welcome Android 12 and beyond, so you always have access to the most modern features. The monthly security updates are guaranteed for at least three years, so your best ideas and favorite moments are protected for your complete peace of mind. Handled in a Finland-based data center your data is protected by strict European regulations with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as foundation.

Nordic excellence to see and feel

With its two-day battery life, fans can trust that the Nokia G50 will see them through even in the most demanding and busy days. Plus, with 18W fast-charging technology, users wont waste any time waiting by the outlet. For extra reassurance, the Nokia G50 also comes with one-year warranty for parts and services at no extra cost.

Staying true to its roots, the Nokia G50 has the build quality Nokia phones are known for and features a classic, timeless design. Whether youre upskilling with online videos or absorbing scenes from Planet Earth, the content will be crisp and clear on the 6.82 HD+ display.

Capture the beauty of the world in stunning detail

Featuring a 48MP triple-lens camera with AI smarts, the Nokia G50 will fully equip fans to capture lifes moments from natures wonders to times with loved ones in any lighting setup.

Besides creating breath-taking pictures, users can also personalize photos with the watermarking feature. Perfect selfie moments will not be missed, thanks to video stabilization technology that ensures steady frame shots.

Experience maximum in-ear comfort with Nokia Comfort earbuds

Nokia smartphones are best paired with the new Nokia Comfort Earbuds. They provide up to 9.5 hours of comfortable listening on one charge, allowing users to enjoy playlists or videos to their hearts content.

Thanks to the earbuds natural, ergonomic design and unique comfort rings, they can sit securely in the users ears with a soft and lightweight feel. The superbly balanced audio lets fans immerse in their favorite tracks with the highest available quality.

Trusted partnerships for best-in-class experiences

Spotify will give the Nokia G50 owners access to 70 million tracks and 2.9 million podcasts out of the box. Offering additional control over users online privacy, ExpressVPN will be available on the Nokia G50 with a 30-day free trial. Visit Spotify and ExpressVPN pages for more exciting details on these treats.

The Nokia G50 and Nokia Comfort earbuds bundle

Available in majestic Midnight Sun and stunning Ocean Blue color variants, the Nokia G50 comes in 6/128GB configuration. Exclusively on Shopee, the Nokia G50 is bundled with the Nokia Comfort earbuds for the first 100 customers only. Once the order for Nokia G50 is fulfilled, a unique code, which is valid for one-time use only, and instructions on how to claim the Nokia Comfort earbuds will be sent to the customers email. Buyers will be redirected to Nokia earbuds SKU to place the order. Upon checking out on the Shopee App, customers must enter the unique code from the email to claim the bundle for free.

Pair the future-proof Nokia G50 with the new Nokia Comfort earbuds

The clock is ticking! Pre-order the Nokia G50 now on Nokia mobile official store on Shopee.
Like most other geeks, I enjoyed William Shatner's trip into space and have to give Jeff Bezos kudos for finding an excellent way to promote space tourism. That stunt aside, though, Blue Origin's public image has been taking some hits.

The most poignant was Elon Musk's one emoji tweet (a #2 ribbon) to celebrate BO's maiden launch, but that's nothing compared to the expose that recently appeared in the Washington Post. Here's the headline:

Inside Blue Origin: Employees say toxic, dysfunctional 'bro culture' led to mistrust, low morale and delays at Jeff Bezos's space venture. 'It's condescending. It's demoralizing.' said one former top executive of conditions prompting many to leave the company.

And that was the positive part. Seriously, though, Bezos's business ventures aren't exactly known as a worker's paradises, but if there were any part of his empire where you'd think it might be fun to work it would be in a company that's basically a life-size model rocketry hobby.

But that's apparently not the case, if the Post (which Bezos owns) can be believed. The article quotes the company's former head of that Blue Origin's "culture sits on a foundation that ignores the plight of our planet, turns a blind eye to sexism, is not sufficiently attuned to safety concerns, and silences those who seek to correct wrongs."

Ouch.

Another former employee was quoted as saying: "The C-suite is out of touch with the rank-and-file pretty severely. It's very dysfunctional. It's condescending. It's demoralizing, and what happens is we can't make progress and end up with huge delays."

Double Ouch.

The Post article isn't the type of criticism that can be glossed over with the kind of "we work hard and play hard" verbiage that high tech firms tend trot out when their cultures are revealed as snake (Python?) pits.

No, the Post article is a broadside that connects bad management practice with mission failure. It's an attack that begs for a strong response. However, the best Blue Origin could come up with is this weak beer:

"In a statement to The Post, Mary Plunkett, Blue Origin's senior vice president of human resources, said the company ...has an anonymous hotline that is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week for employees, 'where any claims of this nature are registered and then investigated.' She said the company also encourages workers to contact human resources or senior leadership, ensuring that 'these conversations are strictly confidential and we listen to any claims with empathy and concern.'"

Where do I start?

Look, anybody who's been around the corporate politics block more than once knows that "anonymous" complaints are almost always recorded and, if the complaint involves a senior executive, that recording will played for that executive, who will immediately recognize the voice and punish accordingly.

Even if by some chance it's not recorded, for an "anonymous" complaint to be investigate-able it would need to contain enough information so that the offender (who will definitely be told the substance of the complaint) will know immediately who left the complaint. And again, punish accordingly.

The worst part of the Blue Origin response is the idea that having a conversation with Human Resources or "senior leadership" will result in anything other than, you guessed it, the complainer being punished accordingly.

The purpose of HR is not to represent the best interests of the employees. The purpose of HR is to prevent the company from being sued. As such, complaining to HR about being harassed is like giving your soon-to-be-ex-spouse's lawyer a detailed list of all the time you've been unfaithful.

Having a conversation with senior leadership is even dumber. There's no political upside for a senior leader do anything about such complaints. But there's a huge political upside to giving your boss a heads-up that he's got a snitch on staff. It's a real "hey, you owe me, bro!" moment.
Since 1963, The Independent has helped create a great community!

Since our founding in September of 1963, The Independent has been dedicated to giving Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol readers the news they need to be in-the-know about what's going on in the Tri-Valley region.
"The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System"

What: "The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System" a musical theater adaptation, suitable for children, based on the Scholastic book series and popular PBS series by the same name. Presented by the theater department at Greenwood High School.

Times:

10 a.m. Thursday (for school groups).

7 p.m. Friday (general admission).

2:30 p.m. Nov. 6, (general admission).

Where: D50 Performing Arts Center on the Greenwood High School campus.

Admission: $5. Buy tickets online in advance, at the Greenwood High School website: ghs.gwd50.org.


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Startled with the announcement of a sudden heart attack and the shock that came soon after, grieving fans of Kannada star gathered at Bengaluru's Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Friday evening to pay their last respects.



Twitter

Fans wanted to show up before his final rites, which will be done with full state honors, soon after his daughter arrives from the US.

Agencies

Bengaluru Commissioner of Police Kamal Pant at the stadium on Saturday said that based on the decision taken by Puneeth's family, the next stage of security arrangements would be made. His family will take a call on when the final rites will be performed.

ANI

Probably, the last rites will be done today itself.

Fans of actor Puneeth Rajkumar gadherd for to pay last respect at Kanteerva Stadium #PunithRajkumar #Kannadafilmstar pic.twitter.com/6LSC5yKLym  AIPWA@ANI (@AIPWAANI5) October 29, 2021

The actor, who died following a massive heart attack, followed his fathers footsteps- legendary south actor Dr. Rajkumar - who had himself pledged his entire family's eyes back in 1994.

45 Free Schools

26 Orphanages

16 Old age homes

19 Goshala lu

1800 Students Education

2 Eyes were Donated

Finally 1 Man

He is #PuneethRajkumar 



Puneeth has donated his eyes before death like his father 



Rest in peace sir  pic.twitter.com/S24TVQzp9F  Joshivishal (@Joshivishal9101) October 30, 2021

Dr. Rajkumar also died of a heart attack on 12 April 2006, aged 76.

A team of doctors performed the procedure within a six-hour window after his death, tweeted actor Chetan Kumar Ahimsa.

Appu Sir cared deeply about #education



He realized its importance after hosting Kannadas Who Wants to be A Millionaire? (12)



As both Right to Education & Skill Development Board ambassador, he supportd growth of rural youth



Likewise we must further quality learning for all pic.twitter.com/E6Xu4mXp4T  Chetan Kumar Ahimsa /   (@ChetanAhimsa) October 30, 2021





"While I was at the hospital to see Appu Sir, a medical group came to remove his eyes in a 6-hour window after death. Appu Sir - like Dr. Rajkumar & @NimmaShivanna - donated his eyes," the actor tweeted, urging everyone to donate, "following in their footsteps & Appu Sir's memory.

Twitter

The actor left for his heavenly abode at the age of 46. He was admitted to Vikram Hospital in Bengaluru after experiencing chest pain, where he breathed his last.

Agencies

His mortal remains were shifted to the stadium for public viewing, where many fans could be seen waiting to get one last view of their favorite actor. A heavy police force has been deployed at the stadium to control the crowd.

ANI

Bollywood and South film industry condoled actor's death. Dhanush, Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, among others, have expressed their condolences.

Apart from that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other noted politicians, including Karnataka CM Basavaraj S Bommai, Rahul Gandhi, Prakash Javdekar, and Nirmala Sitharaman, also mourned his death.

The Son of matinee idol Rajkumar was also lovingly called 'Appu' and 'Power Star' by his fans.

Puneeth was associated with the silver screen since he was a child.

The 46-year-old actor has been the lead star in 29 films since his 2002 acting debut in 'Appu, with his last release being 'Yuvarathnaa, which came out in April earlier this year.

His other notable performances include 'Raam, 'Hudugaru, and 'Anjani Putra.

(Also read: World Heart Day 2021: Here's The Difference Between Heart Attack And Cardiac Arrest)

(With inputs from ANI)
After a gap of 68 years, debt-laden national carrier Air India returned to its founders Tata Sons, ending a decades-long struggle to offload the money-losing flag carrier.

The salt-to-software conglomerate placed a winning bid of Rs 18,000 crore re-acquire the Air India airline more than half a century after it ceded control to the Centre.

JRD Tata | Tata Group

However, Air India is not the first airline to experience turbulence in its operations and fight for survival. The Indian aviation sector has been a grim space for the airlines due to a myriad of factors, including high ATF prices, low production cost, and tough competition from low-cost carriers. More than a dozen of airlines have ceased their operations over the past few decades.

These are the Indian airline companies that have ceased operations due to financial crisis in the last few decades:

1. Paramount Airways

Paramount Airways | allindiaroundup

Paramount Airways was an airline based in Chennai, India. It operated scheduled services, mainly targeting business travellers until it ceased operations in 2010. Its hub was Chennai International Airport and was the first airline in India to launch the New Generation Embraer 170/190 Family series aircraft. The airline started operations in October 2005 with the company headquartered in Madurai.

2. Vayudoot Airlines

Vayudoot ('messenger who rides on the wind') was a regional airline in India established on 20 January 1981 as a joint venture between the two state-owned carriers, Indian Airlines and Air India. The airline was headquartered at New Delhi's Safdarjung Airport. The airline was originally conceived to serve the Northeastern region of India.

Vayudoot Airlines | Facebook

The airline consistently lost money since its formation due to low occupancy. The government, struggling to find a solution to Vayudoot's continuing financial problems, considered both closure and privatisation as options as the carrier's route and fleet structure made the operation unprofitable.

3. Sahara Airlines

The airline was established on September 20, 1991, and began operations on December 3, 1993, with two Boeing 737-200 aircraft as Sahara Airlines, as part of the major Sahara India Pariwar business conglomerate. Sahara Airlines was rebranded as Air Sahara on October 2, 2000, although Sahara Airlines remains the carrier's registered name.

Sahara Airlines | Wikimedia Commons

On March 22, 2004, it became an international carrier with the start of flights from Chennai to Colombo, later expanding to London, Singapore, Maldives and Kathmandu. The uncertainty over the airline's fate caused its share of the domestic Indian air transport market to go down from approximately 11% in January 2006 to a reported 8.5% in April 2007.

Jet Airways announced its first takeover attempt on January 2006 19, offering USD $500 million in cash for the airline.

4. MDLR Airlines

MDLR Airlines | flightgloba

MDLR Airlines was an airline based in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It operated scheduled domestic services. It suspended its operations from November 5, 2009.

5. Deccan Airways Limited

Deccan Airways Limited was a commercial airline based at Begumpet Airport in the erstwhile Hyderabad State. It was owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad and Tata Airlines.

Wikipedia

In 1953 Deccan Airways Limited along with seven other airlines under the Air Corporations Act were merged to form a single domestic carrier, Indian Airlines. After this on October 10, 1953, Deccan Airways resigned its associate membership of IATA (The International Air Transport Association).

6. Darbhanga Aviation

Darbhanga Aviation | Twitter

Darbhanga Aviation was a private Indian airline started by Maharaja Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga. Darbhanga Aviation was started in 1950 and became defunct by 1962.

7. Damania Airways

Damania Airways | forums.x-plane

Damania Airways was founded in 1992 and began flying on March 10, 1993, with two Boeing 737 aircraft leased from TAP Air of Portugal. With its base in Bombay (now Mumbai), the airline had regular flights to Delhi, Calcutta, Madras, Bangalore, Goa and Indore. An additional two aircraft were leased later. In 1997 Damania Airways ceased its operations.

8. Gujarat Airways

Gujarat Airways | premaircraft.com

Gujarat Airways was a private airline headquartered in Vadodara, India that operated from 1995 to 2001. It operated a fleet of Beech 1900 aircraft on feeder routes in West and South India. The company slogan was Wings of Comfort.

9. Air Pegasus

Air Pegasus | Wikiepdia

Another one-hit wonder, the Bangalore-based Kempegowda International Airport-headquartered regional airline, Air Pegasus, suspended its operations in July 2016 just 15 months after it commenced operations in April 2015.

10. Air Costa

Air Costa | worldairlinenews

The airline was headquartered at Chennai International Airport in Vijayawada and served nine destinations from Chennai International Airport, with 32 daily flights in 2015. The regional airline company Air Costa owned by LEPL Group, ceased its operations in February 2017, until further notice. The company also cited reasons related to financial difficulties regarding the lease of the aircraft.

11. Air Carnival

Air Carnival | Wikipedia

Air Carnival is another regional domestic airline that was based out of Coimbatore International Airport. The airline initially started with charter flights back in 2013 and later transitioned to passenger operations in July 2016. The airline ceased operations in April 2017 after the airline's engineers went on a two-day strike for non-payment of dues, resulting in the grounding of its lone aircraft.

12. Jet Airways

The Indian international airline, Jet Airways, was based out of Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. The company ceased its operations in April 2019 after facing massive financial turbulence. Jet Airways was the second-largest commercial passenger airline and enjoyed a market share of 17.8% in Indian aviation before it ceased its operations.

Jet Airways | Twitter

The full-carrier airline ran into losses after lowering ticket fares to compete with India's other low-cost carriers, such as SpiceJet and IndiGo.

13. Air Mantra

The regional airline, Air Mantra that made its debut in 2012, was able to stay afloat for only eight months. It ceased operations in 2013, possibly the shorter run for an Indian airline.

Air Mantra | contactnumbers.in

The New Delhi-headquartered domestic airline was founded by Indian conglomerate Religare Group, which wanted a piece of the northern India airline market. The airline was subsequently liquidated after it shut shop citing poor bookings.

14. Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), which used to enjoy the second largest market share in Indian aviation ceased its operations in 2012. It ran aground as losses and debt kept piling on.

Kingfisher Airlines | Wikipedia

Ever since KFA started its operations in May 2005, the airline had only reported losses. The acquisition of Bangalore-based Air Deccan in 2007 made it tougher for the airline to survive. Ahead of ceasing operations entirely, it announced the shut down of its low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red in 2011, but that subsidiary was troubled since its inception.

15. Indian Airlines

Indian Airlines, or Indian, was one of the major airlines based in Delhi. The state-owned airline was formed after the merger of eight pre-Independence domestic airline companies.

Indian Airlines | Wikipedia

Indian primarily focused on domestic routes but also had several international quotes to neighbouring countries in Asia. On February 26, 2011, the company ceased operating under its own brand and was merged with Air India.
DUBAI (UAE) -- Iran's President said Wednesday that a cyberattack that paralyzed all gas stations in the Islamic Republic caused "people to be angry by creating disorder" as long lines still surrounded the pumps a day later.

Ebrahim Raisi did not claim responsibility for the attack. Many Iranians used the electronic cards issued by the government to purchase subsidized fuel at pump pumps.

They suggested, however, that he and other members of the theocracy believed anti-Iranian militants carried out an attack likely to inflame the country in the wake of the second anniversary a brutal crackdown on protests nationwide over rising gasoline prices.

Raisi stated that there should be a serious readiness in cyberwar. The enemy should not follow their ominous aims of making people's lives more difficult. Later, footage from state television showed the president visiting a central Tehran gas station.

The attack on Tuesday was also similar to one that occurred months ago and seemed to directly challenge Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Al Khamenei. As the country is under American sanctions, its economy collapses.

The state-run IRNA news agency reported Wednesday morning that another official claimed that 80% of Irans gas stations had reopened selling fuel. Associated Press journalists witnessed long lines at several Tehran gas stations. One station saw 90 cars waiting to get fuel. The price of fuel was higher than the subsidized, so those who bought it ended up paying more.

Semi-official ISNA news agency first called it a cyberattack. It said that those who tried to purchase fuel using a government-issued card instead received a message saying "cyberattack 644111."

Although ISNA did not acknowledge the significance of this number, it is associated with Khameneis hotline that answers questions about Islamic law. ISNA later deleted its reports, claiming it had also been hacked. These hacking claims can quickly be made when Iranian media outlets publish information that is offensive to the regime.

Farsi-language satellite TV channels published videos that were apparently taken by drivers in Isfahan (a major Iranian city) and showing electronic billboards reading: "Khamenei!" One said, "Where is our gas?" Another added: "Free gas at Jamaran gas station," in reference to the residence of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The use of the number 64411 mirrors an attack on Iran's railway system in July. also saw the number displayed . Check Point, an Israeli cybersecurity firm, later claimed that the attack on the train was the work of hackers who called themselves Indra after the Hindu god war.

Indra had previously targeted companies in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad has remained in power through Iran's intervention during the country's ongoing war.

In comments made by IRNA, Abolhassan Frouzabadi (secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace) linked the attack to Iran's July rail system assault. It also affected all 4,300 Iranian gas stations across the country, he said.

Firouzabadi stated that there is a chance that the attack, similar to one on the railway system in the past, was carried out from abroad.

Amir Nazemy (ex-deputy telecommunications minister) had previously tweeted that the "infrastructure system of gas stations" was an exclusive network. This raises questions about whether or not someone within Iran has access to the system and launched the cyberattack.

In a Telegram message, a previously unknown group claimed responsibility for the cyberattack that occurred late Tuesday night. It didn't provide any evidence of the attack.

Juan Andres Guerrero Saade, a researcher at cybersecurity company SentinelOne, stated that the attack seemed well planned. This suggests that a foreign intelligence agency, not an activist hacking organization, could be responsible.

Guerrero Saade stated, "It's very brazen."

Iran is home to the fourth-largest oil reserves in the world, despite decades of economic turmoil. Cheap gasoline is considered a birthright.

Iranian motorists can purchase regular gasoline at 15,000 Rial per liter through subsidies. This is 5 cents per liter or 20 cents per gallon. It costs 30,000 rials per liter after a 60-liter monthly quota. This is a total of 10 cents per liter and 41 cents per gallon. AAA reports that regular gasoline costs 89c per liter, or $3.38 per gallon in the U.S.

Iran was the target of protests in 100 cities and towns, which were triggered by rising gasoline prices. Amnesty International stated that 304 people were killed by a government crackdown and thousands were arrested by security forces. Tuesday's cyberattack occurred in the same Persian calendar month as the 2019 gasoline protests.

It also happened on Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's birthday. He was a cancer patient and fled the country just before the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Iran has been the victim of a number of cyberattacks. One of these was which leaked video footage of abuses at its Evin prison in August.

After the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to have been a joint U.S./Israeli creation, disrupted thousands Iranian centrifuges at the country's nuclear sites in late 2000s, the country disconnected large parts of its government infrastructure.

Iran, which has been long sanctioned in the West, is having difficulties getting current hardware and software. They often rely on older electronics made by China or systems that are no longer being repaired by manufacturers. This would make it easier to target potential hackers. It is common for Iran to have pirated versions of Windows or other software.

Updated Date: 29 October 2021, 08:49
When Pamela Uba was crowned Miss Ireland in September headlines both here and around the world heralded her historic victory. Irish Beauty Pageant History Made, read one, Irelands first Black Miss Ireland read many more. And while Pamelas victory is one to be celebrated there was one woman who was left feeling invisible by the headlines that she was reading and that her family was sending her.

Fionnghuala OReilly, whose dad is from Sutton in Dublin and her mother from San Francisco, was crowned Miss Universe Ireland in 2019. She was Irelands very first Black international pageant winner  something you may not know if you read recent headlines.

Fionnghuala is speaking to me on the eve of a month-long visit to Ireland, from her home in Washington DC,where she works both for NASA as a Datanaut and as one of the hosts of Mission Unstoppable, a TV science show on CBS. Were having a difficult and emotional conversation.

The reason why it is such a difficult conversation to have is because there are several layers that complicate this narrative. I wanted to talk about it publicly was because there are a lot of things here that need to be addressed. The way in which this story has spread is very problematic for a number of reasons. We are discussing pageantry and there are international fans of pageantry all over the world that follow reigning titleholders and their stories.

For many people, the first time they are introduced to these women is through their titles. In 2019, I did become the first Black woman to represent Ireland at any international pageant. That was a roller coaster of an experience. There was a lot that went on, and Ive spoken about it quite often and very openly. Because I was the first woman of colour to be able to represent Ireland in a way that weve never been able to have space for before in history, it wasnt lost on me how important that moment would be, not just for me, but for all of us.

Some people may think, well, its just a pageant competition. Whats the importance of that? The importance is, that in the history of an international competition, where we have organisations that are built on the empowerment and uplifting of women around the world, a woman of colour has never been able to represent us in any form or capacity. Were talking about yes, pageantry, but in an even larger arena. Were talking about women of colour being represented in the media in our country. I realised as a reigning titleholder, that the international community has historically viewed Ireland as a very racially homogenous country.

Fionnghuala O'Reilly representing Ireland at the Miss Universe 2019 competition.

On the night of Pamelas win, Fionnghuala immediately reached out to offer her congratulations, she was thrilled for the Mayo woman. But she woke up to a completely different feeling, one of invisibility.

Well, firstly, I want to congratulate Pamela on her win publicly, which I also did the night that she was crowned. I saw the news of her win and I posted on social media about it. I tagged her in celebration because Ive been waiting for a day like this since I won. I was excited to see that more stories are coming out. That is, in and of itself, a cause for celebration. I congratulated Pamela the night that she won, I went to sleep, and I woke up to watching what happened in the media unfold.

In the last two weeks, I have just seen my story almost effectively erased in Ireland. I have also seen it throughout the world make international news. Ive watched as my friends and family began to send me articles, one after the other, after the other, saying, Fionnghuala, have you seen this? It was mind-boggling to see how people have also reacted on social media and in comments.

Its important that this isnt portrayed as a story about two women being up against each other for a title, its much bigger than that. Its about the cancellation of somebodys story, of their existence and victory. It says a lot about Ireland as a country that the media were prepared to accept that the new Miss Ireland was the first Black pageant winner we had ever had.

I would never want this conversation to be derailed into something that pits women against each other. That is not what Im doing. Thats not what should be done here. This should be about continuing a legacy that started and is now growing. That is what this conversation should be about.

The way in which this story is being told is not factual. It is very misleading and its harmful to our communities because again, what would this mean for more women who come after us? The colour of Fionnghualas skin was called into question when she won Miss Universe Ireland in 2019. There were people who didnt think that she represented the country, that she wasnt Irish enough. Now, since the first week in September there are people saying that she wasnt the first Black pageant winner because of the colour of her skin.

I know what it feels like to have your identity questioned. In 2019, I was harassed on social media because I was viewed as not being Irish enough. I am not a fair-skinned woman. I do not have straight hair. I know what it feels like to have people come after you because of how you look and now it is happening again. This time I am being harassed on social media by people who are telling me that Im not Black enough.

Ive used every platform that I have to speak up for Black women, because that is how I identify. I am a Black woman. I have an African American mother and I have an Irish father. I have grown up knowing who I am. I know what my identity is. Its not up for debate. Im not asking for anyone else to validate my experiences because I know what they are. It is my hope though that people hold space for my experience and do not diminish me by trying to tell me who I am because I know who I am. I would never do that to another woman, but there are people who take to social media and do it to me.

Fionnghuala OReilly: "do not diminish me by trying to tell me who I am, because I know who I am"

This isnt a conversation Fionnghuala ever imagined having and she certainly didnt expect the world of pageants to be what sparked it, but she has been vocal about race in Ireland and is happy to use her platform to get people talking and understanding what inclusiveness should really look like.

I had a conversation with someone close to me and she said this may not have been a fight that you ever thought you would find yourself in. Maybe its being brought to your front doorstep because these are conversations that need to be had, especially in Ireland. I had never seen nationwide conversation about race in Ireland until 2020. That was a direct ripple effect from what happened when George Floyd was murdered.

Sometimes it does make people uncomfortable to have to talk about race because they dont want to say something thats incorrect or could be perceived in a way that they did not mean. I get that, but that does not mean that we can tiptoe around this because then well have more decades of exclusion. Right now, this narrative is very exclusionary.

Women in general are fighting for their stories to be told. When you are at the intersection of multiple identities, for many people that means that your story will be told last. That isnt right. I think Ireland is emerging into a new place where we are going to have to start confronting ourselves with the question of what inclusivity actually looks like. Ive spoken at many corporate events in Dublin. Ive spoken at Google headquarters. Ive spoken at 3 Ireland. Ive given many talks about the importance of diversity and inclusion, what that really means and what that really looks like. Its not enough just to have a policy that says, we accept everyone here.

Being Black and Irish has been a predominantly good experience for Fionnghuala. As someone without the stereotypical red hair and freckles of the movies, she loves telling people that shes Irish when shes travelling and seeing their reaction, and she equally enjoys being asked about her background when shes at home.

If Im abroad somewhere and I say, Oh yes, Im Irish people are just fascinated and interested. The international community has a very narrow idea of what they think being Irish is and what it looks like. It does get more complicated back home in Ireland, but I think overall the experience is positive,

There are many people of colour that have maybe one Irish parent and another parent from a different country. There are a lot of different ways that people of colour have emerged in Ireland. My mother has told us stories from when she was living in Ireland, before I was born, when she was the only Black person that she would see for miles, but now I can walk down the streets of Dublin and I see diversity all around me. I think sometimes just being a tall woman with big curly hair, does invite some looks, or some questions, but I think thats natural. Ive always been happy to answer and to talk about my background.

The O'Reilly family, in 1995.

Fionnghuala is home in Dublin now for a month for work commitments and to spend time with her family. Her first Insta story when she landed was of the breakfast her Granny made her (Superquinn sausages, naturally!). She loves coming home and despite feeling disappointed by what happened in the last month, holds out hope that this conversation will be the catalyst for change that we need.

In 2020, I participated in the Share the Mic Now Challenge on social media, where Black Irish women were given the opportunity to take over white Irish womens social media. I thought that was such a great experience because so many people didnt get to hear these stories. Since then Ive seen social media pages like Black and Irish emerge to share the stories of so many people and no two stories that Ive seen have been alike. I think thats something important to note, is that everyones story is going to be different. Wed all be doing ourselves a disservice if we tried to compare each other.

The fact that not many of us have heard Black Irish stories in Ireland shows that there are not enough platforms for us to be able to tell our stories.

No one should have to hear one story at a time. We should be embraced and given space to co-exist and to celebrate each other. That is something that is happening even now. Im disappointed in many organisations, but I feel that the media has failed us, both of us. Because they are setting us up to have to compete to be able to share our stories. Thats not what inclusion actually looks like. It was my hope that more women would be able to tell their stories but not to the detriment of erasing someone elses and someone elses contributions, especially in this arena because its so much larger than any one of us.

It is about the history that we have seen and the legacy that we are now building for a more inclusive culture. I have gone back and looked at a lot of interviews that Ive given and the same sources that reported me as the first Black woman to represent Ireland are now reporting stories that directly contradict that. It was disappointing and harmful not just for me, but for all of us. Because if were in 2021 and we are able to effectively marginalise women of colour and their achievements, then what does that tell us about the progress that we think that were making?
The telecoms regulator is working with Irish phone networks in examining technologies to minimise the amount of scam phone calls and text messages that have plagued the public recently.

ComReg said it is aware of moves taken by its British counterpart, following discussions with phone companies there, to introduce measures that aim to stop many of the calls.

Under the measure in Britain, networks will set up a system that will automatically block calls that are actually made from abroad, but that display as a UK number.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper said British regulator Ofcom believed that the initiative will prevent hundreds of millions of scam calls every year.

Ofcom recently found that scammers targeted nearly 45m people in the UK with fraudulent calls and texts during the summer.

A survey conducted by ComReg last July found that 75% of Irish adults had experienced a scam call in the previous month.

Commenting on developments in Britain, a ComReg statement said: ComReg notes the recent Ofcom publication with regard to nuisance communications.

ComReg is currently working closely with industry and other relevant stakeholders, taking account of market developments, technological innovations, as well initiatives in other countries in order to minimise the impact of nuisance communications, to the largest possible extent.

It said it had previously issued warnings on its website and via social media channels, including detailed dos and donts for consumers.

Given the complexity of nuisance communications, there is no one or simple intervention that will eliminate it, and it requires action across a number of sectors, together with law enforcement," the statement read.

This complements public awareness activity by public bodies such as An Garda Siochana, the Revenue Commission, the National Cyber Security Centre, and the Department of Social Protection; and by private-sector bodies such as financial institutions and mobile network operators.

It is thought that the development in Britain will support Garda efforts to encourage the industry and the regulator to agree on a similar technical response, with significant frustration on the matter inside Garda HQ.

In an interview earlier this month, the head of the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau said they were treating scam calls with urgency and were working hard with telecom companies on the matter.

We are in the middle of trying to work with the telecos and get on top of this, and I would hope the work we are doing will reduce it in the short time, said Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Cleary.

He said this was not just a law enforcement issue and that the likes of the telecoms companies, messaging platforms, need to be more involved.

The GNCCB has seen a 15-fold jump in the last year in reports of phishing and smishing cases, much of them scam calls and texts.
Michelle ONeill has hit out at the DUP for rolling back on political agreements, accusing the party of denying rights and equality.

The Sinn Fein deputy leader used her opening speech at the partys Ard Fheis to criticise the Democratic Unionists, accusing the party of provoking outrage by boycotting the North-South Ministerial Council.

Sinn Fein is holding its annual conference in north Dublin, and Stormont ministers and TDs are speaking at the scaled-back event.

Ms ONeill said the balance of power at Stormont has shifted irreversibly and the political unionist majority is gone.

Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill speaking during the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis at the Helix in Dublin (Damien Storan/PA)

The DUP roll back on political agreements, their continued denial of equality and rights is dead-end politics, she said.

It is for the people to decide the next first minister, not the DUP. Sinn Fein is aiming to return as the biggest party, not for the sake of it, but to deliver change.

This is now about those of us who want to work together to make the Assembly and Executive work, to deliver on health and education, to deliver progressive change, taking on those who want to maintain the status quo and resist that change.

Their boycott of the North-South Ministerial Council has been declared unlawful by the High Court.

Their futile stunt to provoke outrage is in vain. Harking back to a bygone era of unionist rule is a lost cause too.

The DUP has declared that a Sinn Fein first minister after the next election would give unionism a real problem.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, left, and Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill arrive for the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis (Damien Storan/PA)

Well, let me be crystal clear. The days of nationalists need not apply are gone. The days of denying abortion rights to women, to LGBT citizens, and Irish language speakers are gone.

It is for the people to decide the next first minister, not the DUP. Sinn Fein is aiming to return as the biggest party, not for the sake of it, but to deliver change.

Ms ONeill said the party will nominate a first minister and vowed to return as the largest party in Northern Ireland.

She also questioned if the British Government wants to reach an agreement with the EU on post-Brexit issues.

The Mid Ulster MLA said there is no credible alternative to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

I reminded the British Government this week that a majority in the north see the protocol as the solution to their Brexit disaster, Ms ONeill told the Ard Fheis.

Michelle ONeill during the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis (Damien Storan/PA)

Businesses in the north continue to access the single market. They want the protocol to work.

They want certainty and they want solutions. However, the new red lines set out by the British Government begs the question do they want a solution at all?

We will soon see.

The deputy leader also criticised the British Government proposals to end all prosecutions for Troubles offences.

She accused the British Government of attempting to hide its role during the Troubles.

Sinn Fein will stand with the families of all victims and lobby the EU and US in support of the Stormont House Agreement and against this universally rejected policy from Downing Street, Ms ONeill added.
Guest Column After Standing Up to Myanmar Military, What Next for ASEAN?

ASEAN leaders meet via video on the first day of the bloc's 38th summit. / Thai Foreign Ministry

It all came down to a choice between marginalization and irrelevance on the one hand and pragmatism and resilience on the other. At its 38th and 39th leaders meetings and related summits with dialogue partners, ASEAN chose to remain relevant. In an unprecedented move with far-reaching ramifications, ASEAN reduced itself to nine participating members from the normal 10, excluding Myanmar. While this bold maneuver derived from necessity rather than initiative, it provides Southeast Asias bloc of smaller states a small window of opportunity to regain its footing and revitalize its central role in promoting regional peace and stability in Asia.

ASEANs summits are prominent for engaging the major powers from outside the region in bilateral and plurilateral formats. Most important of these are the ASEAN leaders meetings with counterparts from China and the United States. The broader East Asia Summit also includes not just China and the US but also Russia, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. These ASEAN-centric dialogues are one of a kind. No other regional organization or single entity anywhere has been able to convene these kinds of meetings among world leaders.

As geopolitical tensions have intensified, driven by the China-US rivalry and competition, these ASEAN-related talks have become more problematic because the big players have been at odds on a range of issues, taking their disagreements to the ASEAN fold and threatening to force Southeast Asian member states to choose sides. At issue in this ASEAN summit season is Myanmars coup and the ensuing civil war and regional crisis.

After dithering for nearly three months, ASEAN came up with a five-point consensus whose main points were to enable an ASEAN special envoy, namely Bruneian Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof, to visit Myanmar and consult with the government and opposition for mediation and dialogue. Myanmar, headed by coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing under the State Administration Council (SAC), was also asked to allow ASEAN to provide humanitarian assistance to the country.

But Min Aung Hlaing effectively refused, and played brinkmanship with ASEAN: Either the Myanmar military strongman attends the ASEAN summits or Myanmar will not be represented. ASEAN even gave the junta leader a way out by convening a special foreign ministers meeting to offer the SAC a non-political representative. Yet the junta issued a statement insisting on its right of representation as it sees fit, rejecting ASEANs offer.

The major change from the past is that military-ruled Myanmar has become a pariah state within the region, not only around the world. When Myanmar was a global outcast in the 1990s and 2000s, ASEAN acted as insulation and intermediary between Myanmars rogue military regime and the outside world. But this time, Myanmars military, also known as the Tatmadaw, has managed to alienate itself from the regional body, which has gone out of its way to take in Myanmar as a member state and buy time and help facilitate internal reforms and reopening of the country from 2011 until last February.

In dealing with Myanmar, ASEAN had its five-point consensus, including Min Aung Hlaings concurrence, as a bargaining tool. As world leaders from democratic countries were set to pull out in view of the SACs intransigence, ASEAN faced the stark choice of keeping Myanmar in and world leaders out, or the other way around. To maintain ASEANs role and credibility, the outcome was obvious.

But sticking to its five-point consensus and sanctioning Myanmar brings up additional challenges. ASEAN should be engaging with the civilian opposition under the National Unity Government.

Doing so would apply more pressure on the SAC to come to dialogue and explore a way out of the coup crisis. It is clear that Min Aung Hlaing and the current high command must get the boot in a workable way, but also that the Tatmadaw has to be integral and fundamental to any compromise.

The NUG and its associated oppositional offshoots have shown that it has traction, taking the Tatmadaw to task on the battlefields and corridors of international diplomacy. When the United Nations credentials committee meets next month, the NUG will have a more legitimate claim on Myanmars rightful multilateral representation because of ASEANs exclusion of Min Aung Hlaing and the SAC.

The NUG is thus central to Myanmars future government. ASEANs latest move has tilted the correlation of forces and events on the ground in favor of the NUG. ASEANs Myanmar crisis can only be resolved by coming up with new modalities and ways of association.

The noninterference principle no longer holds because Myanmars armed forces shunted governing standards and political legitimacy so low that it has alienated and undermined ASEAN in the eyes of the international community.

To be sure, ASEAN is facing its most daunting fork in the road of its 54 years of existence. The coup has come on top of other internally divisive issues driven by the US-China geostrategic tussle. When the superpowers go at it with increasing intensity, ASEAN tended to be weaker and less united in the past, as evidenced in the US-Soviet confrontation during the Cold War.

This time, ASEANs fracture is a result of Chinas division of the bloc over the South China Sea dispute in the past decade. At the same time, the US and its allies are pressing hard by threatening to bypass ASEAN with anti-China cooperative vehicles such as the Quad and the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) trilateral security pact.

After regaining ground by holding summits with global leaders while keeping Myanmars armed forces at bay, ASEAN should tell the US and China to back off. It can step up pressure on China to agree to a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and tell Chinas rivals that provocative endeavors like the Quad and AUKUS bode ill for this region.

Telling off all of the major powers in equal measure with a sustained voice will enable ASEAN to recover some of its lost role and influence in organizing and promoting peace and stability in its own neighborhood.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, PhD, is professor at the Faculty of Political Science and director of its Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University.

This article first appeared in The Bangkok Post.



You may also like these stories:

54 Years on, ASEAN Looking Increasingly Ineffectual

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Myanmar Juntas Caretaker Government on Course to Fai
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This photo provided by the Hellenic Coast Guard and taken from a vessel shows a ship with migrants near the southern island of Crete, Greece, on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. The small cargo ship with about 400 migrants on board that suffered engine problems in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off the island of Crete is being led to a safe anchorage in Greece, the Greek coast guard said Friday.
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Butts County Animal Control is currently closed to the public, but Butts Mutts is still working by appointment only. They are working diligently to get dogs in foster care, if not adopted, as quickly as possibly.

We highly recommend a "Meet and Greet" for all members of the household prior to any adoption. If interested in adopting, please fill out an adoption application at buttsmutts.com. We also have volunteer fostering available through Butts Mutts, and a foster application is available on our website as well.

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Jacksonville, TX (75766)

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Betty Jean Pulley, 95, passed away November 4, 2021, at Windridge Nursing Home, Miami, Oklahoma. Betty was born September 7, 1926, at home in Riverton, Kansas, to Albert Petty Cutright and Alta Elizabeth (Newkirk). She graduated from Riverton High School Class of 1944, and attended Joplin Ju
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Living Reporter and Theatre Critic

Tim covers leisure and arts, and he is also a theater critic. He interned for the JI in 2015, and was hired in 2016. Tim graduated from UConn, Central College of McPherson, Kansas, and American Musical & Dramatic Academy. His favorite movie is "Jaws."
The Overland Park Police Department offense report just came to light, but was filed by Principal David Ewers on Nov. 8 at 1 p.m., a couple of hours after hundreds of students walked out while holding signs saying things like, "Protect the victims, not the assailants," "It's not a joke," and
The pandemic has hit the world with its unexpected wrath and a lot of lives, as well as opportunities, were lost. Apart from that, it's not easy to look for a potential partner while being locked in the four corners of the room.

The 2014 romance comedy-drama "Marriage, Not Dating" starring Yeon Woo Jin, Han Groo, Han Sun Hwa, and Jung Jin Woon is still as relevant as ever. It follows the story of a man who is allergic to relationships and a woman who is desperate to look for love.

"Marriage, Not Dating" is a great drama with a remarkable cast ensemble. If you wish to see more of them, then keep on reading!

Yeon Woo Jin

Yeon Woo Jin was a plastic surgeon who is allergic to love in "Marriage, Not Dating" but, unbeknownst to him, his roles in his new dramas were men who are deeply in love with their love interests.

After the quirky and hilarious drama ended, Yeon Woo Jin appeared in many dramas "Divorce Lawyer in Love," "Introverted Boss," "Queen for Seven Days," "Judge vs. Judge" and "Priest."

He also returned to the small screen with the horror film "The Tunnel."

Yeon Woo Jin also led the films "Revivre," "Seondal: The Man Who Sells the River," "The Table," "Unfinished," "Where There Is No One" and "The Princess and the Matchmaker."

In 2020, he starred in the OCN crime thriller drama "Search" with Jang Do Yoon, Krystal Jung, Moon Jung Hee, Yoon Park, and Lee Hyun Wook.

He recently appeared in the mystery drama "Undercover" with veterans Ji Jin Hee, Kim Hyun Joo, Jung Man Sik, and Heo Joon Ho.

Meanwhile, the actor is currently in the middle of filming his forthcoming JTBC drama "Thirty-Nine" with "Crash Landing On You" star Son Ye Jin and "Hospital Playlist" actress Jeon Mi Do. It is scheduled to be released in 2022.

Han Groo

The quirky and hopeless romantic beauty was played by award-winning star Han Groo.

After the drama ended, she made a cameo appearance in the 2015 television series "Super Daddy Yeol".

In the same year, she married her non-celebrity boyfriend in a private setting in the month of November.

Han Groo gave birth to twins in March of 2017, and since then focused on her family rather than being in the spotlight.

Han Sun Hwa

The wealthy rich and beautiful plastic surgeon who comes for Gi Tae (Yeon Woo Jin) to give him his child was played by the timeless beauty Han Sun Hwa.

With her role in "Marriage, Not Dating," she earned a nomination for Best Youth Actress at the 16th Seoul International Youth Film Festival.

After the drama ended, she appeared in several MBC dramas "Rosy Lovers," "Ice Mound" and "Radiant Office."

In 2017, she also received another huge acting role in the "School" franchise. She also made appearances in MBC's "20th Century Boy and Girl," "My Contracted Husband, Mr. Oh" and "The Great Seducer."

She was also cast in the hit dramas "Save Me 2" and "Backstreet Rookie."

In 2021, Han Sun Hwa reunited with "Marriage, Not Dating" star Yeon Woo Jin in the mystery thriller drama "Undercover".

She also made her debut on the silver screen in the same year, starring in "Street of Movies" and "Tomb of the River."

Currently, she is starring in the recently premiered TVING workplace romance comedy drama "Work Later, Drink Now" alongside Lee Sun Bin, Apink Eunji and Super Junior Siwon.

Jung Jin Woon

The famous, playful, and head-turner chef who falls for Jang Mi (Han Groo) was played by former 2AM member Jung Jin Woon, who also starred in the worldwide phenomenon musical drama "Dream High".

In 2016, two years after "Marriage, Not Dating" ended, he returned to the small screen with the JTBC romance series "Madame Antoine: The Love Therapist" with Han Ye Seul and Sung Joon.

Jung Jin Woon once again took a break from the acting scene and came back in the year 2018 with SBS TV's mystery drama "Let Me Introduce Her" alongside Nam Sang Mi, Kim Jae Won, and Jo Hyun Jae.

He also made a cameo appearance in another SBS TV drama "Still 17."

Two years later, he made his debut on the big screen with the horror film "Only I Can See."

He also participated in the Netflix sitcom "So Not Worth It". Jung Jin Woon is currently filming his upcoming horror-comedy film "Oh! My Ghost" with Ahn Seo Hyun, Lee Joo Yeon, and Jeon Soo Jin. It is slated to air in the early half of 2022.

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EUGENE, Ore. -- Many Oregon restaurant owners who applied for federal relief during the pandemic say they're still waiting.

The Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association (ORLA) is pleading with the federal government to get this money to them.

Chief Executive Officer Jason Brandt said a $28.6 billion fund was created to help local restaurants across the country stay afloat during the pandemic. He said more than 2,600 restaurants that applied for relief from the federal government did not receive any funding from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

But on the other hand, about 2,300 restaurants did get that check in the mail, Brandt said. Those who did are now reportedly in a much better situation and can head into this winter season strong.

Brandt said the money ran out and added that the reasons are simple: politics and disagreements.

"Gosh, I think it's an American staple to make sure you equitably take care of the industries that were most impacted across the board as opposed to leaving local restaurants hanging as a part of any bailout fund," Brandt said.

He said they don't have a timeline or any idea right now when they'll hear back from the federal government. But he hopes to get an answer soon.

Brandt also said any restaurant owner could apply, but more than half were denied, including NorthWest Burger co-owner Garrett Kirsch.

Kirsch told KEZI he immediately applied for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund but was rejected.

"They saw our numbers didn't decrease as much as they would like, but they aren't understanding they are paying way more in a larger location," Kirsch said.

He said right before the pandemic hit, they moved to a space three times as large as their previous location, which meant bills tripled. The pandemic certainly didn't help with that.

"It was really disappointing for us, so we're hoping that there's going to be something else, you know, out there," Kirsch said. "Even though stuff has been better, a lot better, when we have numbers of the delta increase, our numbers decrease. So, we just got through two to three really rough months."

But Brandt said he sees the light at the end of the tunnel and will keep chugging along.

"If you have made it this far, you must be really connecting with your local residents who care about your restaurant, care about you personally and your teams," Brandt said. "Just hang in there a little bit longer."

He estimates they'll need another 50 to 60 billion dollars to cover the 177,000 applicants nationally who have not received a cent.
SALEM, Ore.  State officials are asking for public input on the real-world impact of rising prescription drug prices in Oregon, the state Department of Consumer and Business Services said on Friday.

At the beginning of December, DCBS will hold its third annual public hearing on prescription drug prices. The agency set up a brief online survey for Oregonians to ask questions and share their stories about how rising drug prices have impacted them.

"Drug prices play a major role in health care decisions of Oregonians and the cost of prescription drugs have steadily increased in the past 10 years," DCBS said. "The department wants to know what questions you have about the increase in prescription drugs and how has it affected you and your family."

The hearing itself is scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8.

The Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act, passed by the Oregon legislature and signed into law in 2018, directed DCBS to set up a transparency program that accepts reports and discloses certain information from pharmaceutical companies, health insurance carriers, and consumers regarding drug prices.

Information about how to participate in the virtual hearing will be available on the DCBS drug transparency site, here.
U.S. President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi prior to a ceremony at the Chigi Palace in Rome, Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. A Group of 20 summit scheduled for this weekend in Rome is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Families of the approximately 50 people who live at the Pine Acres long-term care home run by Westbank First Nation have been told there is 'definitely' no way the closure, set for January, can be averted with a new operator taking over the facility.
The tenure of St. Joseph Catholic Academy President Patrick Moynihan has ended.

Archbishop Jerome Listecki, spiritual leader of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, sent a letter to each of the St. Joseph families Friday, which was provided to the Kenosha News.

Moynihan has been on leave since Oct. 8 while the Archdiocese investigated concerns raised by the SJCA community after Moynihan replaced former St. Joseph President and High School Principal Robert Freund, who retired at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

Listecki has appointed Father Paul Hartmann, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, as a part-time, interim president of St. Joseph, effective Monday.

Hartmann previously served as president of Waukesha Catholic Memorial High School and currently is serving as pastor of St. Monica Parish in Whitefish Bay and St. Eugene Parish in Fox Point.

Father Hartmann will work with Superintendent of Schools Kathleen Cepelka and Associate Superintendent Bruce Varick on the administrative and financial oversight of the school and serve as a pastor to the SJCA staff and families, Listecki wrote. Father Paul will also work on the reconstitution of the SJCA Board of Directors and be involved in the search process for a new school president.

When Moynihan was placed on administrative leave, meetings of the schools Academy Board of Directors also were temporarily suspended.

A trying

time

Listecki said the process has been difficult for the school to get through.

This has been a trying time for the Saint Joseph Catholic Academy family, he wrote. Not only navigating a pandemic to keep our students, faculty and staff safe, but also now the uncertainty about leadership of the school. Please know that I take these issues very seriously and am committed to seeing Catholic education in Kenosha thrive. Personnel issues are always the most difficult to work through within a community because some things should and must be kept private and confidential.

In his letter, Listecki expressed disappointment in how the situation played out among some members of the school community.

Candidly, I must admit that I have been quite disappointed to hear about the behavior of some members of the SJCA community over these past months, he said. Saint Josephs is a Catholic school and, as such, should be a model for our students, families and the entire Kenosha community.

Moving forward, I am asking everyone involved to pray and reflect upon what their role should be in building up the SJCA community, he wrote. This new beginning gives each of us the opportunity to rededicate ourselves to the mission of Catholic school education in Kenosha, each one for the benefit of all.

Petition of nearly

950

Moynihan had been tabbed to replace Freund after an extensive national search by the Board of Directors.

He previously served as president of The Haitian Project and the head of its Louverture Cleary School, a tuition-free private Catholic secondary boarding school outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for more than 20 years.

A petition was circulated earlier this fall that sought to have Moynihan replaced. As of Friday afternoon, that had been signed by 947 people.

In 2007, Moynihan was removed as president of Thomas J. Murphy High School, Everett, Wash., after just more than three months on the job. An online search showed a news article on HeraldNet.com that cited significant differences with Mr. Moynihan (over) management and leadership in the schools Board of Trustees decision to part ways.

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Jury selection starts Monday in Kenosha in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused of killing two people at a police brutality protest last year.

Rittenhouse's trial is expected to last at least two weeks. Here's a look at the key players:

THE DEFENDANT

Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, was 17 at the time of the shootings. He was an ardent police supporter before the incidents, serving as a youth cadet in the Grayslake Police Department and posting photos of himself brandishing a rifle above the caption "Blue Lives Matter." He worked part-time as a YMCA lifeguard in Lindenhurst, Illinois, before he was furloughed in March 2020.

He traveled to Kenosha, which is only about 15 miles from his home, on Aug. 25 in response to a plea on social media to protect businesses during protests over the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer two days earlier. Video from the night of the shootings shows Rittenhouse on the streets with his AR-style semiautomatic rifle and a medical kit slung over his shoulder.

"People are getting injured and our job is to protect this business," Rittenhouse told a reporter from the Daily Caller before the shootings. "And part of my job is to also help people. If there is somebody hurt, I'm running into harm's way. That's why I have my rifle."

Rittenhouse's attorneys say a man  Joseph Rosenbaum  chased the 5-foot-8, 150-pound Rittenhouse in an attempt to steal his gun, forcing Rittenhouse to fatally shoot him. Video that has surfaced so far doesn't show that shooting, but it does show Rosenbaum run toward Rittenhouse and appear to throw a plastic bag at him before shots ring out and Rosenbaum lies dying on the ground. Other video shows Rittenhouse moments later shooting and killing Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz.

Rittenhouse is white, as are the three men he shot.

Prosecutors have described Rittenhouse as a vigilante and a "chaos tourist" with a violent streak. They unsuccessfully sought to introduce a pair of videos, including one that showed Rittenhouse appearing to punch a girl who was fighting his sister a couple of months before the shootings, and another in which Rittenhouse is heard commenting that he would like to shoot some men he thought were shoplifting from a pharmacy.

As conservatives rallied to Rittenhouse as a symbol of gun rights and resistance to the sometimes damaging protests that followed George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, he has seemed at times to revel in his notoriety. He posed for photos in a Wisconsin bar with members of the far right extremist group the Proud Boys, though his attorneys say there's no evidence he was affiliated with the group before the shootings.

THE MEN RITTENHOUSE SHOT

Rosenbaum, 36, was released the day of the shootings from a Milwaukee hospital where he had been treated for a suicide attempt. It's not clear why he was on Kenosha's streets the night of the protests, though he had a fiancee who lived in the city. His background includes a conviction for sexual conduct with a minor in Arizona in 2002.

The judge denied a defense request to argue that Rosenbaum was trying to get Rittenhouse's rifle because, as a convicted sex offender, Rosenbaum couldn't legally get one on his own.

Huber, 26, of nearby Silver Lake, is seen on video swinging a skateboard at Rittenhouse before he was shot. He was known around Kenosha's skateboarding community, and his girlfriend, Hannah Gittings, said skateboarding was his life. Huber served a pair of prison stints stemming from family conflict, including choking his brother in 2012.

A great-aunt, Susan Hughes, said Huber was involved in protests because he was "very upset" that a police officer had shot Blake, who was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Grosskreutz, 27, of West Allis, about 30 miles northwest of Kenosha, has said he attended several protests following Floyd's May 2020 death. With training as a paramedic, Grosskreutz had carried medical supplies and was doing so the night of the Kenosha shootings. He was also armed with a pistol and had it in his hand when he approached Rittenhouse, who shot him in the arm.

THE JUDGE

Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder graduated from Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee in 1970 and has been on the bench since 1983. At 75, he's the longest-serving active circuit judge in Wisconsin.

Among his highest-profile cases was the 2008 homicide trial of Mark Jensen, who was accused of poisoning and smothering his wife. Jensen was convicted, but appellate courts and the state Supreme Court ruled that Schroeder had erred by admitting as evidence a letter Jensen's wife had given to a neighbor before her death in which she said that if anything happened to her, her husband was responsible. A new trial is set next year.

Schroeder has the reputation of being a stern judge who often hands down tough sentences. In 2018, he sentenced a woman convicted of shoplifting to tell the manager of any store she entered that she was on supervision for theft. Schroeder told the woman that "embarrassment does have a valuable place in deterring criminality." A state appeals court threw out the sentence.

Schroeder drew attention before Rittenhouse's trial by forbidding attorneys from referring to Rosenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz as victims  a longstanding practice in his courtroom. But he also ruled that defense attorneys could portray the three as looters, arsonists or rioters if they could prove it.

Kenosha-based defense attorney Michael Cicchini said Schroeder won't wilt under the intense attention expected for Rittenhouse's trial.

"He's protective of the right to present a defense, the right to confrontation. He's that way for all defendants, regardless of the case. The judge in my opinion is not swayed by or interested in politics," Cicchini said. "He'll apply the rules even-handedly without any influence from the media."

THE PROSECUTOR

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger, the lead prosecutor, got his law degree in 1996 from the University of Michigan. He served as a Milwaukee County prosecutor in the early 2000s and spent nine years in private practice before joining the Kenosha County district attorney's office in 2014.

He ran for district attorney in nearby Racine County as a Democrat in 2016, promising he would get tougher on heroin traffickers and help heroin users overcome their addiction to keep them out of the criminal justice system. But he lost to the Republican candidate.

Cicchini said he's worked against Binger on several cases. He called the prosecutor "skilled" and "a hard worker."

THE DEFENSE

Racine attorney Mark Richards is leading Rittenhouse's defense. He's a courtroom veteran, earning his law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1987. He served as an assistant district attorney in Racine and Kenosha counties in the late 1980s before he opened his own firm in 1990 that specializes in criminal defense.

Richards has worked on more than 100 jury trials. He forced Racine prosecutors in 1999 to drop first-degree intentional homicide charges against Kurtis King, who was accused of strangling his cellmate at the Racine Correctional Institution, after raising questions about the guards' credibility.

Paul Bucher, a former district attorney in Waukesha County and a one-time state attorney general candidate, said Richards is well known and respected in legal circles.

Associated Press writer Michael Tarm in Chicago contributed to this report.

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MOUNT PLEASANT  According to investigative reports from the Racine County Sheriffs Office, Shirley Westphal cast an absentee ballot but died on Oct. 9, 2020, 25 days before Election Day.

Should her ballot count?

Well, that depends on what state you live in.

Wisconsin is one of 13 states where the vote is not supposed to count, but according to the Sheriffs Office, Westphals death was not caught by elections officials and her ballot did count.

According to a post on the National Conference of State Legislatures website, written last year by NCSL Director of Elections and Redistricting Wendy Underhill: What happens when an eligible voter casts an absentee ballot and then passes away before Election Day? ... Do these pre-Election Day votes count? Like everything else related to elections, the answer varies from state to state. By our count, statutes in at least 13 states (Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia) direct election officials to count these ballots ...

Again by our count, 13 states go the other way and are clear that these ballots are not to be counted: Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

However, even if it is known that someone cast a ballot, then died, it can be nearly impossible to stop that vote from counting unless the person dies very soon after the ballot is mailed in and the local clerks office is notified.

Regardless of the law, it is hard to retrieve a ballot from someone who has died between casting it and Election Day, Underhill wrote. Once the absentee ballot has been verified and the ballot is removed from the envelope for counting, the ballot cant be retraced to the voter  its a secret. Catching a ballot, then, is only possible for ballots that are still in their return envelopes. How quickly do election officials get notice of deaths?

Fortunately, most statutes make it clear that these ballots are to be rejected only if the election administrators know about the death  and also that if a vote is counted that shouldnt have been, it does not invalidate the election.

UPDATED: Wolfe says she will not step down from WEC administrator position The Racine County Sheriff's Office's investigation into alleged election fraud in nursing homes has drawn international attention, despite its small scope so far.

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has been president of NCSL since summer 2019. Vos commended the Sheriffs Offices investigation and called for the administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Meagan Wolfe, to resign after details of the investigation were made public on Thursday morning.

Wolfe has refused to step down.

Who can, and cant, vote?

Westphal is one of eight people who had been living at Ridgewood Care Center last year that the RCSO alleges was taken advantage of. The Sheriffs Office reported finding family members of those eight who said their loved one either would not have wanted to vote and/or no longer had the capacity to, but still ended up casting absentee ballots filled out by Ridgewood staff in the absence of bipartisan Special Voting Deputies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter signed by five of the six commissioners of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, as well as Wolfe, the commissioners rebuked the sheriffs investigation and asserted no crimes were committed. However, the letter did note that among the allegations made by the Racine County Sheriff was that a resident deemed incompetent by a court and not permitted to vote was persuaded into voting by nursing home staff members and perhaps taken advantage of in that process.

The Commission finds it horrifying and offensive if that sort of thing happened in Racine, or anywhere in Wisconsin, Commissioner Dean Knudson was quoted as saying in the letter. Nobody should ever be coerced or otherwise influenced as part of exercising their right to vote. We would encourage and expect the full force of the law to investigate that situation and prosecute any identified offenders.

According to a complaint filed by Westphals daughter, Judy Westphal-Mitchell, a letter of incapacitation was filed in 2012 that awarded power of attorney regarding health/finance for Westphal to her daughter.

This, however, does not constitute Westphal losing her independent voting rights, regardless of the mental state she was in  according to Westphal-Mitchell, Westphal at the end of her life often would not recognize loved ones and had begun hallucinating.

A specific ruling of adjudicated incompetence needs to be approved by a judge for someones voting rights to be taken away in addition to the loss of other rights, Rachel Rodriguez, Dane County elections management specialist, said in an interview Friday.

Investigation documents from the Sheriffs Office noted that Mount Pleasant Village Clerk Stephanie Kohlhagen told an investigator that they cannot deny anyone a ballot and any determination of mental incapability would have to come from the care facility.

Sheriffs Sgt. Michael Luell, lead investigator in the RCSO case, attempted to paint the methods the care center used to determine if residents wanted to vote as dubious after the WEC voted, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, to waive the requirement that Special Voting Deputies be allowed into nursing homes to facilitate the vote.

According to the reports, Luell was told by Scott Myers, the director of the facility, that staff members would ask the residents who they voted for in the past, and following party lines, that would be their choice.

Luell replied: So if she could only recall JFK as president, Democrat would be the choice?

Myers then replied Yes, according to Luells report.

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Ketchikan, AK (99901)

Today

Cloudy with snow showers developing after midnight. Low 34F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%..

Tonight

Cloudy with snow showers developing after midnight. Low 34F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%.
PORTLAND, Ore.  A lawsuit has been filed saying the residency requirements for Oregon's assisted suicide law violate the U.S. Constitution.

Oregon was the first state to legalize medical aid in dying in 1997, when it allowed adult residents with a terminal diagnosis and prognosis of six months or less to live to end their lives by taking a lethal dose of prescribed medication. The new lawsuit is by the national advocacy organization Compassion & Choices and an Oregon Health & Science University professor of family medicine.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports experts believe the legal action could have broad implications as the first challenge in the nation to raise the question of whether such residency requirements are constitutional.

Oregon's law was the basis of the laws that have since been adopted in eight other states and Washington, DC. California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Vermont and Washington state allow aid in dying for residents of their states only.

The lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Portland on Thursday. It asks the court to prohibit Oregon officials from enforcing the residency provision of the law.

It says the residency requirement violates the Privileges and Immunities Clause in Article IV of the Constitution and the Commerce Clause in Article I.

The plaintiff in the case, Dr. Nick Gideonse, is a family practice physician and associate professor of family medicine at OHSU and a longtime supporter of medical aid in dying.

"I've been providing medical aid in dying since the early days of Oregon's law. It's profoundly beneficial to patients who have nothing left but suffering at the end of their life," Gideonse said.

Washington also allows medical aid in dying, but according to the lawsuit, Gideonse cannot offer his Washington patients medical aid in dying without risking his medical license or criminal prosecution.
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- The search continues for a man who reportedly followed a Springfield high school student for nearly eight blocks.

Sgt. Peter Kirkpatrick with Springfield police said they don't get many stalking reports from students.

"Periodically over the years we have had stalking type complaints from students. There's no pattern of it. This one's isolated," said Kirkpatrick.

MORE: Springfield student stalked on her way to school, police say

He said this year, the department had 16 reports of stalking, but most of them are related to domestic violence and involve a known suspect.

"We take all of these complaints very seriously because we don't know what the intent of this person is until we can figure out who it is," said Kirkpatrick.

A spokesperson for the Springfield School District, Jenna McCulley, said they are continuing to inform students and parents.

"In terms of supporting our students here, we have, as I understand it, the principal is sharing messaging with our students and our families just so they're aware that this was an incident," said McCulley.

Springfield High School sophomore Lillyanna said she was approached by one man while she was riding the local bus.

"I was sitting on the bus on the phone with my sister and he stopped me and he said, 'Hey, you're pretty,'" said Lillyanna. "And it was just really creepy and it was really uncomfortable because I don't know what to do in that situation."

She said it's not uncommon for her to feel uncomfortable while traveling to and from school or around town by herself.

"Like I can't look cute without being stopped by a creepy dude who's going to like try and assault me or something like that; it gets really scary," said Lillyanna.

It's instances like Lillyanna's and the other Springfield high schooler that have community members like Christina Scott trying to keep students safe.

RELATED: Christina's Closet a labor of love for Springfield's children in need

Scott is a Springfield resident who runs a food pantry that provides food, clothes and other products to kids who need them. She said she works with several high schoolers on what to do to stay safe.

"We just talked about walking in groups; the first thing you do is be loud and be seen, and then if they physically contact you, what to do next for that," said Scott.

Springfield Police said to contact the on-duty watch commander for more information at 541-726-3714.
Do you know a person or family who is in need of a new ride? Submit them here and they could win a pre-owned 2018 Chevrolet Trax LT AWD.
An Irish doctor has said pregnant women who have already had Covid should still consider gettting vaccinated.

Dr Ronan Glynn made the comments on Twitter as part of a thirteen-part informational about pregnancy, Covid-19, and vaccination.

In a post, he said, "If you have already had Covid-19 you should still consider getting the Covid-19 vaccine. Although previous infection does provide some protection, vaccination is still recommended."

Although he said "most" pregnant women infected with the virus have mild or no symptoms and don't experience serious complications, there is "increasing evidence that Covid-19 can affects your pregnancy".

There is growing evidence that pregnant women may be at increased risk of severe illness from #COVID19 compared with non-pregnant women, particularly in the third trimester.

(4/13)  Dr Ronan Glynn (@ronan_glynn) October 28, 2021

He said, "Pregnant women with Covid-19 are at higher risk of preterm birth, high blood pressure, postpartum haemorrhage and stillbirth than those who are not infected with Covid-19."

According to the doctor, the vaccines can be given "at any time in pregnancy" and that breastfeeding women can receive a vaccine without having to stop breastfeeding.

He also said those who have had laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 in the previous six months will only need one dose.
FOREST CITY, Iowa  A man accused of ramming a vehicle belonging to a Forest City police officer is pleading not guilty.

Adam Willis Purchase, 33 of Dubuque but formerly of Forest City, is charged with second-degree criminal mischief.

Court documents state that on the evening of October 3 in Forest City, Purchase deliberately struck the vehicle belonging to a local police officer because he did not like the owner of the vehicle. Investigators say the officers vehicle sustained over $3,000 in damage.

Purchase is now scheduled to stand trial beginning December 1.
HOWARD COUNTY, Iowa  Three people have been arrested while an investigation continues into stolen pickup trucks and other items.

The Howard County Sheriffs Office says it got a 911 call around 7:29 am Thursday about an attempt to steal a trailer in Elma. The caller stated they and several other vehicles were following three suspect pickups, two Chevys and one Dodge, east of Elma on gravel roads at a high rate of speed. The two Chevys got away from the caller said they kept following the Dodge.



Nathaniel Thompson Nathaniel Thompson

Eleana McDonough Eleana McDonough

Law enforcement responded on Sheriff Tim Beckman positions his squad car in the eastbound lane of 200th Street near York Avenue, with full emergency lights on, to try and stop the suspect Dodge. The pickup tried to go into the westbound lane to get around Beckmans vehicle and thats when the Sheriff ran into the pickup to get it to stop.

Authorities say the pickup was reported stolen in Fillmore County, Minnesota, and the driver was taken into custody. Jesse James Devlaeminck, 42 of Rochester, is accused of first-degree theft, reckless driving, and several traffic violations. No one was injured in this incident. The Chickasaw County Sheriffs Office, the Iowa State Patrol, and Iowa Motor Vehicle Enforcement assisted at the scene.

Then around 1:50 pm Thursday, the Howard County Sheriff's Office says received a call that one of the white Chevy pickups from the Elma incident was at the AV Express in Alta Vista. Sheriff Beckman drove toward Alta Vista to find the vehicle and the caller reported back that the pickup had left westbound out of Alta Vista towards Deerfield and back north on a gravel into Howard County.

Sheriff Beckman says he located both Chevy trucks just after 2 pm on Lincoln Ave north of B17. A high-speed chase began on 175th Street to Robin Avenue, where one truck went south and the other north. Sheriff Beckman says he went after the southbound pickup and when the pursuit reached the Chickasaw County line, the pickup drove into a harvested bean field. Sheriff Beckman followed as the pickup left the field south on Randolf Avenue. Sheriff Beckman says he lost sight of the pickup just before 2:30 pm but noticed tracks in a standing cornfield and followed them into corn that was knocked down at the intersection of Randolf Avenue & 110th Street in Chickasaw County.

The fugitive Chevy pickup was found in the field but the driver was gone. After a large-scale search of the ear, the Cresco Fire Department says it located the driver hiding in the field around 3:54 pm. Nathaniel Thompson, 36 of Mankato, MN, was arrested as was a passenger in the pickup, Eleana McDonough, 38 of Wilmar, MN. Investigators say the Chevy was reported stolen out of Mitchell County and held items that had been reported stolen earlier in the day from Elma.

The Howard County Sheriffs Office says Thompson was charged with felony eluding, first-degree theft, third-degree burglary. McDonough is facing first-degree theft and third-degree burglary charges.

Assisting with this later incident were the Chickasaw County Sheriff's Office, Mitchell County Sheriff's Office, Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office, Cresco Police Department, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Motor Vehicle Enforcement, Iowa DNR law enforcement, Howard County Emergency Management, and Cresco Fire departments drone.

An investigation is still ongoing and the Howard County Sheriffs Office says more charges are expected along with more defendants.
In this August 2019 file photo, abortion protesters attempt to hand out literature as they stand in the driveway of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Indianapolis. A federal appeals court has cleared the way for Indiana officials to start enforcing a law requiring reports from doctors if they treat women for complications arising from abortions, even though the court said the law could be struck down in the future.
Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola at the White Picket Gardens where you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, teacher, writer, actress and a collector of front porch stories. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - The Oregon Zoo will be holding its annual "Howloween" festivities this weekend.

The event provides a fun and safe setting for families to enjoy the tradition of trick-or-treating with an educational twist.

"First of all in Oregon, we never know what the weather is going to be like on Halloween night, but it's just fun to see the animals and just to participate in everything the zoo has spent so much time and effort putting together," said Cathy McElderry.

While walking the zoo paths, costumed kids can see the animals, learn about healthy habitats for wildlife, and even participate in a scavenger hunt with treat bags available at the end.

Sara Hainley and her daughter went out to the festivities last year and looked forward to doing it again.

"It's great to do it in the daytime and somewhere that's not scary," Hainley told FOX 12. "Come and do something we love and add a little extra to it."

Riley and Alyssa Anderson decided to replicate their favorite movie - Jurassic Park - with their costumes, complete with their own little raptor otherwise known as Ayla Anderson.

Working on a fun story for @fox12oregon Noon News about @OregonZoo Howloween Event and saw this adorable family. All dressed up as their favorite movie complete with little raptor, Ayla. #HALLOWEEN #costumes #JurassicWorld pic.twitter.com/mm4x4OhUMI  Debra Gil (@DebraGil) October 29, 2021

"We love coming here. We come at least twice a month, and love getting her out of the house and being outside," Alyssa Anderson said.

The Oregon Zoo asks that costumes includes a mask that covers your nose and mouth, and that's for everyone 5 years old and older. Guests will also need to buy tickets online in advance for timed-entry segments. Guests will find tickets to buy the treat bags online as well.

The Howloween event runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The minor child has been located and is with law enforcement in Elko Co Nevada. An arrest warrant has been served on the party believed to have kidnapped the minor child. Read more
The family of Alex Murdaugh's former housekeeper said on NBC's "Today" on Friday they considered the Murdaughs to be extended family and hadn't learned about the settlement awarded to them until after Murdaugh's shooting incident made headlines.

Gloria Satterfield, who spent more than two decades as the Murdaugh family housekeeper, died in 2018 in what was described as a "trip and fall accident" at the Murdaugh home, CNN has reported.

The family was initially told the woman tripped over dogs and "they thought she had a head injury because they saw blood," said Ginger Harriott Hadwin, her sister. The housekeeper spent 21 days in intensive care before she died, Hadwin said.

After Gloria's funeral, Murdaugh told the women's family he wanted "to make sure the boys are taken care of, because he loved Gloria that much," said Ginger.

But three years after her death, the Satterfield family had not seen any money from Murdaugh. "I said, I just don't think these boys are gonna get what they deserve," Satterfield's brother, Eric Harriott, Jr., told NBC News' Craig Melvin.

According to attorney Eric Bland, who represents the Satterfields, the family has received none of the $4.3 million insurance settlement awarded and they are still investigating where that money went.

"It's impossible to burn that kind of money in Hampton, South Carolina," said Bland.

According to affidavits released by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Murdaugh "coordinated with Satterfield's family to sue himself in order to seek an insurance settlement with the stated intent to give the proceeds to the Satterfield family to pay for funeral expenses and monetary compensation for Satterfield's children."

Murdaugh has been charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report for the shooting incident that left him injured. Murdaugh told authorities he conspired with a former client to kill him as part of a suicidal fraud scheme, CNN has reported.

After Murdaugh's arrest, his attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, released a statement saying he intends "to fully cooperate with this investigation, as he has with the investigation into the murder of his wife and son.

"He deeply regrets that his actions have distracted from the efforts to solve their murders," the statement said.

CNN has reached out to Murdaugh's attorneys for comment on the interview but has not heard back.

"Dateline NBC" airs more of the exclusive interview with the family tonight at 9 ET.

The-CNN-Wire

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Just days before the crucial Virginia governor's election, there appears to be a passion gap between the parties that should worry every Democrat looking at the race as a harbinger of things to come in 2022.

The top-line numbers in a new Washington Post-Schar School poll suggest that the race between former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and businessman Glenn Youngkin (R) is a toss-up. McAulliffe is at 49% to Youngkin's 48% among likely voters.

But dig into the numbers a bit and you find something concerning for Democrats.

Overall, 46% of likely voters approve of the job Joe Biden is doing as President, while 53% disapprove. Which isn't terrible -- although both Biden and McAuliffe would prefer if those numbers were reversed.

The problem becomes more apparent when you look at those who "strongly" approve of Biden's performance in office and, conversely, those who "strongly" disapprove of how he's done.

Biden's strong approval number is 21%. His strong disapproval number? 44%. That's more than double because, well, math.

What those "strong" numbers generally indicate is base engagement and enthusiasm. And what those numbers, in particular, tell us is that Republicans are far more motivated at the moment than Democrats.

That base enthusiasm disparity may not be determinative on Tuesday. Virginia is now a state that clearly leans toward Democrats in anything close to a neutral political environment, and that makes McAuliffe a narrow favorite ahead of the vote.

But if Youngkin wins, the passion delta between the GOP base and the Democratic one will likely be the reason.

The Point : In a close race, energy and enthusiasm matter. And it appears Republicans have the edge on that front headed into the final weekend of the contest.

The-CNN-Wire

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GREAT FALLS, Mont. - On Oct. 29 and 30 farmers and ranchers from across Montana are gathering in the Electric City to talk about different needs and concerns in agriculture.

While it might seem like just another convention for just another organization, it's a place where members can come together and bond over the struggles only a farmer can understand.

This is the first time they've been able to meet in person since 2019 as COVID-19 made them take the convention virtual in 2020.

This year they are talking about local processing, public markets, food safety, how to handle food safely and so much more.

Farmers are only a small part of the population, but everyone eats.

Walter Schweitzer, president of Montana Farmers Union (MFU) tells Montana Right Now up until last year not a lot of people were paying attention to where their food came from.

"It's up to us to organize, to work together, to advocate on behalf of family farms. And that's what we're doing here today, that's what we'll be doing tomorrow. We're going to be talking about and strategizing on how we can move forward," said Schweitzer.

He is helping Montana get back to processing more locally, and one way MFU is working to do that is with a brand new mobile harvesting unit.

The new unit is a way to help connect the producers to consumers in the Hi-Line area.

"If we're going to have more local processing, we're going to need more processing plants here locally," said Schweitzer.

This unit puts producers in control of their own destiny by cutting out the middle man so they can keep the total value of the livestock they produce.

"There's never been more money in the meat business. It's just that never so little of it has gone back to the people who actually do the producing - the farmer and the rancher," said Mike Callicrate, owner of Ranch Foods Direct.

"They can now use this facility to process their livestock," said Schweitzer.

Both Schweitzer and Callicrate say this mobile harvest unit is a start to fighting back against big meatpacking plants.

"One hundred years ago we passed laws that said big meatpacking can not exploit producers and consumers. And yet we have not enforced those laws. Hopefully, that can happen soon. But in the meantime lets just make our own way to the consumer, lets connect that rancher to the consumer more directly. And this is the key to getting that done," said Callicrate.

MFU is also teaming up with Montana State University-Northern to help students get the proper training they need in the agricultural industry.

"We're going to create a meat processors curriculum that's going to train the butchers we're doing to need if we open more butcher shops, it's going to train the inspectors that we're doing to need if we expand our processing in the state of Montana, it's also going to train entrepreneurs that might open up a butcher shop in your community," said Schweitzer.

This unit has the ability to process about 4,000 animals a year and will help create jobs in the community.

"It's going to be in Havre right now, but our goal is to have one of these processing units in every community in Montana," said Schweitzer.

Initial operations will focus on beef, but the unit also has the ability to process hogs, sheep, and bison.
GREAT FALLS, Mont. - The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center works to educate the community on Lewis and Clarks journey to the west and for a few days a week, they have a paw-some educator.

Bark Ranger Sally is a Newfoundland dog who is helping bring history to life for the community.

She represents the dog Lewis and Clark brought on their journey to find a water route to the pacific ocean.

"Sometimes when people come in they aren't really familiar with the story of Lewis and Clark. And she helps demonstrate how dangerous of a journey it was for people who had no experience in the terrain or climate out here," said Katya Irwin, forest service employee, and Sally's owner.

Sally is assisting with historic interpretation and will come right up to you as you enter the door.

"The dog is the hook. It gets a hold of kids who may be thinking 'oh another boring trip to the museum' and then suddenly things change when they see that dog," said Duane Buchi, education coordinator at the interpretive center.

In the 1800s, most Anglo-Americans didn't know how to swim which is why Lewis and Clark brought a dog named Seaman.

"Seaman was there as a water rescue dog. It kind of sparks the conversation of 'Oh, this was actually a really dangerous journey. So, they brought this animal as a working dog to make sure people weren't injured," said Irwin.

Newfoundland's have webbed toes and long fur to help them stay afloat.

"If you can take dates and events and be able to connect them and let people kind of get a chance to be in the moment and imagine what it might have been like and how they might have responded to some of the challenges that Lewis and Clark and the core of discovery went through. It must of been pretty enjoyable to the last moments when you go to bed to have Seaman around to have a Newfie around to say hello to and come around and check on everybody," said Buchi.

Sally isn't just educating the public, she is also helping brighten employees days.

"It's another thing I get to look forward to coming to work every day. I get to see Sally," said Buchi.

"She's just a gentle giant," said Irwin.

Sally will only be at the interpretive center until Nov. 18.

You can see her every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and give her a good scratch behind the ears.

Buchi tells Montana Right Now they do have another volunteer with a Newfoundland that you can come to see on Wednesday and Saturdays - the pup's name is Butler.
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August was a tough month for Charles Mullenger, a former U.S. Army captain and St. Louis native. The news that Kabul fell to Taliban forces in Afghanistan triggered feelings of defeat and grief  feelings he knows many U.S. military veterans who served in Afghanistan have felt lately.

We spent 20 years attempting to build up the Afghan national army and Afghan national/local police, and other security forces, so that they could maintain a solid nation-state moving forward, and it appears now that all [of the evidence] of that hard work vanished when you see the Taliban come in and take over that quickly, Mullenger says.

Mullenger entered active military duty in 2010 and spent about a year in 2012 and 2013 serving in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2015, he was honorably discharged and has since become president and CEO of Ethos Preparedness, an emergency equipment designer and manufacturer based in the metro area.

Although its been a couple of months since U.S. troops officially pulled out of Afghanistan and the devastating takeover that followed, Mullenger explains that bleak emotions still weigh heavily on former and current service members and have spurred some individuals, like him, to take action domestically by pivoting their attentions toward Afghan refugees. And as thousands of Afghans are planned to arrive in the U.S. this fall, the long journey of resettling has just begun.

This summer, the Emergency Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021, authorized 8,000 additional Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans, according to the U.S. Department of State.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  U.S. governors want a seat at the table as international leaders prepare to gather in Scotland at a critical moment for global efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions and slow the planet's temperature rise.

At least a half dozen state governors  all Democrats  plan to attend parts of the two-week United Nations' climate change conference in Glasgow, known as COP26. Though states aren't official parties to talks, governors hold significant sway over the United States' approach to tackling climate change by setting targets for reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to renewable energy.

Take California, where Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to halt the sale of new gas-powered cars in the state by 2035, a move aimed at accelerating the nation's transition to electric vehicles. Or Washington, where Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee backed legislation requiring the state's electricity be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Governors can do a lot," said Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institute. When they're talking to people on the sidelines and sharing policies and ideas and helping to demonstrate the commitment of the U.S. as a whole, there's quite a bit that they can do."

Governors slated to attend are Inslee, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Hawaii Gov. David Ige, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. All six governors are part of the U.S. Climate Alliance, an effort started by Inslee and former Govs. Jerry Brown of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York in 2017 as the Trump administration backed away from U.S. climate goals. The alliance plans to announce ambitious" new climate commitments in Scotland, though it hasn't shared specifics.

Newsom announced Friday he would participate virtually due to unspecified family obligations. California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis will instead lead the state's delegation, which includes more than a dozen lawmakers and top administration officials.

All eyes will be on Glasgow, with the world asking the question: What are we doing to do about (climate change)? Kounalakis said. And California has answers.

Other states sending officials include Maryland and Massachusetts, which have Republican governors.

Few U.S. states are as influential as California, which is home to nearly 40 million people and would be the world's fifth-largest economy if it were its own nation. It's led the nation in vehicle emissions standards, was the first state to launch a carbon pollution credit program known as cap-and-trade and has set some of the nation's most ambitious goals on reducing emissions.

It's the nation's seventh-largest oil producing state, though Newsom officials say the state has six times as many jobs in clean energy as it does in the oil industry. Newsom has made strides to lower demand and eventually end production, but some environmental groups say he's got to act significantly faster.

Several other state leaders heading to Glasgow also come from places that rely on oil and gas production as a key piece of the economy. New Mexico's Lujan Grisham travels to the climate conference as she juggles competing pressures from environmental activists and the fossil fuel industry while running for reelection in 2022.

New Mexico is one of the top oil states. Amid surging oil output, Lujan Grisham has pushed to rein in leaks and emissions of excess natural gas by the industry and signed legislation that mandates and incentivizes New Mexicos own transition to zero-emissions electricity by 2045.

We  as a state, as a nation, as a planet  must go further by pursuing bold, equitable and just climate solutions. I am looking forward to this significant opportunity for collaboration and action at the global level, Lujan Grisham said in a recent statement.

In March, Lujan Grisham wrote President Joe Biden, asking to exempt New Mexico from an executive order halting gas and oil production on federal land. Oil field royalties, taxes and lease sales account for more than one-quarter of the state's general fund budget, underwriting spending on public schools, roads and public safety.

Edwards of Louisiana, a state that's suffered significant flooding and damage from hurricanes, plans to promote his state as a hub for clean energy projects. He's set a goal to cut the state's net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, though his administration is still putting together a strategy document for reaching that goal.

No state in our nation is more affected by climate change than Louisiana, but its also true that no state is better positioned to be part of the solution to the problems facing our world," he said recently.

The governors will participate on panels through the U.S. Climate Alliance alongside members of the Biden administration. They'll also participate alongside 65 subnational governments in announcing dozens" of new commitments on Nov. 7. The panel will also focus on politics that can turbocharge greenhouse gas emissions reductions," according to an alliance press release.

Governors and mayors around the world do not believe we should rely just on our federal governments," Inslee, of Washington, said during a Thursday news conference.

It's critical for U.S. and world leaders to move from planning to implementation of aggressive climate strategies, said Katelyn Sutter, senior manager for U.S. climate at the Environmental Defense Fund.

We need policy to back up pledges to reduce emissions," she said. Thats where a state like California, and now Washington and others that have momentum moving forward, can really be impactful."

As for California, Newsom administration officials said they hope to demonstrate that tackling the climate crisis can be good for the economy and that pollution targets should be made with historically underserved communities in mind. The administration recently proposed banning new oil wells within 3,200 feet (975 meters) of homes, schools and hospitals, and Newsom has directed the state's air regulator to develop a plan to end oil production by 2045.

We can help push national governments to increase their ambition," said Lauren Sanchez, Newsoms senior adviser for climate.



This story has been corrected to say the Republican-led states sending representatives are Maryland and Massachusetts, not Maryland and North Carolina.



Associated Press writers Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, N.M., Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La., and John O'Connor in Springfield, Ill., contributed reporting.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Walworth County Sheriffs 911 Communications Center received a report of a physical fight about 2 a.m., Oct. 29 at the Vegas Club, W9031 U.S. Highway 14 in the Town of Darien, according to police.

Police said the initial dispatch reported that a person had been stabbed and another was unconscious. Upon arrival, Walworth County sheriffs deputies did not locate the stabbing victim. The person who had been knocked unconscious was treated at the scene then transported to an area hospital to be treated, according to police.

The sheriffs office contacted local emergency rooms to inform them to be on the lookout of a potential stabbing victim seeking treatment.

Police said at about 3:14 a.m., the sheriffs office was notified by an area hospital of a stabbing victim requiring medical attention.

A deputy spoke with the subject at the hospital, and it was confirmed he had been stabbed at the Vegas Club during a fight, according to police.

Police said the case is an active criminal investigation and no additional information will be released at this time.

Anyone with information about the alleged incident or who witnessed the alleged fight are asked to contact the Walworth County Sheriffs Office through Walworth County Crime Stoppers, https://www.p3tips.com/index.htm
Jury selection starts Monday in Kenosha in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused of killing two people at a police brutality protest last year.

Rittenhouse's trial is expected to last at least two weeks. Here's a look at the key players:

THE DEFENDANT

Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, was 17 at the time of the shootings. He was an ardent police supporter before the incidents, serving as a youth cadet in the Grayslake Police Department and posting photos of himself brandishing a rifle above the caption "Blue Lives Matter." He worked part-time as a YMCA lifeguard in Lindenhurst, Illinois, before he was furloughed in March 2020.

He traveled to Kenosha, which is only about 15 miles from his home, on Aug. 25 in response to a plea on social media to protect businesses during protests over the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer two days earlier. Video from the night of the shootings shows Rittenhouse on the streets with his AR-style semiautomatic rifle and a medical kit slung over his shoulder.

"People are getting injured and our job is to protect this business," Rittenhouse told a reporter from the Daily Caller before the shootings. "And part of my job is to also help people. If there is somebody hurt, I'm running into harm's way. That's why I have my rifle."

Rittenhouse's attorneys say a man  Joseph Rosenbaum  chased the 5-foot-8, 150-pound Rittenhouse in an attempt to steal his gun, forcing Rittenhouse to fatally shoot him. Video that has surfaced so far doesn't show that shooting, but it does show Rosenbaum run toward Rittenhouse and appear to throw a plastic bag at him before shots ring out and Rosenbaum lies dying on the ground. Other video shows Rittenhouse moments later shooting and killing Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz.

Rittenhouse is white, as are the three men he shot.

Prosecutors have described Rittenhouse as a vigilante and a "chaos tourist" with a violent streak. They unsuccessfully sought to introduce a pair of videos, including one that showed Rittenhouse appearing to punch a girl who was fighting his sister a couple of months before the shootings, and another in which Rittenhouse is heard commenting that he would like to shoot some men he thought were shoplifting from a pharmacy.

As conservatives rallied to Rittenhouse as a symbol of gun rights and resistance to the sometimes damaging protests that followed George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, he has seemed at times to revel in his notoriety. He posed for photos in a Wisconsin bar with members of the far right extremist group the Proud Boys, though his attorneys say there's no evidence he was affiliated with the group before the shootings.

THE MEN RITTENHOUSE SHOT

Rosenbaum, 36, was released the day of the shootings from a Milwaukee hospital where he had been treated for a suicide attempt. It's not clear why he was on Kenosha's streets the night of the protests, though he had a fiancee who lived in the city. His background includes a conviction for sexual conduct with a minor in Arizona in 2002.

The judge denied a defense request to argue that Rosenbaum was trying to get Rittenhouse's rifle because, as a convicted sex offender, Rosenbaum couldn't legally get one on his own.

Huber, 26, of nearby Silver Lake, is seen on video swinging a skateboard at Rittenhouse before he was shot. He was known around Kenosha's skateboarding community, and his girlfriend, Hannah Gittings, said skateboarding was his life. Huber served a pair of prison stints stemming from family conflict, including choking his brother in 2012.

A great-aunt, Susan Hughes, said Huber was involved in protests because he was "very upset" that a police officer had shot Blake, who was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Grosskreutz, 27, of West Allis, about 30 miles northwest of Kenosha, has said he attended several protests following Floyd's May 2020 death. With training as a paramedic, Grosskreutz had carried medical supplies and was doing so the night of the Kenosha shootings. He was also armed with a pistol and had it in his hand when he approached Rittenhouse, who shot him in the arm.

THE JUDGE

Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder graduated from Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee in 1970 and has been on the bench since 1983. At 75, he's the longest-serving active circuit judge in Wisconsin.

Among his highest-profile cases was the 2008 homicide trial of Mark Jensen, who was accused of poisoning and smothering his wife. Jensen was convicted, but appellate courts and the state Supreme Court ruled that Schroeder had erred by admitting as evidence a letter Jensen's wife had given to a neighbor before her death in which she said that if anything happened to her, her husband was responsible. A new trial is set next year.

Schroeder has the reputation of being a stern judge who often hands down tough sentences. In 2018, he sentenced a woman convicted of shoplifting to tell the manager of any store she entered that she was on supervision for theft. Schroeder told the woman that "embarrassment does have a valuable place in deterring criminality." A state appeals court threw out the sentence.

Schroeder drew attention before Rittenhouse's trial by forbidding attorneys from referring to Rosenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz as victims  a longstanding practice in his courtroom. But he also ruled that defense attorneys could portray the three as looters, arsonists or rioters if they could prove it.

Kenosha-based defense attorney Michael Cicchini said Schroeder won't wilt under the intense attention expected for Rittenhouse's trial.

"He's protective of the right to present a defense, the right to confrontation. He's that way for all defendants, regardless of the case. The judge in my opinion is not swayed by or interested in politics," Cicchini said. "He'll apply the rules even-handedly without any influence from the media."

THE PROSECUTOR

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger, the lead prosecutor, got his law degree in 1996 from the University of Michigan. He served as a Milwaukee County prosecutor in the early 2000s and spent nine years in private practice before joining the Kenosha County district attorney's office in 2014.

He ran for district attorney in nearby Racine County as a Democrat in 2016, promising he would get tougher on heroin traffickers and help heroin users overcome their addiction to keep them out of the criminal justice system. But he lost to the Republican candidate.

Cicchini said he's worked against Binger on several cases. He called the prosecutor "skilled" and "a hard worker."

THE DEFENSE

Racine attorney Mark Richards is leading Rittenhouse's defense. He's a courtroom veteran, earning his law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1987. He served as an assistant district attorney in Racine and Kenosha counties in the late 1980s before he opened his own firm in 1990 that specializes in criminal defense.

Richards has worked on more than 100 jury trials. He forced Racine prosecutors in 1999 to drop first-degree intentional homicide charges against Kurtis King, who was accused of strangling his cellmate at the Racine Correctional Institution, after raising questions about the guards' credibility.

Paul Bucher, a former district attorney in Waukesha County and a one-time state attorney general candidate, said Richards is well known and respected in legal circles.

Associated Press writer Michael Tarm in Chicago contributed to this report.
Choreographer and director Prabhu Deva on Saturday paid last respects to late actor Puneeth Rajkumar at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore. Son of legendary actor Rajkumar, Puneeth left for his heavenly abode at the age of 46 following a cardiac arrest. He was admitted to Vikram Hospital in Bengaluru, after experiencing chest pain, where he breathed his last. Late Puneeth Rajkumars Fan Dies of Heart Attack After News of Kannada Stars Demise.

His mortal remains were shifted to Sree Kanteerava Stadium for public viewing, where a large number of fans gathered to get one last view of their favourite actor. A heavy police force has also been deployed at the stadium to control the crowd. Choreographer and director Prabhu Deva also reached the stadium to pay his last respects to the 'Appu' actor. RIP Puneeth Rajkumar: Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, State Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot Pay Last Honours to Late Kannada Actor

Speaking to the media, the 48-year-old star expressed grief over the untimely demise of his late friend. "It is a very sad day. I have no words to explain this loss, I am blank right now." Prabhu Deva told that his parents were also close to the late actor and even they are unable to digest this sad news. The mortal remains of the Kannada star were shifted to Bangalore's Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Friday evening for public viewing, prior to his final rites which will be done with state honours, soon after his daughter arrives from the US.

Bangalore Commissioner of Police, Kamal Pant at the stadium, on Saturday said that on basis of the decision taken by Puneeth's family, the next stage of security arrangements will be made. His family will take a call on when the final rites will be performed. Probably, the last rites will be done today itself. The demise of Puneeth took the entire country by shock and several popular actors from Bollywood and South film industry including Dhanush, Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, among others, have expressed their condolences.

Apart from that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other noted politicians including Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai, Rahul Gandhi, Prakash Javdekar and Nirmala Sitharaman also mourned his death. Son of matinee idol Rajkumar, who was also lovingly called 'Appu' and 'Power Star' by his fans, Puneeth was associated with the silver screen since he was a child. The 46-year-old actor has been the lead star in 29 films since his 2002 acting debut in 'Appu', with his last release being 'Yuvarathnaa', which came out in April earlier this year. His other notable performances include, 'Raam', 'Hudugaru', and 'Anjani Putra'.

(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, Oct 30 (PTI) The Delhi Police has arrested a 59-year-old woman for allegedly embezzling government funds worth Rs 13.85 crore, officials said on Saturday.

The accused has been identified as Sneh Rani Gupta, a resident of Pitampura, they said.

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According to police, Dr Anoop Daga, medical superintendent of Rajender Prasad Eye Centre, AIIMS, Delhi lodged a complaint regarding embezzlement of government funds worth Rs 5 crore (raised to Rs 13.85 crore during the investigation) on account of purchase of linen items, etc.

These items were purchased on the basis of forged supply orders even as no actual supply of items took place and payment was released to the supplier firm in the name of M/s Sneh Enterprises.

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Investigation into the case revealed that the goods against which payments were released to the firm were never delivered to AIIMS in Delhi, a senior police officer said.

The account statement of the company confirmed receipt of payments for items which were never delivered. Scrutiny of the e-way bills revealed that vehicles shown as used for delivery of those goods to AIIMS never delivered the same at AIIMS on any of the dates mentioned on e-way bills, the officer said.

Scrutiny of GPS logs of the vehicles appearing on the e-way bills shows their locations out of Delhi. This firm was a supplier and in business with AIIMS for many years.

All the manual and digital records maintained at AIIMs for the purpose of such supplies revealed criminal misdeeds of the accused in connivance with staff of AIIMS, police said.

The accused secured forged supply orders in connivance with staff of AIIMS. In response to forged supply orders, the accused firm submitted only invoices, delivery challans without physical delivery of the goods, Additional Commissioner of Police (EOW) R K Singh said.

The receipt of goods was not found in the other registers of general store. Bills were raised by the staff of AIIMS and got approved without knowledge of the authorised officials, police said.

After getting these bills of sham deliveries' sanctioned, the cheated amount used to be transferred in the account of M/s Sneh Enterprises, they said.

The accused was apprehended on Friday. Gupta was the sole proprietor of M/s Sneh Enterprises, Singh said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Hyderabad, Oct 30 (PTI): Innovation platform Plug and Play Tech Center would set up its first India centre in Hyderabad.

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"The world's largest leading innovation platform Plug and Play Tech Center will be launching its centre in Hyderabad. The announcement came after their leadership team met with (Industries) Minister KTR (K T Rama Rao) in Paris," a press release from Rao's office said on Saturday.

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The leadership team from Plug and Play met with a delegation from Telangana, led by Rama Rao, at the French Senate in Paris, France, and had discussions for opening up the location in Hyderabad.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Ambition India event hosted by French Government and Business France, the release said. ?

The executives from Plug and Play announced that they would be officially launching the Plug And Play Centre in Hyderabad in the first week of December in the presence of Rama Rao and the founder and CEO of Plug And Play Saeed Amidi, it said.

In Hyderabad, Plug and Play would be focusing on building the eco system for mobility, IoT, energy, and infrastructure. The next step would be to expand to fintech and life sciences/ healthcare, it said.

Seattle-based Triangulum Labs, a venture foundry, would be partnering with Plug and Play Tech Centre in Hyderabad to run the incubation for the IoT and smart cities, the release said.

The main goals of the Plug and Play in India would be to build its best and biggest hub for startups, corporates and investors.

They also include partnering with leading corporations from India and internationally to accelerate their startup collaboration (scouting, POC's, implementations), it said.

This is a great boost to the innovation eco system in the State of Telangana which is prominently known for the T-hub, the India's largest startup incubator. We have been able to attract several major investments in the mobility sector in the recent past...," Rama Rao said.

"Innovation is the key driver for growth of this sector and we are glad that Plug And Play has chosen Hyderabad for its entry into India, 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)
Panaji (Goa) [India], October 30 (ANI): Goa Forward Party (GFP) president Vijai Sardesai, who will be meeting West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday in Goa, called for Opposition unity to end the "corrupt and communal regime" in the state.

He also urged the Opposition to take the 2022 assembly elections seriously.

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Sardesai further said that he has been rooting for a strong team to take on BJP.

"For two years I have been rooting for strong TeamGoa to take on Goa BJP. Opposition unity is critical to end this corrupt and communal regime. Let's get serious about 2022. I'll call on Mamata Banerjee with my senior party colleagues tomorrow at 10 AM on her invitation. #ChalYaFuddem!" tweeted the Goa Forward Party president on Friday.

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In April this year, the Goa Forward party had quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over differences in the "agenda of the government".

Banerjee is on a visit to Goa as her party seeks to branch out into new states.

Goa Assembly has a strength of 40 members out of which BJP currently has 17 legislators and enjoys the support of legislators from Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Vijay Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and three independents. GFP and MGP each have three MLAs.

Congress, on the other hand, has 15 MLAs in the house. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Panaji, Oct 30 (PTI) BJP Lok Sabha MP and the party's Yuva Morcha national president Tejasvi Surya on Saturday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee were visiting Goa ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls as part of "political tourism".

Also Read | Shirur Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra: Sitting MLA, Candidates For Assembly Elections 2019, Results And Winners.

He further taunted that Gandhi was visiting Goa as Thailand, also a tourism hub, was closed for the past one-and-half years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Addressing a press conference here, Surya said despite the entry of TMC and Aam Aadmi Party into the state, the people knew the ruling BJP was a "tried and tested model of politics".

"Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi are both in Goa on political tourism. I can understand Rahul Gandhi's difficulty as due to COVID-19, during the last one-and-half years, Thailand is not allowing visitors. Similarly, AAP is also here for political tourism," he said, adding that he wished the Congress leader a "happy vacation".

People have reposed their trust in the BJP twice (2012 and 2017). I can assure you none of these political tourists will be able to dent the BJP's popularity in Goa. Our party will to come to power for a third term (in 2022) here," Surya claimed.

He said the Congress has no vision or leaders or cadre at the national and state levels, while only the BJP can find an "organic leader" like (chief minister) Pramod Sawant who was not handed anything on a platter.

He said the AAP was a "non-starter" in Goa as the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had no hold outside Delhi.

As for the TMC, he said Banerjee claims her party stood for "temple, mosque and church", whereas it actually stood for "terrorism, mafia and corruption".

"The TMC is only found in hoardings in Goa. It does not have cadre or organisation or policy here. What can Banerjee, known for misrule in West Bengal, offer Goa, which is being ruled well by CM Sawant," he said.

Attacking the TMC further, Surya said the culture of Goa was about harmony and no one got killed here for their political ideology.

"There is a culture of political respect. The TMC will bring its terror driven, violence-driven political model. Every Goan should ensure such a culture doesn't land in Goa. Tourism cannot survive where there is terrorism, Surya asserted.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dharwad, October 30: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Saturday said religious conversion should stop and those who change their faith should announce it. The Sangh also said that it will welcome if any anti-conversion bill is passed.

"Conversion should be stopped and people who are converted have to announce that they have converted. There are people who get converted and do not disclose that they have converted. They take double benefits," RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said at a press conference here. Also Read | Shirur Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra: Sitting MLA, Candidates For Assembly Elections 2019, Results And Winners.

He was talking to reporters at the conclusion of the three-day Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal (ABKM) meeting of the Sangh here. Also Read | Odisha BSE 10th Result 2019 Not Today: Class 10 Board Exam Scores to Be Declared Soon Online at bseodisha.ac.in; Here's List of Website to Check Marks.

Replying to a query on the RSS's stand on anti-conversion law, Hosabale said, "Why the minorities are opposing it is an open secret. Increasing the number by any methods, fraudulent or other such methods cannot be accepted."

He added that not only the RSS but also Mahatma Gandhi and others have opposed it. According to him, there are more than 10 States which have passed anti-conversion bill in the country.

"In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress government passed a resolution. Virbhadra Singh was the Chief Minister and he passed the anti-conversion bill.

In Arunachal Pradesh, it was the Congress government who did it (passed anti-conversion bill). Gegong Apang was the Chief Minister," Hosabale claimed.

The RSS functionary said there always is a freedom for anyone to change the religion, "but what is happening today is not that." He said former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee had given a call for a national debate on this issue.

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New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) No right is absolute and it needs to be balanced with others' rights, the Delhi High Court observed Saturday, saying street vendors do have a fundamental right but when they use a public way, they impinge on someone else's right to walk.

Hearing a batch of petitions on the Street Vendors Act, 2014, a bench of justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh said hawkers should get proper places to sit and proper kiosks in every market.

Also Read | Shirur Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra: Sitting MLA, Candidates For Assembly Elections 2019, Results And Winners.

"They should have a proper licence. Then you don't have to pay 'hafta' to the police," the court said.

The court asked what was the "bottleneck" in the implementation of the Act. "What is the hesitation for the last seven years?"

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The bench said the authorities should come out with the Street Vending plan taking into consideration aspects like safety, security, hygiene, roads etc.

The authorities need to have a plan every five years but "unfortunately, there is no plan for now", it said.

"People who have been squatting should be required to disclose their assets and income. Those selling on streets have fundamental rights but no right is absolute. Even if he is an old squatter, he should give way so that the old site is allotted fairly. When you want to use a public way or a street, you are impinging on somebody else's right to walk.

"It cannot be like no one can touch you. There has to be some application of mind that what can be allowed. You have to see the density of the area, how many vends can be allowed," the bench said.

The court commenced hearing arguments on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Street Vendors Act, its implementation, certain provisions of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme, 2019 and other connected issues raised by various market associations and vendors and hawkers.

Senior advocate Sanjeev Ralli, appearing for New Delhi Traders Association, which represents shop owners and operators in the Connaught Place (CP) area, explained to the bench previous judgements on the issue and how the things have proceeded before the courts.

Ralli, along with advocate Mohit Mudgal, while referring to a previous judgment, said no hawker can defeat the rights of other citizens.

When some of the counsel tried to intervene and make submissions, the court said, "We want to first see what judgments were delivered, then in that context we want to see how the Street Vendors Act came about. We do not want to lose our focus."

"This is a dynamic situation. What we are looking at is the Act which came in 2014 and its implementation... There are more and more areas. There may be more people who may be allowed to vend. So we will have to see the Act and the scheme but firstly, the street vending plan has to come, it said, adding that, "We are not coloured by any picture or paint."

The bench remarked, "Can it be said that just because the Act is not being implemented properly so the vendors will sit wherever they want. We want proper implementation of the Act so that the problems of vendors end. They should get proper places to sit, proper kiosks in every market."

The court heard the arguments advanced by Ralli and listed the matter for further hearing on November 18.

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Bengaluru, Oct 30 (PTI) Thousands of grieving fans continue to flock the city's Kanteerava stadium on Saturday to pay their final respects to Kannada film star Puneeth Rajkumar, whose last rites is likely to be performed this evening.

Also Read | Shirur Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra: Sitting MLA, Candidates For Assembly Elections 2019, Results And Winners.

Considered as the Kannada cinema's reigning star, Puneeth, youngest of the five children of thespian and matinee idol Dr Rajkumar passed away at the age of 46, after suffering a cardiac arrest on Friday.

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Following in the footsteps of his father Rajkumar, the family has donated Puneeth's eyes.

Mortal remains of the actor, wrapped in the national tri-colour have been kept at the stadium to enable fans and well-wishers to pay their respects all day on Saturday. A steady stream of people from across the state have been pouring into the stadium since last evening.

Several film and political personalities have also paid their respects to the departed soul.

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot accompanied by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and other ministers of the state cabinet were among those who paid their respects today.

"The feeling is like losing a son of our house," a tearful elderly woman fan said.

"Our Appu (as Puneeth is fondly called by fans) might have physically gone, but he will remain with us through his acting and the impact he has left on us because of his good and friendly nature," a young fan said.

The state government has announced that Puneeth's last rites will be conducted with state honours at Dr Rajkumar Punyabhoomi in Kanteerava studio, next to his father and mother.

According to sources, Puneeth Rajkumar's daughter is abroad and is expected to reach the city by Saturday evening, following which last rites will be held, as per the family's wishes.

The mortal remains will be taken in a procession from Kanteerava stadium at about 3 pm to Kanteerava studio, where the last rites will be performed.

The late actor is survived by wife Ashwini Revanth and daughters Drithi and Vanditha.

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Chandigarh, October 30: Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday dismissed reports of backend talks with the Congress, saying the time for rapprochement is over and his decision to leave the party is final.

Singh reiterated that he will soon launch his political party and said he wanted to build "a strong collective force in the interest of Punjab". Also Read | Shirur Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra: Sitting MLA, Candidates For Assembly Elections 2019, Results And Winners.

Raveen Thukral's Tweet

Reports of backend talks with @INCIndia are incorrect. The time for rapprochement is over. The decision to part ways with party was taken after much thought and is final. I'm grateful to #SoniaGandhi ji for her support but will not stay in Congress now.': @capt_amarinder 1/2 pic.twitter.com/FbO7Toj28V  Raveen Thukral (@RT_Media_Capt) October 30, 2021

"Reports of backend talks with @INCIndia are incorrect. The time for rapprochement is over. The decision to part ways with the party was taken after much thought and is final. I'm grateful to (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi ji for her support but will not stay in Congress now," tweeted Singh's media advisor quoting the former chief minister. Also Read | Odisha BSE 10th Result 2019 Not Today: Class 10 Board Exam Scores to Be Declared Soon Online at bseodisha.ac.in; Here's List of Website to Check Marks.

Singh was reacting to some media reports which suggested that some Congress leaders are engaged in backend talks to persuade him to remain in the party.

"I will soon launch my own party and will hold talks for seat sharing with @BJP4India (BJP), breakaway Akali factions and others for the Punjab (assembly) elections in 2022 once farmers' issue is resolved. I want to build strong collective force in interest of Punjab and its farmers," Singh said.

Farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at Delhi border points against three central farm laws, which were enacted in September last year, and are demanding these be repealed.

The former chief minister on Wednesday had said he would launch his new political party as and when the Election Commission clears the name and the symbol. He had also slammed the Congress while claiming that many people from the party are in touch with him.

Punjab goes to polls early next year. Singh had earlier said that he would soon launch his own party, and that he was hopeful of a seat adjustment with the BJP provided the ongoing farmers' stir against farm laws was resolved in their interest.

He had resigned as the Punjab chief minister last month amid a bitter power tussle with Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu.

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New Delhi, Oct 30 (PTI) Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) on Saturday reported 40 per cent dip in consolidated net profit at Rs 83 crore for September quarter 2021-22 due to credit loss provisions for loans and impairment of investments.

The company logged a profit of Rs 139 crore in the year-ago period, a BSE filing stated.

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The consolidated profit before tax and profit after tax declined due to credit loss provision for loans/ advances and impairment of investments with respect to Road SPV (special purpose vehicle), a company statement said.

Total income stood at Rs 3,563 crore in the quarter as against Rs 3,057 crore in the same period a year ago.

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Revenue grew 17 per cent in the second quarter year-on-year to Rs 3,549 crore on account of robust execution across various businesses.

The credit loss provision in the quarter was towards loans/advances of Rs 49 crore given to Kurukshetra Expressway Pvt Ltd (KEPL) and exceptional items pertain to impairment of investment in Wainganga Expressway Pvt Ltd of Rs 15 crore, it explained.

Net debt declined to Rs 2,810 crore as on September 30, 2021 from Rs 3,442 crore over the same period last year.

Its consolidated order book stood at Rs 31,099 crore as on Sepempter 30, 2021 and it emerged as lowest bidder for Rs 4,600 crore worth projects in the period under review.

The order inflows of Rs 9,823 crore till date in 2021-22 was driven by T&D (transmission), buildings & factory, Urban Infra and Water businesses.

"Our ability to deliver consolidated revenue growth of 26 per cent YoY and receive new orders of over Rs 9,800 crore in first half of FY22, demonstrates the inherent strengths of our businesses and testament to the execution capabilities at KPTL and JMC," MD & CEO Manish Mohnot said.

He further said the company is making significant progress on resolution and sale of its road assets and real estate project.

"We issued a Notice of Termination, in line with provisions of the concession agreement, for our Kurukshetra Expressway asset as our revenue through toll collections had been severely impacted due to the ongoing farmer agitation. Restructuring of our Wainganga Express road BOOT asset is also on track and we expect process closure in this fiscal," Mohnot said.

The company is also on track to complete the divestment of Kohima-Mariani transmission asset in this fiscal.

"We continue to adopt a cautious approach in bidding for new projects along with strengthening digital capabilities across our organization and actively pursuing various cost saving initiatives to protect our margins. We continue to firmly focus on delivering profitable and consistent growth, he added.

KPTL is one of the largest specialized EPC companies engaged in power transmission & distribution, oil & gas pipeline, railways and civil infrastructure business. It is executing projects in over 40 countries and has global footprints in 62 countries.

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Rome [Italy], October 30 (ANI): Leaders of G20 nations have reached an "historic agreement" for a fairer and more effective international tax system that would set a 15 per cent global minimum corporate tax.

"We reached a historic agreement for a fairer and more effective international tax system," Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at the opening of the G20 summit on Saturday.

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The OECD had finalised a major reform of the international tax system earlier this month under which Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) will be subject to a minimum 15 per cent tax rate from 2023. The deal was agreed by 136 countries and jurisdictions representing more than 90 per cent of global GDP.

The global minimum tax seeks to block corporations from moving jobs or profits overseas in order to avoid paying taxes.

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According to Hill, the agreement would set a 15 per cent global minimum corporate tax rate that administration officials say would generate $60 billion or more in additional revenue annually in the U.S. alone.

The first session of the G20 Rome Summit kicked off on Saturday as world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi gathered to discuss the global economy and health

Over the next two days, the heads of state and government of the world's major economies, together with invited countries and representatives of international and regional organizations, will address several key topics of the global agenda. Finance Ministers traditionally attend the event as well.

Draghi said in his opening remarks that "multilateralism is the best answer" to deal with the problems posed by the COVID-19 pandemic across the world.

"The pandemic has kept us apart. Earlier we have faced protectionism, unilateralism, nationalism, but the more we go with all our challenges, the more it is clear the multilateralism is the best answer to the problem we face today," he said.

"In many ways, it (multilateralism) is the only possible answer from the pandemic to climate change to fair and equitable taxation, going it alone is simply not an option. We must do what we all can do to overcome our differences. We must recall the spirit that led to the creation of this group," he added.

The Italian Prime Minister said that almost two years since the start of the pandemic, "we can finally look at the future with some optimism".

"Successful vaccination campaigns and coordinated actions from government and central banks have allowed the global economy to rebound," he said. (ANI)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the other world leaders attending the G20 Rome Summit gathered for family photos.

Rome [Italy], October 30 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other world leaders attending the G20 Rome Summit gathered for 'family photo'. They were joined by a delegation of frontline health workers at Roma Convention Center in Rome, Italy.

The summit kicked off on Saturday in Rome.

Also Read | 1.5 Million Children in Central Africa Need Emergency Aid: UN.

The heads of state and government of the world's major economies, with invited countries and representatives of international and regional organizations, will address several key topics of the global agenda. Finance Ministers traditionally attend the event as well.

PM Modi arrived in Italy on Friday to participate in the two-day G20 Summit. This summit is the eighth G20 Summit attended by the Prime Minister.

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On Friday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said that PM Modi will discuss the global economic situation, COVID-19 pandemic, sustainable development and climate change with G20 leaders.

PM Modi is scheduled to have meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Saturday.

He is also expected to have a meeting with Singapore PM Lee Hosein Loong as well. While in the evening, PM is scheduled to arrive at Terme di Diocleziano for a cultural program.

Later, a dinner is planned for G20 leaders and partner countries.

The G-20 Summit represents the culminating moment of the intense work carried out during the whole year of the Italian G20 Presidency through Ministers' Meetings, Sherpa meetings, Working Groups and Engagement Groups. More than 170 events were held throughout the country that made it possible to highlight many of the extraordinary realities scattered throughout its territory. (ANI)

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Rome [Italy], October 30 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he had an excellent meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rome, where they discussed ways to further scale up the friendship between the two countries.

Talking to Twitter, PM Modi said their talks focused on trade, culture and other subjects

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"Had an excellent meeting with PM @leehsienloong on ways to further scale-up the friendship between India and Singapore. Our talks focused on trade, culture and other subjects," PM Modi tweeted.

Earlier in July, PM Modi had lauded Lee Hsien Loong for inaugurating historic Silat Road Gurudwara in Singapore.

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Earlier in the day, PM Modi also met Pope Francis and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The PM was accompanied by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also invited Pope Francis to visit India during a "very warm" meeting at the Vatican City which lasted for an hour.

These developments came after PM Modi arrived in Italy on Friday to participate in the two-day G20 Summit.

The theme of this G20 meet under the Italian Presidency is centred around 'People, Planet and Prosperity.'In the evening, PM is scheduled to arrive at Terme di Diocleziano for a cultural programme. Later, dinner is also planned for G20 leaders and partner countries.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister is expected to have a meeting with Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the G20 summit besides participating in discussions on "Climate Change and Environment and Sustainable Development". There will be a global summit on supply chain resilience, according to the sources. (ANI)

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Vatican City [Vatican], October 30 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday briefed Pope Francis about the ambitious initiatives taken by India for combating climate change as well as its success in administering one billion Covid-19 vaccination doses during their meeting at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

A PMO release said that the two leaders discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences for people across the world. They also discussed the challenge posed by climate change.

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Holy See Press Office said in a statement that the cordial relations between the Vatican and India were discussed.

"Pope Francis received in audience, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Prime Minister of the Republic of India, Narendra Modi. During a brief conversation, the cordial relations between the Holy See and India were discussed," the statement said.

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The PMO release said it was the first meeting between an Indian Prime Minister and the Pope in more than two decades.

In June 2000, late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had last visited the Vatican and met the then Pope John Paul II.

PM Modi also extended an invitation to Pope to visit India at an early date, which was accepted with pleasure, the release added.

The Prime Minister has on various occasions including his 'Mann ki Baat monthly radio programme spoken of India's rich and varied past and spoken about "gems of human beings" born in the country and those who dedicated their lives in the service of people.

During his Mann Ki Baat programme in July this year, PM Modi shared an interesting and emotional story emphasising that India had handed over the Holy Relic or icon of Saint Queen Ketevan to the Government of Georgia and the people there.

PM Modi had said that the words that were said in praise of India in this ceremony are indeed very memorable. "This single ceremony has not only strengthened the relations between the two nations but as well as between Goa and Georgia. This is because these holy relics of Saint Queen Ketevan were found in 2005 from Saint Augustine Church in Goa," he had said.

"Friends, the question arising in your mind must be...what is this matter all about and when and how did this happen? Actually, this is an incident about four to five hundred years ago. Queen Ketevan was the daughter of the royal family of Georgia. In 1624 after ten years of imprisonment she was martyred. According to an ancient Portuguese document, the mortal remains of Saint Queen Ketevan were kept in the Saint Augustine Convent of Old Goa. But, for a long time, it was believed that her remains buried in Goa were lost in the earthquake of 1930," he had added.

The Prime Minister had said that tireless efforts by the Indian government and Georgia's historians, researchers, archaeologists and the Georgian Church, the relics were successfully discovered in 2005.

The Prime Minister mentioned about Sister Mariam Thresia in his Mann ki Baat programme in September 2019. She was honoured in Vatican City and Pope Francis had declared her a saint.

"Our Mother India, our country is a bountiful land! Many gems of human beings took birth here. India has not only been the birthplace of such extraordinary people, but also the land of their karma. And these are the people who have spent themselves in service of others. One such illustrious Indian is being honoured in Vatican City on 13th October. It is a matter of pride for every Indian that, on the coming 13thOctober, His Holiness Pope Francis will declare Sister MariamThresia a saint," he had said.

"Sister Mariam Thresia, in her short lifespan of 50 years, worked for the good of humanity becoming a noble example for the entire world. Whatever task Sister Mariam Thresia undertook and accomplished, she did so with utmost dedication and devotion.She rendered service in the fields of education and social service. She had built many schools, hostels and orphanages, and throughout her life, remained devoted to this cause," the Prime Minister had added.

The Prime Minister paid special homage to Jesus Christ on December 31, 2017 and said that like other parts of the world, people in India too celebrated Christmas with warmth and cheer.

"The pious occasion of Christmas reminds us of the great teachings of Jesus Christ who laid much emphasis on the spirit of service, 'Sewa bhaav'. The essence of the spirit of service can be felt in the Bible too," he had said.

In special tribute to Jesus Christ on Christmas in December 2016, the Prime Minister said it was day to "give importance in our lives to service, sacrifice and compassion".

"The poor do not need our favours but our acceptance with affection."

The Prime Minister had referred to sainthood of Mother Teresa in Mann ki Baat in August 2016 and noted that though she was born in Albania and her mother tongue was not English, yet she transformed her life and did everything to be able to serve the poor.

"When Mother Teresa, who served the poor in India all through her life, is accorded Sainthood, it is quite natural for we Indians to feel proud. Indian government will send an official delegation under the leadership of our External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to represent 125 crore Indians at the canonization ceremony to be held on September 4," he had said.

The government had worked proactively for rescue of 46 Indian from war-torn Iraq in 2014.

In 2015, Father Alexis Prem Kumar, who returned to India eight months after his abduction in Afghanistan, gave the credit of his return to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that it was because of him that he was here.

Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who spent 18 months in the captivity of Islamic State, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2017 shortly after his return to India.

The Prime Minister had also interacted with cardinals in January this year.

In 2019, the Prime Minister began his Sri Lanka visit by paying his respects at one of the sites of the horrific Easter Sunday attacks, St. Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade. (ANI)

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Rome [Italy] October 30 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend an event hosted by US President Joe Biden on Supply Chain Resilience on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Rome on Sunday.

Sharing PM Modi's schedule for Sunday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend an event hosted by US President Joe Biden on 'Supply Chain Resilience' and hold other bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome tomorrow".

Also Read | 1.5 Million Children in Central Africa Need Emergency Aid: UN.

"The Prime Minister stressed on the resilient global supply chains, also mentioned India's bold economic reforms, lowering the cost of business with India," Shringla said.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister also invited the G20 countries to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification.

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"The PM also brought out the fact that despite challenges of the pandemic, India continued to be a trusted partner in the context of reliable supply chains," Shringla told the special briefing in Rome.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister is also expected to have a meeting with Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the G20 summit besides participating in discussions on "Climate Change and Environment and Sustainable Development". (ANI)

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Oklahoma City, Oct 30 (AP) A man suspected of shooting and wounding an Oklahoma deputy sheriff was found dead along with the suspect's estranged wife, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation says.

The body Braedon Chesser, 27, was found Friday afternoon in a heavily wooded area behind his home and the body of Sarah Chesser, 25, was found inside the home between the towns of Pink and Bethel Acres on the outskirts of Oklahoma City, the agency said.

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Online court records show Sarah Chesser had filed for divorce from Braedon Chesser on Oct. 5.

Both Chessers had suspected gunshot wounds, OSBI spokeswoman Brooke Arbeitman said Saturday.

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The bodies were sent to the state medical examiner's office to confirm the causes of death, Arbeitman said.

The bureau says the wounded deputy was responding to a domestic violence call at the home Friday morning when he was shot multiple times.

The deputy, whose name and condition have not been released, remained hospitalised in Oklahoma City. (AP) VM

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It was nearly 3:30 a.m., and Sheila von Wiese-Mack was having another sleepless night. Hours earlier, she and her daughter had argued, and the teen still hadnt returned to their high-rise condo along Chicagos lakefront.

As she had so many times in the past, the worried parent tapped out an email to a close friend in which she described her anguish concerning her only child, Heather Mack.

Heather was violent again ... Smashed several items in my home, threw things at me and left, she wrote last March 28. Heather is in grave danger  and so am I.

Her words proved prophetic. Less than five months later, von Wiese-Macks battered body was found stuffed inside a blood-smeared suitcase at a luxury Bali beachfront resort where she and her daughter were vacationing.

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The teenager and her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, who arrived separately on the Indonesian island, are charged with premeditated murder.

In trial testimony last week, Schaefer admitted he inflicted the fatal blows in August, but he said the 62-year-old woman attacked him first after she learned her daughter was pregnant. He and Mack testified that she made a racial slur and threatened to harm their unborn baby.

But a Tribune review of emails, police reports and interviews suggests von Wiese-Mack knew about her daughters pregnancy several days before they left for vacation.

Her friend, Elliott Jacobson, provided the Tribune more than 150 emails he said he received from von Wiese-Mack that chronicle her tumultuous relationship with her daughter. The correspondence also shows her efforts to help Mack, whom the mother months before her death named as sole beneficiary to a $1.56 million trust fund.

Von Wiese-Mack became a single parent in 2006 after her husband, jazz composer James Mack, died during a family vacation in Greece. Their daughter was 10. By age 14, police reports showed, officers began responding to her childhood home in Oak Park for disturbances involving truancy, running away, violence and thefts of cash, credit cards and jewelry.

The emails provided by Jacobson mainly focus on the final 17 months of von Wiese-Macks life after she moved to Chicago in 2013 and the discord continued. Three emails reference the pregnancy. In her last emails, sent from Bali days before her death, she accused her daughter of erratic, violent behavior.

Mack and Schaefer may face a firing squad if found guilty, though the punishment is typically reserved in Indonesia for those convicted of the most serious drug offenses.

Schaefer, 21, of Oak Park, alleged in court that von Wiese-Mack strangled him for 20 or 30 seconds in her hotel room when, his vision blurred and about to black out, he grabbed the metal handle of a large bowl and started swinging.

Mack, 19, who also testified, said she hid in the bathroom after the melee began and that the two tried afterward to revive her mother.

Jacobson told the Tribune about the emails months ago and said he provided them to the FBI in case they would ever be needed as evidence. The FBI declined to comment.

The more traumatic events described in the emails lined up with dates and details contained in various police and court records. Von Wiese-Macks personal email address also matched what was included in some public records, and relatives and other friends verified receiving similar emails.

Jacobson said he agreed to share the emails with the Tribune last month to ensure that von Wiese-Macks voice is heard. He said she fought for years to save her daughter and herself.

Von Wiese-Mack had hoped their Bali trip might mark a fresh start.

The last (telephone) conversation I had with her was when she boarded the plane at OHare, said Jacobson, 72, a former Illinois political operative who now lives in Delaware. She said I wish you were coming with us. I said, Next time I will. I promise.

I feel so desperate

In the latest chapter of a case that has brought international intrigue, set in an exotic locale involving wealthy American tourists, Mack gave birth Tuesday to a 6-pound, 1-ounce girl.

Mack has a phone in confinement and has communicated for weeks with the Tribune through texts and video chats. Before she was admitted to the hospital for the babys delivery, Mack said she planned to name her daughter Stella Schaefer.

Mack also vowed to keep the baby with her in custody and said it is Indonesian custom to keep mother and child together regardless of the harsh jail setting.

She maintains her innocence, but prosecutors allege that her mothers death was premeditated. They said she wrote to Schaefer in a text message before the Bali trip to find a hit man for $50,000. Mack also is accused of sitting on the suitcase to assist Schaefer with concealing the body  an allegation she denied to the Tribune.

Let it be known that I maintain my innocence and I had zero involvement with the death of my beloved mother, she texted last weekend.

Despite years of calling police for help, von Wiese-Mack declined to follow through with criminal charges, according to public records. She had no choice during two separate incidents in 2011 when police arrested her daughter after they documented injuries to the older woman that included a broken right arm, bite marks and bruises.

Mack was hospitalized for mental health issues three times that year, court records show. She was pregnant in early 2012 while receiving services at a residential facility but, according to the records, that pregnancy ultimately was aborted.

Mack successfully completed required anger management and other counseling services by summer 2013. But leading up to the August 2014 vacation, von Wiese-Mack described continued problems in a series of emails to Jacobson, including:

March 3: Heather erupted in anger at about 2:30 and smashed a few items in my bedroom. She then threw my phone into the bedroom window and smashed it. Glass shattered ... Her anger escalates at an alarming rate and she seems to have no control over it  very scary. At least she didnt hit me  her rage went to the window instead.

March 15: I think that there has to be something done with Heather because it is not possible for me to continue living like this. All of her lies, stealing and not knowing where she goes each and every day ... This has been 4 years now and I simply cannot do it any longer.

April 9: Heather ran away again tonight. She will not answer her phone. She will not answer emails and she told me that she would kill me and then kill herself ... I feel so desperate.

April 13: Once again, I am fraught with worry, again and again ... If only I could retain a moment of some semblence (sic) of peace ... Maybe I will be able to rest my eyes for a few seconds, at least.

May 2, as the mother researched a Boston psychiatric hospital, she wrote: Heather was violent tonight and left ... When you live the way I have lived with Heather for so many years, the problems become almost your normal way of life. I am really scared of what she may do next.

Then, after spending Mothers Day with Mack at her Lake Shore Drive condo, where she said the two enjoyed a pizza dinner, von Wiese-Mack again emailed Jacobson with more concerns.

She is really a master at manipulation and lying and I need to be on guard ... I simply cannot afford to let my guard down for a moment with her, the mother wrote the next day. She will stop at nothing to get at my money.

Mack was arrested in late July  several days before the Bali trip  after she was accused of hosting a party on her mothers dime at a Chicago hotel.

Von Wiese-Mack called police after her credit cards fraud detection officials alerted her to up to $4,000 in charges at the hotel. The mother later told Chicago police she did not want her daughter charged, according to the July 23 arrest record. In the lengthy report, Mack is listed as pregnant. Von Wiese-Mack first mentioned it to Jacobson in a July 30 email.

I discovered that she is pregnant once again. So very sad, she wrote.

She raised the issue two more times in emails over the next 48 hours, including one in which von Wiese-Mack incorrectly stated that her daughter at the time was eight weeks pregnant.

Jacobson said he believes von Wiese-Mack had guessed at the timing, and she was urging her daughter to sign over her power of attorney for fear the then-18-year-old was in declining physical and mental health.

Final words from Bali

It was Jacobson who delivered von Wiese-Macks eulogy last fall before a packed Chicago church, the same church where Heather Mack had been baptized nearly two decades earlier.

Jacobson said he met von Wiese-Mack in 1983 after he arrived in Chicago to work on Ohio Sen. John Glenns ill-fated presidential campaign. Jacobson moved to Washington in 2001, he said, but the two remained close and she often sought his counsel.

Their written correspondence included lighter moments. They often conspired to help Mack gain acceptance into various Chicago acting and dance programs. Mack threw her mother a surprise birthday party last June, and photos included in an email show her blowing out the candles as her daughter smiled in the background.

But in documenting her troubles with her daughter, von Wiese-Mack entrusted Jacobson as a keeper of her most personal financial records, the emails showed. Their exchanges included flight confirmations, as well as her credit card statements and receipts of fraudulent billing.

Von Wiese-Mack also forwarded to Jacobson a few emails and texts she said she had received from her daughter, typically after the two had argued. Mack repeatedly sought her mothers forgiveness while describing herself with self-loathing and suggesting shed harm herself, according to the correspondence.

Mack did not confirm or deny that she wrote the emails when the Tribune forwarded some of them to her, but she said the email account in which they were written belonged to her. The emails were sometimes written to Mother Pie, and signed from your sweetness pie, which Mack confirmed were the nicknames she and her mother had for each other.

Jacobson said von Wiese-Mack had an undying love for her daughter, and often blamed herself for Macks troubles. One email the mother wrote to Mack was particularly poignant.

I want to hug you and protect you, she wrote Feb. 6, 2014. I will never abandon you. I am crying so hard now. I am so scared for both of us. I want to help you. You are not a failure ... I did all the wrong things, but all that matters is how much I love you... Please Please come home. Or tell me where you are and I will come to pick you up. Please Heather. I am sick with worry. I just want you home. No matter what. I promise you on Daddys grave.

Six months later, she again emailed Jacobson, this time from Bali.

Mack had disappeared from their hotel for several hours Aug. 6, her mother wrote. She feared for her daughters safety and worried theyd miss planned excursions that afternoon and the next day that included white water rafting, a late-night safari and guided tours of the regions elephant park, scenic forests, temples and rice terraces.

She has been violent on a few occasions because I locked up all valuables, including the passports and airline tickets, and will not tell her the pass code, von Wiese-Mack wrote, adding: I worry every minute and just wish that I could enjoy this lovely vacation.

The last email Jacobson said he received came Aug. 8. She wrote that her daughter ran off a few hours ago again and could not be located. Von Wiese-Mack said she had checked out of their first hotel and was waiting for a driver to take them to their final destination at the St. Regis Bali resort.

I am more frightened than ever, von Wiese-Mack wrote. I will keep in touch.

As she had in previous emails, she ended it with: Love, Sheila.

Her body was discovered four days later.

Tribune news services contributed.

cmgutowski@tribpub.com

Twitter @christygutowsk1
On Monday, one of the nations most famous lawmen, former Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio, became a criminal. The 85-year-old was found guilty of criminal contempt of court for ignoring a federal judges order forbidding his department from targeting Latinos. Heres a look at Arpaios long and controversial career in law enforcement.

June 14, 1932: Joseph M. Arpaio, the son of Italian immigrants, is born; his mother dies during childbirth. (They came through Ellis Island legally, Arpaio later told New Yorker magazine.) He grows up in Springfield, Mass., where his father runs a grocery store.

1950: Arpaio enlists in the Army after he turns 18 but doesnt see combat in the Korean War. He serves in the Medical Detachment Division, where report writing skills and interviewing techniques were critical, he later wrote.

1954: Arpaio becomes a police officer in Washington, D.C., where he serves three years as a beat cop. He then serves a short stint in the sheriffs department in Clark County, Nev., where he claims to have stopped Elvis Presley for a traffic citation.

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1957: Arpaio joins the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics, the precursor to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The bureau was in need of Italian Americans willing to work undercover and arrest fellow Italians, Arpaio later wrote on a campaign website, adding, I was up to the task. Arpaio worked around the world in locales including Turkey, Lebanon, South America and Mexico.

1982: After a career spanning more than two decades, Arpaio retires from the DEA as the agencys top official in Arizona. He and his wife, Ava, open a travel agency in Phoenix.

1992: Arpaio runs for Maricopa County sheriff and defeats incumbent Tom Agnos, whose department was under fire for extracting false confessions in the massacre of six Buddhist monks, two young initiates and an elderly nun in 1991. Arpaio promises to serve only one term.

1994: Arpaio starts winning the national limelight for his brash techniques. He mobilizes a 2,200-member volunteer posse, which includes lawyers, doctors, politicians, corporate executives and retirees, to patrol for prostitutes and mall crime. He bans coffee and movies in the county jail and erects a tent city for inmates surrounded by concertina-wire fence. Ive got a method to my madness of publicity: I want to send a message to the bad guys, Arpaio tells the Los Angeles Times in a front-page story. I want them to know that it is so bad in my jail that they wont want to commit crimes here.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio with reporters in 1993. (Jeff Robbins / Associated Press)

1995: Arpaio forces inmates to wear pink underpants and reintroduces chain gangs. The U.S. Justice Department starts investigating jail conditions under Arpaios watch.

1996: Polls show Arpaio, who is running for the first of his many reelections, is the most popular politician in the state. He starts winning the attention of national Republicans, including presidential candidate Bob Dole, who visits the tent city and praises it. This idea may spread in other sections of the country, Dole says. I talked to one of the inmates who said, I dont want to come back here. Ive learned my lesson. Two months later, hundreds of inmates riot in protest of conditions at the camp.

1997: The Justice Department sues Maricopa County, alleging the use of excessive force and mistreatment at the jail, but the suit is dropped.

1999: Maricopa County settles a wrongful-death lawsuit by paying $8.25 million to the family of an inmate who died after a struggle with guards in 1996.

2000: Arpaio launches a jail cam website showing livestreams of inmates from inside the jail. The site receives 3 million visitors and crashes on the first day.

2001: Following complaints, Arpaio turns off one of the jail cameras that showed female inmates using the toilet, which had been picked up by porn websites.

2002: Despite favorable polls, Arpaio decides not to run for governor of Arizona, saying, I just want to go out into the sunset as a law enforcement officer.

2004: A court rules that Arpaios jail cameras violate the rights of pre-trial detainees, who have not been convicted of crimes.

2006: With help from his posse of citizens, Arpaio uses a state human-trafficking law to start going after smugglers bringing immigrants into Arizona illegally  and also to arrest the immigrants. Let them go to California, Arpaio said.

2007: A Mexican citizen visiting the U.S. legally sues Arpaio after he is detained. The litigation would eventually become a class-action lawsuit, one of several legal actions to be taken against Arpaio in the coming years.

2008: Following a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, a federal judge rules that conditions in Arpaios jail are unconstitutional.

2010: The Justice Department sues Arpaio, saying his department was refusing to cooperate with an investigation of whether it discriminated against Latinos while trying to catch illegal immigrants. Reports note that some of Arpaios deputies and volunteers stop people for minor infractions and then ask them for their citizenship status. Federal officials say Arpaio was the first local law enforcement official in 30 years to refuse to provide documents in a federal civil rights inquiry. Arpaio turns over the information after a settlement a year later.

2011: A federal judge orders Arpaio and his deputies not to racially profile Latinos.

2012: The Justice Department sues Arpaio again, alleging a pattern of illegal discrimination against Latinos. Arpaio wins reelection by only a few percentage points. Also, Arpaio announces that volunteer investigators working for him have concluded that President Obamas birth certificate is not legitimate.

2013: In response to a class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU, a federal judge rules that Arpaios deputies illegally profiled Latinos.

2015: The Justice Department and Arpaio partially settle some of the claims in the 2012 lawsuit.

2016: Arpaio endorses Donald Trump for president, and Trump responds that he has great respect for the sheriff. A federal judge finds Arpaio and some of his top deputies in civil contempt of court on suspicion of continuing to target Latinos, and federal prosecutors charge Arpaio with criminal contempt of court. Arpaio loses his bid for reelection after six terms in office to former Phoenix Police Sgt. Paul Penzone.

2017: In a criminal bench trial, Arpaio is found guilty of defying a federal judges order to stop racially profiling Latinos. He plans to appeal, saying he was wrongfully denied a trial by jury, which he believes would have found him innocent. He faces up to six months in jail. His sentencing is later this year.

matt.pearce@latimes.com

@mattdpearce
Im dying. Those were Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwins final words, according to a cameraman who said he urged the wildlife icon to think of his kids and hang on after being stabbed by a stingray in a fatal, freak attack.

The cameraman, Justin Lyons, is said to be the sole witness to the Sept. 4, 2006, attack and captured the incident with his lens. But he does not believe the footage should ever be shared with the public.

Lyons recollections were rocketing around the Internet on Monday morning. It underscored our enduring fascination with the Australian conservationist who sported a blond mullet and khakis as he traipsed the world in search of wild and dangerous animals. Irwin allowed us to channel our inner explorer by following along, and introduced the masses to his oft-used exclamation of astonishment: Crikey!

PHOTOS: Bindi Irwin: All grown up, and courting controversy

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In what is being billed as a world exclusive interview, the underwater cameraman told Australias Studio 10 that some of the details that were initially made public about Irwins death were incorrect.

According to Lyons account, he and the 44-year-old Irwin were about eight days into filming a series called Oceans Deadliest when they found themselves in chest-deep water near Queensland, Australia. They came across a massive 8-foot-wide stingray. Despite their impressive size, stingrays are normally docile creatures that do not pose a threat.

The cameraman and Irwin shot some footage that they hoped to use for a different project, and were conferring on what theyd gotten so far. The pair decided to go back under water for one last shot of Irwin behind the stingray before it swam off into the ocean.

I thought, This is going to be a great shot, Lyons recalled.

Then suddenly, and without warning, the creature attacked.

It started stabbing wildly with its tail, Lyons recalled, hundreds of strikes within a few seconds.

It all happened so quickly that Lyons did not immediately realize something had gone wrong.

I panned with the camera as the stingray swam away. I didnt even know it had caused any damage, he said. It wasnt until I panned the camera back... Steve was standing in a huge pool of blood.

This account contradicts earlier claims that Irwin had died after removing the stingrays barb after it had become lodged in the middle of his chest. That information was incorrect, Lyons said: It didnt come out, Steve didnt pull it out.

Lyons said he did not realize the extent of Irwins injuries. His first thought was that the pair needed to get out of the water quickly, lest they start attracting sharks. For his part, Irwin also seemed to think the damage was limited, telling Lyons: It punctured me lung.

Within 30 seconds, the crew had Irwin on an inflatable boat heading back to the main vessel being used on the shoot. There, it soon became clear that Irwin was dying. He was in extraordinary pain... The damage to his heart was massive.

Lyons described the frantic effort to keep Irwin alive. A crew member put pressure on the wound while he tried to calm his friend.

I was saying to him things like, Think of your kids, Steve, hang on, hang on, hang on, he said. He calmly looked up at me and said, Im dying. And that was the last thing he said... those were his final words.

The cameraman said he would later perform CPR on Irwin for nearly an hour while the main vessel took them closer to emergency workers. But it took professionals only seconds to look at Irwin and declare him dead.

Lyons said that within Irwins circle, there was a sense that Irwin would meet his end in a weird way. But not by a dangerous creature such as a crocodile or shark, because Irwin was so adept at dealing with such wildlife.

It was shocking, Lyons said of the way Irwin died. It was probably always going to be something weird with Steve... it would always be a crazy, silly accident. And as it turns out thats exactly what it was.

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The former leader of a purported self-help group was convicted Wednesday of federal charges that centered on lurid details of what prosecutors called a secret society of sex slaves within a community of followers in upstate New York.

A jury in federal court in Brooklyn took less than five hours to find Keith Raniere guilty on all counts of sex-trafficking and other charges accusing him of coercing women into unwanted sex using systematic shame and humiliation.

Raniere listened attentively, but showed no visible reaction as he learned the verdict.

Prosecutors had told jurors that someone known as Vanguard and revered as the smartest man in the world among some followers was actually a creepy con man who barely got passing grades in college.

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The sorority, sometimes called the Vow, was created to satisfy the defendants desire for sex, power and control, Assistant U.S. Atty. Moira Penza said in closing arguments.

Among the more damning allegations against Raniere were that he had some women branded with his initials and that he started having sex with one of his followers starting at age 15. Prosecutors said he took a series of nude photos of the teen that were shown at trial, one by one, to the eight women and four men who comprised the jury.

Raniere kept the child pornography stashed in his private study as a trophy of his sexual conquest, Penza said.

The defense argued Raniere was a genuine believer in unconventional means for self-improvement and that all his sexual encounters with female followers of his organization, called NXIVM, were consensual. His behavior could be seen as repulsive and offensive, but we dont convict people in this country for being repulsive or offensive, attorney Marc Agnifilo said in his closings.

Raniere, 58, was arrested at a Mexican hideout in 2018 following an investigation of his Albany-area group, which once had an international following with a foothold in Hollywood but was called a cult by critics. His adherents included TV actress Allison Mack, best known for her role as a friend of a young Superman in the series Smallville, and Seagrams liquor fortune heiress Clare Bronfman.

Ranieres organization began to crumble amid sensational reports about the Vow alleging its members were held down and branded in ceremonies at a sorority house for them that had a mock dungeon.

Mack and Bronfman, who were named as defendants with Raniere in a federal indictment, pleaded guilty before they could go to trial with him. They didnt testify, leaving a cooperating member of his inner circle and three victims from the secret sorority as the key witnesses.

The cooperator described how female masters forced slaves for Raniere to give up collateral  nude photos and other material that would ruin them if ever made public  to keep them in line.

One of the victims, whose name was withheld to protect her privacy, described being confined to a bedroom for more than 700 days on orders from Raniere as punishment for showing interest in another man. Another explained how Raniere lured her to a home when she was blindfolded, and then she was bound to a table so that another woman could perform a sex act on her; and the third recounted making up an excuse to leave the community so she could avoid completing an assignment from her master  Mack  to seduce Raniere.

Agnifilo, the defense attorney, sought to point jurors to evidence of text and other messages between Raniere and the woman that he said showed they had caring relationships that ended with no hard feelings. And since the group never released any of the slaves collateral, Wheres the extortion? he asked.

But with the victims stories of abuse at the hands of Raniere, Penza said: A light has been shown into the darkness and the defendants crimes have been exposed.
A crewmember from Alec Baldwin's movie, "Rust," said on Thursday that he warned the producers of the film about Assistant Director Dave Halls' safety issues on his previous film.

The crewmember, who did not identify himself, said to Variety that he witnessed an "unsafe situation" in the film set of "One Way," where he worked with the assistant director.

The production companies that are working with "Rust" - Thomas Led Pictures and Short Porch Pictures - produced "One Way" where Halls also served as the assistant director.

According to the crewmember, Halls sparked an alarm during a scene involving cars, as the drivers inside were locals and not stunt drivers. The crewmember then said to the producers of the film that Halls was putting the crew in "jeopardy."

"This man is a liability... He's going to f** kill someone someday, and you're going to be responsible," the crewmember recalled saying.

READ NEXT: Alec Baldwin Shooting: Actor Retweets Story About AD Handing Him "Cold Gun" in the Wake of Halyna Hutchins Death

Another crewmember of "One Way" also mentioned Halls' unsafe practice in the said film, saying that a "car hit" scene had inadequate crew as the background actors were the ones driving instead of stunt drivers.

"One Way" set dresser, Jay Graves, also claimed that he was nearly hit by cars two times during the production. Graves added that the crew filmed on a filming street that was not completely closed making other vehicles drive through the set in between takes.

"It was the least safe set I've ever worked in my life," graves said.

Producers Deny Safety Issues on 'One Way' Movie Set

Although the crewmember alleged that he expressed his concerns on Dave Halls' safety issues, a spokesperson for the movie "One Way" denied the allegations of the crew member.

According to Moly Mayeux, also the line producer of "One Way," the set of their film was extremely safe.

"I can attest with 100 percent certainty that 'One Way' was extremely safety-conscious, and all safety protocols were followed during the shoot," Mayeux said.

The line producer also underscored that the crewmember did not issue a warning about the safety issues of Dave Halls on set, and about him being a "liability."

"I am sickened by these 'sources' trying to capitalize on such horrific accident," Mayeux highlighted.

'Rust' Armorer Does Not Know Where the Live Rounds Came From - Lawyers

On Thursday, the lawyers of the "Rust" armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, said Thursday that their client had no idea where the live rounds that killed Halyna Hutchins came from.

"Safety is Hannah's number one priority on set... Ultimately, this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from," lawyers Jason Bowles and Robert Gorence underscored.

The lawyers also claimed that the "Rust" armorer was hired on two positions, making it challenging for her to focus on being the film's armorer. The lawyers furthered that Gutierrez "fought for training days to maintain weapons and proper time to prepare for gunfire," but her pleas were overruled by the production and her department.

"The whole production set became unsafe due to various factors, including lack of safety meetings," Bowles and Gorence highlighted.

However, sources told NBC News that the armorer would have other responsibilities in the prop team, highlighting that Gutierrez worked on props for two days and never had a dual role on the same day.

The sources also emphasized that "Rust" production was working under the guidelines set by Teamsters, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage and Employees, Directors Guild of America, SAG, and other unions.

READ NEXT: Criminal Charges Not Ruled Out in Alec Baldwin 'Rust' Movie Shooting - Police and District Attorney Say

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: 'Rust' Armorer Breaks Silence on Alec Baldwin Prop Gun Shooting - From CNN
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has declined a Washington D.C. judge's request to put off disciplinary actions against federal employees refusing to get COVID vaccines over religious exemptions.

The lawsuit stated that hundreds of thousands of federal workers and military personnel will be forcibly removed from the government and Armed Forces, according to a Daily Mail report.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued an order asking the Biden administration to commit to not fire or take action against the 20 plaintiffs named in the lawsuit, whose religious exception requests have been denied.

Kollar-Kotelly also directed all of Biden's Cabinet secretaries to send a memo to confirm they will not be firing employees waiting for their religious exemptions.

Meanwhile, the plaintiffs' attorney, Michael Yoder, accused the Biden administration of ignoring the Constitution, saying that it has shown an unprecedented, cavalier attitude toward the rule of law.

The Biden administration said in a filing on Friday that it would not agree to halt discipline and termination of any employees in the process of seeking a religious exemption, according to a Fox News report.

In its filing, the White House said that the plaintiffs offer nothing beyond speculation to suggest that their religious exception requests will be denied and that they will be disciplined at all.

Twenty plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Biden and members of his administration over the president's COVID vaccine mandate, requiring federal employees to be vaccinated.

Yoder went on to say that this combination is dangerous for American liberty.

READ NEXT: Pres. Joe Biden's Administration Issues Updated Travel Requirements; Proof of Negative COVID Test Needed for Unvaccinated Individuals

Lawsuits Against Biden COVID Vaccine Mandate

Aside from federal employees suing the Biden administration, attorneys general from 10 states filed a lawsuit against the White House in federal court for requiring its federal contractors to get vaccinated.

Missouri, Nebraska, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, and New Hampshire AGs had sued Biden and multiple federal agencies and officials over the vaccine mandate.

North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming are also involved, according to a Forbes report.

The complaint argues that the vaccine requirement "directly infringes the State's sovereign authority" as it affects state agencies and departments that also have federal contracts.

White House's Office of Management and Budget noted that the Department of Justice and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has already determined that COVID vaccines can be mandated by employers.

An OMB spokesperson said in a statement that vaccine requirements work, noting they're good for workers, the economy, and the country.

Biden COVID Vaccine Mandate

Biden mandated shots for health care workers, federal contractors, and workers in September, noting that they could face disciplinary measures if they refuse, according to The New York Times report.

Biden said at the time that they've been patient, but their patience "is wearing thin." He added that the refusal to get vaccinated has cost "all of us."

Experts noted that Biden has the legal authority to implement vaccine mandates on the private sector.

READ MORE: Pres. Joe Biden Says He Personally Phoned Emergency Room for a Good Friend During a COVID Vaccine Mandate Talk

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: COVID vaccine mandates see some pushback across U.S. - from CBS News






Prince Andrew has filed a motion asking a New York court to dismiss the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by Virginia Giuffre, who was also one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims.

Based on the court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Friday, Andrew said it "respectfully moves to dismiss" the complaint, claiming it was "baseless" and was only filed to "achieve another payday," Daily Mail reported.

The Duke of York noted that Giuffre was taught, and did, in fact, recruit other young women into Jeffrey Epstein's "sex trafficking scheme."

In a story published in the New York Daily News in 2015 that was cited by Andrew, one of Giuffre's ex-lovers who would drive her to Epstein's Palm Beach mansion told the news site that Giuffre "was like head b****."

The person noted that Giuffre would have nine or 10 girls she used to bring to Jeffrey Epstein, adding that Giuffre never looked like she was being held captive.

She and the other girls would reportedly walk out of the place smiling. The person added that they'd take them all to the mall and get their nails done.

The court documents that Andrew's team had filed also accused Giuffre of profiting from her allegations against Jeffrey Epstein and others by selling stories and photographs to the press, adding that she was entering agreements to resolve her claims.

The document further noted that it presents a compelling motive for Giuffre to continue filing "frivolous lawsuits" against individuals such as Prince Andrew, Sky News reported.

READ NEXT: Prince Andrew Finally Served With Court Papers in Rape Case by Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre

Prince Andrew Denies All Claims Made by Virginia Giuffre

The Duke of York continues to deny that she sexually abused or assaulted Virginia Giuffre. He added that he does not remember the photograph of him showing his arms around Giuffre's waist.

Last month, Queen Elizabeth II's son has been served with legal papers regarding the civil lawsuit accusing him of raping Giuffre.

Court documents revealed that the security chief at his Windsor home accepted the court papers after weeks of reportedly avoiding officials. However, Prince Andrew's lawyers claimed that the papers were not properly served.

Virginia Giuffre's Lawsuit Against Prince Andrew

Virginia Giuffre has filed the lawsuit on August 9 against Prince Andrew. She claimed that he sexually abused her while inside the home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell in London when she was 17 years old.

The legal claim stated that Giuffre "was compelled by express or implied threats" by Epstein, Maxwell, "and/or Prince Andrew to engage in sexual acts" with the duke.

The lawsuit further noted that Giuffre feared death or physical injury if she disobeyed Andrew, Epstein, and Maxwell due to their connections and wealth.

The lawsuit also claimed that the Duke of York knew how old Giuffre was at the time and "that she was a sex-trafficking victim," who continues to suffer "significant emotional and psychological distress and harm".

Ghislaine Maxwell, who is also facing trial in New York, has pleaded not guilty to the sex trafficking charges in connection with her involvement with Jeffrey Epstein.

Prince Andrew was earlier considered a "person of interest" in the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, has died in jail in 2019, while Maxwell remains incarcerated for sex trafficking charges.

Prince Andrew will have to answer questions under oath by 14 July next year in the civil lawsuit filed by Giuffre, The Guardian reported. The court also ruled that a pretrial order, which sets out the course of the case, is due by July 28.

Prince Andrew has not been charged with any crime. The Metropolitan police said earlier this month that they will not take any action over Giuffre's claims.

READ MORE: Queen Elizabeth II Warns British Media to Stay Away From Balmoral - And Her Son Prince Andrew

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Virginia Roberts Giuffre Details Alleged Encounter With Prince Andrew - From CBS Evening News






The Biden administration announced Friday its second attempt to end the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" migrant policy despite acknowledging that it "likely" helped reduce illegal immigration.

The "Remain in Mexico" policy, formally called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), forces people to wait in Mexico while seeking asylum in the United States.

It was suspended at the start of President Joe Biden's term and formally terminated on June 1 by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, New York Post reported.

However, Texas-based US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ordered in August that the migrant policy be reinstated. The Supreme Court also rejected the administration's request to block the judge's order after a few days.

READ NEXT: Biden Admin Weighs on Paying 'Hundreds of Millions' to Separated Migrant Families on Border Under Trump Policy

DHS Issues Memo to End 'Trump-Era' Migrant Policy

In a memo issued to the heads of DHS' immigration agencies Friday, Alejandro Mayorkas said he has determined that the "Remain in Mexico" policy should be terminated after "carefully considering the arguments, evidence, and perspectives" presented by those who support the program's re-implementation, termination, and continuation in a modified form.

"I recognize that MPP likely contributed to reduced migratory flows. But it did so by imposing substantial and unjustifiable human costs on the individuals who were exposed to harm while waiting in Mexico," Mayorkas noted.

The DHS secretary also said that the MPP prevents the ability of the Biden administration to implement "critically needed and foundational changes" on the immigration system. He added that the MPP also fails to provide the "fair process and humanitarian protections that all persons deserve."

According to Mayorkas, the government of Mexico has already said it will no longer accept migrants that return to Mexico under MPP unless "substantial improvements" are made to the program.

"I have concluded that there are inherent problems with the program that no amount of resources can sufficiently fix," the DHS Secretary said.

Mayorkas noted the said improvements would cost the Biden administration to pull out resources and personnel away from other "productive efforts" to address transnational criminal and smuggling networks and root causes of migration.

Mayorkas then said that the Biden administration is pursuing several policies that "disincentivize irregular migration while incentivizing safe, orderly, and humane pathways."

"Once fully implemented, I believe these policies will address migratory flows as effectively, in fact more effectively, while holding true to our nation's values," the DHS Secretary added.

President Joe Biden on the Trump-Era 'Remain in Mexico' Migrant Policy

On his first day in office, Joe Biden ended the "Remain in Mexico" policy, calling the mandate "inhumane" due to the violence migrants faced while waiting in Mexico for their cases to be heard in U.S. immigration courts.

According to CNBC, migrants subject to the MPP often waited months, if not years, to see an immigration judge. Human Rights First said migrants faced threats of extortion, kidnapping, and sexual assault while waiting in Mexico.

Missouri is one of the two states that sued the Biden administration over ending the Trump-era migrant policy. Missouri has filed the case in a federal court in Texas that issued a nationwide permanent injunction in August, reversing Biden's cancellation of the MPP and requiring the administration to re-implement the program.

In his memo on Friday, Mayorkas said the Biden administration would continue complying with the Texas judge's order until "as soon as practicable after a final judicial decision to vacate the Texas injunction."

New York Post reported that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by Texas and Missouri challenging the order to end the "Remain in Mexico" policy.

The Biden administration is expected to ask that the case be returned to Texas-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who ordered to revive the Trump-era migrant policy.

READ MORE: 'Mother Caravan': New Caravan of Thousands of Migrants Continue to March Toward U.S.-Mexico Border, Texas Buckles Up

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: How The 'Remain In Mexico' Policy Impacts Migrants - From NBC News
A Texas nurse, who was convicted of capital murder, was sentenced to death Wednesday for killing four patients who had been recovering from heart operations.

According to People, William George Davis allegedly killed his four male patients by injecting air into their arteries following their open-heart surgeries.

Texas Nurse Kills Four Patients

The Smith County jury deliberated more than an hour before condemning the 37-year-old former cardiac intensive care unit nurse to death.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph reported that Davis received the highest sentence after the jury found he has a probability of being a danger to society as he knowingly and intentionally killed his patients.

Despite not speaking on the witness stand during his trial and not showing visible emotion during his sentencing Wednesday, the Texas nurse cried after a victim's widow told him she forgave him during the victim impact statements.

William George Davis previously worked at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, Texas, but he was fired in 2018.

Based on his arrest affidavit, the Texas nurse was captured on hospital surveillance footage entering the rooms of patients recovering from heart operations. Moments after Davis visited their rooms, the conditions of the patients deteriorated.

READ NEXT: This Cheap Anti-Depressant Drug Could Stop Severe COVID, New Study Shows

The Killer Nurse in Texas Hospital Faces Death Penalty

Between 2017 and 2018, William George Davis allegedly killed four patients who were identified as John Lafferty, Ronald Clark, Joseph Kalina, and Christopher Greenaway. The Texas nurse reportedly injected air into their arterial lines, which resulted in brain damage before they died.

During the trial, cardiac surgeon Dr. William Turner, who treated three of the patients Davis killed, said it was "inconceivable" that air could have entered the patient's brain during surgery.

Prosecutors also played recordings of telephone calls that Davis made from jail shortly after being convicted of capital murder on October 19.

In a call to his ex-wife, the Texas nurse said he would find ways to prolong the stay of the patients at the ICU so he could work more hours and make more money.

Before the guilty verdict, prosecutor Chris Gatewood noted that Davis "enjoyed" injecting air into the patients' arteries.

Gatewood told KLTV that Davis liked to kill people. The prosecutor said the Texas nurse enjoyed going into the rooms and injecting the patients with air.

"If you watch the video on Kalina, he set at the end of the hall and he watched those monitors and he waited. That's because he liked it," Gatewood noted. The Texas nurse's sentence is expected to be automatically appealed.

READ MORE: Missing Alabama Woman Found Dead Outside Abandoned Home Months After She's Last Seen Leaving in Ride-Hailing Car

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: Former Texas Nurse Convicted Of Capital Murder In Deaths Of 4 Heart Patients - From CBSDFW
Thousands of dollars in fees have reportedly been collected by Moab police in Utah from various media organizations in exchange for Gabby Petito's bodycam footage.

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the city collected nearly $3,000 in exchange for the release of body camera footage of officers pulling over Petito and her fiance, Brian Laundrie, outside of Arches National Park.

The footage shows Moab cops talking to the couple after a reported domestic dispute on August 12. Police were allegedly called after some witnesses reported that Laundrie hit and slapped Petito.

Reports said the officers who spoke with the couple and the witness decided to separate the two for the evening so they could "relax" their emotions.

The Tribune said the fees that Moab police charged in exchange for the footage will be refunded. The amount, totaling around $2,940, was reported to be about three times what the department had expected to collect this year in records fee revenue.

Based on the document obtained by The Tribune, the police department charged a $98 video processing fee to 30 media entities that requested the footage, which seemed to violate Utah law.

Public record law states that agencies can only charge for the "actual costs" of providing a record. City spokesperson Lisa Church declined to directly say that the decision to collect a processing fee for the footage was a mistake.

But Church admitted that it fell outside Moab's normal fee schedule and that the city generally tries to provide records requests from media entities for free. She told The Tribune that she did not know how the police department arrived at the $98 fee amount per request.

Church further noted that even if one person were charged a fee, once a certain document is created, "everybody else should not have been charged."

She said the police department released a second video from the same incident days later for no charge. Church noted that the city intends to refund the fees collected from different news organizations next week.

Moab police reportedly expect to receive $1,000 in records fee in the fiscal year 2021 and budgeted that same amount for the 2022 fiscal year.

READ NEXT: Brian Laundrie's Parents 'Not Convinced' Yet That Skeletal Remains Found at Florida Park Belong to Son

Florida Sheriff Says Gabby Petito a Victim of Domestic Violence

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd earlier said they would have arrested Brian Laundrie since Gabby Petito was a victim of domestic violence. The sheriff noted that the incident in Moab on August 12 was a clear domestic violence case.

"I can tell you that according to Florida law, when she (Petito) was the victim of domestic violence originally, he (Laundrie) would have been arrested," Judd said.

In the second body camera video on the same August 12 domestic dispute released by Moab police, Petito told a Utah cop that Laundrie assaulted her after she hit him.

A crying Petito told police that Laundrie "didn't like hit me in the face" or "didn't like punch me," but he cut her "with his nail."

"Well he like, grabbed me with his nail, and I guess that's why it looks, I definitely have a cut right here... I can feel it, when I touch it, it burns," she reportedly said as she rubbed her cheek.

The Moab Police Department came under intense scrutiny for its handling of the couple's dispute. Moab police chief Bret Edge took a leave of absence, and the cops involved had been under investigation.

Deaths of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie

Gabby Petito disappeared on a cross-country road trip with Brian Laundrie. The couple was traveling to Oregon when the YouTuber stopped communicating with her family in Wyoming in late August.

Laundrie was named a person of interest by North Port police after returning home on September 1 or 10 days before Petito was reported missing by her family.

Petito's body was found at the Spread Creek Dispersed Campground near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on September 19.

A Teton County, Wyoming coroner said she was strangled to death by a "human being," and the manner of death was homicide.

On October 20, Laundrie's remains were discovered in a swampy area of the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park. The initial autopsy of his remains did not uncover a cause or manner of his death.

Thus, Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie family attorney, said the skeletal remains of Laundrie were sent to a forensic anthropologist for further examination. He noted that the forensic anthropologist's examination would conclude in two to three weeks.

Forensic anthropologists analyze human remains, conduct DNA tests and look for signs of weapon evidence to help determine how an individual died, whether accidental, suicide, homicide, or natural.

READ MORE: Brian Laundrie Manhunt: Parents of Gabby Petito's Fiance Change the Date of Florida Fugitive's Disappearance

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Gabby Petito Case: Full bodycam Video From Second Utah Officer - From FOX 13 Tampa Bay






Irish Water has confirmed there is a 'burst' to a large water main in the Corbally area and that they are currently working with Clare County Council to restore water as quickly as possible to impacted customers.

According to a statement, "Whilst every effort is being made to maintain supply to as many customers as possible, the burst is impacting the water supply to homes and businesses in Corbally, Knockballynameath, Carraig Midhe, Westbury and surrounding areas in Co. Clare."

Irish Water's service crews have mobilised and repairs are underway.

The statement to the Limerick Leader continued - "To support impacted customers, an alternative water supply will be in place and water tankers with clean drinking water will be available from lunchtime at a number of locations for the duration of the outage. Customers are reminded to use their own containers when taking water from the tankers and to boil the water before consumption as a precautionary measure. Irish Water would also like to remind the public to adhere to public health advice in relation to social distancing and mask wearing when collecting water from the tankers. "

As the repairs continue, there is a traffic management plan in place and the road between Athlunkard Bridge and Larkins cross will remain closed until the works have been completed. Local and emergency access will be maintained at all times.

Pat Britton, Irish Water, commented: The repairs are being conducted as quickly and efficiently as possible to minimise disruption to the area and restore water for all customers. We understand the inconvenience unplanned outages can have on customers and we appreciate your patience as we work to return the water supply to homes and businesses as quickly as possible.

"Irish Water understands the inconvenience when a burst occurs and thanks customers for their patience while we work to restore normal supply to impacted customers. The Irish Water customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and customers can also contact us on Twitter @IWCare with any queries. For updates please visit the Water Supply Updates section of the Irish Water website quoting the reference number CLA00040130."
Gardai in Newcastle West are appealing for witnesses following two separate incidents in the area last week.

"Thieves broke into a house at Arra View in Newcastle West last Friday between 3.50pm and 11pm. They broke the glass at the rear patio door to get into the house. They subsequently ransacked the house and stole a large quantity of jewellery and well as some cash. There are a large number of houses in this Estate . If you live at Arra View in Newcastle West you may have seen the thieves or seen some suspicious activity. The Gardai at Newcastle West are investigating and can be contacted at 069 20650." confirmed Garda John Finnerty from Henry Street station.

Meanwhile, also in Newcastle West, there was a rock thrown through a window, again on Friday evening last.



Garda Finnerty explains "A thief threw a rock through the front window of a house at Sharwood Estate , Newcastle West last Friday evening at 8pm. This was a very frightening experience for the family who were inside when this occurred. Unfortunately we dont have any description of the thief. The Gardai at Newcastle West are also investigating this incident. Should you have any information on the last two crimes mentioned , please dont hesitate to contact them. The number again is 069 20650. "
A BALLYHAHILL man was given a two month suspended jail sentence when he was convicted of threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour towards gardai at his home last May 31.

Martin Riordan, 7 Fortfield, Ballyhahill pleaded to the charge and to a second charge of being intoxicated in a public place.

When gardai arrived at Mr Riordans home, Inspector Andrew Lacey told the court, they found a highly intoxicated man who made a number of attempts to strike the gardai with a belt wrapped round his fist. The gardai made several attempts to calm him but needed to use pepper spray to subdue him.

Pleading for his client, who had 22 previous convictions including a number for similar offences as those before the court, solicitor Michael ODonnell said the convictions were spent. The last time he was in trouble was a long time ago, he said.

It is very hard for the court not to take into account previous convictions for same offences, particularly in this case where he has a belt wrapped around his fist. The belt didnt get around his fist by accident, Judge John Roberts said at Newcastle West Court, adding that Mr Riordan could have been charged with a more serious offence.

Mr ODonnell said his client accepted he had been out of order, totally out of order. There was a scene with his partner at the time, he said. His client had had a very serious drink problem but stopped ten years ago. The day in question was the anniversary of his brother who had died two years before and, combined with the domestic issue which necessitated the coming of the gardai, Mr Riordan was very much down on himself.

He accepts he was mouthing off to the guards, Mr ODonnell said.

If you have a drink problem, you have it for the rest of your life, Judge Roberts said. If you have a drink problem, there will always be an excuse to have a drink.

He doesnt honour the memory of his brother by becoming obstreperous, argumentative and aggressive, the judge said. Noting that the incident was at the high end of the Section 6 charge of threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour, the judge imposed a two month sentence, suspended for two years.

The charge of being intoxicated in a public place was taken into consideration. If he comes to the attention of the gardai with similar behaviour he will be imprisoned, the judge warned.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said adverse impact on production at its two plants in Haryana and parent Suzuki's Gujarat plant to continue in November due to the global semiconductor shortage.

Calling the situation as quite dynamic, the largest carmaker in India noted in a regulatory filing that as per current estimates the total vehicle production volume across both its facilities locations in Haryana next month could be around 85 per cent of normal roll-out.

Owing to a supply constraint of electronic components due to the semiconductor shortage situation, the company is expecting an adverse impact on vehicle production in the month of November21 in both Haryana and its contract manufacturing company, Suzuki Motor Gujarat Pvt Ltd (SMG)," MSI said in a regulatory filing.

The company's production capacity at Gurgaon and Manesar plants in Haryana is around 15 lakh units per annum.

SMG Gujarat, which supplies vehicles exclusively to Maruti Suzuki, has an additional installed production capacity of 7.5 lakh units per annum.

The company had earlier stated that the total vehicle production volume across both locations in October could be around 60 per cent of normal production. It had noted that the vehicle production in September would be just 40 per cent of its normal output due to the shortage of semiconductor chips.

Earlier this week, MSI reported a 66 per cent year on year decline in consolidated net profit at 487 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2021, impacted by the ongoing semiconductor shortage and increase in commodity prices.

The auto major could not produce around 1.16 lakh vehicles during the second quarter owing to the electronics component shortage mostly corresponding to the domestic models, the company had stated.

The company has more than 2 lakh pending customer orders at the end of the quarter for which it is making all efforts to expedite deliveries.

Semiconductors are silicon chips that cater to control and memory functions in products ranging from automobiles, computers and cellphones to various other electronic items.

The usage of semiconductors in the auto industry has gone up globally in recent times with new models coming with more and more electronic features such as bluetooth connectivity and driver-assist, navigation and hybrid-electric systems.

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New Delhi: Markets regulator SEBI has warned billionaire Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Ltd and Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) over non-compliance with certain disclosure norms, saying it will take action if such actions were repeated in future.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) flagged Vedanta executing 1,407 crore of related party transactions with associate company HZL without prior approval of the audit committee and HZL's failure to inform shareholders of deferment of meeting relating to price-sensitive dividend payment.

In an October 28 warning letter, which Vedanta as per SEBI directions disclosed to stock exchanges, the regulator said it will take action if such actions were repeated in future.

The mining conglomerate's independent auditors had in Vedanta's annual report for fiscal year 2020-21 flagged related party transactions.

"With regard to the qualified opinion in respect of the company executing related party transactions worth 1,407 crore without prior approval of the audit committee, the company has submitted that the said transaction was ratified later (after a period of about 47 days)," SEBI said in the October 28 letter.

Without disclosing the nature of the transaction, the company stated that the transaction was done at an arm's length and in ordinary course of business.

In an October 29 letter to HZL, SEBI said the company had scheduled a meeting of its board on August 17, 2021 to consider interim dividend for 2021-22. This was deferred on August 17 without assigning any reason or indicating a tentative date for the next board meeting.

"The closing price of the scrip shot up from 316.05 on August 11 (date of announcement of board meeting) to 331.1 on August 16 (the day before the scheduled board meeting) and subsequently fell down to 317.5 on August 17 (after deferment of the board meeting)," SEBI said.

"Considering that the board meeting scheduled on August 17, 2021 was supposed to consider a price-sensitive agenda, the company must have disclosed the reasons for deferment of such meeting, to the investors," SEBI said adding the audit committee and the board subsequently met on October 22, 2021 for financial results but there was no mention of interim dividend in the outcome of the meeting.

SEBI said regulations require listed entities to provide adequate and timely information to investors.

"It is evident from the sequence of events that the company has failed to comply with the principles specified in the SEBI LODR," it said. "The company is advised to provide necessary updates to the investors on the issue discussed above."

"In this regard, attention may be drawn to Regulation 23(2) of SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015, which states that all related party transactions shall require prior approval of the audit committee," SEBI said. "Accordingly, the submission of the company that the transactions were done at arm's length distance is not tenable."

On the auditor's observation over delay in disclosure of the outcome of board meeting of October 3, 2020, the company submitted that the delay was due to unforeseen circumstances and that it will ensure that the same is not repeated.

"The aforesaid non-compliances are viewed seriously. You are hereby warned and advised to ensure compliance with all applicable provisions of SEBI Regulations," the regulator said in the letter. "Any such aberration in future would be viewed seriously and appropriate action would be initiated."

SEBI asked Vedanta to place its letter before the company's board of directors and disseminate the same to stock exchanges.

Vedanta in the filing said that the firm's board at its meeting held on October 29 took note of the SEBI letter.

The board "has advised the company to ensure adherence to all applicable provisions," it said. "We would also like to state that the company has always been meticulous in complying with all the provisions of the Companies Act and SEBI Regulations and will continue to do so."

Responding to SEBI letter, HZL said it has "always been meticulous in complying with all the provisions of the Companies Act and SEBI Regulations and will continue to do so."

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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Aryan Khan, son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, is set to walk out of Mumbais Arthur Road prison after officials Saturday morning opened the bail box outside the jail to collect his papers.

The bail order box outside the prison was opened around 5:30 am and the officials collected six to seven bail orders, including those of Aryan. He is expected to be released within an hour," a jail source said.

While granting Aryan bail on Thursday in the drugs-on-cruise case, the Bombay High Court imposed 14 bail conditions on him, paving the way for his release from jail.

In the five-page order, the high court said that Aryan Khan and and his two co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, who were also granted bail, shall be released on a personal bond of one lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount.

As per the conditions set by the high court, the trio will have to surrender their passports before the special NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court and that they will have to attend the NCB office each Friday to mark their presence.

The HC had granted bail to Aryan Khan, 25 days after he was arrested during a drug raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday had an hour-long meeting with Pope Francis at Vatican City and invited him to visit India.

Although the meeting between PM Modi and the pope was scheduled for only 20 minutes, it went on for nearly an hour. Both are reported to have discussed a wide range of issues aimed at making the planet better, including fighting climate change and removing poverty.

Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India," wrote Modi on Twitter after the interaction.

Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India. @Pontifex pic.twitter.com/QP0If1uJAC  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 30, 2021

This is the first Papal Visit since 1999 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee met Pope John Paul II.

PM Modi departed from the Vatican City after his meeting with Pope Francis on Saturday ahead of the G20. He was accompanied by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar.

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican earlier today



"This was the first meeting between an Indian PM and the Pope in more than two decades," MEA said. pic.twitter.com/RxG6GWmlOw  ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2021

The prime minister arrived in Italy on Friday to participate in the two-day G20 Summit.

He will be a part of the G20 opening session on Global Economy and Global Health today.

He is also scheduled to have a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and a meeting with the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo. PM Modi is expected to have a meeting with Singapore PM Lee Hosein Loong as well.

In the evening, PM is scheduled to arrive at Terme di Diocleziano for a cultural programme. Later, there is a dinner planned for G20 leaders and partner countries.

While briefing about the prime minister's Italy visit, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Friday said that PM Modi will discuss the economic situation, Covid-19 pandemic, sustainable development and climate change with G20 leaders.

On Friday, PM Modi met with top European Union leaders and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. They congratulated Prime Minister Modi for India's excellent progress on the Covid-19 vaccination.

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised for emergency use the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children 5 through 11 years of age (also referred to as 5 to <12 years) on Saturday. With this, Pfizer-BioNTech's Comirnaty has become the first Covid-19 vaccine to get FDA's authorisation in the US for individuals 5 through 11 years of age.

The Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing firms Pfizer and BioNTech said the vaccine would be administered in a two-dose regimen 10-g doses to the children in 21 days gap.

"Over 6 million children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of this pandemic, and a high number of young people continue to be infected every week. With this FDA authorization, we have achieved another key marker in our ongoing effort to help protect families and communities, and to get this disease under control," Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer said.

However, before children can begin to receive the vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions immunisation advisory committee will make more detailed recommendations on which youngsters should get vaccinated on Tuesday.

The rationale here is protect your children so that they can get back towards normal life," said FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks. The tremendous cost of this pandemic has not just been in physical illness, its been in the psychological, the social development of children" too.

Nearly 70% of 5- to 11-year-olds were hospitalised for Covid-19 in the US with serious medical conditions, including asthma and obesity, according to federal tracking.

According to Pfizer study of 2,268 schoolchildren found the vaccine was nearly 91% effective at preventing symptomatic coronavirus infections.

The FDA ultimately assessed 3,100 children who received the kid dosage to conclude it was safe. But the study wasnt large enough to detect any extremely rare side effects, such as the heart inflammation that occasionally occurs after the second full-strength dose, mostly in young men and teen boys. It's unclear if younger children getting a smaller dose also will face that rare risk. FDA pledged Friday to keep a close watch.

A few countries have begun using other COVID-19 vaccines in children under 12, including China, which just began vaccinations for 3-year-olds.

India's Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila are also working to create a vaccine for children.

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The Taliban called on the United States and other countries on Saturday to recognise their government in Afghanistan, saying that a failure to do so and the continued freezing of Afghan funds abroad would lead to problems not only for the country but for the world.

No country has formally recognised the Taliban government since the insurgents took over the country in August, while billions of dollars in Afghan assets and funds abroad have also been frozen, even as the country faces severe economic and humanitarian crises.

"Our message to America is, if unrecognition continues, Afghan problems continue, it is the problem of the region and could turn into a problem for the world," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told journalists at a news conference on Saturday.

He said the reason the Taliban and the United States went to war last time was also because the two did not have formal diplomatic ties.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the Sept. 11, 2001, attack after the then-Taliban government refused to hand over al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

"Those issues which caused the war, they could have been solved through negotiation, they could have been solved through political compromise too," Mujahid said.

He added that recognition was the right of the Afghan people.

While no country has recognised the Taliban government, senior officials from a number of countries have met with the movement's leadership both in Kabul and abroad.

The latest visit was by Turkmen Foreign Minister Rasit Meredow, who was in Kabul on Saturday. The two sides discussed the speedy implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, Mujahid said earlier on Twitter.

China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, met Taliban officials in Qatar earlier this week. Mujahid said on Saturday that China had promised to finance transport infrastructure, and to give Kabul's exports access to Chinese markets via neighbouring Pakistan.

Mujahid also spoke at length about the issues facing border crossings, particularly with Pakistan, which have seen frequent closures and protests in recent days. The crossings are crucial for landlocked Afghanistan.

He said serious talks on the matter were held when Pakistan's foreign minister had travelled to Kabul last week.

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Its worth remembering why tobacco executives lied in the infamous 1994 congressional hearings. Not to fool customers into continuing to smoke. Americans by then knew for decades that smoking was deadly. Polls in 1994 showed smokers actually overestimated the damage smoking was likely doing to them.

On the advice of lawyers, executives were simply avoiding magic words that could be used against them in a litigation game then going on, aimed at shifting a big chunk of smoking revenue from shareholders to politicians and their trial-lawyer allies.

And you know how it ended: with a 46-state settlement that included a specific provision making sure cigarette prices didnt rise too fast, which would cause smokers to quit and reduce the states windfalls.

The term moral menials has been coined for people who do such work. If you want to despise politicians, feel free. You still cant live without them.

The same perverse legal and political incentives caused companies to curtail promising research into safer cigarettes, the subject of a Russell Crowe movie. This masquerade still has consequences. Our Food and Drug Administration cant admit that nicotine is the purpose of smokinga mood adjuster with many excellent propertiesand therefore proceed clear-headedly either to outlaw nicotine or help users consume it safely.

Facebook is the latest inductee to the Big Tobacco hall of shame for the sin of seeking to know how its products affect users.

How long did it take (answer: 15 seconds) for news reporting to forget that Facebooks internal research found both positive and negative effects from Instagram, preferring instead the story line Facebook knows its products harm users"? An FTC investigation means other companies will think twice now before investigating the impact of their own products. And forget that the same internet that gives teenagers access to Instagram gives them access to every sex act known to man; that advertising in the mainstream media was fostering status and body-image insecurity long before Instagram got into the racket; that if it bleeds, it leads" was a mantra of media sensationalism when Mark Zuckerberg was a zygote.

As it cyclically does, the hypocrisy show returned this week to Big Oil."

To cover up the political classs, and particularly Joe Bidens, inability to do anything meaningful about climate change, a House hearing on Thursday accused industry CEOs of blocking action as if somehow the pennies they spent on advocacy could haven countered the 30-year torrent of climate-change propaganda coming from governments, universities, green lobbyists and scientific organizations.

They are obviously lying like the tobacco executives were," intoned Rep. Carolyn Maloney, in windup-toy fashion. This line she was guaranteed to utter no matter what was said at the hearing (in fact, executives repeated what their companies had long said about the risks of climate change and the lack of alternatives to fossil fuels).

Most of us would be repulsed to behave the way politicians routinely do, which brings us to an unexpected counterpoint. For want of something shiny to wave at next weeks global climate summit, and not too discerning about what it was, President Biden caused the U.S. intelligence services to gin up a new climate assessment. Lo, the result is notable mainly for its skepticism about the kind of summits Mr. Biden will be attending.

Current policies and pledges are insufficient," the report says. We assess that some countries are using a pledge to mask a lack of seriousness." In place of doing anything, countries will prefer to argue about who bears more responsibility to act."

At least one establishment institution has stopped paying lip service to the pipe dream that the world will give up fossil fuels on a timespan relevant to our climate risks. The assessment also includes a surprisingly open-minded discussion of cheaply injecting particulate matter into the atmosphere to reduce warming.

The agencies foresee, after 2030 when the Paris Agreements dead-letterhood will be hard to ignore, an increasing chance that countries will unilaterally test and deploy large-scale solar geoengineeringcreating a new area of disputes."

Consensus is a possibility too: A country fearing the existential threat from sea level rise could initiate a geoengineering program that begins to dim the planet and artificially reduces global temperatures. After witnessing the successful demonstration, other states might support increased geoengineering, both to avert the worst aspects of climate impacts and to avoid having to transition away from fossil fuels."

This analysis at least is realistic, and poses a realistic if imperfect hope. Be thankful for small favors. Its a lot more than you can say for the green pork bonanza Mr. Biden and his peers will be cooking up, which both economics and climate science assure us will have virtually no effect on climate.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text)

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We Homo sapiens didn't used to be alone. Long ago, there was a lot more human diversity; Homo sapiens lived alongside an estimated eight now-extinct species of human about 300,000 years ago. As recently as 15,000 years ago, we were sharing caves with another human species known as the Denisovans . And fossilized remains indicate an even higher number of early human species once populated Earth before our species came along.

"We have one human species right now, and historically, that's really weird," said Nick Longrich, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom. "Not that far back, we weren't that special, but now we're the only ones left."

So, how many early human species were there?

Related: What's the first species humans drove to extinction?

When it comes to figuring out exactly how many distinct species of humans existed, it gets complicated pretty quickly, especially because researchers keep unearthing new fossils that end up being totally separate and previously unknown species.

"The number is mounting, and it'll vary depending on whom you talk to," said John Stewart, an evolutionary paleoecologist at Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom. Some researchers argue that the species known as Homo erectus is in fact made up of several different species, including Homo georgicus and Homo ergaster.

"It's all about the definition of a species and the degree to which you accept variation within a species," Stewart told Live Science. "It can become a slightly irritating and pedantic discussion, because everyone wants an answer. But the truth is that it really does depend."

The Story of Humans: $26.99 at Magazines Direct The Story of Humans: $26.99 at Magazines Direct Join us on a journey through human history and explore how evolution and ingenuity shaped us. From the first branches of the Homo family tree to the astonishing achievements our species are capable of today, "The Story of Humans" will reveal how harnessing fire and crafting tools shaped our future, how we triumphed over our Neanderthal relatives, how the invention of agriculture changed history and how the human brain developed.

What is a species?

The definition of a species used to be nice and simple: If two individuals could produce fertile offspring, they were from the same species. For example, a horse and a donkey can mate to produce a mule, but mules can't successfully reproduce with each other. Therefore, horses and donkeys, though biologically similar, are not the same species. In recent decades, however, that simplicity has given way to a more complex scientific debate about how to define a species. Critics of the interbreeding definition point out that not all life reproduces sexually; some plants and bacteria can reproduce asexually.

Others have argued that we should define species by grouping together organisms with similar anatomical features, but that method has weaknesses as well. There can be significant morphological variation between the sexes and even individuals of the same species in different parts of the world, making it a very subjective way of classifying life.

Some biologists prefer to use DNA to draw the lines between species, and with advancing technology, they can do so with increasing precision. But we don't have the DNA of every ancient human  the genome of Homo erectus, for instance, has never been sequenced, Live Science previously reported .

The skulls of various human species (Image credit: Shutterstock)

It gets even murkier when you consider that as much as 2% of the average European's DNA comes from Neanderthals and up to 6% of the DNA of some Melanesians (Indigenous people from islands directly northeast of Australia in Oceania) comes from Denisovans. So, are we a separate species from these ancestors?

"Some people will tell you that Neanderthals are the same species as us," Stewart said. "Theyre just a slightly different type of modern humans and the interbreeding is the proof, but again the definition of species has moved on from just interbreeding."

Related: Why haven't all primates evolved into humans?

After taking all of this into account, some experts have argued that the concept of a species doesn't actually exist . But others say that, while a cast-iron definition of a species is almost impossible to achieve, it's still worth the effort so that we can talk about evolution  including the evolution of our own species  in a meaningful way.

So we muddle on, knowing that a species means different things to different people  which means, of course, that people will disagree on how many species of human have ever existed. It's also a question of what constitutes a human. To answer this question, it helps to understand the word hominin, a large group that includes humans and chimps going back to their shared ancestor.

"The chimpanzee and us have evolved from a common ancestor," Stewart said. If we decide that humans are everything that arrived after our split from ancient chimpanzees about 6 million to 7 million years ago, then it's likely to be a diverse group. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has listed at least 21 human species that are recognized by most scientists. Granted, it's not a totally complete list; the Denisovans, for instance, are missing.

Those on the list include Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, the Indonesian hobbit-size people , Homo erectus and Homo naledi . The list also includes other species that existed closer in time to the common ancestor of humans and chimps, and so look more like chimpanzees than modern-day humans. Despite their looks, these species are still known as early humans. "You can't go back 5 million years and expect them to look like us," Stewart said.

If the Smithsonian says there are 21, then you can be sure the diversity is much greater, Stewart said. Thats because the list errs on the side of caution, picking the species that are close to universally recognized. For instance, the recently discovered dwarf human species Homo luzonensis , who is known from just a few bones from a cave in the Philippines, is not included on the Smithsonian's list.

Researchers also suspect there are many other fossilized species yet to be excavated. "The list has only ever grown and I dont see why that will change," Stewart said.

Editor's Note: This article was updated at 9:49 a.m. EST on Jan. 25 to note that the remains of Homo luzonensis were found in the Philippines, not in Indonesia.

Originally published on Live Science.
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Two Netflix employees have filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging the streaming giant retaliated against them for protesting Dave Chappelles comedy special The Closer.

An NLRB representative confirmed that an unfair labor practice charge was filed Wednesday.

B. Pagels-Minor, a Black trans program manager at Netflix, was fired after the company claimed they shared information on the economics behind and viewership of The Closer with Bloomberg News. Pagels-Minor organized a walkout on Oct. 20 of Netflixs trans employees and their supporters. Pagels-Minor denies leaking the information to Bloomberg.

Software engineer Terra Field was suspended after posting a tweet thread about The Closer, but Netflix at the time said the suspension was for attending the companys Quarterly Business Review meeting uninvited. She was later reinstated after Netflix found no ill intent.

In a statement, Netflix asserted that the employees faced no retaliation for criticism of Chappelle.

We recognize the hurt and pain caused to our trans colleagues over the last few weeks, a Netflix spokesman said a statement. But we want to make clear that Netflix has not taken any action against employees for either speaking up or walking out.

In the complaint, Pagels-Minor and Field say Netflix took the actions in order to stop workers from speaking out, according to The Verge, which first reported the labor charge.

This charge is not just about B. and Terra, and its not about Dave. Its about trying to change the culture and having an impact for others, attorney Laurie Burgess told The Verge. The charge is all about collective action. Its about supporting your coworkers and speaking up for things you care about.

Pagels-Minor and Field have both reportedly signed Netflix employment agreements that require private arbitration, making it more difficult to file a lawsuit. The NLRB must investigate any charges it receives, and can try to secure a settlement or issue a complaint based on its findings.

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Netflix has signaled its strong commitment to Latin American television content by teaming up with the regions most important confab, Ventana Sur, on its TV strand, SoloSeries.

For the first time, Ventana Sur and Netflix have joined forces to provide more impetus to women creators with a cash incentive of $5,000 (500,000 Argentine Pesos). This will be awarded to one project selected out of five SoloSeries participating projects in development by Argentine women creators. In addition, Carolina Leconte, Netflix director of original series for Latin America, will be mentoring on the participating projects.

Among the five projects is absurdist comedy My Queen by Marlene Grinberg, which tackles the issues of motherhood, children, sex and Judaism. It also participates in Ventana Surs pitching sessions.

SoloSeries aims to gather the most notable series and microseries in Latin America and serves as a networking hub for showrunners, screenwriters and producers.

The event will include conferences and roundtables with leading execs of the worlds top TV companies.

This year, in collaboration with the Spanish production company EsSpotlight, a call was made to present projects in development for fiction and documentary series.

EsSpotlight will select 10 projects that will participate in SoloSeries Pitching Sessions, and will award three major prizes at the end of the market.

Digital platform Flixxo will select five to eight microseries projects in development that are participating in MicroSeries pitching sessions, and will award a bitcoin prize valued at $1,000.

Launched in 2009 as a joint initiative of the Cannes Film Festivals Marche du Film and Argentinas National Film and Audiovisual Arts Institute, Ventana Sur has been an appointment event for the past 12 years. While last years event was completely online, this year, Ventana Sur will run a hybrid edition from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4 at its new venue in central Buenos Aires, the Centro Cultural Kirchner.

Netflix incentive projects by Argentine women creators:

Ayelen and the Forest Shadow, Luz Rapport, Celeste Lambert and Sofia Sauval.

Fed Up, in a Far Away Defense, Julia Zarate and Nara Carreira. Producer: Dalmira Maria Tobal, Dalmira Films

The Girls of the Fog, Milagros Tucci Layus. Producer: Jorge Lujan Corsi

My Queen, Marlene Grinberg. Producer: Mario E. Levit, Cruz del Sur Cine

Sugar. Handicapped. Reckless, Not that Sweet, Lucrecia Gomez Boschetti and Ana de Pascuale. Producer: Hernan Tchira, Nah Contenidos

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  David Wettergren shouldnt be here.

He shouldnt be making plans to see his grandchildren. He shouldnt be looking forward to the Gophers-Badgers football game over Thanksgiving weekend. He shouldnt be thinking about rescheduling a monthlong trip to Portugal, Spain and Germany.

Wettergren, 82, of North Oaks, nearly died last month in the intensive care unit at M Health Fairview St. Johns Hospital in Maplewood while being treated for a severe breakthrough case of COVID-19. Wettergren, who is fully vaccinated, spent 33 days in the hospital, 23 of which were in the ICU, 11 of those on a ventilator. He then spent three weeks in transitional care at Cerenity Senior Care Center in White Bear Lake.

Wettergren, former superintendent of Stillwater Area Public Schools, returned home earlier this month, 54 days after doctors told his wife, Gretchen Stein, to call 911 and have an ambulance take him to the hospital.

Oh, Im so happy to be here, Wettergren said, as he used a walker to reach a red chair at the kitchen island. A bouquet of flowers, a pumpkin with the word Blessed painted on it, and a sign saying Welcome Home, Dear David greeted him.

He reached out to Stein, enveloping her in a tight hug, and started crying.

I missed my wife and my home, he said, patting her hand. This has been a real setback, this COVID. It totally caught me by surprise. I was feeling so good about having the vaccine, and we were so careful, and then to have something like that happen, it was, Whoa, where did that come from? 

Wettergrens story of survival, documented daily by Stein on the CaringBridge website, is a tribute to faith, science and love, she said. Hes had two shoulders replaced, two hips replaced, a knee replaced, he had a valve replaced in his heart, and hes had back fusion. Hes a miracle man. He did it this time, too.

Wettergren credits his recovery to positive thinking, his strong faith in God and medicine  and Stein.

One of my adages or strong beliefs is: Beyond fear there is freedom,  Wettergren said. We could spend our time worrying about this and whether were going to turn the corner, but we are, and theres no sense being fearful of it. We need to grab it and move forward. I truly believe that we need to be positive.

As of the middle of October, Minnesota had seen about 46,000 breakthrough cases of COVID-19 and more than 260 deaths deaths among fully vaccinated people, according to the state Department of Health. There had been more than 2,100 breakthrough cases resulting in hospitalizations.

The states breakthrough cases represent 1.4 percent of the population of fully vaccinated Minnesotans, while the number of deaths is just 0.008 percent of the fully vaccinated population.

About 3.2 million Minnesotans had completed the vaccine series, or about 71 percent of the population 16 and older. As of last week, the state had recorded more than 768,000 cases of COVID and 8,515 deaths.

For unvaccinated Minnesotans, the risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19 is 15 times more likely than those vaccinated. But in those rare cases when a fully vaccinated person gets infected, data suggest it is older adults and those with multiple underlying medical conditions most at risk of serious illness, said Mayo Clinic infectious-disease expert Dr. Raymund Razonable, who runs the clinics monoclonal-antibody program.

The delta variant of COVID is more transmissible compared to the previous variant, Razonable said. Many people who were vaccinated back in January or February may have a waning immunity. And the vaccinations are not 100 percent effective. There are patients who are not going to respond adequately to the vaccine.

Razonable recommends that anyone high-risk who tests positive after being vaccinated be treated with virus-fighting monoclonal antibodies. Receiving monoclonal-antibody treatments in a timely manner could be the difference between getting over COVID quickly or ending up in the hospital, he said.

By the time Wettergren went to the hospital, he was too sick to benefit from the treatment.

Wettergren isnt sure where he contracted COVID. He suspects it was during a trip to Somerset, California, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, in mid-August. To get to where we had to go, we had to go through the L.A. airport, he said. On the way home, they had a lot of construction going on in the airport, and they were pushing all the people through one terminal. We had to ride in a little bus, and there were so many people in there.

Although he had received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine and was masked, Wettergren started feeling sick after the couple returned to Minnesota. He began running a fever, but tested negative for COVID.

On Aug. 24, a subsequent test came back positive. Three days later, Wettergren and Stein were sitting at the breakfast table when Wettergren felt his temperature spike. All of a sudden, my temperature went up to 104, he said. Gretchen called the help line, and they said, Youve got to get in an ambulance and get to the hospital. 

Wettergrens level of oxygen saturation in his blood dropped into the 80s; a normal oxygen level is between 95 and 100 percent. The doctor had told me if it gets below 90, he needs to get in, Stein said. It was fast.

Doctors told Stein that if Wettergren hadnt been vaccinated, he wouldnt be alive today, she said. They also said that he had to have come into contact with a person who was not vaccinated to have gotten that full load of virus that he received. Those are the two most important pieces of this: He survived because he was vaccinated, and he was likely infected because somebody else was not.

Wettergren hopes his near-death experience will serve as a warning to others.

People have got to take this seriously, he said. Two doctors told me that I almost died; I dont think it could get more serious than that. I was sick, man. I was incredibly ill. When youre in a coma for 11 days, you know its bad. My body really took a blow.

Stein, 66, updated family members on Wettergrens condition in an Aug. 31 email. He was in stable condition in the ICU, she wrote, and was wearing different masks to increase the oxygen flow to his lungs to avoid intubation.

The hardest part for both of us is we cannot see each other, she wrote. All his energy now is going into being able to breathe. He spends significant time on his stomach, which makes it easier on his lungs to breathe.  His nurse told me last night that they could see simply from his chest X-ray that he had been vaccinated. The unvaccinated lungs are a real mess. No worries, dear ones. Faith not fear for David. I insist we hold a positive vision of his healing and future.

Stein is the former CEO and president of Sand Creek Group, a national employee-assistance program. In 2009, she and Wettergren co-founded A Place of Grace, a nonprofit dedicated to serving military women and their children, which later transitioned to the Women Veterans Initiative.

She started updating family and friends via the CaringBridge website on Sept. 2, the day after Wettergren was placed on a ventilator.

Stein said she communicated with Wettergren, who was in a medically induced coma, via an iPad placed by his bed. She read poetry, shared comments from CaringBridge and played meditation tapes.

I find much comfort in watching him breathe, she wrote on Sept. 3. We breathed in Gods love and exhaled stress and worry. As I watched (his) chest rise and fall, I held this thought: He is in a safe place, a holy place and a healing place. David loves this meditation because it focuses on Gods promise quoted in Jeremiah 30:17: I will restore health to you and your wounds I will heal. 

Although Wettergrens situation was dire, Stein focused on the positive in her CaringBridge entries.

We believe that what you hold in mind appears in kind, she said. We have always held the high vision for what this would be like, and its actually coming true. There were times that I didnt know, but I still held that vision.

She also worked to make sure that the people working in the ICU knew about Wettergren, who served as a public-school teacher and administrator for 37 years, his last 12 as superintendent of Stillwater Area Public Schools. When the doctor talked to me about the necessity of putting him on a ventilator, she described him as an 82-year-old man with a heart condition,  Stein said. I wanted them to think of him as more than just that.

In a thank-you note to caregivers, tucked into a box of chocolates, cherries and cookies, she described her husband as a gentle, kind soul of the highest degree who has lived a life of servant leadership.

As a superintendent of schools, distinguished Eagle Scout, chair of the St. Croix Valley Community Foundation, chair of the United Way, chair of Lakeview Health System, etc., he led a path of service to improving thousands of lives, she wrote. It is my highest honor to share my life with this man. Before being hit by COVID, he was so healthy in mind, body and spirit. Each day, we walked 3 miles together  side by side.  David is loved, and David is love. I trust my treasure to your care.

Wettergren started to wake up from his coma on Sept. 6, and Stein shared the news the next day on CaringBridge. Last night, I saw the power of love in action, she wrote. I was reading to David and talking to him, as has become my nightly routine. Running out of things to say, I started to sing a lullaby. In reaction to my voice, he started to open his eyes for the first time since he was put into a coma. I watched him struggle to come awake to my voice.  David is awakening to love. God is love. Love is the most potent force on Earth.

Five days later, Wettergren was taken off the ventilator. A week later, on Sept. 19, he was moved out of the ICU.

I have not been able to hold my husbands hand since Aug. 27, Stein wrote on Sept. 21. If we had both been healthy, today we would have flown to Madeira, Portugal for a month in Europe  river cruising with our friends, celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary, and later visiting our daughter and her family.  I let go and surrender. I stay grounded in gratitude. When will I see him again? When will he leave the hospital? When will he eventually come home? Are all answered in Divine timing. Only God knows.

The couple were reunited in person on Sept. 27 in his hospital room. I was a bit of a traffic risk driving to St Johns with tears in my eyes and trying to watch the speed limit, she wrote. Such a blissful reunion. I massaged his sore neck, his thin legs and cut his Rip Van Winkle fingernails. Tonight, at his request, we will trim his facial hair. My words fail me. It is an understatement to say it was fantastic to be able to look into those clear, brilliant blue eyes again and hear his precious voice. I love this man so deeply. I also realize I almost lost him.

On Sept. 29, after 33 days in the hospital, Wettergren was discharged to the Cerenity transitional care center in White Bear Lake, where Stein could visit with him daily.

Five days later, they got bad news: Someone at Cerenity had tested positive for COVID, and the facility was going into lockdown. All residents would be quarantined in their rooms.

Stein brought a portable camping chair, set it up in the grass outside Wettergrens closed window and called him on his cellphone. We are trying to make the most of it, she wrote on Oct. 5. We are imagining together what life will be like when he returns home. It is great to be dreaming of a shared life again.

During a visit on the afternoon of Oct. 14, Stein, dressed in a long black coat, greeted Wettergren by putting her palm on the cold glass. He did the same.

This is my daily routine, she said through tears. We had never been more than three days apart before this. Its just so hard.

Did you miss me today? she asked him. I missed you.

Yes, he responded. I dont know what people do when theyre in a crisis like this, and they dont have a system to support them. It must be terribly lonely. This has been the most traumatic experience of my life.

Said Stein: We both will say that this is the hardest thing we have gone through in our lives, without a doubt.

Wettergren keeps a quotation from Will Durant taped to the couples refrigerator: The love we have in our youth is superficial compared to the love that an old man has for his wife.

Both Gretchen and I are spiritual people, and weve spent a lot of time in prayer, but also weve spent a lot of time casting our thoughts out into a positive future, he said. Our attitude toward this is, This isnt going to beat us. I have a long life to live yet, and were going to use this just as a sort of leverage to the next level of our lives.
Jim Bob Duggar, the patriarch on the reality TV show "19 Kids and Counting," announced Friday he is running for a seat in the Arkansas Senate.

Duggar wrote in a news release that government mandates and "out-of-control bureaucrats" prompted his run.

The seat opened Thursday when state Sen. Lance Eads resigned from his position to take a job at Capitol Consulting Firm, a lobbying company based in Little Rock. Eads had won re-election to his seat in Northwest Arkansas in 2020.

A special election will be called to fill the District 7 seat. It represents part of Washington County, including part of Springdale, Johnson, Goshen and Elkins.

History In Politics

Jim Bob Duggar, a longtime resident of Tontitown, has a history in Arkansas politics. He is a Republican and served two terms as an Arkansas state legislator from 1998 to 2003.

Duggar ran for U.S. Senate in 2002 and lost to incumbent Tim Hutchinson in the Republican primary. The family also took part in Rick Santorum's 2012 presidential campaign, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

In 2014, sister station KHBS learned that Jim Bob and wife Michelle Duggar donated $10,000 to Fayetteville City Council members who opposed the city's Civil Rights Ordinance. The ordinance was designed to keep landlords and business owners from discriminating against individuals for reasons such as sexual identity or sexual orientation.

Michelle Duggar also recorded calls telling voters the ordinance would allow child predators to enter "private areas that are reserved for women and girls," according to the Washington Post.

Jim Bob Duggar told 40/29 at the time he opposed the ordinance because it was bad for business.

Other members of the family have also gotten involved in politics. Son John Duggar was a constable in Washington County. Another child, Jed Duggar, ran for state representative in 2020 and lost to Democrat Megan Godfrey.

The Duggar's oldest son, Joshua Duggar, served as executive director of the Family Research Council for a time, and led rallies against LGBTQ rights, including a seven-state "Faith, Family, Freedom" tour.

He resigned from the Family Research Council after sexual misconduct allegations made when he was a juvenile were reported. Duggar went into what his family called "long-term rehab."

Joshua Duggar is currently facing federal charges in a child pornography case.

Reality TV Star

Jim Bob Duggar's 2002 senate run gave his large family a national profile. This led to a documentary and eventually a reality television show on TLC, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

That show was originally titled "17 Kids and Counting" when it debuted in 2008. It was renamed "18 Kids and Counting" then later "19 Kids and Counting," with the title reflecting the number of children born to Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar.

The series showcased the Duggar family's daily life, including their religious beliefs and parenting values.

It was canceled by TLC in 2015 and removed from Hulu following the sexual misconduct allegations against Joshua Duggar.

Jim Bob appeared in a spinoff series, "Counting On" from 2015 to 2021. It was canceled after Joshua Duggar's arrest.
A high-ranking Mexican Mafia gang member was arrested following a traffic stop, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The DPS Criminal Investigations Division with the assistance of the Texas Highway Patrol pulled over a Nissan Altima for a traffic violation. Authorities would identify the driver as Rogelio Garza Jr., 49.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP)  Council Bluffs police have announced the arrest of a man who was being sought as a person of interest in the shooting death of a woman in her home last week.

Vaughn White, 28, was arrested in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday on a warrant charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm, police said. Police had been seeking White in the shooting death of 24-year-old McKayla Glover of Council Bluffs.
Cryptocurrency miners are eyeing the lone star state and its low-cost energy as a means for growing the industry, but Texas fragile power grid might buckle under the pressure.

Cryptocurrency is decentralized, encrypted, digital money, explains Josh Rhodes, a research associate at the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin who has been a consultant for bitcoin mining companies throughout the state. Cryptocurrency is typically created through a process called mining, which involves computers solving ever increasingly complex math problems. Whatever bit of the problem is solved, some of the cryptocurrency is made, Rhodes explains.

This process consumes a lot of energy, about 3.25 kilowatts per miner, Rhodes explains, or roughly the amount a home air conditioner consumes. Current mines in the state are eating up hundreds of megawatts, but expansion plans will push that figure into the thousands soon, Rhodes says. Cryptocurrency transactions also use a lot of energy, with the average financial exchange consuming more than 1,700 kWh of electricity, almost twice the monthly amount used by the average U.S. home.

China, formerly the country with the largest bitcoin mining industry, recently banned cryptocurrency mining and transactions, driving bitcoiners to Texas. The majority of cryptocurrency mining was happening in China because they have some pretty cheap electricity over there Rhodes says, adding it was likely banned because the country did not want to cede control of any of its economy. Because Texas has some of the lowest cost electricity in the world, it looks pretty attractive to bitcoin miners or cryptocurrency miners.

The state also has an abundance of energy. It is a top producer of wind power in the country and has a surplus of cheap solar energy.

Texas leaders have also been vocal advocates for cryptocurrency. In June, Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Its happening! Texas will be the crypto leader, after H-E-B announced it would set up cryptocurrency kiosks in some stores. During a Texas Blockchain Summit earlier this month, Sen. Ted Cruz said bitcoin mining could play a significant role [in] strengthening and hardening the resilience of the grid. Texas suffered outages during a February winter storm in which its power grid failed to meet increased demand, leaving more than 4.5 million homes and businesses without power and hundreds dead.

Because of the ability of bitcoin mining to turn on or off instantaneously, if you have a moment where you have a power shortage or a power crisis, whether its a freeze or some other natural disaster where power generation capacity goes down," Senator Cruz said at the conference. "That creates the capacity to instantaneously shift that energy to put it back on the grid.

Some experts aren't so sure. "There is merit to the idea that more flexible demand makes it easier to balance the ups and downs of supply when wind and solar vary, or when coal and gas and nuclear plants fail, Daniel Cohan, associate professor of environmental engineering at Rice University, told the Dallas Morning News earlier this month. "But just adding brand new demand to the grid isnt helpful, or doesnt fix the shortfalls.

Alex de Vries, founder of the website Digiconomist which analyzes the impacts of cryptocurrencies, similarly opined that the energy required for bitcoin mining could create problems for the state's energy infrastructure when he spoke with the Austin American-Statesman. "This is a massive risk when you look at the Texas grid, which is already quite weak," Vires said. "You can't blame bitcoin miners solely for that but they're definitely going to be contributing."

Though it may be risky, Cruz's goal is possible, Rhodes says, but its complicated. More demand on the grid could mean less energy to go around for everyone. However, the more demand thats on the grid should spur more investment in more power plants, Rhodes says. If this new load added to the system results in us building more power plants those power plants would be available to serve other loads like peoples homes.

Rhodes also found that the bitcoin miners would need to be willing to reduce their operations when electricity demands rise in the state. Otherwise, it could impact the stability of the grid in a negative way. If new power plants are not built because of the mines, then market fundamentals would say the price of the electricity would go up, he says.

Some industry experts have expressed environmental concerns because of the the likely higher carbon dioxide output with the use of so much electricity, which is mostly generated by coal. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who announced his company's move to the state earlier this month, said in May he would no longer accept bitcoin as a form of payment for its vehicles because of the digital currency's environmental impact. He has since walked back on that statement and even had his company invest in bitcoin.

When it comes to reducing environmental impacts, Rhodes says flexibility is key. An increased demand could incentivize new wind and solar, which he adds are some of the cheapest forms of energy to build, to be developed in the state to match new demand and offset carbon emissions.

Texas' system must match supply in demand in real time, which has typically been done by turning up power plants when demand increases, Rhodes explains. "We typically cant ramp things like wind or solar," he says. "The flexibility allows us to still match supply and demand but not have to have so much firm capacity, or the ability to ramp things up and down like our thermal fleet by gas and coal."

When asked if he sees a potential ban happening in the state like Chinas, Rhodes says hes not sure the state government would have the authority to achieve so and that would instead need to be done at the federal level. Some electrical systems around the country could make it harder for mines to connect to the system and use electricity, he adds. Thats one way that you can functionally, I guess, stop it.

Still, Rhodes sees the popularity of cryptocurrency in the state continuing to grow. I do think more cryptocurrency, more bitcoin mining, is coming to Texas because theres just a lot of interest in it, he says. I think theres a lot coming.
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

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The Longford Leader, as part of Iconic Media, has signed an agreement with Google as part of a new initiative to support Irish media.

Google will license high-quality news content from the Longford Leader for News Showcase, Googles new product experience and licensing programme for news.

The Longford Leader is part of the Iconic Media Group, which has 22 regional newspaper titles throughout the country. Google News Showcase supports news publishers by giving them a new way to curate their high-quality content on Googles News and Discover platforms, connecting their readers with the news that matters to them and a deeper storytelling experience.

Editorial Operations Director with Iconic Media Group, Brian Keyes said that the agreement with Google is an endorsement of outstanding local journalism and the ever-increasing need of local readers to access quality, local content which is important to them.

It ensures that our readers continue to have access through our many websites across the country to quality content, and our readers will benefit considerably from the Google News experience. It is really exciting to be part of this project and a boost for all our talented journalists, he added.

Alan Walsh, Longford Leader Managing Editor, also welcomed the news. The partnership agreement is an exciting one for our dedicated newsroom. It is a ringing endorsement for our journalists, who have worked hard during the Covid-19 pandemic to bring the news that matters to Longford people, to see the investment being made by Google in local and community news."

Nearly 1,000 news publications globally have signed deals for News Showcase since last year, in countries including India, Germany, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Australia, Czechia, Japan, Colombia, the UK, Austria and Argentina, with discussions underway in a number of other countries.

Google is one of the worlds biggest financial supporters of news and Google News Showcase is the latest investment in its ongoing commitment to support journalism around the globe.

Google has already supported Iconic Media journalists in a number of ways, including training, as well as products like Google News and Search which send valuable traffic to news sites.

The full list of publications and websites from the Iconic Media group currently participating in Google News Showcase includes The Limerick Leader, Kildare Now, Derry Now, Offaly Express, Donegal Live, Dundalk Democrat, Longford Leader, Tipperary Live, Leinster Express, Carlow Live, Kilkenny People, Leinster Leader, Leitrim Observer, Waterford Live.
There are growing calls this week for a public protest to be held to force the hand of government bosses to follow through on renewed pleas for an acquired brain injury unit and a second palliative care bed to be added to St Joseph's Care Centre.

Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council Cllr Peggy Nolan delivered the ultimatum at a recent meeting of Longford County Council.

She described the HSE's response to fresh denials a dedicated acquired brain injury unit was ever earmarked for the Dublin Road facility as an absolute shambles.

The Fine Gael local councillor also took aim at Health Minister Simon Donnelly and bemoaned how the Wicklow TD had the neck to undertake a recent tour of Newtownforbes Vaccination Centre and converse with staff.

Cllr Nolan said she believed Longford had become the political scapegoat for a crisis which could have been easily avoided.

My belief is it is political skullduggery because a Fine Gael minister (Simon Harris) announced it (acquired brain injury unit), she said.

If we have to take to the streets then that is what we will have to do.

To say it is an appalling situation is an understatement.

These two issues have a huge impact for the people we represent and the minister says conversations are ongoing, well that conversation ends now.

Independent Cllr Gerry Warnock rowed in behind the Longford County Council Cathaoirleach's rallying cry, arguing that for too long the county had been on the wrong end of governmental cutbacks.

Fianna Fail Cllr and HSE Dublin Mid Leinster Chairperson PJ Reilly said he was of a view health chiefs never intended considering the possibility of an acquired brain injury unit for St Joseph's.

It's a pure disgrace the way we are being treated in Longford, he said.
A mother of two who was found in the possession of a hatchet has been fined 300 by District Court Judge John Brennan.

Jayne Ward, Lisnanagh, Edgeworthstown was found guilty at a sitting of Longford District Court last Tuesday after the car in which she was a front seat passenger was stopped and searched by gardai at Cloonahussey, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford on November 2, 2019

Detective Garda Orla Geraghty told a court four days beforehand of how she and colleague Detective Garda Sean Galvin were on patrol on the night of November 2, 2019.

At around 7:30pm, she said she spotted two vehicles parked just off the main N4 between Longford and Edgeworthstown beside the former ballroom, The Fountain Blue.

Detective Geraghty said one of those was a BMW car which contained Jayne Ward, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

She said as she spoke with Ms Ward, a blue and white hatchet could be seen in the front footwell beside the accused womans feet.

Detective Geraghty said Ms Ward offered up no reasonable explanation, insisting she bought it for chopping wood.

Ms Ward was cautioned, the car was searched and Section 16 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act and ultimately seized.

Detective Geraghty also added there were two small children sitting in the rear of the car.

She went on to reveal how the Stokes family had, at the time, been involved in an ongoing feud with a rivalling family from the Longford area.

Under cross examination from defence solicitor Brid Mimnagh at a hearing four days previously, Detective Geraghty disagreed with the Longford solicitors assertion that her client had never been arrested or questioned in connection to allegations her family were involved in a feud.

She has no convictions, added Ms Mimnagh, again prompting Det Garda Geraghty to disagree as she outlined how Ms Ward had five previous transgressions to her name, one of which was for violent disorder in 2018.

Ms Mimnagh contended however, the matter was heard at Circuit Court level and consequently struck out.

The court also heard direct evidence from Detective Garda Sean Galvin.

Like Detective Garda Geraghty, he said he observed Ms Ward sitting in the front passenger seat of the car and said it was his belief the second car was in the throws of handing over a delivery from a takeaway in Longford town.

He said soon after gardai arrived on the scene, other members of the Stokes family, including her husband Kevin Stokes Jnr who pulled up in another car where events took a more hostile turn.

He rejected claims made by Ms Mimnagh of how Mr Stokes could not have been in a position to either use or take ownership of the said hatchet at the time after he had recently been the victim of a serious assault in a car park at the rear of Longford Courthouse.

Other members of the Stokes family arrived at the scene with Kevin Stokes Jnr, said Detective Garda Galvin.

He was confrontational enough and not in any way incapacitated at the time.

Ms Ward took to the stand to reveal how she had bought the hatchet for less than 10 from Jimmys Superstore in Athlone earlier that day.

I went to do shopping in Athlone, I went home and put away my groceries, she said.

I went down to collect my food and I genuinely forgot to take the hatchet out (of the car).

On the day, it just slipped my mind.

In response to questioning about how the hatchet appeared to have been used previously from Inspector Dave Jordan, Ms Ward denied those claims.

As the hatchet was handed into Judge Brennan, Inspector Jordan said: Its not a new hatchet, its not one thats been bought off a shelf.

Judge Brennan, in delivering his verdict, said it seemed odd as to how the hatchet had been found in the footwell of the car, adding Ms Wards evidence to the court was simply not credible.

There is also no receipt (presented in court) here today, he said.

One of the first things you would do to rebutt States case would be to go to Jimmys and get a receipt.

Judge Brennan also noted how it was his belief, in taking closer inspection of the hatchet, that it had been used previously.

Ms Ward was remanded on bail until last Tuesday's weekly sitting in order for previous convictions to be outlined to the court.

Fiona Baxter, who defended Ms Ward last week, said her client was acceptive that she had five previous transgressions to her name, one of which included a violent disorder conviction.

That stemmed from an incident in 2016, added Ms Baxter which Ms Ward had completely forgotten about.

The reason, she said MsWard had overlooked the incident was due to the fact Judge Seamus Hughes at the time had opted to bind all parties to the peace for 12 months and ultimately believed no conviction was recorded as a result.

She said Ms Ward was a mother of two young children, both of whom had encountered health difficulties.

Judge Brennan said despite Ms Ward's mitigating circumstances, he had little option but to record a conviction.

It was a serious incident, he said, adding Ms Ward was fully entitled to defend the case.It is a serious matter in the background of an ongoing feud.

Judge Brennan added that while he accepted Ms Ward's insistence she had no involvement in any ongoing dispute, the hatchet retrieved by gardai was a very substantial item to be found.

He said taking all of those matters into account, the most appropriate way to dispose of the case was by way of monetary fine.

He fined Ms Ward 300, giving her four months to pay.

Judge Brennan also ordered for the hatchet to be destroyed.
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(Alliance News) - French President Emmanuel Macron has appeared to suggest the UK has not kept its Brexit pledges as a row over fishing rights intensified.

France is threatening to block British boats from its ports and tighten checks on vessels if an issue over a lack of licences for small French vessels to fish in British waters is not resolved by Tuesday.

The UK has said it could retaliate if France carries out its hardline stance.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Macron said the UK's "credibility" was at stake over the dispute in what will be seen as a reference to the handling of post-Brexit fishing licences.

He told the newspaper: "When you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility."

Meanwhile, the Telegraph reported that French prime minister Jean Castex has written to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to encourage Brussels to back Paris' position against London.

Castex, according to the newspaper, pressed the EU to use the "levers at its disposal" and to "make clearathat compliance with the commitments entered into is non-negotiable and that leaving the Union is more damaging than remaining in it".

But Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president and chairman of the ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, described the argument as "ridiculous" as he urged both sides to work to find a solution.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Puissesseau said: "It will be terrible for both sides of the Channel: for you, for us, for the ports, the fishermen in your country, for the fishermen in our country.

"And that's only for 40 little boats which are not allowed to fish in your country, so I hope there will be an agreement on that over the weekend."

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who admitted there is "turbulence" in Anglo-French relations currently, vowed to do "whatever is necessary to ensure UK interests".

Johnson said he was "puzzled about what is going on" and claimed Paris' behaviour could be in contravention of the UK's Brexit deal with the EU.

Speaking to reporters on the flight to the G20 in Rome, he urged British fishermen to "be confident about going about their lawful business" as he promised action against any infringements on their right to fish.

No 10 said it would not be commenting on Macron's latest remarks.

It comes as Downing Street separately confirmed that the prime minister and Macron will talk on the margins of the G20 this weekend.

The wrangle over fishing access escalated this week after French authorities accused a Scottish-registered scallop dredger of fishing without a licence.

The captain of the Cornelis Gert Jan vessel, understood to be an Irish national, was detained in Le Havre during the diplomatic storm and has been told to face a court hearing in August next year.

French authorities allege the Cornelis Gert Jan did not have a licence, a claim the boat's owner Macduff Shellfish denies. The EU said UK authorities withdrew the licence on March 1.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss took the rare step of ordering an allied nation's envoy to be summoned as she called Catherine Colonna, French ambassador to the UK, to the Foreign Office on Friday afternoon to challenge her over France's stance.

Colonna's conversation with Europe minister Wendy Morton lasted less than 15 minutes and she did not speak to the waiting press pack after leaving the Whitehall department.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said the minister "expressed concern" to the ambassador over "unjustified measures announced by France earlier this week" and, like the prime minister, warned of a possible breach of the Trade & Co-operation Agreement.

The meeting came after ministers promised retaliation if France did not back down over its proposals if next week's deadline for increased licences is not met.

Brexit minister David Frost, in a meeting on Friday with European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic to discuss the Northern Ireland Protocol, warned of "rigorous" checks on EU vessels if the threats were carried out.

Earlier in the day, UK Environment Secretary George Eustice did not rule out blocking French vessels as he condemned a "completely inflammatory" claim from France's Europe minister Clement Beaune that the only language Britain understands is "the language of force".

Asked by the BBC how the UK would respond if France blocked British trawlers, the Cabinet minister responded: "Two can play at that game."

At the centre of the dispute are the licences for small boats, which are issued only if the vessels can demonstrate a history of fishing in British waters.

Eustice told MPs on Thursday 171 vessels have been licensed to fish in the UK six to 12 nautical mile zone, of which 103 are French, with 18 under 12 metres.

By Patrick Daly, PA Political Correspondent

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
DRILLING PERMIT SECURED FOR OHMGEBIRGE PROJECT

 Permit received to drill first of two planned holes at Ohmgebirge Project

 Drilling contractor to proceed immediately with expected hole completion in early Q1 CY2022

 Permit for second hole expected to follow shortly

 Second hole expected to be completed in mid Q1 CY2022

 Scoping Study launched with completion expected at end Q1 CY2022

South Harz Potash Ltd (ASX:SHP) (South Harz or the Company), a potash exploration and development business with world-class projects in Germany, is pleased to announce that it has secured drilling approval from the relevant regulatory authority, Thuringer Landesamt fur Umwelt, Bergbau und Naturschutz (TLUBN), for the first of two planned confirmation drill holes at its flagship Ohmgebirge Project. The permit is conditional on the complete remediation of the drill site, grouting of the drill hole post-drilling and prevention of contamination of soils and water. All of these conditions have been allowed for in the drilling program and budget and further discussions are being held with the drillers to ensure exact compliance.

South Harz has instructed the drilling contractor, H. Anger's Sohne - Bohr- und Brunnenbaugesellschaft (Angers), to commence drilling at drillhole OHM-02, located within the Ohmgebirge Mining Licence area with immediate effect. Drilling of the hole is expected to take approximately 8-10 weeks with completion currently scheduled for early Q1 CY2022 at a cost of 2.3million.

Drillhole OHM-02 is planned to a depth of 665m, which is expected to fully penetrate the known potash horizon in the area. The aim of the drilling is to recover potash core from depth to assist in verifying historical drilling carried out by the former GDR state mining company as recently as the 1980's. Drillhole OHM-02 is designed to twin the historical drillhole, Kal Wr 6 Liese, which recorded an historical potash intercept of 5.5m at 14.4% K2O (from 651.7m) (as reported by South Harz in ASX announcement dated 23 December 2019).

An application for the second confirmatory drillhole at Ohmgebirge, OHM-01, was submitted to the TLUBN in early July 2021. The Company now awaits confirmation of this permit and anticipates work on this second drill hole to begin immediately after completion of drill hole OHM-02.

Results from the two confirmatory drillholes are expected to allow South Harz to upgrade the current 21.7 km2 Ohmgebirge JORC (2012) Inferred Mineral Resource estimate to the Indicated category. Subject to concurrent and satisfactory advancement of all modifying factors, this is expected to allow the release of a Scoping Study (a preliminary technical and economic assessment) by the end of Q1 CY2022.

South Harz Managing Director, Dr Chris Gilchrist, commented: "Securing the drilling permit is a major milestone for us. Drilling at OHM-02, and eventually OHM-01, provides us with a clear path forward, allowing South Harz to fully evaluate Ohmgebirge and secure the necessary information required to complete a preliminary technical and economic viability assessment. I would like to extend my congratulations to the executive team who brought us to this important juncture and look forward to providing updates on the progress made in the coming months."

Ohmgebirge Project

Ohmgebirge is located at the north-western extent of the South Harz sedimentary basin approximately 30km west of Sondershausen and 65km northwest of state capital, Erfurt.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7093Q_1-2021-10-29.pdf

Figure 1: Location of the Ohmgebirge Mining Licence Area showing proximity to former potash mines and other South Harz Licence Areas

The existing potash resource covers almost the entire mining licence area. There is very little variation in mineralogy or grade across the licence area according to South Harz analysis, reported previously in ASX announcement dated 23 December 2019. Sylvinite is dominant and attains an average thickness of 7.2m. A 15m thick Carnallite unit is seen underlying the Sylvinite in the south-east of the licence area. The potash seams display gentle localised undulations with no obvious dip, making it highly attractive from a potential mining perspective.

Exploration for potash salts commenced at Ohmgebirge in 1894 including cored drill holes and downhole geophysics. The area around the mining licence is a well-known, potash-bearing area and is adjacent to the former Bischofferode Mine, and the open Bleicherode/Sollstedt, mines. After initial exploration in the early 1900's, exploration recommenced in earnest at Ohmgebirge in the 1960's. All the later exploration drilling was conducted by the former GDR state mining company.

Four historical resource estimates (non-JORC compliant) have been reported by others on areas that cover Ohmgebirge (ASX announcement dated 23 December 2019). These historical resource estimates were all based on the results of exploration work carried out between 1956 and 1984.

JORC Resources

In December 2019, Micon International Limited (Micon) completed a JORC (2012) Mineral Resource estimate with the entire estimate being classified as Inferred.*

Horizon Bulk Density (t/m3) Geol Loss (%) Tonnage (Mt) K2O (%) K2O (Mt) Insoluble (%) KCl (%) Mg (%) Na (%) SO4 (%) Category Sylvinite 2.23 15 261 13.96 36 1.18 20.64 1.06 21.68 10.34 Inferred Carnallitite 1.89 15 64 9.81 6 insufficient data Inferred Total Ohmgebirge 325 13.14 43 1.18 20.64 1.06 21.68 10.34 Inferred

Notes*

Minimum cutoff grade 5% K2O.

15% geological loss applied to account for potential unknown geological losses for Inferred Mineral Resources.

Data source: historical state records (BVVG) checked and verified.

Inferred Resources rounded down to nearest 100,000 t.

Errors may exist due to rounding.

Refer to South Harz ASX announcement dated 23 December 2019 for full Ohmgebirge Mineral Resource estimate details. In accordance with ASX Listing Rule 5.23, the Company is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in this announcement.

A total of 14 historical exploration drillholes (including one deviation) have been drilled within the Ohmgebirge mining Iicence. Additional drillholes located around the licence area were used for the creation of the geological database, bringing the total number of drillholes used for the resource modelling to 41.

Of the 41 drill holes used in the model, four did not intersect the z2KSt potash horizon. Chemical data exists from 27 diamond core drill holes ('potash drill holes') that produced core samples, and mineralogy is available for 35 drill holes. Holes drilled between 1956 and 1984 were geophysically logged including gamma, gamma-gamma and natural gamma downhole logging. Historical drill hole logs from the 1960's and 1980's drilling programs include graphical logs showing the adjustment to the geology according to the geophysical logging depths.

The drill hole spacing ranges between 970m to 2,400m with an average spacing of approximately 1,000m. The drill holes are evenly distributed across the property.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7093Q_1-2021-10-29.pdf

Figure 2: Ohmgebirge mining licence area showing the approximate location of historic drillholes and the planned twin, confirmatory holes, OHM-01 and OHM-02.

Scoping Study

Arrangements have been made with both primary and secondary analytical laboratories in Germany to undertake chemical and mineralogical analyses on the drill cores extracted from OHM-01 and OHM-02. Both laboratories have potash experience and are internationally accredited.

Contributing entities for the compilation of the Scoping Study have been appointed and instructed to commence their respective scopes of work.

Micon is tasked with re-modelling the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) based on the results of the confirmatory drilling, advise on their correlation with historic results and, if appropriate, provide an Indicated Mineral Resource estimate.

The mining and processing methodologies are to be assessed by internationally recognised potash consultants, K-Utec, and their recommendations will be reported, together with initial capital and operating cost estimates for developing the project.

Potash marketing, ESG and financial modelling specialists, all with previous potash experience, have also been appointed to contribute to the Scoping Study.

Completion of the Ohmgebirge Scoping Study is expected in late Q1 CY2022.

This announcement has been authorised by the Directors of South Harz Potash Limited.

On behalf of South Harz Potash Limited,

Dr Chris Gilchrist, Managing Director

Investor & Media Enquiries

Dr Chris Gilchrist Managing Director South Harz Potash Ltd +353 87 687 9886; +61 451 367 630 cgilchrist@southharzpotash.com Andrew Edge FiveMark Partners +61 410 276 744 Andrew.edge@fivemark.com.au Justine James / Harriet Jackson / Faye Calow Alma PR +44 203 405 0205 shp@almapr.co.uk

About South Harz

South Harz Potash (ASX: SHP) (South Harz) is a potash exploration and development company with its flagship project located in the South Harz Potash District region of Germany, midway between Frankfurt and Berlin.

The South Harz Project hosts a globally large-scale potash JORC (2012) Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 5.3 billion tonnes at 10.8% K2O across four wholly-owned project areas1 located favourably within central Europe. This comprises three perpetual potash mining licences, Ohmgebirge, Ebeleben and Muhlhausen-Nohra, and two potash exploration licences, Kullstedt and Grafentonna, covering a total area of approximately 659km.

With strong established infrastructure and close proximity to the key European market, the South Harz Project should be well positioned to enable rapid development across multiple deposits at relatively low cost, subject to further studies.

South Harz Potash: Growing a responsible potash business in the heart of Germany

www.southharzpotash.com

1. Refer to South Harz ASX announcement dated 23 December 2019 for full Mineral Resource estimate details. In accordance with ASX Listing Rule 5.23, the Company is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in this announcement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left Vatican City after meeting Pope Francis on Saturday. He was accompanied by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar.

The Indian Prime Minister held a one-on-one meeting with the Pope today and also invited him to India. The meeting was scheduled only for 20 minutes but went on for an hour, news agency PTI reported.

"Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India," said a tweet from PM Modi's personal account.
Mankato, MN (56001)

Today

Clouds and some sun this morning with more clouds for this afternoon. High 44F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 29F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
Angie Lancaster runs her hands through the endless clay selection at Ben Franklin's Crafts. Finally picking out the clay she wants, she rushes back home, eager to start a new project. As she is molding the clay, she visualizes a bright green incense holder with red mushrooms to accent the green.
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Julia A. Johnston, 68, of Wilburton, OK passed away at her home in Wilburton on Sunday, November 14, 2021. Services will be on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at 2 p.m. at the Waldrop Funeral Home Chapel in Wilburton, OK with the burial to follow in the Peachland Cemetery in Bengal, Oklahoma. O
After almost a month, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan would have finally breathed a sigh of relief after their eldest son Aryan Khan was finally granted bail in the NCB cruise ship drug case. It had been a long fight and clearly one that brought Shah Rukh, the Badshah of Bollywood, down to his knees.

 BCCL

However, with Shah Rukh Khan's legal team doing everything in their power, Aryan has finally been reunited with his family at the Mannat home. Now, while things may look up for Aryan, Shah Rukh, and the rest of Bollywood just now, they are far from straightforward. A bail is no holiday ticket, and the court has made it a point to tell Aryan just that.



How? By stamping a five-page long list of things that he can and cannot do. The Bombay High Court dictated the conditions of bail that Aryan must now follow or risk going back to jail.

 BCCL

In order to fulfill the bail criteria, Aryan, alongside Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha, and others would need to execute a PR Bond of Rs 1 lakh with one or more sureties in the like amount. It's sort of common sense but they were also ordered not to indulge in any similar activities for which they were charged.



As per the order, Aryan, Arbaaz, and Munmun should visit the NCB office every Friday between 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM to mark their presence. They are also to refrain from making any statement or sharing anything on social media regarding the proceedings pending before the Special Court. Under the order, Aryan & others also cannot leave the country without permission from the Special Court and are supposed to surrender their passports immediately.

"All the applicants are also ordered to join the investigation whenever called upon before the authorities of NCB, also they cant delay the trial under any circumstances." according to the order.

"Lastly, if Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, and Munmun Dhamecha violate any of these terms, NCB shall be permitted to immediately apply to the Special Judge/Court to terminate their bail," it added.

This all goes to prove that while Aryan may have gotten the bail, things are really far from over in the case, and he'll have to be patient and vigilant to stay out of trouble.
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Reduced demand from Chinese buyers for billet exports from Vietnam added to the downward pressure on prices.



Sellers of bulk heavy melting scrap (HMS) 1&2 (80:20) lowered their offers to $560 per tonne cfr Vietnam in the week to Friday.



This is about $5 per tonne lower than last week, a seller source handling bulk cargoes told Fastmarkets.

Bids came in at $545-548 per tonne cfr Vietnam, but buyers were not very aggressive this week, a seller source in Vietnam told Fastmarkets.



While rebar prices are going up, [and are] still at $700-740 per tonne. Industrial activity is also not rising sharply, he said.



A major Vietnamese steelmaker was offering CB240-T and CT3 wire rod at 16.93-17.13 million Vietnamese Dong ($742-752) per tonne, and CB300-V, CT5 and SD295 rebar at 16.83-16.98 million Dong. It also listed CB400-V and SD390 rebar at 16.83-17.03 million Dong.



This is a week-on-week increase of 300,000 Dong per tonne.



Containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) was sold at $490 per tonne cfr Vietnam earlier in the week.



Fastmarkets weekly price assessment for deep-sea bulk cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam was $550-555 per tonne on Friday, down by $10 per tonne from $560-565 per tonne cfr Vietnam a week earlier.



Bulk Japanese H2 scrap, meanwhile, was on offer at $538-540 per tonne cfr Vietnam, but there remained a large buy-sell gap - with buyers bidding at $530 per tonne cfr Vietnam.



The falling prices in China are causing billet buyers to stay away and bid lower, so Vietnamese steel mills are not able to follow scrap prices higher, a scrap buyer source in Vietnam told Fastmarkets.



Spot prices for rebar and billet in China have been plunging since the second week of October, pressured by repeated signals from the Chinese government that commodity prices should not increase too fast and that the authorities would look closely at traders' books to ensure they were not hoarding cargoes to manipulate prices.



Bulk Japanese shredded scrap was on offer this week at $585 per tonne cfr Vietnam,



And bulk Hong Kong origin H1&H2 (50:50) was offered at $520 per tonne cfr Vietnam, while bulk oversized Hong Kong-origin plate & structural (P&S) scrap was offered at $560 per tonne cfr Vietnam.



Fastmarkets weekly price assessment for steel scrap H2, Japan-origin import, cfr Vietnam was $535-540 per tonne on Friday, down by $5 per tonne from $540-545 per tonne a week earlier.
Department of State suspends license of Flint vehicle dealership

Department of State suspends license of Flint vehicle dealership

OCTOBER 29, 2021

FLINT - The Michigan Department of State (MDOS) has issued a summary suspension on a Flint vehicle dealership for failing to provide records.

Republic Auto Sales, located at 3640 S Saginaw St in Flint, is owned and Michael Ignace (the licensee). Following two complaint inspections by a MDOS Regulation Agent, a MDOS Compliance Analyst attempted to schedule a preliminary conference via teleconferences with the licensee on Oct. 11, notice of which was received and responded to by the licensee. After failing to produce on Oct. 11, the Compliance Analyst rescheduled the teleconference for Oct. 20. The licensee again failed to produce records on that date. The licensee was served with a summary suspension on Oct. 27.

The suspension remains in effect until Ignace contacts the MDOS Business Compliance and Regulation Division to set up another preliminary hearing, provides all required documents, and addresses complaints and violations assessed.

Consumers who have a complaint against Republic Auto Sales in Flint are encouraged to call the Office of Investigative Services automotive complaint line at 517-335-1410.

# # #

For media questions, contact

Aneta Kiersnowski at KiersnowskiA@Michigan.gov

We welcome questions and comments at the Contact the Secretary of State page.

Customers may call the Department of State Information Center to

speak to a customer-service representative at 888-SOS-MICH (767-6424).
Rachel Smith said one of the things she enjoys most about her job as a Bad Axe Middle School teacher is watching her fifth-graders begin to make that transition from elementary school to an atmosphere that requires more responsibility.

In fifth grade, the kids are being rock stars  they're switching classes  so that's super fun to get them organized, she said. You can see growth already in the couple months that we've been in school.
From religious festivals to ceremonies honoring the change of seasons, as well as secular events that take place in many different countries, Stacker has gathered information from various sources to compile a diverse list of fall and winter holidays celebrated all over the world.
MANISTEE COUNTY  The following includes reports made to the Manistee County Sheriffs Office from Oct. 2-6. All calls may not be reported. This is part of a lengthy report and is compiled by assistant editor Arielle Breen.

Oct. 2

 A person was reported to have been unwanted at a location at 11:24 a.m. in Springdale Township.

 A property damage crash was reported at 12:10 p.m. in Filer Township.

 A vehicle was reported as abandoned and a person reportedly left the scene of a crash at 1:13 p.m. in Stronach Township.

 A possible trespassing incident was reported at 2:05 p.m. in Bear Lake Township.

 Attempted fraud was reported at 3:43 p.m. in Dickson Township.

 A person reported as missing was found at 7:24 p.m. in Norman Township.

 Deputies assisted Mason County with attempting to locate a person who was suicidal at 7:40 p.m.

 A warrant arrest was made at 9:45 p.m. in Norman Township.

 A vehicle-bear accident was reported at 10:50 p.m. in Maple Grove Township.

 A person was reported to have been driving without a license at 1:37 a.m. in Brown Township.

Oct. 3

 A suspicious situation and illegal dumping were reported at 1:52 p.m. in Maple Grove Township.

 A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 7:47 a.m. in Marilla Township.

 Deputies assisted Michigan State Police at 8:22 p.m. in Dickson Township.

Oct. 4

 A person was reported to have been driving with a suspended license at 2 p.m. in Kaleva. This was a second offense incident.

 A person was reported to have been missing at 7:48 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 Larceny of medications was reported at 10:39 a.m. in Manistee Township.

 Deputies assisted a citizen at 3:08 p.m. in Cleon Township.

 A vehicle was reported to have been abandoned at 2:06 p.m. in Norman Township.

 A vehicle was reported to have been abandoned at 4:11 p.m. in Norman Township.

 A person was reported to have been driving while under the influence of drugs at 7:50 p.m. in Bear Lake Township.

 Larceny of a wallet was reported at 10:31 p.m. in Dickson Township.

 Deputies conducted a well-being check at 7:59 p.m. in Manistee Township.

Oct. 5

 Larceny was reported at 9:19 a.m. in Filer Township.

 A property damage crash was reported at 1:34 p.m. in Norman Township.

 Deputies assisted Reed City at 4:52 p.m. in Norman Township.

 Deputies assisted another agency at 3:51 p.m. in Kaleva.

 A personal injury crash involving a person driving with a suspended licence and no insurance was reported in Onekama Township.

 A fatal crash was reported at 11:27 p.m. in Filer Township. According to a previous news release from the sheriffs office, a Scottville man died after a personal injury crash at the intersection of Nelson Street and Stronach Road in Filer Township.

RELATED: Scottville man killed in Filer Twp. crash Tuesday night

 Contraband was found in the Manistee County Jail at 6 p.m. in Manistee Township.

Oct. 6

 Deputies conducted a civil standby at 9:55 a.m. in Norman Township.

 A traffic hazard was reported at 6:46 p.m. in Filer Township.

 Credit card fraud was reported at 2:50 p.m. in Norman Township.

 Trespassing and a suspicious situation were reported at 4:56 p.m. in Cleon Township.

 Threats were reported at 2:02 p.m. in Dickson Township.

 A person was reported to have been soliciting a minor for immoral purposes at 4:37 p.m. in Maple Grove Township.

 Deputies assisted Manistee City Police with a runaway juvenile at 6:01 p.m. in Filer Township and the city of Manistee.
The owner of Abadata Computer Corp. in Sebewaing, has been invited to speak about technology and services at a convention next month.

The Technology Assurance Group invited Dave Wineman, who is president of Abadata, Sebewaing, to speak at its convention at the Hyatt Regency on Nov. 6-10, to share his expertise about being a managed technology services provider. The event is invitation only.

The TAG convention will bring in the best minds in managed technology services from all parts of the United States and Canada.

Abadata serves businesses that are looking for innovative technology solutions to take them to the next level.

TAG is inviting industry leaders to discuss the future of the industry, new technologies and best practices to empower small to mid-sized businesses to leverage.

It is an honor to be selected for this event and be among the best technology companies, said Wineman. Its always a privilege to share our knowledge as we help push the industry forward. We are looking forward to sharing our insights on how technology is evolving and most importantly, how that will impact our customers businesses.

We have a culture of being proactive and the information we gain from the TAG convention is one of the ways we keep our customers ahead of the curve when it comes to technological innovation. We always leave with new ideas, technologies and solutions that have the capacity to better protect, streamline or delight our customers.

Abadata is located at 649 S Unionville Rd., Sebewaing.

Abadata is a premier member within the TAG organization and is revered by the business community for their expertise on developing strong customer relationships, said Brian Suerth, president of TAG. Abadata focuses on advancing their customers businesses through technology with a consultative approach. As a result, they have a phenomenal reputation of exceeding customers expectations. They are a true leader and highly respected by their peers.

Also, Wineman was recently a guest speaker at the Technology Assurance Groups 20th Annual Convention in Dallas, Texas.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  From the moment Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people on the streets of Kenosha during protests over the police shooting of a Black man, hes personified Americas polarization.

The 17-year-old from Illinois who carried an AR-style rifle and idolized police was cheered by those who despised the Black Lives Matter movement and the sometimes destructive protests that followed George Floyds death. He was championed by pro-gun conservatives who said he was exercising his Second Amendment rights and defending cities from antifa, an umbrella term for leftist militants.

Others saw him as the most worrisome example yet of vigilante citizens taking to the streets with guns, often with the tacit support of police  a chaos tourist, in the words of the lead prosecutor, who came to Kenosha looking for trouble.

Though Rittenhouse and all three men he shot are white, many people saw racism at the heart of Kenosha  an armed white teen, welcomed by police to a city where activists were rallying against a white officers shooting of a Black man, and allowed to walk past a police line immediately after shooting three people.

That division is likely to be on display at Rittenhouse's trial, which opens Monday with jury selection. Rittenhouse, now 18, faces several charges, including homicide  and could see a life sentence if convicted.

Its another battle in what has become the central story of our time - the culture wars, John Baick, who teaches modern American history at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts, said.

In many ways, the key question at trial is simple: Was Rittenhouse acting in self-defense? Plentiful video exists of the events in question, and legal experts see a strong case for that. The judge overseeing the trial, Bruce Schroeder, has said forcefully that it "is not going to be a political trial.

But the case has been exactly that, almost from the moment the shootings happened  driven by powerful interest groups, extremists, politicians and others using it to push their own agendas.

Rittenhouses defenders, including his family, have leaned into some of the symbolism. A website devoted to his defense  and raising money for it  greets visitors with a quote attributed to James Monroe: The right of self-defense never ceases. The site blasts Big Tech, a corrupt media, and dishonest politicians out to ruin the life of Kyle Rittenhouse. The site briefly sold branded Free Kyle merchandise before vendors backed away.

Ryan Busse, a former firearms industry executive who is now a senior adviser at the gun-safety organization Giffords, which was founded by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011, said he's worried that Rittenhouse will become some heroic martyr.

Im worried about empowering more actors like him who think its glamorous to go kill somebody with a rifle, Busse said.

Rittenhouse made the 20-mile (32-kilometer) trip from his home in Antioch, Illinois, north to Kenosha as the city was in the throes of several nights of chaotic demonstrations after an officer shot Jacob Blake in the back following a domestic disturbance. At least one call had gone out on social media for armed citizens to respond, though Rittenhouse's attorneys say that wasn't what brought Rittenhouse to the city.

Videos taken that night show him with a first-aid kit at his side, along with his rifle, bragging about his medical abilities. Video also shows police appearing to welcome Rittenhouse and other armed citizens, including handing them bottles of water.

Later in the evening, video shows a man named Joseph Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse in the parking lot of a used car dealership; seconds later, Rittenhouse shoots and kills him. In the ensuing minutes, Rittenhouse  pursued by other protesters  shot and killed Anthony Huber, who swung a skateboard at him, and shot and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, who had stepped toward Rittenhouse with a pistol in hand.

Video then shows Rittenhouse walking toward police with his hands up, his rifle slung over his shoulder, as protesters yell that he has just shot people. Rittenhouse went back home, turning himself into police the next day.

The day Rittenhouse was arrested, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts, tweeted that the shootings had been committed by a white supremacist domestic terrorist.

Rittenhouse's defense team pushed back against that, saying Rittenhouse isn't a white supremacist and wasn't aware of hateful rhetoric on social media about the Kenosha protests leading up to the shootings. The Anti-Defamation League found no evidence of extremism in his social media accounts.

But Rittenhouse was embraced by the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group that generally traffics in white nationalism, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The groups chairman, Enrique Tarrio, and other members have been shown wearing T-shirts that say, Kyle Rittenhouse Did Nothing Wrong! And soon after being freed on bond, Rittenhouse was photographed at a Wisconsin bar with people who flashed a hand signal associated with the Proud Boys and sang a song that has become an anthem of the group. Rittenhouse flashed the hand signal, too.

The fact that Rittenhouse wasnt a member of any extremist group before the shootings doesnt matter now given how hes been embraced by them, said Alex Friedfeld, an investigative researcher for the Center on Extremism with the Anti-Defamation League.

He said extremists will be looking to turn the trial to advantage. Some view the mere fact that Rittenhouse was charged as evidence that courts and the system are stacked against conservatives, or that the system is biased against white people, Friedfeld said.

It starts to kind of lay the groundwork for the idea that people need to tear down these institutions and the system is broken and needs to be changed, which requires action, he said.

Baick, the historian, called the Rittenhouse trial a moment for reality TV" and said the entire case takes its place amid one of the nation's most turbulent periods in generations.

We have to link in Jan. 6, he said. We have to link in military groups across the country, anti-mask protests, school board protests. Whether it's Kenosha, or Minneapolis, or the entire state of Florida, these debates over the role of government, the role of law and order  these are deeply unsettled in America right now in a way they haven't been since the 1960s.

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Associated Press writer Doug Glass contributed from Minneapolis.

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Find APs full coverage on the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse at: https://apnews.com/hub/kyle-rittenhouse
PARIS (AP)  Britain and France faced calls Saturday to sort out their post-Brexit spat over fishing rights in the English Channel, which threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats and trucks.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the dispute is testing the U.K.s international credibility, while each countries accused the other of being in breach of the post-Brexit trade agreement that Britains government signed with the European Union before it left the bloc.

As the war of words intensified, Britain said it was actively considering launching legal action if France goes through with threats to bar U.K. fishing boats from its ports and slap strict checks on British catches.

If there is a breach of the (Brexit) treaty or we think there is a breach of the treaty then we will do what is necessary to protect British interests, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told British broadcasters in Rome, where he and Macron are both attending a Group of 20 summit.

At stake is fishing  a tiny industry economically that looms large symbolically for maritime nations like Britain and France. Britain's exit from the economic rules of the 27-nation bloc at the start of this year means the U.K. now controls who fishes in its waters.

France claims some vessels have been denied permits to fish in waters where they have long sailed. Britain says it has granted 98% of applications from EU vessels, and now the dispute comes down to just a few dozen French boats with insufficient paperwork.

But France argues its a matter of principle and wants to defend its interests as the two longtime allies and rivals set out on a new, post-Brexit relationship.

The dispute escalated this week after French authorities accused a Scottish-registered scallop dredger of fishing without a license. The captain was detained in Le Havre and has been told to face a court hearing next year.

France has threatened to block British boats crossing the English Channel and tighten checks on boats and trucks from Tuesday if the licenses aren't granted. France has also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands  British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France and are heavily dependent on French electricity.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex appealed to the EU to back France in the dispute, saying the bloc should demonstrate to people in Europe that leaving the Union is more damaging than remaining in it.

U.K. Brexit Minister David Frost called Castex's comments troubling and accused France of a pattern of threats to our fishing industry, to energy supplies, and to future cooperation."

He said if France acted on the threats it would put the EU in breach of its obligations under our trade agreement, and said Britain was actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings," a formal legal process in the deal.

He urged France and the EU to step back.

Many EU politicians and officials regard Frost, who led negotiations on Britain's divorce deal, as intrinsically hostile to the bloc.

Macron, who is scheduled to meet Johnson on Sunday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, defended Frances position and said the fishing dispute could hurt Britain's reputation worldwide.

Make no mistake, it is not just for the Europeans but all of their partners," Macron told the Financial Times. Because when you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility,

Macron said he was sure that Britain has good will to solve the dispute. We need to respect each other and respect the word that has been given," he said.

Johnson said the fishing issue was a distraction from fighting climate change  top of the G-20 leaders' agenda at their meeting, which comes before a U.N. climate conference in Scotland next week.

I am looking at what is going on at the moment and I think that we need to sort it out. But that is quite frankly small beer, trivial, by comparison with the threat to humanity that we face, Johnson added.

Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president and chairman of the northern French ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, said the spat was ridiculous and urged both sides to resolve it.

He told BBC radio that the dispute was over just 40 boats  a drop in the ocean  and that there would be terrible consequences if France carried out its threat of blocking British trawlers from French ports.

If no agreement can be found, it will be a drama, it will be a disaster in your country because the trucks will not cross, he said.

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Jill Lawless reported from Rome. Pan Pylas contributed to this report from London.

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Follow APs coverage of Brexit at https://apnews.com/hub/brexit
NEW YORK (AP)  Mounting trash. Closed firehouses. Fewer police and ambulances on the street.

Thats the possibility New York City is bracing for come Monday as a COVID-19 vaccine mandate looms and thousands of municipal workers remain unwilling to get the shots.

Police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and most other city workers faced a 5 p.m. Friday deadline to show proof theyve gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Workers who dont comply will be put on unpaid leave starting Monday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio held firm on the mandate even as tempers flared on Friday with six firefighters suspended for taking a fire truck to a lawmaker's office and threatening his staff over the vaccine mandate.

The incident was a dramatic escalation after firefighters and other workers rallied Thursday outside de Blasio's official residence, sanitation workers appeared to be skipping garbage pick ups in protest and the citys largest police union went to an appeals court seeking a halt to the vaccine requirement.

Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said the hard deadline sets the city up for a real crisis. Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, warned longer response times will be a death sentence to some people.

De Blasio said Thursday that the city has contingencies to maintain adequate staffing and public safety, including mandatory overtime and extra shifts  tools that he said were typically used in times of challenging crisis.

The mayor called the sanitation slowdowns unacceptable and said the department will move to 12-hour and begin working Sunday shifts to ensure trash doesnt pile up.

My job is to keep people safe  my employees, and 8.8 million people, de Blasio said at a virtual news briefing. And until we defeat COVID, people are not safe. If we dont stop COVID, New Yorkers will die.

People who refuse to get vaccinated are now a big factor in the continued spread of the virus. Backers of mandates say New Yorkers have a right not to be infected by public servants unwilling to get the shots.

Mandates have gotten support in the court systems as well, as on Friday, when a federal appeals panel upheld New York states vaccine mandate for health care workers.

Nearly one-fifth of city employees covered by the impending city mandate had yet to receive at least one vaccine dose as of Thursday, including 21% of police personnel, 29% of firefighters and EMS workers and 33% of sanitation workers, according to city data. City jail guards have another month to comply.

As of 8 p.m. Thursday, 33,400 city workers remained unvaccinated. The city said it would provided updated vaccine rates on Saturday.

The fire department said it was prepared to close up to 20% of its fire companies and have 20% fewer ambulances in service while changing schedules, canceling vacations and turning to outside EMS providers to make up for expected staffing shortages.

The department must manage the unfortunate fact that a portion of our workforce has refused to comply with a vaccine mandate for all city employees, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who had COVID-19 in January, said his department was sending reminders to workers whose records indicated they hadnt yet received a shot and that NYPD vaccination sites will remain open all weekend. Shea said thousands of officers whove applied for medical and religious exemptions will be allowed to work while their cases are reviewed.

Nearly 1,000 officers were vaccinated on Friday alone, the NYPD said, rushing to meet the deadline for the mandate and an extra incentive: workers who get a shot by Friday will get $500.

On Monday, when this thing really starts being enforced, were going to check the vaccination status and if youre not vaccinated, no pay and youre going to be not able to work, Shea said in a video message Wednesday to officers. I dont think anyone wants that to happen. I dont think you want it to happen. I certainly dont. We need you out there.

Fire department officials are holding virtual meetings with staff, imploring them to get vaccinated.

A Staten Island judge on Wednesday refused a police unions request for a temporary block on the mandate, but she ordered city officials into her courtroom next month to explain why the requirement shouldnt be reversed. If the mandate is deemed illegal, workers put on leave will be given back pay, the city said.

Mike Salsedo, 44, was among hundreds of firefighters protesting Thursday outside de Blasios residence, Gracie Mansion. He said he believes he has natural immunity to COVID-19 after having the disease last year and doesnt need to be vaccinated, a stance thats contrary to the consensus among public health experts.

Im a man of faith, and I dont believe that putting something manmade into my body is good, Salsedo said.

Another firefighter, Jackie-Michelle Martinez, said the ability to choose was our God-given right as she questioned the citys decision to move away from its previous policy, which allowed workers to stay on the job if they had a negative COVID-19 test.

If the weekly testing is working, why are you, Mayor de Blasio, eliminating it? she asked.

COVID-19 is the leading cause of death of law enforcement officers in the U.S., killing 498 officers since the start of 2020 compared to 102 gun deaths, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks police fatalities.

De Blasio on Thursday credited the impending deadline for moving the needle on vaccinations across city government. In the last week, the number of affected workers whove gotten at least one dose rose from 71% to 79%.

When the state required all workers at hospitals and nursing homes to get vaccinated, a last-minute rush of people to comply meant that a few facilities experienced staffing challenges.

We expected that a lot of the vaccinations would happen toward the end of the deadline, de Blasio said. We also know a lot of people make the decision once they really realize that theyre not going to get paid. Thats just the human reality.

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On Twitter, follow Michael Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisak, Michelle L. Price at twitter.com/michellelprice and Karen Matthews at twitter.com/1karenmatthews
The Latest on the Group of 20 summit taking place in Rome:

ROME  World leaders are capping their day of Group of 20 summitry on Saturday with a gala dinner at the Quirinale Palace.

Their dinner menu included marinated salmon, risotto with pumpkin and white truffle, and sea bass, with a tangerine cream dessert.

The White House said President Joe Biden was to be seated next to European Union Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and President Sergio Mattarella of Italy. First lady Jill Biden was to be seated next to French President Emmanuel Macron.

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ROME  Presidents Joe Biden of the U.S. and Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have discussed a U.S.-brokered deal between pharmaceutical maker Moderna and the African Union to make up to 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine available to the continent.

Tshisekedi is also chair of the African Union.

The White House says the leaders met Saturday on the margins of the Group of 20 leaders summit being held in Rome.

Under the arrangement, the U.S. will defer delivery of about 33 million doses of Modernas vaccine originally intended for the U.S. so that the African Union can buy them instead.

Africa and its 1.3 billion people remain the least-vaccinated region of the world against COVID-19, with just over 5% fully vaccinated.

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ROME  The landmark international tax deal that won support Saturday at the Group of 20 summit will make international business taxation more equitable and help governments fund their recoveries from the pandemic, the head of the international organization that oversaw the negotiations said..

Mathias Cormann, the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said that the deal will make our international tax arrangements fairer and work better in a digitalized and globalized economy.

The Paris-based OECD oversaw talks that led to an agreement among 136 countries that is being presented to the G-20 for approval in the closing statement expected Sunday, to be followed by enactment at the national level from 2023.

The deal calls for countries where multinationals are headquartered to enact a global corporate minimum tax of 15%. If their companies foreign earnings go untaxed or lightly taxed in low-rate countries, the home countries would collect a top-up tax to the minimum.

The global minimum completely eliminates the incentive for businesses around the world to restructure their affairs to avoid tax, Cormann said.

Cormann disagreed with criticism from tax justice advocates and some developing countries that the rate should have been higher, saying the deal was the consensus result of give and take all the way around that included developing countries. A 15% corporate tax rate is 15% more than what we have, he said.

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ROME  Group of 20 leaders have unanimously endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations in a move being hailed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen as benefiting American businesses and workers.

Finance ministers of Group of 20 countries a few months earlier had agreed on a 15% minimum tax and its formal endorsement at the summit Saturday in Rome of the worlds economic powerhouses was widely expected.

Yellen predicted in a statement that the deal on new international tax rules, with a minimum global tax, will end the damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation.

The summit concludes on Sunday afternoon.

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ROME President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived at St. Patricks Church in Rome for Saturday Vigil Mass, a day after telling reporters that Pope Francis told him he should continue to receive Communion, despite the opposition of some conservatives in the U.S. upset with his position on abortion.

Bidens is attending the English-speaking church that is the main place of worship for the American Catholic community in Rome and is just down the block from the U.S. Embassy.

The stop came between events at the Group of 20 summit taking place this weekend in Rome.

Biden regularly attends Mass in Washington or near his home in Wilmington, Delaware.

Among Bidens gifts to the pope on Friday was a woven chasuble, or liturgical vestment, made in 1930 by the famed papal tailor Gammarelli and used by the popes Jesuit order in the U.S., where it was held in the archives of Holy Trinity Church, the presidents regular parish in Washington.

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ROME  French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to boost ties in the Indo-Pacific region during a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit.

Macrons office said France and India will open a strategic dialogue next week in Paris to set a common agenda. The talks will address bilateral, regional and international issues.

France has said India is its main partner in the Indo-Pacific area after the announcement in September of a secretly negotiated submarine deal between Australia, the U.S. and Britain.

Macrons office listed trust and independence amid principles which must guide France and Indias actions in the region shaken by concerns over the growing influence of China.

Macron also met Saturday with Presidents Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Moon Jae-in of South Korea about similar issues.

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ROME Leaders have expressed broad support for a landmark deal to establish a 15% global minimum corporate tax that aims at deterring multinational countries from using clever accounting to elude taxes by using low-rate havens.

Leaders spoke on the proposal during the opening session Saturday of the summit, said officials from host country Italy. Following formal approval to be reflected in Sundays closing statement, countries would enact the minimum tax on their own. The idea is that headquarters countries would top up a companys tax to 15% if the firms profits went undertaxed in another country.

In todays digital and global economy profits can come from intangibles such as copyrights and trademarks, and can thus be easily shifted to countries offering near-zero taxes in hopes of attracting revenue they otherwise wouldnt have.

A key question is whether the U.S. Congress will pass legislation to comply, since the U.S. is home to 28% of the worlds 2,000 largest multinationals.

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ROME  A few dozen protesters demanding that government leaders take incisive action on climate change have been carried away by police from the main boulevard near the G-20 summit site in Rome.

Hours before the leaders of the United States, Britain, France and other economic powerhouse nations arrived on Saturday for the start of the two-day gathering, the activists blocked the road, holding banners, including one that read, From Rome to Glasgow, your solutions are the problem.

On Sunday evening, many of the G-20 leaders will fly to Glasgow, Scotland, for a crucial climate summit.

When the demonstrators refused to budge, police officers lifted them bodily and moved them to a side road, where the protesters continued to lie down or sit on the pavement, blocking traffic.

On Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced alarm that the climate meeting might see leaders fail to deliver on promises, leaving humanity facing a calamitous rise in global temperatures.

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ROME  The French presidency says European Union leaders will meet with African leaders in efforts to further support the continents poorest economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The informal meeting later Saturday will be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at Frances embassy in Rome on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.

Macron told reporters on Friday he expects the G-20 to confirm an additional $100 billion to support Africas economies.

The money would be provided via the reallocation to African nations of some special drawing rights, a foreign exchange tool used to help finance imports issued by the International Monetary Fund and initially meant to go to advanced economies.

Participants at the meeting will include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel, as well as African Union President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Heads of state of South Africa and Senegal, Cyril Ramaphosa and Macky Sall, will take part via videoconference, the Elysee said.

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ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denied that his governments policies on coal and air travel undermine his message that the world needs to wean itself off of fossil fuels.

Johnson will welcome world leaders to Glasgow, Scotland, for a United Nations climate summit on Sunday and wants them to improve on their commitments to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

But at home, his government this week slashed tax on domestic air fares, and it is considering whether to approve the U.K.s first deep coal mine for decades.

Johnson said Saturday that Britain's pledge on cutting carbon dioxide emissions was one of the punchiest of any country.

People can see what Britain has done, Johnson said in Rome, where he is attending a G-20 summit. When I was a child, 80% of our power came from hydrocarbons, but by 2035 we will not have any hydrocarbons in our power generation at all. Were the most ambitious country in Europe.

"By 2030, were saying that we wont have hydrocarbon internal combustion engines for new cars. Thats a very, very ambitious timetable.

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ROME  U.S. President Joe Biden was greeted by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi after arriving at the Group of 20 summit site in Rome, before joining other world leaders for a family photo.

Biden shook hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he is expected to have a bilateral meeting at the upcoming U.N. climate summit in Scotland, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he met on Friday.

Biden was placed by organizers to the far left of the stage in the first row, where he spoke warmly with African Union Chair Felix Tshisekedi. The U.S. recently brokered a deal for the African Union to purchase doses of the Moderna COVID-19 for the first time.

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ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was a late arrival for the leaders family photo at the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

Other leaders had already gathered on a raised platform in front of a row of flags when Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walked over from a bilateral meeting. Some of the waiting leaders made humorous chiding sounds at the latecomers.

Johnson greeted U.S. President Joe Biden with a call of Hey, Joe as he took his place.

Johnson stood behind French President Emmanuel Macron, amid a U.K.-France spat over fishing licences. The two men exchanged a mock-combative fist bump but did not appear to speak to one another.

Other leaders variously bumped fists, shook hands or performed the namaste greeting. Macron gave Biden a two-handed clasp accompanied by a forearm pat.

The leaders were joined for photos by a group of medics, firefighters and other front-line workers, who were applauded by the assembled politicians.

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VATICAN CITY  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Pope Francis to visit the country, after plans for a visit in 2017 fell apart.

Modi made the invitation Saturday during a lengthy meeting at the Vatican before he headed to join the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

In a tweet, Modi wrote: Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India.

The Vaticans official communique said only that Modis visit with the Vaticans secretary of state was brief and that the cordial relations between the Holy See and India were discussed.

Francis had hoped to visit India and Bangladesh in 2017. After negotiations with the Indian government dragged on, Francis went instead to Bangladesh and Myanmar.

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ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the U.K. will donate 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to developing countries as part of efforts to share vaccines with countries that sorely lack them.

Johnson made the announcement as he arrived in Rome for a summit of Group of 20 leaders, which starts Saturday.

The U.K. says 10 million doses have been sent to the United Nations-backed COVAX vaccine-sharing program, and 10 million more will follow in the coming weeks.

They join 10 million doses that have already been delivered, and form part of Britains commitment to share 100 million doses with needier nations by mid-2022.

Johnson urged the club of economic powers to push to vaccinate the world by the end of 2022, saying that our first priority as the G-20 must be to press ahead with the rapid, equitable and global distribution of vaccines.

Britain and other wealthy nations have been accused of hoarding more vaccines than they need, while some countries, especially in Africa, have few or none. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a World Health Organization health envoy, has urged G-20 nations to speed things up and airlift unused doses to the developing world.

The British leader also is hoping to focus the G-20s minds on climate commitments as he prepares to host a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, starting Sunday.
NORWALK  In campaigning for a fifth term as Norwalks mayor, one of Harry Rillings goals is to continue the recovery from the pandemic in both the citys finances and education.

Rilling, 74, was first elected as mayor in 2013 and served as the citys chief of police from 1995 until his retirement in 2012. A Norwalk native, Rilling attended Norwalk Public Schools before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1967 and subsequently joining the Norwalk Police Department in 1971.

Rilling, a Democrat, acknowledged some of his COVID-19 protocols, including the citywide indoor mask mandate, were not popular.

I have always said Id follow the science and listen to the recommendations and guidelines from Connecticut Department of Public Health, my health department and the Centers for Disease Control. I feel weve been very successful in doing that, Rilling said. The mask mandates, while unpopular, are effective. There was virtually no flu last year during flu season.

While there is no vaccination mandate or passport for city employees or residents, the mayor is also a strong proponent of vaccinations. He has enacted a vaccine or testing mandate for City Hall employees, requiring staffers to either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing.

Additionally, Rilling has plans for the $39 million coming to the city as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, which provides financial compensation to cities and states for the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the funds will go toward improving Wall Street and increasing green infrastructure in the city.

There are more than 100 affordable housing units being planned for Wall Street, which will bring more people directly into the area, Rilling said. We have already secured more than $1 million in grant funding to improve the streetscape and sidewalks. We are dedicating resources to help expedite development that is consistent with the character and feel of the neighborhood which will help grow the corridor.

Ahead of the November general election, Rilling reinforced his commitment to improving district schools, particularly combating the downslide Norwalk students experienced while remote learning. .

Rillings administration approved plans to add new schools to the district and renovate existing ones, including a new South Norwalk school.

Weve kept City Hall open throughout the pandemic, which put a greater emphasis on technology and efficiencies, Rilling said. Well look to build on that progress by getting more green, eliminating paper at city buildings, and moving more services and processes online. As we emerge from the pandemic, I look forward to returning to my core priorities of improving education, continuing to reduce crime, enhancing public safety, investing in infrastructure, and growing our tax base through smart, strategic development.

Rilling said conducting studies  including an efficiency study of city and school operations, which is set to begin shortly, as well as an overhaul of the citys zoning regulations  is particularly valuable, given the fresh eyes and professionals called in to assess each project.

Despite the increase in residents and cost of rent in Norwalk in recent years and effects of the pandemic, Rilling asserted the city maintained a strong financial position, including lowering taxes.

Weve maintained our top credit rating and refinanced project loans, which has saved millions of dollars, Rilling said. We are well-positioned to continue needed capital projects, like school construction, while also keeping reserves to weather any unforeseen events, like we have throughout the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Norwalks mayoral election is Nov. 2.

abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com
NEW DELHI (AP)  Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khans son walked out of jail on Saturday and was greeted with dancing and firecrackers, over three weeks after his arrest during a drug raid on a cruise ship party in Mumbai, the country's financial and entertainment capital.

The Bombay High Court granted bail to 23-year-old Aryan Khan on Thursday but he spent two more nights in the citys Arthur Road jail because his papers did not reach the prison authorities by the deadline of 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Hundreds of fans of Shah Rukh Khan, who found himself at the center of a boycott campaign on social media due to the high profile drug case, lined up to greet Khan as he arrived at his home in Mumbai. Some danced and lit firecrackers in jubilation.

Khan and seven others were detained on Oct. 3 when narcotics agents raided a party and seized drugs on a luxury cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. He was held in the jail since Oct. 8.

Indias narcotics agency said it has evidence in the form of WhatsApp messages that Khan was involved in illicit drug dealings.

Mukul Rohatgi, Khans lawyer, told the court that the agency did not find any drugs on Khan and allegations that he was in contact with drug dealers were untrue. He called the arrest arbitrary and said the agency did not conduct a medical examination to show he had consumed drugs.

The case has dominated headlines and social media in India, with fans of the actor demanding Khans release while others calling for a boycott of his fathers films.

The 55-year-old megastar is Indias most loved actor and is known as the King of Bollywood. He has starred in more than 105 movies over nearly three decades.

In September last year, some of Bollywoods most prominent stars were questioned by the narcotics agency in connection with the death of famous actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Rajput died by suicide and doctors and police ruled out drugs.
BRIDGEPORT  Five seats on the school board are up for grabs next week and could shake up the nine-member panel for the next few years.

Several of the candidates on the ballot have a background in education or grew up in Bridgeport schools. Many are newcomers to local politics and if elected would assume position as the board oversees the use of pandemic-relief dollars, including $100.3 million from the most recent round of federal funding.

Incumbents John Weldon, the board chair, and Joseph Sokolovic, whose terms expire this year, will seek reelection on Tuesday.

Democrats, the majority party in Bridgeport, have nominated three candidates: Christine Baptiste-Perez, Erika Castillo and Michael Maccarone. Also on the ballot are Republicans Weldon, Peter Perillo and Mary Gaits, who secured the GOP nomination last month. Sokolovic, Jose Lopez and Khalid Muhammad will run on the Working Families Party line.

That leaves some terms to expire, including those of Democrat Jessica Martinez, charged in May in an alleged campaign fund scheme, Republican Chris Taylor and and Sosimo Fabian, who filled a one-year vacancy.

Each term lasts four years.

Democrats

The Democratic slate includes candidates with expertise and masters degrees in education, finance and DEI. All three have worked in K-12 or higher education. Castillo and Baptiste-Perez have degrees and certificates in diversity and inclusion, and Latino and inequalities studies, respectively.

My running mates and I dont have backgrounds in politics, said Castillo, and we dont really identify as politicians. We are real people; real members of the community.

Castillo, who attended Multicultural Magnet School and Central Magnet High School, is the director of communications at King School in Stamford  a role that, she said, has exposed me to innovative approaches to teaching and learning that I would love to see more of in the Bridgeport public school system.

She said she would pay close attention to how COVID-relief funds are spent and increase access to social, emotional and mental health resources, mentorship and enrichment programs.

Baptiste-Perez, an attorney, emphasized mentoring opportunities, and also family involvement.

I want to strengthen that relationship between parents and the school board, she said, adding that learning so often begins in the home. Baptiste-Perez is the parent of a school-aged daughter, who attends a public charter school.

She also sees the public schools as a tool to support the city of Bridgeport.

I believe that education is fundamental, she said. Its key to empowering the people that live in the city, as well as key to attracting the type of opportunities that are necessary to build the city.

Maccarone, who has a masters degree in financial management from Fairfield University, is an adjunct professor at the University of Bridgeport with more than 30 years of experience as a finance administrator.

I have a strong financial background that I can share with the board, said Maccarone, especially as it relates to budgeting and finance issues.

Maccarone told Hearst Connecticut his priorities include recovering from the pandemic, supporting equity and access, and focusing more on special education.

Republicans

The GOP candidates have run on a platform that pushes collaboration, most importantly, Weldon told Hearst Connecticut last month.

Weldon, who has an MBA in management from the University of Bridgeport, has made a point of divvying up responsibilities within the school system: Now, the roles are much more clearly defined between board, superintendent and staff, he said.

If it doesnt directly impact frontline operations in a positive way, we shouldnt be talking about it, otherwise its a distraction, Weldon said. We do pay people to do certain things; we dont need to be doing duplicating their efforts.

Gaits and Perillo, both former Bridgeport public school teachers, have experiences that they say could see the school district through pandemic recovery.

You need people on the Board of Education who have classroom experience, said Gaits, who know whats going on in the schools and how schools run in order to make practical decisions.

Gaits earned a masters degree in education from Sacred Heart, worked as a teacher and administrator in the district for 30 years, and attended many board meetings over that time. Shes also taught special education and English as a second language.

Perillo, who is Italian, learned English at age 6 in the public schools, graduated from Central High School, attended college at Sacred Heart and oversees a portfolio of hotels in the tri-state area.

It would be great to make Bridgeport schools not only successful, but an actual model other schools want to emulate, he said.

Working Families

Candidates on the Working Families Party ballot line are running on a platform of accountability, transparency and integrity.

Sokolovic, presently chair of the boards finance committee and dad of an eighth grader, is a vocal advocate for district funding and a strong proponent of openness to the public. He often votes against executive session at board meetings, and is also pushing for public comment to be expanded so that anyone in the district can speak on any subject.

He advocated for a new diversity, equity and inclusion committee, and for a more diverse teacher workforce that better represents the student body it serves. He wants the committee to explore some ideas for the latter, from giving tax incentives to teachers of color, to encouraging teachers to promote the profession to their students.

Most studies will show students will learn better from people who look like them, and it also gives role models to our students, he said.

Also on the slate, Muhammad said his candidacy can be traced back to his own time as a student.

I went to public school and I didnt always have the best experience, he said.

The candidate recalled a teacher told him he would never go to college, a guidance counselor that never remembered his name though they met weekly, and almost not graduating due to a policy he wasnt made aware of. He joined the military to pay for college, but said that should not be necessary to attend a four-year institution.

I might have had an academic scholarship since high school with the proper preparation, he said.

Muhammad majored in finance and completed a year of an MBA program, and has experience in personal finance and small business accounting.

I understand what Im looking at when it comes to money, he said, and Im diligent enough to stand strong enough to do the right thing.

Lopez, who graduated from Central High School, spent three years as a student representative on the school board and organized a citywide youth forum at City Hall. He became the first person in his family to graduate from college, and is working on a masters degree in public administration.

I always told myself growing up that I was going to run for the board, he said. I feel like now is a more important time than ever, with the money coming in from ARP-ESSER (American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Relief) to take a look at whats going on in our district, and to organize around student need.

Lopez suggested understanding that need involves recognizing each school is an individual ecosystem, and district-wide decisions need to include school-based input.

Seeing how politics can sway the decisions made for students, I think its my responsibility to be at the table, he said.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. Security Council has strongly condemned attacks on schools, teachers and children and called on all parties to promote the right to education in conflicts.

A resolution adopted by the council Friday by a 15-0 vote emphasized the invaluable role that education plays in providing life-saving spaces and its contribution to achieving peace and security.

For the first time, the Security Council has adopted a resolution uniquely dedicated to the protection of education, Norways U.N. Ambassador Mona Juul, who sponsored the resolution with Niger, told the council after the vote.

She told the council: Education is under attack around the world.

Between 2014 and 2019, Juul said 11,000 attacks that harmed more than 22,000 students and educators in at least 93 countries were reported.

The resolution urges the 193 U.N. member nations to develop effective measures to prevent and address attacks and threats of attacks against school and education facilities.

It condemns the military use of schools, which violates international law and may make the buildings legitimate targets of attack, thus endangering childrens and teachers safety as well as their education.

The resolution urges all parties to armed conflicts to respect that schools are civilian facilities under international humanitarian law. And it calls on all countries to take concrete measures to mitigate and avoid the use of schools by armed forces.

The council expressed deep concern that girls and women may be the intended victims of attacks targeting their access to and continuation of education, saying such attacks can include rape, sexual violence and sexual slavery.

Council members urged U.N. members to take steps to address girls equal enjoyment of their right to education.

Juul said the 99 countries that co-sponsored the resolution are an expression of a truly global commitment to this important cause.

The Norwegian ambassador stressed that adoption of the resolution must be followed by its full implementation.

We must do more to safeguard educational institutions from military use and attacks, Juul said, and ensure the continuation of education during conflicts -- including by investing in education in situations of crisis and conflict.
STAMFORD  Two officers were injured Thursday during a drug bust that had been several weeks in the planning, according to police.

Capt. Richard Conklin said police arrested Alfonso Heat Lewis, 37, at the culmination of a weeks-long investigation into drug sales in Stamfords West Side neighborhood.

As part of the investigation, police received a warrant for Lewis arrest and a search warrant for his home, Conklin said.

On Thursday night, Conklin said police followed Lewis to a suspected drug deal on Spruce Street, a one-way street.

Conklin said police cruisers wedged Lewiss car on the street but he drove at the police blockade, apparently to use his car as a battering ram and escape.

Two officers suffered minor injuries during the attempted escape, Conklin said.

With Lewiss car stopped, he allegedly began eating crack cocaine he had on his person, Conklin said. By the time police smashed the window and Lewis was apprehended, there were no drugs in his immediate possession, Conklin claimed.

At Lewiss home, investigators executing a search warrant found 5.7 grams of crack cocaine loose in the kitchen, along with bagging materials and other paraphernalia, according to Conklin.

Conklin said there were two young children at home in the apartment while drugs were out in the open in the kitchen.

Lewis was charged with possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, operating a drug factory, interfering with police, reckless driving, two counts of risk of injury to a minor and operating a vehicle with no license. He also faced charges of sale of narcotics and possession of narcotics on an outstanding arrest warrant.

Lewis was originally held on $125,000 bond, but a Superior Court judge raised that bond to $202,500 during his arraignment Friday.

Conklin said Lewis, a convicted felon, has an extensive criminal history, including convictions for a 2010 incident in which he rammed the back of his vehicle into two unmarked Stamford police cars and then drove with a narcotics officer dangling from the vehicle.

Lewis also has a number of pending drug charges related an arrest in January 2020.

His next scheduled court date is Jan. 11.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched criticism at President Joe Biden as he called lawmakers into a special session to take up legislation to prevent vaccine mandates enacted by businesses
Michigans secretary of state office reports that elections equipment missing from a community in the southern part of the state has been located
DJIBOUTI  Nathan Reynolds passion for replacing U.S. military veterans broken or missing headstones took him to a little-known graveyard for foreigners in the Horn of Africa.

Without Reynolds, a 40-year-old Army veteran deployed to Camp Lemonnier with the Defense Logistics Agency, World War II veteran Arthur R. Lewis would likely still be buried in an unmarked grave covered in broken bits of coral at the New European Cemetery in Djibouti city.

This is definitely the hardest one Ive ever done, Reynolds, an Ohio native, said of his work to help the Lewis family get a Department of Veterans Affairs headstone placed at Lewis grave.

Lewis, a Massachusetts native, had served as a radioman in the Coast Guard in the 1920s, then on a Liberty ship for several years with the Merchant Marine during WWII.

He was working aboard the S.S. Steel Vendor, a former troop transport that had become a cargo ship after the war, when he died at sea in 1959 while transiting from a Red Sea port to Djibouti city. At the time, Djibouti was still known as French Somaliland.

The humble gravestone was all the family expected, said Chaplain James Parnell, an Army major who helped Reynolds. But the deployed Americans didnt stop there.

We were like, We gotta do more than that, said Maj. Jay Cavaiola, of the 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who joined the effort in June.

On Thursday, American and foreign dignitaries and service members from several countries gathered in the baking sun to render Lewis his long-overdue military honors.

Presiding over the event were the U.S. ambassador, the two-star Army commander of the U.S.-led military task force in the region and the Navy captain who oversees nearby Camp Lemonnier, the only permanent U.S. base on the continent.

Guests included the Djiboutian defense minister and senior military officers of that country as well as counterparts from France and Canada.

Lewis family, who regretted they could not attend the ceremony, were blown away by the honor shown their father, Parnell said.

It was an opportunity to recognize not only Lewis life and wartime service but also the long-standing partnerships between the U.S., its Djiboutian hosts and their allies, said Maj. Gen. William Zana, commander of the combined joint task force. French, British, Australian and Canadian service members are also interred at the cemetery.

Reynolds called it fortuitous that he was among the 5,000 troops, civilians and contractors deployed last year to Camp Lemonnier, a few miles from where Lewis was laid to rest.

A frequent contributor to the website Findagrave.com, Reynolds gets notifications via the websites app of requests for gravesite photos.

Thats how he learned that Lewis daughter, a Washington state resident, was seeking a photo of her fathers grave.

Shed uploaded a black-and-white photo of a flag-draped casket taken before it was lowered into the grave. But despite scouring the cemetery, Reynolds could not find the burial plot.

He offered to send Lewis daughter information on how to ask the U.S. Embassy to place a marker. She told him shed been trying since 2011 to get U.S. officials to help her do just that, but kept running into roadblocks, Reynolds told Stars and Stripes this week.

That actually hacked me off, he said. I was like, no, no, no, this needs to be done.

Staff Sgt. Rolland Cheng of the 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion offered to help find the grave and get it marked.

He and Reynolds eventually recruited Army chaplains and a French liaison officer.

They handed off the project to other civil affairs soldiers when they rotated back to the U.S. last spring.

The biggest challenge was driving around town and knocking on doors looking for the right people to help them, said Cavaiola, the major from the 404th Civil Affairs Battalion. Americans met with the citys mayor, the national coroner-mortician and a local bishop.

After locating the burial plot, they helped the family purchase it in perpetuity, which is uncommon in Djibouti, Cavaiola said. Back in Ohio, Reynolds filed the request with Veterans Affairs for the stone, approved by the family.

The VA was a little confused, Reynolds said. I dont think they get many requests for places like that.

Earlier this year, the Defense Logistics Agency warehouse at Camp Lemonnier received the 240-pound slab of granite. Members of the Armys 377th Engineer Vertical Construction Company installed it earlier this month.

Parnell, the chaplain, said it hadnt been anybodys mission but rather something they did out of a sense of duty.

One last thing remained after Thursdays ceremony: flying the neatly folded U.S. flag and other mementos back to the U.S. for handover to the Lewis family.

Parnell said hed personally make the 8,000-mile trip if necessary.
As you exit the military, with its unique "family" culture, and enter the civilian sector, resist getting too close to people at work at first. At the outset of your civilian employment, early relationships can prove unhealthy to your career goals.

In the military, you enjoyed familiar relationships with those around you. You worked, ate, slept and conducted your missions in close proximity with those you served alongside. Naturally, you developed tight bonds and supported and protected each other to ensure everyone was safe and healthy.

One of the hardest parts for most military personnel as they retire or separate from the military is worrying that they may not find others who will "have their six," look out for them and provide the familiarity and camaraderie they grew accustomed to in the military.

For many veterans, making friends early at a new job is a form of comfort. As such, they connect with the first friendly face that offers to show them around the office, help them fill out paperwork or find a great lunch spot near the office.

While this might seem a natural and appropriate way to acclimate to a new work environment, who you befriend early on can prove problematic later.

An example:

Consider what happened to Adam. Fresh out of the Navy, Adam describes himself as a "people person." He loves to be around others, engages fully in conversations on diverse topics and thrives when he's helping others. In his first job after the military, Adam was hired into a regional financial firm where he'd be working as an entry-level adviser. Working in finance fulfilled his passion to help people learn how to protect their income.

Adam's associate, Susan, greeted him enthusiastically on his first day on the job and offered to show him the ropes. She provided him with background on the office (who he can trust, who he should avoid and who likely won't be working there in a month) and where he could find supplies and snacks.

Those first few days on the job, Adam felt safe with Susan and relied on her to answer questions he didn't feel comfortable asking his manager or team colleagues. Susan became a sort of unofficial work mentor to Adam.

Unfortunately, her advice and guidance to Adam was misleading and ill-formed. Susan found it challenging to make work friends and tainted Adam's perception of others in the office. Without realizing it, Adam had adopted her perceptions of his colleagues and began treating them negatively. He resisted forming collaborative relationships, sharing his insights and experience with his team (Susan said this was a quick way for them to "steal" his ideas) and ultimately, Adam began to be excluded from important conversations.

In Adam's example, his intuition failed him, and he befriended a colleague whose reputation at the company was ill-informed and manipulative. Because he resisted his better judgment and trusted Susan, his own reputation became tarnished.

Instead of quickly forming work relationships, consider these tips:

1. Recognize that not everyone is like you.

You all started your military careers along mostly similar paths. The shared experiences and emotions you developed assisted the bonding you experienced. In the civilian sector, you'll be working alongside people who've been in their job for many years or are new like you.

Some will have prior work experience, multiple degrees and certifications, and others will be self-taught. These experiences mean the people you're working alongside may view their careers and professional relationships differently than you do. Before forming early relationships, consider how those differences could impact your career at the company.

2. Listen and learn in those first few months.

Meet a lot of people. Be friendly and professional to everyone. Resist aligning too quickly with one person -- or group of people -- for fear of how that relationship could be perceived by others and could influence your work performance and career choices.

3. Rely on your judgment.

Trust yourself to know when someone could be misleading you for their own benefit. In Adam's case, Susan needed and wanted a work friend, and Adam became that person. He should have trusted himself enough to question her motives and form other relationships at work in addition to this one.

It's natural to want to be friendly with people at work. As humans, we seek collaboration, connection and camaraderie. Recognize that your experience in the civilian work environment can offer you rich and rewarding professional relationships (maybe like what you had in the military) if you take your time and form those alliances naturally and with intention.

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October 30, 2021

Biden Rejects Claims That He Wants To Return To The Nuclear Deal With Iran

The Biden administration is not willing to return to the original nuclear deal with Iran. It wants a much different deal that it can then use to further pressure Iran into more, unrelated concessions. That strategy will fail.

Iran knows that the U.S. is not serious about returning to the JCPOA.

These few headlines are sufficient to explain that:

Urges to show 'good faith' ...

Oct 29 - US hits Iran with sanctions ahead of key nuke talks meeting - AP

> The United States on Friday hit Iran with a fresh set of sanctions as President Joe Biden prepares for a key weekend meeting with European leaders to discuss the possible resumption of nuclear talks with the Islamic Republic. The Treasury Department announced the new penalties against two senior members of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps and two affiliated companies for supplying lethal drones and related material to insurgent groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen and to Ethiopia, which has been fighting rival Tigray forces for almost a year.

...

Friday's sanctions block any assets that those targeted may have in U.S. jurisdictions, bar Americans from transactions with them and, perhaps more importantly, also subject foreign people and firms that do business with them to potential penalties.

...

The two firms, the Kimia Part Sivan Co. and the Oje Parvaz Mado Nafar Co., along with the latter's managing director, were sanctioned for supplying engines and technical assistance to the drone programs, Treasury said. <

The new sanctions will of course make the negotiations even more difficult if not impossible. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Biden administration is not really interested in closing a deal. It has however no alternative if it wants to at least somewhat limit Iran's nuclear program. A war against Iran would end with a defeat of the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East.

Posted by b on October 30, 2021 at 16:07 UTC | Permalink

Comments
Midland received more good news that the Texas Legislature made additional health care facility funding available that will benefit the community.

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center reported this week that the Legislature provided another $18.7 million in tuition revenue bonds (TRBs) for the Physician Assistant facility expansion in Midland.

The facility is located on the campus of Midland College, and construction has started on the facility. Officials expect its completion in Summer 2022.

"I am proud to have been supportive of the physician assistant program in Midland since its inception, state Rep. Tom Craddick offered in a statement. The expansion started in 2019 will double the program's enrollment opportunities. The additional funds approved during 2021 will complete the expansion funding and allow for the most up-to-date technologies to be taught in our classrooms. These students and this program are the future of health care in the Permian Basin."

TTUHSC broke ground March 23 on a $30 million expansion for the School of Health Professions Physician Assistant Studies Program. The investment included $20 million from the state (from the 2019 Legislative session), $5 million from the Midland Development Corp., $2.5 million from the Permian Strategic Partnership and $1 million from the Scharbauer Foundation. TTUHSC also reported an additional $1.5 million from other gift funding and TTUHSC institutional funds.

This funding will further enhance investment by the legislature secured in the 2019 session, TTUHSC stated in a news release. The TTUHSC Physician Assistant Program attracts about 28 applicants per available spot, compared to 3.5 applicants per spot nationally. Currently, there are 112 students in the program; the expansion will increase student capacity and will be instrumental in addressing the shortage of health care professionals in rural areas by providing primary care in the Permian Basin and beyond. There are approximately 160 physician assistants in the Permian Basin with 75 percent being TTUHSC alums.

The Texas Legislature recently authorized $3 billion for Capital Construction Assistance Projects at state colleges and universities through Senate Bill 52. TTUHSC reported that included more than $78.6 million for its facilities.

We greatly appreciate the leadership of our West Texas delegation and the support of the Texas Legislature for helping secure these funds, TTUHSC President Lori Rice-Spearman said. These funds are a significant investment in our expanding infrastructure, enabling us to further our efforts in transforming health care across the state.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the Legislature approved $40 million for the construction of a comprehensive behavioral health care center for the Permian Basin. Those dollars will come from funds the state of Texas received under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
79, formerly of Muskogee left us November 15, 2021 in Nebraska. Her Service of Memory will be on Tuesday, 12pm at Worship Community Center 820 E. Okmulgee. Keith D. Biglow Funeral Directors, Inc- Muskogee
There is reason for optimism about U.S. agriculture, but having parts on hand to repair farm equipment still needs to be a high priority for producers given supply chain issues this year.
On Oct. 6, Gene Ho sat beside three other challengers to Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune at a table in the Robert H. Reed Recreation Center for the years first mayoral debate. Ho, slight with thinning black hair that falls past his shoulders, made an impassioned plea for his candidacy, slamming Bethune for failing to attend (she said she had a prior engagement) and pledging to clean the streets.

On day one after I get elected, Im going to go downtown, look at the drug dealers in their eye and say, Youve got 45 days to get out of here! Ho proclaimed. Were going to park police cars all around the drug houses. Ive already toured it down there. I know where every single one of them is.

Hos zeal was perhaps the only thing that stood out at the event. Like Ho, the other three challengers  C.D. Rozsa, Bill McClure and Tammie Durant  were political novices whose platforms focused primarily on crime.

But, for a reason absent from the debate questions, Ho is unique: Since 2018, he has immersed himself in the world of QAnon, speaking at QAnon events, hitching himself to prominent QAnon figures and discussing some of QAnon's most extreme conspiracies.

I knew about this since Q started posting, Ho said on Andre Popas podcast. One of the things I can say is that its taught me a lot.

The fringe conspiracy posits that the government is secretly controlled by a cabal of satanic pedophiles who retain their youth by drinking the blood of their victims. Supposedly, former President Donald Trump devoted his tenure to fighting that cabal, known as the deep state, leading its members to wage a shadow war against his allies and policy initiatives.

Although it remains a fringe element, recent developments suggest that QAnon isnt a death sentence in the local GOP. (City races are technically nonpartisan.)

In April, the Horry County Republican Party (HCGOP) elected podcaster Tracy Beanz Diaz its state representative, granting her voting powers in state party matters and one of five positions on the local executive board. Just a few years before, she had posted some of the earliest viral QAnon videos to YouTube and co-created the conspiracys popular Reddit board.
In the neck-and-neck fight to keep control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats need help from the few places where state lawmakers can make 2022 difficult for Republicans.

Illinois Democrats delivered Thursday, using their dominance in state government to advance new congressional district maps intended to eliminate two Republican-held districts and send more Democrats to Washington.

To do it, Illinois Democrats have embraced gerrymandering, the practice of drawing district boundaries for political benefit that party leaders including former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder have railed against as rigging elections. The new map is a collection of odd shapes resembling abstract art and, critics say, a symbol of Democrats hypocrisy.

This is a desperate map from a desperate party, said Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, which coordinates redistricting for the GOP. He called it Americas most extreme gerrymander.

Both parties use gerrymandering, though Democrats more actively opposed it after the GOP used the practice in 2011 to create huge advantages for the next decade. Obama traveled to the Illinois Capitol where he once served as a state senator to deliver a speech about Americas broken political system, saying gerrymandering  packing a partys supporters into one district or dispersing the other partys voters for political advantage  was the reason nothing could get done in Congress.

Democrats in some states even gave up their own power by pushing for independent commissions to draw boundaries. And Holder became chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which has backed legal challenges to GOP-drawn maps in places like North Carolina and Virginia.

Democrats in Illinois, meanwhile, have done all they can to exert control and ensure it benefits their candidates for elections through 2030. Even with Illinois losing a seat due to population loss, the map was drawn to create a congressional delegation of 14 Democrats and three Republicans starting in 2022, a change from the current 13-5 split. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, a nonpartisan group that evaluates maps, gave Illinois maps an F grade, saying they give Democrats a significant advantage and are very uncompetitive.

The maps  along with maps in other Democrat-controlled states such as New York  could be pivotal as Democrats try to hold their narrow majority in next years midterms, when the party in the White House has historically performed poorly. Republicans are in charge of the map-making known as redistricting in more than twice the number of states as Democrats, including large, growing states like Texas and Florida.

Illinois Democrats defended the maps they released late Thursday and passed a short time later, saying they ensure minorities and other Illinois residents have an equal voice in government.

Im proud of this map, said Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, a sponsor of the redistricting legislation. This is a fair map and it reflects the diversity of the state of Illinois. He also said lawmakers chose to unite communities that shared political philosophies and policy objectives.

Democrats added a second predominantly Latino district, after census data showed Illinois Latino population grew over the past decade. They also maintained three predominantly Black districts.

GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger, one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach former President Donald Trump, and Darin LaHood were put into the same heavily Republican district, as were GOP Reps. Mike Bost and Mary Miller.

Hours after the Legislature approved the new map, Kinzinger announced he would not seek reelection, saying he couldnt focus on running for Congress and his broader national fight, which includes supporting candidates who oppose Trump through his political organization, Country First. Kinzinger said in a video release that this isnt the end of my political future, but the beginning.

Republican Rep. Rodney Davis, who said he may challenge Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker next year depending on the final map, was drawn into a safe GOP district that meanders from one side of the state to the other. It surrounds another Democrat-leaning district that was carved as a narrow squiggle stretching nearly 200 miles from the home of the University of Illinois to Democrat-friendly communities east of St. Louis. A former aide to Pritzker who worked in the Biden administration, Democrat Nikki Budzinski, is running for the seat.

Not all Democrats were happy. First-term Democratic Rep. Marie Newman was drawn into the same majority-Latino district as Rep. Jesus Chuy Garcia, a late-in-the-game move that Newman said was done to appease one person and a small handful of affluent insiders at the expense of workers and working families in her current district.

Newman, a progressive who unseated longtime Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski in the 2020 primary, announced Friday she would seek reelection in the new district where Democratic Rep. Sean Casten lives. She noted the newly drawn district included much of the area she now represents.

The Illinois Senate approved the maps late Thursday, with all Republicans voting no, and it passed the House early Friday morning. Pritzker is expected to sign the maps into law.
While the discussions are continuing, the creation of a full-time position of fire chief for the South Jacksonville Fire Department may be stalled again.

Village President Mike Broaddus said trustees are continuing to discuss the position after a Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday.

It is still in limbo, Broaddus said. I think we need a full-time chief to meet the needs of the village. Its been a can being kicked down the road.

At its September meeting, Trustee Paula Belobrajdic-Stewart raised a few questions about the position, including the need to discuss a job description, benefits and salary. She said she also wants to make sure the position is created properly after three village positions were created without board approval.

The creation of the full-time position has been discussed for several months, Broaddus said. Because of the increased workload and responsibilities that have been placed on Fire Chief Richard Evans Jr., Broaddus said he is often working full-time hours, though the office is a part-time, volunteer office that is paid on a stipend.

Evans said the movement of the position the position to full-time would allow for a smoother expansion of the department.

With currently plans to restore ambulance services, as well as the other services provided by the department, Evans said having someone available during the day is necessary.

Evans maintains a full-time job in addition to his work at the firehouse, which he said has grown as they look at the ambulance and future projects.

More hours need to be devoted to it, Evans said. There are only so many hours in a day and its been a huge challenge. We are trying to get the ambulance back in serves, thats more work. At that time, some needs to be there to handle the day-to-day stuff.

Broaddus said he plans to place the establishment of the full-time position on the November agenda.
Tens of thousands protest Sudans coup, 3 protesters killed View Photo

CAIRO (AP)  Tens of thousands of Sudanese took to the streets across the country Saturday, in the largest pro-democracy protest yet since the military seized control earlier this week.

Three protesters were killed and dozens injured  several by live rounds  as security forces opened fire in several locations, a doctors union said.

The coup, condemned by the international community, has threatened to derail Sudans fitful transition to democracy, which began after the 2019 ouster of long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir. Since then, the military and civilian leaders have governed in an uneasy partnership.

Pro-democracy groups had called for protests across the country Saturday to demand the re-instating of a deposed transitional government and the release of senior political figures from detention.

The United States and the United Nations had warned Sudans strongman, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, that they view the militarys treatment of the protesters as a test, and called for restraint.

Burhan has claimed that the transition to democracy would continue despite the military takeover, saying he would install a new technocrat government soon. But the pro-democracy movement in Sudan fears the military has no intention of easing its grip, and will appoint politicians it can control.

Saturdays large turnout is bound to increase pressure on the generals who face condemnations from the U.S. and other Western countries to restore a civilian-led government.

Crowds began to gather Saturday afternoon in the capital of Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman. Marchers chanted Give it up, Burhan, and revolution, revolution. Some held up banners reading, Going backward is impossible.

The demonstrations were called by the Sudanese Professionals Association and the so-called Resistance Committees. Both were at the forefront of an uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in 2019. They are also calling for the dismantling of paramilitary groups and restructuring of the military, intelligence and security agencies.

All three protesters killed Saturday were shot in Omdurman. One was shot in his head, another in his stomach, and a third in his chest, the Sudan Doctors Committee and protesters said.

The committee, which is part of the Sudanese Professionals Association, said security forces had used live ammunition against protesters in Omdurman and nearby. It said it counted more than 110 people wounded, some with gunshots, in Khartoum, Omdurman and the eastern province of al-Qadarif.

Sudanese police denied using live ammunition and said in a statement that a policeman was wounded by gunfire. They said they used tear gas to disperse groups of demonstrators who allegedly attacked their forces and important positions. The statement did not elaborate.

Elsewhere, security forces fired tear gas at protesters as they attempted to cross the Manshia Bridge over the Nile River to reach Khartoums downtown, said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the professionals association.

No power-sharing mediation with the military council again, he said, marching at an area protest.

Anti-coup protests also erupted in other areas, including the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, Kassala in eastern Sudan, and Obeid, in North Kordofan province, according to activists.

As night fell, plain clothes security forces chased off protesters in Khartoum and Omdurman, to prevent them from setting up sit-ins, activists said. In some neighborhoods, protesters blocked roads with makeshift barricades.

Earlier on Saturday, security forces blocked major roads and bridges linking Khartoums neighborhoods. Security was tight downtown and outside the militarys headquarters, the site of a major sit-in during the 2019 uprising.

Since the military takeover, street protests have been daily. With Saturdays fatal shootings, the overall number of people killed by security forces since the coup rose to 12, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee and activists. More than 280 others were wounded. Troops have fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup demonstrators, and beat protesters with sticks in recent days.

Meanwhile, talks are ongoing to try to mitigate the crisis.

Late Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, met with Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, a coup leader seen as close to Burhan. Dagalo commands the feared Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary unit that controls the streets of Khartoum and played a major role in the coup.

He said the U.N.s transition mission for Sudan is facilitating dialogue between the top generals and civilian leaders. Perthes said this remains the only path toward a peaceful solution to the current crisis.

A Sudanese military official said Saturday that a U.N.-supported national committee began separate meetings with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Burhan to find common ground.

The official said Hamdok demanded the release of all government officials and political figures arrested since the coup. Burhan, the official said, gave an initial approval to release most of the detained, but rejected the release of others, including Khalid Omar, the minister of Cabinet Affairs, saying they face accusations of inciting troops to rebellion.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasnt authorized to release the information.

Meanwhile, the U.N. said it is closely monitoring security forces response on Saturday.

They will be held individually accountable for any excessive use of force against protesters, said Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Burhan has claimed that the takeover was necessary to prevent a civil war, citing what he said were growing divisions among political groups. However, the takeover came less than a month before he was to have handed some power to a civilian.

Burhan installed himself as head of a military council that he said will rule Sudan until elections in July 2023. Observers say its doubtful the military will allow a full transition to civilian rule, if only to block civilian oversight of the militarys large financial holdings.

By SAMY MAGDY

Associated Press
The Latest: Gala dinner for world leaders at G-20 summit View Photo

The Latest on the Group of 20 summit taking place in Rome:

ROME  World leaders are capping their day of Group of 20 summitry on Saturday with a gala dinner at the Quirinale Palace.

Their dinner menu included marinated salmon, risotto with pumpkin and white truffle, and sea bass, with a tangerine cream dessert.

The White House said President Joe Biden was to be seated next to European Union Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and President Sergio Mattarella of Italy. First lady Jill Biden was to be seated next to French President Emmanuel Macron.

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ROME  Presidents Joe Biden of the U.S. and Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have discussed a U.S.-brokered deal between pharmaceutical maker Moderna and the African Union to make up to 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine available to the continent.

Tshisekedi is also chair of the African Union.

The White House says the leaders met Saturday on the margins of the Group of 20 leaders summit being held in Rome.

Under the arrangement, the U.S. will defer delivery of about 33 million doses of Modernas vaccine originally intended for the U.S. so that the African Union can buy them instead.

Africa and its 1.3 billion people remain the least-vaccinated region of the world against COVID-19, with just over 5% fully vaccinated.

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ROME  The landmark international tax deal that won support Saturday at the Group of 20 summit will make international business taxation more equitable and help governments fund their recoveries from the pandemic, the head of the international organization that oversaw the negotiations said..

Mathias Cormann, the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said that the deal will make our international tax arrangements fairer and work better in a digitalized and globalized economy.

The Paris-based OECD oversaw talks that led to an agreement among 136 countries that is being presented to the G-20 for approval in the closing statement expected Sunday, to be followed by enactment at the national level from 2023.

The deal calls for countries where multinationals are headquartered to enact a global corporate minimum tax of 15%. If their companies foreign earnings go untaxed or lightly taxed in low-rate countries, the home countries would collect a top-up tax to the minimum.

The global minimum completely eliminates the incentive for businesses around the world to restructure their affairs to avoid tax, Cormann said.

Cormann disagreed with criticism from tax justice advocates and some developing countries that the rate should have been higher, saying the deal was the consensus result of give and take all the way around that included developing countries. A 15% corporate tax rate is 15% more than what we have, he said.

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ROME  Group of 20 leaders have unanimously endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations in a move being hailed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen as benefiting American businesses and workers.

Finance ministers of Group of 20 countries a few months earlier had agreed on a 15% minimum tax and its formal endorsement at the summit Saturday in Rome of the worlds economic powerhouses was widely expected.

Yellen predicted in a statement that the deal on new international tax rules, with a minimum global tax, will end the damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation.

The summit concludes on Sunday afternoon.

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ROME President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived at St. Patricks Church in Rome for Saturday Vigil Mass, a day after telling reporters that Pope Francis told him he should continue to receive Communion, despite the opposition of some conservatives in the U.S. upset with his position on abortion.

Bidens is attending the English-speaking church that is the main place of worship for the American Catholic community in Rome and is just down the block from the U.S. Embassy.

The stop came between events at the Group of 20 summit taking place this weekend in Rome.

Biden regularly attends Mass in Washington or near his home in Wilmington, Delaware.

Among Bidens gifts to the pope on Friday was a woven chasuble, or liturgical vestment, made in 1930 by the famed papal tailor Gammarelli and used by the popes Jesuit order in the U.S., where it was held in the archives of Holy Trinity Church, the presidents regular parish in Washington.

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ROME  French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to boost ties in the Indo-Pacific region during a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit.

Macrons office said France and India will open a strategic dialogue next week in Paris to set a common agenda. The talks will address bilateral, regional and international issues.

France has said India is its main partner in the Indo-Pacific area after the announcement in September of a secretly negotiated submarine deal between Australia, the U.S. and Britain.

Macrons office listed trust and independence amid principles which must guide France and Indias actions in the region shaken by concerns over the growing influence of China.

Macron also met Saturday with Presidents Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Moon Jae-in of South Korea about similar issues.

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ROME Leaders have expressed broad support for a landmark deal to establish a 15% global minimum corporate tax that aims at deterring multinational countries from using clever accounting to elude taxes by using low-rate havens.

Leaders spoke on the proposal during the opening session Saturday of the summit, said officials from host country Italy. Following formal approval to be reflected in Sundays closing statement, countries would enact the minimum tax on their own. The idea is that headquarters countries would top up a companys tax to 15% if the firms profits went undertaxed in another country.

In todays digital and global economy profits can come from intangibles such as copyrights and trademarks, and can thus be easily shifted to countries offering near-zero taxes in hopes of attracting revenue they otherwise wouldnt have.

A key question is whether the U.S. Congress will pass legislation to comply, since the U.S. is home to 28% of the worlds 2,000 largest multinationals.

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ROME  A few dozen protesters demanding that government leaders take incisive action on climate change have been carried away by police from the main boulevard near the G-20 summit site in Rome.

Hours before the leaders of the United States, Britain, France and other economic powerhouse nations arrived on Saturday for the start of the two-day gathering, the activists blocked the road, holding banners, including one that read, From Rome to Glasgow, your solutions are the problem.

On Sunday evening, many of the G-20 leaders will fly to Glasgow, Scotland, for a crucial climate summit.

When the demonstrators refused to budge, police officers lifted them bodily and moved them to a side road, where the protesters continued to lie down or sit on the pavement, blocking traffic.

On Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced alarm that the climate meeting might see leaders fail to deliver on promises, leaving humanity facing a calamitous rise in global temperatures.

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ROME  The French presidency says European Union leaders will meet with African leaders in efforts to further support the continents poorest economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The informal meeting later Saturday will be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at Frances embassy in Rome on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.

Macron told reporters on Friday he expects the G-20 to confirm an additional $100 billion to support Africas economies.

The money would be provided via the reallocation to African nations of some special drawing rights, a foreign exchange tool used to help finance imports issued by the International Monetary Fund and initially meant to go to advanced economies.

Participants at the meeting will include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel, as well as African Union President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Heads of state of South Africa and Senegal, Cyril Ramaphosa and Macky Sall, will take part via videoconference, the Elysee said.

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ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denied that his governments policies on coal and air travel undermine his message that the world needs to wean itself off of fossil fuels.

Johnson will welcome world leaders to Glasgow, Scotland, for a United Nations climate summit on Sunday and wants them to improve on their commitments to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

But at home, his government this week slashed tax on domestic air fares, and it is considering whether to approve the U.K.s first deep coal mine for decades.

Johnson said Saturday that Britains pledge on cutting carbon dioxide emissions was one of the punchiest of any country.

People can see what Britain has done, Johnson said in Rome, where he is attending a G-20 summit. When I was a child, 80% of our power came from hydrocarbons, but by 2035 we will not have any hydrocarbons in our power generation at all. Were the most ambitious country in Europe.

By 2030, were saying that we wont have hydrocarbon internal combustion engines for new cars. Thats a very, very ambitious timetable.

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ROME  U.S. President Joe Biden was greeted by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi after arriving at the Group of 20 summit site in Rome, before joining other world leaders for a family photo.

Biden shook hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he is expected to have a bilateral meeting at the upcoming U.N. climate summit in Scotland, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he met on Friday.

Biden was placed by organizers to the far left of the stage in the first row, where he spoke warmly with African Union Chair Felix Tshisekedi. The U.S. recently brokered a deal for the African Union to purchase doses of the Moderna COVID-19 for the first time.

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ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was a late arrival for the leaders family photo at the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

Other leaders had already gathered on a raised platform in front of a row of flags when Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walked over from a bilateral meeting. Some of the waiting leaders made humorous chiding sounds at the latecomers.

Johnson greeted U.S. President Joe Biden with a call of Hey, Joe as he took his place.

Johnson stood behind French President Emmanuel Macron, amid a U.K.-France spat over fishing licences. The two men exchanged a mock-combative fist bump but did not appear to speak to one another.

Other leaders variously bumped fists, shook hands or performed the namaste greeting. Macron gave Biden a two-handed clasp accompanied by a forearm pat.

The leaders were joined for photos by a group of medics, firefighters and other front-line workers, who were applauded by the assembled politicians.

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VATICAN CITY  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Pope Francis to visit the country, after plans for a visit in 2017 fell apart.

Modi made the invitation Saturday during a lengthy meeting at the Vatican before he headed to join the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

In a tweet, Modi wrote: Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India.

The Vaticans official communique said only that Modis visit with the Vaticans secretary of state was brief and that the cordial relations between the Holy See and India were discussed.

Francis had hoped to visit India and Bangladesh in 2017. After negotiations with the Indian government dragged on, Francis went instead to Bangladesh and Myanmar.

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ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the U.K. will donate 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to developing countries as part of efforts to share vaccines with countries that sorely lack them.

Johnson made the announcement as he arrived in Rome for a summit of Group of 20 leaders, which starts Saturday.

The U.K. says 10 million doses have been sent to the United Nations-backed COVAX vaccine-sharing program, and 10 million more will follow in the coming weeks.

They join 10 million doses that have already been delivered, and form part of Britains commitment to share 100 million doses with needier nations by mid-2022.

Johnson urged the club of economic powers to push to vaccinate the world by the end of 2022, saying that our first priority as the G-20 must be to press ahead with the rapid, equitable and global distribution of vaccines.

Britain and other wealthy nations have been accused of hoarding more vaccines than they need, while some countries, especially in Africa, have few or none. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a World Health Organization health envoy, has urged G-20 nations to speed things up and airlift unused doses to the developing world.

The British leader also is hoping to focus the G-20s minds on climate commitments as he prepares to host a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, starting Sunday.
UK, France urged to cool down escalating fishing spat View Photo

PARIS (AP)  Britain and France faced calls Saturday to sort out their post-Brexit spat over fishing rights in the English Channel, which threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats and trucks.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the dispute is testing the U.K.s international credibility, while each countries accused the other of being in breach of the post-Brexit trade agreement that Britains government signed with the European Union before it left the bloc.

As the war of words intensified, Britain said it was actively considering launching legal action if France goes through with threats to bar U.K. fishing boats from its ports and slap strict checks on British catches.

If there is a breach of the (Brexit) treaty or we think there is a breach of the treaty then we will do what is necessary to protect British interests, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told British broadcasters in Rome, where he and Macron are both attending a Group of 20 summit.

At stake is fishing  a tiny industry economically that looms large symbolically for maritime nations like Britain and France. Britains exit from the economic rules of the 27-nation bloc at the start of this year means the U.K. now controls who fishes in its waters.

France claims some vessels have been denied permits to fish in waters where they have long sailed. Britain says it has granted 98% of applications from EU vessels, and now the dispute comes down to just a few dozen French boats with insufficient paperwork.

But France argues its a matter of principle and wants to defend its interests as the two longtime allies and rivals set out on a new, post-Brexit relationship.

The dispute escalated this week after French authorities accused a Scottish-registered scallop dredger of fishing without a license. The captain was detained in Le Havre and has been told to face a court hearing next year.

France has threatened to block British boats crossing the English Channel and tighten checks on boats and trucks from Tuesday if the licenses arent granted. France has also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands  British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France and are heavily dependent on French electricity.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex appealed to the EU to back France in the dispute, saying the bloc should demonstrate to people in Europe that leaving the Union is more damaging than remaining in it.

U.K. Brexit Minister David Frost called Castexs comments troubling and accused France of a pattern of threats to our fishing industry, to energy supplies, and to future cooperation.

He said if France acted on the threats it would put the EU in breach of its obligations under our trade agreement, and said Britain was actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings, a formal legal process in the deal.

He urged France and the EU to step back.

Many EU politicians and officials regard Frost, who led negotiations on Britains divorce deal, as intrinsically hostile to the bloc.

Macron, who is scheduled to meet Johnson on Sunday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, defended Frances position and said the fishing dispute could hurt Britains reputation worldwide.

Make no mistake, it is not just for the Europeans but all of their partners, Macron told the Financial Times. Because when you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility,

Macron said he was sure that Britain has good will to solve the dispute. We need to respect each other and respect the word that has been given, he said.

Johnson said the fishing issue was a distraction from fighting climate change  top of the G-20 leaders agenda at their meeting, which comes before a U.N. climate conference in Scotland next week.

I am looking at what is going on at the moment and I think that we need to sort it out. But that is quite frankly small beer, trivial, by comparison with the threat to humanity that we face, Johnson added.

Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president and chairman of the northern French ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, said the spat was ridiculous and urged both sides to resolve it.

He told BBC radio that the dispute was over just 40 boats  a drop in the ocean  and that there would be terrible consequences if France carried out its threat of blocking British trawlers from French ports.

If no agreement can be found, it will be a drama, it will be a disaster in your country because the trucks will not cross, he said.

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Jill Lawless reported from Rome. Pan Pylas contributed to this report from London.

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Follow APs coverage of Brexit at https://apnews.com/hub/brexit

By ANGELA CHARLTON and JILL LAWLESS

Associated Press
Governor Gavin Newsom View Photo

Sacramento, CA  A surprising no-show as Governor Gavin Newsom skips the trip to the United Nations Climate Change Conference as he has made that his signature issue.

Newsom would have had a chance to share the world stage with global leaders while at the U.N. conference next week in Glasgow, Scotland, and tout his ambitious climate agenda. It includes a proposed ban on the sale of all new gas-powered cars in California by 2035, a ban on all oil drilling by 2045 and outlawing the sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment possibly by 2024.

With four children ages 5 to 12, governors office spokesperson Erin Mellon cited unspecified family obligations, but did not detail what those commitments were regarding. The governor was to lead a California delegation that included his wife, fifteen state lawmakers and some of the states top environmental regulators. Instead, Democratic Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis will head the delegation.

Mellon added that Newsom will be participating virtually, focusing on Californias landmark climate change policies.
Crystal Falls, CA  A quiet Sunday night was shattered after shots rang out in the Crystal Falls area of Tuolumne County  then the sheriffs dispatch phones began ringing.

Deputies responded to the area of Russian River Drive and Crystal Falls Drive related to the reports of yelling and shots fired just after 7 p.m. last Sunday (Oct. 24). When deputies arrived in the area, they were directed to the home of 64-year-old David Tebaldi and surrounded it.

Seconds later a victim and a witness approached deputies. The victim, a family member of Tebaldi, told deputies that during the incident, a friend had stopped by the home. While the two victims were in the driveway talking, Tebaldi ran out of the home and demanded that the friend leave. He then ran back inside the residence and came back out brandishing a 20-gauge shotgun and pointing it in their direction. Tebaldi then allegedly fired two rounds at them. Luckily, they were able to flee to safety unharmed. Tebaldi headed back into the home.

After orders by deputies for Tebaldi to come out of his residence, he complied and was handcuffed without further incident. A search of the residence located the shotgun next to the front. Additionally, spent shotgun rounds were taken as evidence. Sheriffs officials disclosed that Tebaldi was allegedly drunk at the time of the incident. He was arrested for felony assault with a deadly weapon and willful discharge of a firearm with gross negligence. His bail was set at $50,000.
KIHEI, Hawaii (AP)  A new high school on Maui wont be welcoming students as planned next fall because the state Department of Education didn't build a pedestrian bridge to the campus.

The state Land Use Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to stick to its earlier decision to require the state to build the bridge over Piilani Highway to Kihei High School, Hawaii News Now reported. That means the school wont be able to open for the fall 2022 semester.
Mike Fox, now former executive director of the Plainview Hale County Economic Development Corporation, said farewell to the EDC board of directors.

After seven years serving the EDC, he officially retired Friday effectively handing the EDCs reins over to Plainview-native Kristi Aday who is set to take over in December.

Fox was recognized during his last EDC meeting with a key to the city presented to him by Plainview Mayor Charles Starnes, with a flag that has been flown over the U.S. Capitol gifted to him on behalf of Congressman Jodey Arrington, and a special gift on behalf of the EDC Board of Directors.

During his final address to the EDC Board on Friday, Fox called it a great honor to have been selected to represent the entity after highlighting a few business prospects hes pursued during his last three months in the role.

Aday will officially take over on Dec. 6.

She comes to Plainview after spending the last eight years serving the city of New Braunfels as assistant city manager.

Her public service career began with the city of Dallas where she served as a budget analysis and management assistant in the city managers office before moving to Florida where she spent eight years serving in different positions including deputy city manager in Sanford, growth management director in Altamonte Springs. Her last position in Florida before returning to Texas was with FIGG Engineering Group.

Shes excited to bring her wealth of knowledge to Plainview to contribute to my hometown, Aday said.

She is a 1985 graduate of Plainview High School and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Texas Tech University. She is the daughter of longtime Plainview residents Tom and Janie Aday.

During her introduction on Thursday, Aday said she never imagined returning to her hometown but shes excited about the possibilities her new position and return home will present.

Her family has already bought a house and plan to move to Plainview in early November, she said, so shell be around before her December start date.

Its a very special experience, she said.

As EDC director, Adays job will focus on developing short- and long-range economic development plans, programs and special projects for the city of Plainview and Hale County. She will take up promotion of development of the Plainview-Hale County Business Park and work to bring in more businesses.

In her new capacity, she will work closely with the Plainview Hale County EDC, Hale County and with the City of Plainview.

Its really good to be home, Aday said.
Elon Musk issued a warning on Thursday against Democrats billionaire tax proposal that levies unrealized capital gains, saying that eventually the government will run out of ultra-wealthy individuals, following which, they will target the majority middle class.

US national debt is ~$28,900 billion or ~$229k per taxpayer. Even taxing all billionaires at 100% would only make a small dent in that number, so obviously the rest must come from the general public. This is basic math. Spending is the real problem. https://usdebtclock.org @elonmusk tweeted on Oct. 28.

Chiefly authored by Sen. Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, the radical 23.8 percent tax rate for long-term capital gains on tradable assets would be targeted at those making a billion dollars or more in annual income or $100 million or more for three consecutive years. This puts around 700 Americans in the bracket whose wealth is mostly concentrated in stocks.

Existing laws prevent the government from taxing unrealized gains or unsold stocks. The new law changes that to include unsold stocks and adds them into the individuals income that is subject to taxation. The recently proposed changes by the Democrats are mostly to fund their $2 trillion Build Back Better campaign.

The billionaire tax proposal is facing stiff opposition from many Democrats as well, including House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal of Massachusetts and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.

I dont like it. I dont like the connotation that were targeting different people, Manchin told reporters. He also praised American billionaires contribution to society through investments, job creation, and philanthropy.

The other critical issue facing the proposal is the legality of whether the Constitution gives Congress the right to tax wealth. It is likely there will be legal challenges if the controversial plan is passed. Opponents can argue that unrealized gains cannot be counted as income, and thus, must not be taxed.

According to Musk, this tax only covers ~10% of the $3.5 trillion spending bill. Where will the other 90% come from? The answer is you. Musk, with a net worth of almost $284 billion, had recently dethroned Amazons Jeff Bezos as the richest man on the planet.

A recent surge in Teslas (TSLA) stock price following the mass purchase by Hertz of 100,000 cars made the company part of the trillion-dollar club. Musk owns more than 20 percent of Tesla shares.

As a response to a supportive tweet, Musk said he is better suited at allocating capital than Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Who is best at capital allocation  government or entrepreneurs  is indeed what it comes down to. The tricksters will conflate capital allocation with consumption.

By Naveen Athrappully

Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Bequi Sierra, locally famous for her role as the "World Car Girl" (World Car Mazda's leading spokesperson) has some big news.

After marrying her fiance Philip Perez, a prominent San Antonio attorney last weekend, she is now Mrs. Bequi Perez,

The intimate ceremony took place at Mission San Francisco De La Espada Catholic Church on October 23, followed by an eventful reception at the Arbor House Suites.

"I feel like I'm a teenager, you know, I'm so in love and so happy and we're just having so much fun, everything was just great," Perez tells MySA.

The couple initially met in high school and more recently reconnected. Perez attended to Incarnate Word High School and was a cheerleader for Central Catholic High school, which Philip attended.

In December 2020, while walking through Red Bud Isle Park located along Lady Bird Lake in Austin, they became engaged.

Perez announced the news on her Instagram page, being sure to include the hashtags #worldcargirlisgettingmarried and #foralifetime, the World Car slogan.

Throughout the evening of her wedding, Perez wanted to ensure an active and engaging time for all 75 of her guests.

"We wanted them to feel like they truly were apart of the ceremony, not just spectators. And you know, our reception was like that as well," says Perez. "Arbor House was the perfect venue for us."

After the wedding, they took photos with a pair of fluffy poodles, formally called Coco Chanel and El Rey. The dogs, who are professional models, wore collars to blend in with the bridal party.

Raul's Photography

The reception was filled with unique attractions and activities.

After arriving at the venue, the guests were greeted by mariachis, who led a callejoneada wedding procession through the courtyard, a tradition popular in San Miguel de Allende. Instead of the traditional donkeys, Perez arranged for the poodles to participate. In accordance with the the ritual, pinatas resembling the bride and groom also played a role.

Bequi Sierra

The dazzling affair included live musical performances and mesmerizing fire dancers from Aerial City Studios. Dancers from Ballet Folklorico de San Antonio also made an appearance, with faces painted for Dia de los Muertos.

"I did not want anyone to be bored. I wanted everybody to just be surprised over and over with different things," says Perez.

After a toast, the newlyweds had their first dance to a song called "Oceans" by Colombian artist Karol G.

While guests dined on dinner, wedding cake and an elaborate candy bar by Mason's Candy earlier in the evening, they also feasted on tacos come midnight. While her husband's parents own and operate the popular Southside restaurant Mendez Cafe, all the food for the evening was catered so they could enjoy the special day.

James Russell

As far as decor goes, Twilight fan Perez wanted to replicate the wedding scene in the cult film franchise. She ordered 3,000 boughs of wisteria to adorn the evening from her best friend Nicole Brown, who runs Nicole's Flower Shop. There were also over 1,000 tea light candles glowing softly, setting the mood.

Currently, the couple is honeymooning in Puerto Rico, and are delighted with how the special night came together.

"I'm so happy with everything. We wanted a small intimate, romantic wedding, and I think everybody felt that" says Perez.

"I think everybody could feel our love, we were sharing that with our families and friends."
The U.S. cannabis industry is regulated in patchwork fashion across different states and even regions, making navigating the legalities a confusing affair for consumers. In recent years, cannabis users have watched the laws around recreational consumption change with speed, from being decriminalized in some localities to entirely legalized in others. The differences in medical usage, recreational or adult use and gray areas such as Delta 8 have played a role as well, leading to a complicated medley of legal rules that often mean different penalties exist from county to county.

If you want to make sense of all of the laws as they apply to Texas, especially Harris County, we have an explainer for you below. This applies to THC possession, which now includes Delta 8 THC.

When is cannabis possession legal in Texas?

Cannabis possession is only legal if youre allowed medical usage under the states Compassionate Use Program. House Bill 1535, which went into effect Sept. 1, expanded the allowable THC limit for medical patients from .5% to 1%. Texas is known for having one of the most restrictive medical use laws in the country, so this is actually a considerable expansion. Which conditions qualify someone for the program? While this is not comprehensive, the list includes cancer, autism, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy, Alzheimers and post traumatic stress disorder.

Unlike other states, however, Texas does not offer or issue medical use cannabis cards. Instead, qualifying patients who are Texas state residents need to get approval from a doctor registered in the Compassionate Use Program.

What about adult use or recreational cannabis?

Adult use cannabis is illegal in Texas. Any type of possession is punishable under Texas state law  but when and how gets complicated. According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Texas law stipulates that possessing or cultivating less than four ounces of cannabis is a misdemeanor. If you possess or cultivate four or more ounces, then youre committing a felony. If you sell less than seven grams, youre committing a misdemeanor, and at seven or more, a felony. But thats not all. If you possess, cultivate, or sell hash or concentrates in any amount, its a felony. And then theres weed paraphernalia. If you possess, youll get a misdemeanor. If youre selling, also a misdemeanor, but only if its your first offense. If youre a repeat offender, youre upgraded to felony. If you get caught falsifying a drug test, youll face a misdemeanor.

What are the penalties?

You can get all the details on the misdemeanor and felony classes along with the subsequent penalties on the Norml and Texas state law websites. Here are the highlights:

Penalties for possession

Under 2 ounces  Class B misdemeanor, up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine

Two to 4 ounces  Class A misdemeanor, up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine, or the county's diversion program

Four ounces to 5 pounds  Felony with a mandatory 180-day sentence, potentially extended up to 2 years, and up to a $10,000 fine

Five to 50 pounds  felony with a mandatory two-year sentence, potentially extended up to 10 years, and up to a $10,000 fine

Fifty to 2,000 pounds  second degree felony, mandatory two-year sentence, potentially extended up to 20 years, and up to a $10,000 fine

Two thousand pounds upwards  felony with five-year minimum, possibly up to life, and up to a $50,000 fine

Penalties for cultivation

The cultivation penalties are similar to those of possession, oftentimes under the same umbrella.

Penalties for selling or delivering

If you sell or deliver cannabis and are caught, youll be subject to escalating sentencing ranging from misdemeanor to felony. The penalties are similar to ones for possession, and the punishments escalate accordingly depending on the amounts of weed involved.

What about hash and concentrates?

Texas law does not consider hash or concentrates to be marijuana. As a result, the penalties are much harsher, and all are considered to be felonies.

How much are these laws actually enforced?

In recent years, Harris County's diversion program for low-level marijuana offenses has drastically reduced misdemeanor arrests for cannabis possession. The diversion program applies in cases involving less than 4 ounces of marijuana, giving those involved the option to avoid arrest, tickets or court appearances if they take a four-hour drug education class within 90 days. There are exceptions to the program, however, including possession in a drug-free zone or packaging that indicates an intent to distribute.

Cannabis law enforcement in Texas tends to mostly take place near state lines that border legal adult use states. That said, residents may see a change in the coming weeks and months with the Delta 8 ban in the national spotlight. Earlier this month, a woman in Bryan, Texas was arrested for felony possession of Delta 8. Houston businesses are scrambling to stop selling their Delta 8 products while some are simultaneously filing lawsuits to fight the ban.
IM Doc weighed in twice this week in Water Cooler on the dire scarcity of some critical medical products in his area, a rich pocket in flyover. While some of them may be significantly the result of being at a remove from big cities, others seemed to reflect wide-spread outages.

Weve seen less scary versions of this movie before. A few years ago, the US was suffering widespread shortages of the bags used to deliver IV fluids because the factory in Puerto Rico that was close to the sole producer was knocked out in a hurricane.

IM Doc does not have a clear answer as to why these shortages are so numerous. Domestic trucker shortages may be part of the problem. But the US is extremely dependent on China and India for drugs. 80% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients and and 90% of generics are believed to come from them (no one knows for sure because the US does not believe in having the government know anything). So the famed coastal port traffic jams may be contributing to the problem. The Wall Street Journal pointed out in August 2020 that disruptions in product from China had generated shortages in acetaminophen, antibiotics and high blood pressure medications.

IM Doc weighed in on Wednesday and again yesterday and I though it was worth hoisting them to encourage further discussion as well as circulation to friends and colleagues. Ive edited both comments to focus on the supply issues; he also discussed staffing shortages at his and other hospitals. As his second comment makes clear, at least in the people he treats, theres a great deal of anger at the Administration, as in the Democrats, for not even acknowledging these potentially life-threatening and also budget-destroying shortages, even among groups like the young and minorities who would otherwise generally be assumed to favor or at least consider Democrats.

Im amazed that there hasnt been a backlash against the Tories for their deliberate destruction of the NHS, which has become more catastrophic thanks to Brexit and Covid. But Labour is so enfeebled that it seems unable to find any way to profit from Tory disasters, plus the Brits are a very stoic bunch.

Even though the first discussion, of difficulties in getting liquid nitrogen, is revealing, the meat comes in IM Docs second topic, shortages in multiple categories of critically important medications.

From IM Doc on October 27:

I feel that the troubles have started in earnest now in medicine in ways I did not see coming just weeks ago. What we in medicine are simply not going to be able to abide right now is a surge like we saw last winter. First of all, as a PCP, I have always had the ability to zap small non-invasive skin cancers. We do that with liquid nitrogen. We have been out of this for a week or so now. Sourcing a new supply is now virtually impossible. And the amounts being asked for what is left are so astronomically high that we simply cannot afford it. Medicare reimbursement (which is most of these patients) will not even come close to recovering the cost. I understand from the supplier that the same issues are occurring to some degree with dry ice and more ominously liquid oxygen (used in hospitals of patient oxygen). I heard from 2 different suppliers the reason why this seems to be happening  but the reason is so tin foil that I am not going to repeat it here until I can confirm this more reliably.

On October 27 from petal:

I run a research lab at a well-known med school. We have a -140 freezer. It was alarming, which is unusual. We had been given 1 regular tank and 1 half tank instead of the usual 2 regular tanks-1 attached and 1 for backup. Both tanks we had were empty, including the attached half tank even though it was showing half full (or half empty, whichever kind of person you are). Our Airgas guy comes once a week anywhere from Tuesday-Thursday. I emailed the manager, got an out of office reply(great!). Called the #, got a live guy. He said hed ring the delivery guy and see if he could swing by with a partial tank because its an emergency. He said theres a nationwide shortage of LN2, and they are having trouble getting it. Luckily the guy dropped off the partial. I let my friends in a core facility (they have 2 huge -140s) know about the LN2 shortage and theyre freaking out (as was I). We cannot lose whats in these, and cells cant be stored at -80 for long before losing viability. I did a net search, and a bunch of space industry articles came up(this stuff is needed for rockets). They said due to the spike in covid patients being put on vents, theres a spike in the need for liquid oxygen for the vents, and that trucks that used to carry LN2 are being converted to carry liquid oxygen because the premium is higher than if they deliver a load of LN2. Thats all I found. So if theres also a shortage of liquid oxygen, I dont have any ideas, unless its the whole trucker shortage thing. Not a clue.

petal later added:

My friends with the core facility that has multiple freezers heard from the hospitals procurement folks who had tracked down the Airgas manager. He said there is no shortage of product(LN2) but a shortage of drivers for bulk tank deliveries.

IM Docs reply:

I am in a remote area  that is certainly part of the problem. But the fact we are having these troubles with vital supplies even here should be an early warning indicator that we have issues as a society. The system has thrown a rod  and what used to be reliable no longer is. Fascinating times. Our supplier is trying very hard to get the now very elevated cost of the transport of these gases passed onto the final user  and there is just no way that is economically feasible in our area. And then another wrinkle at least here is the actual company that puts it in the cans is having trouble getting the equipment and other needs transported to their facility. We have not had the ability in about a month. So they do not even have product to send. So we have supply chain problems  and we have delivery chain problems. It seems like everything has a screw loose right now. I do also have multiple patients who are now on emergency oxygen compressors  because the cans of oxygen are no longer available reliably in our area  and I have just not had the time to figure out why that is suddenly happening. The compressor approach is much more expensive and I have no idea how long the insurance companies are going to be willing to pay. As far as the skin lesions and the liqiud nitrogen, looks like it is back to the old clip them off and put in a stitch. So much more time consuming that it is hardly done anymore. I am seriously not understanding what happened  it is like all the truck drivers just POOF

From IM Doc on October 29:

I have a feeling we are in for far more serious troubles in the medical realm than just nurses in the hospital quitting. Pharma issues are happening  and may reach out and touch any one of you or your family. To be warned is to be prepared. A very pernicious problem with pharma shortages has begun to set in. For the most part, they seem to be temporary  but they are absolutely devastating to patients financially  and I want all to understand what is going on. This mainly seems to be happening in insulin products, immunologic agents ( as in Enbrel and Humira) and chemotherapy ( of which I personally deal very infrequently). I am now up to 11 patients where this has happened just this week alone. All of whom are under 30, diabetic and on insulin or with lupus and on immunomodulating drugs. All are taking their health very seriously. Most modern pharmaceuticals are distributed with the use of PBMs. big gigantic companies that are middlemen between pharma and consumers. They all have contracts with each product where they get a very good price on 1 particular agent in each class. For example  XYZ PBM has a great price on Lantus Insulin  so they will only distribute Lantus to their patients. If you must have the others  well  you get to pay the 700 dollars a month out of pocket  uncovered by your insurance. It is really quite a racket if some poor soul cannot tolerate the selected drug. We are now experiencing fairly severe shortages on insulin products and immunoproducts. Again  they seem to be temporary  but 10 days is life or death to a Type I DM. So when their refill comes up  and their particular PBM contracted insulin type is unavailable  they get to pay full freight on another in the class  often 500-700 dollars a month. The PBMs are absolutely heartless  will not budge an inch  knowing in full that the shortage is beyond the patients control  and also that they are completely dependent. So the patients pay the 500 dollars for an alternative  only to find out that 7 days later  their covered insulin is available again. But it may not be when it comes time for a refill. And because their great insurance (Its a big f@#ckin deal!  remember that?) that Obamacare delivered to the land has often 10 or 15 thousand dollar deductibles  they get to pay the full amount. I have no idea why these shortages are happening. It is however constant. Again  not just insulin  the arthritis drugs are a real problem as well. My office staff is spending large chunks of time on this. Nothing like this has happened before in my career. This is new territory. 500-700 dollars is a lot of cash for these young people  and they are struggling under the load. I have not experienced young fathers crying in my office like I have this week. Again, the troubles have just begun. We have here a pharmacy from a national corporation and also a local owned and operated pharmacy. The national chain basically tells the kids to pound sand. The local owned outfit, whose owner is in multiple civic organizations is giving them their alternative at his cost  and indeed I think he is giving it to them at his own expense as well. This fact is not going unnoticed in the community at large  and who do you think the goodwill is being bestowed upon? And who is getting the evil eye? I do not find it strange that we are suddenly seeing many prescription requests transferred to the local guy. Furthermore, these young under 30s, black white and Hispanic  historically in the Dems back pocket  are now repeatedly discussing their politics with me. Unsolicited. I hear FJB all day long now. I am very sad to report that the coddling of Big Pharma, the year of one lie after another from our medical leadership, the disaster that Obamacare actually is on the ground, the promise to follow the science and then clearly act more political than anything before, and the raping that our populace is getting from these PBMs is absolutely causing a sea change in where I have normally seen young people politically. Again many minorities as well. They are very angry. Right or wrong, they perceive the Dems and people like Biden and Pelosi as directly responsible. And I live in a mostly blue area. And I do not blame them for a minute. One man explained to me very kindly that he had to be discharged from his federal job because of the vaccine mandate  and reported to me with great contempt that Biden had him fired  but was going to hand out half a million dollars to all kinds of illegal immigrants. I voted for Obama twice, Clinton and Biden  but they can suck it if they think I am voting for them again. I simply do not engage politics in my office. If they bring it up, I listen. Clearly, the kids are indeed beginning to realize what is at stake in their future. As a life-long Dem, I am very concerned that we may be seeing another Whig implosion. The thing that bothers me is I do not see any evidence whatsoever that anyone in the Dem leadership even cares. They have anchored themselves to some very troubling things that really affect people in their daily lives  and the bill is coming due. Again  I am seeing enough tragic things being ignored and lied about that for the first time in my life, I will be voting a straight GOP ticket until the bad apples are rooted out. I do not think in my life I have ever seen a group of politicians that need some time in the wilderness more urgently.

Needless to say, the fact that problems of this seriousness are happening and arent even being acknowledged means that the situation can and likely will get much worse.
(Natural News) A new poll commissioned by MRC with McLaughlin & Associates shows 51.8 percent of voters blame Big Tech for election interference in the 2020 presidential election.

(Article by Alexander Hall republished from NewsBusters.org)

The Post uncovered emails indicating that then-candidate Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, pursued lucrative deals involving Chinas largest private energy company  including one that he said would be interesting for me and my family. The story hit shortly before the 2020 election and Twitter and Facebook both took action against the Post China bombshell much like they had for a similar Hunter Biden scandal involving dealings in Ukraine. The Post account was censored, sharing the story was restricted and Twitter suspended users for even sharing the story.

Americans reactions to the social media censorship were part of the National Omnibus survey of 1,000 voters, and the findings spoke volumes. When asked Do you believe Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites censoring of the now-confirmed Hunter Biden email story constitutes election interference? 51.8 percent responded, Yes. Just 32.2 percent responded, No  nearly a 20 percent difference. An additional 15.9 percent said they didnt know.

Nearly half of the respondents  49.2 percent  also said it wasnt appropriate for Facebook and Twitter to block this story about Joe Biden from being seen by their users before the election.

There were other interesting findings in the poll. Some American voters appear to have bought the medias storyline at the time that the since-confirmed Hunter Biden story was the result of Russian disinformation.

The poll asked respondents if they believed the Hunter Biden scandal was true or if they merely thought it to be Russian disinformation. 29.6 percent responded that they believed it to be Russian disinformation.

In one damning poll result, 29.6 percent of those polled said that had they been aware of the evidence Joe Biden lied about his knowledge of his son Hunters overseas business dealings, they would have been less likely to vote for him. 15.6 percent of Democrats said this would have made them less likely to vote for Joe Biden.

This is not the first time that McLaughin & Associates revealed evidence that Big Tech stole the 2020 election by covering for Hunter Biden.

NewsBusters reported on previous McLaughlin & Associates research in late 2020 regarding Bidens China scandal, which indicated that 36 percent of Biden voters were NOT aware of the evidence linking Joe Biden to corrupt financial dealings with China through his son Hunter. Thirteen percent of these voters (or 4.6 percent of Bidens total vote) said that had they known these facts, they would not have voted for the former vice president.

MRC President Brent Bozell scorched Big Tech and Big Media at the time for stealing the 2020 election:

It is an indisputable fact that the media stole the election. The American electorate was intentionally kept in the dark. During the height of the scandal surrounding Hunter Bidens foreign dealings, the media and the big tech companies did everything in their power to cover it up. Twitter and Facebook limited sharing of the New York Posts reports, and the liberal media omitted it from their coverage or dismissed it as Russian disinformation.

This national survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on October 14-18, 2021. Results have an accuracy of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval.

Read more at: NewsBusters.org
(Natural News) A professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School warned that children should not get vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

I dont think children should be vaccinated for COVID. Im a huge fan of vaccinating children for measles, for mumps, for polio, for rotavirus and many other diseases, thats critical. But COVID is not a huge threat to children, Martin Kulldorff told EpochTVs American Thought Leaders Program.

They can be infected, just like they can get the common cold, but theyre not a big threat. They dont die from this, except in very rare circumstances. So if you want to talk about protecting children or keeping children safe, I think we can talk about traffic accidents, for example, which they are really at some risk. (Related: Pfizer betting big on steady stream of adults and children getting yearly CIVUD-19 vaccines its all about profits.)

Instead of getting support from medical experts, vaccinating healthy young people  particularly children  has triggered more opposition, in part because of how small the risk COVID-19 poses to them.

Flu poses more risks to children than COVID-19

Kulldorf said children are more likely to contract serious disease or die from the flu than from COVID-19. Just 195 children under the age of four and 442 between five and 18 have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. as of Oct. 20, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Children are 15 times less likely to be hospitalized with the disease than individuals who are 85 or older, and 570 times less likely to die.

The professor cited what happened in Sweden as an example.

During the first wave in the spring of 2020, which affected Sweden quite strongly, the country decided to keep daycare and schools open for all children ages 1 to 15. And there are 1.8 million such children who got through the first wave without vaccines, of course, without masks, without any sort of distancing in schools, Kulldorff said.

If a child was sick, they were told to stay home. But that was basically it. And you know how many of those 1.8 million children died from COVID? Zero. Only a few hospitalizations. So this is not a risky disease for children.

Risks outweigh benefits of COVID-19 vaccine for children

Kulldorf noted that the risk of vaccine side effects to children must also be taken into account. (Related: Health freedom alert: Britain to ban everyone from privately discussing vaccine ingredients, side effects and damage to children.)

The main risk to young people seen so far is heart inflammation, which has occurred post-vaccination at much higher than expected rates. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added a warning label to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines over the summer about myocarditis and pericarditis, two types of heart inflammation.

If youre 78 years old, then its the no-brainer, in my view, because the benefits are so great that even if you have a small risk for some adverse reaction, the benefit far outweighs the risk, Kulldorff said.

On the other hand, if you already have immunity from having had COVID, then the benefits of the vaccines are much, much smaller. If youre a child, even if you havent had COVID, the risk of serious disease or death is minuscule. So its not at all clear that the benefits outweigh the risks for children.

Still, members of the FDA advisory panel advised the agency to authorize Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine for use in children between 5 and 11. They said the benefits of vaccinating the age group, such as the predicted decrease in hospitalizations, outweighed the risks  including estimated incidence of myocarditis.

Follow Immunization.news for more news and information related to coronavirus vaccines.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

TheHill.com
(Natural News) Famed attorney Alan Dershowitz said Hollywood star Alec Baldwin has likely committed homicide during the on-set shooting and killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding of film director Joel Souza.

In an opinion piece, the Harvard Law School professor described the incident as a criminal killing which happened while on the set of the movie Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin is the lead actor and co-producer of the movie project.

According to a court document, Baldwin was reportedly told he was handed a cold gun before firing at the camera, hitting Hutchins and Souza. It remains unclear how the weapon was loaded with a live round.

Two things are clear, according to Dershowitz: Guidelines seem not to have been followed in this case and the existing guidelines seem insufficient. (Related: BREAKING: Alec Baldwin accidentally shoots and kills cinematographer (and wounds film director) with REAL, functioning gun, not prop gun as falsely reported by the fake news media.)

He continued: It is likely, therefore, that the killing of Halyna Hutchins could constitute a homicide  that is a criminal killing. The remaining questions are who might be criminally responsible for the killing and what degree of homicide fits the evidence.

Dershowitz wrote that Baldwin was clearly not aware that he was firing a gun capable of expelling a lethal projectile. But his role reportedly was not limited to passively being an actor. He may have had some responsibility as one of the several producers of the film.

The nature of the role of producers varies from film to film, and it is unlikely that Baldwins role included responsibility for set safety. Some may think that it was not simply enough for him to accept the word of an assistant director about the guns safety, that he perhaps should have independently inspected the gun.

It is unlikely, however, that such an omission would result in criminal responsibility.

Baldwin could spend up to 18 months in prison

Attorney Andrew Branca, an internationally recognized expert on self-defense law, also weighed in on the case. Branca said the fatal shooting could be argued to be an accident or be classified as recklessness or involuntary manslaughter. The attorney noted that involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico would be classified as a fourth-degree felony, which is typically punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a fine of $5,000.

Branca outlined the hypothetical case that Baldwin was negligent in the killing. In our hypothetical with the defective gun, for example, it may be true that the discharge of the gun was not foreseeable by Alec Baldwin and therefore not really in his control. But the direction in which the gun was pointed certainly was in his control, Branca said.

Weapons expert Bryan W. Carpenter noted that Baldwin broke the number one rule of firearms safety when he pointed a gun at people. Loaded or unloaded, a weapon never gets pointed at another human being, Carpenter said.

Carpenter warned that whenever a gun is handled on a TV or movie set, you never let the muzzle of a weapon cover something you dont intend to destroy.

DA not ruling out criminal charges

The Santa Fe County district attorney said on Tuesday, Oct. 26, that she was not ruling out criminal charges in last weeks fatal shooting on a film set. We havent ruled out anything, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said in a telephone interview. Everything at this point, including criminal charges, is on the table.

Carmack-Altwies said that the investigation is focusing on ballistics in an effort to determine what kind of round was in the gun that killed Hutchins, and who had placed the ammunition in the gun.

There were an enormous amount of bullets on this set, and we need to find out what kinds they were, Carmack-Altwies said. The detectives recovered three revolvers, spent casings and ammunition in boxes, loose and in a fanny pack while executing a search warrant on the set, according to an inventory of the items. The inventory did not specify what kind of ammunition was found on the set.

The shooting occurred on Oct. 21 on the set of a church where Baldwin was rehearsing a scene for Rust.

According to affidavits included in applications for search warrants, Dave Halls, an assistant director on the set, took the gun off a cart where it had been placed by the films armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Halls handed the gun to Baldwin, who was rehearsing inside the church, and said it was a cold gun  indicating that it contained no live rounds and was safe for Baldwin to handle.

Baldwin then rehearsed a scene that involved cross drawing a revolver and pointing it toward the camera lens, according to the affidavit. When Baldwin fired the gun, he hit Hutchins in the chest and Souza in the shoulder.

Follow Shootings.news for more news related to shooting and violence.

Sources include:

TheHill.com

DailyWire.com

NeonNettle.com

NY Times.com
(Natural News) Mark Lenzi, a Department of State official who sustained traumatic brain injuries while on assignment in Guangzhou, China, accused the department of hiding the source of his and other diplomats ailments and withdrawing information from Congress.

According to Lenzi, the State Department was doing its own medical tests to evaluate patients who experienced directed energy exposure on foreign soil. The disclosure forms of two victims were provided to Politico. Lenzi was on assignment in Guangzhou in late 2017 and was evaluated in June 2018. He was sent home days after a medical test. He was diagnosed with a brain injury on July 22, 2018.

Politico reported that lawmakers were not briefed on the State Departments medical tests for directed energy exposure until early 2021. Lenzi claimed leaders in the State Department have retaliated against him for speaking out about the issue and working with Congress as it investigates the matter, Politico reported.

The federal agency that handles whistleblower claims previously found a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing in the case of Lenzi and his claims of retaliation, according to an April 2020 Office of Special Counsel (OSC) memo. The retaliation probe is still underway. Lenzis administrative leave was revoked without explanation, according to Politico.

More than 200 American personnel  diplomats and intelligence officers alike  in foreign countries and on U.S. soil have suffered from unexplained health incidents since 2016. The State Department has not treated this syndrome as seriously as it should. And that is very disturbing to me, said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

While declining to comment on Lenzis case, a State Department spokesperson said: The safety of our personnel is our highest priority. We take every report we receive extremely seriously, and we are doing everything we can to ensure affected individuals get the best care and treatment.

Lenzi told Politico the State Departments handling of the issue has gotten worse under Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The OSC investigation is expected to be completed before the end of the year. At that point, the results would be shared with the White House and Congress. If Lenzis allegations are substantiated, he would be considered a whistleblower under the statutory definition and entitled to protections under the law.

Intelligence officers hit by Havana Syndrome

Meanwhile, the National Security Agency confirmed in a letter back in 2014 that the U.S. was investigating whether microwaves had been beamed at an embassy and were causing illness to intelligence officers, diplomats and others. The mysterious illness was dubbed as Havana Syndrome.

In 1996, NSA colleagues Michael Beck and Chuck Gubete traveled to a hostile country on a brief assignment and ended up falling ill. Beck and Gubete were allowed to enter the country but not after being detained for one hour at the airport. The men said they knew they were being watched.

Beck said they were a few days into their assignment when he started becoming ill. It was extreme fatigue and weakness, he recalled. I was a bowl of jelly and couldnt get moving.

Beck was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinsons disease 10 years later at the age of 46.

Gubete, whose family had a history of Parkinsons, died several years later. In 2014, Beck filed a workers compensation claim with the NSA, which send him a letter confirming the microwave attack.

The National Security Agency confirms there is intelligence information from 2012 associating the hostile country to which Mr. Beck traveled in the late 1990s with a high-powered microwave system weapon that may have the ability to weaken, intimidate or kill an enemy over time and without leaving evidence, the NSA said in its letter.

This weapon is designed to target the living quarters in microwaves, causing numerous physical effects, including a damaged nervous system.

Now 61 years old, Beck is trying to prove his claim. His lawyer Mark Zaid pointed out that the NSAs s letter came in 2014, two years before the first Havana Syndrome cases were reported after diplomats and intelligence officers were sickened while in Havana, Cuba.

Now, there are more than 200 cases of people in several different countries describing symptoms including high-pitched sounds, steady pulses of energy in the head, pain, nausea, dizziness and memory loss. (Related: Mysterious Havana syndrome affects more American diplomats, soldiers and spies than previously thought.)

Retired Central Intelligence Officer John Sipher, who served in Moscow during the 1990s and led the spy agencys operations at Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters in the 2000s, described Russias intelligence services as being particularly aggressive.

They would use whatever means possible to collect [intelligence] against us, said Sipher. Ive stayed in touch with a lot of folks, and it is a general view that the Russians have probably taken actions that have impacted the health of American diplomats and intelligence officers.

Microwave signals target embassies

The use of microwave signals to target embassies were stated in memos from the State Department, the CIA and presidential advisers.

In 1978, Jack Matlock, Moscow embassys No. 2 official at the time, wrote: This would seem an appropriate opportunity to reiterate at a high level our standing demand that microwave signals directed at Embassy be shut off forthwith.

The illness wasnt caused by an accident, said Dr. James Giordano, a professor of neurology at Georgetown University who is investigating the initial cases from Havana for the State Department.

The National Academies of Sciences also compiled a report supporting the microwave theory

The mechanism that we found most plausible was a form of microwave radiation that occurs in a pulsed or intermittent form, said David Relman, a Stanford University professor. We believe, although we cant show with direct evidence, that this microwave phenomenon could account for at least some of the clinical features.

Sources include:

NewsMax.com

WPRL.org
(Natural News) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro got censored by Facebook after he posted a video saying that statistics and data proved that those who received Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines ended up with what looked like Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

According to Facebook, the video was removed because its policies dont allow claims that COVID-19 vaccines kill or seriously harm people. Alphabets YouTube took the same step later, saying the video had violated its medical disinformation policy.

But Bolosano merely shared concerns after reading the data provided by government officials in the U.K. and what happened raised a very important issue  those unwilling to go along with the official narrative will be silenced and censored.

In his article for SHTFplan.com, Mac Slavo said that whether the information is true or not, the free flow of information will always be a cornerstone of basic human rights and everybody should be able to hear, read or otherwise absorb any information we wish and decide for ourselves if it rings true to us or not. (Related: Facebook censorship board member: Free speech is not a human right.)

Thats discernment and it will take critical thinking. Since the political overlords want obedient slaves, they will silence those who promote the idea of thinking for themselves. What we do with that information and how we interpret the data is on us, Slavo wrote.

However, Slavo noted that Bolsonaro must also be unmasked. Hes a member of the ruling class. He is promoting the idea that COVID-19 does exist when there is far more evidence out there that they simply renamed the common cold so people would be scared into taking a shot.

In 2020, Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19. He praised hydroxychloroquine for helping limit his symptoms. Earlier this year, the Brazilian president vowed not to take any COVID-19 vaccine despite pledging to work to inoculate Brazilians.

This story makes little sense, almost like it was scripted to read this way as some kind of a psychological operation, noted Slavo, who stressed that everybody must stay alert and dont trust any ruler. Never put anything past them. This guy vowed to vaccinate the entirety of Brazil. They are all working against us.

Over 32,000 Brazilians died following COVID-19 vaccination

Meanwhile, reports emerged that over 32,000 people in Brazil have died following a COVID-19 injection during a five-month period. Currently in Brazil, the following vaccines are authorized for use: AstraZeneca-Oxford, Pfizer-BioNTech, Coronavac (also called Sinovac), J&J/Janssen and Butanvac.

Despite the high amounts of deaths following vaccination, the report stated: Vaccination is still the best way to control the disease.

These cases of deaths following COVID-19 injections might actually be underreported. Brazils state news agency reported in July that in the small state of Distrito Federal, at least 711 died after taking the first experimental vaccine, while another 263 people died after taking two doses. (Related: Rising coronavirus infection and death rates plague India and Brazil, following covid vaccine rollouts in both countries.)

Brazils state news agency also admitted that vaccination does not prevent reinfection or the evolution to more serious conditions, including death. Thus, Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga stressed the importance of following health protocol during the pandemic.

We are always alerting people to wear masks, wash their hands, use alcohol gel and avoid crowds. Even if we are vaccinated, we can acquire the virus and have complications, he said.

Follow Censorship.news for more news related to Big Tech censorships.

Sources include:

SHTFplan.com

Vaccineimpact.com
(Natural News) A new bill rushed before the Parliament of Victoria on Oct. 26 states that residents of Victoria will face prison time or massive fines of up to AU$90,000 ($67,570) if they fail to comply with government-mandated health orders and pose a risk to the health of others.

The Public Health and Wellbeing (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021 was presented by Health Minister Martin Foley. It aims to override the State of Emergency powers provided under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008, which was slated to expire at the end of this year.

These powers were extended twice and gave the state government authority to impose public health restrictions like mask mandates, lockdowns, business closures and domestic border closures.

The new bill grants permanent extraordinary powers to the health minister and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, along with new massive penalties to ensure compliance among Australians. (Related: Hefty fines await citizens and businesses in Western Australia if they fail to comply with states vaccine mandates.)

The bill gives Andrews the power to declare a pandemic and to extend it for at least three months. There is no limit on the number of extensions.

With the bill enforced, Victoria can easily be placed under lockdown if the premier decides to declare one.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton previously signed off on public health orders. But under the bill, the proposal would shift this power to Foley, who will now have broad power to make pandemic orders and protect public health, with guidance from Sutton.

According to the measure, pandemic orders could be targeted and differentiated between different classes of people based on their alleged risk to public health and their vaccination status, proving once again that governments worldwide are discriminating against the unvaccinated.

Andrews explained that the bill was created with the support of community bodies, legal bodies, human rights groups and the crossbench. Allegedly, the bill has the support of the Greens Party and two independent parties: the Animal Justice Party and Reason Party.

New bill is an attack on Australian democracy

The legislation has been heavily criticized. Matthew Guy, leader of the opposition Liberal Party, warned that the bill was an attack on Australian democracy. And even though theres an independent committee, it was appointed by the premier. Guy questioned the reasoning behind the decision, especially since Andrews himself appointed the independent committee that is supposed to monitor the premier.

Guy called on the public to discuss the matter with friends and online and to fight for democracy. He also warned that the bill would give Andrews, the most power-hungry politician in Australia [license] to declare a pandemic, ultimately giving the latter the authority to do what he wants indefinitely.

According to Rod Barton, leader of the Transport Matters Party in the upper house of the state Parliament, he wasnt consulted despite Andrews claims that the crossbench supports the Pandemic Management Bill.

In a press release, Samantha Ratnam, leader of the Victorian Greens, announced that the party has negotiated with the government to create new, improved laws that will be much fairer for the whole Victorian community.

Ratman said that the Greens worked to ensure that the new laws have more transparency, particularly for disadvantaged citizens. For example, the laws would offer greater protection to QR code data and greater scrutiny from an independent panel that includes experts in human rights and health.

David Limbrick, upper house MP of the Victorian Parliament, disagreed. He said that the Greens arent to be trusted when it comes to human rights.

What did they do after the housing tower lockdown disaster? Support more of the same, wrote Limbrick in a Twitter post.

Morgan Begg, director of the Legal Rights Program at the Institute of Public Affairs in Melbourne, cautioned that the law would bring about the end of democratic government in Victoria. Like Guy, Begg called for immediate action to end the bill.

Begg said that the governments ability to declare emergencies and exercise emergency powers must be halted as soon as possible to ensure the freedom of Victorian citizens.

Go to HealthFreedom.news to learn more about oppressive pandemic laws.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

SMH.com.au [PDF]

SkyNews.com.au

Twitter.com
(Natural News) For Texas physician Dr. Steven Hotze, its high time for conservatives to get involved in school board elections. He made this assertion during the Oct. 16 episode of his Brighteon.TV program The Dr. Hotze Report.

Hotze interviewed Natalie Blasingame, a school board candidate at the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CyFair ISD). The Brighteon.TV host said: Historically, conservatives had been involved in local, state and national races. Weve had little or no interest in the school board races. [Thus, weve] allowed those that have a leftist, Marxist, pro-communist, pro-homosexual and transgender point of view to dominate the school boards.

He mentioned three major school board races at his location in Harris County, Texas. These include the Houston ISD, Klein ISD and the CyFair ISD. These are very key races because we found out over the last several years, particularly when parents had their children at home and started watching the curriculum, there was an uproar about what the children were being taught, he said.

A June 25 report by the Texan attested to the outrage of CyFair ISD parents against critical race theory (CRT). About 100 parents and community members joined the school districts board meeting on the night of June 24. The parents claimed that the districts curriculum contains elements of CRT.

However, board members insisted that CyFair ISD does not use any instructional materials with CRT labels on them. This has nevertheless failed to mollify parents, who argued that some materials contain ideas similar to what CRT espouses. (Related: Texas moves to ban highly controversial Critical Race Theory which teaches that all white people are racist bigots and supremacists.)

The future is going to be dependent upon what our kids are taught. If theyre taught communist doctrine, atheism and sexual perversion in the school  folks, our countrys going to hell in a handbasket. Thats what the communists have been doing ever since the 1950s. It started in the colleges, and now its worked way down into the grade schools, the CEO of Hotze Health & Wellness Center said.

Natalie Blasingame: We woke up to the woke agenda

Hotze then mentioned Blasingame, citing her long experience in the Spring Branch and Albany ISDs. Blasingame has been involved with the school districts as a teacher, a principal and an administrator. She is now running for school board in the CyFair ISD.

She then explains her reasons for running against the left-leaning incumbents in the school board. As an insider, Ive definitely seen how there was a gradual progression towards agendas that were unhealthy for our kids, [agendas] that attack their hearts and minds. But Ive definitely seen it [accelerating over] the last years.

Its a concerted agenda in order to take the one thing thats still left in our culture for most children  which is schooling. Its mandated by law  and so its a perfect place to indoctrinate. We need to basically be careful, take it back.

While Blasingame lamented the lack of involvement from other conservatives, she still sees a silver lining. To me, this is a wonderful day [and] we have big problems to solve. Its an exciting time because our community woke up: We woke up to the woke agenda, and were ready to take down the woke agenda, she said. (Related: Congressional candidate vows to get Critical Race Theory teachers prosecuted as domestic terrorists.)

Hotze told his viewers how leftist ideas in public schools affect generations of children, including those in private institutions.

My kids all went to private schools and Id say, just let them go to public schools. I didnt think it would affect us but obviously, what my neighbors children are being taught in school, its going to have an effect on my kids even though they go to a Christian school, Hotze said.

Theyre [going to] be influenced by the indoctrination that these children learn at the public schools, and theyre going to influence them in their thinking. And then, those people grow up and take leadership. There are obviously a lot more people in public schools, and private schools are Christian schools. So theyre going to end up being in positions of leadership, [and] theyre ultimately going to squeeze out those of us that have a Christian faith and [Christian] values because they will have been indoctrinated now.

Hotze is hoping that Blasingame will inspire more conservatives to get involved in local school board elections. I hope this will be an encouragement for you to involve yourself, your family and your friends in the local school board races. Lets take back the school boards with Christian patriots and those who believe in biblical worldviews and values, he said.

Watch the full Oct. 26 episode of The Dr. Hotze Report below. Tune in to The Dr. Hotze Report every Monday at 5-6 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

EducationSystem.news has more stories about people like Natalie Blasingame standing up to CRT and the woke agenda in public schools.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

TheTexan.news
(Natural News) Japan just flattened their biggest covid curve yet, and they did so by legalizing and using ivermectin. In almost every country, infection rates and daily death records have increased with each new wave of sickness. The public health advice of lockdowns, isolation, mask mandates and mass inoculation programs has only continued to cause larger curves of sickness and hospitalization. The withholding of viable treatments, a crime against humanity, has all but crippled humanitys ability to adapt to and recover from respiratory infections. But theres hope in Japan, where ivermectin has been deployed to help people recover from covid-19 so they can have more durable, lasting immunity.

Japan is wary of vaccine companies, more aware of the damage they cause to human life

When it comes to trusting vaccine companies, Japan is one of the most cautious nations in the world. When the first covid-19 vaccines came out, Japan waited two additional months before offering the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to the public. Historically, the Japanese are quicker to acknowledge vaccine injuries and will move more swiftly to protect the public from poisonous shots.

For example, Japan recommends the fewest number of vaccine doses to infants under one year of age. Not coincidentally, Japan also has the third lowest infant mortality rate among all developed nations. This isnt a mere correlation. In fact, a study of thirty-four developed nations finds that infant mortality rates regress against the number of vaccine doses routinely given.

Pandemic not nullified by vaccines

Before Japan released the Pfizer covid vaccines to the public, the country was still struggling to come up with a treatment plan and even recorded over 9,000 new infections in early January. Over one hundred deaths were recorded on February 4th, as governments put pressure on Japan to come up with a vaccine campaign. As the vaccines were rolled out, COVID seemed to fade away for a month or two. However, by May 12, infections were peaking again, with over 7,000 new infections recorded. By May 25th, the nation recorded over one hundred deaths in a single day.

By the time July rolled around, the number of shots administered daily rose to about 1.5 million per day. By the end of the August, close to 70 percent of the Japanese population had lined up to get their shots. However, the high vaccination rate showed negative results. On August 20, 2020, when there were no vaccinations, there were 832 new infections. A year later, after most of the population was vaccinated, there were 22,301 new infections on August 22, 2021! The number of recorded deaths in August 2021 was, on average, five times higher each day, when compared to the year before  when there were no vaccines.

Ivermectin helps flatten Japans largest covid curve

The vaccine-induced pandemic could have spiraled out of control, but Japan decided to do something different than the U.S. and other failing nations that depend solely on vaccines and masks. In September, the nation deployed ivermectin and began treating patients with more dignity. Caseloads plummeted rapidly. In Tokyo, there were nearly 6,000 cases in the middle of August. By the end of September, the caseload had fallen well below one hundred, an 11-month low. The Associated Press tried to heap praise on vaccines and masks for the sudden success, even though these materials had statistically failed the nation for over a year, leading to massive waves of covid and other diseases.

As more Japanese were properly treated and recovered, the number of covid tests used by the Japanese fell by one third. The positivity rate of these tests also fell from 25% in late August to 1% in mid-October. Ivermectin has helped bring about a more rapid recovery, reducing the spread and imparting more durable immunity. Since its use, Japan has made a serious turnaround, in the midst of their most serious outbreak yet. This doesnt mean that Japan is in the clear just yet, because vaccine efficacy will inevitably wane, causing new waves of covid in the months ahead. The difference when next time rolls around: Japan has hope with a better treatment plan.

Sources include:

TheSecondNews.com

CNN.com

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

Graphics.Reuters.com

CTVNews.ca

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) An attorney who was once the co-chair of the Clinton Global Initiative has been charged with felonies and an arrest warrant has been issued against him by the Denver District Attorneys office.

(Article by Martin Walsh republished from ConservativeBrief.com)

Steve Bachar has been charged with securities fraud and theft. A criminal complaint against him accuses him of stealing between $100,000 and $1 million and lying to an investor, according to the Denver Post.

The new warrant says the alleged crimes took place between Oct. 13, 2017, and Aug. 8, 2018.

Steven Charles Bachar, in connection with the offer, sale or purchase of a security, directly or indirectly, unlawfully, feloniously and willfully made an untrue statement of material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made  not misleading, states the complaint obtained by the Post.

Former Clinton Global Initiative Co-Chair Steve Bachar has been indicted on felony theft and securities fraud counts. https://t.co/OXRvKtRFHO  Nick Short  (@PoliticalShort) October 27, 2021

In a statement, Bachar said: These are outrageous, unfounded, and false accusations. I am pleased that we are now engaged in a process that will let the facts come to light.

Bachar is currently under investigation by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, which oversees attorney discipline in Colorado.

The Washington Free Beacon reported:

Authorities in Denver have ordered the arrest of Steve Bachar, a longtime Clinton operative and socially responsible investor who has been charged with felony theft and securities fraud. The former co-chair of the Clinton Global Initiative is also under investigation for unrelated allegations that he mishandled millions of dollars allocated for personal protective equipment at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bachar is accused of stealing as much as $1 million and lying to an investor in connection with the offer, sale or purchase of a security, according to the criminal complaint filed by the Denver district attorneys office. The crimes are alleged to have occurred between October 2017 and August 2018. The former Clinton operative told the Denver Post the criminal charges were outrageous, unfounded, and false, and he looks forward to letting the facts come to light.

The report added:

Bachar, who served as White House advance lead and in the Treasury Department under former president Bill Clinton before joining the Clinton Global Initiative, also served on the national finance committee for Hillary Clintons failed presidential campaign in 2016 and as an adviser to former governor John Hickenlooper (D., Colo.). His private sector career as a corporate attorney and cofounder of Empowerment Capital Management was focused on socially responsible investing.

According to a lawsuit filed by a Denver-based health care company, Bachar agreed to sell them 4,200 cases of N95 masks for $2.4 million in April 2020 but never delivered the masks and did not return their initial payment of $604,000. Over the summer, Bachar was ordered to pay nearly $4.5 million to the companies he allegedly defrauded but has yet to comply with the civil judgments against him.

"Political heavy-hitter," indeed. In 2015 Steve Bachar raised concerns to John Podesta when then-VP Biden began to explore a presidential bid against Hillary Clinton, who was in the midst of her email scandal. #copolitics https://t.co/hZbII9rmcj  CO Peak Politics (@COpeakpolitics) October 26, 2021

Bachar is not a random person.

He worked with the advance team of Bill Clinton and once boasted that he was joined at the hip with him.

Bachar also worked for the Treasury Department.

He was part of the national finance committee for the 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.

Read more at: ConservativeBrief.com
(Natural News) Minnesota state Sen. Scott Jensen, also a doctor, says he has now been investigated five separate times by his states medical board for complaints about his approach to the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) plandemic.

In a video update, Jensen explained that he recently arrived home from work only to discover that he is being probed again due to a half-dozen complaints filed against him for his defiance against the Biden regimes orders.

I am problematic because I called for civil disobedience in regards to the press conference that President Biden issued Sept. 9 that he never followed up on, Jensen says.

We also reported on one of Jensens earlier investigations from back in the summer when he was targeted for other reasons.

So what we have is a press conference, Jensen added. Thats a problem for me.

One of Jensens latest complaints takes issue with the fact that he has not been vaccinated with any of the Operation Warp Speed injections from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson (J&J).

As Jensen has repeatedly told the public, the reason he is not getting jabbed is because his body contains a plethora of antibodies from when he recovered after testing positive for the Fauci Flu.

Jensen is also accused of inappropriately recommending that children not muzzle their breathing holes at school like school boards all across the country are demanding.

Last I checked, school boards are making those decisions, Jensen says. I have my opinion(s), and Im entitled to those.

For daring to recommend ivermectin as an early covid treatment, Jensen is having his medical license challenged

The Branch Covidians further allege that it is people like Jensen, rather than themselves, who have fallen for politicizing public health. Jensen says this is a laughable notion when so much of what surrounds Covidism is faith-based superstition and hysteria.

Really? Jensen asked. What about (Biden medical advisers) Mike Osterholm and Tony Fauci, who say dont wear masks, dont wear masks, and then all of a sudden they get religion and wear masks?

Jensen added in a statement that there is 19 years of data that says masks dont do the job, adding that the fact of the matter is that from 2000 to 2020, we thought that masks didnt help, and now, evidently they do.

Jensen is also a fan of ivermectin, which is a major no-no in Western medicine. There was nothing wrong with prescribing ivermectin until the Chinese Virus came along, anyway, and now doctors are being threatened with losing their jobs for prescribing it.

Natural immunity is another sensitive subject that has gotten Jensen into a heap of trouble. For suggesting that the human immune system is equipped and fully capable of warding off disease, the Branch Covidians want to burn him at the stake because according to them, only vaccines provide immunity.

What theyre doing to us is in violation of the spirit of the Geneva Convention,' wrote one commenter at Natural News.

Organized mass torture down to the cell phone alerts and apps  All fake-stream-media needs to be publicly legally tried for participation in a planned organized torture of the American people.

This same person went on to talk about how we need another round of Nuremburg Trials with actual consequences for those involved in committing these horrific crimes against humanity.

All media companies involved in running the criminals torturous lies (which led to Jensen being treated this way) need to be indicted, as well as all of the telecommunications companies that are using technology to send fear propaganda via alert systems on peoples cell phones.

The latest news about the religion of Covidisms forced conversion tactics can be found at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

WND.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A mother of six in Virginia has claimed that parents at a school board meeting were surveilled by police and federal agents after she and others complained that their kids were being exposed to pornography and pedophilia on the schools curriculum.

(Article by Steve Watson republished from Infowars.com)

Stacy Langton posted images on Twitter showing unmarked cars along with a Department Of Homeland Security Vehicle and police cruisers. She also claimed that a helicopter was circling overhead shining a spotlight on parents before and after the board meeting.

Went to @fcpsnews #schoolboardmeeting last night. Heavy #Fed presence. Unmarked fed vehicles, @DHSgov vehicles, even helicopter circling overhead with spotlight on Moms & Dads. All on the night #DOJ Merrick Garland testifies. A little over the top, no?@SebGorka @AsraNomani pic.twitter.com/aUh2QuhaT3  Stacy Langton (@StacyLangton) October 22, 2021

Ms Langton appeared on Fox & Friends Wednesday to discuss the development, noting that the feds showed up a day after her and other parents protested outside the Department of Justice in DC.

I have threats against my children by name, I have been followed in my car with my children, they have my vehicle, they know where I live, and I dont know whos putting somebody up to this, but its obviously meant to intimidate me, said Langton.

She added Im not getting a lot of sleep right now, nobodys sleeping in my house because we cant be sure that were safe.

Watch:

A video of Langton defiantly speaking out against the porn books as school officials tried to shut her down went viral last month:



In her interview Wednesday, Langton also noted I understand Merrick Garland is actually testifying today at the Senate and hes gonna talk about mobilizing the FBI against parents.

Maybe he should mobilize the FBI into whos threatening my family, she urged.

During that hearing, Senator Tom Cotton grilled Garland, demanding an explanation for the recent DOJ directive calling for the full force of the federal government to be deployed against American parents who are showing up to local school board meetings to express their concerns.

FULL EXCHANGE: Sen. Tom Cotton unleashes on Attorney General Merrick Garland regarding school board memo: "Thank God you are not on the Supreme Court! You should resign in disgrace, Judge."pic.twitter.com/lXE62Y20qT  Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 27, 2021

The DOJ issued a memo on the subject after the National School Boards Association (NSBA) equated the angry parents to domestic terrorists, which it later apologized for.

Other GOP representatives also eviscerated Garland.

Ted Cruz (R-TX) grilled Garland on a range of issues, including his lack of apology over the DOJ memo:

Senator @tedcruz confronts Attorney General Merrick Garland over his lack of apology for the Department of Justice's memo targeting concerned parents. pic.twitter.com/i2JQyGz7L5  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 27, 2021

WATCH: Attorney General Merrick Garland admits the DOJ did NOT verify the allegations in the National School Boards Association letter before launching a probe into concerned parents. pic.twitter.com/aWCr4Cd7cL  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 27, 2021

Cruz also highlighted a direct conflict of interest Garland has as regards to the teaching of critical race theory in schools:

The Biden DOJ has embraced Critical Race Theory. AG Garlands son-in-law makes big money from a company involved in teaching CRT. So I asked the AG if he sought an ethics opinion. He refused to answer my question. Apparently ethics aren't a high priority in the Biden admin. pic.twitter.com/sxDG0gIpOT  Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) October 27, 2021

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) also told the Attorney General, You have weaponized the FBI and the Department of Justice, and I call on you to resign!

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) accused AG Garland of engaging in communist tactics that put a chilling effect on parents wishing to speak out.

That is a poisonous, chilling effect, Grassley said. This kind of looks like something that would come out of a communist country.

Read more at: Infowars.com
(Natural News) The United Kingdom is set to import turkeys for the Christmas season because of insufficient domestic production. Industry experts say growing demand during the holidays necessitate importing turkeys from some European countries. They add that the shortage of turkeys serves as evidence of a wider crisis across the food supply chain.

British Poultry Council Chairman Graeme Dear told lawmakers that theres a likelihood of domestic turkey production falling short as Christmas nears. Given this situation, he warned that supermarkets may have to rely on turkey imports from its European neighbors.

The irony is [that] we may find ourselves having to import turkey from France and Poland for a British Christmas, probably with some of the very workers we trained and left to go back to their homelands, Dear told members of Parliament during a hearing. Dear and other industry leaders claim a combination of Brexit and strict immigration controls, plus the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, is to blame for the crisis.

British food company Iceland Foods said its Christmas turkey sales have seen a 409 percent increase from its 2020 record. It ordered 20 percent more frozen turkey than the usual. Iceland Foods said a spike in online searches for Christmas as early as July 2021 have prompted the extra orders.

Many foreign workers returned home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing the number of farm workers available. British farmers decided to raise fewer chicks in 2021  around 20 percent less than the previous year  due to the insufficient number of workers in processing plants to handle them.

In response, the British government announced that 5,500 short-term visas for poultry plant workers would be given out. However, the move comes too late in helping increase the number of turkeys being bred.

National Farmers Union Vice President Tom Bradshaw said more foreign workers are needed  around 50,000 to 60,000. Under the British governments seasonal worker scheme, 30,000 foreign workers are allowed to help out in farms. Bradshaws group has been involved in efforts to bring in more foreign workers.

Domestic turkeys are still available, but with a catch

Despite the shortage of turkeys on supermarket shelves, the Express reported that live turkeys are still available for purchase on farms. However, it noted that the Britons should order ahead of time to celebrate Christmas with turkey on their tables.

Richard Botterrill, who owns G.B. Geese Farm in Lincolnshire, said he has received orders for turkeys a month ahead of the holiday season.

This time of the year, wed be sending out our flyers and getting people up to speed with what were doing, with the view of people ordering the next few weeks into November. Were certainly finding that people are ordering a lot earlier, probably about a month earlier than what they would do normally, he said. We are probably about 10 or 15 percent ahead on numbers of where we were this time last year. (Related: Thanksgiving might be very different this year thanks to turkey shortages, higher food prices.)

He also commented on the shortages of frozen turkey in supermarkets. I dont think there will be shortages  but if you want a particular thing, like a free-range bronze turkey, you need to order it because there is only a finite number of those. Once weve lost our number that we can produce, thats it. If that occurs at the beginning of December, well have to shut our order book. We cant magic them out of thin air.

Traditional Farm-fresh Turkey Association Chairwoman Kate Martin also weighed in on the issue.

This year, its looking like there is a national shortage of turkeys when were talking about supermarket shelves, rather than buying directly from your farm. It is the supermarket shelves that will be emptier on turkeys this year than they have been before, only because there have been fewer turkeys placed on the ground [and] only because the big processors know that they will not get them processed, she said. (Related: Food shortages are widespread and have gotten worse during the pandemic.)

Were small producers, we use local labor. [But] for the big processors, it is 100 percent caused by a labor shortage. This situation with turkeys is caused by the fact that European labor is no longer available to us, and they are skilled workers who have been coming to us for years.

FoodSupply.news has more articles about shortages of turkey and other products in supermarkets.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

TheGrocer.co.uk

Express.co.uk
(Natural News) The fatal movie set shooting in New Mexico in which actor Alec Baldwin pulled the trigger is being treated as a criminal investigation by the police rather than an accident, according to Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza.

In an appearance on Fox and Friends, he said: Id be careful using the word accident.

This is obviously a tragedy and it was avoidable, so right now its a criminal investigation, he added.

He said that the Sheriffs Department has been working closely with District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies but that it is too early in the investigation to say what type of charges, if any, will be filed. The investigation is currently focused on the presence of live ammunition on a set that did not require its use and who may have been responsible for bringing it there. The sheriff said that nobody has been ruled out when it comes to charges as it is still an active investigation.

According to the sheriff, all of the suspects in the case have provided them with initial statements, and some of the primary individuals of concern have already retained counsel. These include Alec Baldwin, who also serves as a producer for the film, assistant director David Halls and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

Gutierrez-Reed recently spoke out through her attorneys denying certain rumors about the shooting. For example, there have been reports that crew members had been using the weapons for target practice during their off hours; Gutierrez-Reeds attorneys insisted that the weapons were locked up every night and during lunch hours and that the armorer never witnessed anyone using the guns to shoot live rounds.

However, someone clearly placed live rounds in the gun in question because the bullet that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was recovered by medical personnel from the shoulder of director Joel Souza, who was also shot in the incident.

That bullet, along with other evidence is being sent to the FBIs crime lab in Quantico to be analyzed. Although Gutierrez-Reed said that no live ammunition was kept on the set, investigators have found 500 rounds of ammunition that includes a mix of dummy rounds, blanks and live rounds.

Im aware of the statements, there have been statements that were made that there was a live-fire and target practice on the set, Mendoza stated. Were going to track down that information and try and confirm whether thats a fact or not.

Baldwin tweets news stories pinning blame on assistant director

Assistant Director David Halls said in an interview with detectives that he typically checks the barrels of the guns for obstructions, while Gutierrez-Reed opens up the hatch and spins the drum to determine if it contains live ammunition. In an affidavit, he said that the armorer did show him the gun before they continued their rehearsal on the day of the incident but that he only recalled seeing three rounds. He conceded that he should have checked all of them but did not, and added that he could not remember if she spun the drum.

Alec Baldwin appears to be trying to shift the blame to Halls. The actor tweeted a news story on Wednesday in which Halls admitted that he should have checked the rounds in the gun prior to handing it to the actor on the movie set. Although he did not make any comments when he tweeted the story, it is the second story of this nature that he has shared with his followers; an earlier one also stressed that the actor was told the prop gun was safe, despite the fact that the gun was not a prop at all and police confirmed that it did indeed hold real ammo that killed Hutchins.

Yesterday, the 63-year-old actor surfaced in Vermont, where he was photographed shopping for clothes at a Ralph Lauren store.

Sources for this article include:

FoxNews.com

NYPost.com

FoxNews.com
(Natural News) The central German city of Weimar is no longer publishing data on residents who die from or have to be hospitalized because of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines because the extremely high numbers are fueling the narrative of the corona deniers.

According to reports, Weimar does not want people who oppose or even just question with healthy skepticism the safety and effectiveness of Chinese Virus injections, which is why it decided to embrace a new policy of anti-science that exchanges reality for fantasy.

By no longer publishing the statistical facts about Fauci Flu shot injuries and deaths, Weimar is attempting to create the illusion that all is well with the jabs. Peter Kleine, Weimars mayor, publicly announced that it is in the best interests of public health to no longer report the truth.

We want to be as transparent as possible in our number report, Kleine stated. However, the indication of the people who are treated with vaccination in the hospital clearly distorts reality and thus plays into the hands of corona deniers and opponents of vaccination.

I would like to emphasize that it is actually the case at the moment that a lack of vaccination protection tends to lead to serious courses in the hospital, he further added without any proof to back this claim.

Kleine went on to claim that fully vaccinated Germans are usually not treated for the Chinese Virus, and that counting those who do have to be treated distort[s] the facts.

We want to avoid creating a false impression and have therefore decided not to indicate the number in the future, he added.

Two days after making its announcement, Weimar removed it from website

Thankfully, there are websites like CovidVaccineVictims.com that will continue to track injuries and deaths caused by Fauci Flu shots even if the government refuses.

There is also a small possibility that Weimar has changed its mind about reporting the facts, seeing as how the citys website was scrubbed just two days after the announcement was published.

Now, it is no longer stated there that Weimar will not be reporting hospitalizations and deaths caused by Operation Warp Speed injections. Does this mean that the city will continue to report them after all?

The official narrative surrounding Chinese Virus injections does, in fact, appear to be crumbling, so it would not be a shock if Kleine reversed course in an attempt to save face.

Crazier things have happened, and in the age of covid, nothing seems off the table as far as reconstructing the narrative goes. We have seen governments go from masks to no masks, back to masks, back to no masks, etc.

We have also seen claims about what the so-called vaccines do change from merely minimizing infection to stopping the spread to you need to get jabbed or you are going to kill grandma.

The narrative is all over the place, in other words, as are the politicians pushing Covidism on their constituents. How much longer will covid last before the entire world figures out that it is all just a sham?

I tend to find that the vax has led to MORE fear and panic than before and everyone is only living for their boosters, one Natural News commenter wrote about what she has been observing lately.

I would rather die of a gunshot wound than allow myself to submit to what they, led by Fauci, represent.

The Branch Covidians are scrambling to obscure the truth about Chinese Flu shots before a critical mass of the general public figures out the ugly truth about them. You can keep up with the latest at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

BigLeaguePolitics.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The anti-Trump, pedo-protecting Lincoln Project was forced to issue an emergency press release Friday afternoon after Democratic operatives they paid to impersonate tiki-torch wielding Trump supporters were doxxed, after they stood in front of Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkins campaign bus.

(Article by Tyler Durden republished from ZeroHedge.com)

The hoax was spread by several notables, including Terry McAuliffes spokeswoman, Christina Freundlich.

It was also spread by MSM journos:

It was also spread by MSM journos:

Dem Party operatives and MSNBC "analysts" spent the day spreading a photo that was dubious from the start  staged to make it appear neo-Nazis were supporting Glenn Youngkin  and now it turns out that, yet again, they spread disinformation. Over and over: the same people do this https://t.co/5Pmr2Oku1j  Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 29, 2021

And then the internet figured out who the operatives were;

One of them is the financial director for the Virginia Young Democrats and since being outed as such, has made his Twitter private. You're welcome for me doing your job for you. pic.twitter.com/YVhNbm74bP  Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) October 29, 2021

And they began frantically scrubbing their social media history:

Holy sh*t Colleen Wachenfeld rebranded her Twitter account handle several times after being exposed for posing as a neo-Nazi pic.twitter.com/DhltQl7mhF  Jewish Deplorable (@TrumpJew2) October 29, 2021

After the hoax unraveled, the Lincoln Project issued a press release taking credit.

Todays demonstration was our way of reminding Virginia voters of what happened in Charlottesville four years ago, the Republican partys embrace of those values, and Glenn Youngkins failure to condemn it.

Lincoln Project claims credit for the "white supremacist" stunt at Youngkin's campaign event today. pic.twitter.com/h18Sfk5AUC  John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) October 29, 2021

Of course the Lincoln project would recruit young boys for this https://t.co/qfCdgFjv36  Ahmed Al Assliken (@assliken) October 29, 2021

Called it at 10:18am today. pic.twitter.com/jlS3GWtJbK  Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 29, 2021

Bringing it home is Glenn Greenwald, who opines with yet another killer thread:

The people who most vocally claim to be worried about disinformation and Fake News  to the point that they want to censor the internet in its name  are, by far, the most aggressive and prolific disseminators of disinformation and Fake News. Always. Dems & corporate outlets.  Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 29, 2021

White Democrats sitting with their white families in their white neighborhoods now believe they own racism and race discourse, to be deployed for their amusement and fun, or with any slight belief that it will advance their interests. They're the ownershttps://t.co/kGNaSD3VZJ  Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 29, 2021

Speaking of white Dem scumbags who think they own racism discourse, the Lincoln Project  led by Rick Wilson, last seen frolicking on a boat with a cooler covered by the Confederate Flag  admits to staging the fake white nationalist rally in Virginia:https://t.co/P5yH4D1wB4  Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 29, 2021

I can't think of any clearer expression of the rot of US liberalism and Dem Party politics than the white scumbags of the Lincoln Project  MSNBC stars  engineering a fake racist rally while Dem operatives & MSNBC analysts used it to accuse Youngkin of racism. Utterly sick. pic.twitter.com/sqk7QTvoL7  Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 29, 2021

And I'd ask rhetorically whether the Lincoln Project admitting to having perpetrated this racist fraud  while MSNBC analysts spread it all over the internet  means MSNBC will stop having them on, but if fleecing donors & covering up for child predators didn't, this won't.  Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 29, 2021

Is anyone surprised?

Read more at: ZeroHedge.com
Researchers have discovered that Earth's "solid" inner core is actually a bit soft. The scientific world believed that Earth's inner core was a solid ball of compressed iron alloy which a liquid outer core covered for more than half a century.

However, according to a recent study published in the journal Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors on Sept. 20, the planetary ball's hardness varies from hard to semisoft to liquid metal.

Jessica Irving, a seismologist at the University of Bristol in England, who was not part of the study, told Live Science: "The more that we look at it, the more we realize it's not one boring blob of iron. We're finding a whole new hidden world."

In some respects, the deep core of the Earth is as unknown today as it was when Jules Verne wrote his fantastic "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 1864.

Despite the fact that scientists have known since the 1950s that the globe isn't flat like Verne projected, the planet's interior remains undiscovered; the huge heat and pressure are just too high for any human or human-made probe to journey there.

"Unless something awful happens to our planet, we will never have a direct observation of Earth's core," Irving said.

Geophysicists instead rely on shock waves produced by earthquakes. Scientists can recreate an image of the planet's inner workings by monitoring these huge vibrations, which Irving compares to a CT scan of a human.

Straight-line compressional waves and undulating shear waves are the two basic types of these waves. As it passes through the earth, each wave can accelerate, slow down, or bounce off of various media.

Also Read: Scientists are Puzzled as Earth's Core Continues to Grow Lopsided Over Time

The Study

The new research began as a case of mismatched data for Rhett Butler, a geophysicist at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology.

Butler was looking into how seismic waves which large earthquakes created in five different places journey through Earth's core to the same opposite part of the globe.

But something wasn't quite right: the quakes' shear waves, which should have gone through a solid ball of metal, were deflected in certain places.

The numbers shocked Butler. He knew the seismic wave math was right, which could only imply one thing: the structure was incorrect. As a result, Butler and his co-author had to reconsider their original claim that Earth's inner core was solid all the way through.

They realized that the waves they saw occurred if the core included pockets of liquid and "mushy," semisolid iron at its surface, rather than being a solid ball.

Earth's Magnetic Field

According to Butler, the variety in iron consistencies was particularly noticeable.

He said: "We've seen evidence that not only is it not soft everywhere; it's really hard in some places. It's got hard surfaces right up against melted or mushy iron. So we're seeing a lot of detail within the inner core that we didn't see before."

This study has the potential to transform scientist's understanding scientist of the Earth's magnetic field. According to research published in the journal Science Advances in 2019, our planet's magnetic field is driven by the flowing liquid outer core, while the inner core helps to modulate it.

According to NASA study, some planets, such as Mars, have a liquid core but lack both an inner core and a magnetic field. As a result, Butler and Irving think that a better knowledge of the inner core will aid scientists in better comprehending the link between the inside of a planet and its magnetic activity.

Related Article: Earth's Inner Core Spins Faster than Earth Itself

For more news, updates about Earth's inner core and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
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All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 14th Amendment (Section 1)

They attempted armed self-defense in Colfax. The result was that on Easter Sunday of 1873, when the sun went down that night, it went down on the corpses of two hundred and eighty negros. John G. Lewis, legislator, state of Louisiana, testimony at the Congressional Ku Klux Klan hearings of 1871

As Congress and the American people brace themselves for what could be a soul-searching introspective and divisive public hearing on the events of Jan. 6, 2021, it is important to remember that this was not the first time there had been an attempt to overthrow democratic government. Soon after the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, there was a period of Reconstruction where with the assistance of federal troops and the efforts of white northern Republicans, democracy became a temporary reality for Black Americans. Blacks were elected to both houses of Congress and mayors of major cities throughout the South. This is not some archaeological artifact.

Unfortunately, this period was short-lived. By the late 1860s. the Ku Klux Klan and White Citizens Councils ushered in a period of racial terrorism that lasted for the next 80 years. In this post-Reconstruction era, Jim Crow laws were passed in all the former Confederate states. These laws were not simply about public accommodation; these laws were designed to relegate former slaves and their descendants to a life of servitude, dependence, poverty and political impotency.

But before Jim Crow laws were enacted, the KKK and their supporters terrorized, murdered and stole the property of the newly freed slaves and their supporters. The 1871 KKK Conspiracy Congressional hearings is a massive volume of nearly 7,000 pages documenting the terror of the KKK throughout the South following the passage of the post-Civil War Amendments; I highly recommend anyone interested in hearing what happened during this time as told by firsthand witnesses and victims read this important historical document. The quote above was from one of the most notorious racial pogroms in American history in Colfax, La.

The KKK Terrorism Act was not effective in eliminating the Klan, but it and the 14th Amendment are important American documents that can provide guidance to Congress and the American people as to what should be done about Jan. 6. The KKK Act speaks directly to the desecrators of the Capitol, and more importantly, the leaders including the former president and others who orchestrated the events of that day and the actions that are being taken across the country to restrict the voting rights of American citizens.

The 14th Amendment clearly states in Section 3: 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 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.

If the Jan. 6 committee finds that the events of that day were an act of insurrection against the United States Constitution, all of those who participated, planned, inspired, funded and otherwise supported this action could be banned from holding public office.

The case can be made that the attempt of the insurrectionists on Jan. 6 to stop and reverse the duly appointed electors for president and vice president by violently halting the constitutionally defined electoral process is the definition of insurrection. The 14th Amendment advises us on what should be done.

You might ask, what does the KKK Terrorism Act have to do with Jan. 6? The answer to this question is that violent efforts of organizations dedicated to the principles of white supremacy like the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters, and the Oath Keepers were active in this effort to overthrow the duly elected government. One significant image of that horrible day was that of an insurrectionist carrying the Confederate flag through the halls of Congress, something that never happened during the Civil War. It is clear the insurrectionists and their supporters were actively trying to suppress and nullify Black votes in several key cities and states. The insurrectionists of Jan. 6 are the ideological progeny of the KKK. And just as their predecessors attempted to hide their true intentions of white supremacy under the guise of states rights, these modern insurrectionists have the gall to justify their acts of insurrection as expression of election security. Hogwash.

In my dealings with elected officials of all parties, I have found that many of them keep a pocket-sized copy of the United States Constitution and the amendments on their person. For the good of the country, I think we all should read those founding documents, that begin with We the People.

Fred McKinney is the co-founder of BJM Solutions, an economic consulting firm that conducts public and private research since 1999, and is the emeritus director of the Peoples Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Quinnipiac University.
Rachel Dotts has been pounding the pavement trying to land a job but, despite businesses claiming they cannot find enough workers, she hasnt been hired. She believes its because of an eight-year-old drug charge on her record.


Bishop of Norwich speaks ahead of COP26 visit Bishop of Norwich speaks ahead of COP26 visit

In an interview ahead of attending the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow this weekend, the Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher, explained why he believes caring for Gods creation is a fundamental part of Christian discipleship.

I believe that creation care is an integral part of being a Christian, because we are called by God to tread gently on this earth to steward and care for creation. In our Christian lives, we need to mirror something of that, taking time to pause, to have Sabbath rest, to see all around us these amazing resources, to care for them, to attend to them, to protect them; not just for ourselves, not just for future generations, but for the integrity of the whole of Gods creation.



A former ecologist, Bishop Graham also leads the Church of Englands environmental programme, has a special interest in forestry and has written a book about the spirituality of landscapes.



Im hugely privileged to be part of the Anglican Communions environmental network, which has involved travelling to different parts of the Communion,  he said.



I have kept meeting bishops, clergy and lay people talking to me about the impact of climate change. So, whether that has been in the Amazon, where I was fortunate to canoe along part of the river Amazon, with the Bishop of the Amazon, at that time, seeing the effects of climate change on indigenous communities, or in Tanzania, in the Diocese of Morogoro, seeing the failure of a crop harvest and the impact on peoples lives, on the prices in the markets.



Bishop Graham said the people of the planet who are in the most economically precarious situations due to climate change, have not caused the problem. Its caused by the wealthy, more oil-consuming parts of the world. So, climate change, and our response to it as Christians is a key part of our sense of justice. Were called by God, to live lives that speak into places of injustice, places of economic poverty, places where people are being affected.



When you look at some of the major conflicts around the world, the environmental factors are somewhere in the roots of most of them. When you look at migration around the world, and refugees, environmental factors are often at the heart of them.



He said bishops around the Anglican Communion needed to come together to support and pray for each other. We need to find ways in which we can respond in really positive ways to halt this climate emergency, the huge devastation of biodiversity that were seeing around us. In my own life, in just 50 years, in the UK, half of the biomass of our biodiversity has been lost. Thats got to stop. And weve got to find ways in which natural capital can enhance all our lives again.



Bishop Graham said 2021 is year with huge opportunities for change and although the G7 summit in Cornwall had not delivered on the promises many had hoped for, the next opportunity will be COP26 in Glasgow. The bishop believes faith communities have an incredible opportunity to speak into the whole agenda, drawing on their extensive tradition and experience to influence their communities and the governments of their nations.



One of the most powerful things that Ive found has been to tell stories about how climate change is already impacting on peoples lives across the Anglican Communion. Its often in the telling of those stories that our policymakers and politicians are really attuned to what is being said.



I would encourage church communities to be praying, first of all, for a very positive result at COP26. But above all, please pray for the urgent changes that we need to see to protect habitats, to protect the world, as we move forward to keep the temperature of the globe below the 1.5 degree sea level.



Along with praying for change, he said inspiring people through teaching about engaging with Gods creation is also vital. Its casting a vision of something glorious, so that people then change how theyre living and the amount of carbon footprint that were leaving behind, because we want to tend this glorious creation that we share thats been entrusted to us by God.





To read the full article visit Lambeth Conference.



Pictured above is the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham Usher. (c) Diocese of Norwich



Keith Morris, 30/10/2021
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LONDON (AP)  Climate activist Lavetanalagi Seru has been watching COVID-19 case numbers rise in the U.K. ahead of the U.N. climate conference beginning Sunday, and it scares him  even though hes been vaccinated and is only 29.

But the campaigner from the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network is determined to travel from his home in Fiji to Scotland to bring attention to the plight of island nations being battered by climate change.

Its a scary time to be traveling, he told The Associated Press. But Im putting my health at risk to make sure Pacific Island states are heard.''

Despite the concerns of some of the delegates from around the world, the British government decided to hold an in-person conference, arguing that world leaders must act now to prevent catastrophic global warming  and that they will be more effective if they can talk face-to-face. The meeting was originally scheduled to be held last year but was postponed due to the pandemic.

The government insists it can now be done safely  and said it had worked tirelessly'' to ensure an inclusive, accessible and safe summit in Glasgow with a comprehensive set of COVID-mitigation measures.''

COP26 has already been postponed by one year,'' Alok Sharma, the president-designate of the conference known as COP26, said last month. And we are all too aware climate change has not taken time off.''

But a coalition of environmental and community groups in September called for the conference to be pushed back again amid concern that many of those most affected by global warming wouldnt be able to attend because of the continuing threat of COVID-19. Those fears have been heightened by a surge in infections across the U.K., where the daily average of confirmed new cases has jumped more than 50% since mid-September.

Campaigners also complain that organizers still haven't done enough to ensure broad participation. Documents outlining the paperwork necessary to attend came late for some who needed to travel long distances and at great expense, among other issues.

A failure to cut red tape has made it difficult for civil society activists to get the visas they need to travel. Seru, for example, is still waiting for his.

In addition, although vaccines were promised for delegates, the campaigners argued the rollout was too slow  highlighting broader issues of vaccine inequity that they largely blame on rich nations, including the U.S., Britain and the European Union, that have stockpiled vaccines for their own citizens.

As one of the millions of unvaccinated Africans, the thought of traveling to Scotland, where cases recently spiked, is a scary one, Mohamed Adow, director of the climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, wrote Sept. 14 in an opinion piece for the Guardian. The frustrating thing is that it didnt need to be this way.

He accused rich countries of hoarding vaccines and blamed their failure to waive certain intellectual property rights on the shots that could allow more countries, particularly poorer ones, to produce COVID-19 doses.

While some nongovernmental organizations have called the waivers vital and the U.S. has embraced the idea, some experts doubt waivers for the highly complex shots would boost production. But many agree that richer countries have fallen short in their promises to share vaccines broadly, even as they approve booster shots for their own citizens.

The upcoming meeting in Scotland comes after an international panel of climate scientists issued a stark warning to world leaders in August, saying time was running out to meet the goal of limiting global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) and avert catastrophic climate change. COP26 is seen as a critical moment in the drive to persuade governments, industry and investors around the world to make ambitious commitments on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Waiting another year may delay action beyond the point of no return, said Bob Ward, policy director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. Being in the same room matters to getting a deal.

Despite the risks of being together in Glasgow, its justified given how dangerous the situation were in on climate change, he said. If we get it wrong on climate change, its not just the negotiators who will be in trouble, it will be all of us. The whole world  our children, our grandchildren, future generations. Its that dire.

Gurch Randhawa, a professor of diversity and public health at the University of Bedfordshire, said the conference  like any other meeting  can be held safely as long as COVID-19 security measures such as social distancing, proper ventilation and masks are employed. But those rules must apply to everyone, unlike in Britains House of Commons where staff members and journalists are required to wear masks, but lawmakers arent, he said.

The conference may actually provide an opportunity for world leaders to demonstrate the need to control the virus through continued safety measures, Randhawa said.

Its a great idea if public protection measures are in place and we use it as an opportunity to show global leadership to the audience that are watching, he said. If were not going to have public protection measures in place, its a very bad idea because it will not only be a COVID risk to the people who were attending, but it also means that the whole global audience watching will potentially lose confidence in public protection measures that are in place around most of the world.

Meanwhile, Seru is still hoping his long-promised visa will arrive soon. He has already missed one very expensive flight, but he will get another. He might be late, but he's determined to get there.

For the Pacific, this is a matter of life and death,'' he said. Thats why we are fighting so hard.''

___

Read more of APs climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/Climate
Curated breaks down seven types of skiing along with the type of equipment you'll need, notable figures, and the history of that type of skiing. Click for more.
Pikeville, KY (41501)

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"As a Floridian that just so happened to interview here in the month of February, I was enchanted by the snow. So, my host took my wife and I on a brief nighttime walk through the Quad during a light snow. The scene was quite remarkable for this Florida boy."
Champaign, IL (61820)

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You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:4
In an important step that could help answer research questions about breast cancer and develop more personalized solutions for patients, philanthropists Richard and Carol Dean Hertzberg have committed $2.1 million to develop and maintain the Dean-Hertzberg Breast Cancer Database System (BCDS) at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health. The gift will support the work of Anne Wallace, MD, director of the Comprehensive Breast Health Center at UC San Diego Health and her collaborators at Moores Cancer Center.

The interactive database will further UC San Diego Health's efforts to advance the understanding of breast disease and develop new treatments. The BCDS will combine biological, biographical and demographic data in novel ways that will allow researchers to study breast cancers with similar clinical features, as well as rare subtypes.

I am excited about the BCDS's potential to bring research collaborators together with practicing providers to use advanced technologies, data and knowledge to find better ways to improve each patient's experience, based on their specific breast cancer. I am grateful to Carol and Dick for helping us launch this project." Anne Wallace, MD, Director, Comprehensive Breast Health Center at UC San Diego Health

The Hertzbergs' generosity has enabled Wallace and colleagues to begin collaborating with the laboratory of Thomas J. Kipps, MD, PhD, deputy director of research operations for UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. Wallace and Kipps will use the system as flagship for data analysis and accessibility.

Previously, the Hertzbergs contributed two gifts of $100,000 and $200,000 to help create the BCDS. Their latest gift ($1.8 million) brings the BCDS initiative fully to life, and includes the addition of a clinic data manager to support work.

"When we asked Dr. Wallace how we could help, she had a wish list of projects that could not be funded by traditional grant sources," said Carol Hertzberg. "She described this project to us and we knew it was something we wanted to support. We are excited to see the impact that this collaboration will make for research and care."

Philanthropic gifts, like the $2.1 million gift from Richard and Carol Dean Hertzberg, contribute to the Campaign for UC San Diego  a university-wide comprehensive fundraising effort concluding in 2022. Alongside UC San Diego's philanthropic partners, the university is continuing its nontraditional path toward revolutionary ideas, unexpected answers, lifesaving discoveries and planet-changing impact. To learn more about supporting the excellent research, education and care taking place at UC San Diego Health Sciences, visit campaign.ucsd.edu.
Johns Hopkins Children's Center brought Halloween to pediatric patients today with its annual celebration. During this year's festivities, about 50 staff members from both adult and pediatric units around the Children's Center and The Johns Hopkins Hospital dressed in costumes and visited pediatric inpatient units to share special treats with patients. Dozens of other staff members volunteered their time to pack goodie bags or donned costumes on the inpatient units to help the children celebrate.

No child wants to be in the hospital during a holiday. We try to bring Halloween to our patients to help them feel the joy of the holiday since they aren't able to go outside and trick or treat." Peyton Pike, senior child life specialist and special programs coordinator at the Children's Center and the event's organizer

The Child Life Department at the Children's Center also held additional Halloween-themed activities for inpatients this week, including a pumpkin decorating contest and door sign decorating.

Families outside the hospital should also remember to stay safe while celebrating Halloween this year. Children's Center experts recommend families consider getting their child vaccinated against COVID-19 when they are able. Children should wear face masks if physical distancing can't be maintained, and wash their hands or use hand sanitizer.

Pictures and video are available from the Children's Center Halloween celebration, and Pike is available for media interviews. Pediatric infectious diseases experts are available to discuss with media how families everywhere can safely celebrate Halloween.
An increasing number of studies suggest a link between a neighborhood's built environment and the likelihood that its residents will develop chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and certain types of cancers. A new nationwide study led by researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine published online October 29 in JAMA Network Open suggests that living in neighborhoods with higher availability of fast-food outlets across all regions of the United States is associated with higher subsequent risk of developing T2D.

The findings also indicated that the availability of more supermarkets could be protective against developing T2D, particularly in suburban and rural neighborhoods.

The studynotable for its large geographic breadthuses data from a cohort of more than 4 million veterans living in 98 percent of U.S. census tracts across the country. It counted fast-food restaurants and supermarkets relative to other food outlets, and is the first, according to the researchers, to examine this relationship in four distinct types of neighborhoods (high-density urban, low-density urban, suburban, and rural) at the hyperlocal level nationwide.

Most studies that examine the built food environment and its relationship to chronic diseases have been much smaller or conducted in localized areas. Our study design is national in scope and allowed us to identify the types of communities that people are living in, characterize their food environment, and observe what happens to them over time. The size of our cohort allows for geographic generalizability in a way that other studies do not." Rania Kanchi, MPH, Researcher, Department of Population Health, NYU Langone and Study's Lead Author

How the study was conducted

The research team used data from the U.S. Veterans Health Administration (the largest single-payer healthcare system in the country) that captures more than 9 million veterans seen at more than 1,200 health facilities around the country. Using this data, the researchers then constructed a national cohort of more than 4 million veterans without diabetes from the VA electronic health records (EHR) between 2008 and 2016. Each veteran's health status was followed through 2018 or until the individual either developed diabetes, died, or had no appointments for more than two years.

Within each of four distinct neighborhood types, the proportion of restaurants that were fast food and the proportion of food outlets that were supermarkets were tabulated within a one-mile walk in high-density urban neighborhoods, a two-mile drive in low-density urban neighborhoods, a six-mile drive in suburban communities, and a 10-mile drive in rural communities.

Veterans were followed for a median of five and a half years. During that time, 13.2 percent of the cohort were newly diagnosed with T2D. Males developed T2D more frequently than females (13.6 versus 8.2 percent). Non-Hispanic Black adults had the highest incidence (16.9 percent), compared to non-Hispanic Whites (12.9 percent), non-White Asian and Hispanics (12.8 percent), Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (15 percent), and Native American and Alaskan Indians (14.2 percent).

When stratifying by community types, 14.3 percent of veterans living in high-density urban communities developed T2D, while the lowest incidence was among those living in suburban and small town communities (12.6 percent).

Overall, the team concluded that the effect of the food environment on T2D incidence varied by how urban the community was, but did not vary further by region of the country.

"The more we learn about the relationship between the food environment and chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, the more policymakers can act by improving the mix of healthy food options sold in restaurants and food outlets, or by creating better zoning laws that promote optimal food options for residents," says Lorna E. Thorpe, PhD, MPH, a professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone and senior author of the study.

One limitation of the study, according to the authors, is that the study may not be fully generalizable to non-veteran populations, as U.S. veterans tend to be predominantly male and have substantially greater health burdens and financial instability than the civilian population. They are also at greater risk of disability, obesity, and other chronic conditions.

The next phase of the research, say Dr. Thorpe and Kanchi, will be to better understand the impacts of the built environment on diabetes risk by subgroups. They plan to examine whether or not the relationships between fast-food restaurants, supermarkets, and community types vary by gender, race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
Improved air quality in cities resulting from cutting carbon emissions could lead to large reductions in childhood asthma cases, premature births and incidences of babies born at an unhealthily low weight, according to a study carried out by researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

The research is part of Children, Cities and Climate, the first global initiative to combine an analysis of the child health co-benefits of radical decolonization, an under-explored but growing area of research, with a survey asking young people what they think about the cities they live in and the air they breathe.

The modeling study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, estimates that if the 16 cities included in the analysis reduced air pollution to net-zero levels, more than 20,000 cases of childhood asthma, over 43,000 premature births, and over 22,000 low birthweight births could be averted annually across the 16 cities. This represents almost a quarter of the current number of asthma cases in these cities and a reduction of about 10% for adverse birth outcomes.

At a city level, the results showed:

Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Manila would see the greatest reduction in childhood asthma annually, with 7,200, 5,700 and 4,000 cases averted respectively.

1,700 fewer cases of asthma would occur in London, the third highest number after Los Angeles and Mexico City, when considered in terms of cases averted per 100,000 of the population.

Dhaka, Manila and Lahore would see the greatest reduction in premature births annually, with 23,800, 7,000 and 4,600 cases prevented respectively. The same cities would see the largest benefits with regard to low birthweight births, with 13,500, 2,500 and 3,100 cases averted.

Dhaka, Bhubaneswar and Jaipur would see the greatest reductions in adverse birth outcomes, when considered in relation to the number of births each year (cases averted per 100,000 births).

While it could be expected that benefits would generally be larger in more polluted cities, the authors noted that more data are needed to estimate the true scale of the burden in these cities, where underlying published health information is less available or up to date.

This research comes at a critical time ahead of COP26 and shows the opportunity we have of improving the health of young people while also contributing to the fight against climate change. The findings serve as compelling evidence of the benefits to the health of our children of actions to reduce carbon emissions." Professor Alan Dangour, Director, LSHTM's Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health

Dr. James Milner, Co-Investigator of Children, Cities and Climate said, "The health benefits to adults of reducing carbon emissions have been widely researched but there is less evidence available on the co-benefits to children and young people. This analysis addresses a critical knowledge gap in scientific research and serves as a basis for further investigation into the intersection of climate change, urban air pollution and child health."

The team modeled the health benefits across 16 global cities by estimating the burden of various health outcomes caused by air pollution at current levels, and for levels corresponding to a global net-zero scenario. The researchers estimated contributions from various sectors, including domestic energy use, energy generation, industry and transport, to concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and then removed these to represent air pollution levels at net-zero in each city.

Through a literature review, the researchers also identified several other child health outcomes that could measurably improve with cleaner air, including: lung growth, risk of respiratory infections such as pneumonia, and cognitive development.

In parallel with the modeling study, the researchers surveyed 3,222 young people (aged 13-25), parents of younger children and expectant parents from 59 cities around the world and found that:

Four in ten young people surveyed see air pollution as one of the three worst things about their city, second only to traffic and congestion. Young people blamed motor transport, factories, rubbish burning and construction for the air pollution in their city.

Four in ten said that their city was becoming a nicer place to live, while a third said it was getting worse.

To help ensure wide-ranging views were captured, the survey was made available in ten languages and promoted through social media posts that were targeted to the same 16 cities as those included in the co-benefits analysis.

Dr. Robert Hughes, Clinical Research Fellow at LSHTM and Co-Investigator of Children, Cities and Climate said: "Alongside trying to understand the science that connects the health of urban young people and the air they breathe, we also wanted to listen to young people as part of this work. First, we modeled a radical, ambitious decolonization - something that young people have been advocating for some time now. We then systematically collected the opinions and ideas of young people from around the world.

"It's striking, although perhaps not surprising, how much young people are raising air pollution as a problem. They have also shared a wealth of creative and ambitious ideas for how we can work together to improve our urban environments. Our survey of young people should breathe new life into action on air pollution."

Participants had recommendations to improve city design, urban mobility, health, education and job opportunities. They also highlighted equitable access to basic services as a prerequisite for achieving wider goals, and that inequality, corruption, and lack of climate consciousness are structural barriers that need to be addressed.

In response to the research findings, Jon Bonifacio, Education Coordinator for Youth Advocates for Climate Action (Fridays For Future Philippines), said: "Localised research like this can empower and mobilize young people on climate issues, and validate our everyday experiences."

Ishita Yadav, Co-Facilitator of the YOUNGO Cities Working Group said, "Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health and young people are among the most adversely impacted. The mobilization of young people in addressing air quality issues presents a unique opportunity to improve the situation."

The Children, Cities and Climate initiative includes a wide range of activities to engage young people with the research, including a media partnership with Shujaaz Inc. in East Africa, a young scientists program in London and an art, design and music competition in Zimbabwe.

Tino Mavimba, Coordinator of the Art of Health Breathe In competition said, "Young people in Zimbabwe see air pollution as a significant issue but they are contributing to positive change and inspiring others through the creative arts."

The findings are being presented on Friday 29th October at COY16, the youth summit in Glasgow, where young people from around the world will be gathering in preparation for COP26.
New UCLA research identifies several factors influencing how people of color in Los Angeles County are making decisions about COVID-19 vaccination. The study, published in the peer-reviewed JAMA Network Open, reveals that misinformation and politicization, awareness of past injustices involving medical research, and fears about the inequitable distribution of vaccines all contributed to people's hesitancy to be vaccinated.

Racial and ethnic minority communities in Los Angeles County have had an exceptionally high risk for COVID-19 infection, severe illness and death. To prevent further disparities, the study's authors suggest, there should be a multifaceted outreach campaign to people in vulnerable groups in order to improve confidence in the vaccines, and access to the vaccines should be expanded.

This work expands on our understanding of factors that contribute to COVID-19 vaccine decision-making for marginalized communities. This work has implications for the public health system, health care providers and under-resourced communities that face the greatest burden from COVID-19." Dr. Arleen Brown, senior author of the study and professor of medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA

Brown also is director of Share, Trust, Organize, Partner: The COVID-19 California Alliance, or STOP COVID-19 CA, a project funded by the National Institutes of Health Community Engagement Alliance.

The researchers conducted 13 virtual focus groups between November 2020 and January 2021. They interviewed 70 participants, half of whom lived in high-poverty ZIP codes. Participants were Native American, Black/African American, Filipino, Latino and Pacific Islander.

One of the many concerns raised by the participants was the knowledge of unethical medical research conducted in the U.S. and the trauma it has caused, not only for the people in the experiments but also for their larger communities.

"I don't want to call it a 'dog whistle,'" one focus group participant said. "But just to hear that somehow what's being discussed as, you know, the priorities of the African American communities -; as if the African American communities aren't aware of the past experiments, whether it's social science, medical -; that we have been a part of unknowing what the truth was behind it and the long-lasting effects that it's had on our families."

Other issues raised by participants in the study include:

Unclear and unreliable information. Participants said they wanted to get recommendations about vaccines from medical providers and other trusted messengers. For example, one Latino participant said, "The Hispanic community needs information  not from social media but truthful information from newspapers or information channels that provide authentic or more reliable information."

Misconceptions and misinformation about vaccine development and safety, especially for certain populations. One Filipino participant said, "Most of these trials have been done on predominantly -; at least from my belief, from what I'm seeing and hearing -; white, Caucasian people. And although I look that way, how do I know that that's not going to affect me or affect my people in a different way and my family?"

Structural barriers to accessing vaccines. Participants cited lack of internet access, logistical and cost concerns related to transportation and childcare, and an inability to take time off from work, for example. As one Latino participant put it, "If they do qualify for the vaccine, they'd have to take a day off of work to go. And not everybody has the privilege of sick hours or anything like that."

Uncertainty over vaccine costs or eligibility. Some indicated that they were worried about not having health insurance or that they would be ineligible for vaccines because of their citizenship status.

Fears about pharmaceutical companies' interests and motives.

A desire for autonomy over health care decisions.

The researchers provide several recommendations that could help overcome those barriers, including engaging community partners to help deliver trustworthy messaging and information about vaccines; ensuring that information is timely and accessible; using culturally congruent messaging; and improving the collection, transparency and translation of vaccine data for people of color.

The authors note some limitations to the research. For instance, they did not compare differences among the racial and ethnic groups among study participants or assess differences based on people's ages. In addition, they write that the findings may not apply to other high-risk groups or geographic areas and that the study was conducted before vaccines were widely available.
COVID-19 booster vaccines can now be given sooner than six months after their second dose to certain vulnerable people where this makes operational sense, as the UKHSA's Green Book has been updated.

It will for example allow care home residents who may have received their second doses at different times to be vaccinated in the same session, as long as it's been five months since their second dose. It may also help with other vulnerable groups, such as housebound patients, so that they can have their flu and COVID-19 vaccines at the same time.

The flexibility in clinical guidance will speed up the administration of life-saving booster jabs, making it more efficient to reach the country's most vulnerable, helping to ensure they're protected over the coming winter months.

Also under this guidance, people who are eligible for a booster and are about to receive immunosuppressive treatment which would hinder their immune system will be able to get their booster from a minimum of four months after their second dose. This will ensure they can time their booster for when their immune system is best able to respond.

This is the practical approach to vaccination that has made the program successful so far.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said:

We are making great progress with the booster rollout and I want to thank everyone working so hard to get jabs in arms. This updated guidance will ensure healthcare professionals have the necessary flexibility in the booster program, allowing more vulnerable people to be vaccinated where it makes operational sense to do so - including our loved ones in care homes."

The UKHSA's Green Book contains the latest information on vaccines and vaccination procedures in the UK for healthcare professionals.

Those the guidance applies to will not need to take additional steps.

People outside of these specific circumstances will continue to be invited for the COVID-19 booster jab when it's their turn, six months after their second dose - if they have not been contacted within a week of reaching six months since their second jab they can head online via NHS.UK to book their jab. People who cannot go online can call 119 too.

The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that those most at risk to the virus receive their booster six months after their second dose, based on the available evidence. The government accepted this advice earlier this year. This advice has not changed and the JCVI keeps its advice under continuous review, using the latest data available.

Vaccines give high levels of protection but immunity reduces over time, particularly for older adults and at-risk groups, so it is vital that vulnerable people come forward to get their COVID-19 booster vaccine to top-up their defenses and protect themselves this winter.

The latest evidence from SAGE shows that protection against symptomatic disease falls from 65%, up to 3 months after the second dose, to 45% six months after the second dose for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, and from 90% to 65% for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Protection against hospitalization falls from 95% to 75% for Oxford/AstraZeneca and 99% to 90% for Pfizer/BioNTech.

Although the vaccine efficacy against severe disease remains high, it should be noted that a small change can generate a major shift in hospital admissions (e.g. a change from 95% to 90% against hospitalization would lead to doubling of admissions in those vaccinated).

The booster program is designed to top up this waning immunity. Early results from Pfizer show that a booster following a primary schedule of the same vaccine restores protection back up to 95.6% against symptomatic infection.

The news comes as the UK hits over seven million booster jabs, after a record breaking week of more than two million being administered in the last seven days alone.

A total of 7,293,638 people have received their booster jab in the UK. 45,651,222 people have received two doses (79.4%) and 49,882,904 people have received one dose (86.7%).

Vaccines Minister Maggie Throup said:

COVID-19 booster vaccinations are extremely important in keeping people and their loved ones safe this winter, and this updated guidance will ensure the program can adapt to best protect certain groups. I encourage everyone eligible for their jab to book theirs as soon as possible and secure this protection."

Vaccine confidence is high with data from the Office for National Statistics showing nearly all (94%) of those aged 50 to 69 say they would be likely to get their COVID-19 booster if offered, with the figure rising to 98% for those over 70.

Flu is another winter virus. To give people the best protection over winter, those eligible for a free flu vaccine should come forward and book an appointment at either their GP practice or their local pharmacy, or take it up when offered by their employer or other healthcare provider.

There are more than 500 extra vaccination sites now compared to April this year, with 1,697 vaccination centers in operation in April 2021, and over 2,200 vaccination centers in operation now.

Vaccines are also available for those aged 12-15 to offer the best possible protection this winter in schools, as well as over 100 vaccine centers.
The Institute of Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention (ISIaIP) at Huddersfield has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Regional Hospital Wiener Neustadt that will create a satellite office of the ISIaIP south of the Austrian capital Vienna. The alignment will enable joint research projects, international teaching and more publications.

The two institutions have collaborated for several years, with Professor Ojan Assadian having served as a Professor with the ISIaIP for more than four years before returning to Vienna, where he is Medical Director of the Regional Hospital Wiener Neustadt as well as President of the Austrian Society for Infection Control. He became an Emeritus Professor at Huddersfield in 2018 , and is a member of advisory panel for the ISIaIP.

After working closely with Professor Assadian for five years, we are absolutely delighted to formally collaborate together. This partnership will improve outcomes for patients in wound management, and will highlight the importance of wound infection prevention management. We believe working closely together will enhance our research development in these areas while supporting clinical staff to understand and undertake research." Professor Karen Ousey, Director of ISIaIP

Professor Assadian added that, "I am extraordinarily happy about this. I have never lost my link to Huddersfield since I was given the honor of becoming Emeritus Professor, and even though I work in Austria I feel that I am always part of the University.

"I am very pleased that we have signed this understanding and that we are establishing a physical office of the Institute here in this hospital. Over the years I have also remained in close contact even though I returned back to Austria, and with the digital communications we have kept this collaboration in research and academia as very active.

"We had a very well received wound course in Austria a couple of years ago so I have tried to foster this collaboration again, but bring it from a virtual collaboration to a more present physical one. After opening the office here, I want to have an exchange of both medical and nursing students.

"Nursing sciences and research are so far more advanced in the UK than elsewhere, so I want to use this expertise to bring people together to enable sharing and learning from each other both virtually and in person. The correct blend is necessary and fruitful for all science."

The ISIaIP at the forefront of research and teaching in the management of acute and chronic non-healing wounds. The management of acute and chronic non-healing wounds, including assessment and treatment, typically represents between three to five per cent of global health care expenditure.

The overall vision of ISIaIP is to provide translational research which fundamentally improves the quality of life for patients through a "bench to bedside" approach, entrenched in scientifically rigorous methods with a clinical focus.

The Institute consists of a multidisciplinary research team that involves the Schools of Arts and Humanities, Computing and Engineering, Human and Health Sciences and Applied Science. It also enjoys successful collaborations with universities in Israel and Australia, and works closely with the NHS Trusts within the West Yorkshire region including Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust and The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Salford Royal Foundation Trust and Northumbria healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced $26 Million in funding to develop next-generation infectious disease forecasting and analytics.

The agency will provide $21 million to support research and development of advanced infectious disease models and analytical tools. The awards will support three years of work at five leading academic institutions: University at Albany, State University of New York; Johns Hopkins University; Stanford University; the University of Utah and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The CDC also announced $5 million to support collaborations with the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy to further advance federal infectious disease modeling capabilities. These funds will support rapid-response research projects and provide access to high performance computing resources.

These investments are part of a broader effort to improve the nation's ability to use data, modeling, and analytics to improve pandemic preparedness and response. Funding for these projects comes from the American Rescue Plan of 2021.

The funded work will:

Develop new methods and resources for analyzing infectious disease data to support public health decision-making.

Create tools and programs to train the next generation of infectious disease modelers.

Understand and develop evidence-based strategies to combat health inequities in outbreaks.

These awards are the first investments by CDC's Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA).

These investments will improve the nation's ability to forecast infectious-disease outbreaks and to better inform local leaders on how to respond. We are excited to work with the renowned experts on these needed projects." Dylan George, CFA's Director for Operations

Other activities by CFA will include providing modeling and analytical capabilities to federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local partners. The new Center will also provide timely and accessible information to the public. CFA is expected to formally launch in early 2022.
A needle-free COVID-19 vaccination could be possible, with University of Queensland scientists successfully protecting mice from the virus by administering a US-developed vaccine candidate with a 'patch'.

The University of Texas Hexapro vaccine candidate  delivered via the UQ-developed and Vaxxas-commercialised high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP)  provided protection against COVID-19 disease with a single, pain-free 'click' from a pocket-sized applicator.

Dr David Muller, from UQ's School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, said the vaccine patch produced strong immune responses that were shown to be effective when the mice were exposed to SARS-CoV-2  the virus that causes COVID-19.

"When the Hexapro vaccine is delivered via HD-MAP applicator  rather than a needle  it produces better and faster immune responses," Dr Muller said.

"It also neutralizes multiple variants, including the UK and South Africa variants.

"And it's much more user-friendly than a needle  you simply 'click' an applicator on the skin, and 5000 microscopic projections almost-imperceptibly deliver vaccine into the skin."

Dr Muller said the UQ team, together with Vaxxas, hoped to take the technology to the world and are looking for funding opportunities to accelerate to clinical trials as soon as possible."

"Hexapro, delivered by the high-density microarray patch, could dramatically assist global vaccine rollout effort, particularly for billions of vulnerable people in low- and middle-income countries.

"We've shown this vaccine, when dry-coated on a patch, is stable for at least 30 days at 25 degrees Celsius and one week at 40 degrees, so it doesn't have the cold chain requirements of some of the current options."

President and CEO of Vaxxas, David L. Hoey, said he was extremely excited about the findings.

"These results are extremely clear  vaccination by HD-MAP produces much stronger and more protective immune responses against COVID-19 in model systems than via needle or syringe," he said.

"We thank and recognize our incredible research collaborators at UQ for these important findings.

"The prospect of having a single-dose vaccine, that could be easily distributed and self-administered, would greatly improve global pandemic vaccination capabilities."
For low- and middle-income countries, a COVID-19 vaccination program built on prompt procurement, effective on-the-ground distribution, and a rapid pace of vaccination (the total number of doses given daily) is likely to have a greater public health impact than one focused on relatively small differences in vaccine efficacy, according to a study led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Scientists evaluating clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccination program in South Africa found that an emphasis on these implementation factors in countries with limited resources is likely to dramatically reduce infections, save lives, and curtail overall health care costs through fewer hospitalizations. The study appears in Nature Communications.

What's critically important is getting shots into the arms of individuals as quickly as possible. Our study shows that increasing the pace of vaccination as well as vaccine acceptance among populations is likely to be more important than focusing on relatively small differences in vaccine efficacy in terms of getting ahead of the spread of the virus and protecting more people." Krishna Reddy, MD, MS, lead author, pulmonary and critical care physician, MGH

Most low- and middle-income countries do not have access to sufficient supplies of COVID-19 vaccines due to cost, limitations on available doses, and logistical challenges of vaccine production, distribution and storage. Using a validated computer simulation model of COVID-19, the MGH team found that meeting the South African government's goal of vaccinating 67 percent of its population within a year would make an enormous impact on infections and deaths while actually reducing health care costs compared with low levels of population coverage. Increasing vaccinations to 80 percent of the population would save even more lives while only modestly increasing costs.

"Achieving the Department of Health's goal of vaccinating the majority of its population in South Africa, and in similar low- and middle-income countries, will require global policymakers to better fund and facilitate vaccine distribution," says senior author Mark Siedner, MD, MPH, an infectious diseases clinician and researcher at MGH. "These leaders must also work diligently to remove restrictive patent barriers, liberalize distribution, and achieve affordable pricing for resource-constrained countries by negotiating with vaccine suppliers, similar to what's been done for HIV drugs over the last two decades." At the local level, he adds, an urgent need exists for investment in well-run vaccine distribution and administration systems and community outreach to get shots into arms as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The researchers also pointed out that practices like mask-wearing and physical distancing remain crucial to reducing the spread of the global pandemic while vaccination programs are being rolled out. Underscoring the need for a multi-pronged effort is the fact that currently only 20 percent of South Africans are fully vaccinated.

"Our hope is that findings from our study will motivate international political leaders to recognize the importance of getting vaccines quickly distributed to countries that don't have the resources of the United States and other high-income countries," emphasizes Reddy. "It's a sound investment for every country since the fastest and most equitable way to get out of this global pandemic emergency is to ensure that people everywhere have ready access to affordable vaccines."
HSE social and political analysts have established which value models and circumstances promote support for restrictive government policies aimed at combatting the coronavirus pandemic. The research is published in Plos One.

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the international 'Stay home. Save lives' media campaign early in the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing that people themselves can pose a risk to others, including strangers. The WHO called for people to protect others from getting sick, encouraging the mindset that we are all responsible for other peoples' lives. The effectiveness of this strategy is one of the main topics examined in the HSE research.

A team of HSE researchers (Kirill Chmel, Aigul Klimova, and Nikita Savin) investigated which of two strategies in the Russian public's behavior-;protect yourself or take care of others-;is more effective for the government in combating the pandemic. The researchers conducted two online experiments involving 2,200 respondents. The 22 factorial design covered two main factors: COVID-19 risks (relatively high vs relatively low) and the object at risk (individual losses vs losses to others). The researchers provided the respondents with different descriptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, then analyzed the changes in the respondents' willingness to forfeit their rights and support restrictive measures (including the introduction of criminal liability for violation of these measures).

The experiments helped the researchers to determine the significance of people's personal values. People who share prosocial values and recognize the importance of safeguarding other peoples' welfare rather than just their own appear to be more receptive to information highlighting the risks posed to others. 'Therefore, calls to wear masks and observe social distancing for the sake of others' safety only strike a chord with people who have prosocial values. Conversely, those who do not share such values focus on the personal threats and risks posed by COVID-19,' explained Kirill Chmel, co-author of the article and Junior Research Fellow of the Ronald F. Inglehart Laboratory for Comparative Social Research.

Moreover, the research revealed that framing COVID-19 as a high risk significantly increased support for anti-COVID measures, which, in the researchers' opinion, could promote support for anti-democratic policies across the globe.

Daily reports on the number of deaths and new infections result in a considerable overestimation of the mortality risk posed by the novel coronavirus.

'Such distorted estimates make people more willing to forfeit their rights and freedoms in the name of safety. This creates the threat of widespread support for autocratic policies that political forces in many countries could take advantage of. Moreover, disproportionately high estimations of the COVID-19 mortality risk undermine citizens' trust in their government's ability to fight the pandemic,' explains Nikita Savin, co-author of the article and Associate Professor of the School of Integrated Communications.

The authors of the article call for researchers and authorities to pay attention to risk communication and its influence on citizens' behavior during the pandemic.
According to ARRS' American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), radiologists need to be cognizant of the association between coronavirus disease (COVID-19) mRNA vaccination and myocarditis, as well as the role of cardiac MRI for assessing suspected myocarditis postvaccination.

"In this small case series, all patients with myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination were adolescent males and had a favorable initial clinical course," explained first author Lydia Chelala from University of Chicago Medicine. Noting that every patient's cardiac MRI examination showed findings typical of myocarditis from other causes, "late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) persisted in two patients undergoing repeat MRI."

Chelala and team's retrospective study included patients who underwent cardiac MRI between May 14, 2021 and June 14, 2021 for suspected myocarditis within 2 weeks of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination-;without known prior COVID-19. With clinical presentation, hospital course, and postdischarge events recorded, the cardiac MRI examinations were reviewed in consensus by a cardiothoracic radiologist and cardiothoracic imaging fellow.

Of the 52 patients who underwent cardiac MRI during the study period, Chelala and colleagues identified 5 male patients (age range, 1619 years; mean age, 17.2 years) who presented within 4 days of the second dose of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. After mean hospitalization length of 4.8 days, all 5 patients were discharged in stable condition with improved or resolved symptoms. However, two patients underwent repeat cardiac MRI that showed persistent, albeit decreased, LGE.

Acknowledging that their article is the first report to describe additional results of short-term follow-up in this patient population, the authors of this AJR article also conceded, "the observations do not establish causality."
The anti-coagulant heparin reduces the likelihood of death from COVID-19 by 78% when administered in therapeutic doses to patients with signs of respiratory failure on admission to hospital, according to a study reported on October 14 in the British Medical Journal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently recommends only prophylactic use of heparin for such patients. The prophylactic dose of the drug, prescribed mainly to prevent blood clots, is only a quarter of the therapeutic dose. Prophylactic administration did not prove beneficial in the randomized clinical trial described in the article. The study involved 465 patients treated at 28 hospitals in six countries, including Brazil.

"We believe these results should change clinical practice," Elnara Negri, a co-author of the article, told Agencia FAPESP. Negri is a professor and physician at Sao Paulo's Syrian-Lebanese Hospital and Hospital das Clinicas (HC), the hospital complex run by the University of Sao Paulo's Medical school (FM-USP).

The treatment is not recommended for everyone diagnosed with COVID-19. "It's only indicated for patients admitted to hospital and only under medical supervision," Negri stressed. "Anyone who takes an anti-coagulant without needing to or without proper supervision may bleed to death."

The clinical trial involved male and female patients with an average age of 60 and admitted to hospital with oxygen saturation of 93% or less. It was designed to observe the effect of heparin on outcomes of infection by SARS-CoV-2. In addition to reducing mortality, the aim was to find out whether the treatment reduced the need for non-invasive ventilation (with a high-flow catheter or oxygen mask), intubation, and admission to an intensive care unit (ICU).

The volunteers were divided into two groups. One group was given the therapeutic dose. The other served as the control group and received only the prophylactic dose. The effect on outcomes was evaluated 28 days after the drug was administered.

"We found no significant difference in terms of a need for ICU admission, non-invasive ventilation or intubation, but the mortality rate was significantly lower for the group given a therapeutic dose, and substantial bleeding, the main adverse effect observed in the study, was very low. In other words, the therapy is safe," Negri said.

The results also showed that in order for heparin to be beneficial, it must be administered between seven and 14 days after the onset of symptoms. Previous research had already shown that treatment with the anti-coagulant did not produce significant benefits when administered after ICU admission.

Benefits were observed during this stage of the disease only when heparin was injected. Orally administered heparin had no effect. "This may be because the drug also has anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects that have been confirmed in the context of COVID-19. The good news is that the drug is cheap and available via the SUS [Brazil's national health service]," Negri said.

First evidence

Working in partnership with colleagues at FM-USP's Department of Pathology, Marisa Dolhnikoff and Paulo Saldiva, Negri was one of the first people in the world to raise the hypothesis that blood clotting disorders could be responsible for some of the most severe symptoms of COVID-19, such as respiratory failure and pulmonary fibrosis. The group published the first article in the scientific literature to describe "pathological evidence of pulmonary thrombotic phenomena in severe COVID-19" (more at: agencia.fapesp.br/33233).

"The virus enters the body via the respiratory system, and some organisms manage to contain it before it reaches the pulmonary alveoli. But when it invades the capillaries that irrigate the lungs, it starts to make holes in the endothelium [the layer of cells that line the interior of blood vessels], and this leads to blood clotting. Microthrombi are formed and prevent the passage of blood to the pulmonary structures in which gas exchange occurs," Negri explained.

Heparin helps avert this process via two mechanisms. It dissolves the microthrombi that prevent oxygen from flowing from the alveoli to the small blood vessels in the lungs, and it contributes to regeneration of the vascular endothelium.

Studies published last year show that roughly 15% of people infected by the novel coronavirus develop blood clotting disorders. "This is the population that can benefit from treatment with heparin, but timing is vitally important," Negri said.
Two new studies revealed that anti-PD-1 immunotherapy given before surgery was safe and effective for patients with oral-cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) and identified potential molecular biomarkers in the blood and tumors of patients that would show how likely it is that someone would respond to immunotherapy.

The studies, recently published in Cell Reports Medicine, were a collaborative effort between MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. Due to the highly invasive and resistant nature of OCSCC, researchers looked to anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors to improve outcomes as this type of immunotherapy has revolutionized the way patients with advanced malignancies are treated.

OCSCC, a subset of head and neck cancer, is prevalent in South Carolina due to the history of tobacco use. These cancers oftentimes require complicated surgeries that may be disfiguring, as treatment may involve removing all or a portion of the jawbone and tongue. David Neskey, M.D., a Hollings head and neck cancer specialist and co-senior author of the studies, said 50% of these patients will have a recurrence, and only 60% of patients are alive five years later.

"This cancer can impact a patient's ability to talk and breathe," Neskey said. "It can impact a patient's ability to go out to a restaurant or socialize with friends and family. It's one of the reasons so many head and neck cancer doctors are seeking ways to improve outcomes for these patients."

Leveraging the immune system

The researchers' studies were based on a phase two clinical trial of nivolumab, an anti-PD-1 antibody, that was given to 12 patients in South Carolina with stage 2 to stage 4A OCSCC, prior to surgery. Patients were evaluated by how their tumors responded to treatment. Patients who responded to treatment that caused their tumors to shrink were given the antibody four times every two weeks, before surgery. Those patients who didn't show a response went directly to surgery.

Of the patients who took part in the study, Neskey said four showed a positive response to treatment, four had stable disease and four had a disease that progressed. The results demonstrated feasibility and safety for the incorporation of nivolumab in a neoadjuvant setting for OCSCC patients. Neoadjuvant treatment, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and hormone therapy, is often used prior to the main treatment, like surgery, to increase the likelihood of success.

"What was really interesting was that for patients who were responding to treatment, we almost always saw the response within the first two antibody doses," Neskey said. "That told us that the additional two doses, which prolonged the patient from getting surgery, may not be necessary."

Researchers compared the effectiveness of programmed death 1 (PD-1) blockade immunotherapy given prior to surgery against traditional chemotherapy. PD-1 and PD-L1 are part of the immune checkpoint pathway that suppresses the response of T-cells in the immune system. Neskey said some cancer patients with OCSCC have tumors that express PD-L1, which communicates and binds with PD-1 proteins to prevent the immune system from attacking it. By blocking this interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1 by using immunotherapy, Neskey said the immune system would be able to recognize the tumor correctly as foreign and attack it.

John Kaczmar, M.D., a Hollings medical oncologist who oversaw the antibody treatments in the study, said he was pleased with the response some patients had. He believes that immunotherapy is the future for head and neck cancer treatment as well as other cancers. Unlike chemotherapy that attacks rapidly dividing cells, whether they are cancerous or not, immunotherapy can be targeted to kill the tumor itself without having dramatic impacts on healthy cells.

"This study isn't the be-all, end-all. Thirty three percent of patients responding well to treatment isn't good enough for us," Kaczmar said. "We need to keep finding ways to improve treatment so more patients can benefit and have better outcomes."

Kaczmar said the study does lay important groundwork for future studies to build off of to develop a treatment regimen that will work for more patients and improve overall survival rates. "One of the benefits of a study like this is that we have tissue samples from patients to do further research afterward to determine why some responded and others didn't."

Finding biomarkers

Following the completion of the clinical trial in April of 2020, researchers began a correlative study to explore the mechanism of response patterns, survival and post-operative recurrence by analyzing blood and tumor tissue that were collected from patients over the course of the clinical trial and during follow-up, if and when patients relapsed.

The researchers used omic, disciplines with the '-omics' suffix  like genomics  and multiplex molecular tools to analyze the tissues deeply to discover markers associated with favorable or unfavorable outcomes. By making large-scale measurements longitudinally, the team was able to track immune and tumor cell co-evolution.

Researchers detected biomarkers at three points in time: before neoadjuvant anti-PD-1 therapy; after neoadjuvant anti-PD-1 therapy; and after surgery, if and when patients relapsed. They uncovered potential biomarkers in the blood and in the tumors that indicate the types of T-cells present and genetic changes inside the tumors.

Inside the tumors, they identified mutations in specific genes, such as CDKN2A, FLT4 and YAP1, which can explain either initial tumor response patterns or post-surgical relapses. In the blood before treatment, researchers found a high ratio of two distinct T-cell types, regulatory T-cells and Th17 cells, associated with a lack of tumor response. The researchers also found that tumor shrinkage elicited by neoadjuvant anti-PD-1 therapy tracks with not only clonal proliferation of T-cells after treatment but proliferation of specifically those T-cells that were present before treatment.

Roger Lo, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher with the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and a senior co-author of the correlative study, said this type of immunotherapy allows doctors to target a patient's cancer more effectively.

"The studies open a new way to help improve precision management of patients with resectable oral-cavity squamous cell carcinoma, a subset of mostly HPV-negative head and neck cancers that tend to have a far worse prognosis compared to HPV-positive head and neck cancers," Lo said. "If we can intervene more effectively earlier in the natural history when the disease is still amenable to surgery, then we have a chance of improving survival or the prognosis of this disease."

Kaczmar said a larger study is needed to examine the impacts of tailored immunotherapy treatment for head and neck cancer patients. However, he is optimistic that this study will help to further Hollings' mission to reduce the burden of cancer in South Carolina.

"We have a lot of patients who are smokers, so we see this type of cancer here at Hollings. If we can help our patients, then we prove we can help the state as a whole, and that is really the mission at MUSC  to improve the health of people in South Carolina."

About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the oldest medical school in the South as well as the state's only integrated academic health sciences center with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and nearly 800 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The state's leader in obtaining biomedical research funds, in fiscal year 2019, MUSC set a new high, bringing in more than $284 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care available while training generations of competent, compassionate health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Comprising some 1,600 beds, more than 100 outreach sites, the MUSC College of Medicine, the physicians' practice plan and nearly 275 telehealth locations, MUSC Health owns and operates eight hospitals situated in Charleston, Chester, Florence, Lancaster and Marion counties. In 2020, for the sixth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $3.2 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care.
Women serving in the UK military face a considerable risk of emotional bullying, sexual harassment and physical assault, which can have a serious and long-lasting impact on their mental health and wellbeing, finds research published online in the journal BMJ Military Health.

There are currently around 16,500 women serving in the UK military and they make up approximately 11% of personnel. Although women have been able to serve in the UK military for many years, it was not until 2018 that all roles were opened up to them, including deployment to front-line combat.

It is recognized that military women may face additional adversities during deployment on top of the risk of exposure to combat-related trauma, which may impact on their well-being, so the authors set out to investigate the prevalence of military adversity in terms of sexual harassment, sexual assault, emotional bullying and physical assault within a sample of UK women veterans.

They surveyed 750 women veterans who had been in touch with a UK charity which supports women veterans, and the responses showed that a high proportion of these women had experienced military adversity: 22.5% said they had experienced sexual harassment, 5.1% sexual assault, 22.7% emotional bullying and 3.3% physical assault.

These experiences were more likely to be reported by women who were younger, had held the rank of officer, or reported having had a combat or combat support role during their military service.

All types of adversity were significantly associated with probable post-traumatic stress disorder, and different types of adversity had specific impacts on women's mental health and wellbeing.

Sexual harassment was significantly associated with physical somatisation (where the mental distress causes physical symptoms such as pain or fatigue), sexual assault was significantly associated with alcohol difficulties, and emotional bullying was significantly associated with common mental health difficulties such as anxiety and depression, low social support and loneliness.

This was an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and the researchers also highlight several limitations.

The study was based around self-reported events so could underestimate or overestimate the real prevalence of what was experienced, and it was not able to assess the impact of cumulative episodes or continuous military adversity on mental health and well-being. The survey had a response rate of 44.6%, meaning the results may not be fully representative, and the majority of the women who participated were aged above 60, so the findings may not be generalizable to younger army personnel.

Nevertheless, the authors conclude that their study provides evidence of a high prevalence of military adversity among UK women veterans and highlights important relationships with sociodemographic factors and mental health difficulties that require further investigation.

There is an urgent need to provide more support to military women, they say. "Many women do not report adverse service experiences due to fear of the consequences of doing so and may continue to suffer from increased mental health distress during and after military service. It is essential to consider whether current reporting procedures may not provide sufficient confidentiality to encourage women to report adverse experiences and more appropriate disclosing procedures should be considered.

"Furthermore, it is essential to consider whether existing support is adequate to support the mental health needs of women who experienced military adversity."

As certain characteristics of the military, such as gender discrepancies, the nature of military training and the ranked order structure, may put female personnel at greater risk of victimization, it is worth considering whether organizational and leadership changes can be made to better protect military women, they add.
Jeffersonville, IN (47130)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 57F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers after midnight. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Tom May is a freelance writer who has held paid and volunteer ministry positions at several churches in the tri-state area. Reach him at tgmay001@gmail.com.
Wayne County elections precinct official Tracey Ohnmeiss, right, checks the ballot tabulator at the Wayne County Public Library one-stop voting site while Libby Parks disinfects one of the voting booths. As of Thursday evening, neither the tabulator or booths had seen much use as only 0.33% of the 32,051 people who are eligible to vote in Tuesdays nonpartisan municipal and sanitary district elections had done so. Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in 19 of the countys 28 precincts that have elections.
State Treasurer Dale Folwell holds a virtual news conference Wednesday to discuss a report that found many nonprofit hospitals are reaping profits while providing little charity care.
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(Newser)  The Unites States "was probably the most lax country to send a pet into," a director with the International Pet and Animal Transportation Association tells the New York Times. Emphasis on was. The Times reports that it just got significantly tougher to transport dogs into the US. As of Oct. 14, there are 113 countries (Brazil, China, South Africa, the UAE, and Russia among them) on a no-entry list: Dogs can't be imported from them, nor can Americans take a trip to one of those places with their dog and get that dog back home. At the heart of the change is rabies.

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Dog adoptions surged during the pandemic, and the CDC says it saw an accompanying surge in faked rabies vaccination certificates from international pet importers. "The importation of even one rabid dog is dangerous because rabies is nearly always fatal in people and animals once symptoms appear," says a CDC rep. The American Veterinary Association says CDC officials told it the US rid itself of the canine rabies variant since 2007, something that took 50 years to achieve, and that it's worried about that being undone. The CDC will, however, offer a limited number of permits to dogs coming from banned countries, but the list of requirements is an onerous one.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel earlier this month reported that a bipartisan group of 57 congressmen sent the CDC a letter asked that it reconsider the ban, which it says negatively impacts US families who adopted a dog while living overseas and now want to return to the US, as well as US military members who'd like to bring the dogs they adopted on deployment home. And a director with SPCA International suggests the ban could do more harm than good from a global perspective, as banned countries will find their ability to vaccinate and neuter dogs taxed as fewer of them leave for the US. (Read more rabies stories.)
(Newser)  John Eastman, a lawyer who was working with President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, took a moment to scold the vice president's team while the US Capitol was being attacked. Greg Jacob, Mike Pence's chief counsel, had already emailed Eastman that a siege was taking place, the Washington Post reports. "The 'siege' is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so that the American people can see for themselves what happened," Eastman wrote back, trying to get Pence to refuse to certify the election results in the name of voter fraud.

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At that time on Jan. 6, Pence, Jacob, and others were being guarded in a secure area of the building as rioters ran through the Capitol, some calling for Pence to be hanged. In an unpublished opinion piece Jacob wrote later that month, he said Eastman "displayed a shocking lack of awareness of how those practical implications were playing out in real time." Jacob said Pence's team had been on the receiving end of "a barrage of bankrupt legal theories." In addition to being a legal adviser to Trump, Eastman was a law professor at California's Chapman University. The school announced his retirement a week after the riot.

Days before the Capitol was overrun, Eastman said on Steve Bannon's radio show that Pence had the power to kick the election to the House. Eastman said the only question, per CNN, was whether Pence had the "courage and the spine." Eastman stated his case to Pence, who was not persuaded, and Trump two days later. On Jan. 6, Eastman spoke to the rally outside the White House before the mob marched on the Capitol. Eastman told the Post he did write the emails to Jacob. He said Trump had a right to use "every legal means" to challenge the election, which Eastman said was rife with fraud and irregularities. He told CNN that pushing the vote to the House was just "one of the scenarios" and that he didn't advise it. (Read more Mike Pence stories.)
(Newser)  Halloween weekend is a good time to be careful, anyway, a police chief in Northern Virginia said. But police are planning to be more cautious than usual, doing more patrolling around areas with a lot of people in response to a possible threat, the Washington Post reports. Police in several counties said they didnt have specific information. Kevin Davis, chief of Fairfax County police, said, When we receive information like we did over the past 24 hours, that we think we need to act on, we act on it. And thats all were doing in this case, out of an abundance of caution, also pointing out that the holiday, a couple days off of school, and Election Day also warrant more police presence.

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The unspecified threat comes from ISIS, CBS News reports. Authorities are still figuring out whether its a real threat, CNN reports. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security briefed Northern Virginia cops about a possible terror threat, per CNN. Homeland Security intelligence chief John Cohen said at a conference Thursday that the national and international landscape are both volatile. "We're dealing with an evolving foreign terrorist threat environment as conditions in Afghanistan, Yemen, and other countries that are known areas of terrorist activity are evolving. We're dealing with a sustained threat by domestic violent extremist and domestic terrorists," he said. (Read more terror threat stories.)
(Newser)  Prince Andrews lawyers are asking for a lawsuit against him in the US to be dismissed. Virginia Roberts Giuffre is suing the British royal in New York, CNN reports. The prince denies the allegationsand also says the lawsuit violates the terms of an existing settlement agreement that allowed for a general release of claims against Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre, 38, says she was trafficked when she was 17 by Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 at 66, and assaulted by Prince Andrew, 61. Her lawsuit also accuses Andrew of abusing her on Epsteins island in the US Virgin Islands, and accuses Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, of forcing her to have sex with Andrew at Maxwells London home, the New York Times reports.

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Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 and has been in custody awaiting trial ever since. The princes lawyers said in a filing that Giuffre has initiated this baseless lawsuit against Prince Andrew to achieve another payday at his expense and at the expense of those closest to him. He has also denied ever having sex with Giuffre. Giuffres lawyers say Andrew is not part of the release she signed in 2009. Maxwells trial is expected to begin in November. (Read more Prince Andrew stories.)
(Newser)  A pregnant woman put her 22-month-old daughter in her car, left to go to a concert, and never came home. Her car, with human remains inside, was found Tuesday23 years later. Samantha Hoppers plan was to drop off Courtney Holt, her toddler daughter, then go on to a concert in Little Rock. Instead, she disappeared; she was reported missing on Sept. 11, 1998. Her blue Ford Tempo was found this week in Russellville, Arkansas, by a nonprofit group in eight feet of water, NBC News reports. The remains will be sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for DNA testing, CNN reports.

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The group that found the car, Adventures With Purpose, travels the country trying to help solve cold cases. In a video, they describe using descriptions of Hoppers habits to narrow their focus. Then, they used sonar and divers to look in various areas of Lake Dardanelle. A diver found a car with no license plateHopper had just bought her car and didnt have plates yetput a magnet on it, and the group called 911. Rescue workers pulled the car out onto Pleasant View Road Bridge.

Hoppers surviving daughter, Dezarae Carpenter, posted a memorial page asking for donations to give her mother, who was 9 months pregnant, according to the Carpenter, and sister a proper burial. This has been such a relief to have found her, she wrote. The Pope County Sheriffs Office would like to send our sincere condolences to the family of Samantha Hopper and Courtney Holt, and we are thankful to have been a small part of helping bring this 23-year-old case to closure, a statement posted on the Pope County Sheriffs Office Facebook page said. (Read more strange stuff stories.)
(Newser)  Sudanese security forces shot dead two people Saturday during mass protests against the country's recent military coup, a doctors union said. The shootings came despite repeated appeals by the West to Sudan's new military rulers to show restraint and allow peaceful protests, per the AP. During the protests, thousands of Sudanese marched into the streets, chanting "Revolution, revolution!" to the sound of whistles and drums, to protest against the coup that's threatening to derail the country's fitful transition to democracy.

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The Sudan Doctors Committee, a professional union, said security forces shot dead two people in Omdurman. It said one was shot in his head, and the other in his stomach. Elsewhere, security forces fired tear gas at protesters Saturday as they attempted to cross the Manshia Bridge over the Nile River to reach Khartoum's downtown, said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association. "No power-sharing mediation with the military council again," he said. "They (the generals) have failed the transition and instated a coup."

Pro-democracy groups had called for protests across the country to press demands for re-instating a deposed transitional government and releasing senior political figures from detention. Since the military takeover, there have been daily street protests. At least nine people have been killed by security forces' gunfire, according to the doctors group and activists. At least 170 others have been injured, according to the UN. The US and the United Nations had warned Sudan's strongman, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, that they view the military's treatment of the protesters as a test, and called for restraint.

Gen. al-Burhan has claimed that the transition to democracy would continue despite the military takeover, saying he'd install a new technocrat government soon. The pro-democracy movement in Sudan, however, fears the military has no intention of easing its grip, and will appoint politicians it can control. Saturday's protests were likely to increase pressure on the generals who face mounting condemnations from the US and other Western countries to restore a civilian-led government. The demonstrations were called by the Sudanese Professionals Association and the so-called Resistance Committees. Both were at the forefront of an uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in 2019.

(Read more Sudan stories.)
(Newser)  While driving through Manchester, Vermont, on Saturday, Alec Baldwin decided to pull over and talk to the paparazzi about the fatal shooting on a film set in New Mexico. Halyna Hutchins, a cinematographer, was killed when Baldwin fired a prop gun. "She was my friend," the actor said Saturday. "The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting I took her to dinner with Joel, the director." Joel Souza was wounded in the same shooting. "We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together, and then this horrible event happened," Baldwin said, Us Weekly reports.

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Baldwin repeatedly said he's been ordered by authorities to not discuss the investigation. He said he "talks to the cops every day," per NBC, adding, "I'm cooperating with them." Baldwin said he's met with Hutchins' son and husband, Matt. "The guy is overwhelmed with grief," Baldwin said. The actor said he's kept in touch with Hutchins' husband: "We are very worried about his family and his kid." Baldwin has tweeted about the shooting before but not discussed it on camera until Saturday. His earlier statement has since been removed, per TMZ, which posted a video of Baldwin's comments.

Baldwin told the paparazzi that he stopped to talk to them in the hope that they'd stop pursuing his family's car, per CNN. He was accompanied by his wife, Hilaria, and he said his children were in the car, crying over being followed. His wife, who appeared to be recording the exchange with her cellphone, scolded a questioner who seemed to forget Hutchins' first name. "Her name is Halyna," Hilaria Baldwin said. "If you're spending this much time waiting for us you should know her name."

Production of the film, Rust, has been halted, and Baldwin said he doesn't expect work to resume. "There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time," the actor said, "but nothing like this. This is a one in a trillion episode." The actor said he's interested in reducing the use of guns on sets and will support new safety measures. Baldwin added that "we're eagerly awaiting for the sheriff's department telling us what their investigation has yielded." No charges have been filed in the case. (Read more Alec Baldwin stories.)
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TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia yesterday ordered Lebanese ambassadors to leave the Kingdoms within 48 hours in response to offensive comments made by a Lebanese minister about Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.

Saudi state news agency SPA reported that Riyadh also imposed a blanket ban on all imports from Lebanon. Riyadh also recalled its ambassador to Lebanon for consultations.

Bahrains Ministry of Foreign Affairs said its decision follows a series of unacceptable and offensive Lebanese statements. The Foreign Ministry also clarified that the decision would not affect Lebanese citizens residing in the Kingdom.

The decisions come days after Information Minister George Kordahi called the war futile, said Yemen was subjected to aggression and that its Iran-aligned Houthis were defending themselves.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Indian Embassy in Bahrain is all set to launch an appointment mobile app as part of efforts to make consular services more convenient and people-friendly, said Indian Ambassador Piyush Srivastava.

The embassy is also shifting its IVS centre. The works are ongoing, and we hope to launch these soon, said Srivastava addressing Indian Community members during a virtual Open House meeting. The Open House is for redressing urgent/non-routine consular and labour issues of community members.

During the virtual event, Srivastava thanked Bahraini Government authorities and Indian associations for resolving long-pending cases of Asokan Asari, Sairam Saapa, Gangadhar Pashikam and Avvamma.

Their cases are resolved. They had travelled back to India, Srivastava told the meeting. Moving on, the Ambassador described the COVID-19 situation in Bahrain as significantly improved but cautioned all to continue following Bahrains COVID-19 advisories and protocols.


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Bombay High Court issued a detailed bail order of Aryan Khan which stated that the accused should appear before Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) every Friday and was asked to surrender his passport.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan, who was granted bail in the drugs-on-cruise case, was released from Arthur Road jail on Saturday. Earlier on Friday, Bombay High Court issued a detailed bail order of Aryan Khan which stated that the accused should appear before Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) every Friday and was asked to surrender his passport. Actor Juhi Chawla was the surety for Aryan. Chawla, on Friday, signed Rs one lakh bond for Aryan after the bail conditions were explained by the Bombay High Court.

The court asked all three bail applicants  Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, Munmum Dhamecha- to appear before the NCB Mumbai office every Friday, between 11.00 am to 2.00 pm to mark their presence. The court on Thursday granted bail to Aryan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha.



Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3. An NCB team busted an alleged drugs party on the Cordelia Cruise ship which was on its way to Goa at mid-sea on October 2. A total of 20 people, including two Nigerian nationals, have been arrested so far in the case.
Puneeth Rajkumar's mortal remains were shifted to the stadium for public viewing, where a large number of fans could be seen waiting to get one last view of the actor.

Grieving fans of Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar gathered at Bengalurus Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Friday evening to pay their last respects, prior to his final rites which will be done with state honours, soon after his daughter arrives from the US. Bengaluru Commissioner of Police, Kamal Pant at the stadium, on Saturday said that on basis of the decision taken by Puneeths family, the next stage of security arrangements will be made. His family will take a call on when the final rites will be performed. Probably, the last rites will be done today itself. Puneeth left for his heavenly abode at the age of 46 following a cardiac arrest. He was admitted to Vikram Hospital in Bengaluru, after experiencing chest pain, where he breathed his last. His mortal remains were shifted to the stadium for public viewing, where a large number of fans could be seen waiting to get one last view of their favourite actor. Heavy police force has been deployed at the stadium to control the crowd.

The demise of Puneeth took the entire country by shock and several popular actors from Bollywood and South film industry including Dhanush, Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, among others, have expressed their condolences. Apart from that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other noted politicians including Karnataka CM Basavaraj S Bommai, Rahul Gandhi, Prakash Javdekar and Nirmala Sitharaman also mourned his death.



Son of matinee idol Rajkumar, who was also lovingly called Appu and Power Star by his fans, Puneeth was associated with the silver screen since he was a child. The 46-year-old actor has been the lead star in 29 films since his 2002 acting debut in Appu, with his last release being Yuvarathnaa, which came out in April earlier this year. His other notable performances include, Raam, Hudugaru, and Anjani Putra.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Pope Francis to visit India during a very warm meeting at the Vatican City which lasted for an hour on Saturday, sources said. The meeting was scheduled only for twenty minutes however, it went on for an hour, sources said. PM Modi and the Pope discussed a wide range of issues aimed at making our planet better such as fighting climate change and removing poverty. It may be recalled that the last Papal Visit happened in 1999 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister and Pope John Paul II came.

Now it is during PM Modis term that the Pope has been invited to visit India.

PM Modi departed from the Vatican City after his meeting with Pope Francis on Saturday ahead of the G20. He was accompanied by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar. The Vatican is a city-state surrounded by Rome and is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. Prime Minister arrived in Italy on Friday to participate in the two-day G20 Summit.

PM Modi will participate in the G20 opening session on Global Economy and Global Health today. He is also scheduled to have a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and a meeting with the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo. PM Modi is expected to have a meeting with Singapore PM Lee Hosein Loong as well. In the evening, PM is scheduled to arrive at Terme di Diocleziano for a cultural programme. Later, there is a dinner planned for G20 leaders and partner countries. While briefing about the Prime Ministers Italy visit, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Friday said that PM Modi will discuss the economic situation, COVID-19 pandemic, sustainable development and climate change with G20 leaders.



On Friday, PM Modi met with top European Union leaders and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. They congratulated Prime Minister Modi for Indias excellent progress on the COVID-19 vaccination. Prime Minister also interacted with members of the Indian community-based in Italy. PM Modi will be in the capital city of Italy till October 31.
US intelligence community has seemingly hit a dead-end in its quest to track the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence(ODNI), which oversees 18 intelligence agencies of the nation, on Friday released a declassified report which is an update on the 90-day review released by the Biden administration in August. According to the report, both, a natural animal-to-human transmission and a lab leak, are plausible hypotheses on how the SARS-COV-2 broke the species barrier and infected humans. The report says that there is not enough information available to determine the source of the pandemic and that it can be that way till some new evidence comes to light.

The report also said that the intelligence community remains divided on the most likely origin of the virus. Four agencies assessed with low confidence it had originated with an infected animal or a related virus. However, one agency said it had moderate confidence that the first human infection resulted from a lab accident in Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The report said that China is hindering global investigations into the origins of the pandemic. In July, WHO chief Dr. Tedros urged China to release raw data to aid the the agencys investigation into the matter. The call drew sharp remarks from the Chinese vice health minister Zeng Yixin who said the plan showed disrespect for common sense and arrogance towards science.
Editors note: This column is part of a series, Connecticut Comeback at a Crossroads, on the states quest to gain economic momentum. Click for stories on jobs here and housing here.

Its 3 oclock on Friday afternoon at the Starlander Beck auto electronics store in Milford and the place is hopping, with Diane Domin behind the old-style retail counter, festooned in a U.S. flag mask, unflapped by the phones ringing as three customers wait for service.

Except for the mask, the scene might be from 1973, when Domin founded the place.

Ive got to see what kind is it, Ive got to see the vehicle before I can come close to giving you a price, she says into her headphones as a man in pale fatigues at the counter looks over a couple of Pioneer car stereo boxes.

Off to the side, near an old set of framed installer certificates and a joke price list  $150 an hour if you tried to fix it yourself  an associate works with another customer. To a caller, Domin asks, Is it a key or a push-button start?

Then at 3:30 p.m., boom, the free-standing, green-painted store with a faded sign on the Boston Post Road, goes dead. No calls, no cars in the side lot.

Thats retail, Domin says, finally having a few minutes to talk with me about the uneven recovery of the Connecticut economy. Were working twice as hard for half as much.

The popcorn-selling professor

At that moment in Bridgeport, nine miles down Route 1, Kim Bianca Williams is switching from one gig to another.

Shes a training consultant, mostly for local nonprofits on performance improvement and soft skills such as presentations. Shes an adjunct professor at Housatonic Community College and Monroe College in New York. She just signed a lease for a 1,600-foot commercial location in the citys East End, with plans to convert it to a work-live space in the hopes of sparking activity in the Deacons Point Historic District.

I was looking for a space where I could build community, Williams, who moved to Bridgeport in 2011, tells me at her after-work gig, a popcorn stand at Beardsley Park.

Yes, a popcorn stand. Williams owns and operates the Gourmet Popcorn Bar, an old Dodge Ram pick-up truck pulling a spiffed-up, black-and-white food trailer. It makes money, for sure, but its also part of her Urban Synergy in Action project to help entrepreneurs.

On Friday, she was a highly energetic character in Bridgeports Trunk n Treat drive-through Halloween party at Beardsley, handing out bags of popcorn and screaming for help escaping a spider web as a nonstop line of cars paraded by for more than two hours.

Williams needs all these projects to cobble together a living.

Each one ties right back into the community, said Williams, who named her advisory business VCL Consulting Group, for Victorious Christian Living. So while it sounds like Im doing a lot of different things, they all go to the same target.

You have to be an idiot ... to stay in Connecticut

Diane Domin and Kim Bianca Williams. One of these enterprising women despises government interference, what she calls the states lack of focus on small business and rising taxes to blow money on stupid things.

The other unashamedly benefits from public grants, loans and assistance designed to help minority-owned and women-owned businesses like hers thrive.

For both of them, the post-pandemic Connecticut economy presents an opportunity even as it demands a slog. In that way, they each represent the small business economy that could drive Connecticut into a period of stable growth, or perhaps back to another lost decade of stagnation after a hopeful year if nervous gains.

Its a dogfight and anyone who fails to think creatively might as well stay in bed.

Domin, for example, seeing the supply chain backups and a fire earlier this year in a Japanese factory that makes semiconductor chips for the auto industry, acted boldly. I took everything from retirement and I put it into the product, she tells me, matter-of-factly. Its paying off because I have stuff to sell...many of the stores are buying stuff from me.

And, she tells me, she was the first in the state to install the breathalyzer devices required for people with a DUI arrest. That enabled her store to qualify as an essential business in the lockdown of 2020.

Business, in fact, was brisk in the depths of the pandemic. Youd get a lot of people coming in, saying, Hey, I just got my stimulus, said Ron Dominick, who works with and sometimes for Domin at the business  who noted that sometimes the same cars would be repossessed and dealers would call them to remove the sound systems.

Starlander Beck seems to thrive, shelves stocked with all manner of auto electronics and connectors, quirky signs and a colorful line of two dozen tiny, bright, colorful gift bags tacked to the ceiling, all adding to the buzz of a successful operation as Domin walks in a slight limp from her stool at the glass counter to the back room.

But Domin is, to say the least, not bullish on the states recovery  because of rising costs from taxes, the supply chain crisis, utility price hikes, you name it.

Were holding our own but were certainly not making the money we were making five years ago, Domin tells me, still behind the mask, never raising her voice. Back in the 90s, she said, I had like 25 or 20 employees.

Now she has two.

Theyre killing us, she says, referring to taxes and other costs, especially in Connecticut. I dont blame anybody thats moving out of Connecticut. You have to be an idiot, you have to have a couple of screws loose, to stay in Connecticut.

Weird to say this after hearing that, but the North Branford resident does carry a positive attitude. I ask what aspect of the business she most enjoys after 48 years and she says without hesitation, I like it all. I like the wholesale end, I like the retail, I like selling online.

I was able to gain enough momentum

Williams, for her part, chose to move to Connecticut after the 2008-09 recession  from Savannah, Georgia  to be nearer to her elderly parents near New York City. Bridgeport, lacking the built-in advantages of Stamford, New Haven and Hartford, was, and remains, slow to see any kind of recovery.

For me as a Black business owner, it was worse because we didnt have access to anything, she said, adding that she still cant get bank loans.

Funding increased after the murder of George Floyd, amid the Black Lives Matter movement. Unfortunately it took a tragedy for that to happen, said Williams, whose lease in the East End includes an option to buy.

With a blow to all of her income streams, she was able to collect pandemic unemployment for self-employed people, but only kept it for 10 weeks. Fortunately I was able to gain enough momentum where I didnt have to use it all the way through its designated term, she said.

Like Domin, shes making it work but is less than ebullient about a fast recovery. Of course it still needs a jump start, she tells me. People are gun-shy about their ability to spend.

dhaar@hearstmediact.com
HAMDEN  Where do Hamdens mayoral candidates stand on local issues, from the need for a town animal shelter to whether the district should close two elementary schools?

Ahead of Tuesdays municipal election, the New Haven Register surveyed Republican Ron Gambardella, Democrat Lauren Garrett and Independent Albert Al Lotto about where they stand on critical issues.

Heres a look at their answers. All candidate quotes are based on written responses to the survey.

1. Name Hamdens three most critical capital improvement needs. How would you address them?

Gambardella named roads and sidewalks, the Circular Avenue Fire Station and revitalizing the Keefe Community Center. He would use federal COVID and infrastructure funds, dedicated town funds and grants to pay for improvements, he said.

Garrett would work with the state delegation to get a renovations Keefe Community Center and the Circular Avenue firehouse on the state bond list, she said.

She also named installing a fiber optic cable and improving stormwater drainage as critical needs. She would address them with federal money from the infrastructure bill being pushed through Congress, she said.

Lotto named repairs to school facilities and updates to the Keefe Community Center as priorities.

I believe we need a restructuring of Town Government departments combined with my economic stimulus plan, to reinvest in our town buildings and community, he said.

2. Should the town close Church Street and Shepherd Glen schools? Why or why not? If they stay open, what are your plans to address racial imbalance and declining enrollment?

The Board of Education in 2018 voted to close Church Street and Shepherd Glen elementary schools as part of a plan to address racial imbalance and declining enrollment. But this year, amid concerns raised by impacted parents, officials said they were reconsidering.

All three candidates said the schools should remain open.

Gambardella said closing the schools would disrupt a sense of community in both locations that we are trying to foster and encourage. He defers to the parents opinions on the matter, he said, adding that in consulting with many parents of students at these schools, they are not concerned with the current demographics.

Garrett said Hamden needs to address racial imbalance in its elementary schools but should not place the challenges associated with this process ... on Black and Brown communities alone. The entire community should be part of the solution, she said, adding that maintaining Shepherd Glen at the center of our town will be a critical component in racially balancing our schools as we adjust our attendance zones.

Lotto does not believe larger schools with more children per classroom is the answer, he said. If enrollment declines, the town should combat that with less staff, he said, indicating he would like to see Hamden Public Schools participate in a school choice program.

3. Is getting an animal shelter a priority for you? Whats the best site to build an animal shelter and why?

Since at least the early 2000s, residents have been pushing the town to get an animal shelter. They say it would be more cost effective in the long run, as Hamden currently rents out space at North Havens facility.

Despite various announcements over the years that a shelter was on the horizon, the project remains in limbo.

It is absolutely time to bring an animal shelter to Hamden, said Gambardella. The best site for the animal shelter is on Putnam Avenue next to the pedestrian bridge.

Garrett also said building a site was a priority, noting she has pledged to name a location within the first 100 days of taking office. She suggested the town consider 551 Sherman Ave., which is near other animal-friendly businesses such as Paws N Effect and The Barking Lot.

Though the parcel is owned by Quinnipiac University, there have been discussions with officials about transferring it to Hamden, university spokesman John Morgan said in an email, adding that a plan was never finalized. Garrett said other properties on Sherman Avenue could present an alternative.

While Lotto feels the town has more pressing issues, he also feels its time to get a shelter. He would seek to host host pet adoption and veterinary care programs at the facility, he said.

We have strung along the issue of an Animal Shelter in Hamden, he said. It simply is no longer cost effective for a town this size not to have one.

4. Which town departments, if any, are most in need of additional staffing? Name three.

All candidates said the Tax Assessors office needs more staff.

Gambardella said he would focus on departments that generate revenue, including the assessors office and the zoning department. He said the Information Technology department would also be a subject of additional staffing for its operational efficiencies.

Garrett said the town is contractually obligated to hire more police officers and indicated she would create a Crisis Reponse Team of social workers to respond to mental health-related calls. The town also needs more staff in Economic Development and Planning & Zoning, she said.

In addition to the assessors office, Hamden must increase police department staffing and ensure the high school and middle school have permanent student resource officers, Lotto said.

5. What is the best way forward for the site of the old middle school on Newhall Street?

The long-abandoned middle school on Newhall Street is slated for development via a contract with NeighborWorks New Horizons, which has proposed putting a community center and apartments on the site, including market-rate and affordable housing units.

But with the contract up for renewal, some have questioned whether the plan is the best way forward. The Legislative Council recently postponed a decision on the matter, according to a New Haven Independent report.

Based on his own conversations with residents, Gambardella said, residents have shown interest in housing on the site but with an emphasis on home ownership. He suggested a condominium complex as a possible solution.

Garrett does not believe affordable housing is the best use for the site and would like to see a plan where community members have a seat at the table, she said, adding that residents have expressed interest in a community-run community center.

Lotto said he would host open meetings to gather public input before taking any action. Constructing a grocery store with affordable housing units above it could be one way forward, he said.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
NEW HAVEN  Wooster Square is evolving.

Thats what neighborhoods do.

When a large amount of housing is built in a dense, tightly knit area, the evolution speeds up, with both positive and negative effects.

The Olive & Wooster Apartments will have its first tenants moving in in mid-November, with 100 of its 299 apartments open in its first phase.

So far we have 25 percent of it leased, said Candese Wood, general manager.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

That will mean more customers in line for pizza and for the other restaurants on Wooster Street, but also more cars fighting for limited parking spaces, say residents of the area.

It also may mean the ambiance of Little Italy and the surrounding neighborhood will feel less like a small town and more like the nearby downtown.

Im not a firm believer in losing the beauty of a small neighborhood, said Paul Duda, who has a photography studio and lives on Wooster Street, between La Bella Vita liquor store and Consiglios restaurant.

I love walking downtown, Duda said. I love downtown New Haven, but I love knowing people around me and I love living in an area that has a Little Italy festival each year.  I think at a certain point, saturation takes away community.

Wooster Square, the neighborhood whose heart is Wooster Street, with its pizza and Italian restaurants, once was the center of Italian immigrant life in New Haven, with workers brought over by Sargent & Co. and other large employers.

Now, while Sallys, Pepes, Abates and others carry on the Italian-American traditional cuisine, there are more young professionals and families living in the apartments and old industrialists homes that were converted to condos.

Olive & Wooster, one of three complexes built or planned for the area on both sides of Olive Street, will speed up that change, but there are positive aspects, too, especially for local businesses.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

As soon as I read in the news that the apartment complex was going up  I asked to re-sign the lease, said Andrea DiLieto Zola, who owns a bridal beauty shop called MBDbeauty at 208 Wooster St.

We use the shop for bridal trials, so we have brides that come in literally from across the U.S., she said.

She said she has two years left on her three-year lease and had hoped to buy the building when it went up for sale, but another buyer snapped it up.

I love Wooster Square; I love Wooster Street; I love my tiny little shop, she said. I 100 percent think that my business will thrive with the complex on the end of the street.

Olive & Wooster will be joined by 185 apartments at Fair and Olive streets, both developed by Epimoni of New York. The two complexes will be separated by a pedestrian-only greenway where Fair Street, long closed, once ran. Another development, The Whit, on both sides of Chapel Street at Olive Street, is being built by Houston-based Hines.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Gina Lockery, broker at GRL & Realtors at 520 Chapel St., said she recently toured Olive & Wooster and sees the developments as connecting Wooster Square to downtown.

I think its going to bring in professionals, she said. I dont know how young. You definitely need the salary.  I do feel like its going to light up the block that used to be very dark.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

The new developments all are being built on empty lots or in place of empty buildings. But the apartments will be market-rate. Rents at Olive & Wooster range from $1,911 for a studio to $5,704 for a four-bedroom apartment, some of which are being marketed for groups of singles with separate leases.

Tenant-matching services are offered, along with a gym, pool and 201 indoor parking spaces, said principal Darren Seid.

Weve looked to capture a piece of the tenant base that hasnt otherwise had access, Seid said, with a rent in a shared four-bedroom unit as low as $1,174. He said the rents are typical for the New Haven market.

It costs a certain amount to build these buildings  and the price meets the conditions, he said.

Seid said the apartments will enhance the area. Youre talking about an old industrial building  that took up half the site, he said. Its not like were coming in and knocking down a row of beautiful, elegant brownstones. We tried to, in our design, honor the neighborhood.

He said the retail on the first floor also will be a benefit to Wooster Square, with a 25-foot setback from Olive Street.

The entire frontage there is almost 200 feet of frontage along Olive, Seid said. On both corners its the entire frontage of the building and wraps around both corners.

The greenway in front of 20 Fair St., once planned for cars and bikes, will be for pedestrians only, for safety reasons, Seid said. He also said the fourth phase of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, which runs along Olive Street, wont be disturbed by the apartment complexes.

Theres one bumpout. The bumpout is not further than the on-street parking, he said.

Aaron Goode of William Street, a trail advocate, said he would have liked Epimoni to incorporate the trail more into the project. Its an asset that they should be leveraging and they should be using it in their marketing because its going to be good for them.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

Alder Ellen Cupo, D-8, said shes heard a lot of concern from her constituents. There are a lot of folks here that have been here for a long time, she said. Wooster Square has always had its unique aspect to it. One fear that Ive heard from my neighbors is that its going to completely change the character of the neighborhood. Its going to make the rents skyrocket.

Her husband, Ian Dunn, who is chairman of the Downtown/Wooster Square Community Management Team, said he also is concerned about the changing neighborhood. The couple lives on Brown Street with their toddler, Hunter.

Im conflicted. On one hand, our neighborhoods done.  I think its finished as we know it. Its going to evolve into something different, he said.

Ed Stannard / Hearst Connecticut Media

At the same time, he said, I welcome the new developments and the people and the potential new community and want to figure out a way that they can move into the community and not just their new apartment. Thats on everyone, not just the developers.

Roseann Iuvone, an agent with Seabury-Hill Realtors at 233 Wooster St., said she looks forward to the potential new businesses.

Ive lived on Wooster Street and Ive always wanted to go out my door and get a sandwich, and you can only get pizza, she said.

Ed Stannard / Hearst Connecticut Media

She said she sees the apartments as an improvement. I think its good because there was just nothing there and I do hear its going to be an easier connection to downtown, she said.

Like others, Corey Armstrong is most concerned about parking. She lives next to Sallys Apizza, which has turned its parking lot at the corner of Olive Street into an outdoor dining plaza since the pandemic hit. Armstrong has eight children and a 15-passenger van.

Ed Stannard / Hearst Connecticut Media

Were all very frustrated about the parking in general but I dont think that buildings going to make it worse, she said.

One side of Wooster Street is designated as residential only, but its not marked clearly and pizza customers take up the spaces, she said. She wants both sides to be open to residents.

Its sort of a perfect storm with Sallys being crazy this year. It is off the hook, she said. But she said she looks forward to more families moving in.

Its not like they gentrified the area and got rid of people who were living there, she said.

Nicole Funaro / Hearst Connecticut Media Group

Wooster Memorial Park, just down the street, is where Armstrong practices her bagpipes  she plays at weddings, funerals and other events  while her children play.

Its a really great spot and that place isnt going to ruin it, she said. Its going to make it better. There are going to be more kids in the park.

Ed Stannard / Hearst Connecticut Media

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382
ANSONIA  While the Ansonia Democratic Party isnt fielding a challenger to Mayor David Cassetti, who enjoys broad support in the city, the party is betting on winning alderman seats that would wrestle control away from the Republicans in the city.

Candidates campaigning in several wards have different concerns they want to address but all have stated if elected, they would be involved with their local communities and make decisions that would take their interests into account.

Crime is considered a serious issue in Ward 1, according to Democratic candidates Gary Farrar and Josh Feddern. They both pointed out to an uptick in shootings, property crimes including catalytic converter thefts and the lack of recreational activities for youth. Both have stated they would look into resources to keep young people off the streets.

We should have programs that target other things that may be attractive to our older youth that are not necessarily just sports. The city can work with organizations like TEAM and Valley Save Our Youth to give workshops on how to apply for college, how to write a resume, and how to prepare for being an adult. I would like to discuss options and have regular meetings with the police to address crime and violence in the ward, Farrar said.

Feddern said that more police on the street would help alleviate those issues.

We need to increase our police presence, especially in known areas of drug activity and violence. I've spoken to numerous residents in these areas and they are calling for this to happen to protect themselves and their families, Feddern said.

In Ward 5, candidates Brian Perkins, vice chair of the Ansonia Democratic Party, and David Rhodes have dealt with Burns Constructions rock crushing facility which had been a long running controversy for neighboring residents who have sued to keep it from operating. However the company was recently given the go-ahead to continue rock crushing  a blow for residents.

We need aldermen that are there for their constituents, treat them with respect, not hostility, and get their issues addressed, Perkins said.

Ward 4 candidate Rohan Brown said that some voters are concerned about the lack of jobs in the city. This comes despite the revitalization of the downtown area.

Throughout my campaigning thus far the pressing issue for Ansonia residents differ from household to household. For some residents, the issue is that there is not enough economic opportunity locally here in Ansonia, Brown said.

Ward 6 candidate Jonathan Vining said a concern of residents hes talked to is people feel out of touch and like they dont have a voice.

And fellow Ward 6 candidate Chris Grizzle said that the focus on the downtown has left out much of the city.

Continued economic development, not just downtown but throughout the entire city, is very important. This will bring in more job opportunities and residents to the city, ultimately keeping taxes down while freeing up funds to better serve the public, Grizzle said.

Democratic incumbents Bill Phipps, Joe Jeanette, Diane Stroman, and candidates Len Duffus, Steve Erlingheuser did not respond to Hearst Connecticut Media.
LONDON (AP)  It can take between five and ten minutes to walk the heart-festooned memorial wall in London commemorating those who died from COVID-19 in the U.K  far longer if you pause every few steps to read the heartfelt messages of love that bereaved families and friends have overlaid the pink and red hearts with.

Walking along the 8-foot-high Portland stone wall on the south side of the River Thames, directly opposite the Houses of Parliament, is a somber experience, especially for those who lost someone and who think the British government could have done a lot more to prevent the U.K.'s enormous death toll during the pandemic.

As the global death toll nears the threshold of 5 million dead, Britain officially has recorded around 140,000 coronavirus-related deaths, Europe's second highest toll after Russia. The actual number is believed to be higher  around 160,000  as there was very little testing done in the early days of the pandemic in the U.K. in the spring of 2020.

The National COVID Memorial Wall on a half-kilometer stretch of the Albert Embankment is dedicated to those who died, with each life lost represented by a carefully painted heart that volunteers freshen up on a weekly basis with long-lasting masonry paints.

There's also the odd cake and a cup of coffee.

For the volunteers, it's a bit like art therapy  meditative.

For me I think it has absolutely fulfilled the original intention which was to remind people of the scale of our loss, said Fran Hall, a spokesperson for the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice who lost her husband of three weeks, Steve Mead, in September 2020, a day before his 66th birthday.

Hall makes the weekly trek along with several others to ensure the hearts don't fade to pink from luscious red and add inscriptions from those bereaved who can't make the journey to the wall.

We're getting red back onto the wall, to keep it vibrant, said Hall. As you walk along you'll see thousands and thousands of names, so the hearts have been personalized. They're all special.

The memorial was established in March by the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice and campaign group Led by Donkeys as a visual representation of the scale of loss in the U.K. during the pandemic. Incredibly it took less than two weeks for the army of volunteers to paint the 150,000 or so hearts.

The government has yet to give the wall official status, though Prime Minister Boris Johnson told bereaved families, including Hall herself, recently that it is a good candidate to be a permanent memorial.

This memorial means so much to the bereaved as a lot of us could not have our last goodbyes," said Amanda Herring who lost her 54-year old brother Mark Herring just before the U.K. was first put into lockdown in March 2020.

"It just needs to be a permanent memorial for our loved ones and it does mean so much to me, and this is why I come down to help with the fellow bereaved, who are now my friends, to help re-freshen the hearts and add new inscriptions ... which in a way is so heart-breaking," she added.

COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, which has around 4,000 members, has been calling for a public inquiry into the governments handling of the pandemic so lessons can be learned to limit future virus-related deaths.

It has criticized Johnson and his Conservative government for mismanagement during the pandemic, including delaying lockdowns, a lack of protective gear for health workers, and having a too-lax travel policy  a combination that it says meant tens of thousands of people died needlessly. A parliamentary report has already declared the coronavirus pandemic "one of the most important public health failures the United Kingdom has ever experienced.

After months of deflecting calls, Johnson has confirmed that a public inquiry with statutory powers will start to hear evidence next year and that the bereaved families will have a role in it. However, the bereaved families think thats too late and watch with horror the U.K.'s rising infection levels, which are running several-fold more than countries like France and Germany. Though the rollout of vaccines has clearly limited the number of people dying from COVID after being infected, the U.K. is still recording around 150 virus-related deaths a day  another thousand families a week grieving.

We feel that nobody is listening to us and to get our stories out will make other people maybe take more care, maybe think twice about getting on a packed train or not wearing a mask if they hear our stories, they are heartfelt, said Sioux Vosper, who lost her 80-year-old father John David Leigh in April 2020.

Its a nine-minute walk from one end to the other and everyone that comes here, they cant help but think all those numbers they saw on the television were just numbers, they come here and they're beating hearts, they cant shy away from that," she added.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP)  Federal prosecutors say that a couple from New Jersey was sentenced to prison for conspiring to provide cocaine and heroin to gang members in Virginia.

A news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said that 48-year-old Stephen Price and 33-year-old Dominique Waller of Freehold, New Jersey, conspired to traffic drugs for sale in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia from at least 2015 to 2017.
FLORENCE, Ky. (AP)  A Kentucky attorney has pleaded guilty to human trafficking charges after he was implicated in a former judge's criminal case.

Robert L. Poole, 53, of Florence, pleaded guilty to five counts of promoting human trafficking for commercial sex activity in Kenton County, according to a media release Friday from Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's office.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP)  Gunmen on a motorcycle brandished small arms and fired on a broadcast journalist in his car in the Afghan capital of Kabul, lightly wounding him.

Ali Reza Sharifi, a journalist for Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, survived the late Friday night attack, Taliban deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi told The Associated Press.

We are investigating to find the perpetrator, he said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The assault comes just days after an Afghan media watchdog reported more than 30 instances of violence and threats of violence against Afghan journalists over the last two month, with nearly 90% committed by the Taliban.

Sharifi told the AP he was driving home when two men riding a motorcycle opened fire on his car. A bullet fired from the left just touched my lip, he said, adding that shredded window pieces hit my left eye.

Pictures of Sharifi's car shared on social media show at least two bullet holes on one of the car's windows. They started firing from the front and I escaped to the back seat, he said.

Since the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in late August, three journalists have been killed in Afghanistan.

Separately, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a series of tweets that unknown gunmen fired on a wedding ceremony in a remote area of the eastern Nangarhar province, killing three civilians and wounding several others. Two men were arrested and a third remained at large.

It was unclear why the wedding was targeted, but Mujahid said the gunmen had tried to stop the wedding music by invoking the name of the Taliban, although they aren't officially affiliated with the group.
NAUGATUCK  A 14-year-old Naugatuck High School student was arrested Friday morning after police found a BB gun in his backpack, police officials said.

This is the second time this week that a minor was arrested in Connecticut after authorities found replica guns in their backpacks. On Wednesday, a Bristol Central High School student was arrested after police found an airsoft handgun in his backpack.

Naugatuck police started investigating the juvenile after he brought out what looked like a pistol at a fight at Salem Park Oct. 20. There were no reported injuries from the fight, the Naugatuck Police Department said.

Police then obtained a search warrant for the students home in Naugatuck, but did not find any firearms.

The student was charged with carrying a dangerous weapon. He was issued a summons to appear in Waterbury juvenile court, according to the police department.

The Naugatuck Police Department called these replica BB guns a hazard to the public when used in criminal endeavors.

There is no amount of training that can allow a police officer to determine the difference between these replica firearm BB guns and their functioning counterparts, the police department added.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

NEW HAVEN  A North Haven man and a New Haven woman were taken to the hospital after they were shot on Crown Street early Saturday.

Police received reports of two people shot around 1:50 a.m. Once on the scene, officers found a 26-year-old North Haven man and a 41-year-old New Haven woman who had been struck by gunfire, police said.
HAMDEN  The future of the Great Irish Hunger Museums collection remained up in the air Thursday, as Attorney General William Tong open inquiry and a group trying prompt Quinnipiac University to reopen the institution planned a rally.

Elizabeth Benton, director of communications for Tongs office, said in a statement when asked about the museum that an inquiry regarding the matter was ongoing.

I can confirm we have an open and ongoing inquiry into this matter, she said in a email. She declined further comment.

Quinnipiac University announced the museum would be closed permanently in August; it originally shut its doors at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Attorney Michael McCabe, representing the Committee to Save the Great Irish Hunger Museum, sent a letter to Tong in August calling for him to investigate the closure of the museum as it involves selling or disbursing the collection, which is the property of a nonprofit and was bolstered through the gifts of past donors.

In a statement, John Morgan, associate vice president for public relations at Quinnipiac, said the university is not selling any of the collection.

Its important to note that the closing of the museums space in Hamden is not the closing of the incredible collection or of the story of the Great Hunger, said Morgan. We are committed to finding a solution for display of the collection that will ensure it remains publicly accessible, advances the museums original mission, and preserves the story of the Great Hunger.

Morgan said Thursday that, despite a fundraising effort that spanned three years, the museum only generated enough support and revenue to cover one-quarter of its operating budget, averaging fewer than 20 visitors a day in the full year before COVID, prompting the decision by the schools board of trustees.

Morgan said the university was being responsive to the Attorney Generals Office and will provide the necessary information requested about Irelands Great Hunger Museum, including relevant policies about gifts, any donations that were received, and the financial operations of the museum.

The Great Irish Hunger Museum opened in 2012 under the stewardship of John Lahey, then the university president, who was succeeded by Judy Olian in 2018.

The museum, and the study of the Irish famine, drew strong financial support from brothers Marvin Lender and the now-late Murray Lender, part of the multi-generation and philanthropic family that ran the H. Lender & Sons bagel business.

Lahey said previously that the museum shared a story relevant to Irish Americans in the United States, many of whom live in Quinnipiacs backyard in New York and Boston, and provided an international brand and identity for the school. Its themes, of a peoples encounter with bigotry and hatred, are universal, he has said.

As the university first considered the institutions future in 2019, Lahey said he believed Quinnipiac could raise funds to keep the Great Hunger Museum afloat. He said its annual budget was quite small, compared to the universitys  hundreds of thousands versus hundreds of millions.

Before the institution was closed, members of the Committee to Save the Great Irish Hunger Museum questioned the strength of the fundraising effort in a letter to Olian and the board, saying they were completely unaware of any fundraising campaigns that may have taken place since 2019.

Our community of artists, educators, historians, docents, and volunteers stands ready to work with you and support all efforts to reopen the museum and to save the collection, committee members said. This moving story of our ancestors is an American story about refugees, food insecurity and disastrous government policy, and is more relevant than ever to our global family.

The Committee to Save the Great Irish Hunger Museum will hold a salute to the museum on Saturday, the group said in an email earlier this week.

The event, they said, is planned to call together a peaceful coalition of voices to save the museum and its collection, as the committee as a whole seeks to compel the university to re-open the museum or, in lieu of that, ensure that the collection remains intact and whole and that it is not broken up.

The gathering, planned to run on Woodruff Street from 1 to 5 p.m., will feature street art, live music, Irish dancing, food, free treats and family fun activities, the committee said.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
Niagara Falls

SCHOELLKOPF

POWER STATION

DISASTER Thursday June 7th 1956 a history On Thursday June 7th 1956, John HANEY was working at the Schoellkopf Power Station when it collapsed. The following is his account of his horrifying experience. " That was more than 50 years ago. I can still see some of it in my mind but have hard time putting it in words. I started work that day as a janitor. There was water seeping in and we were trying to keep it away from the generators. The pressure on building was tremendous. The windows facing river were just popping out. I had to go and operate the 2nd elevator for emergency evacuation but that elevator got flooded out. I returned to the floor of section that was (subsequently) wiped out. I started down to my locker and the concrete floor would buckle-up and I would jump over it. The area where my locker was located was devastated. I returned to generator floor and was going to get my shirt that I wore for work. I opened door to toilet area my shirt was in area just off this area next to the sinks. I saw the sinks cracked in half and toilets in shambles. I closed door and came back. Then the wall toward the falls came crashing down. I then headed to elevator. Water and stone was falling into fore bay. I stood under the steel door frame watching and did not hear the elevator door open. The operator called to me and I jumped on. It took 45 seconds to reach the top and I saw the gorge collapse on the area I was at. The rest of the crew ran through the section that was not crushed and into the gorge. Then I helped maintenance close the gates to stop some water flow. After returning to work next, I and my brother in law were on security in gorge at the down river end of building. I remember keeping times of magazine people from going into the building. I must say it was quite an exciting day. It was most likely the closest I ever came to dying. I hope this gives you something that you do not already have. Thanks for listening." - March 14th 2007 John Haney

age 74

Longmount, Colorado The following history was compiled from newspaper reports as recorded at the time by staff members of the Niagara Falls Review (Ontario) and the Niagara Falls Gazette (New York). The reports provide a uniquely detailed perspective of one of the most terrifying and costly disasters ever to have occurred at

Niagara Falls and the Niagara Frontier. On May 1st 1877, Jacob Schoellkopf purchased the hydraulic canal land and water and power rights for $71,000. When Schoellkopf had taken control of the hydraulic canal, power was transmitted by a combination of belts and drive shafts. Electricity was still in its infancy and used only for telegraphy and the newly invented telephone. Schoellkopf improved the hydraulic power canal and organized the fourth Canal Company. Schoellkopf found new customers for his powerhouse. Soon water was flowing over the edge of the gorge to the turbines below, a sight that was as spectacular as the Falls themselves. Schoellkopf realized the future in harnessing the power of Niagara was in the commercial production of electricity. He adapted this available electrical technology to his powerhouse turbines and one of the first hydro-electric generating stations in the world was born. Illumination of Niagara Falls had been an attraction since 1860. Calcium flares were used originally to light the area however they were expensive and did not last long. In 1881, Charles Brush of Euclid, Ohio arrived in Niagara Falls with 16 electric carbon arc lights and a generator to illuminate the Falls. Schoellkopf offered the power from his water turbines to power Brush's generator. This marked a milestone in the history of the illumination of Niagara Falls. By 1882, Schoellkopf had built a small power house at the end of the canal and installed a small generator . It was one of the first generators to be built by the Bush Electric Light Company. Bush had recently demonstrated his successful arc light. The small generator lighted sixteen lights in the streets of Niagara Falls, New York. The Bush generator produced direct current which could not be transmitted more than 1-2 miles. By 1882, Schoellkopf had attracted seven mills along the high bank (the top edge of the Niagara Gorge north of the American Falls) all producing power from the hydraulic canal. In 1895, Schoellkopf built his second power plant directly in front of the original plant. The sides of the gorge were walled in. Behind the walls shafts carried water down the 210 feet (64m) to the turbines located just above the water level. Behind these shafts and rear walls of the new plant were old cuts in the rock face which were used during the era of the belt and shaft drive technology. Over the years, water seeping behind the wall had undermined the rock face of the gorge behind the plant. Jacob Schoellkopf Sr. died in 1903. His sons: Jacob and Hugo took over the operation of the power business. In 1904, a second power station was built boosting power output to 34,000 horsepower. In 1918, Schoellkopf's Hydraulic Power Company merged with the Niagara Falls Power Company owned by Edward Dean Adams. The Niagara Falls Power Company name was retained.

The Collapse of the Schoellkopf Power Plant This picture will change every 20 seconds



a series of 10 pictures

courtesy of the Niagara Falls Review Friday June 8th 1956 Slide Crashes Power Plant 2nd Building Is Toppling Onto Ledge 39 Escape - 1 Believed Dead. Officials Say Loss Is $100 Million Dollars Building Flies Apart Like A Jet Stream A rock slide roared like a thousand lions followed by three earth shaking electrical explosions, buried two-thirds of the Schoellkopf Power Station in Niagara Falls, New York at the base of the Niagara Gorge shortly after 5 p.m. (Thursday June 7th 1956). Thirty-nine terrified workers emerged from the plant just as the remaining section of the plant burst into orange flames. Richard A. Draper, age 39, of Lewiston, New York, a maintenance foreman was hurled through the window into the river. He is presumed dead. A jet like burst of water from a broken penstock carried his body along with thousands of tons of debris into the surging maelstrom. Three men were treated in hospital. Two men were blown out of the building with Draper, were picked up by a motor launch from the Maid of the Mist Company. Another worker was hauled up the 215 foot face of the gorge on ropes. According to Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation - Vice President, Charles J. Wick of New York, the damage is estimated at $100 million dollars. The building and its equipment cost $36 million dollars in 1918-1921. Dr. Austin C. McTigue, chairman of Canisius College - Physics Department and Seismology director was quoted a saying a minor earthquake caused the disaster. Workers however clung to the belief that water seepage had undermined the base of the gorge. A huge structure housing switches located directly on top of the gorge which was badly undermined may fail at any time. It has been sealed off. Reports that drinking water was contaminated in Niagara Falls, New York proved erroneous. Water changed colour after diesel pumps went into operation when the city's electrical supply was blacked out. Three - 70,000 horsepower and three - 32,500 horsepower generators, mostly 25 cycle were dumped into the river. While officials flatly refused to comment as the cause of the catastrophe last night, they confirmed reports that a work crew was in the gorge building to investigate water seepage which was noticed in the penstocks earlier in the day. Workers who escaped said they believed that the water had eaten away at the base of the gorge and this may have caused the collapse. Cleliaw Cory, a tourist from New Mexico gave evidence of trouble in the plant. He said the plant guards turned his party away from the visitors gate minutes before the crash, telling them that site was closed to visitors owing to the discovery of a serious water leak. Witnesses reported seeing stones and pebbles start rolling down the side of the gorge. Clouds of white smoke billowed high into the air and over the Rainbow Bridge about 500 meters (1,640 feet) upstream from the rock slide. "Suddenly it seemed like the whole face of the gorge collapsed" declared Albert Cooper, a television producer of Buffalo, New York. "It smashed right down onto the building below. Water gushed all over and into the other building." Too Much Water For Power Use The Ontario Hydro Electric Commission said today it is providing 300,000 kilowatts of power to northern New York State where supply was cut Thursday when a rock slide wrecked the generating station at Niagara Falls, New York. The commission said in a statement that 200,000 kilowatts was being furnished at 25 cycle and 100,000 kilowatts are being provided at 60 cycle. Under the treaty signed by the US and Canadian governments in 1950 (the Water Diversion Treaty) fixed volumes of water must be permitted to flow over the Falls by day and by night. Water in excess of these amounts are split 50%-50% by each country for generating power. Terminal Building May Fall At press time, reports said the building overhanging the gorge is ready to go over. Its collapse appears imminent. A three (3) inch wide crack - 300 feet long just behind the edge of the gorge was sighted. The terminal building at the top of the cliff above the blasted Schoellkopf plant today seemed doomed to follow the bulk of the power house into the gorge, company officials admitted this morning. It is undermined so greatly that the building is in peril. At noon today the area was still in a state of alarm and barred to traffic. Whether or not the garage and the gatehouse, both of which were connected in a series to the terminal building by the heavy power lines are in grave danger could not be learned today at noon. Both are subject to the great pull of the lines that came with the collapse of the generating units into the river. An attempt is being made this afternoon to construct a log barricade at the fore bay feeding water to section "A" at the Niagara Mohawk Power Plant. A company spokesman said the remaining 1/3 of the plant is under 10 feet of water. It could be a complete loss. Plans are being made to stop the flow of water through a tunnel which feeds the station. Plants Here Operated At Full Tilt The Canadian Niagara Power House, the Toronto Power Plant and the Ontario Hydro Power Plant (at the base of the Falls) zoomed into peak production last night. Their output coupled with 25 cycle generators at Queenston and the outputs of the Niagara Mohawk's Tonawanda plant are keeping Niagara Falls, New York industries rolling today. Most of the silent Schoellkopf plant served 25 cycle power to Niagara Falls, new York industries. Nobody knows whether its generators will be able to operate again. Meanwhile Canadian power output has quickly taken up the slack. The Ontario Power Company (OPC) and Toronto Power Company each have capacities of 100,000 kilowatts on 25 cycle power and eight - 25 cycle units at Queenston are capable of producing 300,000 kilowatts. Normally 45,000 kilowatts of 25 cycle power from these plants are normally exported the United States. Today, they are pouring 225,000 kilowatts into Niagara Falls, New York and are running their machines wide open. Gorge Collapse Like The Fall Of A Skyscraper The roar was awesome. It looked as if the whole gorge wall had opened up like the side of a skyscraper down it came. Rocks and masonry burst into the air splitting into thousands of pieces and pelted the river like shrapnel. And a few fell on the Canadian side. A jet stream of water was unleashed. Three violent blasts followed. The river turned a sickly brown. White smoke poured upward from the gaping gorge mouth and the resounding echo died. What caused the sudden wrath of nature? One scientist called it a minor earthquake. Workers said they thought water from the Mohawk penstocks had swept under the gorge shale base and undermined it. The catastrophe occurred less than two years after cracks sent Prospect Point a half mile upstream into the Niagara River Gorge. Time and the ravages of nature caused gradual physical changes in the mighty gorge. But never have so many been underneath an impending disaster such as yesterdays that cut 2/3 of the big Niagara Falls, New York power plant to ribbons. Quake Is Blamed In Rockslide A very small earthquake was blamed last night for the partial destruction of the huge Schoellkopf Power Plant in Niagara Falls, New York. Dr. Austin C. McTigue, a nationally known seismologist and chairman of Canisius College Physics Department in Buffalo, New York said flatly the power installation was wrecked by an earthquake. He discounted the theory of erosion saying there is no reason why there should be the erosion effect that we normally see at the Horseshoe Falls. Dr. McTigue said it was just another release of the elastic strain in the earth in the area. Any energy released must necessarily be the result of an elastic adjustment in the area, Dr. McTigue said in pointing out the Schoellkopf station was not subject to erosion or erosion like forces found in the Falls. He theorized there was a definite pattern with earth disturbances stretching from Anna Ohio to as far north as Messina New York and Toronto, Ontario. Need Action Of New York Power Robert Moses, chairman of the New York State Power Authority said the destruction of the Schoellkopf Hydro Electric plant by a rock slide makes urgent need for congressional action on power issues in Niagara. Moses made the statement in a telegraph to representative Charles Buckley (Democrat-New York) - chairman of the House of Representatives, Public Works Committee. The Most Destructive Rock Fall In History Like Wild Rapids As Rocks Plummet Down The Building The most destructive rock fall in the recorded history of the spectacular Niagara Gorge took one life late Thursday and left a huge power plant on the American side in a tumbled down ruins. More than 40 other employees of the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation scrambled along the dangerous bank to safety. Two of the stations three sections roared into the wild rapids behind them. Company officials were appalled by the damage which wiped out 360,000 kilowatts of power capacity in the twinkling of an eye. They could only say that damage will run into the millions. The original cost of the two completely wrecked sections was about $36 million dollars more than 30 years ago. Lost in the maelstrom of the rocky debris was Richard Draper, age 39, a machinist, of Lewiston. Two companions saw Draper disappear when the cascading remnants of the power house walls. Draper and the others had been working feverishly sandbagging a leak at the base of the station. The seepage had been discovered only hours earlier. The staccato reports of cracking walls warned the men that the end of the building was near. "All I know is the walls and the ceilings started coming down and I ran like hell" said Chris Nelson, age 25, one of the crew members. "I didn't stop for anything. I was really scared". The station, the largest in the Mohawk system was hit by three earth shaking slides which followed each other in rapid order starting just before 5:30 p.m. When it was over, the six turbine generators in the two sections were buried at the foot of the 220 foot gorge. The sudden loss of power brought much of the areas big chemical industry to a halt. A third section where company officials hope to salvage some remnant of their investment houses four - 7,200 kilowatt generators in 25 cycle service and nine - 8,000 kilowatt generators in standard 60 cycle service. All power in this highly industrialized city of 100,000 was instantly cut off but a gradual return began within two hours as the company drew power from its central division, from steam plants and from the Ontario Hydro Electric Commission (HEPC) from across the river. J. Russell McCollough, Regional Manager of the Hydro Electric Power Commission said more than 230,000 kilowatts was sent to the United States as soon as commission officials learned of the rock fall. Hundreds of tourists along the lip of the gorge and on the Rainbow Bridge watched in horror as the rock fall crashed into the rapids. Thousands more have poured into the area afterward. Traffic jammed the two bridges linking the border to watch the emergency operations. American residents were unable to cook dinner on electrical stoves, headed to Ontario for meals. Many others came to view the ruins across the river. There were many eye witnesses to the spectacular slide. Mr. C.A.R. Warren, a retired banker who lives near the gorge said "the roaring noise sounded like a jet flying low" sent him rushing to his living room window. "Everything seemed to be short circuited. Water was shooting high in the air and flames crackled through the building. I saw a wall start to break up. It crumbled a little bit at a time and then big sections came crashing down". Phillip Mullett of Brampton, Ontario was walking across the Rainbow Bridge when he noticed a big dust cloud. "Then there was a roar like a low flying jet plane" he said. Mullett stated the cloud seemed to spread up. When he saw a huge rush of water shooting out of the cliff from above the station, a section of cliff seemed to be ripped away and then the whole business crumbled and smashed into the building. More then 40 persons escaped from the plant before it fell. two men were trapped on the side of the gorge were rescued by a power launch owned by the Maid of the Mist Company. The men were unable to move from their perch on the gorge and searing flames from the wreckage cut off one route and a bridge abutment cut off the other. The men were directly below the power station. The launch set out from the Canadian side noticed the plight of the two men while searching the river. Company officials speculated that the collapse was caused by seepage of water into the rock crevices between the face of the gorge and the hydraulic canal that fed water to the station. He suggested there had been an earth movement. Fear Top Plant Is Doomed If the remaining station "A" should prove to be flooded and beyond salvage, the Schoellkopf station will be a complete loss said Charles J. Wick, administrative vice president of Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation - Western Division. Crew Dashed In Terror For Lives Rocks pelted the roof. Windows popped from their frames and the walls separated and cracked while workmen in the Schoellkopf Power Plant fled in terror yesterday. They ran almost the full length of the 1,500 foot long generator floor to the north entrance through a small door and scrambled along the steep Niagara Gorge bank about a  mile to the Niagara Falls, New York incinerator plant where they found ladders leading above. "There was no panic but we all ran" said Jack Smithson, age 30 of Niagara Falls, New York, one of the workmen. " I thought I was scared in Korea" the US Marine veteran declared "but it wasn't like this". Chris Nelson, age 25 of Niagara Falls, New York, a veteran and workman who was in section 3C stated "all I know is the walls and the ceiling started coming down and I ran like hell". "I didn't stop for anything, I was really scared". Paul Barthau, age 59, of Niagara Falls, New York, an operator at the electrical station for more than twenty years said "I suddenly heard rumbling noises. Rocks started to hit the roof and the far wall separated and cracked." "All the windows started to pop out" said Robert Miller, age 26 of Niagara Falls, New York. "2 or 3 minutes after we got out the whole building collapsed" said Alex Kerilovich, age 33 who was pumping water from the station. Kerilovich said he started to run to the crumbling buildings south end but saw the elevator shaft was blocked. He then fled to the north end with the others. "When it started we all screamed at once - lets get out" said Joseph P. Berett, age 42 of Niagara Falls, New York, foreman of the nine regular operators on duty on the generator floor. Berett said the men were told that when they came to work at 3:45 p.m., that cracks and leaks had cropped up and one piece of the floor had buckled. He added "we feared something might happen. I made sure the small door at the northern end of the generator floor leading out into the gorge bank was open and I had a man stationed there. Several minutes more and none of us would be here". River Road Dwellers Take Vantage Points Residents on River Road and in the streets in the immediate vicinity were on the scene a few seconds after the collapse of the power house. Mrs. Burtis Phillips was sitting in her home looking out the front window when she suddenly saw a flash out of the top of the power plant and then the far end of the building let go. Her husband who was proceeding along River Road from work to his home also saw the collapse of the wall. "The piece that took off part of the lawn at the top of the cliff fell towards the Canadian side" said Mr. Phillips. Alonzo B. Robertson, a building contractor who lives a hundred yards from River Road heard the terrific explosion and ran to the river bank. "Water from the hydraulic canal and the power house tunnel was surging out over the battered power plant. The crash sounded like the whine of a jet plane at 5:05 p.m." Glen Grassbrook of Bender Hill was one of the first witnesses on the scene. Grassbrook said "there was a hole in the roof at the cliff face and the building kept sliding into the river in parts. A blue and yellow fog was rising from the gorge from the generators and turbines. The crash sounded like a whine of a jet". Thousands of tourists lined the river bank on the Canadian side and several hundred walked across the Rainbow Bridge for a better view. The vehicular traffic increased ten fold. Walter Thompson, Public Relations Officer of Niagara Mohawk gave out the following press release: At 10:25 a.m., seepage of water was discovered and construction workers were called in to find the leak and make repairs. At 5:15 p.m. water behind the rock structure caused it to fall on top of the station which obliterated the building. Generator sections "A" and "C" were completely demolished. He said there were 40 men present when the break-up took place. The building was 500 feet long and 100 feet high. The generators which operate on 25 cycle and have an output of 44,000 kilowatts. Surface operations were completely shut down. One man - Richard Draper is missing. Sirens Could Be Heard Throughout The Night Police Prepare For Heavy Traffic For One Of The Heaviest Weekends Of Year Disaster Strikes Twice In One Year Disaster struck for the second time in a few months at the residence of Richard Draper, age 39 of Lewiston, New York. Earlier this year, the kitchen of his home was gutted by fire. His eleven year old daughter Bonnie was badly burned about both legs. Mr. Draper is survived by his wife Erma (Tallman) originally of Port Dalhousie and three children - daughters: Bonnie and Lorraine and son Lloyd. Draper was a maintenance foreman at the Mohawk Power Corporation - Schoellkopf Power Station for twelve years. Saturday June 9th 1956 Switching Station Is Seen Doomed. Demolition Is Essential Now Starting Search For Drapers Body. The Schoellkopf switching station perched precariously atop the ledge of the Niagara Gorge is doomed. If it doesn't tumble of its own accord, we will be forced to demolish it, a Niagara Mohawk official said. The structure was undermined Thursday when 400 feet of rock - 20 feet thick fell off the face of the American Gorge burying 2/3 of the gorge power station. Meanwhile a boat crew will begin searching for the body of Richard Draper. Workers are working around the clock attempting to dam the hydraulic canal. By damming the canal, officials hope to seal off the jet stream that is rolling into the river. When this is accomplished workers will be able to go into the mass of wreckage and estimate the damage in part of the plant left standing. It is flooded now to a depth of 10 feet. Blame Erosion And Seepage For Mud Slide A team of geologists examined the scene yesterday afternoon. They are virtually certain that erosion and water seepage combined to cause the devastating rock slide that crushed 2/3 of the Schoellkopf Power Station. State Geologists: John G. Broughton and James R. Dunn of Albany, New York along with Austin McTigue and Louis S. Bernstein, an engineer of the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation conducted a scene survey. They estimated that 120,000 tons of rock or an estimated 1,000,000 cubic feet of rock plunged into the gorge crushing the power station. A section of rock measuring 400 feet long - 200 feet high and 20 feet thick had broken loose from the top of the cliff. Monday June 11th 1956 Dam Canal For Gorge The cofferdam across the hydraulic canal should be completed by nightfall. Sunday June 20th 1956 List Wrecked Power House At $8 Million Dollars Mr. Earl J. MacHold, president of the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation told stock holders yesterday that the two sections of the Schoellkopf Power Station wiped out June 7th by a Niagara Gorge rock slide carried a depreciated value of $8 million dollars. Meanwhile, seepage through the cofferdam in the hydraulic canal prevented company officials from inspecting the wreckage. Only station "3A" escaped destruction. Workers from McLain Construction of Kenmore, New York were using cinders and gravel to plug leaks in the cofferdam. The cofferdam measures 140 feet long and 35 feet high and is located in the hydraulic canal at the mouth of the Niagara River at Port Day. Seepage kept the water level in the 4,500 feet long hydraulic canal approximately 5 feet deep. Niagara Falls, New York - Police Chief Charles Gorman said at least 5 safes have turned up so far as the water level in the hydraulic canal dropped. Chief Gorman stated the criminal elements used the canal as a dumping site. The canal was last drained in 1923. Wednesday June 23rd 1956 Recover Many Weapons From Power Canal Police Chief Charles Gorman indicated that police had recovered 5 revolvers, 1 automatic and 12 toy pistols from the Niagara Mohawk Power Company hydraulic canal during a four and a half hour search yesterday. Saturday August 7th 1956 Recover Body Of Man Lost In Rock Fall The badly decomposed body of the 39 year old Lewiston man killed two months ago when a gigantic rock fall crushed the Schoellkopf Power Plant in Niagara Falls, New York was recovered from the Niagara River shortly after noon yesterday. It was identified at the Morse and Sons Chapel as that of Richard A. Draper, maintenance worker who was reported missing after thousands of tons of rock fell on the plant on June 7th causing an estimated $100 million dollars damage. The body came to the surface opposite the shattered remains of the power installation yesterday morning. It passed through the lower rapids and circled around the whirlpool for an hour before being brought to shore by Wesley Hill and Ken Sloggett. "I was barely 3 years old when my father, Michael Hajzak, experienced the collapse of the power station. He was 43 years old at the time. My father had been given the job of measuring the cracks in the wall and that he was involved in the sandbagging efforts. He was one of the very first men that realized that the Power Station was collapsing and began running for his life along the top of the building. My father retired in 1963 as a maintenance worker for the Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. after 18 years of service. He died on February 5, 1995, at the age of 81." Mary Jane Hajzak Mitchell

December 13th 2008 NIAGARA FALLS THUNDER ALLEY NAVIGATOR

INFORMATION INDEX

Information Index Accidents & Rescues Aero Car American Falls Attractions Attractions Price List Aviary of Niagara Barge (Scow) Books & Authors Botanical Gardens Boundary Waters Treaty Bridges History Butterfly Conservatory Carillon Tower Casino Niagara Cave of the Winds Clifton Hill Climate Customs Regulations Daredevils Dewatered Falls Directions & Parking Dufferin Islands Environmental Issues EVENTS & NEWS Falls Facts & History Festival of Lights Fireworks Over Falls Floral Clock Floral Showhouse Frequently Asked Questions Geology Greenhouses Horseshoe Falls Hydro Diversion Ice Bridges / Ice Boom Illumination Lights Links to Educational Sites Maid of the Mist Municipalities of Niagara NEWS & EVENTS Niagara Glen Niagara Gorge Niagara Parks Niagara River Niagara River Treaty Niagara Tunnel Project Oakes Garden Theatre Parking & Directions Power History Rankine Power Station Rescues & Accidents Scow (Stranded Barge) SITE MAP Spanish Aero Car Towers of Niagara Falls Urban Developments Weather Whirlpool Whirlpool Aero Car Whirlpool Rapids



HISTORICAL ARCHIVE

History Index Barge (Scow) Accidents & Rescues Accounts Historic American Falls Dry 1969 American Revolution Barnett, Thomas Bender, Phillip Birth of the Cities: a history Bridges: a History British in Niagara Burning Springs Caroline, the Steamboat Center, the Chippawa - a History City of the Falls Project Clifton, Town & Village of Commerce (Early) Crysler, Harmanus Daredevils Hall of Fame Devil's Hole & Massacre Dewatered Falls Drummond Hill Early Settlers Explorers Accounts Forsyth, James Freedom Trail of Niagara French in Niagara Frontier Amusement Park Geology - a History Great Gorge Route Historic Accounts Honeymoon Bridge Collapse Hotels & Campgrounds Ice Bridges Ice Bridge Deaths Incline Railway Crash (1907) Indian Nations Islands of Upper Niagara Lorreto Academy MacKenzie Rebellion Michigan, the Schooner Mill District of New York Mowat Gates Muddy Run Creek New York, Western Niagara Falls 1800's Niagara Parks - a History Oakes, Harry Pioneer Families Post American Revolution Portage Road Power - a History Powerhouse at Queenston 1954 Prospect Point Rockfall Railroads - a History Rankine Power Station Schoellkopf Power Collapse Scow(stranded barge) SITE MAP Skyview Airlines Streetcars & Trolleys Subchaser Superior, the steamboat Table Rock - a History Terrapin Point - a History Toll Roads - a History Tower Terminal Inn Towers - a History Townships: a history War of 1812, Rumours of War of 1812 Battle of Queenston Battle of Newark Battle of Beaverdams Battle of Chippawa Battle of Lundy's Lane Battle of Cooks Mills War of 1812- Ending Post War Development Water Works Yesterday 1909 Zimmerman, Samuel



PICTURES & SLIDESHOWS

Photo Index American Memories (link) Fireworks Over Falls Historical Pictures Page #1 Historical Pictures Page #2 Honeymoon Bridge Collapse NF Library Collection (link) Panoramic Pictures Powerhouse at Queenston 1954 Small Town America (link) Yesterday 1909

SITE MAP Date last updated: February 13, 2012



The following locations and facts about them are but a few of many famous sites & attractions to be found in Niagara Falls. The best of it is FREE to see...so think of Niagara Falls when planning your next vacation. If you have questions of a current or historical nature about the Niagara Falls area or suggestions feel free to e-mail Rick at niagarahistory@gmail.com THANK YOU FOR VISITING the SCHOELLKOPF

POWER STATION

DISASTER

page RETURN TO THUNDER ALLEY
An Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ndigbo United Forum (NUF), has warned against interference and disruption of the coming November 6th Go...





An Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ndigbo United Forum (NUF), has warned against interference and disruption of the coming November 6th Governorship election in Anambra State under whatever guise.

The group tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a credible exercise ahead of the November 6th gubernatorial election in Anambra State.

The NUFs warning is coming against the backdrop of the threat and exchange of political brickbats by groups and politicians ahead of the gubernatorial poll in Anambra.

In a release by its Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Chinedu Mba and sent to newsmen on Friday night, the group reminded political actors that Anambra, just like every other Igbo state, is too important to trifle with, cautioning them to refrain from violent tendencies capable of causing chaos and anarchy.

The NUF called on all fighters and promoters of Igbo cause, particularly, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to encourage a record turnout for the forthcoming election, so that Anambra and Igbos by extension will come out en masses to elect their leader by themselves.

According to the ethnic organization, the lockdown threats on the election day, is very troubling to all ears. However, we consider it a rumour that would be jettisoned in due time; for we have confidence in the ability of our youths to reach a sound judgement; no matter how much annoyed they are.

The legacy of our brave ancestors, which late Dim Odumegwu Chukwuemeka Ojukwu embodied and exemplified in the form of a political movement  Igbo party, must be carefully considered and respected.

The NUF also frowned at the unguarded utterances by some politicians and groups which has instilled fear in people, reassuring the Anambra electorates that their safety is guaranteed on the election day.

It stated, NUF would be overjoyed to see a reversal of the unguarded utterances and rhetoric from various corners, in respect to the Anambra election. And, we are banking our hopes on a very solid foundation. We cannot afford to shoot ourselves in the feet, whilst trying to fight for ourselves. We must allow Superior Reason and Cool Headedness to guide our choice of words and actions.

In our bid to fight for ourselves, we must ensure that we dont give room for enemies of Ndigbo to assail us. We are in a battle quite alright, but we need to apply wisdom and stealth in order not to end up offering our enemies a cheap victory in a platter.

The NUF further reiterated her call on INEC, Security operatives, and other interested parties, to ensure that the Anambra State election must reflect, in its entirety, the global best practices; any attempt to defile the sanctity of a free and fair election would be roundly resisted by Igbo nation.

According to the statement,Let it serve as a litmus test for the good change we have been yearning for in Nigerias electoral sector. Let the election be remarkable both in appearance and reality. Anyone, or any group of people, suggesting that we fold our arms and watch Anambra degenerate into a rudderless ship, is not advocating a good thing for the Igbo nation.

The sanctity of electoral autonomy and freedom for all Igbo enclave is sacrosanct, and as such, must be protected by all means. That is who we are, free people!

Granted that we are being marginalized and shortchanged; granted that marginalization has subsisted for a very long time; granted that there is an urgent need for Ndigbo to rally round together and fight the injustice, but trying to stop the gubernatorial election is not an acceptable means of fighting the injustice against us.

The NUF also disclosed that it has mobilized members across the 21 local government areas in Anambra state to complement sound monitoring efforts.

We wont be observing from afar, rather, we are fully on ground to monitor the electoral proceedings. We are strongly committed to ensuring that due diligence is strictly adhered to.

As a universally acknowledged proud, egalitarian, utilitarian, republican and peaceful tribe, all hands must be on deck to ensure a seamless electoral process that will culminate in the election of a popular candidate. A candidate that will key into the collective Igbo cause of furthering our lots as a vibrant people.

All agitations, misunderstanding, rancour and wrangling, must not be allowed to grow taller than the need for a peaceful and transparent election. At this point, we must do well to eschew undue sentiments and rash opinions, the socio-cultural body in Igboland concluded.
Senate Minority Leader, Eyinnaya Abaribe, has disclosed that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu and his group ...





Senate Minority Leader, Eyinnaya Abaribe, has disclosed that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu and his group never said election should not hold in Anambra State.

Abaribe said fifth columnists are behind the no election order and not Kanu or IPOB.

Speaking during a town hall meeting with the leadership and students of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, Abaribe said Kanus lawyers confirmed that the order did not come from their leader.

Who gave the order that there will be no election? IPOB has never said that there will be no election in Anambra. It is the handwork of 5th columnists, Abaribe said.

There has been tension over the planned conduct of the November 6th governorship election in Anambra State.

Rumours making the rounds have it that IPOB declared that the forthcoming election wont hold.

However, IPOB has denied giving such an order, stressing that it has nothing to do with Nigerias electoral system.

Meanwhile, the separatist group had ordered a sit-at-home in Anambra State, starting from November 5th.

The order is aimed at prevailing on the Federal Government to release Kanu.
The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a top member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who also commands its militant wing, t...





The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a top member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who also commands its militant wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).

A source told newsmen that the commander was arrested in Ekwukobia in Aguata Local Government Area of the state on Saturday afternoon.

It was gathered that the ESN operative was arrested in his house with a bullet wound after a tip-off to the police by concerned individuals.

Recall that there was a gun battle between security agents and gunmen in Ekwulobia on Friday, in which there were casualties on both sides, with many of the gunmen said to have escaped with bullet wounds.

Though the Public Relations Officer of the state police command, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga could not confirm the arrest of the ESN operative, as his phone could not be reached, a senior police officer who spoke with our correspondent confirmed the arrest.

The senior police officer who preferred not to be named said: One Udebuan Sage Chubueze M, a top Commander of IPOB/ESN was arrested today (Saturday).

The suspect was arrested with a gunshot injury on 29th October 2021. A search was conducted in his house at Ekwulobia and Nnewi where four AK-47, two automatic pump-action, and ammunition were recovered.

The suspect confessed to have led several attacks on police facilities and responsible for the killings of several policemen and Naval personnel. We commend this breakthrough as this will further weaken the strength of IPOB/ESN against the security men, he said.

He also said that investigation has begun and that the arrested operatives have been making useful confessions to security agents that can aid the arrest of his colleagues.
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Alan Chen, 14, receives his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from pharmacist Allen Lee of SunRay Drugs in July in Philadelphia. Now the FDA has approved Pfizer-BioNTech shots for ages 5 to 11. Heather Khalifa/Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS
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After discovering long-buried family history, Warren Bell plans to celebrate All Saints Day with a newfound appreciation.

As is New Orleans custom, many residents will visit cemeteries across town Monday to clean graves of their ancestors. For Bell, its the beginning of a 30-day, $10,000 renovation of a family tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 2.

Bells initial interest in sprucing up the tomb was one of necessity: It will be his own home for eternity.

The tomb is not just a memorial. I plan to go there, said Bell, 70, a retired television newscaster and educator.

Earlier this year, he visited the single-width, twin-vault tomb, engraved with the name J. Vigne. He found it was majestic and historic, but not up to the exacting standards of Warren Bell. No one has been added to it in more than 25 years. Its dingy, gray and in disrepair.

Thus the planned renovation.

But who was J. Vigne?

Bell didnt know much family history before his paternal grandmother, Jeanne Vigne, who lived across the street from him and served him dark coffee with sweetened condensed milk in a demitasse cup. I wish Id asked more questions then, he said.

Her only child was Bells father, Warren A. Bell Sr., a saxophonist who played with bandleaders like Dave Bartholomew and Clyde Kerr and was well known on the East Coast from his days serving in the U.S. Army band. A local official was at an East Coast club when superstar reedsman John Coltrane walked in, saw Bells father playing and said, That yellow dude from New Orleans can blow like Bird, referring to Charlie Parker.

The Coltrane quotation blew Bell away, and reminded him how much is unknown, even within our own families. How many other memories do we not have? he asked.

He began to get answers by tapping into a new mapping project from The Historic New Orleans Collection, Tulane School of Architecture, Save Our Cemeteries and New Orleans Catholic Cemeteries. People can search for kin at St. Louis Cemeteries Nos. 1 and 2 through an online database, which links to photographs of the tombs, geocoded to location of each gravesite.

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The name on the tomb was that of Bells great grandfather, Jean Vigne, a prominent jazz drummer. Vignes parents were an enslaved woman and her owner.

And as it turns out, there are two tombs tied to Bells family in St. Louis No. 2. Theres the one in Square 1, where Bell will be laid to rest, and another, grander edifice in Square 3, the section that was originally set aside for people of color and has been called by historian Joe Logsdon the greatest collection of memorials to African-American achievement in the world.

Bell knew a few of the 24 people who were buried in his own tomb over 105 years, starting with Vigne, who built the tomb and usually went by John, an anglicized version of his given name, or by his nickname, Raddy.

The other tomb, too, told stories. In 1912, Vignes mother, Agathe Keys Vignes, was placed into the Square 3 tomb. (The family name eventually morphed into Vigne, dropping the s.) Her husband, Jean Andre Vignes, had immigrated from France to start a wood and coal business, meeting Agathe when she was enslaved as a cook at a plantation near Alexandria.

They had two children together and then, about 10 years later, he purchased her to be his companion and brought her to New Orleans, Bell said. On his deathbed, he emancipated her and bequeathed everything to her and their five children.

+3 The tale of a Storyville icon, a marble master and a Metairie Cemetery ghostly legend The sad truth is that final resting places arent always as final as implied, and for a variety of reasons, from grave robbery to family economics.

After he died in 1864, at age 48, Agathe Vignes went on to run a popular lunch counter in the 300 block of Dauphine Street. Their oldest son, Leon, was noted in an 1877 newspaper advertisement as a butcher and grocer who sold the best quality beef, pork, mutton, veal and vegetables from two stalls of the Magazine Market. He was also a leader within the influential Societe dEconomie dAssistance Mutuelle, the Economy Society, from 1876 until his death in 1905, when his tomb was erected.

Jean, the baby boy and drummer, went into the family business, delivering wood and coal to houses in Storyville and playing with parade bands. He put down his bass drum to become one of the citys first trap-set drummers. He played with local jazz orchestras until his death in 1916, when he was interred in his own tomb, the one that now belongs to Bell. Bell estimates the renovation will take about 30 days. Masons will strip the marble-topped, brick-and-mortar structure of detritus, fix bricks and replaster. Then theyll pour concrete around the tomb, reset the distinct white and gray marble tile in front and paint the structure in bright white lime.

Even now, Bell can see his final resting place from his car, as he gets off Interstate 10 at Orleans Avenue. The fresh paint will make it even more visible.

My grandbabies will be able to take a ride, see the top of my tomb and wave at me, he said.
A long-simmering clash over homeless encampments under New Orleans freeways is reaching a boil, with nearby residents and businesses making renewed calls for a solution from City Hall as workers and tourists return to the area.

At issue is an encampment of people that has grown under the Pontchartrain Expressway along the Calliope Street corridor, running roughly from St. Charles Avenue to Annunciation Street near the National World War II Museum.

The debate about public camping in that area, as well as under the Interstate 10 overpass along North Claiborne Avenue and other public spaces, has been contentious for years, though it has grown more acute during the pandemic amid rising numbers of people there.

Nearby business owners and residents have complained about vermin, trash and human waste that accumulates in the periods between the city's monthly cleaning sweeps.

The complaints largely have been met with calls for compassion for the homeless by advocates and city officials, including Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who has said the city is doing the best it can with limited resources. The New Orleans Police Department say changes in local laws and decisions in federal courts have limited their ability to relocate people.

Now, the WWII Museum has said that as it brings more of its employees back to work, it will be reclaiming the parking area it rents from the Louisiana Department of Transportation along the Calliope corridor. That lease covers most of the area that has become occupied by campers.

Becky Mackie, the museum's chief operating officer, said that the nonprofit is planning to hand out flyers notifying the campers that the museum has a lease on the public property, and that the campers will need to leave. They also plan to ask that trespassing laws be enforced if needed.

At meetings with NOPD officers, city officials and local residents over the past two weeks, Mackie said she and other museum leaders are concerned about their employees' safety. Mackie also said that the museum has received a growing number of complaints from visitors over unsanitary conditions, with some saying they were harassed by campers as they passed through the area.

She said the museum plans to start its own private security patrols once employees start using the lots in coming months. They have also asked the NOPD and the health department for more patrols in the area.

Scott Polakoff, a Warehouse District resident who has become an informal leader of a group pressuring city officials to do more, said he hopes the museum situation forces the issue.

"Im hoping that there is a perfect storm, a combination of the residents of this area, the businesses of this area, and the WWII Museum as leader of the business community, to coalesce and articulate the need for action and hopefully the city and its departments respond appropriately," Polakoff said.

So far, the city has argued that there is little they can do. City spokesman Beau Tidwell said that there is no blanket anti-camping ordinance in the city, though he acknowledged that there are some laws about park hours, public urination, and blocking public ways that can be used to move people occasionally.

Tidwell also noted a 2016 decision by a federal appeals court, Martin vs Boise, which is often cited as determining that it is a constitutional right for people with no alternative to camp in public space. But Eric Tars, a member of a Washington D.C. homeless-advocacy group who supported plaintiffs in that case, said that the purpose wasn't to force cities to allow endlessly growing encampments, but rather to get them to provide alternatives.

"Our organization does not advocate for perpetual encampments," said Tars. "Encampments on our streets is a sign of the failure of our political system to meet that basic human right."

Still, NOPD Captain Jeffrey Walls, commander of the 8th District, which covers the Calliope encampment area, told residents at a meeting Thursday that the campers have "a constitutional right to be there" and that even if they were to ask people to leave, they would still return.

"There's a reason for that: they're getting fed, they're getting tents, people are paying money for them," Walls said.

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Walls said that police are trying to take "a whole community approach" by asking people to give to homeless-aid organizations instead of panhandlers.

It is not clear how many people are camping along Calliope at any one time. However, city officials, the police, and housing activists say it has grown considerably in the last two years and can consist of well over 100 tents at any given time.

"Every week there are always a bunch of completely new homeless people there," said Martha Kegel, head of Unity, an umbrella group that coordinates dozens of local organizations dealing with housing and homelessness issues. "The number in the Calliope camp, and certainly the identity of the actual people there, vary significantly week to week and at any time of year."

One of those currently camping in the area, Shannon Williams, said his housing situation had been precarious since the pandemic started. Originally a resident of Harmony Oaks Apartments in Central City, he had been sub-letting rooms from other renters when his work as a carpenter started to dry up.

After Hurricane Ida, he ran out of options and had to start camping.

"They automatically put me on the list for temporary housing, but they told me I had to be homeless for a certain period of time before I'd be eligible," he said, not sure of who it was that had taken his details down at the encampment or how long he might have to wait.

Also among the Calliope camp residents is Lindsey P., 30, who is originally from a coastal Mississippi town and shares a tent with her partner, Mickey, 35, who goes daily to a methadone clinic. She said she has gone through several personal crises, including a major heart operation and having to give her two children up for adoption.

She would be happy to find a more stable housing option, and said she often feels unsafe as a woman living in a camp primarily populated by men. Yet, she sees the appeal of the camp.

"People are different, you know? Everybody has different hours and different things they like to do," she said. "Here, people can get away from the rest of the world."

Ronald S., 60, who is originally from Fort Kent, in northern Maine, ended up at the Calliope encampment in December after about a year living at a mission in Daytona Beach, Florida. The former volunteer fireman and EMT said he gave up on Maine's harsh winters in 2013 and decided to hit the road, working his way around the country.

He said he'd be willing to go to a different camping location if asked.

Jay Banks, the City Council member for District B, which includes the Calliope corridor camp, said he is in favor of providing alternative camp areas that would be safe and offer other health services.

"If we could have some structured camp that people that choose not to live in four walls want to live in, I'm willing to have those talks," said Banks. "But I don't want to get to the point where people are criminalized for choosing to live on the streets."

New Orleans had the highest rate of homelessness in the country in the years after Hurricane Katrina, reaching 6,500 in 2011. That was down to 1,200 in spring 2019, the last time Unity did a count.

The city's low-barrier shelter will soon provide an additional 330 beds on terms that are less restrictive than some other area shelters. It was expected to open in the summer, but construction delays have pushed the opening until next month.
Joshua Bruno, the owner of several New Orleans apartment complexes where tenants and their advocates have long complained of substandard living conditions, could be forced to cede control of five properties in the city that together house several hundred low-income renters.

The Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, moved to foreclose on Brunos properties last spring and now wants a judge to appoint a keeper to oversee them.

The properties were ordered seized in May, but the order sat idle while Bruno, president of Metro-Wide Apartments, fights to hold onto them in a case before Orleans Parish Civil District Judge Nicole Sheppard.

Seeking an injunction, Bruno claims the businesses have lost millions from the pandemic downturn and that Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage company, duped him into not paying the notes by promising another forbearance, then reneged.

Fannie Mae now says any talk of forbearance is over. Its lawyers asked Sheppard last week for an emergency status conference, aiming to move ahead with a keeper who would be empowered to take over bank funds and tenant leases and manage the properties pending a possible sheriffs sale.

Fannie Mae cited reports from the advocacy group New Orleans Renters Rights Assembly, which asked to be heard in the foreclosure case in a petition filed this month on behalf of three of Brunos tenants. They reported significant damage from Hurricane Ida at Brunos properties, and myriad problems earlier.

Before Hurricane Ida, the conditions at the propertieswere dire. Following Hurricane Ida, the conditions are desperate, the tenants group argued. Management has been largely absent and unreachable.

Bruno disputes the tenant groups account, and he has accused Fannie Mae of unfair trade practices. He claims the lender encouraged him not to pay on his loans during the pandemic, assured him a third round of forbearance was coming, then placed the properties in default.

Bruno said the lender sent a letter two days before Christmas demanding payment in full including hefty penalties.

The properties are two large Algiers apartment complexes, Oakmont Apartments and Cypress Park Apartments, as well as Forest Park Apartments, Liberty Park Apartments and Washington Place Apartments on the east bank. Latter & Blum Property Management Co. has been tapped as the would-be keeper, which would take over the leases.

A hearing date on the injunctions that Bruno is seeking was set for September before Ida hit.

Bruno claimed in April that he was willing to bring the loans current but that Fannie Mae declined. He and the lender were in discussions regarding a potential forbearance agreement after that, but those talks have ended, according to Fannie Mae.

Bruno has long been targeted by low-income housing advocates who portray him as a slumlord. In court filings, he claimed hes poured millions of dollars into properties that were distressed when he bought them, and that he specializes in turnaround projects in urban areas, helping to fulfill Fannie Maes mission.

Bruno defended his stewardship of the properties in response to e-mailed questions.

We were close to an agreement before Hurricane Ida struck as well as earlier this month, Bruno wrote.

We were trying to work with Fannie Mae, which is a government partnered bank, to pay off the loans but all our offers were rejected, he added. We had other methods to fund the pay off and still hold out hope Fannie Mae would allow this option, so we can focus on the residents and operations rather than litigation.

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Bruno blamed the pandemic and the government shutdown that ensued on a hard hit to his cash flow. He said the move was based on his low debt-to-income ratio.

"I don't think it's against Josh Bruno," he said. "I think this is an overreach for a bank that saw an opportunity to profit from a pandemic and disaster and ran the numbers. They made a move and have done everything to try and tax me."

Along with lost rents from the pandemic, he said each of the five New Orleans properties sustained Ida damage to some degree and that much has been repaired, including roofwork across the Oakmont complex that Bruno said is scheduled to be finished on Sunday.

We are confident that no other management group could have done as much to repair multi-family property holdings as quickly and as safely as we have, Bruno said.

Appointment of a keeper will only result in delay of the ongoing hurricane repair effort, to the detriment of the tenants, the neighborhood and community.

Neither Fannie Mae nor its attorney in the case responded to requests for comment. Fannie Mae has argued in court that Bruno explicitly agreed that no discussions of another forbearance were binding unless it was in writing.

Hannah Adams, a staff attorney at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services who drafted the tenant groups petition, dismissed Brunos claims.

She cited more than two dozen eviction filings against tenants of Brunos two west bank apartment complexes last year, during a period in which she said the loans were in forbearance. Adams said Bruno violated the terms of the federal CARES Act by filing them.

Bruno also at one point slapped pay or vacate notices on tenants doors despite a moratorium at the time on evictions for unpaid rent.

Brunos claim to having restored the properties to pre-storm conditions doesnt inspire, said Adams, who described those prior conditions as deplorable, with years of deferred maintenance. Among the regular issues for residents are sewage backups at Oakmont, leaks, mold and other safety hazards, she said.

The urgency is certainly high at this moment. They clearly cant manage these properties properly, Adams said. They cant follow the most basic obligations the federal government set out under COVID, and they couldnt keep these properties in livable condition before Ida.

Bruno bought Oakmont, by far the largest of the five complexes, with 336 units, in 2014.

The following year, he refinanced five other multi-family properties, including Riverview Apartments, a 45-unit complex in Kenner. Fannie Mae also has moved in court in Jefferson Parish to foreclose on that property.

Combined, those six Bruno properties hold 500 units.

As of Friday, Sheppard had not yet set a date for the emergency meeting that Fannie Mae requested.
A landlord whose tenants received misleading eviction warnings as Louisianas coronavirus crisis began is now threatening legal action against renters in Algiers who havent paid up.

Orleans Parish judges have halted evictions until at least May 4, but the new notices from landlord Joshua Brunos company tell tenants to pay or vacate and promise appropriate legal action if they do not.

The notices drew exasperated responses from tenants, City Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer and legal advocates who say they run afoul of the new federal stimulus act. But Bruno argued the new law didnt apply to him  and sought to put the blame on tenants.

+3 Eviction warning amid coronavirus crisis draws outrage in New Orleans: 'People need help, not harm' The notice with the apartment company's name was taped to the front door of a shotgun double in Treme on Wednesday morning.

The situation at the Cypress Park apartment complex highlights the conflicts that may be brewing in many places: Renters whove lost their jobs because of the coronavirus crisis are failing to make rent payments to landlords, who are barred for now from evicting them.

Despite the eviction moratorium, several tenants of Brunos MetroWide Apartments company received notices last month warning that evictions will continue. Bruno disavowed those notices and blamed them on an errant groundskeeper.

But this week notices to vacate began arriving at the Algiers complex, and Bruno didn't disclaim those. Instead, he said that while he acknowledges he cant kick any tenants out now, he intends to do so once the courts reopen.

A large number have been carrying balances PRIOR to corona, and have failed on on promises to pay BEFORE corona and after  and have ignored all calls and texts in attempt to work out agreement and or provide us with any information other than telling off my office team, Bruno said in an email.

But even if tenants have a history of nonpayment, Bruno is barred by law from sending them notices to vacate, according to Hannah Adams, an attorney at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services who represents low-income tenants.

Adams, whos sparred with Bruno in court before, said the federal CARES Act signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27 prohibits landlords who receive money through programs like Section 8 from issuing notices to vacate.

Bruno cannot file for an eviction, charge fees for late rent or issue vacate notices until July 25 at properties receiving most federal subsidies, including federally backed mortgages, Adams said.

Bruno has a different interpretation.

We of course follow all laws both state and federal but disagree completely with the slanderous and libel(ous) statements made by Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, he said in an email.

More tenants could be in a similar situation whenever the eviction moratorium ends, Adams said. She worries that renters throughout the city could face eviction threats or notices to vacate from landlords who are covered by the CARES Act, without knowing that they should be protected.

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Judges will need to require that landlords provide proof that their property is NOT covered by the CARES Act as part of their burden, or risk mass eviction of protected tenants in violation of federal law, she said.

One of Brunos tenants at the Algiers apartment complex said the notice to vacate added to her anxiety during an already uncertain time.

Johnquil Kelley said she didnt make rent on April 1 because she lost her job at a French Quarter restaurant when the pandemic prompted a near-total shutdown of the hospitality industry.

Meanwhile, someone recently stole the air conditioning unit that sat outside her apartment, she said, and shes been trying for weeks to get MetroWide to give her a replacement. Then came the vacate notice printed on red paper, she said.

At first Im like, this is illegal. But now Im kind of worried, because I dont really know what extremes hell go to at this point. Im not sure what hell do, she said.

Long-term tenants tossed from New Orleans motels despite order halting evictions during pandemic Jaronda Hinton has heard over and over that she cant be evicted. Her friends, neighbors and the lawyers trying to keep her housed say she can

The situation has drawn the attention of Palmer, whose office has attempted to intervene on Kelleys behalf. The councilwoman said she has previously butted heads with Bruno over the condition of another apartment complex in Algiers.

This is pretty typical, Palmer said of the notice Kelley received. She voiced concern that Kelley might have received the notice as payback for complaining about the AC unit.

We do not need him in Algiers. He owns slum property and he does not clean it up, Palmer said.

+7 Hotel hosting New Orleans homeless a 'time bomb for coronavirus,' medical staff say A downtown New Orleans hotel where nearly 200 homeless people have been housed during the coronavirus pandemic is failing to follow basic heal

Bruno said Kelley was a problem tenant. He accused her of threatening his employees and implied that she might have had something to do with the missing air conditioner.

Out of ALL OUR apartments this ONE tenant seems to be having items stolen ONLY from her unit as fast as we can replace them, he said.

Kelley denied threatening MetroWide employees or stealing her own AC unit. "Thats crazy, she said.

On some of the hot days since she lost her unit, shes been forced to rent a hotel room to house her 4-year-old son, she said. Other times, shes resorted to ice cream to keep him cool.

You feel like youre so bad as a parent, she said. This is making me feel guilty, and I shouldnt have to feel guilty.
In explaining how his former girlfriend died of a single gunshot wound to back of her head, Shawn Chiasson told homicide detectives that he had spent the night out partying well until morning, coming home some time just before 9 a.m.

"Home" was the Marrero residence of Lindsey Williams, his ex, who, relatives say, had generously allowed Chiasson to continue staying with her past their breakup until he could get himself together.

Chiasson told investigators with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office that he was in the bedroom, trying to remove his pants when the gun accidentally fired.

But the evidence on the scene didn't "align" with Chiasson's explanation for the shooting, Sheriff's Detective Steven Quaintance testified during a probable cause hearing held Thursday in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court.

Chiasson was arrested in Williams' Aug. 14 death and booked with second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Quaintance revealed a handful of new details about investigation into the young mother's slaying.

+3 With suspect behind bars, relatives mourn Marrero mother allegedly killed by ex-boyfriend Friends and family say Lindsey Williams was a beautiful soul with a striking smile, a deep and abiding love for her 11-year-old son and a comp

Williams' 11-year-old son was asleep in his bedroom at the home in the 100 block of Gaudet Drive in Marrero when he was roused by the sound of a man screaming, Quaintance testified.

The boy was still a bit groggy when Chiasson rushed into his room panicked and took his cellphone. Chiasson ordered Williams' son to stay in his room before dashing out.

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The boy waited several minutes before exiting the room. By the time he did, Sheriff's Office deputies were arriving at the house, according to Quaintance.

+2 Man wanted in Marrero murder of his former girlfriend arrested Monday morning: JPSO Shawn Chiasson, the man accused of fatally shooting his former girlfriend inside her Marrero home, was taken into custody Monday morning, acco

Investigators suspect Chiasson used the boy's cellphone to call 911. Identifying himself as "Jake," Chiasson reported that someone had been shot at the residence before taking Williams' car and driving away.

Detectives eventually tracked the stolen cellphone to a fast-food restaurant in Westwego. There, they found Williams' abandoned vehicle and the cellphone, Quaintance said.

Williams' relatives, who had been trying to help authorities find Chiasson, located the keys to her car on a nearby canal bank, according to authorities. That's where investigators ultimately found the gun later proven to have been used in the shooting.

Chiasson was caught two days after the homicide at a home on Allo Avenue in Marrero. The property's landlord was there to do some work on the residence, according to Quaintance. The man opened the door and found himself looking at Chiasson.

The landlord immediately recognized him from social media posts published by the victim's family and news reports, Quaintance said. He called authorities, and Chiasson was arrested a short time later.

When taken into custody, Chiasson had a gunshot wound to his arm. He told investigators he tried to kill himself on the canal bank, but decided against it at the last second, according to Quaintance.

Criminal Commissioner Paul Schneider ruled there was probable cause to continue holding Chiasson on the charges. He was being held Friday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on a $700,000 bond.
Second of a two-part series. See Part 1.

Amanda Williams-Johnson loved working as a part-time paramedic at New Orleans Emergency Medical Services. She described the job as stressful and intense, but employee camaraderie and pride in helping people kept her going.

A lot of people love to work in New Orleans. A lot of people who work there stay there, Williams-Johnson said.

But just like the Police and Fire departments, attrition has been taking a toll. EMS was already short-handed in the spring of 2020, when COVID-19 turned a challenging situation into a full-blown crisis.

Since the whole COVID thing started, it's just been people getting burned out really, really quickly, Williams-Johnson said.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a spike in 911 calls. Within weeks, EMTs and paramedics themselves were out sick or in quarantine. Overflowing hospitals forced ambulances to wait on emergency room ramps. Then ambulances that had been running around the clock started breaking down with mechanical problems.

With 1 in 6 workers under quarantine, New Orleans EMS to run lower-level ambulances With 16% of its workers in self-isolation due to exposure to the coronavirus, New Orleans Emergency Medical Services will run ambulances to si

All of these factors have stretched New Orleans EMS to the point that it leaves some medical emergency calls unanswered.

Records previously reviewed by WWL television show that every week in New Orleans, hundreds of 911 medical calls get classified as NUA, for no unit available. These have been logged at EMS for years, but their frequency has hit record levels during the pandemic. In mid-June, NUAs hit a one-week high of 475, according to the records.

This the worst I've seen it. It really is. Hands down, it's the worst, Williams-Johnson said.

After five years on the job, Williams-Johnson recently put in her resignation notice.

She is hardly alone. Civil Service records show that 75 medics have left EMS since the beginning of 2019. The pace of departures has been faster than new employees were hired, leaving more than 20 full-time vacancies out of 156 positions as of September.

Ashley Whittington, an EMS paramedic for four years, left at the end of 2020 out of stress and frustration.

The overwhelming number of calls coming into EMS every day is completely overwhelming. Completely, Whittington said. It is absolutely a perfect storm. It is absolutely critical.

With more calls coming in than there are ambulances to respond, dispatchers use their training to prioritize emergencies. But even then, Whittington said, some life-or-death calls had to wait.

It's very frustrating when you're going to a call and you show up on the scene and it's someone who's not critical, Whittington said. Then you hear a critical call go over the radio and there's no one to go.

Another paramedic, who asked to remain anonymous, left EMS a couple of months ago. She said she was torn about leaving co-workers behind, but in the end, the job got to be too much for her.

Medics are already exhausted. It just continues on, said the paramedic, who has since started another job with a different agency. Some of it is the burnout, the pay. Some of it is just the morale in general.

To fill the emergency shortage, firefighters have been answering medical calls. Most are trained emergency medical technicians, able to stabilize patients until an ambulance arrives. Some have even taken part-time shifts driving ambulances.

Aaron Mischler, president of the New Orleans Firefighters Union, said providing EMS backup has put a tremendous strain on the Fire Department. More importantly, he said, some people experiencing medical emergencies are being forced to wait.

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That leads to more citizens being drastically injured or dying, Mischler said. That's where we're at with the Fire Department and EMS. It's beyond critical mass.

+2 New Orleans ambulances to carry blood for pre-hospital transfusions New service comes with request for blood donations to save trauma patients

Most of the time firefighters are pressed into action, they drive a Fire Department vehicle. Not only does that pull them away from their regular duties, they end up waiting at the medical scene until an ambulance shows up to take a patient to the hospital.

For the past few months, the only thing saving EMS from complete collapse has been outside help: Federally funded surge ambulances came from all over the country. They first arrived to help with the COVID spike and even more came after Hurricane Ida. In September, 18 surge ambulances kept EMS afloat, more than the 16 units that EMS itself had on the street.

Now the surge ambulances are on their way out, once again leaving the agency significantly underequipped during the Halloween weekend. The number of EMS ambulances available Friday was 19, out of 24 needed for full coverage, a spokesperson said. Another 21 were in the shop.

Dr. Emily Nichols, director of EMS, admitted that the problem is an emergency. Even she has been forced to respond to calls.

The day before the [surge] ambulances came, it was dire, Nichols said.

They [employees] are burnt out. They're tired. And so every person [who's] not here is one less space on an ambulance.

Nichols said that relying on help from other ambulance companies is not sustainable. One of New Orleans' main private partners, Acadian Ambulance Service, is facing its own staff shortages.

Acadian Regional Vice-President Tim Burke said the same issues that are plaguing EMS and other public responders are also hitting private ambulance companies.

Not having enough people, Burke said. And people overworked. And hospitals and ambulances stretched thin.

Acadian recently announced that for the first time, it will start paying job applicants to go through its accelerated training academy in exchange for a two-year work commitment.

This is a true emergency, life and death, Burke said. That is where we are because of all of these factors squeezing the system.

New Orleans EMS has yet another problem: More than half of its ambulance fleet is in the shop waiting for repairs. The agency said that during one week in early September, only nine of its ambulances were available out of a fleet of 40. That led to the painful decision to send some medics home despite the employee shortage, Nichols said.

We know it's hard. I don't think there's a perfect answer when we're struggling, Nichols said.

Nichols and others say that one long-term answer is to increase the pay for medics. In New Orleans, EMTs start at $37,000 a year, paramedics at more than $48,000.

Generally speaking across the nation, she said, paramedics are not compensated in comparable ways to physicians and nurses."

The three former EMS paramedics interviewed for this story have all taken medical jobs elsewhere. They all say they're getting paid more.

Williams-Johnson said she walked directly into a job at Tulane Medical Center's emergency room and almost doubled her pay.

And I'm going to nursing school in January, she said.

Even if EMS' ambulances get repaired and COVID continues to wane, those salary and structural issues will remain, Nichols said. And EMS will remain in critical condition until the agency's Band-Aids are replaced by major surgery.

For now, the agency said it will continue to put out the word that it has immediate job openings for certified EMTs and paramedics. Anyone interested in applying may call the New Orleans Civil Service Department.
Politics Reporter

Reese Gorman covers politics and the COVID-19 pandemic for The Norman Transcript. He started as an intern in May of 2020 and transitioned into his current position as a staff writer in August of 2020.
Harrisburg, Pa.  The Office of Attorney General has filed charges against a former caregiver for stealing the personal identifying information of several intellectually disabled people in his care. AG Josh Shapiro said Nelson Fornah fraudulently applied for and received nearly $90,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funding.

As a caregiver, this defendant was responsible for supporting adult individuals with disabilities in order to help them build trust and communicate with others. Instead, he used his position of trust to take advantage of his victims and steal their personal information for his own gain said Shapiro.

The Grand Jury determined that Fornah, 35, a caregiver from Darby, Pa., used the stolen and false information of seven disabled clients in his care across Delaware and Montgomery Counties to apply for and receive a total of $89,418.82 in PUA benefits, thereby stealing thousands of dollars of funds earmarked to assist those individuals in the Commonwealth who are in truly need.

Beginning in July 2020, Fornah used his clients personal information to fraudulently obtain PUA funds, according to Shapiro's office. Though he created phony email addresses for the victims of his scheme, the phone numbers on each application were his own. When he would obtain the loaded U.S. Bank cards, the accounts were quickly depleted through multiple ATM withdrawals and purchases at various locations in Delaware and Montgomery Counties, authorities said.

In December 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (PA L&I) requested additional verification for the PUA accounts opened by Fornah. The Grand Jury learned that applicants are often asked to verify their identities through ID.me, a third party vendor utilized by the state to reduce fraud. The ID.me program allows users to provide credentials during video calls where the applicants speak with the vendor directly.

The Grand Jury observed recorded ID.me sessions involving individuals victimized by Fornah. The video calls showed that though only the victim appears on screen, it was apparent someone was off camera speaking for the individuals and showing the required identification information in front of the camera, authorities said.

The Grand Jury also observed that the victims appeared to be incoherent and unaware of their surroundings, and in some cases, distressed and confused at what was occurring.

In addition to submitting fraudulent PUA applications with stolen information, Fornah was reported to have fraudulently applied for and was denied PUA benefits using his own information even though records confirm he remained fully employed prior to and through the pandemic.

Following this rejection by the PA L&I, he lied about his employment status to apply for the standard PA unemployment compensation benefits and received more than $14,000 as a result, according to the AG's office. Fornah also attempted to use his clients stolen personal identifying information to apply for unemployment benefits from the State of New Jersey.

The Office of the Attorney General investigated this case with the assistance of the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the United States Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General.

At the recommendation of the 47th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, the defendant was charged with identity theft, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, unlawful use of a computer, criminal use of a communications facility, access device fraud, tampering with public records, theft by deception, and criminal attempt to commit theft by deception.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Megan Madaffari.
Napoleon, OH (43545)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 44F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 32F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Undoubtedly, Xiaomi will sell plenty of the Redmi Note 11, Redmi Note 11 Pro, and Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus when they come to market in China, India and beyond. However, it claims to have sold nearly a quarter of a billion Redmi Note handsets already, available at its 10,000-strong stores.

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It seems that Xiaomi's Redmi sub-brand is going from strength to strength. In August, the company announced that it had sold over 200 million Redmi Note smartphones, having reached 140 million sales nine months earlier. Incidentally, the Redmi Note 9 series garnered 20 million sales in four months alone, likely through one of its 10,000 physical stores.

Now, the company has confirmed that it has sold more than 240 million Redmi Note handsets worldwide. Seemingly, sales have picked up even more speed in the last few months for Xiaomi to have moved from 200 million to 240 million in two months. Crucially, these sales figures exclude the Redmi Note 11 series, which Xiaomi has started with the Redmi Note 11, Redmi Note 11 Pro and the Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus.
Andy Schmookler is a prize-winning author. Many of his works can be found at www.ABetterHumanStory.org.
Zingraff, a former professor of sociology at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, recently retired as an associate dean with James Madison University in Harrisonburg
Gov. Eric Holcomb instructed state agency leaders and governor's office staff Saturday to begin developing plans that will enable him to bring an end to the state's COVID-19 emergency "in the near future."

In the meantime, the Republican chief executive also signed two executive orders continuing Indiana's public health emergency due to the coronavirus until at least Dec. 1.

"I'm extending the public health emergency for another 30 days to maintain critical assistance to our neediest Hoosiers as we come out of this pandemic  all directly tied to its continuation," Holcomb said.

The governor's 20th renewal of his COVID-19 emergency declaration  initially issued March 6, 2020, after the first COVID-19 infection was confirmed in the Hoosier State  contains fewer provisions than most of its predecessors.

For example, the order no longer directs hospitals to consider reprioritizing or postponing non-emergency procedures, eliminates hospital diversion reporting requirements, and scraps a directive for the Indiana Department of Insurance to request health insurers extend prior authorization for surgeries or procedures postponed by hospitals due to COVID-19 capacity issues.
Young expects Indiana has a good shot of landing at least one of the regional tech hubs, given its role as the top manufacturing state in the country and a place that's been hit hard by unfair competition from China.

He said Northwest Indianas concentration of data centers, colleges and universities, adaptable workers, and a regional commitment to the project makes it practically ideal for becoming a leader in semiconductor manufacturing, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, battery storage and green energy technologies.

You know what, we have so much of that expertise right here sitting here today, right here in the Region, Young said. But if were not identifying ourselves as having common interests, which we do, and then establishing common goals, which youre in the process of, and then collectively harnessing our energies to accomplish those goals  were missing a big opportunity.

Because it will be those communities, those regions, around the country that are positioning themselves for excellence which will be identified as the next hubs, the next Silicon Valleys, the next Research Triangles. Its clear from the conversation today, and to many of you here, that all we need to do is, like a peacock, go out there and show the rest of the country exactly what we offer.
The Monaldis both were at the wrecked building Saturday afternoon working to remove debris from the parking lot and putting up tarps to temporarily protect the interior of the remaining structure from a steady drizzle.

They said they're well aware of the cars-into-buildings history of the 8300 block of Calumet Avenue, where the next-door Munster Gyros got struck by a vehicle March 4, 2020, and Munster Donuts across the street was hit in 2016 and 2014.

But the Monaldis said there's never been any problems like that on their property going back to 1972 when their father operated a gas station on the site.

They said if they rebuild they may install heavy-duty bollards along the curb or sidewalk, like those used outside federal buildings, to ensure something like this never happens again.

The Monaldis said they plan to consult with town officials before making a decision on rebuilding, since they know Munster is in the middle of a beautification effort and there may be opportunities to construct a newer, nicer building at the site.

Brian and Jodi Tillman, owners of Jodi's Italian Ice, said they are devastated at the extent of the damage to their business that's operated in Munster since 2016.
HAMMOND  A federal jury has found an Indianapolis man guilty Thursday of defrauding dozens of Northwest Indiana investors.

A jury deliberated little over one hour Thursday before finding George R. McKown, 67, of Indianapolis, guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, according to the courts website

It states U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon is set to sentence McKown on Feb. 8.

Thursdays verdict follows five days of testimony and arguments by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Toi Houston and Thomas McGrath for the prosecution and Chicago attorney Richard S. Kling for the defense.

Kling couldnt be reached Friday for comment.

The government charged McKown and his co-defendant, Richard E. Gearhart, 71, of Lowell five years ago with illegally selling 42 area families unregistered securities  beginning in 2008  with false promises of guaranteed returns or their money back.

Gearhart, who pleaded guilty in 2019 and is serving a 60-month prison term, did business as owner of Schererville-based Asset Preservation Specialists Inc.

McKown, who did business as McKown and Associates Insurance Inc. of Carmel, Indiana, denied all wrongdoing and went to trial.
HAMMOND  A judge has ordered prison for a Chicago man who has devoted three decades to street gang violence in Northwest Indiana and Chicago.

Ralph Devious Mendez Sr., 46, of Chicago, received a 17-year sentence Friday afternoon from U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon .

Mendez pleaded guilty June 9 to a racketeering conspiracy charge for his role in the Latin Dragon Nation, a Chicago-based street gang.

He is one of more than a dozen indicted several years ago on allegations they were involved in years of drug and firearms trafficking and some of murdering rival gang members.

Mendez admitted as part of his plea agreement he authorized  as a gang leader  the beating of people who violated Latin Dragons gang rules.

He traveled to Hammond in November 2013 armed with a 9mm handgun  in violation of federal law because he was on parole in Illinois for an earlier murder for the Latin Dragons.

He admitted he drove his 24-year-old son and fellow gang member, Ralph Lil Devious Mendez Jr., from Hammond to Chicago April 8, 2017, to retaliate against a rival gang.
Eliza Salazar said she's still trying to cope with the loss of her son, who was the glue that brought his family together.

"He is the missing piece to our puzzle," she said. "Nothing will ever be the same."

Salazar's sister, Lisa Catellano, said she still remembers her brother banging on pots and pans as a child and playing with his grandfather's guitar. There will be no more new memories or family photos with him, she said.

"He didn't deserve what happened to him," she said. "He was all about life."

Defense attorney Matthew Fech said it was difficult "to explain the inexplicable."

Guerrero provided for his ex-girlfriend and her foster child over the years, went to speak with a pastor after the shooting and was on his way back to Indiana to take responsibility for his actions before his arrest.

Guerrero had no convictions in his criminal history and showed genuine remorse while his case was pending, Fech said.

Guerrero apologized to Salazar's family.

The killing was a mistake, and reflection has shown him "violence is not the answer," he said.
Being on set in Chicago felt very natural, as if I was truly where I was meant to be, Jones said. Knowing that the project would appear in theaters just added a whole new level of excitement. I cant say enough about director Nia DaCosta. She attended my audition and was with me on set on the day of filming. She was so approachable and really took the time to make sure each actor vibed with the direction of the film. She does a wonderful job of communicating her vision. I also developed a much deeper appreciation for the crew. Seeing the finished product showed me a lot about how much work the crew does to make everything look so real and to make each scene roll smoothly into the next. Hair, makeup and wardrobe experts were so meticulous in helping to make sure each actor fit perfectly into the story. This is an experience I will never forget.
Hobart police detectives have been investigating his death for months, working a number of leads.

"The Hobart Police Department would like to thank NWI SWAT, Hammond Indiana Police Department, Lake County Sheriff's Department Crime Lab, Indiana State Police Evidence Lab, FBI  Federal Bureau of Investigation and Lake County Prosecutor's Office, for their assistance with this case," the department said in a press release. "The Hobart Police Department had spent hundreds of hours in the pursuit of solving this case and are thankful to bring the perpetrator to justice."

Bob Morgan, assistant team commander for the Northwest Regional SWAT team, said his team was contacted by Hobart police Thursday.

"We were given this assignment and chose to accept the mission," he said.

The SWAT team did a raid plan, staged nearby and served the warrant with several heavily armed officers and an armored vehicle that plowed through inflatable Halloween decorations on the lawn.

"We attempted to establish contact several times," he said. "When we couldn't, we breached the door and secured the residence. The mission was successful."

No one was injured, and the suspect was taken into custody without incident.
The great-grandson of the legendary Lakota Sioux Chief Sitting Bull has been confirmed as his closest living relative using an innovative new DNA technique applied to hair taken from the Native American leader's scalp lock.

People had tried to question Ernie LaPointe's relationship with Sitting Bull, who was also known as Tatanka-Iyotanka, LaPointe said in a news release. LaPointe wanted to have their relationship confirmed via genetic analysis to put an end to the speculation and allow the final resting place of Sitting Bull's remains to be settled.

Keep scrolling for a listing of places in the U.S. with Native American meanings

The analysis was done using autosomal DNA extracted from genetic fragments in the hair lock, which was in poor condition after being stored for more than a century at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington. It was returned to LaPointe and his sisters in 2007.

Other techniques rely on mitochondrial DNA, which can only trace the female line, or the Y-chromosome in nuclear DNA, which traces the male line. The technique using nuclear DNA couldn't be used because Sitting Bull only had daughters. These types of DNA can also be hard to extract from damaged remains.
It was the culmination of an odd week at the annual United Nations General Assembly, one that had none of the fireworks many had predicted. Mr. Trump, perhaps fearful that the Sept. 14 attack on Saudi oil facilities had placed the two countries on a path to conflict, perhaps distracted by the impeachment movement gathering steam in Washington, sounded strangely conciliatory toward Iran.

He did not call the Saudi attack an act of war, as his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, had done. He did not try to organize a military response by allies. He kept saying the Iranians wanted a deal, without explaining what kind of deal he envisioned. In his speech to the General Assembly, Mr. Trump noted how the United States had befriended former enemies, a reference to Germany, Japan and Vietnam.

For his part, Mr. Rouhani, given several opportunities at both public and private events to comment on the prospect that Mr. Trump was in deep political trouble at home, decided to hold his tongue. Iran, he said with a smile, would deal with whatever president America sent to him. (One of Mr. Rouhanis aides, however, sought out a reporter at a reception to ask whether Mr. Trump would survive the year in office.)

All week as Iranian officials and diplomats met their counterparts at the United Nations, the talk was centered on the details of how  not if  a meeting between Iran and the United States could be brokered. Yet both Mr. Trump and Mr. Rouhani seemed, independently, to conclude that meeting in New York was just too risky.

But both faced temptations. Mr. Trump, according to one Republican who spoke to him, saw a meeting as an opportunity to defuse pressure to retaliate for the attack on Saudi Arabia  and perhaps to commandeer headlines dominated by his possible impeachment.
DAKAR, Senegal  The most widespread demonstrations in Senegal in years continued for the third day on Friday, an expression of anger at the president, Macky Sall, and outrage at the arrest of the countrys leading opposition figure, who has been accused of rape.

In Dakar, the capital, crowds of young people threw stones at the police, who were firing tear gas. In the residential neighborhood of Medina, a police van accelerated into a cluster of protesters, almost running them over. In Ngor, a fishing village abutting the citys fanciest district, protesters lit fires in the streets.

One person died on Thursday when security forces used live ammunition on protesters in Bignona, a town in the countrys south, according to the human rights organization Amnesty International.

The arrest of the opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, on Wednesday was the trigger for Senegalese young people, many of whom support Mr. Sonko, to take to the streets. Mr. Sonko, who came in third in the 2019 presidential elections, has been accused of raping a young woman who worked in a massage parlor.
As the November elections approach, the couple seem possessed by the fear of losing power. They lash out and imprison whoever they think might stand in their way. In the past month, they have jailed five presidential candidates and arrested many others, including iconic revolutionary figures who were once their allies. Last month they even came for my brother. To avoid capture, he left Nicaragua. He wasnt paranoid: Just a few days later, on June 17, over two dozen armed police officers raided his house looking for him. His wife was alone. They searched every corner and left after five hours. The next night several masked men armed with knives and a rifle robbed his house. One of them was heard to say it was a second operation. Another threatened to kill his wife and rape my niece, who had arrived to spend the night with her mother. Mr. Ortega and Ms. Murillo appear to be using the crudest form of terror to intimidate their political opponents.

I never admired Mr. Ortega personally. To me, he always seemed like a duplicitous, mediocre man, but his street smarts allowed him to outwit many of his companions. He was the head of the first Sandinista government in 1979 and president from 1984 to 1990. Losing the election to Violeta Chamorro in 1990 scarred Mr. Ortegas psyche. Returning to power became his sole ambition. After the electoral defeat, many of us wanted to modernize the Sandinista movement. Mr. Ortega would have none of it. He viewed our attempts to democratize the party as a threat to his control. He accused those who disagreed with him of selling our souls to the United States, and he surrounded himself with sycophants. His wife sided with him even after her daughter accused Mr. Ortega, her stepfather, of sexually abusing her from the age of 11, a scandal that might have ended another politicians career.

In fact, Ms. Murillo, who has been characterized as a tropical Lady Macbeth, cleverly reshaped his image after he ran in two more elections and lost. Her New Age ideas appeared in symbols of peace and love and banners painted with psychedelic colors. Rather conveniently, Mr. Ortega and his wife metamorphosed into devout Catholics after decades of revolutionary atheism. To further win over the Catholic Church, Mr. Ortegas nemesis in the 80s, he agreed to back a complete ban on abortion. He had also signed a pact in 1999 with President Arnoldo Aleman, who would later be found guilty of corruption, to stack government posts with equal shares of loyalists. In exchange, Alemans Liberal Party agreed to lower the percentage of votes needed to win the presidency.

It worked. In 2006, Mr. Ortega won with only 38 percent of the vote. No sooner did he take office than he set about dismantling already weak state institutions. He obtained the support of the private sector by giving it a say in economic decisions in exchange for acquiescence to his politics. He trampled on the Constitution, which expressly forbade re-election, to allow for indefinite re-elections. Then, in his run for his third term in 2016, he chose his wife to be vice president.

Mr. Ortega and Ms. Murillo seemed securely in power until April 2018, when a small demonstration against a reform that would have lowered social security pensions was violently repressed by Sandinista thugs. The entire country was swept by peaceful protests. Mr. Ortega and Ms. Murillo reacted with fury and crushed the revolt with firepower: 328 people were killed, 2,000 were wounded, and 100,000 went into exile, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Armed paramilitaries roamed the streets in a killing spree, and hospitals were ordered to deny assistance to wounded protesters. Doctors who disobeyed were fired. The regime imposed a de facto state of emergency and suspended constitutional rights. Public demonstrations of any sort were banned. Our cities were militarized. Mr. Ortega and Ms. Murillo justified their actions by fabricating a big lie: The uprising was a coup planned and financed by the United States.
But nurses like Ms. Sy have had to turn many others away.

When Covid vaccines were first available, she said, many older people had shown up, but young people had been more hesitant, both to get vaccinated or, if they were sick, to get tested.

For some people, until they experience it, or witness it, they will not trust that the disease exists, said Ms. Sy, who is 60. They do not want to know if they have Covid-19 or not.

Even Mr. Ndiaye, the science teacher, had his doubts at first.

Like his colleagues at Abass Sall secondary school in Liberte VI, a Dakar neighborhood, Mr. Ndiaye, 67, had not really wanted to get inoculated. He had heard wild rumors and conspiracy theories, and he was not sure what to believe.

But on that April morning, when a vaccination team came to his school, the director gathered the teachers together and asked for volunteers, to set an example. Mr. Ndiaye said he was the first to put up his hand.

Now, having seen for himself that the rumors were nothing more than that, rumors, he is something of a vaccine evangelist, encouraging his fellow teachers, students and neighbors to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their families.

I personally never met someone who got Covid-19, but I know it exists and it is a deadly disease, he said. I tell people that all vaccines have side effects, and none of them are 100 percent perfect.
Rebranding a company amid a crisis or as a way to signal a shift in focus has been a popular corporate strategy for decades. But does it really help companies shed their image issues, or do customers see a name change as window dressing?

According to one expert, rebranding is often used to update a companys name to reflect cultural changes in consumer behavior or values, as when Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC, dropping the fried as consumers increasingly looked for healthier choices. In other instances, brands rename themselves after mergers or acquisitions, to signal a new direction, or to distance themselves from negative publicity.

The success of a name change depends upon companies educating existing customers about the rationale for the name change in a way that is compelling, said Jill Avery, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School who focuses on brand management. If the name change appears illegitimate, inauthentic or done for the wrong reasons, firms risk injuring their relationships with consumers.

In the case of Facebook, which said on Thursday that it was changing its corporate name to Meta, the downside risk was minimal for the company, she said, since it changed its corporate brand and not its product brand.
The question of whether people who have had Covid really need a shot has gained traction among some Americans as vaccine mandates take hold across the country. Scientists have urged Covid survivors not to skip the vaccine, noting that the strength and durability of so-called natural immunity depends heavily on peoples age and health, and the severity of an initial infection.

The C.D.C. study used a roundabout experimental design. The researchers examined roughly 7,000 people hospitalized this year with Covid-like illness across nine states. They then looked at how many of those hospitalized patients were indeed infected with the coronavirus. The odds of testing positive for the virus were considerably higher among unvaccinated, previously infected patients than they were among vaccinated people.

The study comes with several caveats, however. The researchers cautioned that the findings may not translate to non-hospitalized people with different levels of access to medical care, and that some patients in the vaccinated group may unknowingly have also had previous infections.

The researchers also noted that separate research in Israel had failed to show that vaccinated people were better protected than those who had only been infected. In general, scientists said, studies on the topic had drawn contradictory conclusions.

Still, some patterns have emerged. Two doses of an mRNA vaccine produce more antibodies, and more reliably so, than a coronavirus infection does. But the antibodies from prior infection are more diverse, potentially helping people fend off variants.
Lawyers for Prince Andrew on Friday issued a blistering attack on a woman who has accused him in a lawsuit of sexually abusing her when she was still a minor and he was a guest of Jeffrey Epstein.

The lawyers for Andrew, 61, denied in a new court filing in Manhattan that their client, who is also known as the Duke of York, had ever sexually abused or assaulted the woman, Virginia Giuffre, who has been one of Mr. Epsteins most prominent accusers.

Andrews lawyers argued in the court papers that Ms. Giuffres lawsuit was part of an effort by her over more than a decade to profit from allegations she had made against Mr. Epstein and others. Andrews lawyers claimed that Ms. Giuffre had sold articles and photographs to the news media and entered into secret agreements to resolve her abuse claims.

Giuffre has initiated this baseless lawsuit against Prince Andrew to achieve another payday at his expense and at the expense of those closest to him, Andrews lawyers wrote. Most people could only dream of obtaining the sums of money that Giuffre has secured for herself over the years.
At this point, only about a third of parents say theyll get their 5 to 11-year-olds vaccinated as soon as possible, with about a third saying theyll wait and see, and a third saying they wont, or will vaccinate only if its mandated, according to September figures from the Kaiser Family Foundations Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor. As one commenter on a Times Opinion guest essay put it, Literally the only thing motivating me to get my kid vaccinated is removing mask mandates.

First, we should talk about where there is widespread agreement among experts: Every person I spoke to said children 5 and up should get the vaccine. The other point of significant agreement was that masks can be useful tools in our Covid prevention kit, along with measures like proper ventilation and widely available rapid testing.

Out of these 11 experts, two felt it was too soon to start talking about removing masks. We will need to see the level of vaccine uptake in kids to have a more informed conversation about masking in youth-based groups and organizations, said Nia Heard-Garris, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University and a pediatrician at the Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago.

Of the nine others, there were a range of responses, which Ill place into two major buckets.

Set a Date

Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and associate chief of its infectious disease division, said in an email that with vaccine authorization for children 5 to 11, it makes most sense to me to lift mask mandates in schools (and for adults) once children have the ability to get both doses of the vaccine  which, in an ideal world, likely means around eight weeks after shots become widely available. Gandhi said, I am a firm believer in positive motivation and messaging and think making this metric explicit will convince more parents to vaccinate their children.

Marr, the engineering professor, tweeted that two weeks after school restarts in January should be the earliest date under consideration, because children may pick up the usual non-Covid bugs during the holidays. She also said that she liked the idea of data-driven mask policies based on the level of virus spread in communities. Some experts, like Aaron Carroll, a professor of pediatrics and the chief health officer at Indiana University, was wary of setting specific dates, in case another highly infectious variant like Delta hits. Which brings me to 

Create Unmasking Metrics, and Make Them Local

Many experts I spoke to mentioned Nevada as a model for how schools might think about creating off-ramp policies for masks. Whats nice about the states policy for indoor masking is it also provides a ramp back on if there are Covid surges  an on-and-off switch based on local transmission rates, as Boston Universitys Julia Raifman and Alexandra Skinner described it.

The state uses the C.D.C.s Covid-19 County Check Tool to assess whether there is low, moderate, substantial or high transmission. If there is substantial or high transmission in a county, masks are required in indoor public spaces. If there is low or moderate transmission, masks can come off. (Experts dont agree about what level of community transmission should prompt a move toward unmasking in schools  some think the level can be higher than in the broader community because Covid-related illness in children tends to be less severe; others think the level would have to be lower because many schools have outdated HVAC systems.)
It is also very common in a masculinist strain of intellectualism to consider discussing anything associated with girls and women to be an inferior form of discourse. When we talk about a woman  even in the routine interrogation of how she is able to do her job as a powerful public servant  we are talking about femininity. And femininity does not rate as a substantive form of discussion. This is an easy argument to dismiss because it fails at its own standard: it is unserious.

Another line of argument is what I see as the third-wave feminist response to our cultures obsession with womens bodies as their only worth, which is: We should never acknowledge what a woman looks like. I have heard people proclaim emphatically, for instance, Never comment on a persons body. To the extent that Sinemas clothes are worn on her body, the logic goes, we should never comment on her clothing.

This line of reasoning stems from a really decent impulse, for the most part, and that impulse is a response to a fact that research reveals: Women are judged unfairly in the workplace for their looks, their bodies and their clothing. We know from research that women of color in particular struggle with being viewed as professional in business settings, no matter how they dress. We also know that people whose gender presentation doesnt accord with our collective ideas about masculine and feminine bodies face a particular challenge. Many L.G.B.T.Q. people struggle in the workplace with the reality that presenting a gender-conforming identity makes it easier to negotiate office politics.

Whether we know about this research or not, we have gotten the message that good people simply do not comment on how people look because that can be rife with bias. The problem with that response is that the bias still happens  we just do not name it. When you dont comment on bodies, you lose the discernment to think critically about how some bodies move through the world at the expense of how other bodies can move through the world. In short, when our language atrophies, we lose the mental acuity to talk about how power operates in our everyday life.

It may seem feminist to never comment on a womans body, but what if the woman in question is one of the worlds most powerful women? Take, for instance, the raiment of the Queen of England, or to think in a more local context, how the power suit of the Washington elite helps them navigate the hallowed halls of private negotiation with corporate donors.

It certainly matters that people enter the political sphere performing a certain type of competency, or a certain set of political positions, or a certain type of ideology. Politicians, especially national politicians, know this. It matters so much to them that they spend millions of dollars trying to create a performance of power that will impart legitimacy and engender trust in the voting public. If it matters enough for people to spend money on it, it should matter enough for us to think about what that presentation means. Acknowledging this is simply serious thinking. What bodies look like, and how they are addressed, and how people perform them in public life  it all matters.

There is a lot to be said about how Sinema chooses to present herself and what it says about gender, power, and politics. Over the next two weeks, I will be talking with experts about the politics of sartorial choices as I try to answer the question, What the heck is Sinema wearing?  or rather, the better, more sociological question, What does Sinemas style mean? Along the way, I hope to model a way to talk about how any powerful woman in public dresses or presents herself without falling into sexist rhetoric or language.
Three University of Florida professors have been barred from assisting plaintiffs in a lawsuit to overturn the states new law restricting voting rights, lawyers said in a federal court filing on Friday. The ban is an extraordinary limit on speech that raises questions of academic freedom and First Amendment rights.

University officials told the three that because the school was a state institution, participating in a lawsuit against the state is adverse to U.F.s interests and could not be permitted. In their filing, the lawyers sought to question Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, on whether he was involved in the decision.

Mr. DeSantis has resisted questioning, arguing that all of his communications about the law are protected from disclosure because discussions about legislation are privileged. In their filing on Friday, lawyers for the plaintiffs said the federal questions in the case  including whether the law discriminates against minority groups  override any state protections.

The universitys refusal to allow the professors to testify was a marked turnabout for the University of Florida. Like schools nationwide, the university has routinely allowed academic experts to offer expert testimony in lawsuits, even when they oppose the interests of the political party in power.
The director of Oklahomas prison system said on Friday that he did not plan to make any changes to the agencys lethal injection protocols, a day after a man vomited while shaking for several minutes during the states first execution since 2015.

The man, John Marion Grant, was the first person executed by Oklahoma since prison officials made severe mistakes in previous executions, including using the wrong drug in one instance and, in another, allowing a prisoner to regain consciousness.

Mr. Grant, 60, was convicted of stabbing a prison cafeteria worker to death in 1998.

Reporters who have witnessed executions said vomiting was extremely rare in their experience, but Scott Crow, the director of Oklahomas prison system, said that the doctor who had been monitoring the execution told him it was not a completely uncommon occurrence for someone to vomit while being sedated.

Sean Murphy, an Associated Press reporter who witnessed Mr. Grants death, had told other reporters on Thursday night that it appeared Mr. Grant had convulsed about two dozen times after being administered a sedative, the first of three drugs used in the execution. Mr. Murphy said it was unclear whether Mr. Grant was conscious, though he was breathing. Before the other drugs were administered, the doctor entered the execution chamber to wipe vomit from the face of Mr. Grant, who was strapped to a gurney.
WASHINGTON  Leaders of the Group of 20 nations are set to sign off on the most sweeping overhaul of the international tax system in a century when they gather in Rome this weekend, ushering in a 15 percent global minimum tax and changes to how governments can impose levies on large, profitable multinational companies.

The agreement is the result of years of sputtering international negotiations that gathered pace this year when the Biden administration took office. When the pact is fully enacted, most likely by 2023, it could have significant implications for the global economy, corporate investment and government coffers.

Some details will continue to be refined in the coming months. But tax experts and officials around the world have hailed the agreement as an achievement that will reverse decades of a race to the bottom in corporate taxation that have deprived nations of revenue as companies sought low-tax jurisdictions for their headquarters.

Heres a look at how the deal will work.

A 15 percent global minimum tax

The most prominent feature of the deal is the 15 percent global minimum tax, which is expected to be enacted by each country that has agreed to the deal. That rate will apply to multinational corporations with annual revenues of more than $867 million. The idea is to discourage companies from being able to avoid paying taxes by finding havens with low rates. Companies that do park money in a country that is not part of the deal would be required to pay the difference between that nations rate and the 15 percent minimum rate to their home country.
Democrats argue that the new proposal should satisfy the parliamentarian because it involves reclaiming visas already approved by Congress  a modest tweak of the law, they say, rather than a sweeping proposal such as raising the ceiling for green cards or granting legal status to a new population of immigrants.

Still, skepticism abounds in the halls of Congress. Some Democrats, including Representative Ritchie Torres of New York, have begun calling on their Senate colleagues to overrule the parliamentarian, saying they dont believe she will embrace any immigration proposals.

In addition to the visa recapture provision, Mr. Bidens $100 billion plan to overhaul the immigration system includes a proposal to provide protection from deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants who are longtime residents of the country and $2.8 billion for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to more efficiently process migrants.

Some Democrats have been hesitant to single out the legal immigration proposal after the more ambitious plans to provide relief to undocumented immigrants were rejected by the parliamentarian. The negotiations over the spending package have already forced the administration to make grueling cuts to investments in community college, paid leave and proposals to address climate change. The tension over how much to compromise has stretched over to immigration policies, an area in which supporters are growing increasingly impatient for drastic changes.

I am certainly supportive of clearing the visa backlog, said Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, who last month expressed concern about supporting an immigration proposal for businesses without providing a pathway to citizenship.

But the latest proposal would not just keep skilled workers in the United States. It also would connect relatives to their families. The number of green cards available for foreign employees is typically 140,000, while there are usually roughly 226,000 visas available for relatives hoping to join families in the United States.

In recent years, as the Trump administration invoked various travel bans from African and Muslim-majority countries and suspended immigration processing during the pandemic, the United States failed to issue many of the visas.
WASHINGTON  The Biden administration announced on Saturday that it had reached a deal to roll back tariffs on European steel and aluminum, an agreement that officials said would lower costs on goods like cars and washing machines, reduce carbon emissions, and help get supply chains moving again.

The deal, which comes as President Biden and other world leaders meet at the Group of 20 summit in Rome, is aimed at easing trans-Atlantic trade tensions that had worsened under former President Donald J. Trump, whose administration initially imposed the tariffs. Mr. Biden has made clear he wants to repair relations with the European Union, but the agreement also appears carefully devised to avoid alienating U.S. labor unions and manufacturers that have supported Mr. Biden.

It leaves some protections in place for the American steel and aluminum industry, by transforming the current 25 percent tariff on European steel and 10 percent tariff on aluminum into a so-called tariff rate quota, an arrangement in which higher levels of imports are met with higher duties.

The agreement will put an end to retaliatory tariffs that the European Union had imposed on American products including orange juice, bourbon and motorcycles. It will also avert additional tariffs on American products that were set to go into effect on Dec. 1.
The United Automobile Workers announced on Saturday that it had reached a tentative agreement with the agriculture equipment maker Deere & Company, potentially ending a strike involving about 10,000 workers that began in mid-October. The agreement must still be approved by the unions members.

Deere workers primarily in Iowa and Illinois had gone on strike after rejecting an initial agreement with the company earlier in the month. Many workers had complained that the earlier proposed contract produced insufficient wage increases and that it had denied a traditional pension to new employees, even though the company was on pace for a record of nearly $6 billion in profits this year.

The negotiators focused on improving the areas of concern identified by our members during our last ratification process, Chuck Browning, the U.A.W. vice president who oversaw the negotiations, said in a statement, which cited the new agreements enhanced economic gains.

The statement also said the agreement continues to provide the highest quality health care benefits in the industry but made no specific mention of the pension provisions. The union said it would not release details of the agreement until John Deere workers had a chance to review them.
Above all, issues around managing child care and work that had long been considered private family matters were suddenly out in the open, turning the needs of working parents into a subject that resonated in conference rooms and state capitals across the country.

The potential implications were profound: Not only could the pandemic help recalibrate the answer to a question like, Who picks up a sick child from school? but it could also radically alter whether workplaces look askance at the parent who takes time away from work to do to so. More fundamentally, any number of policy ideas that the pandemic inspired, if realized, could make it easier for working parents, especially women, to balance work and child care, as well as increase gender equality at work and at home and upend entrenched gender norms about caregiving.

It just feels like an Overton window, where you have increased public dialogue but also you have public will to really change and reflect on womens experiences in the work force, C. Nicole Mason, the president and chief executive of the Institute for Womens Policy Research, said in an interview this summer.

Roughly half of mothers with children under 18 were employed full-time last year. For white-collar women and women with office jobs, who were more likely to benefit from increased work flexibility, the possible reforms were uniquely promising.

But the optimism is fading, partially because of Washington. The Biden administration and Democrats in Congress indicated early in the year that federal paid family and medical leave was a priority in the presidents domestic spending package  but the plan was pared down from 12 weeks to four weeks, then dropped entirely from the framework President Biden announced on Thursday.

As you can see, the window is closing, Dr. Mason said this past week.

Now, as the pandemic recedes and everyday life begins to return to normal, some working mothers are worried that nothing much will change.

People are finally seeing how important child care is in our society, said Kristen Shockley, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Georgia who studies the intersection of work and family life. But is that going to translate into a way that our society values caregiving? Im less optimistic about that.
He is the chief executive of a major polluter, but Sultan Al Jaber is likely to be well received and maybe even congratulated when he arrives at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, which starts this weekend.

Mr. Al Jaber, who heads Abu Dhabis national oil company, which provides about 3 percent of the worlds oil, has another job. He is the special climate envoy of the United Arab Emirates and a founder of a multibillion-dollar state-backed company that invests in renewable energy.

For more than a decade he has tried to position the Persian Gulf state as a leader on environmental issues, acting at the behest of Abu Dhabis de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.

In the latest of these initiatives, the United Arab Emirates pledged to have net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the first government in the region to make such a statement. It joins a growing list of countries making long-range commitments that are difficult to evaluate.
As a result, the average global temperature has risen by more than 1 degree Celsius since the Industrial Revolution. The scientific consensus says that if it rises by 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, it will significantly increase the likelihood of far worse climate catastrophes that could exacerbate hunger, disease and conflict.

Limiting temperature rise to within the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold has become something of a rallying cry for many powerful countries, including the United States. That is not within reach: Even if all countries achieve the targets they set for themselves at the 2015 Paris Agreement, average global temperatures are on track to rise by 2.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

The United States climate envoy, John Kerry, who had recently described the summit as the last best hope last week tried to manage expectations. Glasgow was never, ever going to get every country joining up in Glasgow or this year necessarily, he said in a telephone interview Thursday. It was going to galvanize the raising of ambition on a global basis.

The goals of the summit are to have countries nudge each other to rein in their emissions, commit financial support to low-income countries to deal with the impacts, and iron out some of the rules of the Paris Agreement. The agreement stipulated that countries come together every five years to update their climate action plans and nudge each other to do more. The five-year mark was missed because of the pandemic. The climate summit was postponed. Climate disasters piled on.

The pandemic is important in another sense. It offers a grim lesson on the prospects for collective action. Countries turned inward to protect their own citizens, and sometimes their own pharmaceutical industries, resulting in a starkly inequitable distribution of vaccines. Half the worlds population remains unvaccinated, mainly in countries of the global south.

Weve just experienced the worst part of humanitys response to a global crisis, said Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network, an activist group. And if this is going to be the track record for addressing the global climate crisis, then we are in trouble. Im hoping this is a moment of reflection and inflection.

Meanwhile, anger is mounting against official inaction. The streets of Glasgow are expected to fill with tens of thousands of protesters.
I know parents are probably bombarded with misinformation about vaccines, even within their social circles: My friend said this, my mother-in-law said that, said Dr. Katherine Williamson, a pediatrician in Orange County, Calif. Im hoping I can make a difference.

The decision is particularly hard for parents to make on behalf of their first child, said Emily Brunson, a medical anthropologist at Texas State University who researches parent vaccination choices. Because vaccine decision-making is so personal and complicated, she said, many parents are likely to put it off.

Vic Sandrin, who works for a bicycle company in Vancouver, Wash., supports vaccines but cautiously. He, his wife and their 18-year-old got the Covid vaccine grudgingly, to travel for work and family visits.

For his 11-year-old twins, however, he is content to wait: Im willing to take a chance on myself, and that made sense, Im an adult, Mr. Sandrin said. But for kids who already have strong immune systems, I dont know if theres a reason to get them vaccinated, or at least not just quite yet. 

At heart, the decision is about which unknown  Covid or the vaccine  parents fear more. They may stack factors such as social routines, older relatives, school protocols and the likelihood of severe illness to confirm their intuitive bias about whether to allow their child to get the shot.

Ms. Gauch, a mechanical engineer, calculated each family members risk individually. She has asthma, so, for her, the vaccine was a no-brainer. Her 14-year-old daughter got her first job this summer; getting vaccinated meant she wouldnt have to wear a face mask at work. And her 12-year-old daughter saw that getting vaccinated could open up possibilities of being maskless in public. Done and done.
One morning last month, Eunice Korsah, a retired nurse in Burke, Va., spent about half an hour on the phone being guided through the complexities of various plans for Medicare Part D, which covers prescription drugs.

Her current drug plan was being discontinued and the insurer wanted to move her into one with sharply higher premiums. I decided, No way, she said. But what to replace it with? She looked at the Medicare website for Part D plans available in Fairfax County and found 23, with monthly premiums ranging from $7.10 to $97.30. There are so many choices, so I wanted someone to clarify them for me, she said.

Jack Hoadley, a health policy researcher at Georgetown University, was on the other end of the call with Ms. Korsah. He has for two years volunteered with the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, or SHIP, the federally funded, free counseling service that helps Medicare beneficiaries find the coverage thats best for them.

Some very smart people just dont know how Medicare works and get confused, Dr. Hoadley said. For example, it can make a $1,000-a-year difference if youre willing to try several different pharmacies.
SANTA FE, N.M  Alec Baldwin was on the set of his latest film, a low-budget western called Rust, working on a scene in which his character, a grizzled outlaw named Harland Rust, finds himself in a small wooden church, cornered by a sheriff and a U.S. Marshal, and decides to shoot his way out.

Members of the small crew  including the director, cinematographer, cameraman and script supervisor  clustered around Mr. Baldwin inside the cramped, spartan set. The location is on a sprawling ranch outside Santa Fe, where Hollywood has been sending some of its biggest actors to don Stetsons and leather holsters to film westerns since 1955, when Jimmy Stewart made The Man From Laramie there.

As light poured through the churchs windows, casting slanted rays in the dust that swirled over the pews, a shadow fell, and the crew had to adjust the camera angle.

Then it was time for Mr. Baldwin, 63, who was seated on a pew, to practice his scene: a close-up of his hand as he slowly reached across his chest, drew a .45 Long Colt revolver from a shoulder holster and moved it toward the lens of the camera. The crew had been assured the gun was cold, meaning it held no live ammunition, according to court papers. In fact, investigators said, it was loaded with a live round. The error would prove fatal.
One female correction officer was attacked and choked by a man who had been convicted of sexual assault. Another, a veteran officer who had worked at the Rikers Island jail complex for more than 15 years, was groped as she escorted detainees through a crowded vestibule. A male officer said a detainee had grabbed his genitals as he tried to cajole the man into a cell.

New York Citys jails are facing a critical shortage of staff that is contributing to violence and lawlessness at the facilities, and officers say sexual harassment and assault by detainees are compounding the crisis.

Female officers, who account for almost half of the citys active correction officers, are at particularly high risk. Male officers are affected as well, but may be less inclined to speak out because of shame and stigma.

I didnt sign up to be someones punching bag, said the officer who was choked, a 34-year-old single mother who has continued to work since recovering from Covid-19 at the start of the pandemic. The New York Times is withholding her name to protect her privacy.
Then, in my thirties, I hit a wall. When friends asked, What are you dressing as this year? Id reply: I am a costume of the future! My task is to perfect the details of being me. It was a joke, but also a response to a lifetime of being stared at, for my curved spine, orthopedic boots, arrhythmic limp, being short  in short, all the things that made me unacceptable. I felt that no matter what I wore, viewers just subtracted the costume right off my body. What was the point of putting a monster over a monster?

Why do I say monster? Because thats how Ive been treated.

But now I have claimed monster for myself. I wrote a book, Golem Girl, that came out last year. In it, I trace the history of the legend of the Golem and how the concept of the artificially constructed creature has been woven into Western culture. Thats how I see myself  as a rough body fashioned from clay, a being as much built as born.

Halloween is the time of monsters, of course. Creatures with damaged bodies, scarred faces, lumbering gaits, missing limbs. Brutes that drool, emit miasmas, bleed, leak, manifest psychiatric conditions that put them beyond the pale of acceptable society. Frankensteins creature (a Golem), his bride (a Golem), the Borg (a Golem, and so is Mr. Data), Dracula (infectious), the Wolfman (infectious), Darth Vader and Captain Hook (amputees), Freddy Krueger (facial disfigurement and mental illness)  Ill stop there. If I listed every disabled villain, Id be here till I was not a Golem but a ghost.

One real-life disabled person who does show up in costumes  at Halloween and year-round, for that matter  is Frida Kahlo. But youd never know that she was disabled, injured by a trolley crash in her youth, and later by surgeries, gangrene and chronic pain. A Frida Kahlo costume image search turns up hundreds of Fridas in her Tehuana dresses, Frida holding cigarettes and monkeys, Frida eyebrows, Frida flower crowns, even Beyonce as Frida  yet not one back brace, plaster cast, cane or prosthetic leg among them.

I first encountered Frida Kahlos work 40 years ago, when I was a young painter searching for a visual language that would allow me to explore my own experience. Her work showed me that one could portray disability with beauty and honesty. I know that Frida asserted her allegiance to her Mexican heritage in the Oaxacan dresses, but I think that she was also finding poetry in the losses of her body. The more she was in pain, it seems to me, the more she decorated herself, as if sending up prayers for pleasure. Her costumes let her be seen as she desired  and as desirable.

She knew, as I know, that it is so hard to leave the house if you dont want to be seen. Open my closet. You wont see any floor-sweeping ruffles, but there is plenty of offbeat garb. Dramatic black coats. Bright printed jackets. Beaded and sequined evening gowns, including a bright-red formal with a cape on its shoulders. Three velvet cocktail dresses (one studded with pearls). Garments that are the opposite of hiding.

The most telling are my boots  knee-high black leather with thick rocker soles. The left is several inches higher than the right, because of my considerable leg-length difference. When I was a kid, I tried to hide those legs, to deny that I wore huge orthopedic contraptions. But a Golem is powerful only when it marches through the world, not when it hides in the dark. So now I decorate my boots with an entire wardrobe of shoelaces, from Pride-Flag rainbow to gold-and-silver glitter.
To the Editor:

Re The Unvaccinated May Not Be Who You Think They Are, by Zeynep Tufekci (column, Oct. 16):

Enough! Yet another piece that reads like an apology for those who have failed to get vaccinated. So many lame excuses. No health insurance? Its free. No primary care doctor? The best physicians and epidemiologists in the country  in the world, really  have studied the vaccines and given their strong approval. A person of color aware of past mistreatment and gruesome experimentation? There is no nexus between that and this. Period. Full stop.

Afraid of needles? Yeah, many people are. We somehow managed to vaccinate everybody against polio and many other diseases. Not an excuse.

Side effects? Yup, but minimal, especially as compared with lying in bed on a ventilator. Underlying health condition? There are very few that would militate against vaccination, and they are well documented and publicized.

Why give oxygen to irrational doubts about vaccination? This hesitancy ranges from poorly thought out to delusional. Efforts at persuasion are nonproductive.
Alas, just as predictable as the boards chronic incompetence is the refusal of elected officials to do anything about it. Why would they? Many of them are complicit in protecting the citys twisted political machine that values insiders over voters and incumbency over democracy.

The result is an election board that operates like a mafia without the guns. It is staffed with the friends, family members and other unqualified cronies of party bosses. It flouts city laws and actively resists serving the needs of voters in favor of a handful of political power brokers. Worst of all, it operates in an accountability-free zone where even the biggest bungles carry no consequences.

Most other large cities and jurisdictions dont have these problems. As detailed in a new report by the Brennan Center for Justice, they take elections seriously by hiring professionals who know what theyre doing and training those who dont. Their boards are much smaller and their commissioners can be removed by the same people who appointed them. They provide sufficient funds to run elections smoothly, and they make voting data easily available to the public. All of this is good government 101.

Its not like New York doesnt know how to do these things. Many of the citys largest and most important agencies  from education to law enforcement  conduct national searches for their leaders. By contrast, elections commissioners are appointed with virtually no public notice or process. This may please back-room politicians, but it makes New York City a national laughingstock.

Maddeningly, the city cant truly reform this system without state action. Good, then, that New York State has at long last started to drag itself out of the electoral Dark Ages. In 2019, the state adopted an early voting period more than a week long, as well as other measures to encourage turnout and make voting easier. This year, the voters can get in on the action themselves by approving two ballot measures, Proposals 3 and 4, that would allow the state to implement two popular voter-friendly reforms: same-day voter registration and no-excuse absentee balloting.
What this means, if the rhetoric of Youngkins strongest supporters is any indication, is an assault on any discussion of race and racism in the states classrooms. In an interview with the journalist Alex Wagner, a leading Republican activist in Virginia said exactly this, asserting that it should be up to the parents to teach students about racism and condemning a school assignment in which a sixth grade student blamed President Andrew Jackson for violence against Native Americans.

Try to imagine what this would look like.

Virginia is where African slavery first took root in Britains Atlantic empire. It is where, after that, English settlers developed an ideology of racism to justify their decision to, as the historian Winthrop Jordan put it, debase the Negro. It is where, in the middle of the 18th century, a powerful class of planter-intellectuals developed a vision of liberty and freedom tied inextricably to their lives as slave owners, and it is where, a century later, their descendants would fight to build a slave empire in their name.

And all of this is before we get to Reconstruction and Jim Crow and massive resistance to school integration and the many other forces that have shaped Virginia into the present. Just this week came news of the death of A. Linwood Holton, elected in 1969 as the states first Republican governor of the 20th century. Holton integrated Virginia schools and broke the back of the segregationist Byrd machine (named for the domineering Harry F. Byrd), which controlled the state from the 1890s into the 1960s.

To take discussions of race and racism out of the classroom would, in practice, make it impossible to teach Virginia state history beyond dates, bullet points and the vaguest of generalities.

One of the closing advertisements from the Youngkin campaign features a woman who took umbrage at Toni Morrisons Beloved after her son, a high school senior, said that the book gave him nightmares when he read it as part of an A.P. English class. (I do not doubt that this is true, but I also think that if Black students have to encounter racism  and speaking from experience, they do  then white students should at least have to learn about it.)
Q: For over a decade, I have had inadequate heat in my apartment in an affordable-housing complex in Hells Kitchen. Sometimes, I dont have any heat at all. My neighbors on the same line also have this problem. I took the landlord to housing court in 2018 and the judge ordered them to provide heat. Instead, the landlord gave me a space heater, so my electric bill spiked, and I had to pay it. I took them to court again in 2019, and another judge ordered them to fix the heat. But I still dont have any. What can I do?

A: In New York City, landlords are required to provide heat from Oct. 1 through May 31. From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., if outdoor temperatures fall below 55 degrees, indoor temperatures must be at least 68 degrees. At night, the temperature indoors must be at least 62 degrees, regardless of the temperature outside.

So far, you have done all the right things. If a landlord wont repair hazardous conditions, a tenant can sue in housing court in what is known as an HP proceeding. HP cases are usually straightforward enough for a tenant to navigate without a lawyer. If theres a code violation, a judge orders a correction and the problem is resolved.
Conservation geneticists working to preserve endangered California condors have discovered two instances of chicks hatching from unfertilized eggs  the first known cases of so-called virgin births within the species.

That finding, included in a study published Thursday in The Journal of Heredity, is particularly remarkable, as such cases are unusual among birds.

Parthenogenesis, the process by which female animals produce embryos that have not been fertilized by sperm, is more common among vertebrate species like fish or lizards. Before the findings made public on Thursday, the other known instances of parthenogenesis among birds were limited to turkeys, finches and domestic pigeons, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

Parthenogenesis is considered to be a rare phenomenon in birds, said Oliver Ryder, a co-author of the study and the director of conservation genetics at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. We discovered it in California condors because we have such a detailed genealogical analysis of the entire population.
Sixty years ago on Saturday, the Soviet Union detonated the worlds most powerful nuclear weapon, with a force 3,333 times that of the bomb used on Hiroshima. As the device shattered all records, it sent shock waves through the American defense establishment: How should the United States respond? Did the nation need bigger, more destructive arms? Was it wise to do nothing? What was the best way to protect the nation from the deadly stirrings of a belligerent foe?

American policymakers now face similar questions as bold rivals pursue novel delivery systems for their nuclear arms. A new study, based on recently declassified documents, offers insights into how an earlier president resolved a comparable dilemma. The report shows that the secret debate over what to do about the unprecedented Soviet blast was ended by President John F. Kennedy. He chose not only to ignore the militarys appeals for deadlier arms, but to sponsor and sign an East-West treaty that precluded more superweapons.

It went all the way to the top, Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear historian at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., and the studys author, said in an interview. Its clear that Kennedy was on the fence. But he decided not to go in the bomb direction.

Andrew Cohen, author of Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours That Made History, said in an interview that Dr. Wellerstein reveals an untold story thats terrifying, sobering and illuminating. Mr. Cohens book lays out the presidents 1963 pivot to diplomacy that helped make the groundbreaking arms treaty possible. He added that disclosure of Kennedys calculated nonresponse to the pushy clamor showed his deep revulsion for nuclear weapons.
Have you heard that the Covid vaccine turns you into a vampiric monster  and that the proof is right there in the 2007 Will Smith movie I Am Legend?

This conspiracy theory appeared online last year and spread so widely that Reuters actually ran a fact check debunking it (and clarifying the plot). One of the screenwriters of the movie also felt compelled to tweet that it was fictional.

While such ludicrous disinformation may seem peculiar to the social media era, its also a throwback to the origins of our most famous monster.

No, the first vampires did not appear in books or movies. They werent debonair Transylvanian counts or good-looking, disaffected teenagers. Rooted in folklore, they were symbols of epidemics  and a plausible explanation for disease, at least for the time.
Absolutely stunning is how the University of California, Santa Barbara, described plans for Munger Hall, a towering residence hall for more than 4,500 students that was designed by Charles T. Munger, a billionaire and an executive of Berkshire Hathaway.

But Dennis McFadden, an architect who served as a consultant on the universitys design review committee, did not agree. On Oct. 24, in a scathing letter to the chairwomen of the committee, he announced that he was resigning over the universitys decision to approve a design he likened to a social and psychological experiment.

He said he was disturbed by a design that would cram the students into a 1.7-million-square-foot, 11-story building and make the vast majority of them live in small rooms without windows, wholly dependent on artificial light and mechanical ventilation.

In the nearly fifteen years I served as a consulting architect to the DRC, no project was brought before the committee that is larger, more transformational and potentially more destructive to the campus as a place than Munger Hall, he wrote in the letter. The basic concept of Munger Hall as a place for students to live is unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent and a human being.
Coastal communities in the Mid-Atlantic states remained under flood warnings or advisories on Saturday as they surveyed the damage from the large, slow-moving storm that doused areas of the region and brought some of the highest tidal surges of the past two decades, according to meteorologists.

The storm and flooding affected cities and towns along northern coastal Virginia up through the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay areas, to coastal New Jersey. Waters surged into Annapolis, Md., and Alexandria, Va., and waterways surrounding Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia swelled.

Up and down the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, homes and businesses flooded and coastal roads were submerged, turning some coastal areas into islands. But the surges in some areas were not as damaging as some forecasters had feared.

In Baltimore, the Inner Harbor was underwater on Friday night, but by Saturday, people in the area were back out walking their dogs and sitting on benches soaking up the sun as the storm clouds rolled out of the region. Nearby, one section of the historic Fells Point neighborhood remained under water, while workers from the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore and affected businesses cleaned debris off the sidewalks and brick streets where the water had receded.
WASHINGTON  Former President Donald J. Trump is seeking to block from release a wide range of documents related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the National Archives said Saturday in an early-morning federal court filing detailing what Mr. Trump is fighting to keep secret.

In the filing, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, John Laster, the director of the National Archives presidential materials division, laid out for the first time exactly which documents Mr. Trump was asserting executive privilege over. The former president is hoping to prevent the documents from being reviewed by the House committee empowered to investigate the mob violence at the Capitol.

According to the filing, Mr. Trump has asserted executive privilege specifically over 770 pages of documents, including 46 pages of records from the files of Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff; Stephen Miller, his former senior adviser; and Patrick Philbin, his former deputy counsel. Mr. Trump is also objecting to the release of the White House Daily Diary  a record of the presidents movements, phone calls, trips, briefings, meetings and activities  as well as logs showing phone calls to the president and to Vice President Mike Pence concerning Jan. 6, Mr. Laster wrote.

Mr. Trump has also asserted executive privilege over 656 pages that include proposed talking points for Kayleigh McEnany, his former press secretary; a handwritten note concerning Jan. 6; a draft text of a presidential speech for the Save America rally that preceded the mob attack; and a draft executive order on the topic of election integrity, the filing states.
Mr. Buthelezi, a 63-year-old school principal, said in an interview that he has been too afraid to enter the mayors office since February, when he was met by a group of burly private security guards who barred his entry.

I cannot go there alone, said Mr. Buthelezi. They hired people so that when they see me there, I should be assaulted, be harassed, or other things be done that would not be good.

Mr. Buthelezi was ousted as mayor in a vote of no-confidence by the town council last December, but he challenged the vote's legality in court and was reinstated the next month. In the meantime, though, his rival Mr. Moreo had been sworn in as the new mayor. Mr. Buthelezi has appealed to the A.N.C.s national leaders to resolve the matter.

Still, the mayoral car  a low-slung Mercedes-Benz that seems unsuitable for the towns potholed roads  is parked in Mr. Buthelezis garage.

Mr. Moreo is in his mid-30s, a spokesman said, and started his career in government as the personal assistant to a previous mayor. Mr. Moreo did not appear for a scheduled interview earlier this month, and was later unavailable to speak by phone.
ROME  From the opening moments of the Group of 20 summit on Saturday, the leaders of the worlds largest economies wanted to send a strong message about ending the coronavirus pandemic: During an unconventional group photograph, they were joined on the dais by doctors in white coats and first responders from the Italian Red Cross.

In his remarks opening the meeting  the first gathering in person for the group since the pandemic struck  Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy pointed to the stark disparity in access to vaccines between richer and poorer countries.

Going it alone is simply not an option, said Mr. Draghi, whose country is hosting the summit. Now, he added, the world could finally look at the future with great  or with some  optimism.
ROME  President Biden and other world leaders endorsed a landmark global agreement on Saturday that seeks to block large corporations from shifting profits and jobs across borders to avoid taxes, a showcase win for a president who has found raising corporate tax rates an easier sell with other countries than with his own party in Congress.

The announcement in the opening session of the Group of 20 summit marked the worlds most aggressive attempt yet to stop opportunistic companies like Apple and Bristol Myers Squibb from sheltering profits in so-called tax havens, where tax rates are low and corporations often maintain little physical presence beyond an official headquarters.

It is a deal years in the making, which was pushed over the line by the sustained efforts of Mr. Bidens Treasury Department, even as the presidents plans to raise taxes in the United States for new social policy and climate change programs have fallen short of his promises.

The revenue expected from the international pact is now critical to Mr. Bidens domestic agenda, an unexpected outcome for a president who has presented himself more as a deal maker at home rather than abroad.
As President Biden and other leaders gathered on Saturday to discuss plans to protect against future pandemics, health experts and activists said that rich nations were still not doing enough to help people in poor nations survive the current one.

White House advisers said the president would spend his time at this weekends Group of 20 summit focused on fixing supply chains, securing a blessing on a global tax deal, and pushing to explore debt relief and emergency financing for poor countries whose economies have been battered by the pandemic.

From the start of the summit, leaders tried to telegraph the importance of ending the pandemic: During a group photo, they were joined on the dais by doctors in white coats and emergency medical workers from the Italian Red Cross. Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy, in his remarks opening the meeting, also pointed to the stark disparity in access to vaccines between richer and poorer countries.

While wealthy nations are offering people third doses and increasingly inoculating children, poor countries have administered an estimated four doses per 100 people, according to the World Health Organization.
BERLIN  When Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany meets President Biden at the Group of 20 summit in Rome this weekend, she wont come alone: tagging along will be her likely successor, Olaf Scholz.

The buddy act between an outgoing center-right chancellor and an incoming center-left one is striking even by Germanys hyper-bipartisan standards: After 16 years of representing Europes biggest economy on the international stage and becoming an indispensable figure in global diplomacy, Ms. Merkel is not just introducing Mr. Scholz to the world, but also trying to reassure the world that Germany will remain in safe hands.

The aim, officials in Berlin said, is to signal continuity and a smooth transition of power.

The German chancellor is changing, the main governing party is changing, but Germanys commitment to the G20 is not, said one senior official who in keeping with protocol cannot be quoted by name.

Mr. Scholz, a Social Democrat who beat the candidate from Ms. Merkels Christian Democrats in Germanys elections in September, is expected to be sworn in as chancellor in early December. This weekend, he will also join Ms. Merkel in talks with leaders like President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.
MOSCOW  Natural gas, already in short supply in Europe this fall, began moving away from Germany on Saturday and back toward the east in an unusual reversal in a major Russian pipeline, Russian media reported.

In themselves, the Russian reports were no cause for alarm, and the giant Russian energy firm, Gazprom, said Saturday that it is filling all European orders. One Russian news media report even suggested the flow reversal was a short-term problem caused by balmy weather in Germany over the weekend.

But the reversal is playing out against a backdrop of a politically charged explosion in gas prices in Europe and accusations that the Kremlin is restricting gas supplies for political purposes. One such purpose is to prod the E.U. into approving a new pipeline, Nordstream 2, that would bring gas from Russia directly to Germany, bypassing Eastern Europe.

More broadly, analysts say, the Kremlin may be sending a message about renewable energy, illustrating that too quick a pivot away from natural gas will leave the Continent vulnerable to fickle wind and solar supplies.
CAIRO  A diplomatic crisis between several wealthy Persian Gulf states and their tiny, cash-strapped Arab neighbor, Lebanon, expanded on Saturday as the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait pulled their ambassadors from Beirut, one day after Saudi Arabia and Bahrain did the same.

The Gulf nations said they were withdrawing their diplomats in response to comments made by Lebanons information minister, George Kordahi, who called the war in Yemen a Saudi and Emirati aggression in a recent television interview. In addition to recalling their envoys, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain also expelled Lebanons ambassadors from their countries.

Although Saudi Arabias military campaign to oust the Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen has been widely condemned in the West and by its archenemy, Iran, its Arab neighbors have avoided antagonizing the kingdom, given its role as regional heavyweight and banker.

With a few stray comments from a minor minister, Lebanon once again found itself caught in the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, underscoring just how vulnerable it is to the whims of its more powerful neighbors.
In December, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on a Mississippi law that is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, setting the stage for what could be the most consequential abortion rights ruling in decades.

The addition of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the court in 2020 has strengthened the courts conservative majority and energized the anti-abortion movement, which has long sought to overturn Roe, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion and barred states from banning the procedure before fetal viability.

Heres a guide to understanding what is in the law and what is at stake in the case:

What is in the Mississippi abortion law?

The Mississippi law that will be reviewed by the court makes most abortions illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy, about two months earlier than Roe and later decisions allow. Most experts estimate fetal viability to be about 24 weeks.

The law was enacted in 2018 by the Republican-dominated Mississippi Legislature but never went into effect because of an immediate legal challenge that led to a federal appellate court blocking its enforcement.
A man who stole money from two people with an intellectual disability in Tullamore appeared by video link from Cloverhill prison where he is on remand for another offence.

In his evidence to last week's Tullamore district court, Sgt James O'Sullivan said that on September 8, 2021, Brendan Sherlock (28) 2, Hartley Cross, Lavender Lodge, Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim, approached a man who has an intellectual disability in Tullamore town park and asked him for money. The man handed him 100. On September 9 2021 at Durrow Lane, Tullamore, Mr Sherlock approached the same man and this time he handed him 25.

On August 3, 2021, at 3pm on Patrick Street, Tullamore, he stole 10 from a female with an intellectual disability taking the money from her purse. Mr Sherlock was identified and the money found on him.

On August 22, 2021 the defendant stole a sandwich and drink worth 5 from Leavy's Centra, Henry Street, Tullamore. The property was not recovered. On August 7, 2021 he stole a jumper worth 10 from Lidl, Main Street.

Brendan Sherlock, had 119 previous convictions and is currently on remand at Cloverhill Prison.

Solicitor Donal Farrelly said Mr Sherlock was homeless at the time of the offences. He asked Judge Staines not to sentence him to the Midland's Prison as there were death threats against him at the prison. He asked the judge to postpone sentencing for two weeks as he is due to appear at Longford court on another charge and he believes he will be sentenced to Castlerea Prison.

Mr Farrelly said Brendan Sherlock had been a heroin addict for a number of years and was now on a methadone programme. He is from Trim and he hopes to go back to where he came from.

Judge Staines described the offence as most serious especially since it involved someone with an intellectual disability. She put sentencing back for three weeks and directed that 400 be paid to the victim from the court poor box. She adjourned the case to November 17 for sentencing
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Protesters gather at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday Oct. 28, 2021, to push the Iowa Legislature to pass a bill that would prohibit vaccine mandates from being imposed on employees in Iowa. Informed Choice Iowa, a group opposing vaccine and mask mandates, held the rally as lawmakers convened a special session of the legislature and unveiled a bill that provides for vaccine mandate exemptions and required unemployment benefits for workers forced out of a job for refusing a vaccine.
Ottumwa, IA (52501)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High around 55F. WSW winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy. Low 36F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  Authorities have said a bullet struck the brim of a baseball-style cap worn by a Boise, Idaho, police officer who exchanged gunfire with the gunman in Mondays shooting at the citys largest shopping mall that killed two people.

In a statement Friday, authorities identified the officer as Chris Dance, who joined the force in May. He is on paid administrative leave, which is standard after a critical incident, The Statesman reported.

The suspect, 27-year-old Jacob Bergquist, died Tuesday in a hospital after the shooting at Boise Towne Square that also injured four other people.

Dance drove up to the scene in a patrol vehicle with another officer in the passenger seat, authorities said. They saw someone matching the description of the suspect behind a business.

Police said Bergquist began firing at the vehicle. The officer in the passenger seat got out of the vehicle to take cover in a better position.

Dance continued driving and fired back at Bergquist before the suspect ran behind a dumpster. Officers then heard another shot fired.

As part of his uniform, Dance was wearing a BPD hat, which was hit with gunfire from Bergquist, according to police.

Police are still investigating Bergquists motives. Charges wont be brought against him because he died, but police are looking into questions of whether he may have targeted anyone for any specific reason.

Before the shooting began, security video showed Bergquist wearing a backpack and carrying a weapon inside the mall for about 40 minutes while he walked around and ate in the food court, authorities said.

When a security officer contacted Bergquist, they spoke, the suspect began to walk away, then turned back and shot the security officer, according to the statement.

Jo Acker, a security guard at the mall, was one of the two people Bergquist killed. She was 26.

Bergquist continued shooting as he walked away and fired multiple times at Roberto Padilla Arguelles, who was riding an escalator. Padilla Arguelles, 49, also was killed.

On Thursday evening, hundreds of people gathered outside the shopping center to honor those who died.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Unspecified family obligations" prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday to suddenly cancel his trip to Scotland for the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, a huge gathering of international leaders on a subject that is among his highest priorities.

Newsom, who has four children ages 5 to 12, will participate in the gathering virtually, spokesperson Erin Mellon said. Mellon declined to comment when asked to provide details about what prompted Newsom to change his plans.

Newsom asked Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a fellow Democrat, to lead California's delegation to Glasgow. In an interview with The Associated Press, Kounalakis said she spoke to Newsom on Thursday and had a sense she might be asked to go.

The governor has a young family and we should all be understanding, especially those of us who have been there," said Kounalakis, who has two grown sons.

Democratic state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, who is attending the conference, said he suspects Newsom is very disappointed to not be going.

He loves this issue, he cares about it a lot," Hertzberg said. Its a big deal to him, and Im sure he desperately wanted to go.

Newsom has spoken passionately about the need to act decisively on climate change issues. Last month, while touring damage from one of the state's many recent major wildfires, he said: I quite literally have no patience for climate change deniers," adding: that view is completely inconsistent ... with the reality on the ground."

California has long been a global leader on climate issues, dating back to the 1960s when the state first regulated emissions for cars and trucks. While President Donald Trump was in office, California filed more than 100 lawsuits against the federal government, mostly over environmental issues.

Newsom has sought to extend California's influence further through a series of ambitious executive orders that, should they survive a lengthy and contentious rule-making process, could fundamentally change how people live. So far, Newsom has proposed a ban on the sale of all new gas-powered cars in California by 2035, a ban on all oil drilling by 2045 and outlawing the sale of gas-powered lawn equipment by 2024 or whenever state regulators determine that is feasible.

Most recently, Newsom proposed a prohibition on new oil and gas drilling within 3,200 feet (975 meters) of schools, homes and hospitals in what would be the largest buffer zone in the country in a state that is the country's seventh-largest oil producer.

Newsom not attending the conference in person will impact the state's influence to an extent, said state Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Los Angeles-area Democrat. But he said Newsom doesn't need to be in Scotland to be a leader on climate change.

Still, Rendon said he's been frustrated that the state isn't moving faster.

Our aggressive actions, I think, were cool when we thought the problem was progressing at a certain pace. Now, Im not sure that they are aggressive enough or immediate enough, said Rendon, who will attend the U.N. conference. Its an opportunity to kind of talk about what weve done but at the same time to kind of light a fire under the butts of some of our fellow legislators and have a sense of urgency about an issue that is not only existential but thats immediate.

Last month Newsom easily beat back a Republican-backed recall election that sought to remove him from office, solidifying his power in the nation's most populous state. The trip to Scotland would have been his most significant international trip as governor, providing him a global platform to highlight his agenda and urge others to follow California's lead.

Newsom is up for re-election in 2022 and is a heavy favorite to remain office for a second term. Under Californias law governors are limited to two terms.

Canceling the trip is unlikely to hurt him politically, said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a professor of public policy communication at the University of Southern California. In fact, Newsom might have been harmed politically as well as personally if he did attend, she said.

The optics of his leaving the country, assuming theres something happening that needs his attention at home, would be totally negative, she said.

He wont be able to hobnob and network, but he will be visible, she added. As long as there is Zoom, as long as there is a means of virtual face-to-face communication, I dont think hell be off the radar screen.

Top officials from his administration still plan to travel to Scotland, including natural resources secretary Wade Crowfoot, environmental protection secretary Jared Blumenfeld, California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph, agriculture secretary Karen Ross and senior climate adviser Lauren Sanchez.

While we have a lot to do still in California and really are going to learn from the international community about what more we can do that they're doing, we also have a lot to teach," said Blumenfeld, who will be in Scotland for a week starting Nov. 1.

Newsom had only recently decided to attend the conference, sending staff, media organizations and other lawmakers scrambling to prepare for the trip. His decision not to go was equally abrupt and more surprising.

Hertzberg credited Newsom for putting his children first.

At some point, as much as we want to be out there in politics, youre a human being. Youve got to take care of your family. And hes doing it, and I think thats a good thing, Hertzberg said.

___

Associated Press reporter Don Thompson contributed.
Senate Bill 601, Restrict school face mask mandates and more: Passed 19 to 15 in the Senate

To require public schools that impose epidemic-related face mask mandates on students to grant waivers; ban districts from requiring school board meeting attendees to wear a face mask or get a COVID test; prohibit schools from requiring asymptomatic students to get a COVID test, and more.

31 Sen. Kevin Daley R - Attica Y

32 Sen. Kenneth Horn R - Frankenmuth Y

36 Sen. Jim Stamas R - Midland X

Senate Bill 600, Prohibit schools requiring students get emergency-use COVID vaccine: Passed 19 to 15 in the Senate

To prohibit public or private schools from mandating student get a vaccine authorized solely for emergency use (meaning the COVID vaccines available when the bill was introduced). Also, to ban different requirements for vaccinated and unvaccinated students including separated seating, facemask requirements and more.

31 Sen. Kevin Daley R - Attica Y

32 Sen. Kenneth Horn R - Frankenmuth Y

36 Sen. Jim Stamas R - Midland X

Senate Bill 602, Ban certain state face mask mandates in schools: Passed 19 to 15 in the Senate

To prohibit the state health department from issuing an order that requires schoolchildren who are asymptomatic for COVID-19 to wear a face mask, receive an experimental drug vaccination (meaning one for COVID), or get tested for COVID-19. This would apply to attending school, riding the bus, or participating in on- or off-campus extracurriculars. This would also apply to adults attending school board meetings.

31 Sen. Kevin Daley R - Attica Y

32 Sen. Kenneth Horn R - Frankenmuth Y

36 Sen. Jim Stamas R - Midland X

House Bill 4485, Keep cigar tax cap: Passed 28 to 6 in the Senate

To repeal the Oct. 1, 2021 sunset on a law that caps the 32% tobacco tax imposed on cigars at 50 cents per cigar. In other words, if the bill becomes law the 50 cent cap would remain in effect.

31 Sen. Kevin Daley R - Attica Y

32 Sen. Kenneth Horn R - Frankenmuth Y

36 Sen. Jim Stamas R - Midland X

House Bill 5267, Exempt feminine hygiene products from sales tax: Passed 32 to 2 in the Senate

To exempt feminine hygiene products from sales tax.

31 Sen. Kevin Daley R - Attica Y

32 Sen. Kenneth Horn R - Frankenmuth Y

36 Sen. Jim Stamas R - Midland X

Senate Bill 562, Grant brownfield subsidy to particular developer: Passed 29 to 5 in the Senate

To amend the definition of brownfield subsidies in a way that would allow a certain developer to collect these taxpayer-funded benefits on a particular venture.

31 Sen. Kevin Daley R - Attica Y

32 Sen. Kenneth Horn R - Frankenmuth Y

36 Sen. Jim Stamas R - Midland X

House Bill 4066, Preempt local knife restrictions: Passed 25 to 11 in the Senate

To preempt local governments from enacting any ordinance, rule, or tax relating to the transportation, possession, carrying, sale, transfer, purchase, gift, devise, licensing, registration, or use of a knife or knife making components that is more restrictive than state law. Also, to preempt local rules or ordinances relating to the manufacture of a knife that are more restrictive than those relating to the manufacture of any other commercial goods.

31 Sen. Kevin Daley R - Attica Y

32 Sen. Kenneth Horn R - Frankenmuth Y

36 Sen. Jim Stamas R - Midland Y

House Bill 4281, Let more local governments impose extra property tax for police: Passed 95 to 11 in the House

To revise population thresholds in a law that permits certain communities to levy property taxes for public safety services, so as to allow Romulus to impose this type of tax. The bill would also let governments in Berkley, Harper Woods and the city of Saginaw impose these levies

95 Rep. Amos O'Neal D - Saginaw Y

96 Rep. Timothy Beson R - Bay City Y

97 Rep. Jason Wentworth R - Clare Y

98 Rep. Annette Glenn R - Midland Y

99 Rep. Roger Hauck R - Mount Pleasant Y

House Bill 4722, Ban disparate regulations on Airbnb-type rentals: Passed 55 to 48 in the House

To allow local governments to restrict a person from doing Airbnb-type short term rentals on more than two properties within their jurisdiction, and to limit the total number of short term rentals to 30% of the local rental market. With some narrow exceptions locals could not enforce zoning restrictions that restrict short term rentals. Locals could adopt regulations on noise, advertising, traffic, nuisances, dwelling capacity, inspections, fees and taxes otherwise permitted by law.

95 Rep. Amos O'Neal D - Saginaw N

96 Rep. Timothy Beson R - Bay City N

97 Rep. Jason Wentwort R - Clare Y

98 Rep. Annette Glenn R - Midland Y

99 Rep. Roger Hauck R - Mount Pleasant Y

Source: MichiganVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Visit www.MichiganVotes.org.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tess DeGayner.

Wednesday, Oct. 27

10:34 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Lincoln Township trailer regarding an argument between a 58-year-old female and her 62-year-old male roommate. The roommate was provided a ride to a local hotel for the night.

9:35 p.m.  A deputy assisted Coleman Fire Department with a "lift assist" of a 93-year-old Coleman female at a city of Coleman residence

9:05 p.m.  A 19-year-old female was arrested for conditional bond violation and a warrant after deputies were called to a Geneva Township home regarding a verbal argument. The female was transported and lodged at the Midland County Jail without incident.

8:40 p.m.  A deputy responded to a Greendale Township business to speak with a 24-year-old Greenwood woman regarding a credit card that had fallen out of her wallet while in the parking lot of the business. The woman had canceled the credit card after being unable to locate the card. The woman requested to document the incident.

8:24 p.m.  A deputy assisted a 20-year-old McBain female with her disabled vehicle on a Jerome Township roadway.

8:12 p.m.  A deputy spoke with a 57-year-old Jerome Township woman regarding cell phone questions after having issues with calling 911. The deputy referred the woman to contact her phone company for mitigation of the issues.

5:55 p.m.  Officers provided general assistance in the 1500 block of Renee Drive.

1:10 p.m.  Officers were dispatched near the 3800 block of Freedom Court for suspicious situation.

12:50 p.m.  The detective bureau in the Midland County Sheriff Office received a referral from the department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regarding suspicious circumstances involving a woman's children and an adult male alleged to have been in an Edenville Township home. After investigation by DHHS, no criminal victimization was uncovered.

12:33 p.m.  A deputy responded to a Warren Township residence to check on the well-being of a 16-year-old female student at the request of Coleman Schools. The female was home and declined any assistance. This incident was closed.

12:29 p.m.  Officers were dispatched to the 4500 block of North Saginaw Road for a suspicious situation.

3 a.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Jerome Township business regarding a suspicious pickup truck outside with people yelling and being loud. Deputies spoke with an 18-year-old male in the parking lot who advised he met up with his friends after mud-bogging their vehicles. No illegal activity was observed and the crowd dispersed before the deputies arrived.

2:28 a.m.  Officers responded to a driver operating a vehicle on a suspended license near Isabella Street and Albee Lane. The vehicle also had an improper plate.

12:13 a.m.  A deputy responded to a car-deer crash on a Lee Township roadway.
Funeral service for Otis C. Harrison, Jr., 47, formerly of Oakwood, passed away November 6, 2021 in Cypress, CA. Viewing will be on, Monday, November 22 at Emanuel Funeral Home of Palestine from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Funeral will be held on Tuesday, November 23, at True Vine DOXA Center, Fairfie
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - With mass civil protests against last Monday's military coup planned for Saturday in Sudan, the UN Secretary-General has a simple message: I urge the military to show restraint, and not to create any more victims
New York, US (PANA) - The UN Special Representative for Mali told the Security Council on Friday that despite collective efforts, the reality is that the security situation has deteriorated and the crisis is deepening across the West African nation
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Some personal and business insurance claimants are slated to share their experiences at 4 pm this Thursday during the October 2021 edition of H.Insured: All About Insurance Webinar Series hosted by insurance group, Hollard Ghana, with its subsidiaries Hollard Insurance and Hollard Life Assurance. The webinar will be live on Zoom and on the companys Facebook page.



The webinar will be moderated by Dorothy Salifu, Head of Operations, a claims expert at Hollard Life Assurance, joined by her colleague, award-winning claims personality of the year at CIIG 2020, Iris Logan, who is Head of Claims at Hollard Insurance.



The claimants, drawn from business and private sector, are Hollard customers with testimonials to share. They are Michael Asiedu Ampomah, Chief Superintendent of Immigration, Adepa Family Plan claimant, Senyo Agbesi, Credit Controller, Motor Insurance claimant, Kwasi Asamoah, Eye equipment supplier, Adepa Wo Fie claimant, Appiah Agyeman Jnr, Head of People and Operations, Bayport Savings and Loans, Purple Employee Plan claimant and Sampson Vigbedor, Financial Director of Yamco Manufacturing Company Ltd, Fire and Allied Perils claimant



Commenting on the essence of the webinar, Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Cynthia Ofori-Dwumfuo, said: Claims are the why of our business purpose. We are fulfilled when customers are delighted with our service, especially during their time of dire need. However, we acknowledge that the process of claiming can be challenging due to a lack of understanding of the process, and insurance companiescustomers may leave dissatisfied from avoidable issues and shun insurance altogether.



According to research, inadequate awareness, and improper way of filing for claims has resulted in so many misconceptions about insurance.As an unconventional company, which do well by doing good, we believe having these honest conversations can clear misconceptions.Hence, we have drawn claimants from our diverse products to share their personal experiences on the best ways to secure a pay-out. We believe by the time the discussion is over, customers in doubt will come to appreciate the claims process., she added.



The down to earth jargon-free webinar, in its second season, promises to be very educative and insightful. Interested participants should visit Hollard Ghana on Facebook to watch live at 4 pm on Thursday.



About Hollard Ghana



The countrys favourite insurance group is Hollard Ghana, with subsidiaries Hollard Insurance and Hollard Life Assurance. The group combines its deep local knowledge of the market having previously operated in Ghana for 25 years as Metropolitan Insurance with the world-class expertise of an international insurance brand in 18 countries across the world.



With feet firmly planted on Ghanaian soil but headquartered in South Africa, Hollard delivers innovative insurance solutions customized to the unique risks Ghanaians face.



Hollard offers various life and general insurance products including funeral, personal accident, motor, business, travel, home, and more; and can be reached via the following means: 0501603967 (Hollard Insurance) and 0501533698 (Hollard Life). Beyond various nationwide office branches and Hollard 2U franchise shops, Ghanaians can find Hollard at Shell Fuel Station Welcome Shops, Melcom stores and online at www.hollard.com.gh and www.jumia.com.gh for all their insurance needs.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Mrs Ama Henrietta Serchie, an Ophthalmic Nurse at the Hohoe Municipal Hospital, has called on the public to desist from putting drops of breast milk on their eyes as a treatment when they have eye conditions.



Breast milk is not meant for the eye. It is meant for babies and it can transfer infections from the mother to the one putting it on the eye. Anything can happen.



Mrs Serchie in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during a free eye screening and surgical operations organised by Lifetime Wells Vision in collaboration with Friends Eye Centre from Tamale and Kumasi, advised people experiencing itchy eyes to seek medical help and stop rubbing their eyes.



She said people must avoid using seawater and herbal medicines as a form of treatment for their eyes anytime they felt there was a problem.



The Ophthalmic Nurse noted that there were many diseases of the eye which included glaucoma, cataract, pterygium, ptosis, strabismus, phthisis bulbi, refractive errors and allergies.



She said trauma, ageing, diabetes, congenital, hereditary, harsh weather, smoke, dusty environment and the scorchy sun were some basic causes of these diseases.



Mrs Serchie said people must be careful how they handled sharp objects, avoiding hitting any part of the body including the eye, adding that the glaucoma was a blinding disease which showed no signs.



The Nurse noted that regular check-ups could help track glaucoma to enable the disease to be seen and managed since its effect was irreversible.



She urged the public to have their eyes checked every six months and visit health facilities that had eye clinics, while urging people not to wait till they went blind before seeking help.



The Nurse noted that it was important for people who brought eye conditions to health facilities or eye clinics to adhere to directives including dates given them for follow-ups.



Mrs Serchie also called on people to make eye clinics their first point of call when they experienced eye conditions.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah will on Sunday, October 31, 2021, host a live audio conversation on Twitter Spaces with young entrepreneurs to take feedback and inputs from them that will inform government policy directions as it prepares to present the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament in a fortnight time.



Dubbed #ListenUp, the Spaces is the first of its kind and will feature a host of young entrepreneurs coming together in a virtual space to deliberate around entrepreneurship, its prospects and how to resolve bottlenecks in business creation.



This follows an ongoing national conversation triggered by comments passed by the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta during a recent graduation ceremony at the UPSA that the governments payroll is full.



Mr Oppong Nkrumah who is himself an avid Twitter user will through his Twitter handle (@konkrumah) join young entrepreneurs to take inputs from them that will feed into government policy decisions for the future.



Listen Up is organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Information and is expected to be an occasional platform for deepening engagement particularly feedback from the Ghanaian people.

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A National One-Health Policy is being formulated to ensure the optimal health and well-being of the citizens.



The draft policy is currently awaiting further discussions at the Ministerial level to ensure that it receives the nod and gets passed into an Act by Parliament.



Mr Eric Nana Agyeman-Prempeh, the Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation ( NADMO), disclosed this at a pre-media briefing prior to the 2021 International One-Health Day celebration on November 3.



This year's celebration is on the theme, "Let Us Build a Fairer and Healthier World for Everyone".



In Ghana, there will be a community durbar at Pong-Tamale on November 3, to commemorate the day.



NADMO in collaboration with over 20 state and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) including the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service (GHS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Veterinary Service Department has produced the draft policy, which would also recognise the health interconnections between people, animals, plants and their shared environment.



Mr Agyeman-Prempeh said, One-Health Day was initiated in 2016 to draw global attention to the need for one health collaboration across various sectors and disciplines, and to allow the world to "see them together work in action"



He said Ghana had since 2017 been celebrating the day with support from WHO, FAO, and USAID to create awareness among policymakers, advocate for the adoption of One-Health Approach and provide a policy framework to guide implementation.



It is also to advocate for stronger collaboration among the human, animal, and environment sectors, as well as the public to canvas for their support for the implementation of One Health Approach at the community level.



The Director-General said one of the aims would be to sensitize the media and solicit their support to educate the public about the One-Health Approach and its benefit to society.



NADMO has since 2018 through the support from FAO and WHO has been coordinating consultative processes at the national, regional, and district-level toward the development of a National Policy on One Health.



That, Mr Agyeman-Prempeh said, was facilitated by the multi-sector Technical Working Group for One-Health under the auspices of NADMO.



"Through hard work and support by all stakeholders engaged in the process, we have a final draft of One-Health Policy," he added.



Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, the Director of Public Health Division of the Ghana Health Service, stressed the need to ensure that equity in health was the centerpiece of the country's COVID-19 recovery.



He said the pandemic had hardly hit countries, but its impact had been harshest on those communities, which already faced significant vulnerability, who are more exposed to the disease, and likely to have access to quality health service and more likely to experience adverse consequences due to measures implemented to contain the pandemic.



He noted that building a fairer and healthier society for everyone required country engagement, which is seen as a key driver in addressing long-standing social and inequities.



Dr Asiedu-Bekoe said advancing health equity means creating a more resilient and equitable environment that would enable and empower communities to make decisions to benefit their health and well-being.



The Country Representative of FAO, Ndiaga Goeye, said the Organisation is also working closely with other partners to promote the One-Health Approach at the country level.



He said improper use of antibiotics was a major cause of infectious diseases among animals and humans.



To address this, the FAO and partners are running a series of workshops to create awareness on the issue, he said.



He, therefore, pledged their commitment and continuous support for government's efforts to ensure a healthier environment for all.



Dr Sally-Ann Ohene, Disease Prevention and Control Officer, WHO said it was important to have policies to bring stakeholders together to function well and pledge her outfit's continuous support for the One Health Technical Group to streamline their activities.



Mr Joy Hesse-Ankomah from Environmental Protection Agency, said the application of One-Health principles had the potential to significantly improve the governance of infectious diseases in the country.



He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had reinforced the relevance of the One-Health principle of the global governance of infectious diseases, in particular in international efforts to prevent and contain zoonotic diseases.



"Currently, there is no formal strategy in reporting zoonotic diseases," he said and commended NADMO and the Technical Group for their efforts.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Activities of terrorists and violent extremists are threats to sustainable national development and undermine international peace and security, Ms Dorcas Atia, the Talensi District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has said.



She, therefore, urged all stakeholders to work together to identify signals of such threats and respond appropriately to prevent their occurrence in Ghana.



They divide communities, intensify conflicts and destabilize the entire region, so as the threat from terrorism continues to evolve, we must adapt and learn lessons from what works and what does not work. Our response therefore must be as vigorous and versatile as the threat, she said.



Ms Atia was addressing members of the Interparty Dialogue Committee (IPDC) at Tongo as part of efforts to prevent terrorism and violent extremism as well as electoral violence in northern Ghana.



It was sponsored by the European Union (EU) and brought together representatives of the various political parties, traditional and religious authorities and security agencies among other relevant stakeholders.



The District Director noted that the issues of violent extremism were grave and complex, and therefore demands flexibility, intelligence and openness to effectively address tension in communities and prevent its occurrence and preserve the prevailing peace and national cohesion.



The District Director explained that the activities of terrorism and violent extremism, which had become a global concern in the Sahel Regions could spill over to Ghana if collective efforts were not put in place to curb it.



Mr Joachim Elbazar, the Upper East Regional Head of Programmes, NCCE, noted that Ghana was at risk of terrorism as a result of the activities ongoing in neighbouring countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger among others.



He stated that the youth were mostly recruited by these terrorist groups to carry out their activities and urged members of the IPDC to help educate the youth to guard themselves against being recruited to foment trouble.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Mr. Alexander Nketia, Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), has noted a change in perception about the Volta Region following the inception of the Visit Volta Campaign.



The Tourism Authority and the Regional Coordinating Council had crafted the Campaign to divert tourist traffic into a Region being noted for its microcosmic acclaim.



Mr. Nketia was addressing a breakfast meeting with the Angolan Ambassador to Ghana, who was in the Region to help foster bilateral relations in trade.



He said the campaign helped defuse negative views that had kept the Region far apart from the rest of the nation.

Now that we are marketing, the visibility is becoming a lot better.



People are thinking positively about the Region now.



It used to be more of juju juju thinking, so if you talk about Volta Region, people are scared but now people are getting positive vibes and its all as a result of the Visit Volta Campaign that we are doing, the Director said.



The Visit Volta campaign also affects the promotion of the upcoming Volta Trade and Invest Fair, and had drawn support from the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in the region, which had committed to evolving the private investment landscape.



The campaign is being carried by prominent media personalities from the Region, and the Tourism Authority reports an increase in visitor numbers as a result.



Mr. Nketia, however, said tourism structures in the Region remained underdeveloped and was an area investors should consider.



He mentioned that upmarket hotels and accommodations, and also hospitality training institutions, and recreational facilities would be required to bring the region up to standard for both local and international tourists.



He also said roads and service delivery had to be improved and called on stakeholders to reconsider the multiplicity of taxes, and high-power costs to aid the growth of the industry.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has in the last five years spoken thrice on the subject of same-sex relations.



First was in 2017 during an Al-Jazeera interview, then early this year, at an Anglican Church function, when he said it was not going to be under his tenure that same-sex marriages will be legalized.



The most recent was during an interview on Peace FM where he said he was not intimidated by the subject but rather expected a civil conversation around it stressing that he believes Parliament will do a good job on it.



For Ningo Prampram Member of Parliament, Sam Nartey George, who is the lead promoter of the anti-gay Bill, the President will do Ghanaians a lot of good if he states his position for or against the Bill.



In an interview on the One On One show that aired on Metro TV earlier this week, (October 25), Sam George said he believed the President had seen or been briefed about the Bill for him to make an informed decision on whether to support or oppose or to support with amendments.



I have heard the president speak but I think that one thing that I would have loved to hear the President say was his position expressly. He has seen the bill, is he for it, is he against it, is he for it with amendments or he is totally against it.



I mean there are three positions on this Bill. I would have loved for him to give an indication as leader of our country. Where is his mind on this Bill? Then his AG can bring forward the amendments. His lawyer as President is the AG so we need to know, he added.





Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has charged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to arm themselves with facts and data on projects to defend the records of the government.

He said it was important for MMDCEs to ensure all planning officers at the assemblies took part in the process of updating the delivery tracker which accommodated all the projects undertaken by the government by close of the year in order to have the information on implemented projects on their fingertips.



Dr Bawumia made the call when he addressed the closing ceremony of a two-day orientation programme for MMDCEs in Accra last Wednesday.



Opposition propaganda



Dr Bawumia said the Akufo-Addo administration had performed so well, and that record needed to be defended at every given opportunity.



Doing that, he explained, would douse the  propaganda of the opposition National Democratic Congress ( NDC).



Approach your work with confidence because our record will always be superior to the record of the NDC which is specialised in propaganda.



But, the only way you can counter propaganda is with facts and data because they are very afraid of data, the Vice-President told the appointees.



He indicated that the 2024 elections would be fought at the local level and when they (the MMDCEs) were abreast of the projects, the NDC could not sit in Accra and use propaganda to lie about the projects.



Transformation agenda



Dr Bawumia stressed the contributions of MMDCEs towards the governments transformation agenda and reminded them of their impact on the success of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as well as that of the government in general.



You have an important role to play in the transformation of the country and the success of the government. For us to be successful as a government, you have to be successful as MMDCEs; it is that simple.



If you succeed, then President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP will succeed, Dr Bawumia stated.



The NPP is going to transform Ghana because many governments in two terms have not been able to do what the NPP has done in its first term, he added.





The Vice-President reminded the MMDCEs of the object for the many flagship programmes of the government, saying the philosophy and economic strategy under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo was driven by the need for decentralisation and inclusion of every part of the country in its forward movement.



He said that led to the introduction of programmes like the Planting for Food and Jobs to ensure every farmer benefited, same as the One Constituency, One Ambulance so that every constituency benefited; the One District, One Warehouse as well as the Free SHS for everyone to benefit.



Digitalisation



On the digitalisation programme, Vice-President Bawumia announced that next year the Lands Commission, the distribution of fertiliser, premix fuel distribution as well as the cocoa sector would all be digitised to deal with issues of land guards and also clear the bottlenecks associated with those sectors.



To that end, he said, all the database of the fisherfolk, among others, was being collated to aid the process.





Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., has called for a truce between the Electoral Commission and the two main political parties in the country.



His call comes on the heels of allegations by former President John Mahama that the EC rigged the 2020 elections.



The former President has refused to acknowledge President Nana Addo's victory and accuses the election management body of ballot stuffing, therefore declaring the 2024 elections as a 'do or die' affair.



Speaking in an interview quoted on 3news.com, Mr. Mahama alleged; "2020 was Ghanas worst election. If I was marking her, I would have given her an F. She is marking her own paper after the examination so she can give herself any mark she likes.



Tell me which election in Ghana was ballot papers printed yet one million ballot papers were found elsewhere...We didnt witness this under Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan. She [Jean Mensa] knew there was ballot stuffing.''



But Kwesi Pratt sounds fed up with the accusations against the EC and the back and forth political altercations between the opposition National Democratic Congress and governing New Patriotic Party.



"Ghana does not belong to Electoral Commission, NDC and NPP. Let us pray for the peace and stability of this nation," he snapped on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' Friday morning.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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President Joe Biden signed his $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law Monday on the White House lawn, hailing it as an example of what bipartisanship can achieve.
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The MEGA VOLT, its the first event of its kind. Its an Ebike Event, its a race, its a ride. Basically, were out here having fun with friends. Theres a little bit of competition here and there, but its not your average race.  Jesse Melamed, EWS honcho, Rocky Mountain Ambassador.

Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Oct 22-24. Powered By BC Bike Race - Photo Dave Silver

Keith Yip, North Vancouver Shredder - Photo Dave Silver

Dean Payne, El Hefe, heads out in sweep position for the Consistency Enduro - Photo Dave Silver

Rider meeting - Photo Dave Silver

You know what it reminded me of, the first mountain bike races in the late 80s; low-key, grassroots, lots of fun. No one cares whos first or whos last. Tons of fun, and just a group of like-minded people gathering and riding bikes.  Elladee Brown, Legend, Evil Bikes Ambassador



Elladee Brown receives the #1 Plate - Photo Dave Silver

Riders T-shirt, Loud and Proud - Photo Dave Silver

RESULTS

STAGE 1, Friday Afternoon - Presented by DLD Financial

The Consistency Trial - 13km, Results

James Durand tackles the wet rocks - Photo Dave Silver

Open Men

Open Women

Men 40+

Men 50+

Brent Hill 00:04.2 Overall Stage Winner

Geoff Gulevich hi-fives Jesse Melamed - Photo Dave Silver

STAGE 2, Saturday Morning - Presented by BC Ferries

The Tech-gnar Challenge - 16km, Results

This trail is a classic, put it on your bucket list - Photo Dave Silver

Open Men

Open Women

Men 40+

Men 50+

Gary Jackson 1:04:38 Overall Stage Winner

Elladee Brown owning the Tech-Gnar - Photo Dave Silver

Island local Terry McKall leads Roo the dog on a wild adventure - Photo Dave Silver

STAGE 3, Saturday Afternoon - Presented by Harbour Air

The Flowmaster 3000 -13km, Results

OG, Andre Weaver, still has the moves - Photo Dave Silver

Open Men

Jesse Melamed :43:38 Overall Stage Winner

Open Women

Men 40+

Men 50+

The rocks of Tony's Arbutus Ridge require some serious focus, Rider Zenya Kasubuchi - Photo Dave Silver

STAGE 4, Saturday Afternoon - Presented by Fox and Race Face

RedBull Downtime - 5km, Results

From as far as California the MEGA VOLT called and Edward Chua answered - Photo Dave Silver

Open Men

Jesse Melamed :09:36.6 Overall Stage Winner

Open Women

Men 40+

Men 50+

Always the style guy, Geoff Gulevich - Photo Dave Silver

OVERALL

Four Stages, All Timed plus the Consistency Trial

Top Down; James Wilson, Gary Jackson and Kurt Flaman - Photo Dave Silver

Open Men

Open Women

Elladee Brown 300 Overall Points Winner

Men 40+

Men 50+

The Tires of Choice around these parts - Photo Dave Silver

Top Down; Glen Houle, Graham Fox and Jeff Pilkington - Photo Dave Silver

Vance Fugeta and Kurt Flaman all the way from the South Okanagan - Photo Dave Silver

STAGE 5, Sunday Morning - Presented by Rocky Mountain

The Poker Challenge - 22km

Chris Johnston leads Jesse Melamed down Double D at the 'Tzoo'- Photo Dave Silver

Good times on two wheels, popping and dropping, Andre Weaver - Photo Dave Silver

The Dealer, Papa John Kearns, shuffling the deck - Photo Dave Silver

The bikes are the best theyve ever been, the trails are the best theyve ever been. This truly is the golden age of mountain biking.  Andreas Hestler, Olympian, Father, Co-Owner of BC Bike Race

Scott Hedlund and Gary Jackson, with some well earned hardware - Photo Dave Silver

MEGA VOLT, OUT (till next year)!!

A little momento to remember this awesome gathering - Photo Dave Silver

The Cowichan Valley is stacked with World Class Trail Networks

E-MTB bikes are a relatively new category in our sport, and we had a hunch that this new ingredient had the potential to create something amazing. This past weekend kicked off the first-ever MEGA VOLT festival; a fully-charged E-MTB experience produced by BC Bike Race and the Cowichan Trails Stewardship Society.The MEGA VOLT took place in the incredibly beautiful and stunning Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, BC. Cowichan Valley takes its name from Quw'utsun, an Indigenous word that means warm land. The first-ever multi-day E-MTB Festival (in North America), was unanimously approved with three thumbs up for the shape, style, camaraderie, and wicked fun trails!!Rewind to 1976 - it was a small group of people that went out to race klunker bikes down some of the steepest hills in Marin County - the first ever Repack Downhill. I wonder if they knew what they were starting? Thank you guys for doing what you believed in!!With a schedule packed full of fun and different flavoured events, the MEGA VOLT was aiming to curate a unique experience. From start to finish this event would provide a platform for E-MTB bikers to gather, test terrain, different conditions, and share those thoughts together in an open forum.Remember though  this MEGA VOLT (an ode to 80s metal music) - is all about FUN and good times on bikes, e-bikes! The format was truly taken to heart by all the participants who spent much of each ride in a large group talking and laughing before the terrain broke the party up.- 3 laps with the least differential being the winner.The day started out pretty laid back. With all of the beautiful fall colours and the perfect dirt conditions some people were doing pre-laps, while others were simply exploring the scenery of Maple Mountain. As the start time approached everyone was jazzed to get going. This first event was different, and a bit of an adjustment for those with a history of racing. However, after the super fun Consistency Trial was complete, many groups headed up for another casual lap, taking the opportunity to explore other trails, to pre-ride some of the upcoming courses, and to explore the lay of this amazing land. The people wanted more, and the weekend was going to deliver.Terry McKall 00:53.1 DifferentialJared Hicks 01:37.1Tor Pedersen 03:26.3Elladee Brown 00:43.8Glen Houle 00:17.0Graham Fox 00:30.3Jeff Pilkington 00:48.6James Durand 00:31.3Zenya Kasubuchi 00:37.6- A mini-epic on the classic loop of Maple Syrup on Maple Mountain.Terry McKall 1:10:41Alex Cogger 1:15:57Jesse Melamed 1:20:59Elladee Brown 1:11:16Glen Houle 1:11:12Jeff Pilkington 1:13:17Jon Bula 1:13:29Scott Hedlund 1:10:43James Wilson 1:11:02- Tony's Arbutus Ridge with a full rip on the new Phloem trail, on Maple MountainChris Johnston :44:48Alex Cogger :47:07Elladee Brown :47:02Jon Bula :48:04Glen Houle :49:58Dave Drummond :57:35James Wilson :46:14Scott Hedlund :47:01Kurt Flaman :47:03- A Race within a Race on the Phloem section within the afternoon route.Chris Johnston :10:49.5Terry McKall :12:38.1Elladee Brown :12:56.3Jon Bula :13:10.9Glen Houle :13:37.7Dave Drummond :14:29.2James Wilson :12:13.5Gary Jackson :12:14.6Kurt Flaman :12:53.6Terry McKall 297Jesse Melamed 294Chris Johnston 293Glen Houle 299Jeff Pilkington 293Jon Bula 292Scott Hedlund 291James Durand 289Gary Jackson 287- 2 Laps of Tzouhalem (The Tzoo) First Lap gets a hand dealt, 5 cards. The second Lap gets a Draw of 1-3 cards - simple right (No timing today, just cards).With the weather looming large and in charge, a storm was brewing on the west coast of Canada and it looked to be a doozy. The rain came but certainly didnt dampen the athletes spirits on this day. Stage 5, the Social Ride, would take place on Tzouhalem Mountain which is just across the valley from the previous two days of Maple Mountain. Known for its perfect symbiosis of both jank & flow, the Tzoo never disappoints.A pile of riding, beer, charging, and amazing singletrack was all wrapped up with a very casual and enjoyable last day. The storm intermittently thrashed and threw furious waves of torrential rain, but everything came out Aces.Theres something special about the bikes these days. Whats more, the terrain and trails we have access to today are a far cry from those early Repack DH days and the bikes they rode. We now have trail builders and local organizations that are creating amazing networks of trails that the early pioneers of our sport could never have dreamed of. The smiles seen this weekend speak volumes to the gratitude we all share, and the appreciation for all the opportunities that lay before us. This truly is the golden age of mountain biking.
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Welcome back to the final day of Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller as five players return to battle it out for the 2021 World Series of Poker bracelet and the first-place prize of $1,251,860. During the registration period, this tournament attracted a whopping 212 entries to get to a total prize pool of $5,008,500.

Ka Kwan Lau is leading at this five-handed final table with a commanding chip lead with 10,750,000 in chips. He is followed by John Beauprez (8,725,000) and Maxx Coleman with 5,730,000 in the top three. They are joined on the final table by Shaun Deeb (3,640,000) and Veselin Karakitukov (2,745,000).

Beauprez already owns a bracelet while Deeb has four of them in his collection for now. Lau, Coleman, and Karakitukov are all looking to claim their first one today.

Final Table Seat Draw and Chip Counts

Seat Player Country Chip Counts Big Blinds 1 Veselin Karakitukov Bulgaria 2,745,000 23 2 Maxx Coleman United States 5,730,000 48 3 Shaun Deeb United States 3,640,000 30 4 John Beauprez United States 8,725,000 73 5 Ka Kwan Lau Hong Kong 10,750,000 90

The remaining five players will return to the feature table at 4 p.m. local time to battle it out for the lion-share of the prize pool. When play resumes, they will finish the remainder of Level 27 which features a small blind of 60,000, a big blind of 120,000, and a big blind ante of 120,000.

The PokerNews reporting team will be providing live updates so make sure to follow along while PokerGO will stream the action on a one-hour delay with hole cards coverage until one man has all the chips in play.

Final Table Payouts
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Jason Ward said he knew right away that, if he was going to repurpose the old jail on Magazine Street, he was going to turn it into offices.

Though a nearly 220-year-old former place of confinement may not sound to some like an ideal workplace, Ward saw a lot of things that made sense.

The rooms that once housed prisoners are large, with high ceilings. The property is a quick walk to King Street and to the Four Corners of Law at Broad and Meeting  a placement that made particular sense for local law firms.

And law firms are interested, Ward said.

So are architects, marketing companies and other potential tenants interested in occupying "creative office space" at the old jail.

Ward's firm, Mount Pleasant-based Landmark Enterprises, purchased the property for $2 million in 2016 and has spent years planning the project.

Old Charleston Jail Project Construction is underway at the old Charleston jail on Magazine Street to stabilize the historic building and convert it into space for offices, events and tours. Construction began August 2021

Originally built in 1802

3 floors, about 7,000 square feet each

14- to 16-foot ceilings

Available office space from 300 to 7,000 sq. ft.

Expected completion by winter 2022 Source: Landmark Enterprises and ASH NYC

In early 2020, it was "ready to go," he said.

Then, as with many development projects, the onset of COVID-19 led the company to hit pause at the jail, at least temporarily.

About five months ago, Ward said, Landmark and its partners decided to move forward again, and, in August, the project hit a milestone: Construction began.

Work on the development, which is a partnership between Landmark and ASH NYC, a New York-based firm that specializes in historic real estate projects, should be completed in a little over a year.

Last one standing

Walking tours of the historic jail have temporarily stopped, and the property isn't accessible to the public now that construction has begun, but people still try every day to get a look at it. Carriage tour guides frequently stop out front on their routes, telling passengers about some of the more notable inmates imprisoned at the notoriously inhumane jail, like Lavinia Fisher, hanged for highway robbery in 1820, and soldiers from the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, taken to the jail after a heroic but failed assault on Fort Wagner in 1863.

Meanwhile, crews are at work repairing damaged stucco on the outside of the time-worn jail.

It's a significant sight to see, given how long people have been talking about when and how the structure would be preserved.

"This is one of, if not the, last great restoration effort on the peninsula  certainly below Calhoun Street," said Jay White of Liollio, the architecture firm working on the jail project. "There's nothing of this magnitude left that needs restoration at this scale."

The oldest part of the jail was built in 1802. It replaced an older structure next to it that was turned into the Workhouse, a place where enslaved people were sent for punishment. That building was eventually demolished.

The 1802 jail has stayed standing, and it served its original function until September 1939, when it was vacated. It was turned over to the Charleston Housing Authority, which had just built Robert Mills Manor, a low-incoming housing development, on the surrounding blocks.

For much of the more than 80 years since, the jail served largely in temporary roles  as storage and for special events and tours.

All the while, the cracks in the jail's exterior grew in size and number. Floors made of a mix of iron, concrete and brick that were installed after an earthquake rocked the building in 1886, toppling its fourth floor, were pushing out against the walls, weakening the building's stability.

The American College of the Building Arts, which operated out of the jail before moving to its permanent home on Meeting Street, secured a Save America's Treasures grant for the jail. Parts of the floors were removed and stabilizing steel towers were installed.

That kept the jail standing, but it wasn't a permanent fix.

Long-term fixes

This current project will be the first top-to-bottom restoration and renovation of the building since it closed as a jail.

The challenge is really in sensitively making sure the structure is stabilized, said Ari Heckman, CEO of project partner ASH NYC.

Stabilizing the exterior by closing up the cracks is their first major task.

So far, all of the broken stucco has been removed and will be replaced with new material. There's a preservation challenge there, White of Liollio explained, since closing up the cracks is necessary to stabilize the building, but they want to retain as much of the aged look of the jail as possible.

"Everybody finds the sort of patina of that building so evocative," the architect said. "And we don't want to lose that. The art behind the stucco repair is to get the stucco back on the wall, without making it look like it's a brand new building right out of the box."

The only significant change to the exterior will be the addition of an elevator and staircase at the rear of the property. That will also be stuccoed to blend with the rest of the building. Charleston's architecture board OK'd the design for the addition several years ago.

For the interior, there will be "sort of a surgical approach" Heckman said, as they "peel back some of the more modern interventions."

With the exterior stabilized, the steel towers will carefully be removed, and the floors installed after the earthquake will be replaced with wood floors, a return to what the building's floors originally would have been.

Repurposing the jail

Many of the details in the jail, like the bars on the windows, will stay but require repair.

Upstairs, the big, metal doors that led into rooms with cell blocks will stay, too, left permanently open and visible through glass doors that will be installed to lead into individual office suites, which will be done with "best-in-class finishes," Ward said.

Parts of the jailer's quarters will be converted into conference rooms.

Office tenants will be able to rent anywhere from 300 to 7,000 square feet, which would be an entire floor of the three-story structure.

The building will also be equipped to host events, both inside and outside, with an emphasis on corporate gatherings.

The grounds around the jail will be landscaped and outfitted as event space, with "park-like" areas and a covered pavilion. During the day, office tenants will be able to park on the lot.

Much of the first floor will stay largely as it is now. Its being set aside for Bulldog Tours, which has been taking visitors through the jail for 18 years.

Once the jail reopens, the company will resume its day and nighttime tours.

John LaVerne, Bulldog's owner, said his company will still have plenty of room to give the tours on the first floor. And while previous tours of the jail walked guests through mostly empty spaces, the ground floor rooms will be outfitted just the way they were back in the 1800s.

While we hate hitting the pause button on the jail tours, we know that long term, it's a great thing, because we know that the building will be stabilized and preserved to be around for another 200 years, LaVerne said.

Bulldog's section of the jail will have its own entrance, separate from the offices and event space.

The very front of the jail will have the building's main entrance, a lounge for office tenants and a coffee shop that Ward says would be open to the public.

Altogether, the repurposed jail will have a mix of revenue-producing uses: an attraction for historic tours, an event venue, retail and offices.

Having "viable commercial uses" for a historic property, especially one that's in need of extensive work, is important, said Winslow Hastie, president of Historic Charleston. His group and the Preservation Society have supported Landmark's plans. Both confirmed this month that the project still has their support and agreed the start of construction was an encouraging step. The Preservation Society said it "looks forward to continuing to work with the developer on how to best honor the history of the building" as plans for the project are refined.

"At the end of the day, this makes sense," Ward said of the project.

Back when Ward was still considering whether or not to take the project on, he brought 10 clients out to the site, he said.

Eight of them loved it, he said. Two didn't want to get out the car.

It's people like those eight  plus the tour groups, event coordinators, local officials and historians that have expressed interest since then  that made the restoration project seem viable.

"That continued interest in this property, that desire to want to be part of it, is really what gave us the confidence to move forward," Ward said.
COLUMBIA  A Richland County subdivision was rattled Oct. 29 by a man who fired at police from the rooftop of a home during a prolonged stand-off that ended with no injuries, Sheriff Leon Lott said.

Im standing here again tonight talking about how fortunate we are that we didnt lose some deputies, Lott said during a rare late night press conference soon after the man was taken into custody.

Police on Oct. 30 identified the man as 32-year-old Michael D. Josey. He was charged with eight counts of attempted murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and possession of a stolen pistol.

The incident started just after 6:30 p.m. in Briarcliffe, a sprawling, 762-home development in northeastern Richland County. Lott declined to give a specific address citing the ongoing investigation.

Lott said a homeowner called police and said a neighbor was on the roof of a house with a gun.

Negotiators arrived a short time later and spent almost two hours communicating with the man until he started shooting at police around 8:30 p.m.

Roughly a dozen homes were evacuated and a SWAT team was deployed, Lott said. The man tried to escape after police fired tear gas but was apprehended after being struck several times by a stun gun.

Lott recognized his deputies and commanders on scene for using gradual force and avoiding gunfire.

I credit our deputies for showing a lot of restraint. Our snipers had the opportunity that they could have shot him, Lott said. It was a successful conclusion to a long night, a very stressful night for that neighborhood.

Lott said no one was injured, but the man was initially transported to a local hospital for observation.
The Very Rev. Chip Edgar isnt sure when hell officially assume the role of bishop of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina.

As the newly elected bishop coadjutor, his task for the next few months is to serve alongside the diocese's current bishop, learning all of the ins and outs of what it takes to lead the growing religious group.

But Edgar, who serves as the planting pastor at Cathedral Church of the Apostles in Columbia, does have some early thoughts about how his experience in establishing new congregations will shape how he leads a diocese during a time when nationwide trends have indicated decline in church membership and religious affiliation.

"I think church planting is at the heart of who we are as Christians," Edgar said. "Regardless of what sociological statistics are suggesting, the church is obligated to be always out there trying to plant, trying to grow."

Edgar was elected bishop coadjutor of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina on Oct. 16 during a special Electing Convention held at Christ Church in Mount Pleasant.

Pending approval by the Anglican Church in North Americas College of Bishops, which will meet in January, Edgar will be in line to succeed Bishop Mark Lawrence, who has served as the diocesan bishop since 2008.

Despite COVID-19, the election was held in person. To allow for social distancing, a portion of the lay delegation was seated in a separate location on the property, making it possible for delegations to meet for prayer and discussion during the election process.

To win the election, a candidate needed to obtain a majority in both the lay and clergy orders on the same ballot. Edgar was elected on the third ballot, receiving 55 percent in both houses.

Edgar's bishop coadjutor consecration service will be held in March. Edgar isn't sure for how long afterward he'll remain coadjutor before Lawrence officially leaves office.

"I think it might depend on whether I'm a fast study or not," Edgar said. "I hope for his sake I pick up some of the stuff pretty quickly. I know he's exhausted. It's been a long road for him."

Lawrence said he's delighted in Edgar's election.

"I had met him on several occasions at national and international gatherings," Lawrence said. "I believe also that his wife, Beth, will be a wonderful addition to the ministry that he will exercise throughout the diocese in the years to come. I look forward to the few months we will spend in overlapping ministry together."

There were two additional candidates in the election: The Rev. Rob Sturdy, chaplain to the Corps of Cadets at St. Albans Chapel at The Citadel, and the Rev. Chris Warner, Rector of Holy Cross on Sullivans Island and Daniel Island.

Edgar considers himself an outsider. His congregation isn't part of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina. Cathedral Church of the Apostles is part of the Diocese of the Carolinas, which covers 31 churches across North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, the diocese that Edgar will oversee, has 53 churches in the eastern portion of the state and is made up of just over 20,000 members.

However, both dioceses, which broke away years ago from the Episcopal Church, are part of the Anglican Church in North America that covers the United States and Canada.

Edgar said he's humbled to assume the new role.

"The vast majority of people in the (Diocese of South Carolina) didnt know me because Im outside the diocese," he said. "To be elected means they invested a level of trust in me. That's the most humbling aspect of it. People have chosen to put their trust in me.

Edgar will take leadership amid legal disputes between the diocese and the group that stayed with the Episcopal Church in 2012.

A South Carolina circuit judge ruled last year that congregations that broke away from the Episcopal Church in 2012 can keep their properties.

The Episcopal Church has legally challenged the 2020 court decision.

"Whichever way that goes, that has to be dealt with," Edgar said.

Americans' membership in houses of worship dropped in 2020 below 50 percent for the first time in Gallup's eight-decade trend, according to a poll conducted this year by the analytics company.

Forty-seven percent of Americans said in 2020 they belonged to a church synagogue or mosque. This was down from 50 percent in 2018.

But in Columbia, Edgar's church has seen growth.

He's pastored the group since 2004. Over the years, he oversaw membership uptick from 25 to an average Sunday attendance of nearly 400. This is unusual, Edgar said, because many newly established congregations don't succeed.

The clergyman said he's read studies that've indicated 70 to 75 percent of startup churches fail within the first few years. That's often due to lack of a support group and resources, Edgar said.

At Church of the Apostles, the church had grown to the extent to which it raised up ordained ministers who've gone elsewhere to start their own congregations.

One minister went as far as Seattle. Church plants have a good chance at success when the rector allows the congregation to set the agenda, Edgar said.

"Church planting follows, rather than leads, the passions of the people God brings into your orbit," he said.

Edgar said he intends to listen for God's guidance concerning who the Lord has called to that kind of ministry in the S.C. diocese.
ANDERSON  Nearly eight decades have passed since William Linder, known to loved ones as "Bud," was killed in one of the longest and most costly battles of World War II.

For years, his remains were buried in a cemetery in Belgium  an unknown soldier.

But on Oct. 29, the Army staff sergeant from Piedmont, born 107 years prior, reached his final resting place back home in Anderson County with all the pomp and circumstance of a fallen war hero returning home.

Shots rang out in salute by an Army honor guard, which carried his casket draped with an American flag.

One of Linder's grand-nieces, Melanie Hitt, spoke to family and military veterans gathered at Dolly Cooper Veterans Cemetery for the belated funeral and thanked the modern miracle of DNA tracing, which was used to determine his identity last month.

Hitt shared the importance of the family handing down stories of "Uncle Bud," a man younger generations never knew.

"They would keep the stories alive from the old family," she said. "They would talk about the things they used to do, so all of us kids knew that there was an Uncle Bud. We always heard that grandma said he'll come home one day  and he is."

The day of Linder's funeral was gloomy and gray, fog hovering just above with a chilly wind blowing. It was an echo of the unforgiving cold, snow and desolation he faced in the densely wooded Hurtgen Forest of Germany as the Allies reached a stalemate on the Western Front in November 1944, months after storming the beaches of Normandy.

Linder was assigned to Company E, 12th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division.

Wilton Fowler, a state chaplain of the Army who served in West Berlin during the Cold War, described the conditions Linder faced in the Battle of Hurtgen, a five-month series of battles fought by the Army that ended in an Allied breakthrough but at heavy cost and, in retrospect, viewed by historians as an ill-advised offensive.

The Germans, Fowler told the audience, knew the landscape well and prepared the field for battle years before. The Army's first objective was to secure Rur River dam so the enemy couldn't release floodwaters. But the advance stalled.

"The results were horrific. The battle took on the form of a trench war, like we knew from World War I," Fowler said.

It was the longest battle in U.S. history, and, Fowler said, was a "painful chapter" overshadowed by more-successful campaigns. However, "within this forest, there was a man from Piedmont, South Carolina, who offered his life so that other lives might be saved."

Linder was reported missing in action on Nov. 16, 1944. The Germans had not listed him as a prisoner of war. After a year passed, the War Department officially presumed him dead.

After decades of mystery, the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on Oct. 18 that scientists had confirmed Linder's identity three weeks earlier through DNA testing, and dental and anthropological analysis.

Following the war, according to the release, the American Graves Registration Command investigated the whereabouts of the remains of soldiers in Europe. After several investigations in the Hurtgen Forest area between 1946 and 1950, Linder's remains could not be found. In December 1951, he was declared "non-recoverable."

But while studying American losses in the forest, a DPAA historian believed that a set of remains discovered by local residents in 1947 in the aftermath of a forest fire could be Linder. The remains, and the time buried as unknown in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium, were disinterred in April 2019 for testing at an Air Force base in Nebraska.

Linders name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Henri-Chapelle, Belgium, along with others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
A commander with the Air National Guard in Pennsylvania is being treated in an intensive care unit at the Medical University of South Carolina for injuries suffered in a Colleton County single-plane crash earlier this month.

Col. Deane Thomey, commander of the 111th Attack Wing at Biddle Air National Guard Base in Horsham, Pa., was piloting a private plane Oct. 22 when it crashed near Round O Road and Augusta Highway, north of Walterboro.

He suffered multiple traumatic injuries and burns, according to the Colleton County Fire-Rescue, which responded to the scene.

Thomeys 24-year-old daughter Madeline was killed in the crash.

Thomey was flown by helicopter to MUSCs trauma center, according to a statement from the wing.

Thomey remained in the hospital's ICU as of Oct. 29, said Col. Rebecca Gray, the wings vice commander. He was able to communicate using hand signals, and his family, friends and members of Pennsylvania's Air National Guard were able to visit him, she said.

"We have assured Col. Thomey and his family that the Wing is in good hands and  will continue to support them with the resources we have at our disposal in the Air Force," Gray said, adding, "We ask that you please keep Col. Thomey, and his family in your thoughts and prayers."

The commander's condition was listed as "critical" Oct. 29, said Heather Woolwine, an MUSC spokeswoman. Specific information about Thomey's status is not available due to privacy laws, she said.

Per the hospital's definition, a "critical" patient is generally someone whose vital signs aren't necessarily stable and who may be unconscious, and indicators could be unfavorable, Woolwine said.

Fire-rescue crews responded the afternoon of Oct. 22 to reports of a plane crash and began searching for the aircraft in the thick, wooded area, according to a statement from the department.

The plane was reportedly flying from Virginia to Florida when it experienced engine trouble, and tried to make it to the Lowcountry Regional Airport near Walterboro when it crashed, authorities said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, according to its Twitter account. Board representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Thomey became the wings commander in April, according to his biography on the bases website.

The Sherwood, Ark., native has logged at least 1,870 hours of military flight time after first enlisting in the Arkansas Air National Guard in 1988.
The Lynches River in South Carolina spans 111 miles of the Pee Dee area, winding through farms, rural crossroads and swampy forest areas from Lee to Florence County.

This scenic waterway is a recreational hotspot for the region because of its fishing and boating access and opportunities for camping and hunting. But when heavy rains move into the area, the river can become a nightmare for people living along its banks.

Just about every year, the Lynches River will flood and swamp several small, rural towns including places like Johnsonville and Coward. Even a small amount of rain in some parts of this region  situated between the Midlands and Grand Strand  can leave yards flooded and homes in need of repair.

These floods are just one example of many events linked to climate change, the gradual heating of the planet. Extensive research has shown that a warmer atmosphere holds more water, which then translates to more rain. Increasingly, that rain is dumped nearly all at once; extreme single-day precipitation has been increasing, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Nine of the 10 top years for these events have happened in just the past three decades.

These sudden bombs of rain have also swamped urban areas, like Charleston. But in the Pee Dee, a lack of infrastructure, manpower and money to deal with them sets the region apart.

Johnsonville

Fixing the flooding problem could be as simple as adding pipes, but places like Johnsonville cannot afford it.

With a population of about 1,400 people, Johnsonville is in the southernmost part of Florence County. The Lynches River flows north of the city limits.

Johnsonville City Administrator Jim Smith said he believes topography is to blame for the city's challenges.

Most of the homes in Johnsonville were built below street level between the 1950s and '70s, he said. Ditches throughout the city carry water away from these homes and into a drainage area. But homes continue to flood.

Flooding has become a major problem for Maple Street in Johnsonville. Maple Street runs parallel to Highway 341, one of the main roads connecting Johnsonville to Lake City, the second largest city in Florence County. Homes along the street flood on a regular basis whenever there is 2 or more inches of rain.

It would go over the level of the ditches, it would run in the front yard and then infiltrate the basements (or crawl spaces), Smith said.

Homes built below the level of the ditches have created a recipe for disaster, Smith said. And he doesnt believe anything can be done about it except for the installation of huge drainage pipes all over the area to carry the water off.

The city cannot afford to build that infrastructure and has not received federal or state assistance to help with its flooding issues, Smith said.

Unlike larger cities, Johnsonville doesnt have a stormwater system to help reduce the amount of water on the streets. Smith said the city just spent $40,000 to install a 24-inch pipe to carry water away from homes on Maple Street and into a major drainage ditch near one of its pump stations.

Nearly 20 homes close to Maple Street were affected by the consistent flooding in that area of the city.

Thats one of the worst sections of the city, Smith said.

But there are similar issues all over Johnsonville.

To help alleviate some of the flooding, the city is also working to keep ditches cleaned and able to carry as much water as possible.

Through a Ditch Maintenance Program, street and sewage crews in Johnsonville spray and clean ditches to reduce vegetation and prevent them from clogging and interrupting the flow of water.

Johnsonville native Heather Thompson lives right along the Lynches River. For her, the flooding issues are more than drainage-related. She said she has noticed an increase in the river's levels over the years.

Before the 1,000-year flood in 2015, Thompson said the river was always perfect for fishing. She was even able to take a boat down the river and have a picnic on a sandbar near her home.

"Now, you never see that sandbar," Thompson said. "(The water) just never gets low."

The river tends to be the highest during the fall and winter months, Thompson said. And she prayed the summers are dry enough to get the water levels down before the peak of hurricane season.

Thompson has been lucky so far this season as the river has not flooded near her home.

"We were so pleased when we got through the first two weeks of October with no flooding," Thompson said. "We've been blessed this year for sure."

But that wasn't the case in years past.

Thompson said, at times, flooding of the river has gotten so bad that it turned her home into a boathouse. Everywhere she looked, there was water. Her first experience with the rising waters came during the flood in 2015. It was the same day she was scheduled to officially sign for the house on the river she had already moved into.

"That morning, we were outside having a cup of coffee on the porch ... getting ready to go sign for the house," Thompson said. "I go inside to take a shower and come back outside to get my coffee cup I left outside, and (the water) was up to the second steps on the porch."

This experience on the day Thompson and her family would officially own the home left her nervous. But it was where they wanted to live.

Everyone assured Thompson that the event in 2015 was a 1,000-year flood and would not happen again. But, almost exactly a year later, the flooding surrounded them again, this time because of Hurricane Matthew.

"I was like, if this becomes a constant October thing, I'm just gonna have to scream," Thompson said.

Over the years, the family has repaired buildings in the back of the property due to flooding and dealt with major mold and mildew issues. They had to invest $2,000 in an industrial dehumidifier to place underneath the house each time after the water receded.

She said she could have easily spent $10,000 to get the buildings back to the conditions they were in before the flood damage. But the family replaced only what they needed to.

Thompson describes flood disasters as being similar to the destruction of a house fire.

"Once it gets in, that mold, that mildew, everything has to be replaced," Thompson said. "It is awful."

The family paid to repair the backyard buildings out of pocket and has chosen to wait to utilize their flood insurance for when the rising waters enter the house.

Coward

Flooding is nothing new for residents of Coward in Florence County. The small town of about 800 residents is situated along Highway 52, a major thoroughfare in the Pee Dee connecting places like Florence, Lake City and Kingstree.

People here are so used to flooding that some have started elevating their homes, especially along Ben Gause Road. The street is almost parallel to the Lynches River in some areas. So when the river rises and overflows, the water often infiltrates yards, garages and homes.

Dr. Chucky Jordan has lived along the Lynches River on Ben Gause Road in Coward since 2015. He said flooding on the street is almost inevitable whenever there is a hard rain.

Elevating a house may seem like a good way to prevent flooding, but Jordan said many of the homes on his street still succumbed to floodwaters during Hurricane Matthew.

Reports show that the river reached 18 feet during the hurricane. Flood stage is 14 feet.

The water just kept rising, Jordan said. And I would say, probably within a two-hour timeframe, my yard was flooded.

Data from the National Weather shows that parts of the Lynches River near Effingham, about 6 miles from Coward, crested at least three times this year. It reached 17.95 feet in late February, the highest level so far in 2021. This was shy of major flood stage which is considered 18 feet or greater, according to the NWS.

Jordans house is raised about 5 feet above the ground and escaped flooding during the hurricane in 2016. The water rose as high as his porch. His garage, though, sits on ground-level and incurred about $1,500 worth of damage.

Some homeowners werent as lucky. Many of the mobile homes in the area that were not sitting high enough were flooded.

"They had to actually come and evacuate us from out of Ben Gause Road because the water was just too high," Jordan said.

Crews used Humvees to rescue the residents.

Prior to moving to Ben Gause Road, Jordan said he was unaware of just how bad the area floods. He believes improved drainage could fix the problem.

Theyve tried to improve it, but its not where it needs to be, Jordan said.

Williamsburg County

There are ditches and canals in Williamsburg County  just a few miles away from Johnsonville  that havent been worked on or cleaned out in decades. Towns in this county experience the same type of regular flooding as other places in the lower Pee Dee, but the Black River is typically the cause here.

Williamsburg County Supervisor Dr. Tiffany Wright said she believes the poorly maintained ditches and canals have contributed to the countys impacts from the 1,000-year flood in 2015.

Im not saying that was all of it because we did get a lot of rain, but it contributed to those factors, Wright said.

Just before the floods in 2015, the county and the town of Kingstree cleaned out the main canal which saved the area from worse flooding.

Williamsburg County has not had a drainage study completed since 1973. Wright, who has held the supervisor position since 2019, recently applied for a grant for a little more than $500,000 to have a new study conducted to show how water flows in the county.

In order for you to correct a problem, you have to have an understanding of which way it is, hows it going, not to mention, some of those old canals are just so overgrown that theyre covered up, Wright said.

Once the county has a better understanding of its drainage issues, it can work to secure more grants to get them fixed, Wright said.

This county of more than 30,000 residents experienced well over $10 million worth of flood damage as a result of the 2015 storm, Wright said. Damage to homes was the most costly expense.

Close to 950 households in Williamsburg County submitted applications for assistance to the state's Disaster Recovery Office in Williamsburg County following the 2015 flood. This was the most of any other county in the state.

Rounding out the top three counties to apply for assistance are Clarendon, which had 336 applicants, and Georgetown, which had 310, according to data from the South Carolina Office of Resilience.

The office completed $25 million worth of work in Williamsburg County following the flood, said Eric Fosmire, its chief of staff and legal director. Repairs were completed or new homes were built or installed for approved applicants.

Wright has an idea of what it would take to fix the drainage issues in Williamsburg County. But it would require more funding, manpower and equipment. Each of these are challenges for the county.

In a best-case scenario, Wright said, the county would be able to get contractors to go in and give one good cleaning of ditches. She said she believes the public works department would be able to maintain them after that.

But until that is possible, the county is using its limited equipment to provide what relief it can for residents.
More than 40 animals will finally make their way off island to loving homes in the states as part of the latest transport by the Boonie Flight Project.

Boonie Flight co-founder Kelsey Graupner said there have been multiple delays with the flight - it was first set to leave in September.

The initial private aircraft hired to do the flight came with seats pre-installed, which limited its ability to take on the pets, according to Graupner.

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The group had to find a new operator, a private plane from Honolulu, which was able to take its seats out of its aircraft, she added. The pets will first fly to Hawaii, before taking commercial flights to adopters in the states.

"We have four adult dogs and ... 40 puppies. So 44 total boonies," Graupner said, adding that there have been no issues this time.

One way the Boonie Flight Project was able to fund the private flight was through an online auction, which saw donations from the Guam community and all over the country, Graupner said.

"Over the course of four days, we were able to raise $18,000 in donations, and that has gone to help us afford to fly these boonies and it's going to help afford medical expenses for our next flight that we're planning on Dec. 3," she added.

Graupner said the organization has been working with AlexaBee Photography and are putting out a boonie calendar, which showcases boonie dogs amid Guam landscapes.

"That will be going on presale this weekend. We'll have them all delivered all before Christmas," Graupner said.
My wife and I have a son (born on Guam close to 40 years ago) who now lives in Singapore. He has a daughter, just over 2, that we've visited once, before the pandemic. He also as a son, about 1, named after me, and we have been unable to hold him or smell his sweet head. We are both fully vaccinated, since February, and are soon to get a booster.

In researching the logistics of getting to Singapore for our son's birthday, and Christmas, and New Years (it's always been conflated), I learned that fully vaccinated visitors will soon be able to enter Singapore without quarantine under their "Vaccinated Travel Lane" program. Well, almost. You must be able to present an authenticated ("verifiable") proof or spend 10 days in quarantine. Our paper CDC cards issued as evidence of our shots will not suffice.

Singapore's requirements are that we have a smart card digital form of verification, and gives several examples. For the United States it lists several different issuers, which provide the digital platform and formats for clinics, hospitals and other such medical facilities. Basically, it becomes certified when the local authorities verify the information and then the vaccinated person gets a QR code that they can produce. Even Apple, as of just a few days ago, has arranged to host such evidence on its apps.

It is my understanding that DPHSS has a database of residents of Guam who have been vaccinated: the Guam Immunization Registry. But, we mere mortal vaccinated people cannot access it. But we wouldn't have to if DPHSS would simply provide the QR code, or whatever, that serves as verification.

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In looking at the list of providers in the states through the Singapore VTR program page, one such provider, the Vaccination Credential Initiative issuers (VCI) is used in seven states, including California and Hawaii on the West Coast and New York, New Jersey, and Virginia on the East Coast, and serves as host for many health care systems, hospitals, clinics and other care facilities.

The Hawaii SMART Health Card program says, "Individuals who are fully vaccinated and received vaccination in Hawaii can obtain a SMART Health Card to show establishments, such as restaurants, businesses and other venues, proof of their vaccination on their digital device without carrying a physical vaccine document. Individuals who received two shots of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of Johnson and Johnson plus 15 days after the last dose are eligible for the digital card." You can visit their website at https://hawaiicovid19.com/smart-health-card. Such a Smart Card issued on Guam would seem to be acceptable for entry to Hawaii, too.

It seems so simple, but requires initiative to improve travel from, as well as to, Guam. Why hasn't GVB worked with DPHSS to get this up and running already? Why isn't the Guam Immunization Registry issuing them, and what is it for if not this?

John Thos. Brown is a resident of Tamuning.
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The Mankato (Minnesota) School board met on September 20. Concerned parents showed up to use the open forum time to voice disappointment with mask mandates. This was apparently the first meeting during which speakers were asked to state their addresses before speaking.

The board next met on October 18. Ahead of open forum time board chairman Jodi Sapp announced a new ban on comments critical of specific school board members and district staff. The address rule was upheld against a man who suggested the board already knows his address. Kyle Hooten covered the story for Alpha News here (video below).

The school board chair in Mankato, Minnesota forces man to provide his full address before allowing him to speak: pic.twitter.com/M4kpghPGxL  Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) October 26, 2021

The New York Post picked up Kyles story and credited Alpha News here. The story is a sign of the times.

You dont want to get on the wrong side of Jodi. Nurse Ratched has nothing on Sapp. But is Sapps law legal? I dont think so. Kyle followed up in the story Lawyer: Parents can sue Mankato board for banning criticism of members.
After weeks of anxiety and tension, the coast is now clear for Nigerias leading opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to hold its national convention scheduled for October 30 and 31 as planned.

The Court of Appeal Friday dismissed a suit filed by the embattled National Chairman of the party, Uche Secodus, challenging his suspension months ago. The court also refused to halt the conduct of the convention.

Mr Secondus had asked the court to nullify his suspension, noting that Section 59 (3) of the PDP Constitution stated that the ward or the state executive committee of any state has no power to suspend any national officer of the party. He also asked that he be allowed to conclude his tenure on December 9, having been elected for a four-year term.

He also asked the court to quash the orders of the Rivers and Cross River High Courts which had earlier restrained him to stop parading himself as the national chairman.

But a three-member panel of judges of the appeal court led by Haruna Tsammani said it found no merit in Mr Secondus appeal, saying he voluntarily relinquished his position since he did not challenge his removal at ward and local government levels.

By the result of this decision, the 6th Respondent (PDP) is empowered on the authority of this courts decision to convene and to hold its National Convention without let or hindrance, the court held.

Amidst its nagging legal conundrums, the PDP headquarters, until recently, was divided with some members calling for the outright exit of the embattled chairman while others rooted for him to lead the party into the convention. Indeed, some of the party organs were divided over Mr Secondus fate.

With the legal hurdle cleared, not less than 3,600 delegates of the party are expected to converge at the Eagle Square in Abuja to elect new members into the National Working Committee (NWC) today.

The Chairman of the National Convention Organising, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, said the opposition party was ready for the event, promising that it would be the best-organised convention in the country.

He expressed satisfaction with the level of preparations for the convention, saying all subcommittees (15 in all) have been mobilised and that they are fully ready to deliver.

Most of the activities have almost been completed and we are fully satisfied, Mr Fintiri stated Friday.

NWC positions up for grab

At Saturdays convention, 21 offices in the NWC would be contested by 24 aspirants out of the 27 that scaled the screening exercise last week. A total of 33 members had expressed interest to vie for the NWC positions.

Earlier in September, the 44-member Zoning Committee chaired by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State zoned the offices; with the chairmanship seat going to the north.

It also recommended that positions currently held by northerners should be zoned to the south and vice versa.

The recommendations were ratified a week after by the National Executive Committee (NEC) at its 93rd meeting in Abuja.

According to the report of the Screening Committee led by a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, four of the aspirants were disqualified while two withdrew.

Those who were disqualified were Wale Oladipo, Eddy Olafeso, Oke Muo-Aroh and Akintan Oludaisi.

While Mr Muo-Aroh was not cleared for violating the Zoning formula, the other three were disqualified for filing legal suits against the party.

Two aspirants were disqualified: Cyril Maduabum, a former member of the House of Representatives and currently the Director-General of the PDP Governors Forum, and Amina Tasallah. They were eyeing the positions of national secretary and deputy national womens leader, respectively.

Barring any changes, 69-year old Iyorchia Ayu from Benue State, North-central zone, will emerge unopposed as the national chairman of the party.

Mr Ayu, a former senate president and two-time minister, was adopted by the northern stakeholders of the PDP as the regions consensus candidate for the position of chairman.

Two of his challengers, former Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina and former Bauchi senator, Abdul Ningi, stepped down for Mr Ayu.

Also to be elected unopposed at the convention are aspirants for the positions of the Deputy National Chairman (North), National Secretary, Deputy National Secretary, National Treasurer, Deputy National Treasurer, National Financial Secretary, Deputy National Financial Secretary, National Organising Secretary and Deputy National Organising Secretary.

Others are National Publicity Secretary, Deputy National Publicity Secretary, National Legal Adviser, Deputy National Legal Adviser, Deputy National Auditor, National Womens Leader and Deputy National Leader and Deputy National Youth Leader.

Achieving the consensus option for all the positions has not been successful as the seats of the Deputy National Chairman (South) is being contested by a former Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and a former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja.

Mr Arapaja, an ally of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, is reported to have the backing of the partys governors but there has not been any statement from him (Arapaja) in denial or support of the claim.

Similarly, the offices of the National Auditor and Youth Leader of the party remained keenly contested for as of Friday night.

So far, we can say that we have achieved not less than 80 per cent of that process (consensus arrangement) and its still ongoing.

We are hoping that at the end of the day we are going to have a very hitch-free convention where hopefully we will have all or most of the officers emerge via consensus.

In any case, consensus is part of the democratic process; so, we hope to stabilise the party with the new officers for the challenges ahead, the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, had said on Thursday after the governors meeting in Abuja.

Mr Fintiri re-echoed this on Friday. He said the party had achieved consensus in almost all the positions that would be vied for except for three positions on which negotiations were still ongoing.

According to him, the positions are those of the deputy national chairman (south), national auditor and national youth leader. He said the party was already in discussion with the contestants.

At the moment, we are making efforts to reconcile most of our contestants so that we can streamline them to have a better convention, which will be hitch-free and deepen our chances for 2023, the Adamawa governor said.

He added that the new leadership that would emerge is expected to assume duties on December 9 to enable the outgoing NWC members to conclude their four-year tenure which began on December 9 2017.

A new beginning for PDP?

For a party itching to return to power at the centre, the NWC election may as well be the beginning of its repositioning ahead of the 2023 polls.

The PDP was in power for 16 years between 1999 and 2015 when it was defeated by the All Progressives Congress (APC). It was the first time in the country that a governing party at the federal level would be defeated by the opposition. Thus, it has been in opposition in the last six years.

Aside from the desire of Nigerians to end its long rule, the partys path to the opposition league was laced with internal crisis which also weakened its chances at the poll.

While the hurdle of its leadership crisis may have so far been managed from imploding by its governors, the challenge of holding the centre till the next general elections and wooing back its key players lost to the APC in recent years remains uncertain.

The PDP lost some key members, including three state governors to the ruling APC in the last year. The governors are Dave Umahi (Ebonyi), Ben Ayade (Cross River) and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara).

Numerous senators, members of the House of Representatives, members of state Houses of Assembly as well as other chieftains also left the party. It gained a few people though.

The gale of defections was one of the reasons some members demanded the resignation of the Secondus-led NWC.

Another issue that may shake the party in the nearest future is the uncertainty of where its presidential candidate will emerge from.

The Ugwuanyi-led Zoning Committee said it was not given the mandate to determine that. Consequently, there are indications that the PDP may open its presidential slot to all zones, ignoring its tradition of picking its presidential candidate from the region other than where the chairman comes from.

Regardless of the zoning of the presidential ticket, leaders of the party have continuously registered their intentions to wrest power from the ruling APC which has, in turn, vowed to hold on to power longer.

Since the civil war, Nigeria has never been this disunited. We have high unemployment, security issues, among others. And these are backed by statistics. Im not just speaking as an opposition leader.

The country is in a different place, and Nigerians have seen what the ruling party has done to them. We are the only alternative available for Nigerians to have good governance. We must convince Nigerians that we are ready to take charge and wrestle power, the immediate past Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said earlier this week.

With the manner the opposition party handled its recent leadership crisis, not a few watchers of the nations democracy believe it has the potential to put up a good fight in the 2023 elections.
Data obtained from John Hopkins Universitys world map on coronavirus pandemic has shown that over 114 million people have been fully vaccinated against the virus in Africa, amounting to about eight per cent of the continents 1.3 billion population.

But in contrast, an average of more than 60 per cent in Europe and Britain have been vaccinated.

In the United States of America alone, over 400 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 710,300 doses per day were administered.

Meanwhile, the number of people vaccinated in Africa is about three per cent of the 7 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccines administered globally so far, according to data collected by Bloomberg.

Statistics

As of October 29, 114,086,034 vaccinations have been fully administered across the African continent, data sourced from John Hopkins University platform showed, All Africa reported.

The data also revealed that confirmed cases of COVID-19 from 54 African countries have reached 8,487,438 while reported deaths from the disease currently stands at 217,788.

Meanwhile, 7,841,914 people have recovered on the continent.

South Africa has the most reported cases with 2,921,114 and 89,104 deaths.

The country also has the highest number of vaccinated people so far with nearly 20 million shots given so far.

Why Africa lags behind

Although Africa has relatively been spared from the pandemics most adverse outcomes, the continent has the slowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world and a number of factors contribute to this.

African countries are mostly developing nations and therefore are left in the back queue in the global scramble for vaccines.

Many African countries rely heavily on COVAX, the vaccine distribution programme for donated doses. The African Union also buys vaccines for its members under the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT).

Both COVAX and AVATT have been struggling to get vaccines with manufacturers such as Moderna, prioritising bilateral deals with richer countries, leaving African nations at the end of the queue.

COVAX previously aimed to ship 620 million doses to African countries by the end of 2021, but vaccine export restrictions  such as those in India  manufacturing constraints, and delays in regulatory approvals of new COVD-19 vaccines have forced the global mechanism to scale back on its supply forecast for the year.

This simply implies that Africa is set to receive only 470 million doses by the end of December  not enough to cover 40 per cent of the continents population.

Donations pledged by high-income countries have also been slow to materialise.

About 70 per cent of African nations have missed the global target of vaccinating at least 10 per cent of their populations for COVID-19 by the end of September, according to WHO.
One year has gone by since thousands of Nigerian youth trooped out nationwide to demand a better policing system and the disbandment of a notorious police arm  the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The public outcry and agitations, which lasted for 12 days, garnered support from different quarters with the youth pressing their demands to the Nigerian government.

The protests which started off with scores of protesters grew bigger, as many victims of brutality, abuse of power, extortion and extrajudicial killings by officers of the defunct SARS joined across the country.

The protesters came up with a five-point demand which included the immediate release of all arrested protesters; justice for all deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensation for their families; setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of police misconduct; psychological evaluation of retraining of all disbanded SARS officers before they are redeployed; and increase in police salary to adequately compensate them for protecting lives and properties of citizens.

In response to the second and third demands of the protesters, the National Economic Council headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said judicial panels of inquiry would be instituted in the 36 states of the country and the FCT.

Respective state governors were saddled with the responsibility of appointing capable hands as members of the judicial panels.

In Lagos, the #EndSARS Judicial Panel of inquiry was set up on October 19, 2020, to investigate cases of police brutality and provide restitution to the victims.

The nine-member panel comprised lawyers, representatives of civil societies, human rights groups and the youth.

The panel was led by Doris Okuwobi, a retired judge. Other members are Ebun Adegboruwa (representing the Civil Society), Taiwo Lakanu (a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police), Patience Udoh (representing the Civil Society), Segun Awosanya (human rights activist), Olutoyin Odusanya (Director, Lagos Citizens Mediation Center), and Temitope Majekodunmi, a youth representative. The remaining two members, who were among the protesters, resigned from the panel.

Are victims getting desired justice?

Upon setting up the panel, the Lagos State governor announced that it had approved a N200 million fund for compensation of the victims of police brutality and abuse of powers. An additional sum was disbursed by the government as compensation for other victims.

As soon as the panel was inaugurated in October last year, victims began filing petitions, reaching 235 at the close of submission in December last year.

The panel, which began hearing cases of police brutality on October 27 last year, had a six-month timeline, which was later extended due to the number of petitions.

Hundreds of petitioners appeared before the panel to recount their ordeal with the police. While several petitioners were able to prove their cases and received compensations from the panel, a few others had their petitions quashed because they could not substantiate their cases.

Several other petitioners who had earlier received judgment sums against the police at courts of competent jurisdiction had their cases recommended to the federal government for payment.

While justice has been served to many victims of police brutality in the form of compensation and recommendation of erring officers for prosecution, it is unclear whether the police would prosecute all officers recommended for prosecution by the panel.

In one year of sitting, the judicial panel awarded a total amount of N410.2 million as compensation to 70 victims of police abuses, brutality, and extrajudicial killings. All the 70 victims got their cheques the same day the compensation was awarded.

A total of186 cases of police brutality, extrajudicial killings and abuse of powers were heard and received judgments out of the 252 petitions submitted to the panel.

Also, no fewer than 35 petitions were forwarded to the federal government following the recommendation of compensations earlier received by victims in competent courts ranging from N2 million, N5 million, N10 million, N20 million, and others.

Several cases were also dismissed or struck out by the panel for various reasons such as withdrawal of petitions by the victims, petitions lacking in merit, cases subsisting before competent courts and a few petitioners not showing up.

According to Mrs Okuwobi, cases not opened and unconcluded would be sent to the Lagos State Ministry of Justice for consideration by the future body that would handle human rights violations in the state.

See the breakdown of the compensations approved by the Lagos panel below.

Adebayo Abayomi  10 million (killing of mother by the police)

Hannah Olugbodi  10 million (Shooting of her leg leading to serious injury)

Tolulope Openiyi  10 million (Killing of husband)

Kolade Johnson  10 million (Extrajudicial killing)

Rasheed Kareem  10 million (Killed by a bullet shot by the police during the #EndSARS protest)

Jessica Adaobi/Uzor Chukwu  10 million (Extrajudicial killing of Adaobi and shooting of Uzor)

Suleimon Olaoye  10 million (Extrajudicial killing).

Adeshina Adeosun 10 million (Killed by a bullet fired by the police)

Gloria Ezeh   10 million (Brutality and injury to the leg by the police)

Sulaimon Raheem  8 million (shooting to the neck)

Ndukwe Ekekwe  7.5 million (Brutalisation and torture in police custody)

Chidebere Nwadi  7.5 million (for spending six years in jail without any proven offence)

Lucky Igbinovia  5 million (Police brutality)

Elvis Irenuma  5 million (Police brutality)

Effiong Edu  5 million (Police brutality)

Oluwatosin Odebode  3 million (Police brutality)

Andrew Okon  3 million (Shooting by police)

Isaac Adeshina  3 million (Shooting by police)

Patrick Michael  3 million (Police brutality)

Osidipe Sunday  3 million (Police brutality)

Francis Osajiokweh  3 million (Torture, false parade as a criminal)

Olajide Fowotade  2 million (Police brutality)

Emmanuel Ajomafuwe  2 million (Police brutality)

Akinmade Akinrolabu  1.5 million (Police brutality)

Adeyinka Austin  1million (Unlawful arrest, detention and torture by police officers)

Ayomide Oyemide  1 million (For being handcuffed and detained in a cell as a minor)

Felicia Opara  750,000 (harassment and torture during the #EndSARS protest)

Sanusi Oluwakemi  750,000 (Police brutality)

Tella Adesanya  500, 000 (Unlawful detention and brutality suffered in the hands of the police)

Michael Owoicho  10 million (Shooting to death)

Fatai Ogunseye  10 million (Unlawful killing)

Adeola Mukaila  700,000 (Police brutality)

Stellar Edegwa  500,000 (Police Brutaity)

Akapo Adekunle  10 million (Shotting by police)

Mustapha Moruf  10 million (Shooting by police)

Kufrey Jackson  5 million (Police brutality)

Ikechukwu Iloamuzor  10 million (Shooting by police)

Segun Adekoya  1 million (Shooting by police)

Yusuf Omole  10 million (Shooting by police)

Segun Ishola  5 million (Shooting by police)

Bukola Adeogun  10 million (Shooting by police)

Okoronkwo Sylvester  10 million (Shooting by police)

Titi Agnes  10 million (Shooting by police)

Prince Akaba  500,000 (Police brutality)

Chukwudera Uba  4 million (Police brutality)

Gabriel Ayodele  10 million (Shooting by police)

Abayomi Likinyo  4 million (Police brutality)

James Arebha  4 million (Police brutality)

Juliana Adeoti  1 million (Police brutality)

Adaeze Samson  2.5 million (Police brutality)

Yemi Abdulkareem  10 million (Shooting by police)

Gabriel Ayedungbe  10 million (Shooting by police)

Eric Okwaji  10 million (Extrajudicial killing)

Gregory Egwu  10 million (Extrajudicial killing)

Felix Lucky  10 million (Extrajudicial killing)

Ayuub Azeez  10million (Extrajudicial killing)

Charles Otoo  10 million (Extrajudicial killing)

Chukwuma Henry  9 million (Police brutality)

Mariam Shobukola  8 million (Police brutality)

Babatunde Taiwo  7.5 (Police brutality)

Emmanuel Okorodudu  3 million (Police brutality)

Gboyega Igbamerun  5 million (Police brutality)

Monday Ojon  3 million (Police brutality)

Tobe Ikoro & Chidera Robinson  1.5 million and N1million (Extortion)

Awe Oluwaseyi  1 million (Extortion)

Joseph Onyebuchi Nwafor  1 million (Police brutality)

Ayeni Adebayo  1 million (Police brutality).
The Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, has said that the need to follow due process was responsible for the delay in declaring bandits as terrorists.

Mr Magashi, who stated this on Friday, in Maiduguri, while fielding questions from journalists, added that there was a procedure that needed to be observed before such a declaration.

We are not declaring them terrorists because there is a procedure for doing that.

When the procedure is followed, they will be classified as terrorists. We are waiting for the procedure to be completed, Mr Magashi, a retired major general, said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister, who was in Maiduguri with the Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, and service chiefs on an assessment visit of the fight against insurgency in the North-east, expressed satisfaction with the successes so far recorded.

He said his team met with the Theatre Commander and other component commanders to deliberate on the next phase of operations, adding that the meeting also identified problems that required urgent attention to enhance the operations.

Calls for bandits to be declared terrorists

Some Nigerians have been demanding the declaration of the bandits, mostly operating in the North-west and North-central zones, as terrorists.

The bandits are responsible for many abductions and the killings of hundreds in the zones in the past months.

Despite negotiations with some state governments, they have continued their operations unabated.

Recently, Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State and the Forum of the House of Assembly Speakers, asked the federal government to declare the bandits as terrorists.

Also, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State said the declaration of the bandits as terrorists would enable the military to go all out against them without the fear of running out of international law.

The Senate made a similar call in September.

However, controversial Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, had warned the federal government against taking the step, saying doing so would be deadly.

Mr Gumi has been campaigning for amnesty for the bandits.

He had been to forest in Kaduna, Niger, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara States to meet with governors and some terrorists with a view to striking a peace deal with the outlaws.

The only helpful part that is against bandits is that no other than them are attracted to join them in the North-West because of its ethnic tinge and colouration, he said.

However, the moment they are termed terrorist  Islamic for that matter the direct foreign Jihadist movements will set in, in force, and many teeming unemployed youths may find it palatable and attractive.

Shouting Allahu Akbar plus AK-47 against a secular immoral society where impunity reigns are the magnet for extremists and the down-trodden  the majority of our youth.

This will give criminality a spiritual cover and remove the stigma of discrediting them with such crimes since now they are fighting a jihadas they will claim.

In such a situation, does the larger society  as it is  have the moral high ground to fight back?

This is the most probable consequence, the price of which is not worth it.

Nothing stops the kinetic actions from going on without the controversy of semantics.

However, groups such as Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Middle Belt Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), condemned the cleric for his position.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has distanced itself from the invasion of the home of Mary Odili, a Justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court in Abuja.

The State Security Service (SSS) also denied involvement in the raid in a text message sent to our reporter late Friday.

Media reports surfaced on Friday evening that Mrs Odilis Maitama, Abuja residence, was raided by armed operatives of the EFCC.

The apex court judge is the wife of Peter Odili, a former governor of Rivers State, who has been having a running battle with the anti-graft agency.

Recently, the Federal High Court in Abuja, restrained the EFCC and other security agencies in country from arresting or prosecuting Mr Odili on account of his stewardship as governor of Rivers State between 1999 and 2007.

The courts orders followed a suit that was instituted by Mr Odili against the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) for impounding his international passport upon his return to Nigeria from the United Kingdom in June this year.

The NIS in its defence had informed the presiding judge that it seized Mr Odilis travelling documents based on a request by the EFCC.

But in a statement on Friday night by EFCCs spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, the agency said, The (media) report is false as it did not carry out any operation at the home of Justice Odili.

If there was any such operation as claimed by the media, it was not carried out by the EFCC, the statement added.

In the statement titled, EFCC Did Not Carry Out Any Operation in Justice Odilis Home, the anti-graft commission urged the public to disregard the report.

SSS raided Justice Odilis home

Meanwhile, a source at the Supreme Court told this reporter that operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) were responsible for the raid on Mrs Odilis residence.

I learnt the operatives of the SSS were the ones who raided Justice Odilis residence, the source, who pleaded anonymity, said.

When PREMIUM TIMES reached out to the SSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya for comments, he simply replied in a text message, No, we didnt, please.

Mrs Odili is currently the second most senior Justice of the Supreme Court.

Her colleagues homes were raided by the SSS in 2016.

The SSS in a gestapo manner, raided the homes of John Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta who is now deceased, alongside the residences of Adeniyi Ademola, and Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

While charges were not preferred against Mr Okoro, Messrs Ngwuta and Adeniyi were arraigned in court.

The FCT High Court dismissed the charges against Mr Adeniyi after the prosecution concluded its case. Mr Ngwutas case was terminated on technical grounds before the prosecution concluded its case.
After a failed attempt by the suspended National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, to stop the national convention of the party, 3,600 delegates will converge on Abuja, on 30 and 31 October, to elect new leaders for the countrys leading opposition.

The convention was initially enveloped in uncertainty until the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, on Friday, dismissed the suit filed by Mr Secondus challenging his suspension and seeking to stop the event.

About 21 positions in the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party will be contested for by at least 27 candidates at the convention.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported the full list of those cleared by the screening committee chaired by former Attorney General of the federation, Mohammed Adoke, to contest for the positions.

However, most of the candidates will be elected unopposed following successful negotiations by the National Convention Organising Committee led by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State as well as other leaders of the party to get a consensus candidate for each position.

The North, to which the position of the national chairman was zoned, had picked Iyorchia Ayu, a former senate president, as its consensus candidate.

Mr Fintiri said only three positions, namely deputy national chairman (South), national auditor and national youth leader, are yet to have consensus candidates as of Friday.

The battle for the position of the deputy national chairman (South) is between a former governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and a former deputy governor of Osun State, Taofeek Arapaja, who is currently the PDP South-west deputy chairman.

Mr Fintiri confirmed that the screening committee disqualified some aspirants; Wale Oladipo (Osun) who expressed interest in the office of deputy national chairman, and Eddy Olafeso for national publicity secretary position and Akintan Oludaisi for the office of national deputy secretary, for filing suits against the party.

Okey Muo-Aroh (SAN) who showed interest in the office of national secretary was disqualified because he is not from Imo State to which the position was micro-zoned but from Anambra State.

PREMIUM TIMES will be at Eagle Square, Abuja to bring you live updates of the convention.

At exactly 1:05pm, the PDP declared the National Convention open with a stanza from Nigerias National Anthem.

The Executive Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, and the Kano State PDP Chairman, Shehu Wada, said the Christian and Muslim prayers, respectively.

We prayed to you Lord to give us a second chance as you did in 2019, Mr Ortom said as the party officially launched into the days event.

PREMIUM TIMES can report that delegates from the 36 member states and the FCT are fully seated except those from Ogun, Ondo among others largely from the southwest zone.

LIVE UPDATE

The Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri, who doubles as the Chairman of the 2021 PDP National Convention Organising Committee, in his 19 minutes speech, praised the diplomacy of the his team.

He said the country has never had things this bad until the emergece of the current APC administration. He stressed the need for the PDP to return to power come 2023.

Mr Fintiri chronicled the journey of the party thus far as he ascribed its growth to all past chairmen and stakeholders, excluding the embattled Uche Secondus.

Against the figure of the Organising Committee of the convention, the chairman of the convention said a total of 3,600 delegates are expected to partticipate in the election of 21 NWC members.

His speech was followed by the brief address of the interim National Chairman, Yemi Akinwonmo, who also criticised the ruling APC. He subsequently declared the election open.

The PDP is set to commence the election of its 21 NWC members for the next four years.

The phase is the crux of the days activities, though results of the election may not be made available until 9 when they will take over the administration of the party.. The chairman of the Convention Committee, Ahmadu Fintiri, confirmed this earlier in his address. He said the reason is to allow the current NWC members complete their four-year tenure, which began on December 9, 2017

Supporters of the candidates have been instructed to vacate the premises while delegates were told to take their seats at their allotted space within the Eagle Square.

The electoral officials have also taken their respective positions at the centre of theEagle Square venue as at 4:45pm.

Delegates will cast their votes in alphabetical order.

Abia State delegates have been called upon to come forward to exercise their franchise.

Adamawa State is to follow.

Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnanya Abaribe, speaking on behalf of PDP caucus of the National Assembly, said Today, millions are following the proceedings of the convention because they are anxiously waiting for the outcome. They want to go away from the cold-blooded and arrogant looting of the treasury of the APC. Today, we have seen in the last six years the suppression of our citizens, extra-judicial killings and injustice by the ruling party. This clueless government is doing nothing as bandits take over our highways.

On the economy, Mr Abaribe, who represents Abia South, said, They have pillaged our economy. They have utterly destroyed the economy. Millions are denied the opportunity of fruitful ventures, when they speak up, they are brutalised.

Former Benue governor, Gabriel Suswam, who is currently a senator, is invited to move the motion to adopt the congress.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, is addressing the convention. He said, The country is going through the most difficult time ever, I am 70 years, and I have never seen this type of hardship, insecurity and disunity before in Nigeria. We have a chance to right the country and unite the country, a chance to ship our country to its rightful place among the comity of nations. The PDP is not perfect, none of us is perfect. The APC has shown itself to be ill-equipped and corrupt. The unity of PDP is an extension of the unity of Nigeria. We must develop a country that shuns ethnicity, and focus on merits and the right policy framework 

Delegates from Abia State and Adamawa State are currently voting. The states are arranged based on alphabetical order.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar just cast his vote as one of the delegates from Adamawa State.

Delegates from Akwa Ibom and Anambra States are currently voting. The process So fhas been orderly. So far, delegates Abia, Anambra, Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River and Ekiti delegates have voted. Currently, delegates from Jigawa and Kaduna are voting. There was a short break after delegates from Ekiti voted. Sule Lamido, the former Governor of Jigawa State led the delegates from his state. The crowd at the venue is getting reduced as most delegates are leaving after voting Kano delegates, led by Ex-Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, are about to vote. Supporters of likely presidential candidates appear to be trying to sell the popularity of their principal. Supporters, wearing the symbolic red cap of the Kwankwasiyya Movement are chanting Sai Kwakwanso. When delegates from Jigawa State voted, it was the same thing, as supporters chanted Sai Lamido. The same thing happened when delegates from Adamawa, Atiku Abubakars home state, voted. Kwara and Lagos States delegates are currently exercising their franchise while delegates from both Nasarawa and Niger States have been told to get ready. According to the announcer, 58 delegates from Nasarawa are expected to participate in the exercise while 76 delegates from Niger will cast their votes at the same time.

There is an ongoing drama between Osun and Oyo States delegstes over deputy national chairmanship (south) position The former governorship candidate in Osun Stste in the 2018 election, Ademola Adeleke is leading support for Mr Oyinlola, while Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo is leading the supporters of Mr Arapaja. Coincidentally, the delegates of the two states are seated in pavilions beside each other due to the alphabetical arrangement of the states. Delegates of both States are singing offensive songs and hauling insults at each other. Messrs Oyinlola and Arapaja are running for the position of national deputy chairman (south). Ogun State and Ondo States delegates are about to vote. Osun and Oyo States delegates have been invites to cast their votes. Osun, which is fielding its former governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola for the seat of the Deputy National Chairman (South), has 93 delegates. The 130 accredited delegates will also be casting their votes along side its counterpart. Taofeek Arapaja, who is a former deputy governor of Oyo State, has the backing of the incumbent governor of state and the Secretary of the National Convention Committee, Seyi Makinde, will be slugging it out with Mr Oyinlola. Mr Makinde will be leading the Oyo delegates to the poll after 83 and 55 delegates from Ogun and Ondo State, respectively are through casting their votes. Osun and Oyo States delegates are currently voting. The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, is currently leading the 130 accredited delegates to the voting cubicles to exercise their franchise. The state has 137 delegates but only 130 were accredited. The 65 delegates from Plateau State are also on the queue leading to the voting point to cast their votes. A former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja, has emerged winner of the election into the office of the Deputy national chairman (South) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr Arapaja, an ally of Governor Seyi Makinde, garnered 2,004 votes to defeat his only opponent, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a former governor of Osun State, who got 705 votes. There was wild jubilation at the Eagle Square venue of the PDP Convention in the early hours of Sunday when the result of the election was announced. A total of 165 votes were declared invalid.
Author Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia has been announced as the winner of the $100,000 NLNG Literature Prize for 2021.

Ms Onyemelukwe-Onuobias novel, The Son of the House, was announced the winner at a ceremony Saturday night.

Earlier in July, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the NLNG had shortlisted 11 authors, including Ms Onyemelukwe-Onuobia, for this years edition of the prize.

See the July statement announcing the initial shortlist below.

The Advisory Board for The Nigeria Prize for Literature has announced the shortlist of 11 drawn from 202 books in the running for the 2021 edition of the prize.

The 11 books on the shortlist, in alphabetical order by the title of the book, are:

1. Delusion of Patriots, Obianuju V. Chukwuorji

2. Give Us Each Day, Samuel Monye

3. Imminent River, Anaele Ihuoma

4. In The Name of Our Father, Olukorede S. Yishau

5. Mountain of Yesterday, Tony Nwaka

6. Neglected, Lucy Chiamaka Okwuma

7. The Colours of Hatred, Obinna Udenwa

8. The Girl with The Louding Voice, Abi Dare

9. The Return of Half- Something, Chukwudi Eze

10. The Son of The House, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia

11. Your Church My Shrine, Law Ikay Ezeh

The list was presented by the Chairman, Panel of Judges for this years Nigeria Prize for Literature, Professor Toyin Jegede, who is a professor of Literature in English at the University of Ibadan.

The other judges are Prof. Tanimu Abubakar and Dr Solomon Azumurana. Professor Abubakar is a Professor of Literature in the Faculty of Art, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Dr Azumurana is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Lagos.

The judges described the shortlist as fresh approaches to looking at issues, using new and exciting narrative strategies, techniques and well-written organic plots to present topical discussions in realistic ways.

The judges stated that there has been a visible improvement in writing skills and commended Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, (founder and sponsors of the prize), for giving writers the platform to blossom and experiment.

As in the past, The Nigeria Prize for Literature, Africas biggest reward for creative excellence, will be keenly contested.

According to the Chairperson of the prizes Advisory Board, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, the Board unanimously agreed that the shortlist of 11 was an excellent list.

She expressed her appreciation to the judges for a thorough job in selecting the shortlist. She stated that excellence was the watchword of the prize, adding that the onus was on the Advisory Board to continue in the tradition that was handed to them by the past Board.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature has since 2004 rewarded eminent writers such as Gabriel Okara (co-winner, 2005, poetry) for The Dreamer, His Vision; Professor Ezenwa Ohaeto, for his volume of poetry, Chants of a Minstrel (co-winner, 2005, poetry); Ahmed Yerima (2005, drama) for his classic, Hard Ground; Mabel Segun (co-winner, 2007, childrens literature) for her collection of short plays Readers Theatre; Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo (co-winner, 2007, childrens literature) with her book, My Cousin Sammy; Kaine Agary with her book, Yellow Yellow (2008, prose); Esiaba Irobi (2010, drama) who clinched the prize posthumously with his book Cemetery Road; Adeleke Adeyemi (2011, childrens literature) with his book The Missing Clock; Chika Unigwe (2012, prose), with her novel, On Black Sisters Street; Tade Ipadeola (2013, poetry) with his collection of poems, The Sahara Testaments; Professor Sam Ukala (2014, drama) with his play, Iredi War; Abubakar Adam Ibrahim with his novel Season of Crimson Blossoms (2016, prose); Ikeogu Oke with his collection of poetry, The Heresiad; (2017, poetry); Soji Cole with his play, Embers (2018, drama); and Jude Idada with his book, Boom, Boom (2019, Children Literature).

The Nigeria Prize for Literature runs concurrently with the Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism (also sponsored by NLNG), for which four entries were received in 2020. The literary criticism prize carries a monetary value of N1 million.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature rotates yearly amongst four literary categories  prose fiction, poetry, drama, and childrens literature.

A shortlist of three is expected in September. A winner, if any, will be announced by the Advisory Board in October.

Eyono Fatayi-Williams

General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development

Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG)
The federal government says it has inaugurated a vulnerability audit of the countrys prisons after multiple jail breaks in recent months.

The Ministry of Interior disclosed this in a statement on Friday. A spokesperson said the minister, Rauf Aregbesola, while inaugurating the audit said its report will identify the fault lines in the security setup and penetration levels of the custodial centres.

Nigeria has seen a spate of jail breaks in recent years. Last week, 838 inmates escaped from a correctional centre in Oyo State. The government said it recaptured 446 escapees.

The vulnerability audit we have inaugurated today will identify the weakness in our security setup and will help to put in place an effective structure to assist us in better securing our facilities against future external aggression, the statement quoted the interior minister as saying.

In the past, the challenges to the facilities were usually internal insurrections which our system had been primed to deal with. But this new challenge, starting with the #endsars riots of last year, is an armed invasion by gunmen, in large numbers, bearing sophisticated weapons and military grade ordinances. They overrun the place, blow up huge holes on the perimeter fence and overpower our security system. We are determined to eliminate the threat from these attackers and ensure that our facilities are no longer vulnerable.

He also said: The NCoS stands at the heart and end of the Administration of Criminal Justice System. It is a critical and essential element in keeping those the court thinks must be kept away from our society. You must do all in your power to defend it.

The custodial centres represent Nigerias sovereignty, its a sacred institution that signifies her authority. Anyone who aims to breach them is simply testing the might and will of the Nigerian state and must not live to regret such actions.

Reacting to the exercise to be carried out by the NCoS, the Controller General of the Service, Haliru Nababa, noted that teams will be inaugurated in each of the geopolitical zones and an interim report submitted in the next one week.

Minister sir, immediately we leave this venue, we are heading back to the office to operationalize this assignment. In the next one week, we are submitting an interim report of the audit and the full report will be submitted in eight weeks time, he was quoted as saying.

We are aware of the embarrassment the frequent external attacks have on our reputation as a service and as a country. We are assuring the Minister that our officers are ready to combat all attacks on our facility. Already, the service has sent the first batch of 150 armed personnel for training at a military formation in Kontagora. Others are billed to complete their training Sir, in the next couple of weeks.
President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Abuja after a five-day visit to Riyadh, Madinah and Makkah in Saudi Arabia.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the presidential aircraft conveying the president and some members of his entourage departed the Royal Terminal of the King Abdulaziz International Airport Jeddah for Abuja at about 15.45 p.m local time.

While in Saudi Arabia, the Nigerian leader participated in the Fifth Edition of the Future Investment Initiative Summit held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The president, who had a brief stopover at Madinah where he observed his evening prayers and engaged in intense prayers for the return of peace and security in Nigeria, also performed the Umrah (Lesser Hajj) in Makkah

Mr Buhari also met a select group of Nigerians resident in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Friday.

Garba Shehu, the presidents spokesperson, quoted Mr Buhari as saying: I swore by the Holy Quran that I will serve in accordance with the constitution and leave when my time is up. No Tazarce (tenure extension).

I dont want anybody to start talking about and campaigning for unconstitutional extension. I will not accept that.

(NAN)
An advocacy group, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), has decried the interference of the tobacco industry in Nigeria with government policies, including policies meant to regulate the industry.

Akinbode Oluwafemi, the Executive Director of CAPPA, expressed this dissatisfaction during the launch of the Nigeria Tobacco Industry Interference Index Report (2021) on Friday in Lagos.

The Nigeria Tobacco Industry Interference Index Report 2021 will form part of the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index, which measures efforts by governments to address tobacco industry interference.

The Index is also a global survey of how public health policies are protected from the tobacco industrys subversive efforts and activities, and what governments must do to push back the industry influence.

Countries that are scored well on the Global Tobacco Index have been able to curtail the meddling of the tobacco industry in public health policies.

On Wednesday, the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance launched the regional tobacco industry interference index which detailed how the industry exploited opportunities provided by the COVID-19 pandemic to work with African governments.

Giving the summary of the Nigeria Tobacco Industry Interference Index, Mr Oluwafemi said like the rest of the globe, the tobacco industry in Nigeria has consistently interfered unnecessarily in tobacco control policies and unlawfully embarked on corporate social responsibility activities in clear contravention of the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and the National Tobacco Control Regulations 2019.

According to Mr Oluwafemi, the global index adopts a scoring system of 05, where a higher score indicates the stronger tobacco industry interference.

In 2020 Nigeria obtained 49 points but unfortunately, the outcome of this years survey is 53 which shows the tobacco industry is intensifying its subversive actions despite Nigerias tobacco control legislation.

The tobacco industry still participates in policy development in Nigeria. The tobacco industry was invited and participated in the meetings organised by the federal government, including a public hearing towards the passage of the National Tobacco Control Regulation 2019.

The tobacco industry enjoys consistent invitations from the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) to their meetings where supposed classified resolutions on standards are discussed, and agreements are reached. The industry is on various technical committees set up by the SON, he said.

Mr Oluwafemi said the activities of the tobacco industry in Nigeria clearly violate Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation  Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC), which Nigeria is a signatory to.

He said the industry hides under corporate social responsibility (CSR) to foster their unnecessary interaction with the government.

One of the most recent CSR activities of the tobacco industry is a partnership between the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) to empower young agriculture entrepreneurs financially.

Mr Oluwafemi said there is overwhelming evidence of unnecessary interaction between the tobacco industry and government, most especially in the agriculture sector, with most of the initiatives advertised in the pages of newspapers and the social media.

He added that the industry is also part of some committees set up by the government which makes interactions with public officials plausible.

Philip Jakpor, the Director of Programmes at CAPPA, said the organisation has engaged in several deliberations with the Nigerian government in a bid to reduce the influence and interference of the tobacco industry with government policies.

He said the Federal government earlier fixed June 23, as the take-off date for the policy on Pictorial Health Warnings on tobacco products packs in Nigeria, but there has been no sign that the policy is in force, and no official communication from the government that the policy has taken off or extension granted to the tobacco companies.

Mr Jakpor added that although the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and the National Tobacco Control Regulations 2019 provide for transparency and accountability in government dealings with the tobacco industry, the government of Nigeria has not been so transparent with its dealings with the industry.

Recommendations

CAPPA recommended the full implementation of the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and the National Tobacco Control Regulations 2019.

The government should provide information of its dealings, interactions, economic incentives, and benefits that the Tobacco industry receives from it, and reject non-binding agreements with the tobacco industry, Mr Oluwafemi said.

He added that governments are often disadvantaged when they agree to cooperate with the tobacco industry, and the Nigerian government should desist from collaborations with the industry.

The group urged the government should de-normalize the so-called socially responsible activities of the tobacco industry, as these are a form of tobacco promotion.

CAPPA added that government officials in relevant ministries, departments, and agencies must be made to sign conflict-of-interest forms periodically to remind them of commitments or obligations that protect public health.
A former senator from Akwa Ibom State, Nelson Effiong, has been freed by his abductors after spending more than 50 days in captivity.

Antai Effiong, a lawyer and younger brother to the former senator, confirmed this to PREMIUM TIMES, Friday night, around 9p.m.

Yes, he was released this night, Mr Effiong said, without giving details of how the former senator was released.

The former senator, Mr Effiong, was abducted around September 6 in Uyo by gunmen who reportedly drove in a Toyota Camry car.

There was apprehension over his well-being because of the number of days he was kept in captivity.

Shehu Sani, a former senator from Kaduna State, took to Facebook on Tuesday to express concern over the non-release of his former colleague.

Senator Effiong (behind me) has spent over 50 days in the hands of kidnappers. My prayers for him and his family, Mr Sani commented on a photo he posted on the social media site, showing him and Mr Effiong back then in the Senate chambers.

Abduction for ransom has become one of the prevalent crimes in most states in Nigeria, with criminal gangs going after school pupils and students, politicians, and just anyone they can place some value on.

The former senator represented Akwa Ibom South District from 2015 to 2019. Before then, he served as the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly.

He is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress.
The Gombe State Government has restricted migrating herders from coming into the state to forestall herder-farmer clashes.

This was among other resolutions reached at an expanded State Security Council meeting chaired by Governor Inuwa Yahaya at the Government House on Friday.

According to a statement by the governors spokesperson, Ismaila Misilli, at the end of the meeting, herders will only be allowed into the state at the end of January, 2022 when farmers would have completed their harvest in full swing.

According to the statement, the state Commissioner for information, Julius Lapes, the council equally advised farmers to harvest their farm produce at the appropriate time and also cautioned them to avoid burning the remnants on their farmlands after harvest to enable cattle rearers feed their animals.

He said the meeting put a stop to herding activities by under aged and equally restricted grazing activities from the hours of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The commissioner also said the expanded state security council meeting also reviewed the earlier imposed 10 p.m.-5 a.m. movements restrictions within and outside the state as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, to 12 midnight-5 a.m.

He said security of the state and the discouragement of night travels were behind reasons for the review and appealed to security agencies to ensure full compliance with the new governments directive.

Mr Lapes said, in conjunction with the motorcycles riders association, commercial tricycle and relevant unions, the state government has advised its members to register their fleets on or before 31 October as security agencies have been directed to sanction any defaulters of the deadline.

The meeting held at the Councils chamber of the Gombe State Government House was attended by relevant cabinet members of the state government, heads of security agencies, selected traditional and community leaders.
The government of the United States of America has said it will lift COVID-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated international visitors beginning from November 8, 2021.

This is coming almost two years after the U.S. government imposed restrictions on certain categories of travellers who are non-US citizens.

Restrictions on non-US citizens were first imposed on air travellers from China in January 2020. It was further extended to dozens of other countries including India.

Curbs on non-essential travellers at land borders with Mexico and Canada have been in place since March 2020 to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

New development

The US government on Friday announced that foreign national air travellers to the United States will be required with only limited exceptions to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding.

This means that visitors from the European Union, United Kingdom, and other countries will be allowed entry into the United States as long as they are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The government said the new global travel system replaces the existing country-by-country restrictions, putting inplace a consistent approach worldwide.

It noted that with the implementation of these new vaccine requirements, foreign national travellers who have been in one of the 33 countries with restrictions do not need to obtain national interest exceptions in order to travel to the United States.

Reuters quoted U.S. president Joe Biden as saying We decided to adopt an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of international air travel to the U.S.

Mr Biden also said children under 18 are exempted from the new vaccine requirements as are people with some medical issues.

Non-tourist travellers from nearly 50 countries with nationwide vaccination rates of less than 10 per cent will also be eligible for exemption from the rules.

Those receiving an exemption will generally need to be vaccinated within 60 days after arriving in the United States.

Those countries include Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Armenia, Myanmar, Iraq, Nicaragua, Senegal, Uganda, Libya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Congo, Kenya, Yemen, Haiti, Chad and Madagascar.

COVID-19 testing

The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said for entry into the United States, vaccines accepted will include those FDA approved, as well as vaccines with an emergency use listing (EUL) from the World Health Organization (WHO).

It said fully vaccinated air travelers will continue to be required to show documentation of a pre-departure negative viral test taken within three calendar days of travel to the United States before boarding.

That includes all travelers  U.S. citizens, lawful permanentresidents (LPRs), and foreign nationals.

For example, if a vaccinated traveller is traveling to the United States on Saturday, they can test from Wednesday on.

To further strengthen protections, unvaccinated travelers  whether U.S. citizens, LPRs, or thesmall number of excepted unvaccinated foreign nationals  will now need to show proof of a negative test within one calendar day of travel to the United States.
Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development, Enugu State, Victor Nnam, on Friday resigned his appointment with the state government.

Mr Nnam, in a letter dated October 29, 2021 and addressed to the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, said he resigned because of undue interference in his job.

The resignation letter partly read: When you appointed me in 2019, I accepted the appointment with hope that I was going to be allowed to bring world best practices in land administration.

I immediately proposed for establishment of a GIS land administration system to enable the ministry (to) stamp out land grabbers and create investors confidence in our land system.

The proposal was rejected without explanation till date.

Mr Nnam, in the letter, criticised the government removal of a departmental head in his ministry.

He said the official was removed for simply doing their jobs diligently.

My conscience will no longer allow me to continue to serve your administration while those innocent professional senior civil servants are punished for doing the right thing.

I, hereby, resign my appointment with effect from Oct. 29, 2021 and submit the black Prado SUV with plate number: 1ENSG 5712 to your office, Mr Nnam said.

When a correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) contacted Mr Nnam, he confirmed that the resignation letter was from him. Yes, I resigned today, he said.

The land administration system in the state had been in chaos with incidences of land grabbing, resulting in over 100 lawsuits involving the ministry, according to NAN.

Nigerian government officials are rarely known for resigning from their positions even when allegations of misdemeanours are levelled against them.

(NAN)
Troops of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army currently conducting a special operation in the South-east, Exercise Golden Dawn, have killed four members of the proscribed separatist group, IPOB and its militant wing, ESN, during an encounter in Anambra State.

A soldier also died in the crossfire.

Army spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

According to Mr Nwachukwu, the incident happened when the assailants stormed a location and attacked a group of security personnel deployed at Ekwulobia Roundabout in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The attack, according to the army, led to swift security mobilisation to the scene and subsequent pursuit of the terrorists along Nnewi  Nnobi road where the fierce encounter took place.

Mr Nwachukwu said arms and ammunition were recovered from group during an encounter.

The resumed hostilities in the region comes about a week to the governorship election of Anambra State.

The election will hold on 6 November.

The ESN has been allegedly responsible for terrorising the region, vowing that the elections would not hold unless its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, currently standing trial, is released from detention.

Read the armys full statement:

TROOPS NEUTRALISE IPOB/ESN GUNMEN

Recover AK-47 Rifles, vehicles, ammunition

Troops of 82 Division Nigerian Army conducting Exercise GOLDEN DAWN have neutralised four gunmen of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra/ Eastern Security Network (IPOB/ESN) in a fierce encounter at Nnobi Junction, Idemili South Local Government Area on Friday 29 October 2021. This followed the assailants armed attack on personnel of security agencies deployed at Ekwulobia Round About in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, during which troops swiftly mobilised to the scene and subsequently embarked on pursuit of the criminals along Nnewi  Nnobi road.

Troops made contact with the fleeing gunmen and engaged them in a fire fight, neutralising four of the criminals.

The gallant troops also recovered two AK-47 Rifles, one GALIL Ace 5.56 x 45 Iwi Gun, one Avofeng Hand held radio and one Black Highlander jeep. Sadly, a personnel of one of the security agencies paid the supreme price.

In a separate operation, troops have foiled another attack by IPOB/ESN gunmen at Umunze Checkpoint, in Orumba South Local Government Area. The vigilant troops overwhelmed the attackers in the shootout that ensued, forcing them to take to their heels, abandoning, one Pump Action gun with nine cartridges, one dark blue Ford and four motorcycles, which the troops have recovered.

The Nigerian Army notes that the recent attacks are part of proscribed IPOB/ESN plan to instil fear into the public and sabotage forthcoming Anambra State Governorship Election. Members of the public are reassured that the Nigerian Army, sister services and other security agencies will not relent in resolutely confronting all criminals intents against the citizenry and national interest. Law abiding citizens are enjoined to continue to go about their daily activities without any fear. They are also encouraged to report any unusual activity observed across Anambra State to the nearest security post.

ONYEMA NWACHUKWU

Brigadier General

Director Army Public Relations

30 October 2021
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has denied involvement in the late Fridays siege laid by security agents to the Abuja residence of a Justice of the Supreme Court, Mary Odili.

Responding to an enquiry by PREMIUM TIMES on court documents linking a unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice being supervised by Mr Malami to the raid, his spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, said the ministry or the AGF is not involved in any way.

Look at the documents. Is there any unit in the Federal Ministry of Justice called Joint Panel Recovery? There are a lot of discrepancies in the documents. The ministry or the AGF is not involved in any way, and we are going to issue a statement soon, Mr Gwandu said on Saturday.

Mr Malamis denial came on the heels of earlier denials by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the State Security Service (SSS). Both agencies had been reported to have sent their operatives to carry out operation at 9 Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja.

Some court documents emerged online late Friday indicating that a police officer named Lawrence Ajodo, a chief superintendent of police, had applied to the Chief Magistrates Court in Wuse Zone 6 for a search warrant to be executed at the address. Security operatives had invaded Mrs Odilis residence in a bid to execute the search warrant on Friday.

The signatory, Mr Ajodo, claimed to have signed the application as the officer in charge of Assets Recovery Investigation Team.

The application was written on a letterhead of a body named Ghost Account For Local Government Whistleblowers & Assets Tax Recovery Panel.

Then, the footnote of the letterhead has the contact details of what was described as Head of Criminal Litigation with its address given as 18, Tunis Street, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.

Along with three telephone numbers, the email address of the unit was given on the document as Agf.asstsrecovery@gmail.com

Investigation ordered

Denying any link between the documents and the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Gwandu said the AGF has ordered an investigation into the circumstances leading to the raid of Mrs Odilis house.

The application was said to have been written on 28th October, 2021. When was it submitted? When was the warrant issued? When was the raid? Mr Gwandu said, adding that the AGF has ordered an investigation into the matter.

Withdrawal of search warrant

Mrs Odili, a Justice of the Supreme Court, had her residence at Maitama, an upscale area of Abuja, raided by a combined team of armed security operatives comprising the police and soldiers on Friday.

The Chief Magistrate, Emmanuel Iyanna, who issued the warrant, later said in a subsequent ruling revoking it that he was misled into issuing the search order.

While revoking the warrant, Mr Iyanna said material facts were suppressed by the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja in procuring the warrant.

Upon misrepresentation to this honourable court that led to the issuance of a search warrant in favour of Joint Panel Recovery, Ministry of Justice, against House 9, Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja, dated October 29, 2021, Mr Iyanna said while revoking the search warrant.

In view of the above fact, the said search warrant is hereby revoked.

The revocation orders came a few hours after security personnel tried to execute the warrant orders at Mrs Odilis residence in Abuja on Friday.

According to court documents, the warrant was approved on the strength of whistleblower information from one Aliyu Umar, a resident of Abuja.

Mr Umar had claimed in an affidavit he deposed to that there were illegal activities going on at Mrs Odilis residence.

The said whistleblowers information was supplied to the EFCC.

However, the anti-graft agency denied raiding the home the Supreme Court jurist.

This newspaper reported that the SSS equally denied any involvement in the siege of Mrs Odilis home.

Background

The apex court judge is the wife of Peter Odili, a former governor of Rivers State, who has been having a running battle with the anti-graft agency.

Recently, the Federal High Court in Abuja, restrained the EFCC and other security agencies in the country from arresting or prosecuting Mr Odili on account of his stewardship as governor of Rivers State between 1999 and 2007.

The courts orders followed a suit that was instituted by Mr Odili against the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) for impounding his international passport upon his return to Nigeria from the United Kingdom in June this year.

The NIS in its defence had informed the presiding judge that it seized Mr Odilis travelling documents based on a request by the EFCC.

Previous raids

Mrs Odili is currently the second most senior Justice of the Supreme Court.

Her colleagues homes were raided by the SSS in 2016.

The SSS in a gestapo manner, raided the homes of John Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta who is now deceased, alongside the residences of Adeniyi Ademola, and Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

While charges were not preferred against Mr Okoro, Messrs Ngwuta and Adeniyi were arraigned in court.

The FCT High Court dismissed the charges against Mr Adeniyi after the prosecution concluded its case. Mr Ngwutas case was terminated on technical grounds before the prosecution concluded its case.
The Ministry of Interior has published the photos of prison inmates who escaped from the Oyo custodial centre last week.

Some 837 inmates escaped from the facility on October 22, but the interior ministry said 262 had been recaptured.

The ministry on Saturday shared the details of the remaining 575 still on the run.

It advised the public to report to nearest police station if they came in contact with the persons, warning that they were dangerous.

ALSO READ: Nigeria begins review of prisons security after jail breaks

Kindly contact the nearest police station or security agency near you when you see any of these persons. It is a crime punishable under the law to render any form of assistance to these persons, it said.

The ministry on Friday said it would conduct a review of all prison facilities in the country to examine their vulnerabilities in the wake of multiple jail breaks in the last one year.

The full photos are found here.
The Nigerian police have responded to a petition by some allies of Olanrewaju Suraju, Chairman, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), who questioned his (Suraju) indictment for forgery.

The police response was contained in a letter signed by its Head of Investigating Unit, Ibrahim Musa, an assistant commissioner of police, to Mr Surajus Italian allies.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the police submitted a case file to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, recommending the prosecution of Mr Suraju for alleged forgery.

The development came after the police stated that a report accusing Mr Suraju of peddling falsehood against Mr Adoke, was not fake.

Mr Adoke, one of those the EFCC is prosecuting for alleged fraud in connection with the OPL 245 saga, popularly referred to as the Malabu scandal, had petitioned the police accusing some unnamed persons of circulating fabricated evidence against him, to unduly incriminate him.

The former attorney-general said an email submitted to a court in Italy was never written by him as claimed just like the tape of a purported interview he granted an Italian journalist.

He asked the police to help uncover those who manufactured those pieces of evidence and bring them to book.

In a two-page report earlier published by this newspaper, the police alleged that Mr Suraju circulated false information about Mr Adoke via his organisations social media accounts without verifying its authenticity.

The police also alleged that Mr Surajus anti-corruption organisation was unregistered, a claim this newspaper found to be false after carrying out checks on the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

The claims by the police triggered the petition by the two allies of Mr Suraju on 9 September, raising concerns over alleged factual errors contained in the report of the investigation.

They also alleged that the said report appeared fake and that it came out when investigations were still on.

They duo faulted claims by the police unit that Mr Suraju jumped bail, did not present himself when he was needed to clarify certain issues and also resorted to frivolous petitions and filing suit in court.

Police response

In a reply to a petition from two Italian groups titled: Re: Common and The Corner House, and dated October 14, the police disagreed with the Italians that the investigative report which accused Mr Suraju of cyberstalking, injurious falsehood and criminal defamation of former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Adoke (SAN) was fake.

In the letter, the police confirmed that the letter originated from its unit, and that the Certified True Copy (CTC) was issued to Mr Adoke based on a written request to the IGP, which was approved.

The Force insisted that the report was factual and borne out of painstaking investigation, chronicling steps taken by the police before the conclusion of investigation.

Despite evidence of registration, the police also stood their ground that HEDA was not a registered body at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), referencing a letter marked RGC/SU/VOL6/2021/02/75 dated 23 July, 2021.

According to the Force, Mr Suraju had earlier claimed to be chairman of HEDA only to allegedly recant on August 19, that his organisation was HEDA Resource Centre when the letter from CAC was shown to him.

The letter reads in part, Olanrewaju Suraju acknowledged through a text message on the same day. However, on the 30th of June 2021, Olanrewaju Suraju, before the scheduled date, sent a text message to the IPO, stating that the IG had directed the case to be transferred to Force Investigation Bureau (FIB), when there was no such directive, and upon this, he dishonoured the invitation while the complainant reported.

Again, another text message rescheduling the interview to 8th of July, 2021 was sent to him, but he also failed to report citing inability to meet the cost of travelling from Lagos to Abuja.

Upon his inability to attend the interview, one Barr. Oluwaseye Afolabi of Kunle Adegoke & Co. in a letter dated 12th July, 2021 addressed to the Head, IGP Monitoring Unit, requested for new date for the interview on the grounds that Olanrenwaju Suraju was ill and undergoing medical treatment, without attaching any medical proof.

On the strength of his counsels request, they were rescheduled for 19th of July, 2021 to report, and his surety, one Ajene Isegbe, was put on notice to produce him, but the suspect and his surety all failed to show up for the interview on the rescheduled date.

That the failure of Olanrewaju and Surety to report despite several invitations necessitated the office to approach the court and obtain a warrant of arrest for the suspects surety.

Thereafter, detectives were dispatched to Lagos State on 22nd July, 2021 with a view to tracing and re-arresting Olanrewaju Suraju but on locating his verifiable address, investigators were informed by one Mr. Kolawale that Olanrenwaju Suraju, who is on police administrative bail, had travelled abroad and there was no date of his return, without presenting any evidence.

Upon this revelation, his surety was further mandated to produce him, but he failed. A letter of invitation dated 26th July, 2021 was addressed to the Director General, National Gallery of Arts, Federal Ministry of Information, requesting for the release of the surety- Ajene Abraham Isegbe- to interview the Head of the Unit on 2nd of August, 2021, for the offence of screening of an offender.

He reported, his statement was recorded under words of caution. He revealed that the suspect deceived the police and himself, by stating that he was sick and in the hospital, while he was abroad.

Thereafter, the surety made an undertaking dated 3rd August, 2021 to produce him on the 5th of August, 2021 but failed again. He undertook to produce him on 10th August, 2021 and equally failed.

That Olanrewaju Suraju rather than honour Police invitation at IGP Monitoring Unit and assist the investigation, resorted into writing a counter petition to DIG Force Criminal Investigation Department, and with the same unregistered Human and Environmental Development Agenda and not with HEDA Resource Centre, filed a Suit No: 1D/11599MFHR2021 dated 23rd July, 2021 requesting the court to grant him an Ex Parte-Order restraining the Police invitation arrest.

That on 19th of August, 2021, his Surety- Ajene Isegbe- produced him and his additional statement was recorded under words of caution. The surety-Ajene Isegbe- submitted a hand written letter dated 11th August, 2021, for withdrawal of his surety-ship on the premise that he cannot guarantee the appearance of the suspect at IGP monitoring Unit, thereafter one Oluseyi Fatuyi of Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning stood surety tor him on Police administrative bail.

The police also dismissed allegations that the unit circumvented the IG by issuing the CTC to Mr Adoke and also sending the duplicate case file to the AGF for further action, stating that all actions taken were with the approval of the IG.

Upon conclusion of investigation, a police investigation report dated 2nd September 2021 was submitted to the Inspector General of Police recommending that the duplicate case file be forwarded to the office of the Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, for further necessary action.

It was also recommended that the counter-petition, written by Olanrewaju Suraju, be discarded because it is frivolous and lacks merit.

The Inspector-General of Police approved the recommendations and directed for strict compliance vide letter dated 17th September, 2021.

Furthermore, the complainant Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, had in a letter dated 6th August, 2021 to the Inspector General of Police, applied for Certified True Copy of the Investigation Report and exhibits, and approval was conveyed vide Inspector General of Police letter dated 16th August, 2021.

Hence a concise Certified True Copy of Police Investigation Report was issued to the applicant for record purpose only.

From the above, it is evidently clear that your concerns outlined in paragraph 1-5 of your letter dated 9th September, 2021 to the Inspector General of Police is as reported to you by Olanrewaju Suraju, which is in complete contrast to the factual findings of investigation, the letter further stated.
Airtel Africa has reported a strong growth across the Group, doubling profit after tax, increasing cash generation, lowering leverage and raising dividend.

Here are highlights of the performance.

Highlights

H121 reported revenue grew by 2% to $2,272m with double digit growth across all regions. Q2 reported revenue growth of 20.3%.

Revenue in constant currency grew by 6%.

Strong double-digit constant currency revenue growth across all regions: Nigeria up 32.4%, East Africa up 25.8% and Francophone Africa up 1%; and across all key services, Voice up 19.7%, Data up 36.9% and Mobile Money up 42.0%.

Underlying EBITDA grew by 2% to $1,098m in reported currency and underlying EBITDA margin improved to 48.3%, an increase of 360 basis points led by both revenue growth and improved operational efficiencies.

Operating profit up 1% to $732m in reported currency.

Profit after tax more than doubled to $335m, largely due to higher profit before tax which more than offset the associated increase in tax

Basic EPS was 6 cents, an increase of 155.9%, as a result of higher profit. EPS before exceptional items increased to 7.5 cents from 3.0 cents in previous period.

Operating free cash flow was $853m, up 1%, and over the last 18 months we have up streamed more than $570m across our operating entities.

Leverage ratio reduced to 5x from 2.2x.

Customer base grew by 4% to 122.7 million, with increased penetration across mobile data (customer base up 10.9%) and mobile money services (customer base up 19.0%). Customer base growth was affected by the new NIN/SIM registration regulations in Nigeria; excluding Nigeria the customer base grew by 13.7%.

The board has declared an interim dividend of 2 cents per share (1.5 cents in H121) in line with an upgraded dividend The new policy aims to grow the dividend annually by a mid to high-single digit percentage from a new base of 5 cents per share for FY 2022, with a continued focus to further strengthen the balance sheet.

Alternative performance measures 1 (Half year ended) GAAP measures (Half year ended) Description Sep-21 Sep-20 Reported currency Constant currency Description Sep-21 Sep-20 Reported currency $m $m change % change % $m $m change % Revenue 2,272 1,815 25.2% 27.6% Revenue 2,272 1,815 25.2% Underlying EBITDA 1,098 812 35.2% 38.5% Operating profit 732 472 55.1% Underlying EBITDA margin 48.3% 44.7% 360 bps 381 bps Profit after tax 335 145 131.6% EPS before exceptional items ($ cents) 7.5 3.0 149.7% Basic EPS ($ cents) 7.6 3.0 155.9% Operating free cash flow 853 596 43.1% Net cash generated from operating activities 922 744 23.9%

Segun Ogunsanya, chief executive officer, on the trading update:

Our first half financial performance has been strong. The first half of last year, and especially Q1, was impacted by the start of Covid, but even after adjusting for these effects, our revenue growth rates for the half year for the Group and all our service segments are ahead of our FY21 revenue growth trends, and in reported terms these are all in strong double digits.

The risks from Covid still remain, with sub-Saharan Africa continuing to experience a third wave of the pandemic. Governments continue to implement balanced measures of lockdowns and restrictions accordingly. But vaccination levels remain low, and we continue to monitor the situation for potential impacts on economies and consumers.

Operationally we have continued our network modernisation and expansion, aligned with an extension of our distribution capabilities, which have together contributed towards continued strong growth in ARPUs across voice, data and mobile money. We have seen an improvement in our customer growth trends for the Group as we approach stability of net monthly movements in Nigeria.

Alongside our results we have today launched our sustainability strategy. Airtel Africa has always been a business with a sustainable premise at the heart of our purpose to transform lives across Africa through our promotion of both digital and financial inclusion. Our sustainability strategy builds upon this, extending and more comprehensively articulating our sustainability goals and credentials. I am excited by the new initiatives we have launched and I look forward to reporting back on our developments in this area with our first sustainability report next year.

About Airtel Africa

Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East Africa and Central and West Africa.

Airtel Africa offers an integrated suite of telecoms solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services, both nationally and internationally. We aim to continue providing a simple and intuitive customer experience through streamlined customer journeys.

Enquiries

Airtel Africa  Investor Relations Pier Falcione Morten Singleton Investor.relations@africa.airtel.com +44 7446 858 280 +44 7464 830 011 +44 207 493 9315 Hudson Sandler Nick Lyon Bertie Berger airtelafrica@hudsonsandler.com +44 207 796 4133

Financial review for the quarter ended 30 September 2021

Nigeria

Description Unit of measure Half year ended Quarter ended Sep-21 Sep-20 Reported currency change % Constant currency change % Sep-21 Sep-20 Reported currency change % Constant currency change % Summarised statement of operations Revenue $m 896 718 24.7% 32.4% 450 377 19.4% 27.1% Voice revenue 1 $m 471 413 14.0% 21.0% 233 216 7.7% 14.6% Data revenue $m 351 257 36.6% 45.0% 179 135 33.1% 41.5% Other revenue 1 $m 74 48 52.9% 63.0% 38 26 46.8% 56.1% Underlying EBITDA $m 492 386 27.3% 35.2% 246 204 20.3% 28.0% Underlying EBITDA margin % 54.9% 53.8% 113 bps 114 bps 54.6% 54.2% 39 bps 39 bps Depreciation and amortisation $m (128) (115) 11.4% 18.2% (65) (63) 3.0% 10.1% Exceptional item $m   0.0% 0.0%   0.0% 0.0% Operating profit $m 364 271 34.1% 42.3% 181 141 27.9% 35.7% Capex $m 104 97 7.0% 7.0% 56 67 (17.1%) (17.1%) Operating free cash flow $m 388 289 34.2% 45.3% 190 137 38.5% 51.8% Operating KPIs ARPU $ 3.6 2.8 29.6% 37.5% 3.7 2.9 27.5% 35.6% Total customer base million 40.4 44.1 (8.2%) 40.4 44.1 (8.2%) Data customer base million 18.2 19.0 (4.4%) 18.2 19.0 (4.4%)

(1) Voice revenue includes inter-segment revenue of $0.5m and other revenue includes inter-segment revenue of $1m in half year ended 30 September 2021. Excluding inter- segment revenue, voice revenue was $471m and other revenue was $72m in half year ended 30 September 2021.

Reported revenue grew by 24.7%, with constant currency revenue growth of 32.4% offset by Nigerian naira devaluation of 6.1% (YoY). ARPU grew by 37.5%, to which voice contributed 14.8%, data contributed 18.1% and the balance came from other revenue.

Voice revenue grew by 21.0%. This was driven by an increase in voice usage per customer with ARPU growth of 25.6%. The year-on-year decline in the customer base of 3.6 million was due to the implementation of new Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements in Nigeria which had included a temporary halt to new customer activations. New activations have been permitted in regulatory approved outlets since the end of April 2021. The number of outlets receiving regulatory approval has grown in the second quarter from 2,100 to 7,000, and accordingly the business is now approaching the level where monthly net customer movements are stabilising.

Data revenue grew by 45.0% in constant currency, driven by the growth in data usage per customer to 3.9 GB per month (from 2.7 GB per month in the prior period). This in turn drove data APRU growth of 41.4%. Expansion of our 4G network, with 88.8% of total sites now on 4G, and an increase in smartphone penetration further supported the growth in data usage. Data is one of the key growth drivers in Nigeria. Data revenue accounted for 39.1% of total revenue in Nigeria in H122, up 3.4 percentage points from 35.7% in the prior period. 4G data usage accounted for 70.1% of total data usage in Q222, up from 61.6% in Q221 and the 4G data customer base now contribute 42.4% of the total data customer base in Nigeria.

Other revenue grew by 63.0%, with the main contribution coming from the growth in value added services revenue, led by airtime credit services.

Underlying EBITDA grew by 27.3% to $492m in reported currency, with a constant currency growth of 35.2%. The underlying EBITDA margin improved to 54.9%, an increase of 113 basis points in reported currency and 114 basis points in constant currency. This margin expansion was due to improvements in operational efficiency.

Operating free cash flow in Nigeria was $388m, up 45.3%, due to the expansion of underlying EBITDA.
Plattsburgh, NY (12901)

Today

Sunny this morning then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 42F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy. A shower of rain or wet snow possible. Low near 35F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho, Oct. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- "Hospice is a beautiful benefit that we are honored to provide to the residents of Eastern Idaho. Our Home Health Agency has had the pleasure of serving the area for many years now and we are beyond thrilled to add Hospice, Home Care and a robust Palliative Care program to our, now complete, continuum of care. As an accredited organization, we are held to a much higher quality standard and are proud to live up to that each and every day, treating patients as loved family members," said Jamie Brown, Vice President of Eden Health, part of the EmpRes Healthcare family of companies.

Eden Hospice offers caring companionship, advance directive planning, emotional and spiritual support, disease process education for patients and their families, pain and symptom management, respite care and family relief, assistance with community resources, assistance with funeral and memorial services, bereavement services and support groups. Over the next 12 months, Eden Health plans to invest in the growth of this Agency while maintaining a strong focus on timely and quality care. "Our goal is to 'keep healthcare local' to ensure that each community is represented and strategies are implemented specifically to meet the needs of the residents in the communities that we are so honored to serve, our Home Health Agency is one of the only 5-star rated Agencies in the area and while Hospice doesn't have a star rating, a quality-related focus is as equally important to us," noted Mrs. Brown.

About Eden Health

Eden Health is a subsidiary of EmpRes Healthcare, a 100% Employee Owned Family of Companies providing management and consulting services to rehabilitation and post-acute care centers, assisted and independent living communities and home health, home care, palliative care, and hospice agencies throughout Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming.

To learn more about Eden Health, please visit www.eden-health.com.

SOURCE Eden Health

Related Links

empres.com


Located at 1475 Gears Road, the $34 million AMTEX Green Oaks Apartments Development is designed to close the substantial shortage of affordable housing units in Houston. According to the Houston Housing Authority's analysis of census data for Houston:

400,000+ households qualify for housing assistance at 80 percent of the area median income (AMI).

qualify for housing assistance at 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). 200,000+ families pay greater than 30% of their income for housing.

pay greater than 30% of their income for housing. 155,582 families live in poverty.

live in poverty. Existing housing stock provides affordable opportunities for 76,725 families.

The City of Houston unanimously voted to provide a loan of $6,273,113 in federal funds to assist with site acquisition and new construction of Green Oaks. AMTEX also received a tax credit from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and obtained additional financing from Citibank. The project received unanimous support from Mayor Sylvester Turner and the city council led at the time by District B Council Member Jerry Davis. Other supporters included Harris County Commission Precinct 1, District 141 State Representative Senfronia Thompson, area neighborhood homeowners' associations, business chambers, and the surrounding northeast Houston community.

"In addition to providing beautiful, new affordable apartment homes for Houstonians, I'm happy to report that AMTEX exceeded the supplier goals set by the City, State and Federal government, which resulted in unprecedented economic development opportunities for minority, women/small business enterprises, and HUD Section 3 businesses," said AMTEX President Arjun Nagarkatti. "The economic impact of these apartments has already had a tremendous ripple effect throughout the community, and AMTEX looks forward to Green Oaks serving thousands of deserving residents for many years to come."

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner commended AMTEX for being a reliable partner in the ongoing efforts to rebuild areas of the city impacted by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. He applauded AMTEX for overcoming pandemic-related challenges, including shortages of manpower and building materials, to complete the Green Oaks project on time and under budget. The mayor also recognized the project's local economic impact and AMTEX's success in exceeding the city's MWBE and HUD's Section 3 participation goals  in some cases by almost double.

Mayor Turner said he is pleased that AMTEX did not stop there, noting how the company provided added value to residents by building in on-site support programs and services focusing on health & nutrition, computer literacy, job training, and parenting skills for Green Oaks residents. "This is how you create an asset to the community," said Mayor Turner.

Houston Housing Authority Board Chairman LaRence Snowden described the deep need for affordable rental housing and emphasized the importance of public and private financing, stating, "We cannot afford to leave behind the many families and individuals who spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. They will never get ahead and make a better life for themselves without affordable options."

Joining the Green Oaks celebration remotely via video, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, who represents the 18th congressional district of Texas, congratulated AMTEX, stating, "This development is an example of AMTEX's commitment to providing affordable apartment housing every bit as nice as market-rate apartments. Being able to live in nice, new units with every amenity is an important psychological boost that can make a tremendous difference to the lives of those who are struggling."

Texas District 141 State Representative Senfronia Thompson's appreciation focused on AMTEX's responsiveness in providing reliable Wifi and other important resources that make Green Oaks more than just a place to live but a community where families thrive. She stated, "We must give our citizens every chance to succeed, and that begins with safe, affordable shelter. Green Oaks is a fine example of what all new affordable housing developments can be."

Texas District 6 State Senator Carol Alvarado, who grew up in Houston's East End, expressed pride in how Green Oaks contributes to Houston's growth and prosperity and applauded AMTEX for demonstrating patience and savvy through the financing process for Green Oaks. She commented, "AMTEX has proven that affordable housing does not mean lesser housing, cheaper housing, or less desirable housing. We need more developers like AMTEX and more developments like Green Oaks."

RESOURCE LINKS

Website

https://amtex-greenoaks.com

Event program

http://amtex-greenoaks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/AMTEX-RC-Program_10-27-21_Final.pdf

SOURCE AMTEX

Related Links

https://amtex-greenoaks.com


TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Braxia Scientific Corp. ("Braxia", or the "Company"), (CSE: BRAX) (OTC: BRAXF) (FWB: 496), a medical research company with clinics providing innovative ketamine treatments for persons with depression and related disorders, is pleased to announce the voting results from its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on Thursday, October 28, 2021. A total of 11.77% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company were represented either in person or by proxy at the meeting.

The following 4 nominees proposed by the Company were elected as Directors of Braxia Scientific to serve until the Company's next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed, with shares represented at the meeting voting in favor of individual nominees as follows:

Director For % Withheld %









Roger McIntyre 19,070,776 96.13 742,771 3.74 Jerry Habuda 16,845,734 84.91 2,992,813 15.09 Olga Cwiek 17,210,282 86.75 2,628,265 13.25 David Greenberg 17,238,532 86.89 2,575,015 12.98











In addition to the election of all nominees listed as directors in the management information circular, dated September 16, 2021, Braxia's shareholders approved all other resolutions placed before the meeting. These included appointing DMCL as auditors for the Company for the ensuing year.

For more details on the matters covered at the annual meeting, please refer to the Company's management information circular available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Braxia Scientific Corp.

Braxia Scientific is a medical research company with clinics that provide innovative ketamine treatments for persons with depression and related disorders. Through its medical solutions, Braxia aims to reduce the illness burden of brain-based mental disorders such as major depressive disorder among others. Braxia is primarily focused on (i) owning and operating multidisciplinary clinics, providing treatment for mental health disorders, and (ii) research activities related to discovering and commercializing novel drugs and delivery methods. Braxia seeks to develop ketamine and derivatives and other psychedelic products from its IP development platform. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Canadian Rapid Treatment Center of Excellence Inc., Braxia currently operates multidisciplinary community-based clinics offering rapid-acting treatments for depression located in Mississauga, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Dr. Roger S. McIntyre"

Dr. Roger S. McIntyre





Chairman & CEO

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release.

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations, or beliefs of future performance are "forward-looking statements."

Forward-looking statements include statements about the intended promise of ketamine-based treatments for depression and the potential for ketamine to treat other emerging psychiatric disorders, such as Bipolar Depression. Such forward- looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, events, or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the failure of ketamine, psilocybin and other psychedelics to provide the expected health benefits and unanticipated side effects, dependence on obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals, including acquiring and renewing federal, provincial, municipal, local or other licenses and engaging in activities that could be later determined to be illegal under domestic or international laws. Ketamine and psilocybin are currently Schedule I and Schedule III controlled substances, respectively, under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, S.C. 1996, c. 19 (the "CDSA") and it is a criminal offence to possess such substances under the CDSA without a prescription or a legal exemption. Health Canada has not approved psilocybin as a drug for any indication, however ketamine is a legally permissible medication for the treatment of certain psychological conditions. It is illegal to possess such substances in Canada without a prescription.

These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other risk factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, including the Amended and Restated Listing Statement dated April 15, 2021, which are available at www.sedar.com. 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 forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Braxia Scientific Corp.

Related Links

www.braxiascientific.com


China, the important growth engine of the global economy, highlighted cooperation, inclusiveness and green development at the 16th Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit.

Cooperation against pandemic

As the COVID-19 still ravages the world, global vaccine cooperation was prioritized by Chinese President Xi Jinping when delivering his speech via video at the first session of the summit.

He proposed a six-point Global Vaccine Cooperation Action Initiative with a focus on vaccine R&D cooperation, fair distribution of vaccines, waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, smooth trade in vaccines, mutual recognition of vaccines and financial support for global vaccine cooperation.

Inequality in vaccine distribution is prominent, with low-income countries receiving less than 0.5 percent of the global total and less than 5 percent of Africa's population is fully vaccinated, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO has set two targets to deal with the pandemic: to vaccinate at least 40 percent of the world's population by the end of this year and increase it to 70 percent by mid-2022.

"China is ready to work with all parties to increase the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries and make positive contributions to building a global vaccine defense line," Xi said.

China has provided over 1.6 billion doses of vaccines for over 100 countries and international organizations to date. In total, China will provide over 2 billion doses for the world in the whole year, he added, noting that China is conducting joint vaccine production with 16 countries.

Building open world economy

In promoting the economic recovery, the president stressed that the G20 should prioritize development in macro policy coordination, calling for making global development more equitable, effective and inclusive to ensure that no country will be left behind.

"Advanced economies should fulfill their pledges on official development assistance and provide more resources for developing countries," Xi said.

He also welcomed the active participation of more countries in the Global Development Initiative.

Not long ago, he proposed the Global Development Initiative at the United Nations and called on the international community to strengthen cooperation in areas of poverty alleviation, food security, COVID-19 response and vaccines, development financing, climate change and green development, industrialization, digital economy and connectivity.

The initiative is highly compatible with the G20's goal and priority of promoting global development, Xi said.

Adherence to green development

Meanwhile, addressing climate change is high on the global agenda as the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will open on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland.

In this context, Xi urged developed countries to lead by example on emissions reduction, saying that countries should fully accommodate the special difficulties and concerns of developing countries, deliver on their commitments of climate financing, and provide technology, capacity-building and other support for developing countries.

"This is critically important for the success of the upcoming COP26," he said.

Xi has, on many occasions, highlighted China's view on global climate governance and expressed China's firm support for the Paris Agreement, facilitating major progress at the global level.

In 2015, Xi delivered a keynote speech at the Paris Conference on Climate Change, making a historic contribution to the conclusion of the Paris Agreement on global climate action after 2020.

Earlier this month, he emphasized efforts to achieve China's carbon peak and neutrality targets when addressing the leaders' summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The G20 summit this year was held both online and offline under the Italian Presidency, focusing on the most pressing global challenges, with issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and economic recovery topping the agenda.

Created in 1999, the G20 comprising 19 countries plus the European Union, is the main forum for international cooperation on financial and economic issues.

The group accounts for almost two-thirds of the world's population, over 80 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product and 75 percent of global trade.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-10-30/China-puts-forward-proposals-on-boosting-global-development-14MDU37P5gk/index.html

SOURCE CGTN

Related Links

www.cgtn.com


SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Elevations RTC is a residential treatment center in Utah with the goal of helping teens put their best foot forward. The staff at Elevations RTC understands that every teen has a different story and they each need a different type of therapy to start seeing better days.



The team at Elevations RTC school is prepared to listen to each teen as an individual. This helps them prepare the right therapy program for them. When teens come to Elevations RTC, they are delighted to see that there are real professionals there dedicated to seeing them succeed. Many teenagers may feel like no one is listening or even wants to help. At Elevations, their main goal is to give them the attention they need to reach their full potential.



Parents feel safe sending their teens to Elevations RTC



Elevations RTC creates a safe place for every teen that comes through its doors. They have a goal to help each teen begin with the healing process. The team puts in the initiative to ensure each student is able to express themselves within their comfort level. Privacy is respected all the while still ensuring safety.



In most situations, teens feel more comfortable expressing themselves when they visit Elevations RTC. This is because they are free from the distractions of their day-to-day life. Many parents feel a sense of comfort sending their kids to Elevations RTC because they know the teens will open up more than they do at home. This gives them a fresh start with new people where they can be free of internalizing their own emotions. Elevations carries the emotional burden with your child, so they won't feel alone.

Elevations RTC gets teens away from bad influences



When a teen is struggling with their mental health, it doesn't help when they are around bad influences at school or in their neighborhood. Maybe they feel like they have no choice but to stay with a bad crowd. Elevations RTC helps by placing these teens with other like-minded individuals. These teens will be around other kids who want to focus on healing.



The atmosphere at Elevations RTC helps these kids focus on healing. This treatment center doesn't use methods that enforce strict discipline or behavior that could be seen as abusive. Instead, they focus on helping the teens get involved in activities, learning, and opening up about their struggles. By involving your child's own individual interests for example, art. If your child is exceptional at drawing or painting, Elevations has a professional artist on site, where they can grow their already incredible talent even further.

Elevations RTC focuses on making a difference



The Elevations RTC staff is focused on helping students from the moment they arrive. They want each kid to know that they are welcome and strive to create an inviting atmosphere. Many parents have noticed a big change in their teens' attitudes and outlooks after their stay at Elevations RTC. The staff has made a huge difference in many teens' lives.



Students have enjoyed their stay at Elevations RTC and believed that the staff was easy to approach and always willing to give helpful advice. Coupled with therapy, this really helped with their healing process.

Jeff Hansen

Digital Marketing Manager

Good Guy News for Elevations RTC

5468278215

[email protected]

This release was issued through WebWire(R). For more information visit http://www.webwire.com.

SOURCE Elevations RTC
The announcements came during the second day of the FII 5th Anniversary taking place in the Riyadh this week. As a global nonprofit foundation, these relationships will support the work of the FII Institute to make an impact in five areas: AI, Robotics, Education, Healthcare, and Sustainability.

FII Institute CEO Richard Attias said the institute is delighted to welcome the latest group of academics to the THINK pillar of the FII Institute.

"The academic quality of these institutions reinforces the FII Institute's mandate to be a truly global catalyst for change. We are proud to have secured such high-profile educational agreements that will cover a hugely diverse range of research from ways to achieve zero net carbon goals to harnessing the power of AI and new research into the concepts behind the circular economy, which will make an impact on humanity."

Discussions, debates and presentations at the current FII revolve around investments that will create the greatest benefits for humanity, as multiple sectors witness a renaissance in the post-COVID era. The platform brings together world leaders, experts, innovators, and media in a global forum to explore pioneering solutions addressing society's challenges and propel action towards their realization.

President of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Hicham El Habti said he is "looking forward to seeing UM6P and FII continuing to join efforts towards making an impact through daring, experimenting and disrupting. I am confident that this collaboration will allow us to achieve the mutual goals of being impact generators through innovative research, capability building, education and investing in and for the future."

Dean of HEC-Paris in Qatar, Pablo Martin de Holan said "We are delighted to work with FII to advance understanding of how to reconcile business models with the circular economy. HEC Paris is committed to creating actionable knowledge that will contribute to the solution of the global challenges of our time and help train the women and men who will lead the massive transformations that are required for a better, more sustainable, and more just world for us and future."

Director of Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Yi Cui, said he was grateful for the generous support from the FII Institute and the contribution to the clean energy research at Stanford.

Chief Publishing and Solutions Officer of Springer Nature, Steven Inchcoombe, said: "through this partnership we aim to provide the research community and key decision makers with information they can use to accelerate solutions to key societal challenges."

About FII Institute

FII Institute is a global nonprofit foundation with an investment arm and one agenda: Impact on Humanity. Committed to ESG principles, we foster the brightest minds and transform ideas into real-world solutions in five focus areas: AI and Robotics, Education, Healthcare and Sustainability.

We are in the right place at the right time  when decision makers, investors and an engaged generation of youth come together in aspiration, energized and ready for change. We harness that energy into three pillars  THINK, XCHANGE, ACT  and invest in the innovations that make a difference globally.

fii-institute.org

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1674544/FII.jpg

SOURCE FII Institute
Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices.

Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation on pros and cons of prevalent pricing models.

Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers.

Get a free sample report for more information

Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for the Copper mining market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Copper mining pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfil their category objectives.

For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, www.spendedge.com/report/copper-mining-market-procurement-research-report

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 2%-4%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Copper mining TCO (total cost of ownership).

Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes.

Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities.

SpendEdge presents a detailed picture of this procurement market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our Copper mining market procurement report covers the following areas:

Some of the top Copper mining suppliers listed in this report:

This Copper mining procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile

Glencore Plc

BHP Group Ltd.

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Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

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SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

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https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge

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NEW YORK and LONDON, Oct. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Huma Therapeutics has won the inaugural Prix Galien award for Digital Health, regarded as 'the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical research'.

The announcement was made at the award ceremony in New York on Thursday night, following decisions from a judging panel that included past and present CEOs and Global Heads of GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi and Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute.

There was an impressive group of nominees that included Medable, Alivecor, Diabeloop, Dreem, Modjaw, Mymee Inc., Patientory Inc. Therapixel and Urgotech. The winners of the three other categories were Novartis (best pharmaceutical agent), Alcon (best medical technology) and Global Blood Therapeutics (best biotechnology product).

The judges selected Huma "for supporting healthcare organisations by providing greater access to care outside of conventional settings and powering patients to better manage their own health."

Dan Vahdat, CEO & Founder, said: "We're thrilled to have won 'pharma's Nobel Prize' for powering digital-first care and research with our hospital at home and decentralized clinical trial platform.

"Receiving this prestigious award is an incredible achievement for our team and we are proud to be recognised for powering some of the world's largest decentralized clinical trials, companion app initiatives and 'hospital at home' projects. Our award-winning hospital at home began as a small project and rapidly grew to cover 4.5million people in England and then across Germany and other regions. Now we're in multiple countries, improving both care and research for multiple illnesses. This is just the beginning of what we'll do, but it's very, very exciting."

"Congratulations to all of the nominees for making positive impacts and driving forward digital innovation in healthcare. Together, we're all helping people live longer, fuller lives.

This was the 15th annual Prix Galien Awards Gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Bruno Cohen, Chairman of The Galien Foundation, said: "This year, it is particularly special to honor these extraordinary companies for their dedication to research, development and innovation throughout one of the most trying and uncertain times this industry has ever seen. Their commitment to furthering their work is admirable and we are thrilled to recognize that through the Prix Galien Awards."

Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, Chair of the Prix Galien USA and Prix Galien International Award Committees and former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said: "On behalf of the Prix Galien USA Awards Committee, we want to thank all nominees and winners for their dedication to advancing human life. Their tireless dedication to research, development and innovation has been critical in improving health and wellness of countless individuals around the world."

About Huma

Huma is a global digital health technology company that exists to help people live longer, fuller lives. Our modular platform supports digital 'hospital at home' for a range of use cases across different disease areas and in life sciences we power some of the world's largest decentralized clinical trials and studies. We use digital biomarkers, predictive algorithms and real-world data from continuous patient monitoring to advance proactive, predictive care.

Our 'hospitals at home' help care for patients across the England NHS, Wales, Germany, and the UAE  evidence shows they can double clinical capacity, reduce readmission rates by a third, and reduce costs whilst providing safe, high-quality care.

As part of our work to help countries hit by Covid-19, we offer digital services, not-for-profit, to national governments and have shipped over a million devices that complement our 'hospitals at home' to help power them. We are using the same technology platform to support decentralized clinical trials. www.huma.com

SOURCE Huma
LIMA, Peru, Oct. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Orazul Energy Peru S.A. (f/k/a Orazul Energy Egenor S. en C. por A.) ("Orazul") today announced that it has commenced a cash tender offer (the "Tender Offer") for up to an amount of its outstanding 5.625% Senior Notes due 2027 (the "Notes") that would not result in the Aggregate Purchase Price (as defined below) exceeding $41,800,000 (the "Maximum Tender Amount"). Information related to the Notes and the Tender Offer are listed in the table below.

Notes CUSIP Nos. Outstanding

Principal Amount Early Tender

Payment (1) Total

Consideration (1)(2) 5.625% Senior

Notes due 2027 68559B AA5; P7372B AA1 $404,686,000 $50.00 $1,007.50



(1) Per $1,000 principal amount of Notes that are accepted for purchase (excluding Accrued Interest). (2) Includes the Early Tender Payment.

The "Aggregate Purchase Price" is the aggregate amount that all holders are entitled to receive, excluding Accrued Interest (as defined below), for Notes that are validly tendered and accepted for purchase by Orazul. The "Total Consideration" per $1,000 principal amount of Notes payable to holders who validly tender (and do not validly withdraw) their Notes on or prior to the Early Tender Date (defined below) is $1,007.50. The Total Consideration payable under the Tender Offer includes an "Early Tender Payment" of $50.00 for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes. Holders will only be eligible to receive the Early Tender Payment for Notes that such holders have validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on November 12, 2021, unless extended by Orazul (the "Early Tender Date"). Holders who validly tender (and do not validly withdraw) their Notes after the Early Tender Date on or prior to the Expiration Date (as defined below), and whose Notes are accepted for purchase, will be eligible to receive the Tender Offer Consideration, which is equal to the Total Consideration less the Early Tender Payment. The Tender Offer is scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on November 29, 2021, unless extended or earlier terminated by Orazul (the "Expiration Date"). Payment for the Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at or prior to the Expiration Date and that are accepted will be made on the Settlement Date, which is expected to happen on December 1, 2021. The Total Consideration and the Tender Offer Consideration will be payable in cash.

If the aggregate amount of Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) would result in an Aggregate Purchase Price that exceeds the Maximum Tender Amount, then, subject to the terms and conditions of the Tender Offer, Orazul will accept for purchase Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) on a prorated basis.

In addition, holders will receive accrued and unpaid interest on all Notes tendered and accepted for payment in the Tender Offer from the last interest payment date up to, but not including, the settlement date for the Tender Offer (such unpaid interest, together with additional amounts thereon, the "Accrued Interest").

Notes may be withdrawn any time prior to 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on November 29, 2021, unless extended by Orazul (the "Withdrawal Date").

The Tender Offer is subject to certain customary conditions, but is not contingent upon the tender of any minimum principal amount of Notes. Subject to applicable law, Orazul may amend, modify or terminate the Tender Offer at any time in its sole discretion.

The Tender Offer constitutes an asset sale offer pursuant to the requirements of the indenture governing the Notes, in connection with Orazul's sale in October 2021 of its indirect ownership in the thermal power generation and hydrocarbon businesses, Termoselva S.R.L. and Aguaytia Energy del Peru S.R.L., to a special purpose vehicle of Nautilus Energy Partners LLC.

The terms and conditions of the Tender Offer are described in the offer to purchase, dated October 29, 2021 (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the "Offer to Purchase"). Holders are encouraged to read the Offer to Purchase carefully when it becomes available.

Orazul has retained Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Santander Investment Securities Inc., to act as Dealer Managers for the Tender Offer. D.F. King & Co., Inc. is the Information Agent and Tender Agent for the Tender Offer. Questions regarding the Tender Offer should be directed to Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC at (800) 820-1653 (toll-free) or (212) 538-2147 (collect), or Santander Investment Securities Inc. at (855) 404-3636 (toll-free) or (212) 940-1442 (collect). Requests for documentation should be directed to D.F. King & Co., Inc. at (800) 370-1749 (toll-free) or (212) 269-5550 (for banks and brokers) or at [email protected]. This press release is for informational purposes only.

Neither the Offer to Purchase nor any related documents have been filed with or reviewed by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority of any country, and the Offer to Purchase or any related documents have not been reviewed or approved by the Peruvian Superintendency of the Securities Market (Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores) or the Lima Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Valores de Lima). No authority has passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the Offer to Purchase or any related documents, and it is unlawful and may be a criminal offense to make any representation to the contrary. The Tender Offer is being made solely on the terms and conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase.

This press release is not an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to purchase with respect to any Notes or any other securities. The Tender Offer is being made solely pursuant to the terms of the Offer to Purchase. The Tender Offer is not being made to holders of Notes in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction. None of Orazul, the Dealer Managers or the Information Agent makes any recommendation as to whether holders should tender or refrain from tendering their Notes. Holders should carefully read the Offer to Purchase and the related materials, because they contain important information, including the various terms and conditions of the Tender Offer. Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender Notes and, if so, the principal amount of the Notes to tender.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are not based on historical facts and are not assurances of future results. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and estimates about future events and financial trends, which affect or may affect Orazul's businesses and results of operations. The words "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect" and similar words are intended to identify estimates and forward-looking statements. These statements include but are not limited to forward-looking statements about the planned Tender Offer, including whether the Tender Offer is consummated in whole or in part. Although Orazul believes that these forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, these statements are subject to several risks and uncertainties and are made in light of information currently available to Orazul. Estimates and forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Any changes in such assumptions or factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and Orazul's future results may differ materially from those expressed in these estimates and forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and you should not place reliance on any forward-looking statement contained in this document. Orazul undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or for any other reason.

SOURCE Orazul Energy Peru S.A.
SEATTLE, Oct. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sea Mar Community Health Centers ("Sea Mar"), a non-profit organization that provides healthcare services to underserved communities in the state of Washington, has learned of a data security incident that may have impacted data belonging to current and former Sea Mar patients. Sea Mar has sent notification of this incident to potentially impacted individuals and has provided resources to assist them.

On June 24, 2021, Sea Mar was informed that certain Sea Mar data had been copied from its digital environment by an unauthorized actor. Upon receipt of this information, Sea Mar immediately took steps to secure its environment and commenced an investigation to determine what happened and to identify the specific information that may have been impacted. In so doing, Sea Mar engaged leading, independent cybersecurity experts for assistance. As a result, Sea Mar learned that additional data may have been copied from its digital environment between December 2020 and March 2021. Sea Mar thereafter began collecting contact information needed to provide notice to potentially affected individuals, which was completed on August 30, 2021.

Sea Mar is not aware of any evidence of the misuse of any information potentially involved in this incident. However, beginning on October 29, 2021, notice of this incident was provided to potentially impacted individuals. The notice that was provided included information about the incident and about steps that potentially impacted individuals can take to protect their information. Sea Mar also provided access to complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to individuals whose Social Security numbers may have been involved in the incident.

The following personal and protected health information may have been involved in the incident: name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, client identification number, medical / vision / dental / orthodontic diagnostic and treatment information, medical / vision / dental insurance information, claims information, and / or images associated with dental treatment.

The privacy and protection of personal and protected health information is a top priority for Sea Mar, which deeply regrets any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause. Sea Mar is working with cybersecurity experts to take steps to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future. Sea Mar has also established a toll-free call center to answer questions about the incident. Call center representatives are available Monday through Friday from 6:00 am  3:30 pm Pacific Time and can be reached at 1-855-651-2684.

SOURCE Sea Mar Community Health Centers
NEW YORK, Oct. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner at Monteverde & Associates PC, a national securities firm rated Top 50 in the 2018-2020 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report and headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating Helix Acquisition Corp. ("HLXA" or the "Company") (HLXA) relating to its proposed acquisition by Moonlake Immunotherapeutics AG.

The investigation focuses on whether Helix Acquisition Corp. and its Board of Directors violated securities laws and/or breached their fiduciary duties to the Company by 1) failing to conduct a fair process, and 2) whether the transaction is properly valued.

Click here for more information: http://monteverdelaw.com/case/helix-acquisition-corp. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

About Monteverde & Associates PC

We are a national class action securities litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders from corporate wrongdoing. We were listed in the Top 50 in the 2018-2020 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. Our lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions. Mr. Monteverde is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017-2019, an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017-2020 Top Rated Lawyer. Our firm's recent successes include changing the law in a significant victory that lowered the standard of liability under Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act in the Ninth Circuit. Thereafter, our firm successfully preserved this victory by obtaining dismissal of a writ of certiorari as improvidently granted at the United States Supreme Court. Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019). Also, over the years the firm has recovered or secured over a dozen cash common funds for shareholders in mergers & acquisitions class action cases.

If you owned common stock in the Company and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341.

Contact:

Juan E. Monteverde, Esq.

MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC

The Empire State Building

350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405

New York, NY 10118

United States of America

[email protected]

Tel: (212) 971-1341

Attorney Advertising. (C) 2021 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC (www.monteverdelaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC

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The cookies, baked and decorated by hand at DecoCookies, North America's premier decorated cookie company, are a refreshing take on Halloween treats. Not only are they adorablefeaturing a jolly jack-o'-lantern, a ghoulish ghost, a freakish Frankenstein, and mysterious mummythey are individually wrapped, 100% peanut and tree nut free, and made with AA Grade butter that even the pickiest eater will love. This makes them a dream to share at Halloween celebrations, whether at home, school, clubs, or the office.

"Baking you happy is the dream we are born from," said Chef Eliana Campos Berry, the self-taught baker and founder of DecoCookies. "That's why Halloween is so important to us. Entire communities come together to celebrate. We want to make sure everyone has something sweet to share smiles and memories with."

DecoCookies' Halloween cookies will make countless moments of magic this weekend. Their single, 5, and 10-count cookie packs flew off shelves at beloved family retailers like Costco Wholesale, and their online-exclusive 16-count boxes sold out in record time on their Amazon store.

"It's amazing to see so many people engaging with new Halloween treat traditions," said Eliana. "This weekend will be one for everyone to remember."

For more information visit www.DecoCookies.com.

About DecoCookies

DecoCookies grew from the home of self-taught chef and artist Eliana Campos Berry into the largest decorated cookie company in North America, hand-crafting over 70,000 cookies daily through a remarkable baking process that integrates home traditions with cutting-edge technology, creativity, and innovation. DecoCookies has innovated an expansive array of collections and new cookie products like Paint Your Own Cookies and Cookie Ornament kits, Mug Hugger cookies, Clean Label cookies, and Chocolate cookies. DecoCookies always bakes with the highest quality ingredients, and never with artificial flavors, artificial fillers, or nut allergens.

SOURCE DecoCookies

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PITTSBURGH, Oct. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United Steelworkers (USW) International President Tom Conway issued the following statement today in response to the announcement that the United States and European Union had reached an interim arrangement on Section 232 steel and aluminum relief measures:

"Steel and aluminum are the backbone of our nation's defense and critical infrastructure, but for too long, global overcapacity and targeted predatory practices have undermined domestic production and employment.

"That's why the USW backed the Section 232 relief measures the Department of Commerce initiated years ago and why our union now supports the interim arrangement between the United States and the European Union.

"This new arrangement, which will maintain but modify Section 232 measures on steel and aluminum from the EU, will create a framework that will ensure U.S. domestic industries remain competitive and able to meet our security and infrastructure needs.

"It will also provide a much-needed opportunity to address the non-market predatory practices of China and other countries that have distorted global markets, while also spurring a dialogue over climate concerns stemming from countries whose industries are far more carbon intensive than those in the United States and the EU.

"Under this arrangement, the United States will allow a basic overall level of steel imports, which will measure less than those that came from the EU in 2017 and 2018. Above this level, imports will be subject to a 25 percent tariff. The deal creates certainty both for domestic producers of steel and users who are unable to find domestic supplies.

"Through this arrangement, the Biden administration also closed a gaping loophole through which steel imports that are often carbon intensive and from countries still subject to the original 232 measures reach the United States.

"Right now, semi-finished steel items like slabs and other products from China, Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere are shipped into the EU, subjected to limited transformation and then qualified as being of EU origin.

"Under the interim arrangement, steel imports from the EU must entirely be produced in the European Union, commonly known as 'melted-and-poured.' This will help ensure European and U.S. steelworkers are not losing jobs to countries outside this agreement.

"In aluminum, the Biden administration reached a parallel arrangement with the EU that ensures the U.S. has the capacity to meet its critical needs and allows for limited amounts of downstream products.

"As we look to the future of our industries and jobs, it will be vital to rein in global overcapacity, stemming largely from Chinese Communist Party's state-led trade practices. Engaging with our allies is a necessary step in this process, and this arrangement offers a path forward toward working together to address this larger concern.

"Combatting climate change will also require coordinating with our partners. Both the U.S. and European industries have demonstrated a commitment to reducing the carbon intensity of their products, and working together will ultimately provide results for workers and our environment.

"We appreciate Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and their respective staffs' active consultation with the USW and domestic industry during the negotiating process.

"Any trade agreement requires constant attention to implementation, monitoring and enforcement, and we applaud the administration's efforts to actively work toward a long-term solution. We know that they will continue to be real partners in ensuring that this arrangement and all our trade agreements prioritize our nation's safety and our members' jobs.

"This arrangement shows President Biden's strong commitment to the Steelworkers and American workers."

The USW represents 850,000 workers employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations.

Contact: Jess Kamm Broomell, 412-562-2444, [email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)

Related Links

http://www.usw.org


Singapore, Oct 30 : Singapore reported 4,248 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 bringing the total tally to 1,92,099.

Of the new cases, 3,710 were detected in the community and 536 in migrant worker dormitories, and two were imported cases, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement.

A total of 1,614 Covid-19 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with 257 cases requiring oxygen supplementation in the general ward, 80 cases being unstable and under close monitoring in the intensive care units (ICUs), and 59 cases being critically ill and intubated in the ICU. The current overall ICU utilization rate is 74 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported.

An additional 3,011 recovered patients were discharged from hospitals.

Sixteen more Covid-19 patients have died from the pandemic, bringing the overall coronavirus death toll to 379, the Ministry added.
Tokyo, Oct 30 : Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda recently expressed his opposition to the theory that the Covid-19 pandemic originated in China, Sankei News reported.

In a speech on Wednesday, Fukuda said the China origin of Covid-19 was "a rumor".

He expressed his understanding about the Chinese side in terms of addressing the rumor, Xinhua news agency reported.

He also insisted on holding a Japan-China summit, saying that "it is necessary to build a new relationship of trust" regarding bilateral relations with China.

The former Prime Minister questioned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's pledge to increase defense costs by more than two per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

"If the surrounding countries are enemies, no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to protect (Japan). It is necessary not to create enemies," Fukuda added.
Islamabad, Oct 30 : Two people were killed and eight others wounded in an explosion allegedly caused by gas leakage at a gas station in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, local media reported.

The incident happened on Friday evening at a gas station in a densely populated downtown area where several vehicles were being refueled, the reports said.

The killed and injured people were shifted to a nearby hospital, the reports added.

Police and rescue teams rushed to the site following the explosion, and rescue work was underway, Xinhua news agency reported.

Fire also erupted in the gas station after the blast, and fire tenders were trying to douse it.
Tirana, Oct 30 : Albania-China cooperation has great potential, Albanian President Ilir Meta said here on Friday, voicing hope that the two countries will continue to support each other and expand pragmatic cooperation in various fields.

The Albanian leader made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yei, Xinhua news agency reported.

With a long history of friendship between Albania and China, the two peoples share good feelings towards each other, said the Albanian President.

Albania is proud of its support for China's restoration of its lawful seat in the United Nations (UN) and will never forget China's assistance to Albania's economic development and modernization drive, he added.

China has achieved great progress, while at the same time it has always been upholding the principle of equality of all countries regardless of their size in international relations, which has won wide support and respect, he said.

Meta expressed hope that Albania and China will enhance communication and coordination on multilateral affairs, and support and encourage their young people to promote mutual understanding so as to continuously inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations.

For his part, Wang recalled that half a century ago, with the support of the international community, including Albania, China successfully restored its lawful seat in the United Nations, which was a victory for justice, for the people of all countries, and for the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

China-Albania friendship is a shared memory and both countries believe in upholding justice and hope to deepen cooperation, Wang said.

China stands ready to work with Albania to forge high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, promote people-to-people, education and youth exchanges, and carry forward their traditional friendship so as to scale new heights in bilateral relations, he added.

The two sides also agreed to tap cooperation potential in areas such as economy and trade, investment and tourism. Wang said China is willing to import more high-quality products from Albania and encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Albania.
London, Oct 30 : Covid-19 infections in England have increased to their highest level since the beginning of the year, according to official figures released on Friday.

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey estimates around one in 50 people had coronavirus in England in the week to October 22, which is the same proportion of people at the peak of the second wave in early January.

The official weekly R number in England is estimated to have risen to between 1.1 and 1.3. The coronavirus reproduction figure means that for every 10 people with coronavirus they will, on average, infect between 11 and 13 others, Xinhua news agency reported.

The pandemic therefore appears to be growing in England, as "R" was estimated to be between one and 1.2 last week.

Another 43,467 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 8,979,236, according to official figures released on Friday.

The country also reported a further 186 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 1,40,392. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

There are currently 8,983 patients in hospital with Covid-19.

More than 86 per cent of people aged 12 and above in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 79 per cent have received both doses, the latest figures showed.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Tunis, Oct 30 : Tunisian security services have dismantled a suspected Islamic State-affiliated terrorist cell active in the south-eastern part of the country, Tunisian Interior Ministry said.

The cell included four members who had "planned terrorist attacks targeting security units in Tataouine province," National Guard spokesman Houcemeddine Jbabli told private television Attassia in a statement, Xinhua news agency reported.

The attacks planned by the cell would have been carried out with home-made explosive vehicles, he said.

During the operation, an explosive device, equipment for the manufacture of explosives, and the sum of money to finance several activities of the cell were seized.

Tunisia has witnessed terrorist activities since 2011, with dozens of security and military agents, civilians and foreign tourists having been killed.
Khartoum, Oct 30 : A UN official on Friday called on the Sudanese security forces to respect the right of peaceful protest on the eve of expected demonstrations on Saturday.

"We call on the security forces to respect the right of peaceful protest and refrain from using violence," Volker Perthes, Head of the United Nations Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), said in a statement.

He urged the protesters to commit themselves to peacefulness and avoid violence, Xinhua news agency reported.

The UN official vowed to exert all efforts toward a constructive and comprehensive dialogue among all parties to bring the peaceful process back on its track.

The Sudanese capital Khartoum is expected to witness demonstrations on Saturday against the recent measures adopted by the Army.

On October 25, the Sudanese Army took measures ending the partnership between the military and civilian coalition ruling during the transitional period in Sudan.

Meanwhile, General Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency across the country and dissolved the sovereign council and government.

The Forces of Freedom and Change alliance, the civilian component in the ruling coalition, accused Al-Burhan of carrying out a military coup.

Since the announcement of foiling a coup attempt on September 21, the disagreements between the military and civilian partners in the transitional government have continued to escalate.
Rabat, Oct 30 : The total number of people fully vaccinated against the Covid-19 in Morocco reached 22,012,820, representing more than 70 per cent of the target population, the Moroccan Ministry of Health said.

So far, a total of 24,177,909 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Morocco, as well as 1,372,951 third booster shots, said the Ministry in a statement.

The North African country launched a nationwide vaccination campaign on January 28 after the arrival of the first shipment of China's Sinopharm vaccines, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, 216 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, bringing Morocco's tally of Covid-19 infections rose to 945,720, and the total recoveries increased by 224 to 926,044, the statement added.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Morocco rose by 6 to 14,660, it added.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Tehran, Oct 30 : Iran slammed on Friday evening the latest U.S. sanctions against its entities as "completely contradictory behaviour".

"A government that talks about an intention of returning to the nuclear deal but continues (former U.S. President Donald) Trump's policy of sanctions is sending the message that it really is not reliable," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh said in remarks published on the Ministry's official website.

Successive U.S. administrations, he added, have shown their "incapacity" to understand Iran's realities, Xinhua news agency reported.

U.S. pressure will not inflict "the slightest damage" on the Iranian government's determination to defend the security and tranquillity of Iran's people, the Spokesman said.

Earlier on Friday, the United States imposed sanctions against companies and individuals related to Iran's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs.

"Iran's proliferation of UAVs across the region threatens international peace and stability. Iran and its proxy militants have used UAVs to attack U.S. forces, our partners, and international shipping," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Wally Adeyemo.

The new ban against Iran came after Iran's nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani said on Wednesday that Tehran has agreed to resume the long-halted negotiations aimed at the revival of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), by the end of November.

The Trump administration pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in 2018 and reimposed old and new sanctions on Iran despite the fact that Tehran had been complying with the international accord.

In response, Iran has gradually dropped some of its commitments under the pact by increasing the stockpile and purity of its uranium enrichment and installing advanced centrifuges.

Six rounds of talks, with regard to a strict monitoring of Iran's nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions on Iran, were held in Austria's capital Vienna between April and July this year, but were interrupted by Iran's government transition.
United Nations : , Oct 30 (IANS) The UN Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution on the protection of education in armed conflict.

Resolution 2601, which won the unanimous support of the 15-member council, strongly condemns all violations of applicable international law involving the recruitment and use of children by parties to armed conflict as well as their re-recruitment, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and abductions, Xinhua news agency reported.

It also condemns attacks against schools and hospitals as well as denial of humanitarian access by parties to armed conflict and all other violations of international law.

The resolution urges UN member states to develop effective measures to prevent and address attacks and threats of attacks against schools and education facilities, and, as appropriate, develop domestic legal frameworks to ensure respect for their relevant international legal obligations.

It condemns the military use of schools in contravention of international law, and recognizes that use by armed forces and armed groups may render schools legitimate targets of attack, thus endangering children's and teachers' safety as well as their education.

It calls on member states to protect schools as spaces free from all forms of violence, noting that girls may be the intended victims of attack on their education, which can lead to serious violations such as abduction and rape and other forms of sexual violence, and urges member states to take steps to address girls' equal enjoyment of their right to education.

The resolution calls on member states to halt and prevent recruitment and re-recruitment of children by parties to conflict, through, inter alia, quality education provided in a safe environment in conflict areas.

It underlines the importance of providing assistance to children with disabilities who are affected by armed conflict, and encourages member states to take appropriate measures to ensure access to education on an equal basis provided in the context of armed conflict.

It calls on member states to take necessary steps, within their national jurisdictions, to provide assistance for the continuation of education for refugee and displaced children, and calls on national, regional, and international partners to support efforts for including refugees into schools with adequate financing and specialized support.

It emphasizes the need for member states to facilitate the continuation of education during armed conflict, including, when feasible, through distance learning and digital technology.
Rome, Oct 30 : Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indonesia counterpart Retno Marsudi met in Italy's capital city on Friday, vowing to enhance bilateral ties and voicing serious concerns over the Australia-U.K.-U.S (AUKUS) nuclear submarine deal.

Wang, who is visiting Italy and is to participate in the Group of 20 (G20) meetings, hailed the China-Indonesia relations, saying bilateral ties are developing smoothly under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, Xinhua news agency reported.

Such a relationship is featured by deepened mutual trust, improved economic and trade cooperation amid challenges and enhanced investment cooperation in various fields, and the efforts of the two sides in jointly fighting the Covid-19 pandemic have proved fruitful, Wang said.

China is willing to continue strategic communication, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, work together with Indonesia to prevail against the pandemic, so as to further bilateral ties, Wang added.

Retno said she's pleased with the fruitful and pragmatic cooperation with China. Indonesia appreciates China's cooperation on Covid-19 vaccine, which supported her country's anti-pandemic endeavor.

Indonesia is willing to work with China and push forward cooperation in various fields so as to benefit the two countries, she added.

The two sides exchanged views on G20 cooperation.

Wang said China supports Indonesia in hosting the G20 Summit in 2022 and is willing to work with Indonesia and other parties to help the summit to pay more attention to the legitimate demands of emerging markets and developing countries.

Retno said Indonesia is willing to work together with China to promote the G20 to better safeguard the common interests of the emerging markets and developing countries, to pay more attention to the legitimate concerns of small and medium-sized countries, and to cope with global challenges in a more effective manner.

The two sides also discussed cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), agreeing to speed up preparation for the summit marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations next month.

Describing China-ASEAN ties as the most dynamic and effective relations with a promising prospect, Wang called on the two sides to implement the outcomes of the just-closed China-ASEAN leaders' meeting and take the 30th anniversary of the dialogue relations as an opportunity to summarize successful experiences while looking into the future in a bid to promote the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership.

The two sides also voiced serious concerns over the risk of nuclear proliferation caused by the AUKUS agreement for cooperation on Australian acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.
New York, Oct 30 : The Indian-origin CEO of a pharmaceutical company has been killed in a robbery attempt allegedly by a man who followed him home from a casino after seeing him win nearly $10,000, according to media reports.

Sree Ranga Aravapalli, 54, who headed Aurex Laboratories, was shot dead when he reached home in Plainsboro, New Jersey, early Tuesday morning, officials said.

The County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Plainsboro Police Chief Fred Tavener said in a joint statement that the alleged assailant Jekai Reid-John, 27, "targeted Aravapalli in Pennsylvania and followed him home to his Plainsboro residence where the offence occurred".

They said he was charged with murder and arrested by local authorities in Pennsylvania and is awaiting extradition to New Jersey.

In the US when a person is arrested in a state for crimes in another state, authorities have to go through an extradition process in a court to bring to the investigation or trial jurisdiction.

The officials said police officers responding to reports of shots fired at his home found Aravapalli who had suffered several gunshot wounds.

He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, they said.

An investigation by detectives determined that he had been shot during an attempted robbery allegedly by Reid-John, according to the officials.

NBC4New York TV station reported quoting police that Aravapalli had won nearly $10,000 at the Parx Casino in Pennsylvania and John-Reid, who watched him cash the winnings, followed him to his home about 80 kilometres away.

After Aravapalli entered the house, John-Reid allegedly broke through a backdoor and shot him while his wife and daughter slept upstairs, according to police quoted by the station.

According to Aravapalli's LindedIn profile, he headed Aurex Laboratories since 2014.

He received a master's degree in Information Technology from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and had been the CEO of two other companies, Ezminds and ePayroll.

Aurex Laboratories said on its website that it has a research organisation in Hyderabad and a manufacturing facility in New Jersey and provides "world-class manufacturing, cutting edge laboratories, professional and well-trained personnel, and exceptional customer service".

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in)
Mirzapur, Oct 30 : The principal of a private school in Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur district, who allegedly dangled a child upside down from the first floor of the school building as a punishment of sorts, has been arrested after photographs of the incident went viral on social media.

After the photographs went viral, the Mirzapur District Magistrate ordered a complaint to be filed against the principal.

The police then registered a case against the principal, Manoj Vishwakarma, who has now been arrested and sent to jail.

The incident took place at the Sadbhavna Shikshan Sansthan Junior High School in Ahraura, Mirzapur, on October 28. The principal had meted out the 'punishment' to a child studying in class 2 for being mischievous.

The child was reportedly pulled up only after he screamed and begged for forgiveness, while the other students looked on.

A student who was on the spot at the time said the child was held upside down for 10 minutes.

A case was registered on the complaint of the child's father under sections 352 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code and appropriate sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

Meanwhile, education official Gautam Prasad said the process of derecognizing the school was being initiated and the 300-odd students would be admitted to other schools nearby.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : After Delhi Police started removing the barricades from the Ghazipur border, farmers protesting at the site for nearly a year against the three contentious farm laws have expressed apprehension that they also might be removed. The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has issued a statement appealing to the farmers to reach the site as soon as possible to strengthen the agitation.

"There is no confusion about the status quo on the border. Protests will continue. There is no change in the strategy of farmers," the BKU said in the statement "It was the police which had put the barricades after the January 26 incident. Delhi Police is correcting its mistake after farmers gave an affidavit in the Supreme Court that they have not blocked the roads. Farmers in large numbers are present at Ghazipur border." The BKU appealed to farmers to reach the site as soon as possible and strengthen the agitation. They said there is a conspiracy against the stir and they will fight it.

They are using social media to convey the message.

In an appeal to the farmers, the BKU said: "Reach the Ghazipur border and strengthen the agitation. Every day there is a conspiracy against the movement, we have to be ready against every conspiracy." BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik said: "Our protest will continue with more vigour. We are appealing to the farmers to reach in large numbers." The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) in a statement said: "Our stand is vindicated. It was the police which had blocked the roads, not us. We had left the space for traffic movement, but the police put up the barricades." On Friday, police officials were seen removing iron nails that were installed on NH9 at Ghazipur, where hundreds of protesters, mainly belonging to the BKU, have been occupying a road stretch since November 2020.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi/Rome, Oct 30 : On the first day of his visit to Rome ahead of the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Indian diaspora in the Italian capital city.

On Friday, the Prime Minister met and interacted with several Indologists and Sanskrit experts from Italian universities.

"The Prime Minister noted their interest in Indian culture, literature and practice of yoga and Ayurveda and lauded the role played by them in strengthening the ties between India and Italy," a release from the Ministry of External Affairs said at New Delhi.

Modi also met and interacted with various organisations, including the representatives of Italian Congregation for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The Prime Minister appreciated their contribution in several social activities, including spreading the message of Bhagavad Gita in Italy, the release said.

He also interacted with the community members and the representatives of Italian Hindu Union-Sanatana Dharma Samgha and lauded the role played by them in propagating Indian culture in Italy.

In a separate meeting, the Prime Minister met representatives of Sikh community and institutions involved in the commemoration of Indian soldiers, who had fought in Italy during World War I and World War II.

"The Prime Minister paid tributes to the valour shown by Indian soldiers in these wars," the release added.

Modi is in Rome for the 16th G20 Summit two days, after which he will head to Glasgow for the UN COP26.
Mumbai, Oct 30 : For the second time in two days, Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan drove out in a motorcade on Saturday to fetch his son Aryan, who is expected to be released on bail soon.

Shah Rukh Khan left his Bandra home 'Mannat' at around 8 a.m. with aides, lawyers and security even as it transpired that it could be several hours more before Aryan actually walks out of the Arthur Road Central Jail (ARCJ) at Chinchpokli.

The megastar took a break at a five-star hotel en route, partook in some light refreshments and kept a vigil in the vehicle for Aryan, who he last met inside the ARCJ on October 21.

ARCJ Superintendent Nitin Waychal confirmed to the hordes of mediapersons teeming outside the jail that Aryan's bail documents have been received and scrutinised.

"The pre-release formalities are currently underway inside the jail. He did not get any special treatment... He is likely to be released between 10 a.m. and 12 noon along with other inmates," Waychal added.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police have deployed huge security, barricades and roadblocks at various points to stop the fans of both SRK and Aryan crowding around the actor's home and near the ARCJ, besides many lining up the roads from Bandra to Chinchpokli, a distance of around 15 km.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Jammu, Oct 30 : Fire erupted in parts of the Bhatta Durrian forest in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch on Saturday as the anti-terror operation in the district continued for the 19th day.

Police sources said that heavy firing, including the use of rocket launchers by the army against the terrorists hiding inside the Bhatta Durrian forests, triggered the fire.

Reports said smoke was billowing at some places of the forest which are believed to be the areas where the terrorists are hiding.

There has, however, been no exchange of fire between the security forces and the terrorists during the last three days.

Defence sources said it is possible that the hiding terrorists are either dead or injured, but things would only become clear once the operation is completed.

They added that terrorists, most of them Pakistanis, appears to have infiltrated into the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) possibly one or two months back.

"Since then, the group of terrorists, whose number is likely to be around five to seven, have been hiding inside the Bhatta Durrian forests." So far, half a dozen civilians belonging to villages around the forest have been detained for questioning.

The operation began on October 11 and is one of the longest anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir since armed violence started in the early 1990s.

Nine soldiers, including two junior commissioned officers (JCOs), have been killed and two policemen and asoldier injured in the ongoing operation.
Los Angeles, Oct 30 : A crew member has shared that he warned the producers of the movie 'Rust' that Dave Halls, the first assistant director, was cavalier about set safety during a previous production.

Halls has admitted to investigators that he failed to properly check a gun before handing it to Alec Baldwin on the set of 'Rust' on October 21. Baldwin fired that gun while rehearsing a scene, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding the director, reports variety.com.

The production companies credited on 'Rust' include Thomasville Pictures, led by Ryan Smith and Allen Cheney, as well as Short Porch Pictures, run by Nathan Klingher and Ryan Winterstern, among others.

The same two companies also produced 'One Way', another independent film that was shot in Georgia in February. Halls served as first assistant director on that project as well.

During filming, the crew member said he witnessed an unsafe situation in which cars were being driven in an open field by local people who were not stunt drivers. The crew member, who asked not to be identified, said that he specifically warned the producers that Halls was putting the crew in jeopardy.

"That man is a liability," the crew member recalled saying.

"He's going to a.. kill someone someday, and you're going to be responsible." A second crew member on 'One Way' also said there were safety problems involving Halls and vehicles on set. This person said there was a scene with a 'car hit' that had inadequate crew, and that background actors were driving cars, instead of stunt drivers.

"They put me in a position of danger," the second crew member told Variety.

"They're getting the bottom-of-the-barrel people." A third crew member confirmed that he had heard about safety issues involving Halls and vehicles from a fourth person on set.

This crew member also said he witnessed Halls losing his temper on set.

Jay Graves, the set dresser on 'One Way', also told Variety that he was nearly clipped by a car twice during the production.

He said that they were filming on a street, but that the street was not completely closed, such that cross-traffic was able to drive through the set between takes.

"It was the least safe set I've ever worked on in my life," Graves said.

Another crew member, Jared Tyree, was on set for a day.

He told Variety that production shut down for about 30 minutes after two vehicles nearly collided.

A spokesperson for the producers provided a quote from Molly Mayeux, the line producer on 'One Way', who denied there were safety issues on the set.

"I can attest with 100 per cent certainty that 'One Way' was extremely safety-conscious, and all safety protocols were followed during the shoot," Mayeux said.

"I am sickened by these 'sources' trying to capitalize on such a horrific accident." Mayeux also denied that the crew member issued the warning about Halls being a "liability", according to the spokesperson.

Halls was also fired from another project: 'Freedom's Path', in 2019, after an incident involving a gun that went off unexpectedly, according to that film's producers.

Thomasville Pictures was also involved in 'Bandit', an independent film starring Mel Gibson, though they were not the primary producers.

Two crew members on that project said that some of the workers were not fully paid for the time they worked. Two crew members on 'One Way' also said there were issues with late paychecks on that film.

Heather McReynolds, the second second assistant director on 'Bandit', said that crew members were given downscale hotel accommodations, and were not paid their full per diems.

Not everyone had a bad experience with the company, however. J.M. Stelly, who worked as a digital imaging technician on 'One Way', said that Smith and Cheney treated him well.

He also said he had been friends with Halls for years, and always knew him to be conscientious about safety. He said the fundamental question on aRust' is how a live round made it on set.

"I don't think this falls on Allen and I don't think this falls on Ryan," Stelly said.

"And people should lay off Dave. He admitted to what he did. That's the right thing to do."
October 30 : After Juhi Chawla appeared in court on Friday to give surety for Aryan Khan, and all other formalities were completed by his legal team, Shah Rukh Khans son will be released today, at any time. Paparazzi and fans have gathered outside Mumbais Authur Road jail, as the 23-year-old can be release in an hour or two.

Aryan had to spend another night in the jail on Friday as the bail papers couldnt reach the bail box of the jail on Friday by 5.30 pm. Aryan was granted bail on Thursday by the Bombay High Court. While Aryans legal team was running with time to complete all formalities and reach the jail with all paperwork, they missed the 5.30 pm deadline. A jail official reportedly said that no special treatment will be given to anyone as the law is the same for all. The deadline for receiving the bail papers was 5.30 pm. That has passed. He wont be released today (Friday), an official reportedly told Aryans legal team.

Meanwhile, Shah Rukh Khan has left Mannat for Arthur Road jail to receive Aryan Khan. Aryan is likely to walk out of jail after 10 am. The boy spent 25 days in custody after he was detained on October 2 and arrested on October 3. He was sent to jail on October 8 in connection with the drugs-on-cruise-case.

Juhi, who has co-starred with Shah Rukh in several films and is also his business partner, signed a Rs 1 lakh bail bond in court for Aryan. After completing all formalities, she walked out of court at around 6:10 pm and told the press that it was all over, and that she was relieved. The court had announced 14 bail conditions for Aryan Khans release from jail.

A detailed bail order was issued by Justice Sambre on Friday afternoon. He set 14 conditions for Aryan Khan's bail which included a PR bond of Rs. 1 lakh Some of the other bail conditions include that Aryan will have to surrender his passport, and report to the NCB every Friday.
Washington, Oct 30 : A Washington-based think tank has said that US federal government is most likely to default on its debt between mid-December and mid-February 2022.

Friday's projection by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) came after Congress earlier this month approved a bill to temporarily raise the federal government's debt limit by $480 billion to avert a looming debt default, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Treasury Department reached its new borrowing limit of $28.9 trillion on October 22, and is now once again financing the federal government through "extraordinary measures" to prevent a default, according to the BPC.

"With another debt limit crisis on the horizon in a few short months, the clock is ticking for Congress to once again protect the full faith and credit of the US," said Shai Akabas, BPC director of economic policy.

The BPC warned that this new projection should not be misconstrued as reducing the urgency to act, as the enactment of the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill could move up the date when the United States would be unable to meet its obligations, potentially in advance of the think tank's current projection window.

The Senate-passed bill includes a $118 billiontransfer from the Treasury Department's General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund.

If the bill becomes law in the coming weeks, a full transfer of these funds would increase intra-governmental debt and hasten the arrival of the default date, the BPC said.

The debt limit, commonly called the debt ceiling, is the total amount of money that the US government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including social security and medicare benefits, interest on the national debt, and other payments.
Patna, Oct 30 : An estimated 6.45 per cent voter turnout was recorded in Kusheshwar Asthan and 4 per cent in Tarapur Assembly constituencies in Bihar till 9 a.m, according to the Election Commission on Saturday.

The voting, which started on a dull note, will continue till 4 p.m. Civil and police administration of Darbhanga and Munger districts have made adequate security arrangements to ensure a peaceful polling.

People were seen waiting in queues for their turn to vote amid strict protocols in both the constituencies.

Meanwhile, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav claimed that the party will win the election with a big margin.

"We are fully confident that RJD candidates will win in both the seats. The current government of Nitish Kumar and NDA will sure bite the dust," he said.

"The difference between us and them is not much. We can easily achieve the magical figure. I am fully confident that JD(U) will split. The legislators of JD(U) know that there no future with Nitish Kumar so they will leave him and join RJD. The formula of forming the government under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav is ready and we are just waiting for the November 2 results," the RJD chief said.

A total of 17 candidates are in the fray.

In Kusheshwar Asthan, the Darbhanga district administration has deployed paramilitary forces.

As the 60 booths of the Constituency fall under flood affected areas, the administration has arranged 30 boats to carry out patrolling. Besides, 80 tractors are on patrol in the dry areas.

In Tarapur, the constituency has 406 polling booths, of which 52 fall under Naxal affected areas and are guarded by paramilitary troopers The Munger district administration has sealed borders at five places.
Actor Puneeth's daughter to reach by evening, funeral to be held this evening; distraught fan ends life. Image Source: IANS News

Actor Puneeth's daughter to reach by evening, funeral to be held this evening; distraught fan ends life. Image Source: IANS News

Actor Puneeth's daughter to reach by evening, funeral to be held this evening; distraught fan ends life. Image Source: IANS News

Actor Puneeth's daughter to reach by evening, funeral to be held this evening; distraught fan ends life. Image Source: IANS News

Actor Puneeth's daughter to reach by evening, funeral to be held this evening; distraught fan ends life. Image Source: IANS News

Actor Puneeth's daughter to reach by evening, funeral to be held this evening; distraught fan ends life. Image Source: IANS News

Bengaluru, Oct 30 : Famous Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar, who passed away at the age of 46, will be cremated on Saturday evening here with full state honour.

According to BJP MLA S.R. Vishwanath, Puneeth's elder daughter Dhruthi, who lives the US, will be reaching New Delhi by noon and arrangements are being made to bring her to Bengaluru.

Once she reaches, the mortal remains draped in Tricolour, will be taken to the Kanteerava Stadium in a procession for the last rites.

Puneeth, son of Kannada film legend Dr Rajkumar, passed away on Friday following a cardiac arrest. His body has been kept at Kanteerava Stadium for his fans to pay their last respects.

Meanwhile, unable to bear the loss of his beloved hero, 22-year Rahul Gadivaddara ended his life in Athani of Belagavi districton Friday.

According to the police, before hanging himself at hs residence, Rahul had garlanded Puneeth's photograph.

Lakhs of fans from across Karnataka and neighbouring states have been pouring in since Friday evening to bid final adieu to their favorite star.

The fans kept on streaming in throughout the night. The police had to resort to lathi charge to control the swelling mob.

Bigwigs of Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam industry are expected to visit Bengaluru and pay their last respects.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has held a meeting at his home office Krishna regarding managing the situation. Tight security arrangement has been made all over the city to prevent any untoward incident.

City Commissioner Kamal Pant has appealed to people not to pay heed to any rumours.

Reserve police platoons from other parts of the state have been deployed at Kanteerava stadium as more and more people are pouring in to bid farewell to the departed actor.
Rome, Oct 30 : South Korean President Moon Jae-in has asked Pope Francis to visit North Korea to bring peace on the Korean Peninsula, and the latter has positively reacted to the offer, saying he is willing to do so if he receives an invitation from Pyongyang, an official said.

Moon made the offer during a meeting with the Pope at the Vatican on Friday, saying a papal visit to North Korea will serve as momentum for bringing peace on the Korean Peninsula, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"If the pontiff visits North Korea when an opportunity arises, it will be momentum for peace on the Korean Peninsula," Moon told the Pope, according to presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.

The Pope encouraged Moon, saying: "I am willing to go there for peace and help all of you if (North Korea) sends a letter of invitation," according to Park.

Moon and Pope Francis also exchanged views on the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and other pending issues, Park said.

No pontiff has ever visited North Korea, which has no formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican.

The Pope has called for peace on the Peninsula and previously expressed a willingness to visit North Korea.

During a meeting with the Pope in 2018, Moon had delivered a verbal invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Francis said at the time he was willing to visit the North if Pyongyang sends him an official invitation.

No further progress, however, has been made since.

Moon arrived in Rome on Thursday for the meeting with Pope Francis and the G20 Summit over the weekend.
Hyderabad, Oct 30 : Over 30 per cent polling was recorded in the first four hours of the by-election to the Huzurabad Assembly constituency in Telangana on Saturday.

According to the state's Chief Electoral Officer Shashank Goel, 33.27 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 9 a.m. He was monitoring the poll process through webcasting.

The polling, which began at 7 a.m. at 306 polling centres across the constituency in Karimnagar district, was underway in a smooth and peaceful manner, barring minor incidents of clashes between workers of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

District Election Officer and Karimnagar District Collector R.V. Karnan, who visited a few polling stations to oversee the polling process, said Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at a couple of places developed snags but they were immediately replaced.

He said the polling process will continue till 7 p.m. and those standing in queues at 7 p.m. will be allowed to cast their votes.

Long queues of voters were seen at the polling centres in the early hours. A total of 2,37,036 voters are eligible to cast their ballots.

Authorities were ensuring compliance to Covid-19 protocol. At every polling station, voters were allowed after thermal screening. The officials also arranged sanitizer and made markings on ground to ensure social distancing.

The Election Commission of India made elaborate arrangements to ensure free and fair polling. Twenty companies of central forces in addition to the personnel from state police were deployed as part of the elaborate security arrangements.

Hanamkonda District Collector Rajiv Gandhi Hanumanthu, Warangal Police Commissioner Tarun Joshi, Karimnagar Police Commissioner Satyanarayana also visited few polling stations to monitor polling and security arrangements.

BJP candidate Eatala Rajender and his wife cast their votes at a polling centre in Kamalapur.

Addressing reporters he alleged that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) distributed cash among voters with the police providing them the protection. He claimed that TRS spent thousands of crores and distributed liquor like water to prevent him from entering the Assembly.

Rajender, however, exuded confidence that Huzurabad voters would vote for their self-respect and defeat the designs of TRS.

Meanwhile, BJP workers tried to stop TRS leader Kaushik Reddy when he went to a polling station. They raised objections to the presence of a 'non-local'. Police intervened to safely escort Kaushik Reddy.

A total of 30 candidates are in fray in the by-election, caused by the resignation of Rajender after he was dropped from state Cabinet. He had quit the TRS to join BJP.

Rajender, who had been representing Huzurabad seat since 2009, is locked in a three-cornered contest with Gellu Srinivas Yadav of TRS and B. Venkat Narsing Rao of the Congress party.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : US intelligence agencies said they may never be able to identify the origins of Covid-19, but have concluded that it was not created as a biological weapon, the BBC reported.

In an updated assessment of where the virus began, the Office of the US Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said an animal-to-human transmission and a lab leak were both plausible hypotheses for how it spread, the report said.

But there was not enough information to reach a definitive conclusion.

China, where the pandemic originated in late 2019, has criticised the report.

The findings were published in a declassified report which is an update of a 90-day review that President Joe Biden's administration released in August, the report added.

It said the intelligence community remains divided on the most likely origin of the virus. Four agencies assessed with "low confidence" it had originated with an infected animal or a related virus.

But one agency said it had "moderate confidence" that the first human infection most likely was the result of a laboratory accident, probably involving experimentation or animal handling by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the report said.

The report also said Chinese officials were unaware of the existence of the virus before the initial outbreak of Covid-19 in the city of Wuhan, in late 2019.

But it said China was continuing to hinder the global investigation and to resist sharing information.

Chinese authorities linked early Covid-19 cases to a seafood market in Wuhan, leading scientists to theorise that the virus first passed to humans from animals, the BBC reported.

But earlier this year, US media reports suggested growing evidence the virus could instead have emerged from the Wuhan laboratory, perhaps through an accidental leak.
Amaravati, Oct 30 : Over 20 per cent voters have cast their votes in the first four hours in the by-election to the Badvel Assembly seat in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.

According to the state's Chief Electoral Officer K. Vijayanand, 20.89 per cent voting was recorded since people started casting their ballots at 7 a.m. in 281 polling stations.

"No untoward incident has been reported from anywhere," he said.

The poll authorities have made elaborate security arrangements for the polling in the constituency in Kadapa, home district of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Badvel, reserved for Scheduled Castes, is one of the Assembly segments of the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat being held by YSR family for over three decades.

The CEO said the allegations of bogus voting and outsiders being brought were not true. He said technical snags were noticed in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during mock polling at three polling stations and the same were rectified before the beginning of the actual polling.

Vijayanand was monitoring the polling process through webcasting. Arrangements have been made for webcasting from all polling stations. The poll officials also engaged 271 videographers to keep track of the activity outside the polling stations.

A total 2,16,139 voters, including 1,07,340 women and two transgenders, are eligible to cast their votes.

Polling will be held till 7 p.m. Voters infected with Covid-19 can exercise their franchise between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Fifteen companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Border Security Force (BSF) and 1,606 personnel of Andhra Pradesh police were deployed.

Meanwhile, mild tension prevailed at S. Venkatapuram in Atluru mandal when BJP workers alleged that outsiders were brought there to cast votes. Police sent back 40 women who came to the polling station without identity cards.

BJP state chief Somu Veerraju lodged a complaint with the Kadapa District Superintendent of Police K.K.N. Anburajan.

He also alleged that BJP agents were being harassed at a few polling stations.

BJP MP C.M. Ramesh also alleged that police and YSRCP workers have colluded for bogus voting. He said irregularities were being committed at several polling centres where central forces were not deployed.

A total of 15 candidates are testing their political fortunes in the bypoll, caused by the death of sitting MLA G. Venkatasubbaiah of ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

YSRCP has fielded his widow Dasari Sudha, who is locked in a three-cornered contest against Congress party's M. Kamalamma and BJP's P. Suresh.

Main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is not contesting the byelection in line with its tradition of supporting the family members of the deceased MLA.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Bhopal, Oct 30 : The Madhya Pradesh government will embark on a special vaccination drive from November 15 to ensure that all the citizens get vaccinated against Covid-19 by December 31, an official notification said here on Saturday.

According to the order issued by the Chief Minister's Office, Covid testing at public places, markets, railways stations and other places will also be set up again.

Under its extended plan for vaccination, phone calls will be made to those who have received their first dose to remind them about the second.

"A special campaign for anti-Covid vaccination will be launched from November 15 for the people who haven't received first of second dose. The drive is to vaccinate all the citizens of the state by December 31," it read.

A decision in this regard was taken during a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan on Friday evening.

In the review meeting, Chauhan directed officials to hold Covid vaccination and testing camps during public programmes in coming days.

The government has also decided rope in school and college students in their awareness campaign so that they can encourage their parents and relatives to get vaccinated.

There has been a surge in Covid cases in the state for the last two weeks, especially in Bhopal and Indore.

As per the official data till October 29, 301 new cases were reported in Madhya Pradesh, out of which 123 were reported in Bhopal alone.

According of official data, a total of 4.98 crore people in the state have received their first dose, while 2 crore have received both doses so far.

The cumulative Covid tally in the state has risen to 7,92,832, while 10,524 lives have been lost, shows the health department data.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Bengaluru, Oct 30 : Telugu super star Nandamuri Balakrishna and choreographer/filmmaker Prabhudeva arrived in Bengaluru on Saturday and paid their last respects to Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar, who passed away at the age of 46 due to a cardiac arrest.

Balakrishna stated that, though he and Puneeth were born to different mothers they were like brothers.

"I am pained that I lost a friend, brother. He used to attend all programmes that invited him. He had donated his eyes. We have met many times at Lepakshi along with Shivrajkumar, his elder brother. He had entertained people as an artiste," he explained.

"Puneeth will live eternally in our hearts," he said.

Balakrishna wept while paying his last respects and also consoled Shivarajkumar, Puneeth's elder brother.

Meanwhile, Prabhudeva said that Puneeth was too young to die.

"He is a gem of a person. I recently shot a song for him. My father was in tears after hearing about the news of Puneeth's death. He wondered whether it was true," he added.

The late actor will be cremated on Saturday evening here with full state honour.

Puneeth, son of Kannada film legend Dr Rajkumar, passed away on Friday. His body has been kept at Kanteerava Stadium for his fans to pay their last respects.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
New Delhi, Oct 30 : A Delhi-based lawyer on Saturday filed a police complaint against the JNU's Centre for Women's Development Studies and organisers of a webinar, for allegedly using the phrase "Indian Occupation in Kashmir".

Advocate Vineet Jindal, in his complaint to Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Ashtana, stated that the webinar titled 'Gender Resistance and Fresh Challenges in Post 2019 Kashmir' was to be organised by the Centre on October 29, at 8.30 p.m. and the details were also available on the JNU website.

"In the subject of the invitation to the seminar, it was mentioned Gendered Resistance to Indian Occupation in Kashmir'. By mentioning this phrase, the organisers of the webinar have depicted the forceful occupation of Kashmir by the Indian government and this phrase has questioned the integrity and unity of the country," the complaint read.

It further said the phrase 'Indian Occupation to Kashmir' is clearly perceived to be the forceful occupation of Kashmir by Indian government which is surely not true.

The complaint filed against JNU under section 121A,124 A,505 OF IPC AND 74 OF IT ACT 2008, also attached the screenshot of the proposed online seminar in the petition.

"The phrase also indicates the intention of the organisers that in the pretext of this webinar it was purposefully used to publicise the idea, provoke and instigate people against the Indian government," it stated.

The webinar was cancelled after the protest by certain people as the subject of the webinar was found questionable and objectionable, which clearly proves that the organisers had mala fide intentions against the integrity of the country or some other hidden agenda.

"Kashmir is an integrated part of India just like any other state of India, so calling or publicly popularizing it as an occupied state is an anti-national act, which not only instigates the common man but also provokes communal disharmony among the masses.

"The subject of Kashmir has always been a delicate and sensitive one due to the involvement of the other neighbouring countries who wish to create national discord, so stating the said phrase accounts to an intentional act of creating disturbance among the citizens of the countries and the states which is not acceptable in any manner and must be dealt with an iron hand by lodging FIR against the organisers of the webinar," it added.
New Delhi: In their first in-person meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi discussed the challenges posed by climate change and the need for the international community to work together, as well as the situatio Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: In their first in-person meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi discussed the challenges posed by climate change and the need for the international community to work together, as well as the situatio Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: In their first in-person meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi discussed the challenges posed by climate change and the need for the international community to work together, as well as the situatio Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi/Rome, Oct 30 : In their first in-person meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi discussed the challenges posed by climate change and the need for the international community to work together, as well as the situation in Afghanistan.

During the meeting on Friday, Modi highlighted the transformative climate actions undertaken by India, and the concerns of developing countries about climate financing commitments of the developed world.

The two leaders also exchanged views on recent global and regional developments, including in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific.

"They reiterated their desire for working closer together for furthering the India-EU multi-faceted cooperation," said a release from the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.

On the bilateral side, the two leaders reviewed developments since the India-Italy Virtual Summit in November 2020 and expressed satisfaction at the progress in implementation of the 2020-2025 Action Plan adopted at the virtual summit that set strategic goals in the political, economic, S&T and cultural spheres to be achieved in the next five years.

The Prime Ministers also reiterated their commitment to further expanding trade and investment linkages between the two countries particularly in textiles, food processing, automotive and renewable energy sectors.

"To provide fresh impetus to the bilateral cooperation in renewables and clean energy, India and Italy issued a Joint Statement announcing a aStrategic Partnership on Energy Transition' and agreed to explore partnerships in areas such as large size green corridor projects, smart grids, energy storage solutions, gas transportation, integrated waste management (waste-to-wealth), development and deployment of green hydrogen and promotion of bio-fuels. India and Italy also signed a aStatement of Intent on Textiles Cooperation' during the meeting," the release said.

Earlier on Friday, Draghi offered a grand welcome to Modi amid military honours at the Palazzo Chigi courtyard.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : Following the recent civilian killings in the Kashmir, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is now pushing the terrorists and overground workers, as well as hybrid terrorists, to hit the security forces' camps and posts in the valley, sources said.

The sources quoting intelligence inputs, have confirmed that the ISI has asked the handlers of terror outfits active in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) such as Lashakar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and the newly-floated 'The Resistance Force' to instruct its cadre to hit the security forces' camps and posts.

They also said that some heavily-armed terrorists who might have sneaked into the valley earlier, may sprawl on security establishments, therefore, extra vigil have been instructed without any laxity.

The ongoing anti-terror operation in Poonch has indicated the preparation level of these terrorist groups, they added.

The sources also said that despite the high security apparatus that have activated in Jammu and Kashmir especially after the recent visit by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, these inputs are a matter of concern.

However, officials involved in the operations said that adequate security arrangements have been put in place to prevent untoward attempts.

"Barricades and fortified bunkers have been placed at the security forces' camps and residential complexes have been tightened, adequate security deployments have been deployed at the entry and exit points of the cities in the Union Territory including Srinagar," the security officials said, adding that similar arrangement have also made for defence establishments, while joint patrolling by the army and CRPF have already been intensified.
Patna, Oct 30 : An estimated 21.79 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first four hours of voting to the two Assembly seats in Bihar on Saturday, according to the Election Commission data.

While Tarapur recorded 23 per cent voting, Kusheshwar Asthan registered 20.25 per cent.

Though the polling started on a sluggish note with ony 5 per cent voting registered till 9 a.m., it picked up later.

Voting will continue till 4 p.m.

According to an EC official, the voting was by and large peaceful with no untoward incident being reported from any of the constituencies.

A total of 17 candidates are in the fray.

The Tarapur constituency with 3,27,242 voters has 406 polling booths, of which 52 fall under Naxal affected areas and are guarded by paramilitary troopers The Munger district administration has sealed borders at five places.

In Kusheshwar Asthan, the Darbhanga district administration has deployed paramilitary forces.

As the 60 booths of the Constituency fall under flood affected areas, the administration has arranged 30 boats to carry out patrolling.

Besides, 80 tractors are on patrol in the dry areas.
Patna, Oct 30 : TV serial 'Neemki Mukhiya' actor Vijay Kumar was arrested in Patna, police said Vijay Kumar, who played the role of Tetar Singh in the TV serial, is facing the charges of dowry harassment with first wife and for having a second marriage without divorcing his first spouse.

An FIR pertaining to these two offences was registered against the actor in 2020.

"Vijay Kumar was absconding ever since the FIR was registered. We had learnt that Kumar came with a drama company to perform in an event in Naubatpur area of the district. Accordingly, we raided the place. Kumar, after seeing a police team approaching him, tried to flee from the venue but failed. We nabbed him," said Brajesh Kumar Singh, investigating officer of Naubatpur police station.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
United Nations, Oct 30 : The Security Council has adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia for another year, till October 31, 2022.

Resolution 2603, which won the unanimous support of the 15-member Security Council, expresses its willingness to work with the government of Colombia on the further extension of the mission's mandate on the basis of agreement between the parties, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Bogota government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) struck a peace deal in August 2016 after four years of negotiations in Havana, Cuba. The Security Council in July 2017 approved the establishment of the Verification Mission to verify the political, economic and social reintegration of former FARC combatants as well as security guarantees.

The Verification Mission succeeded a UN mission of unarmed observers tasked by the Security Council in January 2016 to monitor and verify the laying down of arms, and to help monitor and verify the cease-fire following the signing of a peace agreement.

In May 2021, the Security Council adopted a resolution to expand the mandate of the Verification Mission to include verifying compliance with and implementation of the sentences handed down by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, which is a transitional justice mechanism to investigate crimes committed during the five-decade-long armed conflict between the government and FARC.
October 30 : After walking out of Arthur Road jail, Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan reached Mannat amid huge celebrations by Shah Rukhs fans. Huge crowds had gathered outside Arthur Road jail as well as outside Mannat, with police trying to control SRKs fans who had started gathering outside Mannat since morning.

Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri Khan had reached Arthur Road jail to receive their son, who was in custody for 25 days in drugs-on-cruise case. Aryan was granted bail by Bombay High Court on Thursday. On Friday, Juhi Chawla appeared in court and gave surety for Aryan, whom she knew from childhood.

Mannat is all decked-up to welcome Aryan. Fans gather outside the superstars residence with a "Welcome home Aryan Khan" poster. Many of them got emotional and were in tears as they welcomed their superstars son home. Aryan was released from the jail at around 11.00 am. He was rushed into a black car escorted by Shah Rukhs personal bodyguard and aide Ravi Singh. Security has been tightened outside Shah Rukh Khans residence.

As one of the bail conditions, the 23-year-old will have to surrender his passport, and he cannot leave Mumbai without permission. Aryan will also have to report to the Narcotics Control Bureaus office every Friday, between 11 am and 2 pm. He also has to attend court hearings, and join investigations whenever he is called for it. Aryan has also been asked not to establish any communication with co-accused and his friend Arbaaz Merchant or any other person involved directly or indirectly in the case. Aryan is also not allowed to make any public statement in any formin print, electronic or social media. There are more conditions for Aryan, and if any of these are violated, the NCB can request cancellation of bail, High Court has stated.

Aryan Khans bail came as a huge relief to Shah Rukh Khans family. Since his bail was granted, SRKs fans, well-wishers and friends from Bollywood rejoiced the bail order. Aryans sister Suhana Khan shared a collage of black and white photos of their childhood on social media and wrote, I love you.
London, Oct 30 : The UK's Queen Elizabeth II has been advised by doctors to rest for two more weeks, the Buckingham Palace said.

The Palace said following their recent advice that the Queen should rest for a few days, the doctors have advised that she should continue to rest for at least the next two weeks, reports Xinhua news agency.

The doctors have advised that the 95-year-old monarch could continue to undertake light, desk-based duties during this time, including some virtual audiences, "but not to undertake any official visits".

It means she will be unable to attend the Festival of Remembrance on November 13, but officials said it is her "firm intention" to attend the National Service of Remembrance the following day, according to the BBC.

It came after the Queen decided on Tuesday that she will not travel to Glasgow to attend the evening reception of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference.

Instead she will deliver a video message to the delegates.

The Queen spent a night in hospital for "some preliminary investigations" last week, after she cancelled a visit to Northern Ireland.
Hyderabad, Oct 30 : Telugu handsome hunk Rana Daggubati turned into a WWE artist for his upcoming brand. The actor is to appear in a commercial for a giant media streaming app.

The media company that has designed the media streaming application- 'Sony Liv' has been trying to expand their footprint in both Telugu states- Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Therefore, the digital marketing team from Sony Liv came up with the plan of roping in Rana to promote the brand.

They selected him as the face of the platform.

Now that the actor has the responsibility of promoting the platform in the Telugu states, he is all set to appear in an interesting commercial advertisement.

According to recent reports, Rana will be seen as a WWE artist in a special ad promo for Sony Liv, which is currently being shot.

'Mega-power-star' Ram Charan Tej was seen promoting Disney+ Hotstar after he was selected as the brand ambassador.

The advertisement featuring Ram Charan soon became viral and caught everyone's attention. A similar response is expected from Rana Daggubati's brand endorsement for Sony Liv.

On the work front, Rana's 'Virata Parvam' is expected to release on a popular OTT platform. Besides 'Virata Parvam', Rana is currently busy shooting for a multi-starrer titled 'Bheemla Nayak' with Pawan Kalyan. Rana plays a baddie in this Telugu original remake of the Malayalam movie 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum'.
Shillong, Oct 30 : An estimated 45 per cent of the 1,02,695 voters cast their votes till 1 p.m. in Saturday's by-elections to three Assembly seats in Meghalaya, Election Commission officials said.

Polling was conducted amid heavy security to prevent any untoward incident, they said.

On the instructions of the Election Commission, strict Covid-19 protocols, including use of sanitiser, infrared thermometer and social distancing, were followed by the voters and election officials.

A health worker has been posted as Covid Nodal Officer in each of the 168 polling stations.

Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer F. R. Kharkongor told IANS that till 1 p.m. no untoward incident was reported from any of the three Assembly segments falling in two districts -- the East Khasi Hills and West Garo Hills.

Traditionally a matrilineal society, Meghalaya sees women voters outnumbering their male counterparts. As many as 1,02,695 voters, including 53,106 women voters, who outnumbered the men at 49,585, would decide the electoral fate of 13 candidates in the three Assembly seats.

The ruling National People's Party (NPP) headed by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and the main opposition Congress fielded candidates in all three seats. The BJP, which is a constituent of the NPP-dominated Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), has fielded a candidate in Rajabala.

The United Democratic Party (UDP), an ally of the MDA, fielded a candidate in Mawphlang, leading to a possible division of votes among the ruling coalition partners.

The UDP is supporting the NPP candidate in other seats. The Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP), another ally of the MDA, is supporting the UDP candidates in Mawphlang and Rajabala.

Five candidates each are contesting from Mawryngkneng and Rajabala, while three candidates are in a direct political fight in Mawphlang.

The by-polls to the three Assembly seats were necessitated following the death of three sitting MLAs -- David A. Nongrum (Congress, Mawryngkneng), Azad Zaman (UDP, Rajabala) and Syntar Klas Sunn (Independent, Mawphlang).

The counting of votes will take place on November 2.
United Nations, Oct 30 : Relations between Russia and the US are far from being normal and befitting despite improvement from the previous administration led by Donald Trump, said Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow's Permanent Representative to the UN.

"In general, I would say, there are things which did move from the previous administration. There are a couple of dialogues that started," Nebenzia said, adding one of them is on strategic stability, reports Xinhua news agency.

There have been a couple of rounds already and the dialogue has become business-like, not politicised, he said.

"People who are there, they're professionals. They speak on the same level. Of course, the issues are very complex. But this dialogue has been resumed, and that's very important," he said.

Russia values the Biden administration's reconfirmation of the Gorbachev-Reagan formula that there will be no winners in nuclear war and regards this as a very positive signal, he said.

Another important dialogue is on cybersecurity, said Nebenzia.

Russia offered many times a meaningful dialogue on cybersecurity with the United States before Biden came to office, but the offer was rejected, he said.

"Now, we have restarted, we have the dialogue which we hold. We agreed, as far as I know, with the (U.S.) administration that we will be informing each other on whatever incidents that are concerned to both sides in cyberspace," he noted.

Nebenzia said he had good personal relations with his U.S. counterpart, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

"She is a professional. She comes from the State Department. She knows how to address the issues. She understands the language on which we communicate. She is responsive. We had a few opportunities to make sure that we can deal -- like Trump used to like to say -- we can make deals," said the Russian ambassador.

The dialogue is developing on certain areas, but issues remain, he said.

On issues such as visas and the functioning of diplomatic representations, primarily embassies, Nebenzia said progress has been slow.

On the visa issue, there is some "piecemeal" progress, but the problem generically is not solved, he said.

"We have dozens of my colleagues who do not have an extension of their visas. They're sitting here without U.S. visas," Nebenzia said.

A staff member of the Russian mission to the UN could not even travel back home for his mother's funeral, he said.

"And he could not go for the funeral, because if he went there, he would never get a visa back. And that's the reality which we are facing." The Russian Ambassador said the situation with regard to visas has improved this year after he personally reached out to Thomas-Greenfield, who said she would be doing all she could to facilitate.

"But we are far from the state of relations, which can be called normal, befitting the two great states," he said.
October 30 : Ananya Panday is celebrating her 23rd birthday today. Her Khaali Peeli co-star and rumoured boyfriend Ishaan Khatter wished her on Instagram and shared a couple of pictures from their Maldives vacation.

Sharing the pictures of Ananya, Ishaan wrote, "Happy cake day Annie Panini (heart emoji) May the truth, strength and love always be with you." The actor may be referring to Ananyas involvement in Aryan Khans drug case. While the first picture shared by Ishaan is a close up of the Student of the Year 2 actress, in the other picture, she can be seen in a floral skirt and top, enjoying the ocean and the beach.

Image Source: Instagram/ishaankhatter Ishaan Khatter wishes Ananya Panday on her 23rd birthday

This year, Ananya and Ishaan were in Maldives, where they celebrated the New Year. The actors didnt share any picture together, but posted several solo pictures of themselves from the same locations and at the same time. They were also spotted by the paparazzi arriving at the Mumbai airport together.

Ananya Panday was recently summoned thrice by the Narcotics Control Bureau and questioned for hours in the drugs case involving Aryan Khan. Ishaan had visited her at her residence after the incident, and was also spotted buying flowers on his way to her house.

After two days of questioning by the NCB, Ananya skipped reporting to the NCB office on the third day. She cited personal reasons and asked for more time. Ananya was questioned based on the Whatsapp chat found in Aryan Khans phone, where they allegedly talked about drugs.

Amid the NCB summons, Ananya was supposed to shoot for a song for her upcoming film Liger with South superstar Vijay Deverakonda. Now it has been reported that Ananya has resume her shooting and has shot for the song in Mumbai. Helmed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by Dharma Productions, Puri Jagannath and Charmmie Kaur, Liger is an action drama and has been in the making for a long time now.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Ananya Panday is only three films old. The young actress was last seen in Khaali Peeli with Ishaan Khatter. She will next be seen in Shakun Batras next alongside Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi. The actress will also be seen in Liger with Vijay Deverkonda.
Panaji, Oct 30 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to be very powerful because of the Congress' inability to decide on aligning with regional parties, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday, adding that apart from Tripura, Goa and Meghalaya, contesting in Uttar Pradesh was also on the party's radar.

Speaking to mediapersons during an informal interaction here, Banerjee also said that while she loved Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, it would be wrong to assume that only the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is allowed easy passage to contest in other Indian states.

"Modiji is going to be so powerful because of Congress. If one cannot take a decision why will the country suffer for that? They have got enough opportunities. Instead of BJP they contested against me in my state.

"How they expect that they will contest me and we will only give flowers to them? And sweets to them? I want to see that all regional parties are strong. We are a union of states and the federal structure should be strong. If the state is strong the centre is strong. Delhi's dadagiri will not do," she said.

Banerjee said that she would not like the opposition votes to be divided, but added wherever political opportunity arose, she would grab hold of it.

"In UP also we are there (former UP Congress vice president Lalitesh Pati Tripathi) and his son and grandson have also joined the party and (from) Punjab they have sent me a letter, but wherever possible, Tripura we have started, northeast in a few parts. Uttar Pradesh also we have the target, Meghalaya also. And Goa," Banerjee said.

Commenting on the footprint of Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party in various states other than Delhi, Banerjee said: "What do you think that only Arvind Kejriwal will contest everywhere in this country and no other political party. I love him, I have no problem for that.

"It is not that everywhere only one political party will go and another cannot go. Did I stop him from going to Punjab? So, why they will stop us from going to Goa? I cannot speak about other political parties because they have their own freedom." Asked about her intention of being projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2024 polls, Banerjee said: "There are some politicians in this country who are proud to say that they are VIP (very important person) and I would like to say I am LIP, less important person. Let us continue as a street fighter."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 30 : As Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday invited Pope Francis to visit India, Catholics in Kerala are elated, said Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.

Following their meeting earlier in the day at the Vatican, Modi announced that he "had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India".

This was the first in-person meeting between the two.

In response, the Cardinal said: "We are all deeply excited and happy that from the news what we hear in the media that Modiji has invited Pope to visit India. Christians in general and Catholics in particular have been waiting for the Pope to arrive in India and of course to Kerala. Now that the invite has been extended, we can be rest assured that it will happen." Christians in Kerala constitute around 19 per cent of the state's 33 million population.

The three Catholic churches account for 50 per cent of the Christians in the state.

Cleemis further said that the invite is only the first step before numerous procedures before the Pope can actually visit the country.

"We will all wait for things to happen and once the visit is officially cleared, numerous things have to fall in place and each and every aspect will have to be planned in detail." During their meeting in 2014 soon after Modi assumed office, Cleemis gave a memorandum stating that the Union Government should extend an invite to the Pope to visit India.

The last papal visit to India was a very brief one which took place in 1999 and the only time that a Pope visited Kerala was way back in 1986 to beatify Sister Alphonsa and Kuriakose Elias Chavara popularly known as Chavara Achen.

Earlier on Saturday, state BJP president K. Surendran called on Cardinal Cleemis, at the same time when Modi called on the Pope at the Vatican.

Calling the meeting "historic", Surendran said: "This will send out a strong message about how a country like India looks upon various religious leaders. Kerala as all knows has a very large Christian population and the visit will be helpful in all aspects."
Beijing, Oct 30 : As of Saturday, the latest Covid-19 resurgence in China had spread to 14 provinces, where new locally transmitted cases or asymptomatic carriers were reported during the past 14 days, a health official said.

The pandemic prevention and control situation is grim and complicated as infections are still spreading rapidly, Xinhua news agency quoted Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission (NHC), as saying to reporters here.

China's top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan, however, said on Saturday that the country will be able to effectively contain the latest resurgence within a month.

"The coronavirus and the pandemic cannot be eradicated within a short period of time," he said, calling on other countries to adopt strict and prioritized measures against Covid-19 and actively roll out vaccination.

Zhong said he expects that more than 80 per cent of Chinese residents will have been fully vaccinated by the end of this year.

In the last 24 hours, the Chinese mainland reported 59 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases and 19 new imported cases, according to the NHC daily report.

Of the new local cases, 26 were reported in Heilongjiang, 19 in Inner Mongolia, 11 in Gansu, two in Beijing, and one in Ningxia, the Commission said.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases on the mainland has now reached 97,080, with 4,636 deaths.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi/Rome, Oct 30 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis on Saturday at the Vatican and invited the head of the Catholic Church to visit India.

Taking to Twitter after his first-ever meeting with the Pope, Modi said: "Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India." According to officials, the meeting which was initially scheduled for only 20 minutes, continued for an hour during which they discussed a wide range of topics, including the fight against climate change and removing poverty.

The last Papal visit to India took place in 1999 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.

It was the Pope John Paul II who had come to India then.

Modi is on a three day visit to Italy to attend the G20 Summit in Rome from where he will proceed to Glasgow for the UN COP26.
Hyderabad, Oct 30 : In the wake of the untimely death of Kannada Powerstar, Puneeth Rajkumar, his co-stars, celebrities, and lakhs of his fans expressed shock. Celebrities from all over India conveyed their condolences.

Telugu star Pawan Kalyan, who is equally shocked by the news, took to Twitter and wrote: "The sudden and unfortunate demise of Sri Puneeth Rajkumar deeply saddens me. His performance in his first film 'Bettada Hoovu' as a child actor deeply etched in my mind. Ever since I always admired him." The actor-turned-politician concluded: "With a heavy heart I pray to Almighty to take care of my dear brother Puneeth in his final journey. My heartfelt condolences to Sri Shiva Raj Kumar, and Sri Puneeth's family members." Pawan Kalyan's political party Jana Sena released a press note to convey their tributes to the departed soul of Puneeth Rajkumar.

The note mentions that Pawan Kalyan was at a loss for words and it took a while for him to recover from the shock.

Puneeth Rajkumar had sidelined his title 'Powerstar' when the makers of his movie 'Yuvarathna' had released the movie in Telugu.

On being questioned about this decision, he said: "I am not a Powerstar here. In Telugu, Pawan Kalyan is the only Powerstar. I do not think this is a sacrifice or something. This is my responsibility and I respect Pawan Kalyan and his fans' feelings. So, Yuvarathna will not have my title on its cards for the Telugu release", Puneeth had explained at the time of the movie's release.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

104-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, the first voter of independent India, cast his vote at the Kalpa-51 polling station at 1:12 am. Image Source: IANS News

Shimla, Oct 30 : Shyam Saran Negi, believed to be India's oldest voter at 104 years of age, cast his ballot on Saturday in the Mandi Parliamentary by-poll in Himachal Pradesh.

Negi had also participated in the 1951-52 general elections, the country's first.

"In my lifetime I have never missed an opportunity to cast my vote since India got its Independence in 1947 and I am happy to vote this time too," Negi said in Kalpa, some 275 kms from the state capital, after exercising his franchise.

Like on previous occasions, the centenarian requested the young voters to actively participate in the democratic exercise to get their representatives at the helm.

Negi was accorded a red carpet welcome as he reached the polling station by officials at Kalpa in Kinnaur district to cast his vote.

A staunch believer in democracy, the centenarian never fails to cast his vote in any election, be it Lok Sabha, Assembly or panchayat.

In 1951, Negi, a retired school teacher, was on election duty and had exercised his franchise in Chini constituency, later renamed Kinnaur.

Back then, voting in the snow-bound areas of the mountain state was held ahead of other places in the country.

Negi came to the polling station along with his family members. He flashed his inked wrinkled finger after voting.
Bhopal, Oct 30 : An estimated 45 per cent of the 26,50,004 eligible voters cast their ballots till 1 p.m. in the by-polls to three Assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, the Election Commission said.

As per the official report, the highest voting so far was recorded at 54 per cent in Prithvipur, followed by Raigon with 44 per cent while Jobat registered 41 per cent.

In Khandwa (Lok Sabha seat), over 41 per cent voters turned up to cast their ballots. Meanwhile, people in three different areas in Khandwa district boycotted elections and put up banners at the entry gate of villages prohibiting the entry of political leaders. They refused to exercise their franchise with the slogan 'No work, No Vote'.

The voting to decide the fate of 48 candidates is underway at 3,944 polling stations, of which 865 are deemed as "sensitive" by the administration.

Jabat (Alirajpur district) and Prithvipur (Niwari district) seats fell vacant after the deaths of Congress MLAs Kalawati Bhuriya and Brijendra Singh Rathore respectively.

The by-poll in Raigon (Satna district) was necessitated after the death of BJP MLA Jugal Kishor Nagari due to age-related complications.

The Lok Sabha seat of Khandwa fell vacant following the death of BJP MP Nandkumar Chauhan due to Covid-related complications.
Chennai, Oct 30 : It is our bounden duty to welcome the young children studying in Classes 1-8 at the school gates with a smiling face as they return to schools after nearly one and a half years, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said on Saturday.

In a statement issued here, he said the children are coming to the school from November 1 onwards after a long time and they should be welcomed in such a manner that enthuses and energises them.

He also said school teachers and others can welcome the children by offering them sweets and flowers.

Stalin also requested the teachers to tell or ask the students to tell stories, ask them to paint, play or any other activity that would increase their memory power in the classroom during the first two weeks.

He also requested MPs, MLAs and member of local bodies in welcoming the students at the school gates.

For the past one-and-half years, schools were closed due to the spread of Covid-19 pandemic in Tamil Nadu.

Schools were reopened for students of Classes 9 to 12 sometime back.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : The Karnataka government has filed a revised affidavit in the Supreme Court, where it has retracted from its earlier affidavit stating that there is no immediate plan to deport Rohingyas in Bengaluru.

The state government's response came on a 2017 PIL filed by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who sought the apex court's direction to deport illegal Rohingyas.

In a fresh affidavit, the state Home Department now said: "The Karnataka State Police have not housed Rohingyas in any camp or detention centre within its jurisdiction. However, 126 Rohingyas have been identified in Karnataka state..".

It annexed the list of Rohingyas identified.

The state government further added that, "this respondent under take that whatever the order that would be passed by this court will be scrupulously adhered and followed in its letter and spirit".

Earlier, the state government had said Upadhyay's petition was devoid of merit and not maintainable in law and facts, and sought its dismissal.

In the previous written response, the state government had said: "The Bengaluru city police have not housed Rohingyas in any camp or detention centers within its jurisdiction. However, 72 Rohingyas identified in Bengaluru city are working in various fields and Bengaluru city police have not taken any coercive action against them as of now." The government added that there is no immediate plan of deporting them either.

The state government also provided the names of Rohingya refugees who were staying in the north-east division of the city. It further added that all these Rohingyas, except those below 12 years of age, have been given individual numbers by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Upadhyaya had argued that the influx of infiltrators posed a serious threat to the unity, integrity and security of the country. He had asked the court to issue a direction to Centre and state governments to identify, detain and deport all the illegal immigrants and infiltrators including Bangladeshis and Rohingyas within one year.

The petitioner also urged the top court to issue direction to amend the respective laws to make illegal immigration and infiltration, a cognisable non-bailable and non-compoundable offence.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : A day ahead of the annual climate summit at Glasgow in the United Kingdom, Oxfam India has called upon the government of India to tackle the twin challenges of climate and growing inequality together at the COP26 summit.

"A failure to confront extreme carbon inequality at this historic juncture will only mean enabling prevalent injustices that will be catastrophic for India," Oxfam India said in a statement.

Oxfam International's 2020 briefing 'Confronting Carbon Inequality' had shown that over the past 20 to 30 years, our limited global carbon budget was squandered in the service of increasing the consumption of the already affluent, rather than lifting people out of poverty. The richest 1 per cent (around 75 million people) were responsible for twice the cumulative emissions of the poorest 50 per cent (3.1 billion people). The two groups that suffer this injustice worst are those least responsible for the climate crisis -- poorer and marginalised people and our future generations.

Starting Sunday, India and other world nations come together at Glasgow to deliberate on mechanisms to contain emissions to restrict global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial era.

"Climate change is happening now. It is already causing extreme weather that is pushing millions of people deeper into hunger and poverty, even though they did the least to cause this crisis. India must demand that developed countries provide more for climate finance to adapt to the impacts of climate change and compensate for loss and damage and enable a just transition," said CEO of Oxfam India, Amitabh Behar.

Stating that "we are dangerously close to missing the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement," Behar said, "The Government of India must demand that developed countries bring down their per capita material and carbon footprint to global average by 2030." Demanding that there is also a need to prepare and plan for a 'Just Transition' to ensure that the millions of unorganised workers and local communities dependent on the current economy do not suffer due to the eventual and much needed closing of mines and power plants, Project Officer, Access to Energy at Oxfam India, Sandip Chowdhury said, "It is important to ensure social justice is done in this shift towards a renewable future crucial for a climate resilient society."
Prayagraj, Oct 30 : The Allahabad High Court, while rejecting the bail plea of a gang-rape accused on Saturday, held that consensual sex with a major is not an "offence" but is "unethical, immoral, and against established Indian tradition".

Dismissing the bail plea of one of the four accused in the case, Justice Rahul Chaturvedi said that it was the duty of the man, claiming to be the minor's boyfriend, to protect her when she was being sexually assaulted by the other co-accused.

"The moment the applicant submits that the victim is his beloved, it becomes his binding duty to protect the dignity, honour and reputation of his girlfriend. If a girl is major, then having sex with her consent is not an offence, but certainly it is unethical and immoral, and also not in consonance with the established social norms of the Indian society," he said.

The court termed the act of the applicant "highly deplorable and unbecoming of a boyfriend" and stated that "he remained a mute spectator when the co-accused were brutally assaulting his beloved in front of him".

According to the FIR, on February 19, the victim, a resident of Kaushambhi district, had gone for her stitching lessons at an institute and spoke to her boyfriend Raju and they both planned to meet.

Later, they met at a secluded place near a river. It was here that the three other persons came, abused and beat the applicant, and committed the crime.

On February 20, an FIR was lodged by the 15-year-old victim against four accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including rape, assault, and criminal intimidation of the IPC and Sections 5 and 6 of POCSO Act at Akil Sarai police station of Kaushambhi.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : The Ministry of Rural Development on Saturday said that more than six crore households have been provided wage employment under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) scheme during the current financial year against their demand.

Employment has been offered to 99.63 per cent of the total demand of wage employment and against the offer of employment, a total of 87.35 per cent of beneficiaries has turned up for work as per their will, the Ministry said.

The Ministry further stated that during the current financial year so far more than 222 crore person-days have been generated.

The MNREGA, a flagship programme of the central government, provides the guarantee of at least 100 days of wage employment against the demand made by a household in a rural area. "Fund release towards wage and material is a continuous process. There has been an increase of more than 18 per cent of funds allocation for the current financial year in comparison to the previous financial year as a budget estimate," the ministry said.

As per ministry, during the current financial year so far more than Rs 63,793 crore funds have been released for the implementation of the scheme in the States/UTs. "Currently Rs 8,921 crore funds are available which can meet the wage liability equal to this current availability. Government of India is committed to release funds for wage and material payments for proper implementation of the scheme, as per the provisions of the Act and guidelines applicable for Central Government as well as State Governments," the ministry said.

The ministry emphasised that whenever additional funds are required, the Ministry of Finance is requested to provide the funds. In the previous financial year, the Ministry of Finance allocated Rs 50,000 crore additional funds for the scheme over and above that of BE. The provision for unemployment allowances is applicable for the beneficiary who has demanded work and could not be offered the work within 15 days from the date of demand for work. All other demands for work where the beneficiary has already completed 100 days in the current financial year or the beneficiary who has demanded the work but died before 15 days of the date of the demand of work shall not be eligible for unemployment allowances." The category wise (SC, ST and Others) wage payment system, as made applicable from this current financial year, has been introduced to accurately reflect on the ground flow of funds to various population groups. Its further streamlining is being undertaken," the ministry added.
San Francisco, Oct 30 : Tech giant Apple maintained a loyalty rate of more than 90 per cent for the past three years in the US, says a new report.

According to research group CIRP, a vast majority of Apple's iPhone customers stick with the platform, with the company estimated to have curated the highest brand loyalty out of any smartphone manufacturer operating in the US.

The report said that the calculation was based on the per cent of new iPhone customers who upgraded from a previous iPhone model, reports AppleInsider.

By comparison, runner-up Samsung hovered at a loyalty rate below 70 per cent over the same period.

Motorola and LG experienced lower loyalty rates that have been on a downward trend since 2019, CIRP said.

Apple's position as a front-runner is tied in large part to operating system loyalty.

While manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola and LG jockey for position within the Android ranks, iPhone is the sole beneficiary of customers faithful to iOS.

"Within the Android operating system, Samsung has a similarly strong position as Apple does within the overall smartphone market," CIRP said.

"Motorola has maintained a meaningful share, but has much lower loyalty rates compared to Samsung," it added.

Apple captured 43 per cent of smartphone sales in the US over the past three years. Samsung trailed with 31 per cent of overall sales, but accounted for 54 per cent of the Android market.

In reporting earnings for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021 on Thursday, Apple said revenue from iPhone sales jumped 47 per cent year-over-year (YoY) to hit $38.9 billion.

For the full year, iPhone revenue is up 39 per cent from 2019.

During an ensuing quarterly conference call, CEO Tim Cook said the September quarter saw an increasing number of upgraders and switchers who adopted handsets from the new iPhone 13 lineup.
October 30 : After Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan was granted bail on Thursday and was released from Mumbais Arthur Road jail today, it was not only a reason for the Khan family to rejoice but also for his fans, well-wishers and friends in the industry. In the past few weeks, a lot of mud-slinging for Bollywood happened, but despite that, many Bollywood celebs came out in the open to support Shah Rukh Khan and his family. Maharashtras Minority Development, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Nawab Malik had strongly supported the film fraternity during the crisis.

Filmmaker and actress Pooja Bhatt took to Twitter to thank Nawab Malik for his support to the Hindi film industry when it was facing negative remarks and criticism from all quarters. "Thank you @nawabmalikncp for taking a stand against the engineered campaign of hate towards the Hindi film Industry. It makes us feel less orphaned. Bollywood & Bombay/Mumbai are Intrinsically linked. This is the city of dreams after all & has sustained millions over the years," Pooja tweeted.

Even when Aryan was arrested on October 3, Pooja was one of the few to support Shah Rukh Khan and his family. She also reacted when Shah Rukh Khan was mobbed while he visited Arthur Road jail to meet Aryan Khan. Looking at the videos showing how SRK was being surrounded by the media, Pooja wrote on Twitter, "Dear members of the press. I know times are tougher than ever & there is immense pressure on you'll from your respective employers to grab a byte even if it means compromising your own health & safety but how do you'll explain this pack like behaviour to your own children? Tragic."

Meanwhile, it is reported that Shah Rukh Khan will resume shoot by the end of November as he wants to spend time with Aryan. November is also Aryans and the actors birthday month and Diwali also falls in the same month. It is also reported that Shah Rukh Khans daughter, Suhana Khan, who is studying in New York, will fly down to Mumbai soon to join the family after Aryans release, and also to celebrate dad Shah Rukh and brother Aryans birthdays.
Washington, Oct 30 : US Democrats remain divided on the Party's massive social spending package, as Party progressives dig in their heels and show no sign of backing down.

After months of infighting between progressives in the Democratic Party and two moderate senators, the former group continues to push for a massive spending bill that will vastly widen the nation's social safety net.

Members of the Democratic Progressive Caucus this week re-asserted that they will not vote to pass a much-needed bipartisan infrastructure bill without also advancing their trillion US dollar social spending plan.

Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, on Thursday voiced her and her colleagues' opposition to passing the $550 billion infrastructure package without the $1.75 trillion social spending bill.

"Members of our caucus will not vote for the infrastructure bill without the Build Back Better Act. We will work immediately to finalize and pass both pieces of legislation through the House together," Jayapal said, referring to the official name of the massive social spending bill progressives are champing at the bit to pass.

Jayapal's statement comes on the heels of US President Joe Biden's Capitol Hill visit on Thursday, when he met with Democrats in a bid to discuss the $1.75 trillion social spending plan.

Rep Rashida Tlaib, another progressive, said she would vote "hell no" on the infrastructure bill unless it moves through Congress simultaneously with the social spending bill.

The social spending package has hit a stalemate due to the last two holdouts in the Senate - Democratic Sens Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

Manchin has repeatedly taken issue with the sky-high price tag of the legislation, and has repeatedly held fast to a top-line figure of $1.5 trillion for the social spending package.

Sinema has been silent on the issue for months. However, AZcentral, a local media outlet in her district, reported that the senator "signaled support" for a version of the bill Biden unveiled on Thursday, including a provision intended to limit the cost of Medicare prescription drugs.

The White House earlier this week unveiled a less-expensive version of the original social spending bill. Priced at $1.75 trillion - around half the cost of the original version - the legislation would overhaul the nation's education, tax and climate laws and health care.

Biden's less expensive version was an effort to get the ball rolling, after months of stalled negotiations in the Democratic Party.

The bill, if passed, would be the most far-reaching social legislation in perhaps a decade, offering free pre-kindergarten and investing heavily in the nation's social safety net. It also includes tax credits for low-income families.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua news agency that "some version of the bill will pass because Biden's presidency is on the line." "It would be catastrophic for Democrats not to be able to reach an agreement. Given the importance of passage for the president and his party, it is hard to imagine they won't resolve the remaining questions pretty soon," West said.

Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, said: "I originally thought this bill would pass in early fall. Now I think the odds are only 50-50." Republicans are livid over the bill, which they refer to as a socialist power grab by Democrats that will add trillions to the already heavy national debt.

Divisions with the Democratic Party, as well as with the GOP, underscore a cavernous ideological gap that has only increased over the past decades. At its core, Democrats - with support in urban and coastal areas - favour a larger government role. Republicans, which tend to be centered in rural areas, prefer smaller government.

Amanda Lowry, a student in her mid-20s in the Washington DC area, told Xinhua she welcomed parts of the bill that provide child care, saying it's "good for the economy," as more "women will be able to work." Jerrod King, a mid-level manager in his 40s in the state of Pennsylvania, said he is not in favour of the bill, particularly an earlier version that provided free community college. "You can pay for your own community college," he said, arguing that it's cheap enough for many Americans to afford.
Raipur, Oct 30 : Shuttling between the stage where people are worshipping their ancestors on drum beats and dance moves, to holding sessions with some of country's top designers, art curators, civil servants and tourism specialists, she believes that unless everyone divorces the silo approach, little can be achieved when it comes to on-ground development of tribals living anywhere in the country including Chhattisgarh which boasts of a Recorded Forest Area (RFA) of 59,772 sq km.

Yasmin Kidwai, Festival Director of the ongoing National Tribal Dance Festival being held here, who is also the Municipal Councillor from Daryaganj, Delhi's largest MCD constituency says that the festival which debuted two years back, and is held on the state day not only aims to bring tribals, civil servants and domain specialists on one platform but also integrate tribals with each other as they get a chance to meet and spend time with each other.

"With such a large tribal population, it is paramount that they be included in every aspect of development so as to ensure a great road ahead for the state," she tells IANS.

A documentary filmmaker who has to her credit internationally-acclaimed films like 'No Problem! Six Months with Barefoot Grandmamas' and 'Filmisthaan -- The Euphoric State of Bollywood', Kidwai feels that while the state government's multiple steps for tribal development are bound to have an impact, private players too need to pitch in with innovative ideas and professional execution. "It needs to be understood that to make anything sustainable, it is important to win over the trust of tribals, and that can be achieved when they relaise that those coming from outside are not looking after their own interests. It is through festivals like these that we can bring everybody onboard -- discuss plans and their execution." Stressing that while tourism has opened up in the state, there was a need to encourage eco-friendly and sustainable tourism model, Kidwai adds, "Many states have succeeded in doing that. We all know that now tourists are not just looking for top hotels to stay in, but craving for local experience. This is where home-stays come in. Think about the kind of impact it will have on the local economy." Talk to her about the fact that parts of the state being in Red Corridor have always impacted tourism here, and she says, "Maoist insurgency has been pushed to a very small part. The place is absolutely safe. In fact, I would like to do something in Bastar, which has abundant natural beauty, thereby introducing tourists to this part of the country. Even here, there are many entrepreneurs from the Bastar region who are getting to meet people who are ready to provide them a platform in the market." About Sirpur, which also has immense potential considering it is an important Buddhist site, and images of Shiva and Vishnu have also been unearthed during the ongoing evacuations, she feels that a little push can drive much tourism traffic here.

But 'development' can mean different things to different people. Across the country, there have been examples of tribals being forced out of their lands as an excuse for integrating them into the mainstream. "That is true. However, in Chhattisgarh, the forest cover has been increasing steadily. Also, the government realises the importance of taking the tourists to the heartland and not vice-versa for an ornamental display." And when it comes to politics, this Sociology graduate from Hindu College smiles that she "does not know what politics is". "The definition of politics has always confused me. Frankly, I am just trying to do my job honestly. It is not really not my ambition to reach a particular point."
Jaipur, Oct 30 : A total of 53.69 per cent voting has been reported in two assembly constituencies of Rajasthan -- Vallabhnagar and Dhariyawad, till 3 p.m. where bypolls are being held on Saturday after the seats were left vacant with the demise of two MLAs, namely Congress' Gajendra Singh Shaktawat from Vallabhnagar and BJP's Gautamlal Meena from Dhariyawad.

While Dhariyawad reported 54.23 per cent voting till 3 p.m., Vallabhnagar reported 53.14 per cent polling, confirmed the election commission office.

Till 11 a.m., a total of 23 per cent polling was reported in Vallabhnagar while 27 per cent was reported in Dhariyawad which increased to around 42 per cent till 1 p.m. In Vallabhnagar, it was 42 per cent till 2 pm.

In 2018, 76.31 per cent voting was reported in Vallabhnagar assembly elections while Dhariyawad had witnessed 78.32 per cent voting.

In 2019, the polling per cent came down to 67.47 per cent in Vallabhnagar during Lok Sabha elections while in Dhriyawad, 73.83 per cent voting was reported in parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, a day before these bypolls, Congress was in all cheers as it won two seats in Alwar and Dholpur panchayati raj polls.

Results of Dholpur came as as a surprise for the saffron party as it was considered to be a strong bastion for former CM Vasundhara Raje. Meanwhile, Alwar too, left the saffron party surprised with Congress making a winning lead there.

Sources said that infighting in BJP has led the voters confused and hence come this defeat.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : A firecracker seller was arrested by the Delhi police for possessing 115.1 kg of illegal crackers, officials said on Saturday.

Police said that during patrolling at 10.45 p.m. in the Paharganj area, they found that a man was selling firecrackers near his residence in white plastic sacks. On checking, the accused identified as Girdhari Lal (49) was found to possess 115.1 kgs of illegal firecrackers in a sack.

As per the police statement, "6.30 kg of Green Fire Works Karpagam, RC Brand, 11.75 kg of Kamdenu, 555 Green and Azad Brand, 14.60 kg of Cornation Brand, 9.95 kg of Diamond Dogs, 20.20 kg of Shimba Brand, 12.20 kg of Golden Ship Brand, 8.65 kg of Duck Brand, 18.75 kg of 402 Brand 'Bijli Bam', 12.70 kg of 402 Brand were recovered from the accused." A case has been filed under the Explosives Act, 1884 and an investigation has been taken up. Post the Delhi government's decision to completely ban storage, sale and use of all kinds of firecrackers from September 15 onwards, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee has extended the ban till January 1, 2022, in order to keep the national capital's air quality in check during the winter season.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : A man allegedly involved in several crimes has been arrested in south Delhi, police said on Saturday.

According to police, based on a tip-off about the movement of wanted criminal Iqbal in the Malviya Nagar area, a trap was laid.

As the informer indicated to police that Iqbal was approaching on a two-wheeler, police signalled him to stop, but he accelerated and tried to flee. However, police were on his trail and apprehended him after a brief chase.

A sophisticated pistol along with five live cartridges was recovered from Iqbal's possession.

An FIR has been registered at the Malviya Nagar police station, police added.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : A 59-year-old woman was arrested for embezzlement of government fund to the tune of Rs 13.85 crore, Police said on Saturday.

According to the police, "We received a complaint regarding misappropriation of government funds of Rs 5 crore on account of purchase of linen items etc. During further probe, it was found that these items (worth Rs 13.85 crore) were purchased on the basis of forged supply orders, no actual supply of items took place, and payment was released to the supplier firm of M/s Sneh Enterprises." "The account statement of the firm confirmed receipt of payments for items which were never delivered. Scrutiny of the e-way bills revealed that vehicles shown as used for delivery of those goods to AIIMS, never delivered the same on any of the dates mentioned on e-way bills. Scrutiny of GPS logs of the vehicles appearing on the e-way bills shows their locations out of Delhi." Police further said that this firm was a supplier and in business with AIIMS for many years. All the manual and digital records maintained at AIIMs for the purpose of such supplies revealed criminal misdeeds of the accused in connivance with the staff of AIIMS. It was found out during investigation, the accused secured forged supply orders in connivance with staff of AIIMS Delhi.

In response to forged supply orders, the accused firm submitted only invoices, delivery challans without physical delivery of the goods. The receipts of goods were not found in the registers of General Store. Bills were raised by the concerned staff of AIIMS, Delhi and got approved without the knowledge of authorised officials of AIIMS.

After getting these bills of 'sham deliveries' sanctioned, cheated amount was transferred to the account of the firm. The accused identified as Sneh Rani Gupta was produced before the designated court.

Further investigation of the case is in progress, Police added.
Bhopal, Oct 30 : Amid voting in bypolls in three Assembly constituencies and a Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress blamed each other for using unethical means to win the elections.

As per the official report, over 70 per cent voting was recorded till 5 p.m.

In Prithvipur assembly constituency where the BJP and the Congress have been trading charges since campaign began, the BJP accused the Congress of threatening BJP voters.

The allegation came from none other but Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

"Congress is feeling edgy due to fear of defeat in the bypolls and therefore, they have started using unethical means. They have been distributing money," he said.

He also accused the Congress of threatening voters at many polling booths in Prithvipur.

On the other hand, the Congress too accused the ruling party of distributing money to influence the voters.

Prithvipur Assembly seat is in the Bundelkhand region. Shishupal Yadav, who is BJP's candidate from Prithvipur, had joined the saffron party after quitting Samajwadi Party just days before his candidature was announced. He was picked as Yadavs form 45 per cent on the electorate.

The Congress has fielded former MLA Brijendra Pratap Singh Rathore's son Nitendra Pratap Singh Rathore.

Bypolls in three Assembly - Prithvipur, Jobat, Raigaon - and the Khandwa Lok Sabha is litmus test for both Chouhan and state BJP chief Vishnu Datt Sharama.

Voting in other places has been peaceful so far.
Chennai, Oct 30 : Tamil Nadu's former Chief Minister and AIADMK Coordinator O. Panneerselvam on Saturday asked Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to clarify the reasons for releasing water from the Mullaperiyar Dam to Kerala.

He sought to know the necessity of releasing water from the dam, that is owned and controlled by Tamil Nadu, when the water level has not reached the apex court allowed 142 feet.

He also asked Stalin to clarify whether the water was released by Tamil Nadu government officials or by the Kerala government on its own and if it was the latter, why the officials of the former were present there at that time.

Panneerselvam said the farmers in five Tamil Nadu districts feel that the government is favouring Kerala.

Similarly, NTK leader Seeman has said it is shocking to see Kerala Ministers releasing the water from the Mullaperiyar Dam even before the storage touched the Supreme Court fixed level.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the dam, built under an 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the then British Raj.

Though the dam is located in Kerala, it is owned, maintained and operated by Tamil Nadu.

The Supreme Court May 5, 2014 had decreed in favour of Tamil Nadu, permitting it to raise the water level in the dam to 142 feet from its earlier storage level of 136 feet.

In 2012, the Supreme Court empowered committee had said the Mullaperiyar Dam is structurally safe.

Even in 2006, the apex court had said that Kerala cannot obstruct Tamil Nadu from increasing the water level in the dam to 142 feet and from carrying out repair works.

The Kerala government wants to build a new dam so that its control will be with it.
Bhubaneswar, Oct 30 : Odisha Police has arrested two fraudsters for impersonating as senior officers of Odisha government and cheated a businessman with Rs 1.17 crore.

Based on a complaint filed by Rikab Chand Munot alias Mukesh Jain, proprietor of M/s Rashtriya Stainless Steel, the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Odisha police arrested Suryamani Tripathy and Amit Kumar from Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, respectively, said EOW SP Dillip Kumar Tripathy.

The two accused were forwarded to the court of SDJM, Bhubaneswar on Saturday.

Tripathy said accused Rajesh Gahlot, Suryamani Triapthy and Amit Kumar impersonated themselves as the officers of RAW, IAS and Odisha Works Department respectively and cheated Mukesh Jain and his son with the help of another lady who impersonated as treasury officer for Rs 1.17 crore.

They cheated the complainant and his son on the pretext of arranging/facilitating big government work orders/contracts.

In 2017, Mukesh Jain through one of his friends came in contact with Rajesh Gahlot, who introduced himself as an officer of RAW claiming several IAS officers as his friends, said the SP.

Gahlot subsequently introduced the complainant and his son Akshay to accused Suryamani Tripathy at Odisha Niwas, Chanakyapuri in New Delhi as an IAS officer, posted as additional secretary in the PWD (public works department).

Later, in January 2018, after being called upon by Suryamani for executing agreement with PWD, pertaining to work orders in favour of complainant's firm, Mukesh Jain & his son came to the office of EIC, Bhubaneswar, where, Suryamani introduced another accused Amit as an executive engineer working with PWD, the SP further informed.

Both Suryamani and Amit took the Jain father-son duo to Bhubaneswar court and prepared the agreements on stamp papers and also got the documents/agreement papers purportedly signed by assistant engineer in the office of EIC (Civil), he said.

The EOW also found that the two accused called the complainant and his son to Bhubaneswar asking them to deposit a sum of Rs 25 lakh with government treasury for registering their firm for issuance of work order.

The Jain duo paid cash of Rs 25 lakh to one lady, who has been introduced as treasury officer. In return, Suryamani Tripathy handed over a fake treasury receipt in respect of Rs 25 lakh to the complainant, the EOW SP said.

Following this, Tripathy handed over two fake work orders worth Rs 3 crore and Rs 4 crore on March 15, 2018 and again, issued another two work orders having contract value of Rs 32.52 crore and Rs 47.52 crore on August 21, 2018.

"The accused persons went on collecting money under different pleas/pretext to expedite the process. Tripathy also handed over a fake letter addressed to branch manager, Axis Bank, Unit-IV, Bhubaneswar requesting therein to transfer an amount of Rs 1.52 crore and Rs.3.16 crore towards 20 per cent advance against the work order to the account of M/s Rashtriya Stainless Steel, Bhubaneswar," the EOW said.

Accordingly, Akshay Jain gave two money receipts of Rs 4.68 crore but no amount was transferred to his account.

The SP said that when no work was assigned, the complainant started doubting the conduct of the accused persons and sought information under RTI about them and the work order so given to them, and came to know that all the documents including the treasury receipt are fake and so is the identity of the accused persons.

During investigation, the police found that accused Suryamani Tripathy has been working as a clerk in the office of DTET (directorate of Technical Education & Training), Cuttack, whereas Amit Kumar is unemployed.

"We have seized all fake work orders, agreements and treasury receipts. It is suspected that the accused might have cheated many other persons too. They used to use the Odisha Niwas, New Delhi to make any deal to impress/gain trust of the complainant," the SP further said.

Investigation of the case is continuing to identify and nab the other accused persons involved in this case and in similar frauds, he added.
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 30 : Congress president of Kerala K. Sudhakaran on Saturday took potshots on the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Vatican and his meeting with the Pope as nothing but an image building exercise for him.

"Nothing more needs to be said than this because Modi is trying to build his image and it was for that he visited the Pope. The problem is once such people who visited the Pope returns to India, they turn communal. All know what they are doing here in India as they have a communal agenda," said Sudhakaran.

In a parting shot, Sudhakaran went on to point out that very soon all will come to know what Modi discussed with the Pope.

Sudhakaran is Congress Lok Sabha member from Kannur and is known for his bold approach in taking on his political adversaries and time and again he comes out successful in elections, be it to the assembly or the Lok Sabha from Kannur -- the citadel of the Communists in the state and all know about the long running battle he has had with the Communists and at times he takes on even Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Hyderabad, Oct 30 : The untimely demise of Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar has shocked the entire nation.

As the news of the actor's death spread earlier than the official declaration from his family or doctors, there was chaos all over and some reports even suggested that the actor's condition was quite serious.

Though there were reports from the hospital, most of the media houses maintained silence while waiting for the official confirmation from reliable representatives.

However, an early tweet by actor Lakshmi Manchu about Puneeth Rajkumar's death triggered much negativity for her.

"OMG!!! Nooooooo. This can't be true! How can this be? My deepest condolences to the family. May your soul rest in peace. Gone too soon", Lakshmi tweeted, even before there was any official statement given by Puneeth's family.

After receiving heavy backlash from Twitter users, Lakshmi went further and wrote: "What are all these confusing reports?", which means she tweeted while being unsure about the news.

"This shows the respect you have for an individual. Even if the news is right, what is the need for you to break the news without confirmation?", one of her followers questioned.

Another reply from an internet user reads, "Is this the respect you have for a person's death, his family?" "It is understood that something terrible has happened. The local people even received Puneeth's pictures from the hospital. But, people in good position should behave in a manner that is more responsible than a layman. You don't get a medal for being the first in this case", one of the Twitter users wrote.

"It's ok to wait, confirm and then tweet!", another tweet said.
Chandigarh, Oct 30 : Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Channi on Saturday approved the PSPCL's proposal to terminate GVK Goindwal Sahib (2x270 MW) power purchase agreement (PPA).

Subsequently, the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) has issued termination notice to the company.

A preliminary default notice was served by the PSPCL to GVK for cancellation of PPA due to high power cost.

An official statement quoting Channi said this step had been taken to safeguard the interest of consumers by way of reducing the burden of costly power.

A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said the basic premise of entering into the PPA by GVK with the PSPCL was to provide cheaper power. GVK had been generating energy by arranging coal from the Coal India Ltd under SHAKTI Policy.

As per the PPA, GVK was required to arrange a captive coal mine but it failed to do so, even after the lapse of more than five years of synchronization with the grid, he added.

The spokesman said the capacity charges are being decided by Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) based on capital cost of around Rs 3,058 crore, which is equivalent to about Rs 1.61 per unit of fixed cost.

Going against this decision, the spokesperson said GVK had moved to the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) for claiming higher fixed cost to the tune of Rs 2.50 per unit based on claims of capital cost of about Rs 4,400 crore which is pending adjudication.

As per claims made by GVK, the spokesman pointed out that variable cost is around Rs 4.50 per unit and fixed cost is around Rs 2.50 per unit. Thus, the total claim of GVK under tariff comes out around Rs 7 per unit that increased further due to surrender of its costly power.
New Delhi/Vatican, Oct 30 : Pope Francis received Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a private audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Saturday, the first such meeting between an Indian Prime Minister and the head of the Catholic Church in more than two decades.

"Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India," Modi tweeted soon after the meeting with the Pope.

The Prime Minister's meeting with the Pope came amid his a three-day trip to Italy to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit. Several other world leaders who too have reached Italy for the Summit have been meeting the Pope one after another since Friday.

"The meeting was scheduled for 20-30 minutes (but) went on for an hour," an official said.

Modi was accompanied by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar.

This was the first meeting between an Indian Prime Minister and the Pope in more than two decades after 1999 when then Prime Minister, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited the Vatican and met the then Pope, John Paul II.

Modi becomes the fifth Indian Prime Minister to meet the Pope at the Vatican after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, I.K. Gujral, and Vajpayee.

"During today's meeting, the two leaders discussed the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences for people across the world. They also discussed the challenge posed by climate change. The Prime Minister briefed the Pope about the ambitious initiatives taken by India in combating climate change as well as India's success in administering one billion Covid-19 vaccination doses. His Holiness appreciated India's assistance to countries in need during the pandemic," a release from the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The Prime Minister also extended an invitation to Pope Francis to visit India at an early date, which was accepted with pleasure, it added.

Modi also met Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

India, which is home to the second-largest Catholic population in Asia, and the Holy See have friendly relations dating back to the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1948.
Beijing, Oct 30 : After surviving two weeks of solar outage, Chinese Zhurong Mars rover will perform a radio test with European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express in November.

Every two years, between October 2 and October 16, the Mars solar conjunction happens, during which Earth and the Red Planet are on opposite sides of the Sun.

The Sun expels hot, ionised gas from its corona, which extends far into space. During solar conjunction, when Earth and Mars can't "see" each other, this gas can interfere with radio signals if engineers try to communicate with spacecraft at Mars. That could corrupt commands and result in unexpected behaviour from deep space explorers.

Thus, during this time period, communication with all Mars missions on Earth is halted.

The Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter and the Zhurong rover safely passed the period by relying on its own smart autonomous systems. Last week, the China Lunar Exploration Project of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), announced that the Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter and the Zhurong rover will now continue with their scientific exploration.

The Mars orbiter will enter remote sensing orbit in early November and carry out a remote exploration of Mars, Global Times reported.

The ESA also, this week, announced a series of five communication tests with the Chinese Zhurong Mars rover in November.

Zhurong will transmit data 'blind' as part of a technique designed over a decade ago but not tested in orbit until now. ESA will pass any received data on to the Zhurong team for analysis, the report said.

Since landing in May, Zhurong has relayed data back to its team using the Chinese Tianwen-1 orbiter. However, it is often useful to explore alternative ways to get its data back to Earth. One common solution is to use the Mars orbiters of other space agencies to provide data relay support such as ESA's Mars Express.

In November, Zhurong will perform a series of five tests to relay data to the Mars Express which will further relay it to ESA's ESOC Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, and then to the Zhurong team.

This is also a chance for the Mars Express team to test a backup method for communicating with Mars landers designed over a decade ago but never before tested live in orbit, the report said.
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 30 : A couple who are still searching for their one year old child who was allegedly removed by the mother's parents, on Saturday filed a petition against Kerala Culture Minister Saji Cherian over his remarks which have hurt them.

The couple has been in the news for the past nearly two weeks ever since the media took up the case of 22-year-old mother Anupama (member of a hardcore top CPI-M family in the state capital) and her husband Ajith, who had knocked on all doors for the past six months demanding that the Police, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and several other agencies find her child who had been taken from her by her parents a year back.

It was only after the media took it up did things change.

The verdict of the Family Court came on Monday, which was to have finalised the legal adoption of her baby boy, that was given through the state run adoption agencies to an Andhra couple, but following the media intervention, the court decided to stay all further adoption proceedings.

The ruling CPI-M received flak, especially from the Congress and the BJP, for its stand when it speaks of women and child protection but failed to give justice to its own student activist.

And with the CPI-M caught on the wrong foot, Cherian while speaking at a function attacked Ajith personally about his past. This irked Ajith and Anupama who filed the complaint in the local police station demanding action against the Minister.

"I request the police to conduct a probe on what the Minister said and if not true, action should be taken against him," was the gist of the complaint.
Bengaluru, Oct 30 : Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar's passing away has left his family, friends, and fans devastated. Among them was Jr NTR who broke down.

Telugu actors Nandamuri Balakrishna, Jr NTR, Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, Srikanth, Ali, and many others had flown all the way from Hyderabad to pay their last respects to Puneeth at Bengaluru's Kanteerava Stadium.

"RRR" actor Jr NTR, who was a close friend of Puneeth, broke down on the occasion.

They both shared a special bond as they frequently time together despite their busy schedules. NTR had also sung a song for his movie.

Balakrishna and choreographer and director Prabhu Deva also appeared devastated, as they paid their final respects. Balakrishna treated Puneeth as his own brother and went to several public meetings together.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : Reacting to the DDMA's recent order to not allow Chhath Puja celebrations on the banks of the Yamuna river, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari on Saturday accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of politicising the issue and doing injustice to the Purvanchali community residing in the national capital.

"I request the Delhi chief minister with folded hands to not do this injustice. Chhath Puja is a festival of faith for the Purvanchal community. Playing politics over our festival is a great injustice to the community. It does not suit your stature," Tiwari wrote in a letter. "It is common knowledge that the festival is celebrated every year at Yamuna ghat. After cleaning it, we offer arghya (offerings) to the sun god and pray for the prosperity of Delhi. We are deeply saddened by your anti-Hindu and Purvanchal attitude," the Bhojpuri actor-turned-politician said.

The northeast Delhi MP once again accused Kejriwal of being anti-Hindu and anti-Purvanchali. "There is no BJP member in DDMA. An emergency meeting of DDMA should be called immediately and BJP MPs should be invited to that meeting too," Tiwari tweeted on Saturday evening.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday allowed Chhath Puja celebrations at designated sites in the national capital except the banks of the Yamuna, citing water pollution caused after immersion of prayer offerings as a reason. No site shall be designated on the bank of the Yamuna, the DDMA order said.

On Saturday morning, AAP leader Sanjeev Jha wrote to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, asking the latter to give an appointment to him over the "serious" issue. Jha also mentioned that he has been told by senior officials that such a restriction has been imposed because the level of toxins in the river increases after Chhath Puja offerings as happens in the case of idol immersion at Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja.

"However, Chhath Puja is celebrated in peace with nature. Devotees ensure to clean the ghats before praying. This festival is also celebrated as an occasion to clean one's surroundings," he added.
Srinagar/New Delhi, Oct 30 : Kashmiri Apples (tsonth) have been mentioned many times in history, far back as the 7th century when a Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsang sang about the fruit's sweetness. The high-altitude temperate region of Kashmir is known to be the ideal fruit cultivation land. During his reign in the Valley, Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin (15th century) imported many fruit grafts and laid out orchards to grow them. But the historical account of Kalhana in Rajtarangni proves that the cultivation of apples in the Valley is an affair that dates back more than 3,000 years.

King Nara in 1,000 BC asked for the fruit to be grown on roadsides, agricultural land, and forests to provide ample food and shade for the needy. Several wild species of the fruit indicate their antiquity and relationship with the Valley. Today apples are synonymous with Kashmir; the Valley is the Apple basket of the world growing 113 varieties of the fruit.

Horticulture is one of the prime industries of the Valley - especially the apple industry, which is a means to income for 55 per cent of the Kashmiri population generating revenue of Rs 1,500 crore annually. The Union Territory administration is focused to set up high-density orchards that accommodate more plants with a better yield variety - Grade-A quality apples.

Many districts have witnessed a change of landscape recently; hundreds of acres of land used by brick kiln makers and paddy fields have been converted to apple orchards to support farmers. The government has helped farmers to set up the plant and infrastructure with a 50 per cent subsidy and free consultations on topics such as cutting, pruning, grading, etc. These farmers are making about Rs 1 lakh per kanal shifting to the apple crop.

To boost the horticulture industry J&K administration is promoting new scientific techniques and methods for the farmers to help them produce this sweet king of the Valley. They are setting up free knowledge centers to educate growers on topics like urea spraying purpose, dosage, and timing, to clear misconceptions on crop diseases, and to bring uniformity in yield. The government has provided for farm machines like tractors and sprayers and trained farmers with marketing and packaging know-how. This has changed the economic profile of the industry.

Besides the economic value, the conversion of paddy fields to high-yielding apple orchards has created new job opportunities. A year back the Union government had approved the MIS (Marketing Intervention Scheme) for the horticulture sector which continues to ensure optimum prices to the apple farmers and the needed fillip to the economy. It also provides for insurance cover, thereby stabilizing the farmers' income. As 12 LMT (Lakh Metric Tonnes) of apples can be produced under this scheme, job opportunities for ancillary services like transportation, cleaning orchards, labeling, and categorizing, are also on the rise. The MIS scheme launched in September 2019 was lauded by the apple farmers as it was a ray of hope after disturbances in the valley following the abrogation of Article 370.

The facility of cold storage in the Valley has also proven to be a boon for the farmers - losses have been minimized to a large extent. Prices have been stabilized at a handsome range; a 10-kg apple box demands anywhere between Rs 1,000 - Rs 1,800, depending upon the quality. Cold storages located at Shopian, Pulwama, Lassipora, and a few other areas of the north, can store up to 2.5 LMT of apples.

Now the apples are directly procured by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) from the growers/aggregators at optimum prices and the payment is promptly made to the parties through the bank. With no middlemen, no delayed payments, and reduction of distress sales, farmers can focus tension-free on their orchards. The government has also guaranteed NAFED a sum of Rs 2,500 crore for this process; and the losses, if any, are to be shared equally between the Central Government and UT administration.

Kashmir, despite militant activities and cross-border terrorism has always shown exceptional interest in the fruit business, being the biggest producer and supplier of quality apples for centuries. With the new road projects under the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways), the apple business of Kashmir is only looking to compete for the first position in the world. The convenience of good roads will increase outreach for farmers and boost tourism; India is also discovering the potential for orchard tourism in the region. The success story of this fruit would have taken to the air long ago had it not been for the political twist in the erstwhile state when in 1990, militancy put an end to a European project of introducing new high-density rootstocks.

Fast forward today, the success of new varieties of apples - M-106 (a semi-dwarf apple rootstock introduced in 2004) and M-9 (a dwarf apple rootstock introduced in 2016) has doubled and tripled the profit of the apple farmers. In fact, M-9 variety has an added benefit of granting "guaranteed returns" as their size is so small that unforeseeable climatic conditions like hailstorms cannot harm them; hail nets can shield them easily. M-9 rootstock trees also stretch the harvest season by four months; from June to November the trees bear steady fruit - a phenomenon never seen before. Thanks to the Centre for the 'Apple Push', today Kashmir is witnessing a new sunrise.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : As people voted for three parliamentary constituencies and assembly bypolls across 15 States and Union Territories held on Saturday, the BJP has expressed confidence that the party will once again prove its stellar performance.

The saffron party claims that the performance will improve in terms of number of seats and vote percentage.

Bypolls for three Lok Sabha seats -- Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) and Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh) were held on Saturday. Polling was also held for 29 assembly constituencies.

BJP state president for Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh told IANS that the party is going to win the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies with huge margin. By-polls for three assembly constituencies of Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were also held.

BJP Himachal Pradesh chief Suresh Kumar Kashyap told IANS that the BJP is going to win the Mandi Lok Sabha and three assembly seats by a huge margin. "People have seen the work of the BJP government at the Centre and the state under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and they will vote to ensure victory of BJP candidates in Himachal Pradesh," Kashyup said.

When asked whether rebel candidate Chetan Bragta in Jubbal Kotkhai damaged chances of party official candidate Neelam Saraik, Kashyup said, "Whether Bragta's candidature goes against our candidate is only accessed after declaration of poll results. But all the BJP workers and our candidate Saraik worked hard and we are confident of winning the seat." BJP Madhya Pradesh president and Lok Sabha member V.D. Sharma claimed that party's performance will improve. "We are winning all seats where bypolls were held today which include one Lok Sabha and three assembly seats. Our performance will improve in all respects which means number of seats and vote percentage," Sharma said.

Bypoll in Khandwa Lok Sabha seat was necessitated after the death of BJP MP Nandkumar Chauhan. While Jabat and Prithvipur fell vacant after the death of Congress MLAs and Raigon fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA.

BJP Madhya Pradesh in-charge, P. Muralidhar Rao told IANS that BJP won two assembly seats which Congress had won earlier. "While winning back two seats (one Lok Sabha and one assembly) earlier won by the BJP, we are also winning the remaining two assembly seats from the Congress," Rao said.

The bypolls on two assembly constituencies of Rajasthan were necessitated after the death of BJP MLA from Dhariawad, Gautam Lal Meena, and Congress MLA from Vallabhnagar, Gajendra Singh Shaktawat.

BJP Rajasthan president Satish Poonia said that party will not only perform well in the state but will also perform well in all the states. "We will retain our Dhariawad constituency but in the quadrangular contest, will win the other seat. There is huge support for BJP across the country and we will perform well in Rajasthan and other states too," Poonia added.

In West Bengal, bypolls were held on four seats - Dinhata, Santipur, Khardaha and Gosaba. Dinhata and Santipur constituencies were won by the BJP in assembly polls held earlier this year. Nisith Pramanik and Jagannath Sarkar, BJP Lok Sabha members who chose to remain in Parliament, had vacated the seats. The Khardah and Gosaba assembly seats won by TMC fell vacant after the death of the legislators.

BJP functionary alleged that TMC government has used state machinery to influence the bypolls, however, BJP will improve its performance from assembly election. A senior BJP leader claimed that bypoll results will come in its favour and will further establish party's popularity among masses across the state.
Gandhinagar, Oct 30 : The Gujarat High Court has quashed an FIR against Congress MLA from Patan, Kirit Patel and two others, accusing them of sexual harassment, criminal intimidation, and criminal defamation, based on a complaint by a university faculty member.

Justice Gita Gopi on Friday quashed the complaint and FIR, holding that a plain reading of the complaint showed that "it missed out on specifics". The complainant "has not given any particulars or details as to when the alleged instances of harassment had taken place," the judge said.

At the time of the incident in 2016, Patel and two other accused were office-bearers of the Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University at Patan. All the three were charged of forgery, intentionally insulting someone, criminal intimidation, criminal defamation, insulting modesty of a woman and criminal conspiracy, under the Indian Penal Code.

The high court observed that it appeared that the issue related to political rivalry between different factions in the varsity as the complainant had narrated as to how a particular individual was restricted from becoming a member of the Executive Committee/Search Committee for the varsity's Vice Chancellor.

"The allegations made in the impugned complaint appear to be general in nature and unspecific. This court is of the opinion that the complaint filed by (the complainant) is a clear misuse and abuse of the process of law and deserves to be quashed and set aside," it ruled.

In November 2017, the alleged victim had filed a complaint against the three alleging that in 2016, some TV news channels reported a news item in which some scandalous remarks were made against her and Adesh Pal, who was the Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University at that time.

The complaint also alleged that some posters were pasted on the university premises portraying that the complainant and Pal, her PhD guide, were involved in "an illicit relationship".

It was also alleged that "to scuttle the journey of Dr Adesh Pal as the Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University," the accused used the complainant "as a medium so as to harm the reputation" of Pal.

The complainant, aggrieved by the non-addition of certain sections in the FIR, had moved the Gujarat HC, seeking transfer of investigation in the case to DSP, Patan. Initially the complaint was filed under Sections 500 and 120B of the IPC (criminal defamation and criminal conspiracy, respectively). Following a court order and investigation by the DSP Patan, the complaint was registered under Sections 354(A)(1)(iv), 469, 504, 506, 500, 509 and 120B of IPC against the three accused, including the Patan MLA.

The university had constituted a committee to inquire into the allegations made by the female faculty and upon inquiry, it submitted its report to the Vice Chancellor, saying that the computers had no history of downloads or any objectionable material of the posters, referred to by the complainant.

The FSL and the Directorate of Forensic Science, Gujarat, also said that "no incriminating material was found in the said Computers, after investigating the computers of the university".
Patna, Oct 30 : Two more persons died in Muzaffarpur liquor tragedy in Bihar on Saturday, taking the death toll to 8.

A liquor party was held in a house of newly elected ward member Amit Kumar Bittu in Repura village on Wednesday to celebrate his victory in which around two dozen persons participated.

After consuming liquor, health of Munna Singh, Awanish Singh and Vipul Shahi started deteriorating. As the incident created fear among other participants, all of them were admitted in several hospitals in and around Saraiya block.

During the treatment, Munna Singh, Awanish Singh, Vipul Shahi, Avinash Singh, and Golten Singh died in different hospitals. One more person died on Friday and two more on Saturday.

"During the investigation, it was revealed that they on Wednesday consumed liquor which is banned in Bihar. We have suspended the SHO and additional SHO of Saraiya police station with immediate effect," said Jayantkant, SSP of Muzaffarpur.

"During the search of the party venue, we also recovered some empty liquor bottles. The FSL team collected the samples and sent them to lab for testing. We also found several rappers, bottles from the house of one of the deceased Vipul Shahi," Jayantkant said.

"We have arrested 10 persons in this connection so far and also sealed two houses," he said.
Panaji, Oct 30 : China has occupied Indian territory as big as the size of the national capital, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here on Saturday, while also accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of promoting crony capitalism at the cost of millions of farmers, workers and small businessmen in the country.

"So we have a tragedy unfolding in this country. At the same time. Chinese enter our country, take thousands of km of our land. Land almost the size of Delhi has been occupied by them. They are sitting inside Indian territory today and the PM says nobody has taken our land," Gandhi told a Congress party meeting near Panaji.

"Brother is pitted against brother. The nation is divided, hatred is spread and those same five-six people benefit. The whole design is so that the same five or six people are benefited. Doesn't matter if the country burns, doesn't matter if hatred spreads throughout the country but those same five or six people have to benefit. This is the reality of India today," Gandhi also said.

"A GST (was) designed to help a few of their friends and now finally you see farmers all across the country agitated because the BJP and Modi have passed the three new farm laws which are designed to crush the farmers of the country," he also said.

"And what people have to realise that these five-six people are benefiting and that millions and millions are being systematically destroyed -- small farmers and businessmen," Gandhi said, accusing the media of not covering issues which are relevant to the country.
Bhubaneswar, Oct 30 : BJP Mahila Morcha National President Vanathi Srinivasan on Saturday demanded resignation of MoS in Odisha government, Dibya Shankar Mishra over the Mamita Meher murder case.

Srinivasan said the minister must step down for the sake of free and fair investigation. She also reiterated the demand for a CBI probe into the murder case.

Addressing a press conference here, the BJP leader said the Assembly constituency where the crime took place is represented by minister Mishra and the accused Gobinda Sahu is known to be his close aide.

Mishra had visited the school many times. Funds from the MLA LAD have been provided to Sahu's school too, she alleged.

Even though three weeks have passed of the incident, neither Mishra nor anyone from the State government visited the family, the BJP leader said.

"Mishra, the Minister of State for Home broke his silence by issuing a statement yesterday claiming that he is in no way involved in the case. He swore by the name of Goddess Manikeswari and pleaded not guilty. Similarly, we in the BJP request him (Mishra) in the name of Lord Jagannath to resign to pave way for a fair probe into the murder case," demanded the BJP Mahila Morcha national president.

If he is innocent, what prevented him from visiting Mamita's home to console the bereaved family, she questioned.

BJP leader and MLA from West Bengal, Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, who is another member of the Central BJP team, slammed the state government for not reaching out to the family yet even 22 days after the incident.

Chaudhury urged the Naveen Patnaik government to strictly follow the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018 to ensure the safety and security of witnesses.

The three-member BJP Central team was on a two-day visit to Odisha to carry out a ground assessment of facts in the Mamita Meher murder case. The other member is Haryana MP Sunita Duggal. The team visited the victim's native village in Bolangir district and spoke to the parents of the victim and offered their condolences.

Meanwhile, the State BJP on Saturday intensified its protest over the issue. The BJP activists staged protests at Rourkela, Cuttack and Nayagarh in support of their demand for the arrest of Mishra.

The party also observed a 12-hour bandh (from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) in several districts including Boudh, Kendrapara, Balasore and Jagatsinghpur. The party has also called for a 6-hour bandh in Bhadrak district.
Silchar : /Aizawl, Oct 30 (IANS) A high-intensity bomb was detonated early on Saturday near an Assam Police border outpost in Hailakandi district along the border with Mizoram, triggering a fresh tension between the two states, officials said.

As the massive explosion occured in the early hours and on vacant land, no one was injured and no property was damaged.

Assam Police officials said that a Mizoram security personnel, who was wandering around the blast site at Baicherra, was arrested along with cordex wire that is used to remotely detonate the powerful bombs.

A police official said that the arrested man is a resident of Bairabi, the headquarters of Mizoram's Kolasib district that shares borders with Assam's Cachar and Hailakandi districts.

The influential Mizo organisation -- Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) -- has issued an ultimatum saying that if the Mizoram security personnel is not released immediately, they would not allow Assam vehicles to enter Mizoram.

There is also an ongoingd dispute that arose recently over the construction of a bridge by the Assam government near Zophai in Bairabi.

The three southern Assam districts known as Barak Valley -- Hailakandi, Karimganj and Cachar -- shares a 165-km-long border with Mizoram's Mamit, Kolasib and Aizawl districts throughout which, there are border disputes in more than five stretches.

On July 26, six Assam Police personnel were killed and over 50 were injured in the bloodiest border violence. After the border violence, there was an "economic blockade" for around two weeks, leaving hundreds of Mizoram-bound goods vehicles, stranded on the National Highway 306.

Assam and Mizoram held a crucial ministerial level meeting on August 5 in Aizawl where they decided to maintain peace along their border, and agreed that they would not send their respective forces and officials to the troubled areas.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : Delhi Police have arrested a wanted Maoist who escaped from jail in Chhattisgarh in 2014, officials said on Saturday.

According to the police, Anurag Ram, commander of banned People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) from Chhattisgarh who was absconding from the district jail of Jashpur in Chattisgarh was arrested on Friday from Dhaula Kuan bus stand in the national capital. Anurag who was known in different names such as Sadlohar, Dhalbir, Haga, and Kundan is wanted in several cases in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

He was hiding in the border area of Punjab and Haryana for the last seven years to evade arrest, police said in a statement.

Earlier in 2014, he was arrested in a complaint of a businessman in connection with an extortion case demanding Rs 2 lakh from him. On May 26, 2014, he was brought to the District Court, Jashpur, Chattisgarh, from district jail for hearing a case related to Arms Act & Damage to Property Act.

After the conclusion of the Court's proceedings, he was kept in the District Lock up in the evening. However, he along with his three associates escaped from the lock-up after breaking the window. Since then he was evading arrest. He also had a case for shooting a man of his village with a firearm.

Special team of the Crime Branch, who was investigating active Maoist modules got a tip-off about the identity of the accused and subsequently, he was nabbed.

During interrogation, accused Anurag disclosed that in 2012, he came in contact with the members of PLFI. He got arms from there and he started extorting money from the people.

Accused Anurag was a labourer and belongs to a poor family. He joined PFLI after he was motivated by a local cadre of the Maoist group in 2012.

Thereafter, he got training in weapon handling and started to operate in the urban areas for extortion.

He was given an SLR and several rounds by the Maoists which he used to commit extortion. This weapon had earlier been recovered by Jashpur police. The accused has been arrested under CrPC and concerned Police Stations as well as other agencies, have been informed accordingly.
Panaji, Oct 30 : Referring to West Bengal Chief Minister as Mamata 'Begum', BJP MP and its youth wing president Tejasvi Surya on Saturday said that the Trinamool Congress founder should not be allowed to step foot in the land of sage Parshuram and Shivaji Maharaj.

"We need a full majority government in Goa, 2022 will herald a new age of politics in Goa, a full majority government. We need to do this because a lot is at stake. We need to do this because the country wants to trust youth leadership," Surya told a party meeting here.

"We need to do this because we cannot let Mamata Begum come inside the land of Parshuram and the land of Shivaji Maharaj," he also said.

Surya's comments came at a time when the TMC has been aggressively campaigning for the 2022 state assembly polls in the coastal state.

Surya also lashed out at Aam Aadmi Party and its founder and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying the AAP too cannot be allowed to win in the state.

"We cannot let copycat IIT engineers in the land of the original IIT chief minister for the nation," he said, comparing Kejriwal, an IIT-Kharagpur alumnus to former Goa Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar, an IIT-Bombay alumnus.

"We cannot allow governments which can be remote controlled from Kolkata, we cannot be putting a government which will be remote controlled from Delhi. We need a government which will be led by a Goan, for Goans from Panaji from Goa. This is our resolve," Surya also said.
Kolkata, Oct 30 : Apart from some sporadic incidents the polling in four assembly constituencies in West Bengal passed off peacefully. In a comparatively low polling, Santipur in Nadia recorded the highest of 76.1 per cent and Khardha recorded the lowest of 63.9 per cent.

In the dying hours of polling a controversy erupted when BJP candidate in Khardah Joy Saha caught hold of a person alleging that he was trying to cast a false vote.

The incident at Bandipur in Khardah immediately triggered tension as the Trinamool Congress supporters started giving slogans and this prompted the central forces to resort to lathi-charge resulting in the injury of Aryadeep Sinha - son of late MLA Kajal Sinha's son.

Trinamool Congress candidate Sovondeb Chattopadhyay said, "There was nothing of this sort. The BJP candidate was trying to create disturbance and the central forces and the personal security of the BJP candidate resorted to lathi charge. Our supporters were injured in the process".

BJP candidate Joy Saha has refuted the allegation. The election commission, however, sought for a report from the district magistrate.

Chattopadhyay has been alleging of the excesses of the central forces since morning. "The agents are told that if they wear a badge then they will not be allowed inside the booths. This is my eighth election and I know the rules better than the forces. If the badge is in my name with the party's symbol, then they cannot be stopped," Chattopadhyay had said.

"The voters are also told that if they don't have a double vaccine then they will not be allowed inside the booths. This is weird. How can they dictate terms like this? Their only job is to see whether there is any problem outside the booth. The technical specifications will be handled by the Presiding officer. I have lodged a complaint with the election commission," Chattopadhyay added.

However, Dinhata in Coochbehar recorded a polling percentage of 69.9 and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas district recorded 75.9 per cent polling.

BJP candidate in Santipur Niranjan Biswas alleged that voters are not being allowed to come out of their houses to exercise their franchise. "Some of our supporters are being threatened so that they don't go to the polling station. The Trinamool Congress goons are forcing them to stay indoors. I have lodged a complaint with the election commission," Biswas said.

EC officials however said, they looked into the issues but nothing substantial was found. "Polling is continuing on peacefully in the constituency at present," the official had said.

The Election Commission had made an extensive arrangement for bypolls and deployed 92 units of central police forces, out of which 8 companies would be retained for counting day on November 2.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : The Centre has proposed amendments to the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, to further promote the usage of renewable energy sources.

The Power Ministry proposed the amendments to enhance demand for renewable energy at the end-use sectors such as industry, buildings, transport amongst other.

"Amidst the growing energy needs and changing global climate landscape, the Government of India has identified new areas to achieve higher levels of penetration of renewable energy by proposing certain amendments to the Energy Conservation Act, 2001," it said.

"The proposal includes defining minimum share of renewable energy in the overall consumption by the industrial units or any establishment. There will be provision to incentivise efforts on using clean energy sources by means of carbon saving certificate." The amendments would facilitate development of carbon credit market in India and prescribe minimum consumption of renewable energy either as direct consumption or indirect use through the grid, the ministry said.

"This will help in reduction of fossil fuel based energy consumption and carbon emissions into the atmosphere." Besides, these proposed changes will boost the adoption of clean technologies in various sectors of economy, it added.

"The provisions would facilitate promotion of green hydrogen as an alternate to the existing fossil fuels used by the industries.

"The additional incentives in the form of carbon credits against deployment of clean technologies will result in private sector involvement in climate actions." Furthermore, the proposal also includes expanding the scope of the Act to include larger residential buildings, with an aim to promote "sustainable habitats".

The ministry stated that the need for energy is inevitable and with the changing business landscape, it is has become even more imperative to address the nation's need to become energy-efficient without putting further pressure on the environment.

"With the amendment to EC Act, 2001, the focus is to empower institutions to contribute for our Paris commitments and fully implement our NDCs in a timely manner." At present, India aims to achieve more than 40 per cent of its cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil-fuel energy resources by 2030.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : Just as it was the International Solar Alliance (ISA) at the time of Paris COP in 2015, there is a strong possibility that India would go big about "green" hydrogen at this COP that starts on Sunday at the UK's Glasgow.

India has been under pressure to declare either enhanced ambition or to declare net zero goals in the run-up to the annual climate change talks, the COP26, but it has so far maintained top secrecy, saying whatever is the country's stance, it would be announced "at an appropriate time and appropriate place." The COP26, the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is to take place from October 31 till November 12 at the Scottish city of Glasgow where the world leaders and negotiators will deliberate actions to reduce carbon emissions to restrict the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to attend the High-Level segment on November 1 and 2 and so are the Ministers of Environment and Power on other days. Going beyond its committed 175 GW of renewable energy, India has already announced that it will pursue 450 GW of installed capacity of renewable energy by 2030.

The government has not, however, announced any break-up of this 450 GW target. There have been big ticket solar power plants across states, some already functional, some under-construction, so solar is a big part of this renewable energy basket. But it is now also certain that green hydrogen will occupy a pride of place in it.

"Modi is going to own up solar plants and green hydrogen in a big way," a source, who has been involved in the energy sector, told IANS.

Another source from the development sector concurred.

"We are going to say something big about green hydrogen. We are trying to get some other countries on board - on the lines of the International Solar Alliance - for some kind of global consensus for an alliance on hydrogen. It is a technologically attractive option," the source said.

India has already declared a National Hydrogen Mission in August this year. With this, it is looking at a great opportunity to cut down on fossil fuel-based chemicals, which are used to produce hydrogen.

"Today, hydrogen is made in all refineries, all fertiliser plants using natural gas. It is a fossil fuel, which means, sending out a lot of CO2 emission. Green hydrogen will help us cut that down," the energy sector source said.

The government is planning to go phase-wise, for example, this Hydrogen mission is likely to give a mandate to progressively start giving 1 per cent dose in year one, then three per cent dose in year two and so on so forth, and then at the end of 2025 or 2030, whichever is decided, the target would be 10 per cent.

"That (10 per cent) is how a huge quantity of fossil fuel replaced. Green means the entire carbon footprint should be zero and hydrogen will help achieve that to a large extent," the source said.

There are various ways to make green hydrogen without adding any carbon. If solar energy is used for the hydrogen making process, then the entire cycle becomes carbon free.

Earlier in September, stating that India has the potential to step in to meet not just India's but global demand for green hydrogen, Union Earth Sciences and Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh had declared the aspirational goal of 'Hydrogen 2-1-2' wherein "2 means green hydrogen that would costs for less than $2 per kg; 1 means hydrogen storage plus distribution plus refueling cost less than $1 per kg, and the last 2 is for replacement of incumbent end-use technology with green hydrogen technology with ROI of less than 2 years".

"Various options have been given to the PMO, all of them are under consideration. Some of these endorsements will find a way to this forum (COP)," said another source in the Environment Ministry.

In this decade, the whole economy of the world is to rest on hydrogen, and the "H2 economy" will bring in a paradigm change.

It is a continuously available material and totally renewable. One cannot store energy anywhere else except in hydrogen and batteries.

"This development - of announcing big on green hydrogen - would be greatly helpful in reducing import bills from batteries needed for storage in case of solar energy," a consultant from the energy field said.

All eyes are now set to what Prime Minister Modi announces during the High-Level segment.
New Delhi, Oct 30 : The Prevention of Vice Manual of the Taliban discourages people from "helping, befriending... infidels".

Taliban officials in Afghanistan's provinces are using a manual that imposes rules harsher than the abusive policies announced by their leaders in Kabul. And Taliban authorities often do not comply with the rights protections that the manual, from the Taliban's Ministry of Vice and Virtue, sets out, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

"The Taliban's world view and abusive practices have been relatively consistent, as this manual demonstrates," Heather Barr, associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch said.

"Countries that spent the last 20 years promoting human rights in Afghanistan need to negotiate with the Taliban to try to end worsening rights violations, including against women and girls." The manual instructs religious leaders to advise men on growing their beards. Those who fail to pray or fast as required by religious obligations are to be reported. It prohibits parties and listening to music audible outside a home, cinemas, gambling, and "inappropriate use of tape cassettes, dish antenna, computer and mobile." The Taliban issued the "By-Law of the Commission for Preaching and Guidance, Recruitment and Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice" in 2020, and a revised version in February 2021 when it was controlling growing areas of the country. The ministry has used it in a number of provinces since the Taliban took over Kabul on August 15.

The manual is largely devoted to enforcing rules against "vice," but its final chapters set out guidelines for all Afghans and for Taliban members, including tough restrictions on the conduct of women and girls, HRW said.

It instructs religious leaders to teach people about which male family members can act as a mahram (a chaperone) for women and older girls and states that women "shall be commanded to put on a veil when faced with non-mahrams." Another provision states: "Women shall be prohibited from not wearing hijab and veil in public and against non-mahrams," but adds that these mandates should be enforced in "an easy and kind way." The manual also imposes abusive restrictions on personal freedom and other liberties. It prohibits sex outside of marriage - which the penal code adopted by the previous government also prohibited - along with adultery, same-sex relations, and immorality and vice.

The manual also says that everyone should respect the rights of women, including the right not to be forced into marriage. The HRW said the Taliban, by closing girls' secondary schools and imposing tough new restrictions on women attending universities, have greatly heightened the risk of forced marriage. Research from around the world identifies lack of access to education for girls as one of the major risk factors driving child marriage. Another driver of child marriage is poverty: Afghanistan's aid-dependent economy has toppled as donors have withheld funds for reasons including the Taliban's closure of girls' secondary schools.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
Guwahati, Oct 30 : Victory in Saturday's byelections in nine seats in three northeastern states - Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram - could offer an edge to the main rival contestants - the BJP and its NDA allies, and the Congress, ahead of upcoming elections in the region.

The outcome of the by-elections, due on November 2, hold significance as BJP-ruled Manipur is going to the polls early next year, though Meghalaya and Mizoram, governed by the National People's Party (NPP) and the Mizo National Front (MNF), respectively, would only see polls in 2023.

Both the NPP and the MNF are constituents of the National Democratic Alliance.

Another NDA ally in Nagaland -- the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio -- won the lone Assembly seat -- Shamator-Chessore -- unopposed.

Political commentator and writer Sushanta Talukdar said: "Both BJP and the Congress have high stakes in Assam and the outcome of the bypolls are likely to influence the upcoming assembly polls in the neighbouring states." "The BJP in alliance with its junior partners are already running governments in Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh. The allies of the saffron party running government in the remaining four northeastern states.

"All the eight northeastern states earlier dominated by the Congress and the non-BJP parties but the BJP now becoming a major force in the region," Talukdar, the editor of multilingual online portal 'nezine', told IANS.

Politics watchers say that the Saturday's by-elections were the acid test for both ruling and the opposition parties as well the local parties, which have fielded candidates in all the nine seats, and might divide the vote share of the main challengers -- BJP and Congress.

Political commentator and academician Apurba Kumar Dey said that there are many anti-incumbency factors against both the BJP-led Assam government and the NPP-dominated Meghalaya government.

"The outcome of the Saturday's byelections would make clear how much the main opposition Congress capitalises these vital factors," Dey told IANS.

The BJP has fielded candidates in three of the five Assam assembly seats and all the three are turncoats - Congress's Rupjyoti Kurmi in Mariani and Sushanta Borgohain in Thowra, and All India United Democratic Front's (AIUDF) Phanidhar Talukdar in Bhabanipur. Ally UPPL is contesting the other two.

The Congress, which fielded candidates in all the five seats, has been trying hard at least to retain Thowra and Mariani seats, which it won in the last polls.

The AIUDF had fielded candidates in Bhabanipur and Gossaigaon, Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal was contesting in Thowra and Mariani, and the Hagrama Mahilary-led Bodoland People's Front (BPF) in Gossaigaon.

The AIUDF and the BPF were members of the Congress-led 10-party 'Mahajot' (grand alliance) in the March-April Assembly polls.

The by-elections were necessitated due to the Covid-related deaths of two sitting MLAs belonging to the UPPL and the BPF while two Congress and the AIUDF legislator joined the BJP after quitting their Assembly membership.

In Meghalaya, the NPP, headed by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, and the Congress fielded candidates in all the three seats, while the BJP, which is a constituent of the NPP-dominated Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), fielded a candidate in Rajabala.

Another MDA partner, the United Democratic Party also fielded candidate in Mawphlang, causing possible division of votes among the ruling partners and some benefit to the Congress.

The bypolls were necessitated following the deaths of three sitting MLAs -- David A Nongrum (Congress, Mawryngkneng), Azad Zaman (UDP, Rajabala) and Syntar Klas Sunn (Independent, Mawphlang).

In Mizoram, the bypoll to the Tuirial was necessitated following the death of sitting Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) legislator Andrew H. Thangliana.

Four candidates -- K. Laldawngliana of the ruling Mizo National Front, Laltlanmawia of the ZPM, Chalrosanga Ralte of the Congress, and the BJP's K. Laldinthara are in the fray.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
Hyderabad, Oct 30 : Massive voter turnout of 86.33 per cent was recorded in by-election to Huzurabad Assembly constituency in Telangana while Badvel constituency in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh saw 68.12 per cent polling.

Huzurabad had recorded 84.5 per cent polling in 2018 elections while the turnout was 76.37 per cent in Badvel.

Barring minor incidents, the polling was peaceful in both the constituencies.

Election Commission officials said the final polling figures may slightly vary as those standing in queues at 7 p.m. were allowed to cast their votes.

Counting of votes will be taken up on November 2.

Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Shashank Goel said the polling percentage has gone up compared to 2018 elections. He expressed satisfaction over the conduct of polls in a smooth and peaceful manner.

Noting various parties have lodged complaints against each other, he said they were looking into the complaints of irregularities and will take appropriate action after receiving reports from poll observers.

The polling began at 7 a.m. at all 306 polling centres in Huzurabad and the process was peaceful, barring minor incidents of clashes between workers of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

District Election Officer and Karimnagar District Collector R.V. Karnan, who visited a few polling stations to oversee the polling process, said Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at a couple of places developed snags but they were immediately replaced.

Long queues of voters were seen at the polling centres since morning. A total of 2,37,036 voters are eligible to cast their votes in the byelection.

Authorities conducted the polling process in compliance with Covid-19 protocol. At every polling station, voters were allowed in after thermal screening. The officials also made markings on ground to ensure social distancing.

Twenty companies of central forces in addition to the personnel from State police were deployed as part of the elaborate security arrangements.

A total of 30 candidates are in fray in the by-election, caused by the resignation of Eatala Rajender after he was dropped from state cabinet. Rajender also quit the TRS to join the BJP.

Rajender, who had been representing Huzurabad seat since 2009, is locked in a three-cornered contest with Gellu Srinivas Yadav of the TRS and B. Venkat Narsing Rao of the Congress.

In Badvel, the voter turnout was less compared to the 2018 elections. State Chief Electoral Officer K. Vijayanand said the polling was peaceful.

The poll authorities had made elaborate security arrangements for the polling in the constituency in Kadapa, home district of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Badvel, reserved for Scheduled Castes, is one of the Assembly segments of Kadapa Lok Sabha seat being held by the YSR family for over three decades.

Vijayanand monitored the polling process through webcasting.

A total 2,16,139 voters including 1,07,340 women and two transgenders were eligible to cast their votes.

Fifteen companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Border Security Force (BSF) and 1,606 personnel of Andhra Pradesh Police were deployed.

A total of 15 candidates tested their political fortunes in the bypoll, caused by the death of sitting MLA G. Venkatasubbaiah of the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

The YSRCP has fielded his wife Dasari Sudha, who is locked in a three-cornered contest against Congress' M. Kamalamma and BJP's P. Suresh.

Main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is not contesting the byelection in line with its tradition of supporting the family members of the deceased MLA.
Bengaluru, Oct 30 : Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar's funeral procession will begin at 6 a.m. on Sunday and it has also been decided to conduct final rites by noon at Kanteera Studio premises in Bengaluru.

The decision has been taken in consultation with his family members. Puneeth's body will be laid to rest beside the grave of his father, Kannada film legend Dr Rajkumar. His mother Pravathamma Rajkumar is also buried beside Dr Rajkumar.

Final viewing will be allowed throughout Saturday night till Sunday morning. The procession will begin at 6 a.m. on Sunday from Kanteerava Stadium and reach Kanteera Studio premises in Bengaluru. Entries for fans and private persons are banned there. The government has erected giant screens around the studio to enable fans to view the final rites.

Meanwhile, senior Tamil actor Sharath Kumar came down to Bengaluru to pay his last respects to the departed soul. As Sharath Kumar stood before the mortal remains of Puneeth, tears gushed out of his eyes and he wept his heart out. Famous actor Prakash Raj said that the pain of untimely death of Puneeth is unbearable. He said he is feeling orphaned.
New Delhi/Rome, Oct 30 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed global efforts to combat climate change and the forthcoming COP26 at a bilateral meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit at Rome on Saturday.

The two leaders also discussed ongoing efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic through expedited vaccination efforts and ensuring supply of critical medicines, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said.

In this context, PM Modi appreciated Singapore's outreach to provide Covid assistance to India during the second wave. Prime Minister Lee congratulated the Indian Prime Minister for the rapid vaccination drive in India, the release said.

They also discussed ways to enhance people to people ties, including early normalisation of movement between both countries.

This was their first in-person meeting in the post-pandemic period.
New Delhi/Rome, Oct 30 : Wide-ranging India-France Strategic Partnership and climate finance were among the issues Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed during a bilateral meeting with President of France, Emmanuel Macron at Rome, Italy, on Saturday.

Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit, the two leaders expressed satisfaction at the state of the wide-ranging India-France Strategic Partnership, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Modi also welcomed the European Union's Indo-Pacific Strategy, released in September 2021, and thanked the French President for France's leadership role in the same.

The two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate in the Indo-Pacific and to find new and innovative ways to contribute towards a free, open and rules-based order in the region.

A day ahead of the COP26 - to begin on Sunday at Glasgow in the United Kingdom - the two leaders discussed the need to focus on issues of climate finance at the crucial COP meet.

The Prime Minister also invited President Macron to visit India at the earliest opportunity, the statement added.
Gandhinagar, Oct 31 : The bypoll to the Dadra Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha constituency (reserved for ST) on Saturday saw an enthusiastic response with a 75.91 per cent turnout.

The seat fell vacant following the death of sitting Independent member Mohan Delkar in February this year.

As polling began in 333 booths, people queued up outside to cast their votes. No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the Union Territory.

The contest was a three-cornered one with the Shiv Sena fielding Delkar's wife Kalavati Delkar, while the BJP had given ticket to Mahesh Gavit, who is fighting his first major election after his stint as a district panchayat councillor. The Congress candidate is Mahesh Dhodi.

Even though the Shiv Sena and the Congress are allies in Maharashtra, they contested against each other in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which has a total of 2.58 lakh voters, including 1.22 lakh females.

While the Congress campaign remained a lacklustre exercise, without any prominent party leader visiting the constituency to canvass, the BJP had sent a host of Union Ministers, including Ashwini Vaishnaw, who is also the election in-charge, Smriti Irani, Bharati Pawar, and Parshottam Rupala. Even former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis visited the constituency to support the BJP candidate.

The Shiv Sena had sent Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray, the son of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and party MP Sanjay Raut to campaign for Kalavati Delkar.

The counting of votes will be taken up on November 2.
Manila, Oct 31 : A Philippine ranking army general said troops had killed an alleged "topmost wanted" rebel leader in a clash on Saturday in the southern Bukidnon province.

Major General Romeo Brawner, Commander of the army's 4th infantry division, said New People's Army (NPA) Commander George Madlos, also known as Ka Oris, was killed after a 30-minute firefight in Impasugong town around 11:30 a.m. local time on Saturday.

The military said Madlos, facing murder and robbery charges, is allegedly the commander and spokesperson of the NPA's National Democratic Front, an umbrella organization of left-wing groups, Xinhua news agency reported.

Brawner said another rebel was also killed in the fighting. Troops also recovered an M14 rifle, a KG9 rifle, and several rounds of ammunition from the clash site.

The NPA rebels have been fighting the government since 1969. They concentrate their attacks in rural areas and small-scale skirmishes with the military.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte restarted the talks to end the decades-old insurgency when he came to power in 2016, but the negotiations faltered.

The NPA estimated strength is at 3,000, significantly lower than its peak strength in the 1980s.
New Delhi/Rome, Oct 31 : Terming it as Indias contribution to reduce vaccine inequity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said if the WHO approved Covaxin, Indias indigenous vaccine, India can produce five billion dosages to supply to the developing countries as its contribution to reducing vaccine inequities.

Modi was speaking at the first session on 'Global Economy and Global Health' at the inaugural ceremony of the G20 Leaders' Summit with the other leaders at Rome in Italy. In his intervention, the Prime Minister highlighted India's contribution in the fight against the pandemic.

He mentioned medical supplies to more than 150 countries.

"The Prime Minister conveyed that India has not only vaccinated more than a billion of our citizens but more importantly, we are ready to produce more than five billion vaccine dosage by the end of 2022 and this would be available for not only our citizens but also for the rest of the world. And that, this is our own contribution to reducing vaccine inequities, especially in the developing world," Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, adding, "We also believe that the WHO's approval for emergency use authorisation for Covaxin pending with them, would facilitate this process of assisting other countries." Shringla briefed the media on the second day of Modi's Italy visit for the G20 Leaders' Summit.

Modi spoke about India's vision of 'One Earth One Health', which is essentially the need for a collaborative approach in the international domain in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic, Shringla said, adding, "Collaboration in R&D to collaborations in combating pandemics, collaborations across the board in developing mechanisms that can cope with future pandemics and future global health issues." There was an emphasis on vaccine research, manufacturing and innovation. "We have invested a fair amount in that effort in order to make it available for our citizens and citizens all across the world." Modi stressed on the need for resilient global supply chains and also mentioned India's bold economic reforms and lowering of the cost of doing business in India. He spoke about innovations in India and efforts at developing a culture of innovations. He invited the G20 countries to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification.

The Prime Minister brought out the fact that despite the challenges of the pandemic, India continued to be a trusted partner in the context of reliable supply chains, the IT sector, the BPOs, we did not allow the pandemic to come in the way of our contribution in the overall chain in the global processes.

"Modi expressed satisfaction over G20's decision to come up with the 15 per cent minimum corporate tax. It was at the 2014 G20 Summit that the Prime Minister had first proposed this idea of a minimum corporate tax in order to prevent to some extent the evasion of taxes.

"Today there is satisfaction over the fact that the G20 has actually adopted this. This has become a global norm. And this is a very important step in ensuring more rationalised global tax structures and better cooperation in the international domain when it comes to issues like tax evasion, money laundering, corruption, among others, some of the issues that G20 is currently dealing with," the Indian Foreign Secretary said.

Earlier at the G20 Summit venue, PM Modi and other global leaders first interacted informally with each other, posed for a family photo and generally exchanged pleasantries. Modi held two bilateral meetings with the French President Emmanuel Macron and the Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Prior to the G20 Summit, Modi had met Pope Francis at the Vatican and attended the cultural event and the dinner after it.
Fujairah International Airport, Al-fujairah, United Arab Emirates [ FJR / OMFJ ]

If you are planning to travel to Al-fujairah or any other city in United Arab Emirates, this airport locator will be a very useful tool. This page gives complete information about the Fujairah International Airport along with the airport location map, Time Zone, lattitude and longitude, Current time and date, hotels near the airport etc... Fujairah International Airport Map showing the location of this airport in United Arab Emirates. Al-fujairah Airport IATA Code, ICAO Code, exchange rate etc... is also provided.

Al-fujairah Airport Info:

Al-fujairah Airport IATA Code: FJR Al-fujairah Airport ICAO Code: OMFJ Latitude : 25.1097 Longitude : 56.3306 City : Al-fujairah Country : United Arab Emirates World Area Code : 678 Airport Type : Medium Al-fujairah Airport Address / Contact Details :

Al Fujairah International Airport (FJR) - Fujairah - United Arab Emirates Phone: +971 9 222 6222 Airport Type : Public Operator : Department of Civil Aviation Timezone : Asia/Dubai Fujairah International Airport Timezone : GMT +04:00 hours Current time and date at Fujairah International Airport is 01:24:22 AM (+04) on Sunday, Nov 21, 2021

Looking for information on Fujairah International Airport, Al-fujairah, United Arab Emirates? Know about Fujairah International Airport in detail. Find out the location of Fujairah International Airport on United Arab Emirates map and also find out airports near to Al-fujairah. This airport locator is a very useful tool for travelers to know where is Fujairah International Airport located and also provide information like hotels near Fujairah International Airport, airlines operating to Fujairah International Airport etc... IATA Code and ICAO Code of all airports in United Arab Emirates. Scroll down to know more about Fujairah International Airport or Al-fujairah Airport, United Arab Emirates.

Fujairah International Airport Map - Location of Fujairah International Airport Load Map United Arab Emirates - General Information Country Formal Name United Arab Emirates Country Code AE Capital Abu Dhabi Currency Dirham (AED)

 1 AED = 0.272 USD

 1 USD = 3.673 AED

 1 AED = 0.241 EUR

 1 EUR = 4.146 AED

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This page provides all the information you need to know about Fujairah International Airport, United Arab Emirates. This page is created with the aim of helping travelers and tourists visiting United Arab Emirates or traveling to Al-fujairah Airport. Details about Al-fujairah Airport given here include Fujairah International Airport Code - IATA Code (3 letter airport codes) and ICAO Code (4 letter airport codes)

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FJR - Fujairah International Airport IATA Code and OMFJ - Fujairah International Airport ICAO code
Sharjah Airport, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates [ SHJ / OMSJ ]

If you are planning to travel to Sharjah or any other city in United Arab Emirates, this airport locator will be a very useful tool. This page gives complete information about the Sharjah Airport along with the airport location map, Time Zone, lattitude and longitude, Current time and date, hotels near the airport etc... Sharjah Airport Map showing the location of this airport in United Arab Emirates. Sharjah Airport IATA Code, ICAO Code, exchange rate etc... is also provided.

Sharjah Airport Info:

Sharjah Airport IATA Code: SHJ Sharjah Airport ICAO Code: OMSJ Latitude : 25.3292 Longitude : 55.5161 City : Sharjah Country : United Arab Emirates World Area Code : 678 Airport Type : Large Sharjah Airport Address / Contact Details :

Sharjah International Airport (SHJ) - Sharjah - United Arab Emirates Phone: 00971-6-558-1111 Fax: 00971-6-558-1167 or 0449-558-6-00971 E-mail: info@sharjahairport.ae Airport Type : Public / Military Operator : Sharjah International Airport Hub for : Air Arabia, AVE.com, Singapore Airlines Cargo, Aerovista, Gulf Wings, HeavyLift International Established Year : 1977 Timezone : Asia/Dubai Sharjah Airport Timezone : GMT +04:00 hours Current time and date at Sharjah Airport is 01:24:23 AM (+04) on Sunday, Nov 21, 2021

Looking for information on Sharjah Airport, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates? Know about Sharjah Airport in detail. Find out the location of Sharjah Airport on United Arab Emirates map and also find out airports near to Sharjah. This airport locator is a very useful tool for travelers to know where is Sharjah Airport located and also provide information like hotels near Sharjah Airport, airlines operating to Sharjah Airport etc... IATA Code and ICAO Code of all airports in United Arab Emirates. Scroll down to know more about Sharjah Airport or Sharjah Airport, United Arab Emirates.

Sharjah Airport Map - Location of Sharjah Airport Load Map United Arab Emirates - General Information Country Formal Name United Arab Emirates Country Code AE Capital Abu Dhabi Currency Dirham (AED)

 1 AED = 0.272 USD

 1 USD = 3.673 AED

 1 AED = 0.241 EUR

 1 EUR = 4.146 AED

 More AED convertion rates Tel Code +971 Top Level Domain .ae

Major airlines flying to Sharjah Airport, Sharjah

This page provides all the information you need to know about Sharjah Airport, United Arab Emirates. This page is created with the aim of helping travelers and tourists visiting United Arab Emirates or traveling to Sharjah Airport. Details about Sharjah Airport given here include Sharjah Airport Code - IATA Code (3 letter airport codes) and ICAO Code (4 letter airport codes)

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Len Jornlin, CEO of Optimize Renewables, announced as a 2021-2022 ALI Fellow Im thrilled to be included in this years Appalachian Leadership Institute Class, Jornlin said. Our entire company is. Its an honor. We live here. We work here. We are a catalyst for a region transitioning from an extraction economy to a clean-energy economy.

On September 28, 2021, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Announced its 2021-2022 Appalachian Leadership Institute (ALI) Fellows. Len Jornlin, CEO of Optimize Renewables, was selected to participate in this, the third, ALI class.

The new class Includes 40 Fellows representing a variety of disciplines and backgrounds from 13 Appalachian States and includes professionals who live and/or work in the Region in a variety of sectors including education, healthcare, economic development, tourism, and others. Each Fellow brings a unique perspective on the Regions diverse challenges, opportunities, and strategies.

Im thrilled to be included in this years Appalachian Leadership Institute Class, Jornlin said. Our entire company is. Its an honor. We live here. We work here. We are a catalyst for a region transitioning from an extraction economy to a clean-energy economy.

The ALIs objective is to empower Fellows to take action to impact the future of the Appalachian Region with collaborative solutions. Jornlin intends to participate fully in his ALI Fellowship role.

We are already actively engaged in Appalachian Maryland having lived and worked here for nearly 17 years, Jornlin noted. Optimize Renewables is currently working to plan and implement five resilient microgrids in the region, with universities, a hospital, a municipality, and a manufacturer. We will apply the same holistic, collaborative Public-Private Partnership (P3) approach that has enabled us to develop, finance, and execute such projects in highly-challenging markets  including vital applied training curriculum  in distressed areas throughout the balance of Appalachia.

During his 31-year career, Jornlin and his teams have been responsible for over 2.5 Gigawatts of renewable energy and resiliency projects in over 40 countries on five continents. His focus for much of the last decade has been on the North American market, with a special emphasis on his home state of Maryland. In fact, at his last three companies  all Maryland-based  Jornlin and his co-founding partners created over 600 local jobs.

We want to build a community reinvestment loop throughout Appalachia, Jornlin continued. Regional finance is a significant part of that equation, but so is education. In western Maryland were currently building a workforce development program and academic ecosystem that integrates a spectrum of applied learning opportunities from technical training through to a four-year collegiate degree.

Jornlin joins fellow Marylander Chandler Sagal, Director of Grants and Development for Allegany College of Maryland, Cumberland, Maryland, in the 2021-2022 ALI Class. Sagal plays an integral role on the Allegany College campus supporting capital projects and enhancing existing programs through the addition of new equipment and instructional support.

As a part of the Leadership Institute, each Fellow will participate in an extensive, nine-month series of skill-building seminars featuring regional experts, peer-to-peer learning, and case study analysis. The program begins in October and culminates with the Class of 2021-2022s graduation in July 2022.

I am honored to congratulate the 2021-2022 class of Appalachian Leadership Institute fellows. These phenomenal Appalachians are the driving force of change in their communities, said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. Their perseverance and dedication to the region is evident, and I have no doubt that this program will aid them in continuing to help their communities grow and thrive. The work of this class of fellowsand the ones who came before gives me hope to the future of our Region and is a testament to all that can be accomplished when Appalachians work together.

Upon completion of the program, Appalachian Leadership Institute Fellows will automatically become part of the Appalachian Leadership Institute Alumni network, a peer-to-peer working group committed to Appalachias future.

ARC is a collaboration between 13 states and the Federal government.
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the lawsuit against Accurate Delivery Systems, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The Los Angeles employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a lawsuit against Accurate Delivery Systems, Inc. alleging the company violated Labor Code  2699, et seq. seeking penalties for DEFENDANTs alleged violation of California Labor Code  201, 202, 203, 204, 210, 221, 226(a), 226.7, 227.3, 246, 351, 510, 512, 558(a)(1)(2), 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 1198, and 2802. The lawsuit against Accurate Delivery Systems, Inc. is currently pending in the San Bernardino County Superior Court, Case No. CIVSB2125174. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, Accurate Delivery Systems, Inc. allegedly failed to fully relieve Plaintiff and other Aggrieved Employees for their legally required thirty (30) minute meals breaks. Employees were also allegedly required, from time to time, to work in excess of four (4) hours without being provided the legally required ten (10) minute rest periods. The California Supreme Court defines off-duty rest periods as time during which an employee is relieved from all work related duties and free from employer control.

PAGA is a mechanism by which the State of California itself can enforce state labor laws through the employee suing under the PAGA who do so as the proxy or agent of the state's labor law enforcement agencies. An action to recover civil penalties under PAGA is fundamentally a law enforcement action designed to protect the public and not to benefit private parties. The purpose of PAGA is not to recover damages or restitution, but to create a means of "deputizing" citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code.

For more information about the lawsuit against Accurate Delivery Systems, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct.

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Buy three tires and get the fourth one for $1 at Toyota of Lancaster in Lancaster, California

Toyota of Lancaster, located in Lancaster, California, has a limited time-period offer for customers looking to purchase new tires. Upon purchase of three tires, the fourth tire can be bought for one dollar. The offer will be valid till the 1st of November 2021. This offer applies to the following tire brands  Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Firestone, General Tire, Good Year, Hankook, Kumho Tires, Pirelli and Yokohama. For customers looking to avail of this offer, the tires must be bought from the dealers website by the 1st of November 2021 and the tires must be dealer-installed by the 8th of November 2021. Charges for services like Mounting and Balancing, sales tax, shop supplies, tire disposal and other applicable taxes are excluded. Also, this offer applies only to Toyota and Scion vehicles.

Other than the incentives mentioned above, Toyota of Lancaster also has numerous other special offers. One of them is a limited time-period offer for the 2021 Toyota RAV4 SUV. The 2021 Toyota RAV4 can be financed at 1.9 percent for 72 months. This offer is valid for well-qualified Tier 1 or Tier 1+ credit customers who finance through Toyota Financial Service (TFS). The same financing offer is also available for the 2021 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Interested customers can visit Toyota of Lancaster located at 43301 12th Street W, Lancaster, California, for more information. Customers can also contact the dealership at 855-660-7659 or through their website - https://www.toyotatirecenter.com/?uid=F9401489-F7A4-962E-D346D41DC164F3BF&utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=press_release&utm_campaign=2021oct22
Dokkaebier, a leading craft beer made with Asian-influenced ingredients, today announced it expects to close more than $700,000 in seed capital, including nearly $180,000 in a seed round equity crowdfunding campaign from Glasser Holdings LLC and 148 other investors to date. The equity crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder remains open until Nov. 3, 2021.

What intrigues me about Dokkaebier is that its looking at craft beer through a new lens, focusing on creating beers  be them traditional craft styles or beers made with Asian fruits and botanicals  which work well with Korean and so many other Asian cuisines, said Avery Glasser, managing partner of Glasser Holdings LLC, on Wefunder.

Dokkaebier was launched in 2020 by Korean American Youngwon Lee to bring more diversity to the more than $29-billion craft beer industry in the United States, which is matched to Western foods and flavors, with the more than $6-billion-and-growing Korean food market and substantial Asian food market.

Fans of craft beer seek interesting, new and different flavors, but craft beers currently on offer are often the same. Dokkaebier will tap into the convergence of multiple markets by bringing the experimentation common with Asian flavors in food to craft beer, said Youngwon Lee, founder and CEO of Dokkaebier. Dokkaebier brings craft beer fans new brews with distinctly Asian ingredients, including bamboo tea, lemongrass, peppercorn, plum and even kimchi.

Lee is a veteran of more than 13 years in the food and beverage industry, including the leading wine and spirits brands Champagne Armand de Brignac, Patron, Stolichnaya, Titos Handmade Vodka and more. Previously, he was the head of U.S. operations at microbrewery The Booth Brewing Co. and chief operating officer of the Korea-based food and beverage import and brand management companies MAGNUM Korea and Indulge Co. Ltd.

In less than two years, Dokkaebier has released more than 25 original craft beers under head brewer Aaron Weshnak. Before joining Dokkaebier, Weshnak mastered his craft at some of Californias most prestigious breweries, including Pliny the Elder-maker Russian River Brewing Company, Lost Coast Brewery, Sunset Reservoir Brewing Company and The Booth Brewing Co.

Dokkaebiers most popular craft beers include Kimchi Sour, a kettle sour made with the Korean chili powder gochugaru and ginger; Bamboo Pilsner, a crisp European-style lager flavored with bamboo tea; a witbier brewed with the Korean magnolia berry omija and gochugaru called OG Witbier; and YB Witbier, made with yuzu and bay leaves.

To learn more about or purchase Dokkaebiers Asian-influenced craft beers, adults aged 21 or older can visit https://enjoydkb.com, or visit our Wefunder page at https://wefunder.com/dokkaebier.

About Dokkaebier

Dokkaebier is a leading craft beer made with Asian-influenced ingredients. Launched in 2020, the brewing company has released more than 25 original craft beers and won domestic and international accolades. Dokkaebier won the Red Dot Design Award in 2021, was a Gold Medal Winner in the 2021 Annual Brewski Awards, was a finalist in the 2020 Brewbound Pitch Slam Competition, and has been recognized by SFGATE, Patch, InsideHook, The Startup Pill and Hacker Noon as one of the best California craft breweries or startups.

For more information about Dokkaebier, adults aged 21 or older can visit enjoydkb.com or follow @Dokkaebier on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against DCSM, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The San Francisco employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against DCSM, Inc., alleging the company violated the California Labor Code. The lawsuit against DCSM, Inc. is currently pending in the San Francisco County Superior Court, Case No. CGC-21-595153. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, DCSM, Inc. allegedly (a) failed to pay minimum wages, (b) failed to pay overtime wages, (c) failed to provide legally required meal and rest periods, (d) failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements, (e) failed to reimburse employees for required expenses, and (f) failed to provide wages when due, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in California Labor Code Sections  201, 202, 203, 226, 226.7, 510, 512, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 2802, and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct.

The complaint further alleges DCSM, Inc. committed acts of unfair competition in violation of the California Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code  17200, et seq. (the UCL), by engaging in a company-wide policy and procedure which allegedly failed to accurately calculate and record all missed meal and rest periods by Plaintiff and other California Class Members. As a result of Defendant's alleged disregard of the obligation to meet this burden, Defendant allegedly failed to properly calculate and/or pay all required compensation for work performed by members of the California Class and violated the California Labor Code.

For more information about the class action lawsuit against DCSM, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct.

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Using a search engine optimization (SEO) service, like Actual SEO Media, can dramatically boost your business.

Most things start with a quick search on Google, whether it's the beginning of extensive "window shopping" or the advent of learning more knowledge than anyone really needs. It's why companies worldwide compete to appear on the first page of a search result. But everyone in the know knows that Google's algorithm is pretty picky about what appears center stage. That's why search engine optimization (SEO) is becoming increasingly important. To help with building organic traffic, Actual SEO Media, Inc. has seven general SEO tips.

What is search engine optimization? Everyone knows searching for something on Google will return results that are most relevant to whatever was put in the search bar. Therefore, optimizing businesses' websites so they're more likely to appear for certain searches is a way to expand organically.

1. Choose your keywords wisely.

What are "keywords"? They're the words that people will input to search for necessary information. Using specific keywords in an informative article or blog is one way to bring people searching for more info to the site.

Tailoring keywords to specific niches is almost an art form. First, it needs to be relevant. Next, Google dislikes duplicates, so you can't use the same one repeatedly. A site using synonyms or related words will appear friendlier in Google's eyes. If you're unsure where to start your keyword research, contact a digital marketing agency to help you guide you on the right track.

2. Create diverse content.

After choosing relevant keywords that are likely to bring people to your site, it's time to create content. This content can range from blogs and articles to infographics, announcements, etc. Anything that can generate interest for people to stick around and check out the rest of the site is valuable.

Let the creativity flow. Bland, generic, or repeated topics and posts won't attract people. It won't please Google either.

3. Write click-worthy headlines.

Once there is content with keywords that can bring potential clients back to your site, it's time to appeal more to the masses. Even if your content appears further up in the search results, it doesn't necessarily mean people are clicking on the link. It just means there's a higher chance of them doing so.

Crafting blogs or articles' titles to entice readers is also another art form. Punctuation plays a key role, so experiment with the format of the headline. There's a difference between "Basic SEO Guidelines on How to Improve Visibility" versus "SEO Guidelines: 6 Tips On How to Improve Website Traffic."

4. Create a mobile-friendly website.

Over half of searches are made from a mobile phone. Ensuring a site is mobile-friendly is a boon for both users and the company. The easier it is to access, the more traffic it'll generate.

Google announced a while back that with the advent of mobile phones, its search algorithms would check if a site was mobile-friendly. The less it is, the further down it'll appear on a search result, even if everything else is excellent.

5. Ensure the website's load times are smooth and speedy.

No one wants to have to deal with load times. Time is short, and no one wants to waste it waiting for something to buffer. Google doesn't enjoy it either, which will push you further down the search rankings.

Occasionally testing your pages' loading speeds will ensure better results and more people sticking around after clicking.

6. Realize the power of social media.

In today's online environment, social media has become the community hot spot for visibility and recognition. Using it in conjunction with other releases and announcements will generate more traffic and expand exposure to the masses.

Even if you have a social media account, if it's not active, it's as useless as not having one at all. Many people use social media platforms to share information, links, images, etc. Even Google checks a website's social media activity for ranking relevancy purposes.

7. Remain patient.

Once everything's set up, the final thing to do is wait. If anyone says they can instantly put you on the front page of Google, they're either joking or lying. It may take months, even years for pages to climb the ranks. Setting everything right is only the first step.

Patience is the key to everything, whether that's running a business or waiting for inspiration to strike. Waiting for results may not be the most productive, but creating and crafting more content to make your brand or company more relevant is.

As a leading SEO company in Houston, Actual SEO Media, Inc. helps clients expand their online presence. By using a variety of techniques, the company aims to maximize clients' search engine optimization and widen their clients' scope of recognition. For more information, contact the office at (832) 834 - 0661 or by email at info@actualseomedia.com.


If you would like to know more about the Douglas Products and Packaging Company lawsuit, please contact Attorney Jackland K. Hom today by calling (619) 255-9047.

The Northern California labor law attorneys, at Zakay Law Group, APLC and JCL Law Firm, APC, filed a class action complaint against Douglas Products and Packaging Company LLC ("Douglas Products and Packaging Company") for allegedly failing to accurately pay employees' wages for all their time worked. The class action lawsuit, Case No. C21-01874, is currently pending in the Contra Costa County Superior Court of the State of California. A copy of the complaint can be read here.

According to the lawsuit, Douglas Products and Packaging Company allegedly violated California Labor Code Sections  201, 202, 203, 204, 210, 226, 226.7, 510, 512, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, and 1198 by failing to: (1) pay overtime wages; (2) pay minimum wages; (3) provide required meal and rest periods; (4) provide accurate itemized wage statements; and (5) provide wages when due.

The lawsuit also alleges Douglas Products and Packaging Company violated the Private Attorneys General Act ("PAGA"), which gives rise to civil penalties as a result of Douglas Products and Packaging Company's conduct. PAGA allows aggrieved employees to file a lawsuit to recover civil penalties on behalf of themselves, other employees, and the State of California for Labor Code violations. An "aggrieved employee" is defined as "any person who was employed by the alleged violator and against whom one or more of the alleged violations was committed." Cal. Lab. Code section 2699(c). PAGA allows aggrieved employees to become deputized as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code.

If you would like to know more about the Douglas Products and Packaging Company lawsuit, please contact Attorney Jackland K. Hom today by calling (619) 255-9047.

Zakay Law Group, APLC and JCL Law Firm, APC are labor and employment law firms with offices located in California that dedicate their practices to fighting for employees who have been wronged by their employers due to unfair employment practices. Contact one of their attorneys today if you need help with workplace issues regarding wage and hour, wrongful termination, retaliation, discrimination, and harassment.

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Winners of Two Categories - Best Law Firm & Best Place to Work Our Chicago lawyers and support staff earned this award due to our reputation for fighting for the best interests of our clients, as well as local community groups and charitable organizations.

The Southland Times annually asks its readers to vote for their favorite local businesses. Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys is honored to announce that its Chicago area legal team was voted #1 in the region for the 2021 categories of Best Law Firm and Best Place to Work.

Voting for Southland Times Southlands Best 2021 contest took place July 29, 2021 through August 29, 2021. During the voting period, readers had the opportunity to vote once per day online and once per day via text per category.

Our team is thankful and honored to have been voted Best Law Firm in the Southlands Best 2021 readers poll. We truly believe that our Chicago lawyers and support staff earned this award due to our reputation for fighting for the best interests of our clients, as well as local community groups and charitable organizations. This holistic approach to serving our clients, in addition to our local communities as a whole, is what makes us stand out and shine amongst others within the legal industry, shared Glen Lerner, founder of Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys. I also believe this community-based approach is why our law firm was voted 'Best Place to Work'.

More About Lerner and Rowe

Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys is a powerhouse law firm in representing personal injury clients. Attorneys Glen Lerner and Kevin Rowe have grown their law firm into one of the largest personal injury firms in the country, with over 50 attorneys and nearly 400 support employees located in Illinois, Indiana, Arizona, Nevada, California, Washington, Oregon, Alabama, New Mexico, and Tennessee. The law firms continuous exalted levels of success can be attributed to the high levels of respect and dignity shown to victims and family members hurt in an accident.

For those injured outside one of the previously listed states, Lerner and Rowe has an established network of attorneys across the country, ready to help. The firm takes pride in nourishing these relationships as they know a personal injury attorney can make all the difference in obtaining fair compensation for the pain and suffering inflicted upon the victims of tortious conduct.

For more information about Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys in Chicago, please call 708-222-2222. To connect with the law firm socially, follow Lerner and Rowe on Twitter and Instagram, or like their Facebook page.

Also, be sure to visit LernerAndRoweGivesBack.com to learn more about the many other community services that the lawyers and legal support team of Lerner and Rowe actively support.

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New Standard cannabis -Ann Arbor New Standard, a customer-experience-focused cannabis startup with eight provisioning centers across the state was founded in 2020 by longtime Michigan residents and community leaders.

New Standard Ann Arbor hosts a Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening celebration on November 5. Festivities kick off at 3pm. The Grand Opening event features Rolling Stoves burger food truck, live DJ, hourly gift card give-aways and product specials. The first 100 guests will receive free burger and fries from Rolling Stoves. New Standard leadership team and co-founders will be joined by the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber and local dignitaries for the official Ribbon Cutting at 4pm.

New Standard, a customer-experience-focused cannabis startup with eight provisioning centers across the state was founded in 2020 by longtime Michigan residents and community leaders. Guests are welcome to see the newly restored historic Ann Arbor home and learn more about New Standard's commitment to creating a cannabis and its benefits.

New Standards Ann Arbor provisioning center opens for medical and adult use cannabis sales offering a wide variety of cannabis flower, pre-rolls, edibles, cartridges, concentrates, and accessories. The store is a welcoming space designed to make both the cannabis connoisseur and novice feel comfortable coming in, shopping, and being educated on cannabis and its many uses.

Our team, along with the Stabb family, co-founders of New Standard Ann Arbor, bring years of cannabis and community experience together to create a thoughtful, curated, and comfortable approach for the cannabis connoisseur, first-time user, and everyone in between, said Howard Luckoff, New Standard CEO and Co-Founder. New Standard is just that, setting a new standard for the cannabis experience. We cant wait to share what our team has spent the last year perfecting across the state with the Ann Arbor community.

If there is an epicenter for cannabis in Michigan, it would be Ann Arbor. From the first Hash Bash in 1972 to the decriminalization of cannabis in 2004 to today, where stores like New Standard Ann Arbor can operate legally, Ann Arbor has long had cannabis as part of its community culture.

New Standard Ann Arbor is conveniently located on Main Street at Depot and has a convenient onsite parking lot for in-store customers and curbside pick-up. Stay tuned for New Standards opening Block Party later this month, featuring food trucks and live music.

Each New Standard provisioning center carries a carefully curated mix of Michigans emerging cannabis harvest, along with a wide variety of the most popular and innovative forms of cannabis, says Luckoff. When we welcome customers into the New Standard facility, the product selection is supported by our warm, eclectic, comfortable, educational, and engaging environment.

About New Standard

New Standard opened its first cannabis provisioning center in April 2020 with a mission to set a New Standard for the cannabis industry featuring quality products, customer experience, and a community focus at each of its locations. Expanding across Michigan with current locations in Ann Arbor, Grand Haven, Hazel Park, Edmore, Muskegon, Nunica, Sand Lake, and Saugatuck, New Standard is a welcoming space where product specialists educate and guide consumers on the variety of cannabis flowers, pre-rolls, edibles, cartridges, concentrates, accessories and more. To learn more, visit anewstandard.com.
In The Doomsday Mother: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and the End of an American Family (St. Martins, Jan.), crime writer Glatt probes a horrific case of child murder.

Why have you called this the most terrifying case youve encountered?

Out of the 25 true crime books Ive written, nothing really compares to the evil that Lori Vallow committed in allegedly killing her children, Tylee and J.J., and her and Chad Daybells respective spouses in cold blood. Just to see the body-cam video of Lori cracking jokes to police less than an hour after her brother Alex shot her husband Charles Vallow to death was unnerving.

What was the hardest part of writing it?

Trying to get my head around Chads highly detailed, but demented, light and dark readings of everyone. His blasphemous version of the Mormon religion played such an important part, so I had to research the Mormon theology, which I knew nothing about beforehand. It was harder than my other books because it was amazing to me that they could get away with so many suspicious killings and disappearances for so long. It surprised me that they literally had a legion of followers all over the country who believed everything they told them, however bizarre.

How do you explain Chads delusions?

I think Chad loved the idea of being an author/publisher and it fed his ego, and made him feel important. He was writing books about the end-times for years before this, and, after moving to Idaho and doing podcasts and public lectures, I think he lost his grip on reality.

Were there missed opportunities to save the childrens lives?

Absolutelymany of Loris friends were suspicious, and could have gone to the police earlier after J.J. and Tylee disappeared. I think there are lessons to be learned from Chads cult, which flourished in the open for so long. Law enforcement should monitor any suspicious cult activity far more closely. This case clearly shows how people should report strange, cultish behavior to law enforcement and not keep it to themselves.

Do you see any connection between Loris delusions and the current prevalence of misinformation?

I think Chad and Loris delusions about people being transformed into evil zombies is a perfect example of what is going on now with truth and reality. I compare it to George Orwells doublethink in 1984. I think the growth of social media and podcasts made it possible for Chad and Lori to spread their madness to a far bigger audience than would have been available 10 years ago.
DEAL OF THE WEEK

Gurnahs Afterlives Endure at Riverhead Abdulrazak Gurnah, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, sold U.S. rights to his newest novel Afterlives to Rebecca Saletan at Riverhead. The publisher said Afterlives is set in East Africa and follows three characters swept up in the brutal colonization of the region in the early to mid-20th century. It called the novel a sweeping, multigenerational saga of displacement, loss, and love. The England-based and Zanzibar-born author was represented by Peter Straus at RCW Literary. Also included in the deal are two backlist titles, By the Sea and Desertion. Afterlives is set for August 2022.

S&S Goes on Manns Mission

After a 10-publisher auction, The Last Mission by retired Special Forces Lt. Col. Scott Mann and ABC News investigative reporter James Gordon Meek sold to Robert Messenger at Simon & Schuster. Howard Yoon at the Ross Yoon Agency handled the North American rights agreement. The book follows, S&S said, a group of experts and civilians led by Mann who over-

saw an operation, dubbed the Pineapple Express, that smuggled roughly 600 Afghans out of their country, pulling them from Kabuls Taliban-encircled airport in the final days of Americas longest war.

Grand Central Buys RH Staffers Debut

Karen Kosztolnyik at Grand Central acquired North American rights to The Carnivale of Curiosities by Amiee Gibbs. The Victorian-set speculative debut was sold by Julie Barer at the Book Group. The publisher said it follows a traveling circus run by a magician with the power to make dreams come true. The magician is drawn into an insidious contract by a wealthy Londoner. Grand Central described the novel as in the vein of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, and The Night Circus by way of Bleak House. Gibbs is a sales manager at Penguin Random House who works with independent bookstores. The Carnivale of Curiosities is set for summer 2023.

Knopf Cradles Blairs Baby

Selma Blair sold Mean Baby to Knopf. In the memoir, the Cruel Intentions actor and model describes her career, her struggles with drugs, and her life with multiple sclerosis. Reagan Arthur bought North American rights from Brettne Bloom at the Book Group, and Jennifer Jackson will edit. Subtitled A Memoir of Growing Up, the book, Knopf said, delves into Blairs adolescence of love and pain, her destructive ways of coping with an illness she did not know she had, her struggles and successes in Hollywood, and her battle with depression as a young mother. Mean Baby is slated for April 2022.

Bourland Does Double at Dutton

Lindsey Rose at Dutton bought world rights to two books by Edgar Award finalist Barbara Bourland. The Force of Such Beauty, set for July 2022, follows a princess who begins to reevaluate her life after a failed attempt to escape from her kingdom, Dutton said, and explores how power structures rest on the subjugation of womens bodies. Fields and Waves, set for 2024, follows a woman who can hear other peoples thoughts and is sent on a remarkable journey into the peculiar and fascinating world of electromagnetism and neuroscience. Victoria Sanders at Victoria Sanders & Associates represented Bourland in the deal.

R&L Wins Kliegmans Game

World rights to Mind Game by Julie Kliegman were acquired by Christen Karniski at Rowman & Littlefield. Kliegman is the copy chief at Sports Illustrated and was represented by Iris Blasi at the Carol Mann Agency. Subtitled An Inside Look at the Mental Health Playbook of Elite Athletes, the book examines, Blasi said, how elite athletes ranging from Simone Biles to LeBron James have struggled with and persevered through mental illness and other mental health issues.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the title of Barbara Bourland's forthcoming novel; it's The Force of Such Beauty, not The Force of Beauty.
Earlier this month, Praveen Madan, CEO of Keplers Books in Menlo Park, Calif., delivered a dire series of observations to the attendees of Reimagining Bookstores, an online gathering of nearly 600 booksellers and publishing professionals. Independent bookstores face multiple crises that threaten their existence, Madan said, ranging from declining literacy to unsustainably low employee wages that he characterized as institutional poverty.

Then, before sending attendees into one of the most invigorating gatherings on independent bookselling in a generation, he offered warm encouragement: Lets have some fun. Lets have some energizing conversation. Lets go create some change.

Madans balancing act of pragmatism and optimism is what led him to purchase and revitalize Keplers, the nearly 70-year-old indie bookselling institution, in 2012. In the past nine years, he has transformed the store through creative partnershipsKeplers took over fulfillment for the community library when it closed at the outset of the pandemicand by committing to implementing a living wage for employees.

Those successes led Paul Wright, a board member of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, a Keplers Bay Area neighbor, to suggest last year that Madan convene booksellers to try to apply the same revitalization to its entire segment of the publishing industry.

Madan wasnt convinced. In the beginning I was like, I dont know, he said.

But instead of giving up, Wright took Madans reticence as a challenge to create a core group of potential participants, to persuade him to move from uncertainty to a firm yes. He started by introducing Madan to author and consultant Peggy Holman, whose work goes back to the earliest days of the internet and centers on open space technology (OST), a philosophy of creating intentional, nonhierarchical gatherings to address complex issues.

Holman then introduced Madan to a squad of fellow OST adherents. Together, they said they were willing to help him organize everything he would need for participants to frame goals and generate ideas. Holman assured him that if he was prepared to start envisioning a new landscape of American bookselling, they could create and manage a simple framework for channeling the experience of hundreds of booksellers into the beginnings of a movement for change.

The teams enthusiasm persuaded Madan, who began sending out invitations to Reimagining Bookstores in mid-September, and by the first day of the gathering on October 18, the list had grown to nearly 600. Throughout the conference, participants split into groups, devising their own session topics geared toward creating new ways to combat endemic issues that have long hindered stability and growth in indie bookselling.

In retrospect, Madan said, his initial reluctance mirrors a problem among indie booksellers. They are hesitant to ask for assistance. Speaking to the attendees on the second day of the conference, he said, Bookstore owners and leaders can get better at asking for help, and theyre going to have to get better at asking for help in the future we are imagining here.

Madan acknowledged that what he is proposing is difficult. To succeed, he believes indie booksellers need to completely reorient public perception of what they offer, framing it as a social good that warrants an array of supports from individual customers, industry partners, and government leaders. At the same time, he is very skeptical that any of those stakeholders can be trusted to lead the effort to make the changes bookstores need.

In a stark assessment, Madan told Reimagining Bookstores attendees that booksellers alone will have to take the steps to guide Americans toward embracing the importance of their place in their communities. We really have to stop expecting that someone is going to come to our rescue, he said. There are many versions of this fantasy: publishers that are going to come rescue us, God is going to come rescue us, the American Booksellers Association is going to come rescue us.

Madan and his fellow organizers are also convinced that sustainable answers will only emerge if a diverse group of booksellers are at the forefront of sharing the ideas that lead to action. Time and again in the conference sessions, conversations appeared to affirm this sensibility. Participation and leadership by BIPOC and LGBTQ booksellers was notable, especially in a predominantly white industry.

At Reimagining Bookstores, conversations generated radical ideas with potential, including a proposal for the creation of an independent bookstore fund to act as a lender in lieu of banks, which often deny booksellersespecially BIPOC booksellersaccess to capital. And nearly two dozen industry professionals attended a session on creating an ongoing organizing committee to keep the discussion moving forward.

For Madan, the key to success will be in resisting the creation of yet another single-solution mindset or a monolithic organization. Its not so much, to me, what we are going to do as how, and the how is determined by the principles, he said during the conference. I think the reason the principles are so important is because were bringing a radically different set of them than what had been applied to this issue before.

Evan Karp, the only bookseller aside from Madan in the groups organizing committee, said that the OST members enthusiasm for facilitating the event is a positive sign in and of itselfone that points to the potential for booksellers to create the radical change they need by drawing on broad communal support. What shape the effort will take from here is still an open question, but Madan plans to follow up with participants in the coming weeks, encouraging them to resist the pull to go back to business as usual. (Four new sessions have been scheduled for November so far, and four other leaders are looking for expressions of interest in their topics before scheduling meetings.)

For Wright, whose enthusiasm sparked the idea to begin Reimagining Bookstores, the gathering was an affirmation that an ongoing effort is needed to ensure the long-term viability of independent bookselling. I felt over the last two days the sense that community bookstores are one of the pillars this country stands on, he said. And whether their situation is direor as dire as we fearI see them as institutions that must be protected for the sake of our larger society.

Reimagining Bookstore organizer Praveen Madan (l.), with author and consultant Peggy Holman.
Could this be magic? Over the past decade, audiobook sales, driven by digital audio, have exploded. Sales in 2020 exceeded $1.3 billion, up 12% over 2019. The percentage of Americans 18 and older who have listened to an audiobook is now 46%, up from 44% in 2019. One thing hasnt changed, however: the arduous production process for audiobooks.

But what if it could be done in a fraction of the time, weeks instead of months? And what if it could be done for a fraction of the cost, hundreds of dollars instead of thousands?

Introducing AI-enabled automated audiobook creation.

The value proposition

Producing audiobooks is expensive, so the appeal of automating audiobook creation is easy to understand. The traditional process can take two hours or more in the studio for one finished hour, and the average audiobook is eight hours long. A significant factor in the cost is the talent: brand-name talent is paid $1,000 or more per finished hour (PFH) of the audiobook, and with studio time and post-production added, the cost climbs quickly.

At the other end of the spectrum, audiobooks created with Amazon/Audibles ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) can be priced with two models: royalty share or a fee. With a royalty share, the (often self-published) author finds a voice actor willing to invest their time and talent in the project, in exchange for perhaps 20% of the royalties. Outright fees are negotiable.

Findaway, another company with an ACX-style hybrid model, notes that the average audiobook created with Findaway Voices has about 50,000 words and costs between $1,000 and $2,000.

Wouldnt it be great if publishers could get rid of the talent and reduce the long production cycles, push a button, and, presto, an instant audiobook, ready for sale? For smaller publishers and for authors with modest sales, it unquestionably would be. How about creating the audiobook for $500? Or less?

The value proposition for automated audiobook creation becomes a combination of cost and convenience, where convenience is a combination of both simplifying and vastly accelerating the production process. A few new startups claim to be able to produce audiobooks in days or even hours, rather than months.

Digital voice technology

Todays focus on the AI-enabled auto-narration of audiobooks is fostered by the same technology that taught Siri to speak and Alexa to listen. Hey Siri, you almost single-handedly created a demand for user-selected artificial voices.

Theres been some really good breakthroughs in text to speech becoming more humanlike over the last couple of years, says Kane Simms, founder of VUX World. You only need to listen to some of the celebrity Alexa voices, including Samuel L. Jackson, Shaquille ONeal, and Melissa McCarthy.

Underneath digital voice audio is texttext converted to speech. Siri knows stuff because Siri is reading from Wikipedia. Googles Assistant easily accesses the text of millions of books scanned and indexed via Google Books.

Text to speech (TTS) creates artificially generated audio that sounds like a person talking. The perfect application for this has been voicebots on smartphones and voice assistants in the home. The holy grail has been to make their voices indistinguishable from human voices. And not just one voice but, as we see (and hear) with Siri and Google Assistant, multiple voices.

With that as a goal, making this same technology work for long audio, such as audiobooks, seems like a logical next step. The problem has been that a voice that sounds lifelike when it announces the weather doesnt necessarily sound so lifelike after an hour of narration. Or does it?

To create a synthetic voice that is capable of holding human attention for long periods of timethats quite a challenge, Simms says. The way that an audiobook narrator will read an audiobook, for example, is totally different to how one would answer a simple question such as What time is it? In a book, you might need a news reader voice, an excited voice, a sad voice, a slow voice, a fast voice, a high-pitched voice, and you might need all of this on a single page.

Bradley Metrock, CEO of Project Voice and of Digital Book World, has a different perspective. With the current crop of high-end synthetic voices, 95% of people would not recognize that theyre artificially generated, he says. In 1224 months theyll have reached human levels.

What kind of books are best?

Theres a general consensus that this technology works best for narrative nonfiction, with its steady cadences. Narrative is important, because more complex nonfiction, sometimes heavily illustrated and full of charts and graphs, is all but impossible for the current generation of technology to handle smoothly. Nonetheless, two of the startups, DeepZen and Scribe, are specifically targeting fiction.

The talent issue

Actors are central to audiobooks; well-known actors are a draw in themselves. A great deal of skill goes into recording an audiobook that delights the ear. Its not just reading the book out loud, nor is it, per se, like acting. Great audiobook narrators are in a class of their own.

The professionals in this business are represented by a powerful union, SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors GuildAmerican Federation of Television and Radio Artists), which describes itself as the worlds largest labor union representing performers and broadcasters. The organization offers the full slate of union perks: training, guaranteed minimum rates for recordings, and health and life insurance. Artificial voices require none of these benefits.

The union has two concerns about AI. On the one hand, replacing live actors with computerized voices is bad for business. Of great concern also is AIs increasing capacity to clone human voices, with substantial risk that the voice owner will either be under-compensated or not paid at all.

Asked to comment on how AI could affect the demand for voice actors, a union representative responded: Audiobook narration is a human storytelling enterprise, and by and large the amazing professionals who tell these stories feel strongly about human-to-human storytelling. But short of that, they want to be sure they are fairly compensated and that they have control over the use of the digitized voices created based upon their own. They also want their fans, the consumers, to be aware that they are purchasing a nonhuman performance, not one given by their favorite narrator.

The various vendors mostly go out of their way to reassure customers of their great respect for human narration, while devoting their R&D efforts to making live humans an unnecessary, or at least optional, component of audiobook creation.

Can Google win this game?

High-quality TTS is a holy grail for Google, as it is also for most of the other big tech players, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft. All of them see voice interfaces as central to the future of their software platforms. While the major use case is voice assistants, inevitably these evolve into meatier voice challenges, like reading articles on websites, voicing podcasts, and then, just as inevitably, to video or book-length content.

Companies can in fact build their own TTS platforms for little or no cost using some of the underlying technologies from these platforms. The new AI company Speechki was built in part this way, which seems to make the most senseuse the best of whats already out there, further enhance it for the requirements of long-form audio, and then focus on the specific needs of book publishers and their authors.

Google has been rolling out a plethora of voice-related software, TTS, speech to text (transcription), and recently Translatotron 2, its speech-to-speech translation (S2ST) software, which combines several audio technologies: speech recognition, machine translation, and foreign-language speech synthesis of the translated text.

Last fall Google profiled an experiment called Convert PDFs to Audiobooks with Machine Learning(which can be seen on the Google Cloud Tech YouTube channel) that not only parsed a scientific article with complex page formatting but then read the article using DeepMind WaveNet, Googles TTS software.

Simms thinks its possible Google could become a player in the AI audiobook market. The advantage that Amazon and Google have is immense resources and the ability to gather large amounts of training data, he says. However, fundamentally, Amazon and Google are cloud service providers, and most of their technology will become part of their cloud offerings.

Theyve got the money, Metrock says. They can do whatever they want. Youre going to see Amazon and Google doing something in this space.

The Audible problem

ACX is the Audible audiobook self-publishing platform, and included among the ACX Audio Submission Requirements section of its website is the following warning, presented as guidance: Your submitted audiobook must be narrated by a human. TTS recordings are not allowed. Audible listeners choose audiobooks for the performance of the material, as well as the story. To meet that expectation, your audiobook must be recorded by a human.

With Audible controlling as much as 50% of the audiobook market (depending on the type of content), its current voice policy is a major concern for all of the companies looking to get into the narration field.

Taylan Kamis, CEO of DeepZen, says, We see Audible accepting these titles as a when question rather than an if one, as the technology develops and becomes more mainstream. DeepZen advises its customers to take a multiyear view and have as many titles available for distribution as possible when Audible changes its position.

No other vendor has the same restrictions as Audible, so publishers can sell content produced with AI-generated voices on some 50 retail and library vendors including Apple Books, Google Play, Kobo, OverDrive, Scribd, Spotify, and Storytel.

The vendors

In this nascent field of automated audio conversion, two vendors appear to have moved ahead of the others: DeepZen and Speechki. There are several right behind themand in other cases, off to the side, with variant voice technologies and services.

Interestingly, the startups devoted to rendering English-language books into English-language audiobooks feature vendors located just about anywhere other than the U.S.: Boden, Sweden; Islamabad, Pakistan; Kiev, Ukraine; and a few from Russia, including one from Siberia.

DeepZen

DeepZen was established in London in 2018, making it one of the older players in the field. It offers a self-serve portal: upload the book (EPUB format only) and the software will estimate the length and quote a price (roughly $160 PFH). With an average book estimated at 50,000 words, the price would be $800.

Its far from automatic. After the publication file is loaded, the following steps take place:

 The manuscript is reviewed and pronunciation guidance requested for any unfamiliar words.

 The first version takes five to seven days to produce.

 Corrections then take one to two working days.

 Post-processing takes one to two working days.

 The aim is to complete a project in three weeks.

According to Marzia Ghiselli, head of publisher partnerships at DeepZen, all DeepZen voices are licensed and cloned from human narrators. The company does not use generic off-the-shelf voices from Amazon or Google. Pseudonyms are used to make it clear that the audiobook is voiced with AI technology.

The one notable exception to the use of pseudonyms is with the voice of Edward Hermann. Hermann, who passed away in 2014, was a prolific audio narrator and one of Audiofile magazines respected Golden Voices. According to Ghiselli, We really liked his voice and decided to try and license it. We tracked down his agent in NYC, who then acted as liaison with his estate. His wife and son saw this as a fitting way to honor his legacy.

DeepZen was able to clone his voice using old recordings, and any DeepZen customer can have their work digitally narrated by Hermann, provided they give his voice credit in the recording.

This certainly sidesteps the direct concerns of SAG-AFTRA: it actually brings income to Hermanns estate that wouldnt be earned any other way. The worst that can be said is that a living actor didnt get an opportunity for a particular book.

This September, DeepZen announced its first substantial contract with a publishing organization: Ingram Content Groups publisher clients now have a special portal to access DeepZen services and receive roughly a 7% discount on production pricing.

Holly-Blue Ross is a translation rights executive at SpringerNature in the U.K. and an early customer for DeepZen. Working with DeepZen has given us the opportunity to play a more active role in selecting our content to be produced in the audiobook format, Ross explains. It also offers greater insight into how specific subject areas and disciplines perform in this format. Were hoping to produce 10 more audiobooks before the end of 2022 using the DeepZen platform.

Speechki

Where DeepZen takes over a month to produce an audiobook, Siberias Speechki promises to convert a book into an audiobook in days for as little as $500. It also offers to create your audiobook with artificial intelligence in 15 minutes.

Publishers spend thousands of dollars and at least a few weeks to produce a single audiobook, says Dima Abramov, cofounder and CEO of Speechki. This process is slow, expensive, and highly complex. Publishers unit economy doesnt work with traditional methods of audiobook production. Because of these factors, Abramov estimates that only 5% of published works have been released as audiobooks.

Speechkis mission includes making audiobooks available to everyone in their language of choice. It has 251 voices in 72 languages, including more than 50 American voices. It has already processed upward of 1,000 books, mostly in Swedish and Russian.

There are two levels of voices: so-called common voices are $500 per book, while more natural sounding advanced voices are $1,000 per book. Both include free proof-listening (by a human) and handling of requested corrections.

Weve had a lot of interest from publishers, and are running pilot programs with about a dozen U.S. companies, says Bill Wolfsthal, a New Yorkbased publishing consultant to Speechki. In addition to talking with all of the Big Five publishers, Speechki has met with a handful of independent and university presses, and Wolfsthal says Speechki is working to customize its service to fit specific needs.

Speechkit

Speechkit targets short-form contentblog posts, news, and podcasts. It offers an excellent do-it-yourself tool to evaluate the current state of TTS. The service is built from voices offered by Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Yandex, then enhanced thanks to our natural language processing algorithms, the company says. Publishers who sign up for a free 14-day trial can test a book chapter with a range of natural voices.

Speechkit is producing audiobooks, targeting independent book publishers, but primarily for nonfiction at the moment, which it defines as digital textbooks. The company received early financing from Newark Venture Partners, where Audible is a senior investment partner.

Descript

Descript is a full-featured DIY solution that includes everything from screen recording and video editing to voice transcription and audio editing. Overdub is the most intriguing of its offerings. A voice actor makes a clone of their own voice, which can be used for corrections and omissions during the editing phase. A professional-level voice clone is created with 90 minutes of recorded voice (though the company says it can be generated in as few as 10 minutes).

Theres no feature available to import full book files, so the service builds books chapter by chapter.

According to Jay LeBoeuf, head of business and corporate development, Descript works with Audible, HarperCollins, International Scripture Ministries, and Pushkin Industries.

Pozotron

Pozotron is an audio proofing service that has been around for a few years, and its value is only going to increase as the industry feels its way through the uncertain quality of automated conversions. Pozotrons system detects word mismatches, misreads, missing words, flipped words, and duplicated sentences.

Adam Fritz, Pozotrons CEO, explains that the service will pick up on the obvious errors, so that when a human does the final quality control pass it will be easier to find the remaining mistakes. The software has three settingsnormal, extra sensitive, and relaxedso that an operator can decide how many potential errors will be flagged, and how many false positives theyre willing to contend with.

Fritz is clear-eyed on the current limitations of automated audiobook technology. In art there are shades of gray that the black-and-white nature of an algorithm will never solve, he says. Its going to get better and better. Its the nature of technology that it will improve. But theyre never going to replicate the human voice completely.

Scribe Audio

Scribe Audio is another vendor that eschews fake machine-generated voices in favor of voices originated by human actors, standing apart from the voices packaged by Amazon, Google, and others.

According to founder and CEO Ali Zia Khan, some of Scribes voices have been featured in popular TV series, Hollywood movies, and even Super Bowl ads. The company works with these actors on an unspecified revenue sharing basis.

Working with human voices and a multi-tiered human-in-the-loop systemnot just an algorithm synthesizing the entire bookScribe Audio is able to model the entire spectrum of human emotions, character voices, and other parameters, allowing us to do not just nonfiction but also fiction, Khan says.

Nonfiction is the low-hanging fruit, he adds. We are specializing in fiction. Pricing will be less than $1,000 per title, depending on volume. Scribe plans to launch in late 2021.

Fabula

Fabula is positioned near the low end of the market: pricing starts at $1.99 per month for beginners and students, or at $499 per produced audiobook. The modest pricing is enabled by the voices: Fabula uses only Microsoft Azure and Amazon Polly voices, not the higher-quality voices featured by most other services.

The company is a subsidiary of Wanderword, a Swedish game company, where the voice technology was originally designed for Alexa-based gaming. Fabula offers simultaneous voice, music, and sound effects, it says.

Respeecher

Respeecher, based in Kiev, sits in the voice-only space. As CEO Alex Serdiuk puts it: Were not in text to speech, were in speech to speech. Even sophisticated TTS, he says, doesnt give you control over the speakers emotions.

At Respeecher, a human reads through an entire text, and the software is able to define the pattern of speech, the pace, the inflections. From those speech patterns, clone voices are matched.

Respeechers best-known use of its technology was as part of Disney+s The Mandalorian. A 20-year-old Luke Skywalker was set to make an appearance in the final episode of the second season; Mark Hamill was 68 years old at the time. Using its technology, Respeecher was able to voice the dialogue of a young Skywalker.

An interesting use case for Respeecher technology is creating foreign-language versions of audiobooks using the same voice as the English-language narrator.

Accessibility

Everything about audiobooks intersects with issues of accessibility for print-disabled readers. This is strangely overlooked in many of the discussions of where automated audiobooks are headed. The essential value proposition for print-disabled readers is obvious: hearing texts they cannot see clearly.

A large accessibility ecosystem, including organizations like DAISY and Benetech Bookshare, already promotes e-books for the print disabled. DAISY provides standards and helpful tools and resources; Benetech provides books in a variety of accessible formats. There are more than a million titles on tap, but it still leaves many millions of books that have never been converted to a digital format.

The startups profiled here could potentially make a huge difference in the number of professional-quality audiobooks available for the print-disabled.

Looking ahead

AI-enabled audiobook creation is a promising development that no publisher should ignore. Is it perfect? Certainly not. Can it be good enough? Probably, if a publisher is willing to spend the necessary time in the voice editing phase of the project. Clearly it works best for nonfiction, though a couple of vendors make a compelling case for fiction as well.

Audibles block on the distribution of audiobooks with nonhuman narrators is a real problem that may take some time to resolve. But Audible is not the only game in town.

The vendors profiled here make it clear that they are not trying to replace narration on top-selling frontlist and backlist titles. The opportunity is in the deeper backlist, where a $500 or $1,000 audiobook investment might make financial sense.

Regardless, audiobook production is moving into a new phase, and AI-enabled technologies are at its heart.

Hearing Is Believing

Its easy to describe this technology, but the proof is in the listening. There are several ways to get a taste:

DeepZen offers a finished book for free download, featuring the voice of Edward Herrmann:

server.glassboxx.co.uk/the-korean-war-audio.html

It also offers a range of shorter excerpts, including fiction, on its site:

deepzen.io/publisher

Speechki has a small selection:

speechki.org

Google TTS voices showcase a full range of short clips in multiple languages:

cloud.google.com/text-to-speech/docs/voices

Its also worth visiting Balabolka (cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm) and TextToSpeechRobot.com to experiment with the technology firsthand, without cost.

Better still, try Microsofts Read Aloud feature (part of Office 2019 and Microsoft 365), which reads an entire document... like an audiobook.

Thad McIlroy is an electronic publishing analyst and author based on the West Coast who runs the Future of Publishing website. He is also a founding partner of Publishing Technology Partners.
When: Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

Where: Online,

Book now

The Queen Mary Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context, the International State Crime Initiative, and the Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences are pleased to co-present the online launch of Dr Hedi Viterbos book, Problematizing Law, Rights, and Childhood in Israel/Palestine (Cambridge University Press, 2021).

The book

In this book, Hedi Viterbo radically challenges our picture of law, human rights, and childhood, both in and beyond the Israel/Palestine context. He reveals how Israel, rather than disregarding international law and children's rights, has used them to hone and legitimise its violence against Palestinians. He exposes the human rights community's complicity in this situation, due to its problematic assumptions about childhood, its uncritical embrace of international law, and its recurring emulation of Israel's security discourse. He examines how, and to what effect, both the state and its critics manufacture, shape, and weaponise the categories 'child' and 'adult.'

Bridging disciplinary divides, Viterbo analyses hundreds of previously unexamined sources, many of which are not publicly available. Bold, sophisticated, and informative, Problematizing Law, Rights, and Childhood in Israel/Palestine provides unique insights into the ever-tightening relationship between law, children's rights, and state violence, at both the local and global levels.

The author

Dr Hedi Viterbo is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Law at Queen Mary University of London. Among his previous publications are The ABC of the OPT: A Legal Lexicon of the Israeli Control over the Palestinian Territory (2018, co-authored with Orna Ben-Naftali and Michael Sfard).

Discussants

Professor Lisa Hajjar, Professor of Sociology, University of California Santa Barbara. Author of Courting Conflict: The Israeli Military Court System in the West Bank and Gaza (2005), Torture: A Sociology of Violence and Human Rights (2013), and The War in Court: The Inside Story of the Fight against Torture in the War on Terror (forthcoming), and co-editor of Human Rights: Critical Concepts in Political Science (2008).

Sahar Francis, Director of Addameer  a Palestinian NGO providing legal and advocacy support to Palestinian political prisoners.

Professor Neve Gordon, Professor of Law, Queen Mary University of London. Author of Israels Occupation (2008) and co-author of The Human Right to Dominate (2015) and Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire (2020).

Chair

Professor Laleh Khalili, Professor of International Relations, Queen Mary University of London. Author of Heroes and Martyrs of Palestine: The Politics of National Commemoration (2007), Time in the Shadows: Confinement in Counterinsurgencies (2013), and Sinews of War and Trade (2020).

** Please note that this event will take place online and all registrants will be sent joining instructions on the day of the event.
The discussion about a revolution in intelligence affairs, a term introduced nearly two decades ago, is recently gaining prominence. Many intelligence scholars and former practitioners highlight the need for adaptation to the age of information and emerging technologies. They also stress there is a declining market for secrets, and therefore intelligence agencies must change their secret-inclined culture and embrace open-source intelligence. But for great power competition, this is not enough. Like national security, more broadly, intelligence needs a new language. The current one fails in describing, let alone guiding, the evolving practice.

This should not come as a surprise. Some of the terminology used in the intelligence community (IC) still reflects the mindset of Sherman Kent  who created the foundations for American intelligence after World War II. Kents theory was created for a different context than todays, but his legacy seems to still be present. The current intelligence language is therefore over-stretched to correspond with emerging challenges and practices.

The basic theory guiding the American IC and many other intelligence communities over the world rely on the "intelligence cycle" model  which differentiates between direction, collection, analysis, and dissemination in the intelligence process. This differentiation also effectively exists in intelligence products and organizations. However, scholars and practitioners acknowledge that intelligence is rarely practiced and produced in linear, sequential and siloed ways. The lines between collection and analysis are blurred, for instance, when intelligence officers use the internet to access information and research and analysis and conduct crowdsourcing for new insights. Moreover, machines that use artificial intelligence (AI) collect and analyze data at the same time.

Many also acknowledge that the differentiation between collection disciplines  such as signals intelligence (SIGINT), human intelligence (HUMINT), geospatial intelligence (GEOINT), or open-source intelligence (OSINT)  is also partially obsolete as an overarching concept. A visual image and geolocation of a terrorist published on social media make it hard to determine whether this is SIGINT, OSINT, or GEOINT. When using commercial satellites, OSINT overlaps with GEOINT. Moreover, machines do not differentiate between sources of collection when exploiting, sorting, and analyzing data.

Traditional terminology differentiates between intelligence and counterintelligence or between foreign and domestic intelligence. But detecting and thwarting a Russian or a Chinese intervention in U.S. elections is foreign intelligence, domestic intelligence and counterintelligence at the same time. When considering the last crisis in Afghanistan, it is hard to differentiate between current, strategic, or anticipatory intelligence  another accepted terminology in American IC doctrine. Moreover, traditional methods for collection and analysis, created for engaging political and military challenges, do not suffice for non-military challenges  for instance, when the IC is tasked with determining the origin of COVID-19 or anticipating the implications of climate change.

A discussion about technological, cultural and organizational reforms is already taking place and is undoubtfully important. However, this must be complemented by a discussion of concepts. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) established the Office of Net Assessment a few years ago, which aims at adapting the IC to its future environment. Together with the National Intelligence University and broader academia, this can be a relevant platform for such a conceptual effort. Moreover, on top of conceptual ideation, an "innovation through adaptation" approach should be manifested, where new concepts are tested in real-life challenges. Indeed, this bears some risks. But so does inertia, or an attempt to fully understand future challenges as a prerequisite for reforming the current practice.

Intelligence is a crucial condition for executing a mindset of campaigning," which is imperative in the current strategic and operational environment. This is true for the great-power competition with Russia and China, where simply preparing for conflict might harm deterrence, and therefore active engagement is also needed. It is true since counterterrorism (CT) and counterinsurgency (COIN) missions will still be relevant even after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is true that since Iran continues to create political and military challenges and threaten regional stability through its nuclear ambitions, and therefore, political negotiations alongside military measures and deterrent actions must be executed. The same goes for North Korea, which has not given up its political or military ambitions.

In all these cases, intelligence must allow constant formulation and execution of policy, strategy, and operations. The IC does not have the luxury of developing innovative ideas while competing based on outdated ones. While innovative practices and organizational structures such as cooperation between the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the private sector, interaction between the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the private sector, or new mission-centers in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have evolved, these practices require a compatible theory to make them better suited for competition.

Language, therefore, is an important aspect of the revolution in intelligence affairs, not less than technologies or organizational structures. True, a conceptual discussion might seem abstract and disruptive, but disruption can be constructive, and abstraction is needed to augment practice. A new language might create confusion, but so can the over-stretch of obsolete terminology. Intelligence practitioners should therefore learn from theory, and intelligence scholars should theorize not only about the future but also about emerging practices. Such a combined effort can create a competitive advantage of its own for the U.S. and its partners and allies.

Itai Shapira is a retired colonel from the Israeli Defense Intelligence (IDI), with more than 25 years of experience in various analytical and management roles. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Leicester, and the Director of the Red Team Thinking Academy.

Itai has published articles about intelligence, national security, strategy, and Middle Eastern topics in Intelligence and National Security, War on the Rocks, Defense One, The National Interest, Strategic Assessment, and RealClear Defense.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 10/29/2021



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

The Bachelorette alum Becca Kufrin is gushing about life with Thomas Jacobs , whom she connected with on 's seventh season this past summer.Becca, 31, took to Instagram on Thursday and posted sunset photos with Thomas, 29, in which the pair was cuddled up to one another in a fuzzy blanket.Becca captioned the sweet pictures, "I love this life with you @thomasajacobs."On October 19, Becca posted also photos of Thomas and herself enjoying a double date with fellow couple Noah Erb and Abigail Heringer at a Mexican restaurant."We love when our kids visit us," Becca wrote alongside the images.On 's Season 7 finale, Becca was shown breaking up with Thomas and crushing his heart before overnight Fantasy Suite dates because, despite having "an incredible start" to a relationship, Becca didn't want to leave The Bachelor franchise for the third time with a man unless she knew everything about him, including how he'd face adversity and real-life challenges.However, the finale concluded with an update on Becca and Thomas' relationship, revealing they had reunited after filming ended and are now dating, "happy and in love."During a joint appearance on a recent episode of the "Talking It Out" podcast hosted by The Bachelorette alums Mike Johnson and Bryan Abasolo , Becca revealed she's the one who tracked down Thomas' phone number and initiated their reunion "After we ended things, I think I waited a couple days. I didn't have my phone right away and he didn't have his phone right away, so I think I gave it two days," Becca said.Thomas recalled, "I was waiting for my bags in the San Diego airport when I got a text."While Thomas confessed he was "mad" and "hurt" about his Paradise breakup, he had faith they'd have "a future conversation.""I was just waiting for the moment and opportunity to see her again," Thomas shared."When she first texted me, she started off, 'I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from right now.' And it couldn't be further from the truth, that's the one text I was waiting to hear."Thomas shared, "That's the one person I wanted to see. That's the one person I wanted to hold... [Our split] showed us that we experienced something and it was taken away from us for a moment."Becca said she met up with Thomas in San Diego and they picked up right where they had left off.Becca boasted about how Thomas is different from her past relationships because he's so passionate about a life with her and was prepared to fight "tooth and nail" to save their romance."He is so supportive and he's just funny and quirky in the cutest ways. Everything about him, I just felt safe with, unlike anything I had in the past. I was just like, 'This guy is my guy,'" Becca gushed.Prior to starring on The Bachelorette, Becca had been engaged two times.She had her heart broken by Arie Luyendyk Jr. on The Bachelor's 22nd season in 2018, when he decided he was still in love with his runner-up, Lauren Burnham , who is now his wife and the mother of his three children.Becca also had a very public breakup with her The Bachelorette 14 winner, Garrett Yrigoyen , in September 2020.But the third time may be the charm , as Becca apparently thinks Thomas could be The One and they are meant to be."I'm gonna probably hate myself for actually admitting this to anyone, but I called my mom -- and even though I was engaged twice in the past -- I was like, 'Mom, I think I want to marry this guy ,'" Becca said on the "Talking It Out" podcast."It's the first time I've ever actually said that out loud."Becca also revealed Thomas has sent her "multiple text messages" asking about engagement rings."It's something we've talked about," Thomas disclosed. "I mean, I don't want to spend my life with anybody else... I wouldn't want to wake up next to anybody else."Prior to his stint on , Thomas competed for Katie Thurston on The Bachelorette's seventeenth season earlier this year and came across like a villain However, Becca has defended her man and stood up for her relationship on numerous occasions since their relationship became serious.Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
About the author: State Rep. John Roth, of Traverse City, is in his first term in the Michigan House serving residents in the 104th District, which includes all of Grand Traverse County.
64, of Traverse City, passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, at Munson Medical Center, in Traverse City, with her daughter, Tina, by her side. She is survived by: her daughters, Tina Tuller-Buist, Meagan Eby, and Rachael Eby. Cremation has taken place and there are no services planned at thi
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Actor Alec Baldwin has been lying low after what has been called an accidental discharge of a prop gun on the set of "Rust," a movie being filmed in Santa Fe, N.M., that killed Hutchins and injured the film's director, Joel Souza. Baldwin, who has not been charged, had not been seen in New Mexico for days since the shooting.

Sunday and Monday, however, the family was spotted on the streets of Manchester, where many locals saw them dining and getting takeout in area restaurants
GOSHEN  Artist Don Sexton has a new show, Places I Know opening at the East 67th St Library, 328 East 67th St., New York City until Dec. 18.

A reception is scheduled from 4-6 p.m. Nov. 10. In the exhibition, Places I Know, Sexton shows scenes from around the world, people going about their lives  with their families, at play, on the streets. Sexton tells their stories.

From the artist: For more than 50 years, Sexton served on the regular faculty of Columbia University, where his positions included chair of the International Business Division. Over the years he has taught, lived, or visited for substantial periods of time in a variety of countries, including Australia, China, India, Japan, France, Russia, Portugal, South Korea, Italy, Brazil, Greece, Iran, and Mexico. The paintings in this show are based on his travels.

He paints with oils and mixed media. The mixed media technique works are unique in that they are based on a special approach which he developed. After drawing the scene with black ink, he employs oil pastels and water-based inks that produce vivid hues and make intriguing and exciting what at first glance might seem to be an ordinary scene. Guests at his shows always praise his lively colors and his unusual compositions, he said.

He has been a professional painter for more than 30 years. His paintings have been exhibited in solo shows and group shows in New York City, Connecticut, and New York State. His works have won many awards such as Best in Show and Best in Mixed Media. His paintings are in collections in the United States, Europe, and Australia. He is frequently engaged for commission projects, he said.

Sexton studied painting and drawing at Wesleyan University and at the New School, the Stacy Studio Workshop, and the Koho School of Sumi-E in New York City and at the American Center for the Arts in Paris. He has been an active participant in the community of artists. He has served on the boards of JAM Gallery, NYC, Artwell, and the Kent Art Association. He is also a member of the Canton Artists Guild, the Housatonic Valley Art League, 14th Colony Artists, the Voice of Art, the Washington Art Association, and the Mamaroneck Artists Guild.

For information about the library, go to www.nypl.org/locations/67th-street
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)  Basir Akrami had only been in the United States for five days when he stood outside World Reliefs office in Memphis and was greeted by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, County Commission Chairman Willie Brooks Jr. and Commissioner Mark Billingsley.

As a Shelby County Commissioner and a native of Memphis, Basir, we want to welcome you to Memphis, Billingsley told Akrami. We want to welcome your family. We hope that you make a wonderful home here in Shelby County. With the help of World Relief, were going to be helping more families like this here.

A refugee from Afghanistan, Akrami worked as an interpreter and security guard for the U.S. embassy in Kabul before being forced to flee the country with his wife and two daughters.

Friday, representatives of Shelby County gifted him with a welcome bag, symbolizing the countys welcome to all the Afghan refugees who have arrived and are expected to arrive over the coming weeks.

Shelby County is a friendly place, Harris said. It is a welcoming county and it is one of the most diverse counties in our state. This event today is consistent with all of that. We want to make sure we welcome our Afghan families as they arrive here in this country and arrive and make Shelby County their new home.

So far, three families have arrived in Memphis through the Afghan Placement and Assistance program, and World Relief is expecting 10 to 12 more, said PJ Moore, executive director of World Relief.

Right now, there are challenges finding housing, but Memphis residents have offered to host the refugees, and Akramis family is staying with a host family.

They are great people, Akrami said. Theyve given us the opportunity to live in this great place and have given us this support. Thank you for everything theyve given to us.

Jerri Green, policy adviser for Harris, said numerous businesses reached out to the mayors office offering their support and help for the refugees. Some contributed to the gift bags, including items from Hueys, 17 Berkshire, Discover Memphis and $100 gift cards from Kroger.

The county also presented World Relief with a $10,000 check Friday.

This is what we do in Shelby County, to make sure to extend you a warm welcome to Shelby County, Memphis, Tennessee, Brooks said. Youve chosen a great place to be here. We are a friendly county, a friendly city and we want to make sure you have a quality of life experience here.

Akrami said he had never heard of Memphis before coming here. His family originally fled from Kabul to Qatar before coming to the United States, and he still has family in Afghanistan in what he says is a scary situation.

Id like people to know that these are families that have been in harms way and put themselves in harms way to serve our country and we have a moral obligation to welcome them and help them rebuild their lives after having served our country, Moore said. Memphis is doing that. Shelby County is opening up their homes. Theyre creating a warm welcome and theres plenty of opportunity to do more of that.
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP)  Medical workers at Bulgarias main emergency hospital are waging an uphill battle as a surge in coronavirus cases has overwhelmed the country's ailing health care system.

Following a relatively quiet summer, the Balkan country has been hit hard by another wave of the pandemic as it failed to take tighter containment measures. Bulgaria's health woes have been compounded by a prolonged political crisis that has left the country without a regular government since last spring, eroding public trust in institutions.

Bulgarian health officials blame public mistrust in vaccines and the government  just 1 in 4 adults is fully vaccinated  for the country's current virus predicament.

On Friday, more than 7,553 people were in Bulgarian COVID-19 wards, including 656 in intensive care. More than 90% of the patients were not vaccinated, data showed.

In addition, 5,178 new infections and 124 more deaths were reported, bringing the country's death toll to 23,718. Bulgaria has had the highest COVID-19 mortality rate in the 27-nation European Union in the past two weeks.

In response to the worsening situation, Bulgarian hospitals are suspending planned admissions and operations and switching units over to handle the rising numbers of COVID-19 patients.

Currently, we are experiencing one of the most difficult periods since the beginning of the pandemic, said Georgi Georgiev, head of the intensive care unit at Pirogov, Sofias main emergency hospital.

He was concerned about the grave situation that many COVID-19 patients were in and complained about a shortage of medical professionals trained to handle them.

The current situation is taking a serious physical and emotional toll. We are exhausted and at our limits, Georgiev said.

The hospital's ICU has transformed three separate rooms to treat COVID-19 patients who need intubation and ventilators, plus 10 rooms for patients with milder symptoms. According to Georgiev, 30% of the COVID-19 patients at the hospital need to be intubated at some point.

Georgiev blamed the surge in infections on the widespread vaccine skepticism among Bulgarians, who have turned the country into the EU's least vaccinated nation.

On Thursday, thousands of people working in the restaurant industry took to the streets in cities across Bulgaria to protest the governments decision to impose a mandatory COVID-19 health pass for access to indoor places.

___

Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)  The mother of a young man shot dead by a retired Oakland police captain said he son was wrong to rob the man, but questions whether use of deadly force was necessary.

I want to apologize to everyone in the Oakland community who was affected by that situation, Trepania Williams told the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday of the robbery attempt on Oct. 21. But death was not the answer.

Her 20-year-old son, Desoni Gardner, was identified by authorities as one of three people who tried to rob Ersie Joyner as he pumped gas near downtown Oakland on Oct. 21. Joyner pulled out a gun and fired at the assailants, killing Gardner, before being shot and wounded as the other two suspects fled in a car.

I understand my son was wrong, but hes already been held accountable, Williams said. She said she has watched surveillance camera footage of the shootout numerous times and wants more scrutiny placed on Joyner, who took the initiative to shoot and kill.

Joyner wasn't available to comment on Saturday.

He was taken to a hospital in critical condition on the day of the shooting. Police spokesman Paul Chambers said Saturday that Joyner was in good spirits and on a long road to recovery.

Police have not released further details of the investigation.

Joyner headed the homicide unit and led the city's Ceasefire anti-violence initiative until his retirement in 2019. After leaving the force, he began a new career in the cannabis industry and now owns dispensaries in Oakland and San Francisco, according to the newspaper. Joyner also owns a public safety and security consulting company.

Gardner is the second son Williams has lost to gun violence in just over a year. Her older son, Demazhe Gardner, was killed in July 2020. The brothers were rap musicians and had recorded several songs and appeared in music videos.
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (AP)  Police in a Massachusetts city are investigating a fatal shooting that happened early Saturday morning and left a man dead of an apparent gunshot wound.

The shooting happened in Framingham, Boston.com reported. Police arrived to the scene to find a man dead at a residence. Police said the shooting did not appear to be a random attack.
ROME (AP)  The U.S. and European Union have reached an agreement to settle their diplomatic rift over Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs, the White House announced Saturday, as President Joe Biden is in Rome attending the Group of 20 summit.

The Trump administration had placed taxes on EU steel and aluminum in 2018 on the claim that the foreign products produced by American allies were a threat to U.S. national security. Europeans and other allies were outraged by Trumps use of Article 232 to justify the tariffs, leading many to impose countertariffs on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced the agreement Saturday. They said that the Article 232 tariffs wont be removed entirely but that some quantity of European steel and aluminum will be allowed to enter the U.S. without tariffs under the deal.

We were able to reach an agreement whereby the EU will drop their retaliatory tariffs (on American goods), Raimondo said. The agreement would ensure that all steel entering the U.S. via Europe is produced entirely in Europe, Raimondo added.

The easing of the tariffs is a key step in unwinding one of Trump's legacies as Biden has tried to reset the U.S. relationship with Europe.

This back-and-forth hurt European producers and raised steel costs for American companies. The tariffs also did not achieve Trumps stated goals of creating jobs at steel mills. The Bureau of Labor Statistics show that jobs in the manufacturing of primary metals did rise slightly, to as much as 389,100 in 2019. But mills shed workers during the pandemic, and employment in the sector is roughly half of what it was in 1990.

The European Union took steps in May to improve relations. On some retaliatory tariffs, the EU temporarily suspended planned increases. This meant that American whiskey faced a 25% tax in Europe, instead of a planned 50% tax. The two sides faced a December deadline to avoid the higher tax rate.

The summits host, Italian Premier Mario Draghi, in a statement Saturday night expressed great satisfaction  for the tariff accord. The decision "confirms the further reinforcement underway of the already close Transatlantic relations and the progressive overcoming of the protectionism of the last years, he said.

The announcement also was welcomed by Chris Swonger, president and CEO of Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, after what he called three very difficult years of sagging American whiskey exports.

Lifting this tariff burden on American whiskeys not only boosts U.S. distillers and farmers, it also supports the recovery of EU restaurants, bars and distilleries hit hard by the pandemic, Swonger said.
One of the largest restaurant operators in India, Sapphire Foods India IPO (Initial Public Offering) will open for subscription on November 9, with up to 17,569,941 equity shares of Rs 10 each. Sapphire Food India Ltd operates Pizza Hut and KFC outlets. Sapphire Foods Mauritius Ltd will offer 55.69 lakh shares while QSR Management Trust will offer 8.50 lakh shares. Amethyst will open with 39.62 lakh shares and WWD Ruby Ltd will open with 48.46 lakh shares. Largest franchisees of Yum! Brands Inc. in India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.

The company's peer group includes Jubilant Foodworks Limited, Westlife Development Limited, and Burger King India Limited.

Sapphire foods IPO

To apply for Sapphire Foods IPO via ASBA available in the bank account, go to online bank login and select the Sapphire Foods IPO in the Invest section to apply via bank account. Some of the options include application through IPO forms downloaded via NSE and BSE. To check out the company's forms, just click NSE Forms and BSE Forms blank IPO forms. Download the forms, fill and then submit the same in your respective banks.

About Sapphire Foods India Ltd.

Sapphire Foods India Ltd. was set up in the year 2015 by the acquisition of about 250 KFC and Pizza Hut Stores in India and Sri Lanka. Over 200 KFC restaurants are owned by the company in India and the Maldives. They also own about 230 Pizza Hut restaurants in India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. The company is one of the largest franchisees of Yum Brands Inc. in the subcontinent that operate about 400 Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell restaurants across India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka.

The company functions with vendor partners for food ingredients, packaging, warehousing, and logistics and has an in-house supply chain function and. Across five Indian cities, the company operates warehouses and has invested in building technology solutions in their restaurants. Further, to enhance customer experience and achieve operational efficiency and financial control, the company has employed the YUM brand's global online and digital channel solutions. As part of its expansion strategy, the company operates its restaurants in key metropolitan areas and cities across India at high-traffic and high visibility locations.

Image: UNSPLASH/REPRESENTATIVE
Bollywood actor Anupam Kher was shooting for this upcoming film, Uunchai, in Nepal for the past few weeks. He recently wrapped up the first schedule of the film. Sharing the news, the actor also wrote the movie and its shoot in Nepal was a life-changing experience for him. He also revealed the shoot made him reinvent himself as an actor and as a person. Uunchai will mark Anupam Kher's 520th film.

Taking to Instagram, Anupam Kher recently shared a video of him walking on a mountain cliff in Nepal. He has been shooting for Uunchai with Boman Irani and Parineeti Chopra for the past few weeks. As the film's first schedule wrapped up, the New Amsterdam actor penned how shooting in Nepal was a life-changing experience for him. He wrote, "Finally the first shooting schedule of Sooraj Barjatyas magnum opus Uunchai in Nepal is wrapped. It has been a 27 days of life-changing experience. It forced me to challenge my potential and reinvent myself! Both as an actor and as a person! Jai Ho!!"

Anupam Kher's adventures in Nepal

Anupam Kher kept his Instagram followers updated about his adventures throughout his shoot in Nepal. The actor explored several areas of Nepal and also overcame some of his fears. Earlier this week, he shared he travelled to the most difficult locations in Nepal via helicopter. The actor revealed he is a nervous flyer and hailed all pilots for doing a great job. He wrote, "I am a nervous flyer. So I have extra respect for all the pilots in the world. No matter what aircraft they fly. But in the last month, I have travelled to the most difficult locations for @uunchaithemovie in helicopters. My admiration for my pilots, especially for @captbibekkhadka and @andyinstagm has doubled. It is really amazing how they fly in these tough situations!"

Anupam Kher overcomes his fear of crossing rope bridge

In another video, the actor overcame his fear of crossing one of the rope bridges in Nepal. Sharing the video, he revealed the bridge was over a river and in between two mountains. Despite being afraid, he chose to overcome his fear and crossed the bridge.

Image: Instagram/@anupamkher
Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan is enjoying basking in the sun with her son Taimur Ali Khan on their fun family outing. Known for being an avid social media user, the actor often shares snippets from her personal life on the photo-sharing platform. After their family trip to the Maldives on the occasion of Saif Ali Khan's birthday, the family is currently vacationing in Rajasthan,

Kareena Kapoor with her son Taimur in Rajasthan

Taking to her Instagram on October 30, the 41-year-old shared multiple pictures from her family trip to Rajasthan. In the first picture, she can be seen taking a stroll around while sporting a white tee paired with denim pants. She shared the picture with the caption, ''Hanging around'' with a heart emoji. In the next picture, Taimur Ali Khan was seen resting against the wall as Kareena wrote in the caption, ''With the love of my life'' along with a heart emoji.

Earlier, the actor shared a glimpse of her second son with her husband Saif Ali Khan named Jeh. She poked fun at his stance by writing, ''Downward Dog Yoga runs in the family you see#8 months Pike position #Mera Beta ''. Taimur also recently grabbed headlines after pictures of his Halloween party with several other star kids hit the internet. The toddler was dressed up as a cowboy as he sported a white t-shirt, denim pants and long cowboy boots along with a red scarf wrapped around his neck.

He was joined by actor Tusshar Kapoor's son Lakshya and producer Ekta Kapoor's son. The party included sweet treats for the kids as the party planner shared photos from the event on her social media. The duo got married in 2012 and welcomed two sons in 2016 and 2020, respectively.

Kareena Kapoor on the work front

The actor is all set to star in the upcoming highly anticipated movie Laal Singh Chaddha. Directed by Advait Chandan, 3 Idiots co-stars Kareena Kapoor Khan and Aamir Khan will reunite to play the role of Laal Singh Chaddha and his wife, respectively. Actors Naga Chaitanya and Mona Singh will feature in the supporting cast of the movie. The film is set to release on February 11 in theatres next year.

Image: Instagram/@kareenakapoorkhan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently on his Rome visit where he is continuously having meetings with European diplomats. The Prime Minister flew to Rome to participate in the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit, set to be held on October 30 and 31. During his visit, he paid homage to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Piazza Gandhi, where he was surrounded by hundreds of people. Sanskrit and "Modi, Modi" chants reverberated in the background as he conversed with the Indian community in Rome. Seeing the visuals from Rome, Thalaivii actor Kangana Ranaut recently hailed PM Modi and his leadership.

Taking to Instagram stories, Kangana Ranaut recently hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being a great leader for the country. She shared a video by ANI, featuring PM Modi, who received a warm welcome from the Indian community in Rome. Sharing the video's link, Kangana Ranaut wrote, "Some follow and some lead... In NAMO's leadership, India is definitely leading." Here is a video of PM Modi's grand welcome in Rome, shared by ANI.

#WATCH Sanskrit chants, slogans of 'Modi, Modi' reverberate at Piazza Gandhi in Rome as Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with people gathered there



The PM is in Rome to participate in the G20 Summit. pic.twitter.com/G13ptYOAjB  ANI (@ANI) October 29, 2021

PM Modi thanks the Indian community in Rome for a heartwarming welcome

Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed at Leonardo Da Vinci airport in Rome on Friday, October 29. He was welcomed by Italian diplomats at the airport. In his first engagement in Italy, he met Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. He later offered flowers to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi at Piazza Gandhi. He was surrounded by hundreds of Indians who gave him a heartwarming welcome. Sharing some glimpses of his meeting with the Indian community, PM Modi wrote, "Grateful to the Indian community in Rome for such a warm welcome in the city."

On Kangana Ranaut's work front

Meanwhile, Kangana Ranaut recently starred in the film Thalaivii, a biopic of the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, late Jayalalithaa. She is currently gearing up for the release of her crime thriller film, Dhaakad. The actor also has Tejas and The Incarnation Sita. The actor also recently received her fourth National Film Award. She was honoured with the Best Actress award for Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi and Panga.

Image: Instagram/@kanganaranaut/@narendramodi
India is ready to produce over 5 billion Covid vaccine doses by the end of next year to help the world in its fight against the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his remarks at the G-20 meeting here on Saturday, as he highlighted India's contributions to fighting the deadly disease.

Briefing reporters on Modi's engagements in Rome, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said the prime minister also stressed on the need for facilitating international travel and spoke about having a mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification as a means for this.

Noting that the WHO approval for the emergency use authorisation for Covaxin, India's indigenous vaccine, is pending, India suggested that a nod for the jab will help India assist other countries.

A technical advisory group of the UN health agency will meet on November 3 to conduct a final risk-benefit assessment for Emergency Use Listing of Covaxin. Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and AstraZeneca and Oxford University's Covishield are the two widely used vaccines in India.

Modi also highlighted India's medical supply to over 150 countries and contribution in maintaining the global supply chain during the pandemic.

He made these remarks during his intervention at the "global economy and global health" session at the G20 meet, Shringla said.

Stressing on the need for resilient global supply chains, Prime Minister Modi spoke about India's bold economic reforms and invited G20 nations to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification.

Modi also spoke about "One Earth, One Health" vision in the context of fighting the pandemic and future global health issues, Shringla added.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered an FIR against a former official of the National Thermal Power Corporation on Saturday. The official of the NTPC has been charged with corruption in the lodged FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI, while conducting its investigation, has also found the NTPC officer adhering to corrupt practices and active involvement in bribing in the disguise of staff selection.

What did the FIR iterate?

The Lucknow CBI unit has registered an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act against NTPC Unchahar's former Chief Medical Officer, Dr Narendra Mohan Singh.

The FIR mentioned that CBI's preliminary enquiry has found that Dr Narendra Mohan Singh and his wife had taken money in the form of air travel from one Anup Kumar.

Anup Kumar was assured by the accused of a labour contract at the NTPC. The beneficiary Anoop Kumar Sonkar had made an online payment of Rs. 1.4 lakhs in favour of M/s MakeMyTrip back in June 2019 to fund the accused NTPC officer and his wife's foreign travel to Malaysia and Singapore.

More cases of bribery under Dr NM Singh

While conducting the enquiry, the Lucknow CBI unit has also come across several other occasions where Dr Narendra Mohan Singh may have been involved in cases of corrupt practices and bribery. Reports have claimed that Dr Narendra Mohan Singh was paid an amount of Rs. 10 lakhs by a Medical Representative Shamsher Bahadur Singh through the banking channel during the period of July - November 2019. Shamsher Bahadur Singh was assured by Dr NM Singh of getting an order of supply of medicines in return.

Dr NM Singh had been dismissed from his services at the NTPC post a vigilance enquiry by the latter. Dr NM Singh original retirement date was July 2021 which was cut short post allegation against him. DR NM Singh allegedly had involved himself time and again in the corrupt practices of demanding and accepting bribes on the pretext of selection of paramedical staff on contract at the NTPC.

With inputs from ANI

Image Credit - Twitter - (All India Radio News)
Rome, Oct 29 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held the first in-person meeting with his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here during which the two leaders had extensive talks on diversifying the bilateral ties and to work together towards a more environment-friendly planet.

Prime Minister Modi, who arrived here earlier in the day at the invitation of his Italian counterpart, was received by Draghi upon his arrival at Palazzo Chigi, the seat of the Council of Ministers and the official residence of the Prime Minister of Italy, for the meeting.

"Glad to have met PM Mario Draghi in Rome. We talked about ways to strengthen the friendship between India and Italy. There is great potential to further scale up economic linkages, cultural cooperation and for us to work together towards a more environment friendly planet," Prime Minister Modi tweeted after the meeting.

Earlier, the Prime Minister's Office tweeted that the two leaders held extensive talks on diversifying India-Italy ties.

Modi was also accorded a guard of honour.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters at a briefing that the two leaders discussed the challenges posed by climate change and the COP26 Climate Summit.

They also discussed the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in Kabul as well as the developments in the Indo-Pacific region.

Shringla said the issue of mutual vaccination certification was discussed. The issue of easier access travel with normalisation that is increasingly seen as countries recover from the COVID pandemic was certainly discussed.

"There was a conversation on mutual recognition of vaccines. "I think there is a sense that this is one very, I would say, doable mechanism through which we can facilitate easier international travel," the foriegn secretary said.

"We have proposed a mutual recognition of vaccination certification even at the G20. But as we speak, discussions on an outcome document are still on. So I think most countries are quite happy with the idea of facilitating smoother international travel," he said.

But the fact of the matter is that a number of countries feel that easier access and easier travel is something that we need to collectively work on. "And that point that the Prime Minister made, I think has been received and noted," Shringla said.

During the meeting, the two prime ministers looked at other areas of cooperation between India and Italy.

To provide fresh impetus to the bilateral cooperation in renewable and clean energy, India and Italy issued a joint statement announcing a strategic partnership on energy transition, and agreed to explore partnerships in areas such as large size green corridor project smart grids, energy storage solutions, gas transportation, integrated waste management, development and deployment of green hydrogen and promotion of biofuels.

India and Italy also signed an agreement statement of intent on textiles cooperation during the meeting. There was a very good discussion on two-way investments, particularly in the clean energy and renewable sector were Italy has a lot of expertise. "I think this is something that both prime ministers agreed to see how we can take forward, the foreign secretary said.

Earlier, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi tweeted that the two prime ministers reviewed the 2020-2025 Action Plan of India-Italy bilateral partnership, and reiterated the commitment to further expanding trade and investment linkages.

They also "resolved to cooperate for accelerating clean energy transition to fight climate change," Bagchi added.

Italy is among India's top five trading partners in the EU. India ranks 19th as country of origin of Italian imports, accounting for 1.2 per cent of Italian imports. Italy ranked 18th in FDI inflows in India during April 2000 to December 2020 with FDI inflow of USD 3.02 billion during this period.

In his departure statement on Thursday, Modi said he will be visiting Rome and the Vatican City from October 29-31.

"During my visit to Italy, I will also visit the Vatican City, to call on His Holiness Pope Francis and meet Secretary of State, His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin," Modi said.

From Rome, Modi will travel to Glasgow, the UK, at the invitation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to attend the Climate Summit. PTI ZH AKJ AKJ

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Who is considered fit? Someone who is young, has a healthy-looking body, and is regular to the gym? The perception that most of us have in our minds has been defied by recent happenings. For example, consider Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar's case. The 46-year-old is not the only victim. Last month, actor Siddharth Shukla (41), and last year, actor Chiranjeevi Sarja (36) passed away after suffering heart attacks.

"20-25 years back, we used to encounter a case of a heart attack in people aged 30 and below once in 6 months, but now one such case is reported every week," said Dr. Ramakanta Panda, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Asia Heart Institute in an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network on Friday.

A Padma Bhushan Awardee and one of India's best heart surgeons, Dr. Panda asserted that there were good and bad effects of exercising and that depends on how one does it.

Things to keep in mind during physical workout

Dr. Ramakanta Panda listed down ways to work out properly. The leading heart surgeon higlighted that the body needs a moderate level of exercise. A low level or a high level of physical activity may lead to adverse effects, of which heart ailments are at the top of the list. Here's how to exercise right - moderately.

Do a warm-up for 5-10 minutes

20-30 minutes of exercise

5-10 minutes to cool down the body

Dr. Panda suggested, "People should keep a track of how the body is functioning. If pain is experienced on the left side of the chest, and there are pains in the joints, then one should not ignore it. Especially when there is history in the family, one should immediately see the doctor."
Last month, Google launched a new feature for securely storing photographs on an Android device called Locked Folder. Google Photos Locked Folder enables users to store sensitive images in a separate folder that is protected by a password. The content stored in such a folder does not appear in search on Google Photos, neither in any other folder on the device. Previously, the feature was available for Android devices only. In the latest update, Google is rolling out the feature for iOS devices as well.

The Google Photos locked folder was first launched for the Pixel 3 back in June 2021. Later, Google announced in September 2021 that the feature will be available for all Android users. Now Google has announced that the feature will be available for iPhone users, starting early next year. The images stored in the locked folder can be taken out of it and permanently deleted, will not be transferred in USB to USB data transfer, and will not be retained if the device undergoes a factory reset.

How to set up a locked folder on Android devices once it is available?

Open the Google Photos application

Go to Library

Tap on Utilities

Tap on Locked Folder

Tap on Set up Locked Folder

Users with no screen locks would be required to set up a screen lock first

Thereafter, they will be able to select and add images to the locked folder which will not be visible in the gallery

Privacy oriented features launched by Google

Among other privacy and security-oriented features launched by Google is Security Hub for Pixel devices. It brings all the security-related features and settings into one place on your Pixel device. If there is something wrong with a device and the Hub detects the issue, it will inform the user.

Most recently, Google Fi also announced end-to-end encrypted calls for the residents and subscribers in the United States. Google is also expanding its VPN service to new countries such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Another feature called new safe browsing in Android Messages and Chat was also launched by Google recently.
Street protests continued in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum Friday, as demonstrations continued against the military who seized power in a coup this week.

Protesters placed stones across roads and burnt tires, as heavily armed Sudanese security vehicles drove around the streets.

Since the demonstrations began at least nine people have been killed by security forces' gunfire, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee and activists.

At least 170 others were wounded, according to the United Nations.

Pro-democracy activist groups have called for million-person marches on Saturday to bring the coup to a halt.

During Friday prayers in kartoum, preachers in one packed mosque called for worshipers to attend the march on Saturday.

It comes as the Sudanese general who seized power said the military he heads will appoint a technocrat prime minister to rule alongside it within days.

In an interview with Russia's state-owned Sputnik news agency published Friday, Abdel-Fattah Burhan said the new premier will form a cabinet that will share leadership of the country with the armed forces until planned elections in July 2023.

On Monday, Burhan dissolved the transitional government and detained Prime Minister Abddalla Hamdok, many government officials and political leaders in a coup condemned by the United States and the West.

The military takeover came after weeks of mounting tensions between military and civilian leaders over the course and pace of Sudan's transition to democracy.

It has threatened to derail that process, which has progressed in fits and starts since the overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising two years ago.

IMAGE: AP

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Leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) nations and Brussels who met in Rome, Italy on Saturday at the 16th gathering at the level of Heads of State and Government reaffirmed their pledge of sending a humanitarian aid package worth 1 billion ($1.15 billion) to deal with the socio-economic collapse in Afghanistan. This amount, as they had said earlier, will be provided via the international organizations operating inside Afghanistan. Under Italys Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Mario Draghi had earlier agreed to hold a press conference in the Sala Polifunzionale at the President of the Council in Rome during an extraordinary meeting of G20 leaders on Afghanistan. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had stated that the Afghan people "should not pay the price of the Talibans actions.

Leaders and representatives from G20 nations have expressed the urgent need of sending financial support to Afghanistan, although they had clarified that this would not mean the recognition of the Taliban regime. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi holding the rotating presidency of the G20 had clarified ahead of the meeting: "All G20 leaders should have contact with the Taliban, but that does not mean recognizing them as the government of Afghanistan.

The stunning Convention Center La Nuvola is ready to host the #G20RomeSummit on 30-31 October. #G20



Participants will arrive today at 10 CET. The official welcome by Prime Minister Mario Draghi will be streamed live on the #G20Italy YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/0u3cxmCnDL  G20 Italy (@g20org) October 30, 2021

Meanwhile, Germanys outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel had also agreed that Afghanistan was in dire need of the necessary resources, adding that her country would pledge 600 million ($690 million) at the summit in Rome. She had further appealed to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in reviving the war torn nation's economy. "We have nothing to gain if the entire monetary or financial system collapses in Afghanistan," the EU nations outgoing leader had stressed.

European Union had announced a support package of 1 billion for Afghanistan well ahead of the summit to curb the risks of widespread famine within Afghanistan. G20 leaders have mutually agreed that the funding must focus on uplifting the women and girl children in Afghanistan. Even before the Taliban takeover, the central Asian country had been struggling with severe drought and food crisis which has now worsened after the exit of the US and allied forces. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, had expressed the urgency of injecting cash into Afghanistans collapsing economy via UN trust funds. "We need to find ways to make the economy breathe again," Guterres said to the reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

UN aid chief warns about mass starvation in Afghanistan

In a dire message to the leaders of the world gathered at the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths on October 29 warned that the Afghanistan humanitarian crisis has been deepening and that the conflict-ravaged central Asian nations needs are skyrocketing. Kids as young as under the age of 5 are on the verge of malnutrition, Griffiths cautioned, adding that recently there has been a measles disease outbreak in every single province which, according to him, is a red light and the canary in the mine.

In an interview, Friday with The Associated Press, UNs humanitarian chief warned about the growing food insecurity across Afghanistan, and the looming famine-like situation worsened by the diseases, pandemic, battered economy, and deaths. He said, that despite that the UNs World Food Program ensuring the adequate supply for over 4 million population, Afghanistans civilians are on the verge of malnutrition. Citing the horrible economic conditions and tough winters ahead, the UNs humanitarian chief warned that the demand for food might triple those figures to about 12 million if the humanitarian needs in the territory were ignored.

IMAGE: Twitter/@g20org
U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron shook hands and hugged as they met ahead of a global summit over the weekend in Rome.

The two leaders met at the French Embassy to the Holy See.

Biden is trying anew to smooth relations after the U.S. and U.K. decided to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, scotching a lucrative French contract in the process.

Biden told Macron that America was clumsy in its orchestration of the deal and that he was under the impression that France had been informed about the secret talks with the British and Australia

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Pope Francis has accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to visit India. At their meeting on Saturday, the Pope told PM Modi said that the invitation to visit India was a 'great gift'. Accepting the invitation, Pope Francis said that he is looking forward to visiting India. As per sources, dates for the visit will be decided mutually.

As Pope Francis met PM Modi in the Vatican City, the interaction that was scheduled for just twenty minutes lasted for about an hour as the two indulged in conversations on a gamut of issues starting from poverty to climate change. The conversation was aimed at making the world a better place to live.

Christian community hails PM Modi-Pope Francis meet

PM Modi's meet with Pope Francis has been lauded by the Christian community. Speaking exclusively to Republic Media Network, Father Shankar, spokesperson of Archdiocese of Delhi called it 'great news'. "It's great news not just for the Christian community but for the whole of India," he said, adding that when two great leaders meet something significant happens.

Speaking of Pope Francis' visit to India, the spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Delhi said, "We look forward this visit. It will show the world that despite religious differences how we (Indians) live together as one family."

PM Modi's third foreign visit amid COVID

PM Modi along with other world leaders have gathered to take part in the G20 Summit which this time is taking place in Rome, Italy. The Summit, which is scheduled for October 30-31, will be centered around the theme 'People, Planet, Prosperity, focussing on the areas of recovery from the pandemic and strengthening of global health governance.

On the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were also spotted, as PM Modi was seen exchanging pleasantries and in one picture, even appearing to receive a salute from the UK PM.

In one of the pictures shared by the Prime Minister's Office, Narendra Modi is seen walking with Biden in a half embrace, apparently sharing light chitchat. The two leaders are seen happy to be in each other's company. In other photos, PM Modi is seen embracing Macron and engaging in a discussion with Trudeau and Johnson.

On the sidelines of the @g20org Rome Summit, PM @narendramodi interacts with various leaders. pic.twitter.com/7L3vbpRzUs  PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 30, 2021

Following the conclusion of the G20 Summit on October 31, PM Modi will depart for Glasgow to attend the 26th Conference of Parties (COP-26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where he will be participating in the high-level segment of COP-26 titled World Leaders Summit (WLS).
Following the expulsion of their ambassadors, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Saturday, 30 October, said that the nation is hoping to soon resolve tensions with the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. According to Sputnik, Habib said that Lebanon is hoping to soon resolve the crisis with the Gulf nations and reiterate its commitment to the responsibilities it has before the Arab world and Saudi Arabia. Following an urgent government meeting, the minister went on to inform that it was also attended by a US representative, adding that the US could aid in resolving the situation.

It is pertinent to mention that the tensions were ignited after a Lebanese minister criticized Saudi Arabia's involvement in the Yemeni conflict. As per BBC, Lebanons Information Minister George Kordahi had termed Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as aggressors in the Yemen conflict during an interview, broadcasted earlier this week, but recorded in August. Reacting to the statements, Saudi Arabia, on Friday, ordered the Lebanese ambassador to the nation to leave the country within the next 48 hours. According to the foreign ministry of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Bahrain has also demanded the Lebanese ambassador to leave the nation within two days for the same cause.

Saudi Arabia has further announced that all imports from Lebanon will also be stopped. It has also asked the Kingdoms ambassador in Beirut to return. According to Saudi media, the action will not impact the thousands of Lebanese nationals and their families who are currently residing and working in the oil-rich kingdom.

Bahrain announces expulsion of Lebanese envoys

After Saudi Arabia and Bahrain announced the expulsion of the envoys, Lebanese PM Najib Mikati voiced regrets over the Saudi decision and asked the country to reconsider. Mikati went on to say that his administration "categorically rejects" anything that threatens Saudi Arabia's deep brotherly relations with Lebanon. Mikati previously stated that Kordahi's remarks do not reflect the government's position, stating that the minister spoke before assuming office last month.

It is to mention that the Saudi-led military alliance has been combating Houthi rebels in Yemen for seven years and supporting the Yemen government. Meanwhile, during the past years, ties between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated. Hezbollah, which is an Iran-backed terrorist group that also supports Houthi rebels in Yemen has risen in power in Lebanon. As per AP, Kordahi is an ally of the Christian Marada Movement which has close ties with the Hezbollah group.

(Image: AP)
Syria on Saturday condemned "in the strongest possible terms Ankaras recent threat about sending more military forces and ramping up combat operations in the country, as well as Iraq, a Syrian Foreign Ministry source told the semi-official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), according to Sputnik agency. Accusing Turkey of engaging in volatile geopolitics and labelling it a danger to regional peace and security," Syria on Saturday derided the Turkish parliaments authorization of cross-border "counterterrorism" operations in northern Iraq and Syria for two more years.

Syria accuses Turkey of Security Council resolutions breach, sends dire warning to Ankara

The Syrian diplomatic source reportedly lambasted Ankara for launching renewed military attacks on Syrian territory and violating Security Council resolutions related to the situation in Syria. The unnamed source went on to condemn the inaction on part of the Security Council saying that it allowed Turkey to persist in its crimes and aggression against Syria" and enabled it to "continue to occupy Syrian lands and to impose demographic change, Turkification. Furthermore, Syria accused Ankara of engaging in "perpetual occupation.

The Syrian FM source called for Security Council to "exercise its mandates and powers by condemning all the aggressive practices of the Turkish regime against the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic." Furthermore, the said source also demanded action from the international community against Turkey for its consistent belligerence against Syrian civilians, attack on infrastructure, public and private property, natural resources, and the nation's historical heritage. In an apparent warning to Turkey, the Syrian source reiterated, that Syria "reserves the absolute right" under international law to defend itself and to take "all practical and legal measures, to repel the Turkish aggression and liberate all of Syria's territory, Sputnik reported.

Erdogan says 'will not hesitate' to deploy heavy weaponry in Syria; extends cross-border operations

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier warned that he "will not hesitate" to deploy heavy weaponry and more Turkish forces in northern Syria against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), in renewed discontentment against the Syrian Kurds in the war-torn country. "At the moment, our operations are continuing in the critically important points of the region, there are absolutely no compromises, Ankaras President Erdogan told Turkish reporters. Erdogan's remarks followed the Turkish parliament's motion, extending the government's authorization on cross-border operations in northern Iraq and Syria for another two years.

Operation Euphrates Shield was launched by the Turkish army in northern Syria in 2016, followed by Operation Olive Branch in 2018, Operation Peace Spring in 2019, and Operation Spring Shield in 2020. These operations were launched in an attempt to create a zone free of Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) along with its border with the neighbouring country, reported the news agency. It added that the YPG is seen by Turkey as a Syrian affiliate of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
A massive agitation is currently underway in Pakistan with thousands of Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) protesters marching towards Islamabad demanding the expulsion of the French Ambassador to Pakistan. To help understand the situation, Major (Retd) Gaurav Arya spoke exclusively to Republic and explained the conflict between TLP and Pakistani Government. Meanwhile, the agitators have crossed the Gujranwala area and the Pakistani Government has said that they will draw a tough line at Wazirabad.

Sources also informed that Pakistan is trying to black out the protest video from the rest of the world.

Adding his inputs, Gaurav Arya asserted, "they have crossed Gujranwala and now there is a red line that Pakistani administration said that they will draw at Wazirabad so the problem is the red line decision is being handed to Punjab rangers and entire Punjab is under Punjab rangers and it is officered by Pakistan army. The protesters are held back from entering Islamabad and it is not just about the French ambassador it is also about severing the diplomatic relationship with France. The TLP is saying that Prophet Mohammed has been insulted by France while the Pakistani Government is saying these are militants, no these are Pakistanis that you see on the streets, they are mechanics, shopkeepers, plumbers. It is a political party".

Pakistan Government says TLP protesters have killed people

Taking to Twitter, Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf stated that the group has killed our policemen, destroyed public property and has been causing disruption in the country. He asserted that legal action will be taken against the people who were responsible for these acts. He further warned, "There will be NO armed militias of any sort in the country."

Moeed Yusuf in a tweet said, "For all individuals and groups who think they can challenge the writ of the Pakistani state, do not test the proposition. As the basic principle of national security, the state will never shy away from protecting each and every citizen from any form of violence. TLP has crossed the red line and exhausted the state's patience."

Adding thread to his own Tweet, he mentioned, 'they have martyred policemen, destroyed public property, and continue to cause massive public disruption. Law will take its course for each one of them and terrorists will be treated like terrorists with no leniency.'
Months after the Taliban reconquered Afghanistan and formed the interim government, the extremist group has now claimed that it has implemented all the conditions for recognition by the international community. This comes after the Russian Foreign Ministrys spokesperson recently said that the Taliban must fulfil the expectations of the international community for recognition of the newly-formed government in the war-torn country. The Taliban's Acting Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi restated the group's call for world leaders to engage with the present government in Afghanistan.

In a tweet on 27 October, Bilal Karimi, the Taliban's deputy spokesman, said that Muttaqi called on the international community to recognise the Taliban government during a meeting with 14 foreign envoys in Doha and added that "The new government of Afghanistan, as the responsible government, has implemented all the conditions for recognition."

Additionally, Tolo News quoted Karimi as saying that Afghanistan expects the regional and world countries to engage with the Afghans and recognise the current government. The Taliban-led governments official said that only after getting the recognition, the country would be able to responsibly engage in (resolving) the problems and challenges with the world.

Earlier, Zakharova had said, The Taliban should fulfil the expectation of the international community for the formation of an inclusive government based on ethnicity, countering the terrorism and freedom of citizens. Ever since the Taliban reconquered the war-ravaged South Asian country in August, the international community with a few exceptions has been reluctant in recognising the present government. Even the United Nations (UN) has urged the Taliban to respect the rights of women and girls and also to form an inclusive government.

However, considering the ongoing severe humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, political experts have opined that the present administration in the war-ravaged nation needs to be recognised to resolve the situation. Tolo News quoted a university instructor, Fazal Hadi Wazin as saying, (The people) pay for the price of the non-recognition of the Afghan government. Inclusivity and participatory government is the wish of all Afghans...If a government is not inclusive, it will be deprived of the support of the people.

Taliban will not last beyond two years

Taliban will not last beyond two years and the group is already losing their recently acquired hold on the country right now as the humanitarian situation continues to worsen in the South Asian nation, said Malaiz Daud, the former Chief of Staff of the previous government of President Ashraf Ghani. In an interview with European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) on Thursday, 28 October, Daud noted that it would just be a matter of time before the Taliban fall. He also told the EU accredited think tank that the Taliban observers dont think theyll rule the nation even for six months.

Daud told the think-tank, "It would just be just a matter of time... people like me predict the Taliban will not last beyond two years. All the Taliban observers-- they don't even give six months. They are losing the country right now."

(Image: AP)


An early morning shooting on Friday left at least five people dead and six injured in a nightclub in Panama City's historic center.

It is the most serious incident ever recorded in a nightclub in the country, which authorities attribute to a gang confrontation.

The incident took place in an area well-visited by tourists from Panama and abroad.

The area, also known for being a red-light district, is increasingly reactivating its nightlife activities as the coronavirus pandemic restrictions are lifted.

Homicide prosecutor Rafael Baloyes said that according to preliminary investigations a gunman entered the discotheque and shot at a particular group, which fired back at the attacker.

According to local media reports, the club was hosting a pre-Halloween party.

Although gang activity in Panama is not as strong as in other Central American nations, such as Honduras and El Salvador, gangs have long operated in poor and marginalized neighborhoods engaging in drug trafficking turf wars.

According to security officials, many homicides are related to retaliations for gangs stealing drugs from rival groups.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
STORY: Italy G20 Canada - Freeland: Canada has pledged to fight vaccine inequity

LENGTH: 02:10

FIRST RUN: 1721

RESTRICTIONS:

TYPE: English/Natsound

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

STORY NUMBER: 4350802

DATELINE: 30 October 2021 - Rome

SHOTLIST:

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

++PRELIMINARY SCRIPT++

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rome - 30 October 2021

1. Wide of Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland entering press room

2. Close up of G-20 sign

3. Wide of Freeland taking off mask

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister:

"As part of our work, today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada's increased commitment to international vaccine sharing through COVAX, through which Canada will donate 200 million doses and 15 million dollars to help develop vaccine production in South Africa."

5. Wide of press conference

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister:

"Well I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time. I mean I think it is a good thing for Canada to be supporting vaccine production facilities and we are really glad to be making this contribution. I also would like to point out that Canada announced today 17 million dollars to support vaccine distribution around the world, that important final step."

7. Tilt down on press conference

8. SOUNDBITE (French) Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister:

"As Canadians we can really understand the situation of other countries without this production in their own countries for vaccines because we were in the same situation. And for me personally when we signed the contract with Moderna for vaccine production in Canada, that was a very important moment. We have now an assurance in Canada and we have now contributed to that same assurance for South Africa and for other African countries."

9. Wide of press conference ending

10. Close up of G-20 logo on TV

STORYLINE:

Canada joined other wealthy nations in using the G-20 summit in Rome as a platform to pledge more support for international vaccination efforts Saturday, donating millions of dollars to help vaccine production and distribution, and increasing the number of doses it plans to donate to 200 million.

++MORE TO FOLLOW++

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The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Chief of Communications in Haiti, Ndiaga Seck, informed Sputnik that Haiti is now going through a state of turmoil due to the high level of violence caused by gangs and multiple abductions. As per Sputnik, In the month of August, Haiti was struck by a severe earthquake that took the lives of over 2,000 people. The humanitarian catastrophe had been exacerbated by the earthquake, which impacted the country's poverty, gang activity, and political upheaval, which began in July with the killing of former President Jovenel Moise.

"Actually, in Haiti now, the humanitarian situation is chaos," Seck stated when questioned about the current national humanitarian condition after President Jovenel Moise's killing. Seck further revealed that even before Moise's killing, UNICEF had noticed an increase in gang-related Violence in Haiti, particularly surrounding the areas of the capital Port-au-Prince, and which has compelled nearly 19,000 people to abandon their homes. He went on to say that 15,000 of those were women and children.

UNICEF Chief of Communication talks about the humanitarian crisis in Haiti

Apart from gang-related violence, Seck stated that Haiti's kidnappings are an important factor in the country's chaos. According to him, UNICEF has discovered that approximately 100 women and children had been abducted between the period of January and August. The total number of abducted women and children reported this year has exceeded the number of individuals kidnapped in the year 2020, Seck added.

Quoting Ndiaga Seck, Sputnik reported, "We are in a situation where about 800 people have been kidnapped. Some non-governmental organizations have the (exact) figure."

He claimed that one can be abducted from anywhere, such as on their way to school, to the hospital, to church, or even to their house.

Seck also stated that the recent earthquake has not only killed several people but has also injured roughly 12,200 others, leading to widespread property damage, such as destructing or damaging of over 130,000 residences, 1,000 schools, and 90 healthcare facilities.

The UNICEF Chief of Communications further assured that they are assisting the administration with humanitarian supplies, particularly emergency commodities, in order to get the affected health institutions back up. He even stated, "We are trying our best to first have some temporary learning spaces set up for children to go back to school normally," Sputnik reported.

Furthermore, Seck stated that the current fuel shortage problem has hampered the activities of organisations providing humanitarian aid in Haiti during the crisis.

(Image: AP)
Japans newly elected Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is seeking a mandate for his COVID-19 and economic policies in the general elections set to take place on Sunday, 31 October. The political leaders in the country made their final appeals to the voters on Saturday, 30 October, Kyodo News reported.

Kishidas Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito are seeking to retain a majority in the countrys 465-seat lower house of the parliament. However, the fate of the House of Representatives now depends on several dozens of crucial constituencies in Japan. The upcoming general elections are also the first major political test of Kishida after acquiring office on 4 October.

In the final speech from Saitama Prefecture's Higashimatsuyama in Japan, the Japanese PM pledged to secure more hospital beds for COVID-19 patients and kickstart the administration of coronavirus vaccine booster shots by December. Seeking a mandate, Kishida has also vowed to get Japan's economy back on track, which is also the worlds third-largest. As per the Japanese media outlet, he also pledged to increase middle-class incomes.

To a crowd of nearly 2,000, Kishida said, We will revive the Japanese economy and make sure the fruits are enjoyed by everyone, not just a chosen few...The opposition is only thinking about redistribution, but (without growth) there will eventually be nothing to distribute, according to the report.

LDPs opposition criticises Abenomics policies

LDPs opposition parties include the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), who reportedly argued that the Abenomics policies pursued by Kishidas predecessors have only fueled corporate earnings and spiked shared prices but failed to get an increase in wages.

The former foreign minister, Kishida is the third PM of Japan in just over a year. He succeeded Yoshihide Suga who came after Shinzo Abe. The Constitutional Democratic Party also reportedly criticised the governments handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as behind the curve.

Addressing a crowd in Kanagawa Prefecture, CDPJ leader Yukio Edano was quoted by a media outlet as saying, Politics exists to protect lives and livelihoods...We have continued to make proposals for change. It's up to you to make a change.

(IMAGE: AP)
In a breaking development, Afghanistan's Islamic State - Khorasan (ISIS-K) also known as Daesh-Khorasan, has stated that its hardline objective remains intact. While referring to the goal as the implementation of Sharia laws, ISIS-K warned that whoever went against Islam or defied the Quran will face the terror organisation's wrath.

"Our first target is to destroy Pakistan because the main reason for everything in Afghanistan is Pakistan. When the taliban were here (even as the previous government still reigned), they were saying that we control 80 per cent of the country, but they were not implementing Islamic rulings. That is why we stood up in we started (ISIS-K) over here in this area," Knewz quoted Nazifullah, a member of ISIS-K as saying.

Afghanistan has gone from bad to worse since Taliban took helm in August 2021: ISIS-K

In addition, Nazifullah accused the Taliban of 'destroying the country' and claimed Afghanistan has gone from bad to worse ever since the terrorist group took control of the nation.

"We want to implement Shariah Law. We want to implement the way our Prophet was living, the way he was clothed, the dressing hijab was there. Currently, we do not have much to fight. But, if you give me anything, I am going to fight Pakistan now," he was quoted as saying.

ISIS-K in Afghanistan

It is pertinent to note that the concerned ISIS-K member, Nazifullah, is a wanted terrorist by US-led troops, the defunct Afghan Armed Forces, and the hardline Taliban as well. Similar to others joining the ISIS caliphate, Nazifullah stated that he joined it as he was tired of the lack of truthfulness of the Taliban regime.

"We kept asking the Taliban to show us a video of Mullah Omar, but we could not get any. This why Daesh here was created. They seemed truthful and said they were going to implement Shariah law, so that is why I joined them," Knewz reported Nazifullah as saying.

The 24-year-old Nazifullah further said that the ISIS-K has the competence to wreak havoc on the state of Afghanistan despite being outnumbered by the Taliban, Knewz reported. The number of Taliban operatives on Afghan soil is estimated to be nearly around 70,000, whereas the ISIS-K terrorirts are said to be at around the 2000 mark, as per US intelligence bodies.

'ISIS-K joined by cadre of jihadists from China, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan & Uzbekistan'

Therefore, to establish that ISIS can hold the fort, terror group Daesh has been targeting not only the Taliban members but the civilians since the Taliban's absolute territorial gain on August 15. The ISIS-K has waged a deadly spate of suicide attacks and bombings across various Afghan provinces which have claimed over a dozen of innocent lives, particularly the minority Shia section. The suicide attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul is one such incident.

Also, Nazifullah told Knewz, a news aggregator, that he is unclear about the number of ISIS terrorists in the war-ravaged Afghanistan as he was behind bars at Bargram prison, arrested by the Aghan government until he was released by the Taliban government.

While pledging his allegiance to Abu Bakr Baghdadi, who is reportedly dead, Nazifullah revealed that the ISIS-K members are joined by international cadre of jihadists hailing from China, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. He further stated that fellow members of Daesh are sent to eatern Nangahar province for training. However, the Taliban has repeatedly denied the presence of ISIS on Afghan soil and even claimed victory over the terrorist organisation.
A third booster shot of the Pfizer Coronavirus vaccine decreases the rate of hospitalization from severe COVID-19 infection by 93%, and slashes the mortality by 81%, reducing the severity and the fatal symptoms from the respiratory ailment by 92%, an Israeli-American study published on Friday, October 29 in the Lancet journal has found. The study was conducted as many countries in the world have been witnessing the resurgence of COVID-19, driven predominantly by the delta (B.1.617.2) variant of SARS-CoV-2.

Researchers from Clalit Health Services and Harvard University analyzed the data collected from nearly 730,000 individuals who received their third booster shot after being fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 in a two-dose regime. The participants were fully jabbed at least five months or more prior to their third dose. The first-ever study which has been peer-reviewed was conducted between July 30, 2021, to September 23, 2021, when the Delta strain of Coronavirus was at its peak worldwide.

Third booster shot administered due to 'potential waning immunity'

The volunteers, excluding healthcare workers, those that live in long-term care facilities, or are medically confined to their homes were given a third dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine as a booster dose due to the potential waning immunity over time and reduced effectiveness against the Delta variant. Researchers used data repositories of Israel's largest healthcare organization to evaluate the effectiveness of a third dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine, according to the study published on Friday.

Our findings suggest that a third dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine is effective in protecting individuals against severe COVID-19-related outcomes, compared with receiving only two doses at least 5 months ago, researchers stated in the study.

Despite several months of low pandemic cases in early 2021, Israel had experienced its fourth pandemic wave. This happened even when approximately 55% of the total population was vaccinated with two doses of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. The population had received first and second doses over 21 days apart. The increase in infections and hospitalizations of vaccinated individuals likely stems from a combination of waning vaccine immunity over time, said the researchers, adding that most people in Israel were vaccinated 57 months ago.

And therefore, a third dose was given to at least half of the Israeli population aged at least 60 years within the first 2 weeks. It was found that the overall efficacy of the third vaccine dose compared with two doses was estimated to be 93% in preventing the COVID-19 infection, and the COVID-19-related admission to the hospital began to diverge around 6 days after vaccination.

Image: Lancet Journal
Foreign Minister of Taiwan Joseph Wu has encouraged the European Union nations and other countries to think twice before becoming too economically and politically reliant on China, in an interview with US-funded Radio Free Europe in Prague on October 27. Wu also said that if any country thinks they are dependent on China, their foreign policy can become skewed and if they believe their actions or policies are dependent on China, they must be conservative.

In the face of rising military threats from China, the European Union has pledged its support for Taiwan. Days after the EU reaffirmed its support for Taiwan, Wu proceeded on a trip to Europe. According to the Toronto-based research tank IFFRAS, the minister's trip to Europe conveyed a clear message that the EU is standing with the United States, Japan and Australia, which have been attempting to corner China on a slew of concerns including human rights breaches and territorial expansions.

China's expanding military incursions have been criticised by Western democracies

China's expanding military incursions in the region have been criticised by Western democracies. According to the think tank, the EU's intervention has put a stumbling block in Beijing's plans to annex Taiwan. The EU hinted at a shift in policy towards Beijing a few weeks ago when European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager expressed solidarity with Lithuania, saying that the EU will continue to push back against these attempts and adopt appropriate tools, such as the anti-coercion instrument, currently under preparation.

In the light of China's increased military activity in the Taiwan Strait, Vestager has expressed alarm about potential threats to Europe's security and prosperity. She was quoted by IFFRAS as saying that the Europeans have an interest in maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and they will continue to voice their concerns in the interaction with China and step up coordination with like-minded partners such as the G7.

Beijing continues to claim sovereignty over Taiwan

Despite the fact that the two sides have been ruled separately for almost seven decades, Beijing continues to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday stated that Taiwan has no alternative destiny but reunification with China and that it has no international legal position other than that of a Chinese province.

(With Inputs from ANI)

Image: AP
A United Nations (UN) official on Friday, 29 October, called on the Sudanese security forces to uphold people's right to peacefully protest ahead of the expected demonstrations on Saturday. Volker Perthes, head of the United Nations Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) said in a statement, We call on the security forces to respect the right of peaceful protest and refrain from using violence. He also urged the demonstrators to commit themselves to peacefulness and not indulge in violence.

Perthes further pledged to direct all efforts to facilitate a constructive and comprehensive dialogue among all parties to bring the peace process back on track. Khartoum is expected to witness protests on Saturday against the recent measures adopted by the army which claimed control of the country on 25 October, ousting Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

        # @volkerperthes



 : https://t.co/SwQ7fTLIN3 pic.twitter.com/W4gctyTP5j  UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission Sudan (@UNITAMS) October 29, 2021

The Sudan coup leader and General Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency and justified the dissolving of the sovereign council and the government as a measure to prevent civil war. Recently, Al-Burhan informed that a new Prime Minister and the Sovereign Council will appear in the African nation "within a week at the latest.

'Sudans new PM will be a technocrat; no candidates yet'

While speaking with Sputnik, Burhan informed that the new Prime Minister of Sudan will be a technocrat but revealed that there are no candidates for the post as of now. According to him, as revealed in the interview, it is the patriotic duty of the armed forces to lead Sudanese people as there are no political forces in the country.

As the situation still remains grim in Sudan with at least nine protesters being killed in the demonstrations, the UNITAMS head said in a statement on Friday that the body is actively coordinating with mediation efforts currently underway to facilitate an inclusive dialogue, which remains the only path toward a peaceful solution to the current crisis. The United Nations reaffirms its unwavering commitment to supporting the realisation of the legitimate aspirations of the Sudanese people for a peaceful and democratic transition in Sudan.

SRSG @volkerperthes statement on coordinating with mediation efforts currently underway to facilitate an #inclusive_dialogue.



 English: https://t.co/kSC4VGjZj2

 Arabic: https://t.co/fpcKl3frdi pic.twitter.com/TjNASOYsV5  UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission Sudan (@UNITAMS) October 29, 2021

To reduce tensions and overcome Sudans political crisis I met tonight with Rapid Support Forces Commander Gen. Muhammad Hamdan Daglo, urging the need to de-escalate, allow peaceful protest and avoid any confrontation tomorrow 30 October.  Volker Perthes (@volkerperthes) October 29, 2021

(Image: AP)
Condemning attacks against schools, children and teachers, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a unique resolution to protect classrooms and schools and urged conflict parties to immediately safeguard the right to education. In its official statement on 29 October, the UN said it is the first uniquely dedicated resolution for the protection of classrooms and schools.

The Council asked countries to adopt domestic legislative frameworks to ensure that their international legal commitments are met, including comprehensive measures to prevent attacks on schools, children, teachers, and other civilians. Members asked for the creation of strategies and coordination mechanisms for the exchange of information on the protection of schools and education, including among States, the Office of the Secretary-Special General's Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, and UN peacekeeping and political missions, the statement added.

Surge in attacks on schools

In recent years, as attacks on schools have increased around the world, the problem of education in crisis circumstances has acquired relevance in the Security Council. 22,000 students, teachers, and academics were injured or murdered in attacks on education during armed conflict or insecurity in the last five years, according to the UN data. The escalation in assaults against schools was also highlighted in the Secretary-yearly General's reports on children and armed conflict for 2020 and 2021.

The Niger delegation organised an open Security Council debate on school attacks on 10 September, 2020, where members adopted a presidential statement upholding the right to education and its contribution to peace and security. The group also urged countries to take efforts to prevent school attacks and threats. More than 75 million children around the world had their education disrupted by conflict, according to Niger's delegate, as attacks on schools and school facilities have increased significantly.

The resolution will assist the Council

According to the Representative of Norway, who is also a co-facilitator with the representative of Niger, between 2014 and 2019, 93 countries had attacks on schools, teachers or children. She also stated that the resolution will help the Council make its voice heard against the growing disruption of education in conflict. The resolution highlights the importance for member states to make it easier for children to continue their education during times of armed conflict, particularly through distance learning and digital technologies where possible.

(Image: AP)
Dozens of Bolivians took to the streets of the capital La Paz on Friday to protest violence against girls and women.

The march was triggered by the controversial case of "Alicia", a pregnant 11-year-old girl.

The girl was allegedly raped by her 61-year-old step-grandfather but, after church authorities interceded promising they would help, her family now refuses to allow her to have an abortion.

The pregnancy was confirmed after the girl underwent a full medical exam last week finding that the fetus is 21 weeks old - a full term is deemed to be 41 weeks.

The United Nation's Office in Bolivia released a written statement which said that "making an 11-year-old go through a forced pregnancy qualifies as torture" while calling to increase efforts for the protection of girls and women against sexual violence.

The Bolivian Conference of Bishops responded saying "no one should be forced into having an abortion... both lives deserve and should be protected."

"The crisis of women post-partum in general exists and has an emotional and physical affect on the women but for an 11-year-old girl it is much worse," stated Nadia Cruz, Bolivia, State's Defense Attorney.

"It is more serious when, in the specific case of the Yapacani girl, who comes from a background of very serious prior family violence."

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Six environmental experts from Afghanistan, who fled the Taliban and were due to attend the COP26 as their countrys delegate, have had their applications rejected just days ahead of the commencement of the event. According to The Guardian, the group - six men and one woman - were looking forward to travelling to Glasgow to help make the concerns of Afghans about the climate emergency heard at the summit. However, the application was rejected without any reason being provided.

At first, the six Afghan environmentalists thought that the Home Office or the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had vetoed their trip to the UK. However, according to The Guardian sources, the FCDO said that the UK government department didnt make the decision. The media outlet said that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat would not be registering delegates from Afghanistan to COP26 pending further guidance from the Bureau of the COP.

The six Afghans, on the other hand, reportedly said that they were very upset with UNFCCCs decision to bar them from attending the UN climate conference. Having previously worked for UN programmes, they also added that they were very disappointed with the decision. They went on to say that they had met all requirements for the visa, but the UNFCCC secretariat rejected the nominations without any proper reasons.

Furthermore, one of the Afghan environmentalists separately said that by taking this action, the UNFCCC secretariat stifled the voice of millions of Afghan victims of climate change impact. Climate change does not respect borders, they said, adding that the UNFCCC should have not mixed the environment with politics. Further, he went on to add that the group was hoping to attend the COP26 to raise the voice of millions of Afghan victims of the adverse impacts of climate change.

COP26 Climate Summit

Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference, hosted by the UK in partnership with Italy, will take place from October 31 to November 12, 2021, in the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow, UK. Besides PM Modi, the Summit will have in attendance the President of the United States Joe Biden, Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, France President Emmanuel Macron among others. The world leaders at the summit are going to discuss the various ways to collaborate and tackle the pressing issue of climate change.

(Image: Pixabay)
United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday, October 29, spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on a phone call. During the phone conversation, the two heads of state discussed various issues, including climate crisis, global trade, economic cooperation and security and human rights, the UK Prime Minister's office said in a statement. Johnson raised concerns about the "erosion of democracy" in Hong Kong and human rights in Xinjiang.

"The Prime Minister raised the United Kingdoms concerns about the erosion of democracy in Hong Kong and human rights in Xinjiang," Britain Prime Minister's office said in a statement.

During the phone conversation, Johnson and Xi Jinping discussed security issues, including the situation in Afghanistan. Furthermore, the two sides acknowledged that there were areas of disagreement and difficulty in bilateral ties. China's President and Britain Prime Minister agreed to cooperate on areas of shared interest, which includes developing "clean and green technology". Moreover, they committed to supporting the "sustainable recovery of the global economy."

The UK Prime Minister acknowledged Chinas new "Nationally Determined Contribution". Johnson welcomed the effort of China at the COP15 Biodiversity Summit. Moreover, the Britain PM stressed the importance of all countries in ramping up their ambition on climate change at COP26. Johnson highlighted that concrete steps need to be taken to cut emissions and accelerate the transition to renewable energy, which includes "phasing out coal".

"The Prime Minister acknowledged Chinas new Nationally Determined Contribution and welcomed their work on the COP15 Biodiversity Summit, noting how critical protecting nature is to our overall climate objectives," Britain Prime Minister's office said in a statement.

Speaking just two days before the start of the United Nations COP26 summit scheduled to be held in Glasgow, Jinping told Boris Johnson that bringing down the emissions would require "extensive and profound economic and social changes", China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Jinping highlighted that China is determined to speed up green and low-carbon development. Furthermore, the Chinese President underscored that they have announced their target to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon neutrality.

The legislature has become more efficient without opposition

Andrew Leung, the president of Hong Kongs legislature on Thursday, 30 October said that the legislature had become more efficient with no opposition members. Leung highlighted that this year, lawmakers have passed 46 government bills, more than double the number last year, according to AP. All pro-democracy lawmakers have resigned from the legislature after the ouster of four colleagues. Hong Kong authorities have arrested more than 120 people including several former opposition lawmakers under a National Security Law imposed by Beijing after months of anti-government protests, according to AP. Many pro-democracy activists have been put behind bars for participating in unauthorised protests.

Inputs from AP

Image: AP
Amid the feud over post-Brexit fishing rights, the United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson would try to calm the scenario which has escalated over the past few weeks, while meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron during the G-20 conference, that is to be held on October 30 and 31, 2021, in Rome. While travelling to Rome for attending the summit, PM Johnson told the media on Friday, France is one of our best, oldest, closest allies, friends and partners. The ties that unite us, that bind us together, are far stronger than the turbulence that currently exist in the relationship, AP reported.

The UK Prime Minister went on to say that certain individuals in both nations may be attempting to create unrest between the UK and France. However, UK PM Boris Johnson did stress the fact that Britain is prepared to respond to any breaches of its divorce agreement with the EU's 27 member states.

UK-France Fishing Row

During the recent dispute, France had threatened the British government to ban the UK fishing boats from several French ports and intensify inspections on British vessels unless French fishing vessels are given additional fishing licences in British seas. Further, France has also hinted that it may limit energy supply to the Channel Islands, which are British Crown possessions off the coast of France and rely largely on French power.

Ever since the United Kingdom departed the EU's economic orbit in January, ties between London and Paris have deteriorated as the countries on both sides of the English Channel are trying to figure out how to go post-Brexit. Johnson, on the other hand, appeared to urge calm after days of the increasingly hostile scene.

Further referring to the Brexit deal, UK PM Johnson added that the British fishermen should feel secure in conducting their legitimate business, and they should further be allowed to pursue fishing in conformity with the agreement. He also stated, And any breach of that agreement... by any partner, whether the French or others, would definitely need a response from us," AP reported.

After French officials penalised two British fishing vessels and detained one in port overnight on Thursday, Britain summoned the French ambassador for a meeting. The UK had called French ambassador Catherine Colonna in response to France's threat. On October 29, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss had demanded a meeting with Colonna, to clarify "disappointing and excessive threats."

Meanwhile, if France does not step back, London has warned to conduct rigorous inspections on EU fishing vessels and to initiate dispute talks. At a conference in London with European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic, Brexit minister Lord Frost explained the possible response, intending to exert pressure on Paris to pull back on its vow to take action by November 2, AP reported.

Image: AP
Democrats' decision to drop a proposal for paid family leave from their massive social safety net and climate change package was met with disappointment and irritation by female voters in Virginia, a critical constituency in the tight and closely watched governor's race.

Days before Election Day, many Democratic voters there saw the elimination of the plan as a significant step back from the ambitious agenda Democrats pledged if voters ousted Donald Trump from the White House. Some worried it would leave voters soured on the party, just as Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe was scrambling to get out the vote.

"I dont think that the Biden administration is doing themselves any favors, in terms of actually, you know, making good on the promises that they campaigned on," said Meredith Katz, a Richmond mom of a 4-year-old son and an assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, who cast an early ballot for McAuliffe. A lot of people are upset and frustrated and disappointed because of that.

Its unclear whether the gloomy sentiment will become powerful enough to influence the results of Tuesdays election. Polls indicate the race for governor is deadlocked between McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin , with many Virginians having already cast their votes. And other national issues, including threats to abortion rights, may hold more sway with Democratic voters than the chaotic negotiations on Capitol Hill.

Still, McAuliffe hoped to enter the final weekend of the campaign with a sense of momentum, buoyed by progress in Congress that would remind voters that Democrats can pass bold legislation that improves their lives. Instead, he seems eager to move on from the debate.

I'm hopeful that something's going to get done, McAuliffe said when asked directly about the elimination of the family leave provision from the legislation being considered in Washington. But this race is about Virginia.

Biden originally called for up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, allowing workers to get their wages partially replaced in the event of a new child or to care for a seriously ill loved one. It's among several top Democratic priorities that were eliminated to appease two Democratic senators  Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona  who have insisted on a smaller package. Other dropped proposals include expanding Medicare to cover dental and vision care and having Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices.

The concept of paid family leave is particularly popular. A UChicago Harris/AP-NORC poll conducted in February found that 66% of Americans said they favor government funding for paid family leave, compared with just 16% who said they were opposed.

The president nonetheless described his $1.75 trillion framework as historic, saying it would "fundamentally change the lives of millions of people for the better.

Women in Virginia led the early resistance to Trump when their votes and activism helped propel Democrat Ralph Northam to a nearly 9-point victory over his Republican opponent in the 2017 governors race. In last year's presidential election, 53% of voters in Virginia were women, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of the electorate, and they backed Biden decisively over Trump, 57% to 41%. That helped Biden carry the state by 10 points.

McAuliffe has pledged to pursue legislation at the state level that would guarantee an unspecified amount of paid sick days and family medical leave. Hes also released several ads highlighting his commitment to the issue. Youngkin's campaign has not said where he stands on paid family leave.

The risk for McAuliffe is that paid family leave is a particularly tangible component of a broader piece of legislation that Democratic leaders have often struggled to explain and its elimination could be particularly stinging.

Some prominent activists, including the actor Alyssa Milano, encouraged women to consider other provisions in the package, including free prekindergarten, new child care subsidies and a one-year extension of a child care tax credit that was put in place during the COVID-19 rescue.

Kristina Hagen, the director of the Virginia Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, said the measure would be transformative for Virginia families.

This is why, Hagen said in a statement, with just five days left in the 2021 cycle, we are leaning in on our full support for Terry McAuliffe.

Several women interviewed in Virginia on Thursday recalled the informal arrangements and individual kindness of bosses they had to rely on to care for their families without losing their jobs.

Katz, the Virginia Commonwealth University professor, said she was able to spend about six months at home with her son after his birth thanks to an accommodating" department chair and the ability to do some teaching remotely.

Ciarra Smith, a 35-year-old Richmond resident, recently returned to work after having her third child and said time away from work was critical for her and the baby. Her leave was paid for through her job with the state.

For them to even consider removing that (from the legislation), thats going to jeopardize not only the mothers health, but also those developmental bonds with the baby, she said. Then theyre going to be forced with, how do I maintain and survive and still care for my child? And unfortunately, women are always placed in that position.

Eucharia Jackson, a 58-year-old who attended a McAuliffe campaign event at a Richmond church on Thursday, said she was able to cobble together at least three months of leave after the births of her two children because her employer was flexible.

She called paid leave absolutely necessary for new parents and said shes seeing women increasingly disillusioned and open to Republican arguments, animated in particular by the debate over the curriculum being taught in schools.

It certainly would be good to have some good news coming from Washington, she said.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
The Supreme Court is about to hear its biggest gun rights case in years, arguments that come as gun violence has surged.

The case the justices will hear Wednesday could dramatically increase the number of people eligible to carry a gun as they go about their daily lives.

It could also make it harder for cities from New York City to Los Angeles to limit gun permits and call into question restrictions on carrying guns in places where people gather including subways, airports, bars, churches and schools.

The court last issued major gun rights decisions in 2008 and 2010. Those decisions established a nationwide right to keep a gun at home for self-defense. The question for the court now is whether there's a similar Second Amendment right to carry a firearm in public.

The question isn't an issue in most of the country, where gun owners have little difficulty legally carrying their weapons when they go out. But about half a dozen states, including populous California and several Eastern states, restrict the carrying of guns to those who can demonstrate a particular need for doing so. The justices could decide whether those laws, often called "may issue" laws, can stand.

The fact that the high court is hearing a gun rights case at all is a change after years in which it routinely turned them away. One case the justices did agree to hear that could have expanded gun rights ended anticlimactically in 2020 when the justices threw out the case, saying a change in the law at issue left the court with nothing to decide.

But following the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last year and her replacement by conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court agreed to wade into the gun debate again.

The case before the justices involves New York law, which since 1913 has said that to carry a concealed handgun in public for self-defense a person applying for a license has to demonstrate "proper cause," an actual need to carry the weapon. When local officials issue a gun license it's either unrestricted  allowing the person to carry a gun anywhere not otherwise prohibited by law  or a restricted, allowing the person to carry a gun in certain circumstances. That could include carrying a gun for hunting or target shooting, when traveling for work or when in backcountry areas.

The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association and two private citizens challenging the law have told the Supreme Court that it "makes it effectively impossible for an ordinary, law-abiding citizen to obtain a license to carry a handgun for self-defense."

Lawyers for the group say the text of the Second Amendment along with history and tradition support their argument that there's a right to carry a gun outside the home.

The group also says that New York's law has discriminatory origins, that it was originally intended to give officials wide latitude to keep guns out of the hands of newly arrived immigrants from Europe, particularly Italians.

New York, for its part, says its law wasn't enacted with anti-immigrant intent and that the Second Amendment allows states to restrict the carrying of guns in public. It too points to history, tradition and the text of the Second Amendment. The state says its restrictions promote public safety, pointing to research that says that places that restrict the public carry of guns have lower rates of gun-related homicides and other violent crimes.

New York says its law isn't a flat ban on carrying guns but a more moderate restriction. The state doesn't tally how many people have been issued unrestricted licenses or the overall rate at which they are granted because applications are processed at the county level. But the state says a preliminary analysis suggests that in a recent two-year stretch more than 54,000 people were issued restricted or unrestricted licenses, with 37,000 of those unrestricted licenses. At least 93% of applicants got a license, with 65% of applicants getting an unrestricted license, the state says.

Gun rights advocates hope that the court with a 6-3 conservative majority will side with them and say New York's law is too restrictive.

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association president Tom King said in an interview that part of the problem with New York's law is that the chances a person will get an unrestricted permit depend on whether they're in a rural or more urban area of the state. KIng said he thinks the case could be a "gamechanger."

Both gun rights and gun control advocates, however, say it's unclear how broadly the court might be willing to rule and that they will be closely watching arguments for clues, particularly from the court's three newest members.

The three appointees of former President Donald Trump  Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett  are conservatives but were not on the court when the justices last issued major gun rights rulings. That means less is known about their views. The court's three liberal justices are widely expected to side with New York.

Depending on what the justices ultimately say, other states' laws could also be impacted. The Biden administration, which is urging the justices to uphold New York's law, says California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island all have similar laws.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
The United States Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman on Saturday, 30 October said that he spoke with Sudans now-ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Sovereign Council Chair Burhan, and Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi. According to the Twitter update by the US Bureau of African Affairs, Feltman delivered a clear message to Sudanese officials that the citizens of the North African nation must be allowed to protest peacefully and that Washington is closely watching the situation.

Special Envoy Feltman: I spoke with @SudanPMHamdok, Sovereign Council Chair Burhan, and Sudanese FM Mariam al-Mahdi today to deliver a clear message: the Sudanese people must be allowed to protest peacefully this weekend, and the United States will be watching closely.  Bureau of African Affairs (@AsstSecStateAF) October 29, 2021

Earlier on 28 October, US President Joe Biden called for Sudanese people to be allowed to demonstrate peacefully against the military takeover as the number of casualties in recent protests rose to nine. As per the official statement, Biden also urged the global community including the African Union, Arab League, European Union, International Monetary Fund, among others to unite to denounce the Sudan coup and the restoration of the civilian-led transitional government.

US President Biden said, Together, our message to Sudans military authorities is overwhelming and clear: the Sudanese people must be allowed to protest peacefully and the civilian-led transitional government must be restored.

I urge Sudans military leaders to immediately release all those detained and restore the institutions associated with the transitional government, in line with the 2019 Constitutional Declaration and the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement...We believe strongly in Sudans economic potential and the promise of its futureif the military and those who oppose change do not hold it back, he added.

Military leader al-Burhan fired six envoys

Since Monday, 25 October, when Sudans top Army General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan ousted the government, nine protesters have been killed in the demonstrations. While Biden urged restraint, AP stated that there were signs the military was not backing down. The US President's statement followed the Sudan coup leader firing at least six ambassadors, including the envoys to the United States, the European Union and France.

Burhan fired the ambassadors after the diplomats had vowed their support for the now-deposed government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. According to an official who spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity, even Sudanese envoys to Qatar, China and the UN mission in Geneva were removed. Sudans state-run TV also reported the dismissals. The dismissal of ambassadors came just two days after Burhan acquired control of the country and detained several officials of the transitional government. Hamdok and his wife were released on Tuesday.

(IMAGE: AP)
Taiwans foreign minister Friday called on the European Union to strengthen business ties with the democratic island through a bilateral investment agreement.

Joseph Wu made the remarks while calling in to an Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) conference in Rome, meant to be a demonstration on the sidelines of the G20 summit held there.

He said that while the EU invests heavily in Taiwan, not much investment goes the other way

And therefore we think we need to make a balance, We need to have a mechanism to encourage the Taiwanese businessmen to look at Europe as a potential market for them, Wu said in response to a question about how to improve relations between the EU and Taipei.

And I think the best way to do it is through a bilateral investment agreement, or BIA, he said.

Wu is currently on a tour of Europe that took him to Slovakia and the Czech Republic. He could not be present for the IPAC event in Italy because he was in Brussels for undisclosed reasons.

Wu recounted how in 2015 both sides held discussions of a bilateral investment agreement (BIA), but the EU decided to shelve the agreement because many countries in Europe favored inking a BIA with mainland China first.

And they [wouldnt] discuss with Taiwan before their agreement with China is concluded. In a sense, Taiwan [was] being held hostage, Wu said.

As the European Parliament has decided to table discussion on the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), now would be a good time to assess the possibility of an agreement with Taipei, he said.

Talks on a BIA are in their infancy, so the exact form a potential deal would take could resemble a free trade agreement according to some Taiwanese officials, while others like Wu see it more like an investment deal.

Wu also thanked the EU for adopting its first EU-Taiwan political relations and cooperation report earlier in October.

The report suggested it would be beneficial for the EU to strengthen ties with Taiwan and encourage the islands cooperation in the international sphere. It also envisioned the EU as actively promoting stability and peace between Beijing and Taipei.

"The rise of the People's Republic of China as led by the Chinese Communist Party is the defining challenge for the world's democratic space. This warrants us working more closely together," Wu said.

Wu also urged the international community to not allow Beijing to act aggressively to enforce its territorial claims in the South China Sea when asked about increased Chinese militarism there.

The freedom of navigation operations by certain countries through the South China Sea is a way to reinforce that the area should be free from the Chinese control or excessive maritime claim, Wu said.

And I would argue that if we can continue these freedom of navigation operations more often and in higher intensity, I think the countries in that region will notice that the Chinese way of excessive maritime claim is going to be disputed.

Taiwans foreign ministry has not revealed Wus itinerary in Brussels. An EU spokesperson told the Taipei-based CNA news service that he might have informal meetings at a non-political level, but did not comment further.

Taiwans diplomatic interactions in Europe during Wus tour angered Beijing.

"China firmly opposes official interactions of any form or nature between the Taiwan region and countries having diplomatic ties with China. Chinas position on this issue is clear," the Chinese mission to the EU said in a statement.
Cambodia raises expectations it can keep ASEAN from going wobbly on the junta.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (C) holds up the gavel for ASEAN chairmanship during the online closing ceremony of the 2021 Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, on a live video conference in Brunei's capital Bandar Seri Begawan, Oct. 27, 2021.

Cambodias unusually firm rebuke of the Myanmar military regime this week, ahead of assuming leadership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 2022 raises pressure on Phnom Penh to maintain the firm stance the bloc has taken against the junta in recent months, analysts say.

With Brunei the rotating leader for 2021 as host, ASEAN leaders opened the regional blocs annual summit online on Tuesday without Myanmar, which stayed away to protest its junta chief Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing being barred from the meeting.

In an unprecedented move earlier this month, ASEAN foreign ministers barred the coup leader from the summit, saying he backtracked on agreements on accepting a special envoy and talking with opponents during an emergency meeting of ASEAN leaders about Myanmars political crisis in Jakarta in April.

During the summit on Tuesday, Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen spoke critically of Myanmar, according to Reuters news agency, saying that ASEAN had not expelled the country from the gathering, but that the Naypyidaw junta had abandoned its right.

Now we are in the situation of ASEAN minus one, he said. It is not because of ASEAN, but because of Myanmar, said the strongman who has ruled Cambodia since 1985 and led it into the bloc in 1999.

Hun Sen was handed the ceremonial gavel from Brunei appointing Cambodia on Thursday, the same day his office shared a twitter commentary that pointed to a softer line toward Myanmar by ASEAN, a 10-nation group with a reputation for placing internal comity and unity over discussing the internal affairs even of errant member states.

Cambodia should set up an ad hoc taskforce to work with Myanmars conflicting parties quietly or through back-door diplomacy to share lessons and experiences of peacebuilding and win-win policy implementation for Myanmar, said the commentary by the government affiliated Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP).

Helping to resolve the political crisis in Myanmar is not an interference in the internal affairs of the country, but an expression of ASEAN solidarity and mutual assistance based on mutual respect for sovereignty, it said.

When asked by RFAs Khmer Service about why the Office of the Cambodian Prime Minister had linked to the AKP commentary, government spokesman Phay Siphan said the piece was purely the personal view of an official from the Royal Academy of Cambodia and does not reflect the governments position.

It is too early to say anything, the spokesman said, adding: Hun Sen will try his best to resolve Myanmars crisis.

Phay Siphans comments followed a Reuters report that Cambodian Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn said that Cambodia would keep up pressure on Myanmars junta to open dialogue with its opponents.

Nine months after the militarys Feb. 1 coup, security forces have killed 1,220 civilians and arrested at least 7,049, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisonersmostly during crackdowns on anti-junta protests.

Myanmar's military ruler Min Aung Hlaing presides over an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021. Reuters Constructive engagement

ASEANs principle of non-interference in the affairs of its members allows the bloc to turn a blind eye to abuses committed by its member states, who can act with relative impunity, critics have long held.

The group is no stranger to troubled dealings with Myanmars military, or with coups among members, including in Cambodia.

Myanmar was admitted to ASEAN along with Laos in an expansion of the group in 1997 that was supposed to include Cambodia, but Phnom Penhs accession was derailed by Hun Sens coup against his partner in the countrys shaky coalition government formed after decades of war.

ASEANs approach to the military regime in Myanmar in the 1990s and the first decade of this century -- a period of overturned elections, atrocities, and economic mismanagement -- was known as constructive engagement and was widely criticized as enabling the generals to prolong their destructive rule.

Some analysts are confident that Cambodia can maintain the uncharacteristically strong stance ASEAN took in barring Min Aung Hlaing from the 2021 summit.

Sihasak Phuangketkeow, the former permanent secretary of Thailands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a webinar on Thailand and the Myanmar Crisis on Wednesday that he is very optimistic that Cambodia will continue, what ... ASEAN has been doing  and Im sure that well see more activism on the part of Cambodia.

[I]f Myanmar decides to turn their back on ASEAN, and well have a situation like we had at the summit, where ... we will be missing a very important member of the ASEAN family, Sihasak, who is also the former Thai ambassador to Japan, told the gathering, hosted by the ISEAS Yushof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

In the end, theres only so much that we can help with Myanmar unless Myanmar decides to help itself first.

Sihasak said he believes that ASEAN was too complacent about developments in Myanmar, and even defended the country for quite a long time.

And I think its difficult for us to continue defending Myanmar at all costs, really, he said.

Cambodian political analyst Seng Sary told RFA that Cambodia must ensure that it has the backing of all ASEAN members as it seeks a resolution to the situation in Myanmar.

ASEAN members think of different benefits [to membership] and have different political agendas. The bloc must resolve the issues through mutual respect, he said.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service with contributions by Subel Rai Bhandari and Shailaja Neelakantan for BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Deji Cuonu, a young Tibet woman carries her baby at the foot of the 7,191 meter Nojing Kangtsang glacier where she raises yaks and sells tourist books as part of a small collective, 27 February 2007.

Chinas relentless exploitation of natural resources in Tibet  logging, mining and dam-building  has undermined Tibetan traditions and devastated an ecosystem that supports a third of humanity as the source of Asias major rivers, Tibetans and environmentalists said on the eve of a United Nations climate summit.

As world leaders converged on Glasgow, Scotland for the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26), the Dalai Lama emphasized the stakes for the most populous continent in an appeal to pay more attention to the role of Tibets ecology and the global climate crisis.

At least in Asia, Tibet is the ultimate source of water, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said in a videotaped message ahead of the Glasgow meeting, which opens Sunday for two weeks.

All major rivers from Pakistans Indus River, Indias Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, Chinas Yellow River, Vietnams Mekong River flow from Tibet, noted the 86-year-old Buddhist monk.

The Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize for embodying Tibetans quest for self-determination, human rights, and preservation of their faith and culture under decades of rule from Beijing  problems that have mostly gotten worse since he won the award in 1989.

His message to Glasgow urged the world to look at the bigger picture.

We should pay more attention to preservation of Tibets ecology. This is not only in the interest of 6  7 million Tibetans, but of [all] people in the area, added the Dalai Lama.

Many of Chinas 1.4 billion people, Indias slightly smaller but faster growing population of 1.3 billion, 175 million Southeast Asians, and hundreds of millions of residents of Pakistan and Bangladesh depend on waters from rivers that originate in the Himalayas.

A woman walks in a purpose-built village for Tibetans who have been relocated from high-altitude locations as part of what the authorities call a poverty alleviation program during a government organized tour in Gongga County, Lhoka City, near Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, October 14, 2020. (Reuters)

Third Pole

The Himalayas, a sparsely populated mountain range that separates the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau, is described by travel writers as the Roof of the World.

Scientists call the vast, mountainous region the Third Pole because of the global significance of its glacial ice pack  a quarter of which has been lost since 1970, with more glaciers threatened to disappear by 2100.

The global impact of these changes makes it even more important to discuss Tibets ecology at the Glasgow summit, says Mirza Rahman, a PhD candidate in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.

Tibets ecology is very important to climate security, she told RFA.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is not joining his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden and other world leaders in Glasgow, and Beijings submission to COP26 has been described by analysts as a repackaging of previous years targets for reducing carbon emissions  driven by Xis concern about a slowing economy.

But environmental watchdogs and rights groups say Xi and China cannot be left off the hook at Glasgow, and Beijings efforts to present itself as a leader in the fight to address climate change must be viewed in light of its status as the worlds largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the policies it has pursued in Tibet.

When China is actually saying we will take a leadership role in global climate management, we have to also basically ask what are the interventions they are making in Tibet? the researcher Rahman said.





Gap between rhetoric and action

Chinas policies need serious reconsideration and a recognition of the links between environmental conservation, sustainable livelihoods, and human rights, said the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

Chinas policy responses for climate change mitigation and adaptation undermine sustainable development and traditional livelihood sources on the Tibetan Plateau, the advocacy group said a recent report.

Relocating and resettling nomadic pastoralists from highlands to heavily surveilled urban fringes means an end to collective ownership of upper pastures as common pool resources managed by customary decision making, it said.

The report, Unsustainable Futures, calls on COP26 delegates to focus on the great gap between Chinas rhetoric and its actual plans to build many more coal-fired power stations and other development programs.

Days before Glasgow, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) advocacy group reminded delegates that Tibet is warming two-to-four times faster than the global average, accelerating glacial and permafrost melt and exacerbating desertification, which results in the loss of a major world carbon sink.

China typically ignores or rejects reports from Tibetan groups, which Beijing views as separatists funded by foreign foes to destabilize the region, but activists say recent U.N. reports must be heeded.

In August, a key report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), found that greenhouse gas emissions must be slashed by at least half this decade to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, such as extreme weather, irreversible ecosystem shifts, loss of life and economic hardship.

Tibetans point to the 2019 version of the IPPC report, issued at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, which carried a litany of apocalyptic projections about Tibet.

Lakes west of the Tanggula Mountains on the central part of the Tibetan Plateau reflect changes caused, in part, by retreating glaciers. The two largest lakes - Chibzhang Co and Dorsoidong Co - have grown larger as the glaciers have shrunk. (Some differences between the images are due to changes in snow cover). The two lakes have different colors in the 1987 photo because they were separated by a strip of land and had two sources of meltwater. The lakes merged in the mid-2000s when rising waters inundated the strip of land. According to one team of researchers, the area of the lakes grew by 23 percent between 1976 and 2017. (NASA)

Pay more attention

The 2019 report identified the Tibetan Plateau is among the high-altitude regions on Earth warming at triple the rate of the rest of the planet, with regional temperature increases of between 3.5 and 6 degrees Celsius by 2100.

The melting of glaciers is likely to accelerate as a result of warming, bringing a more extreme precipitation across the Himalayas and Tibet, and worse flooding downstream in populous China, India and other neighbors, the IPCC report said.

The warming will also thaw and degrade the permafrost of Tibet, threatening plants and animals key to the ecosystem, and destroying traditional livelihoods.

Despite the fragility of the high-altitude ecosystem and the stark threats spelled out by the IPCC, China has intensified infrastructure construction across Tibet to further open up the landscape and extract Tibets natural resources. Such projects include a network of strategic rail routes and major damming and hydropower projects, the effects of which are likely to be irreversible, the ICT said after the 2019 report.

For Palmo Tenzin, advocacy and research staffer at the ICT in Germany who will attend the Glasgow meeting, the daily struggles of Tibetans under Chinas rule can be closely linked to the major climate threats, and their traditional stewardship of the land should be studied.

Tibetans speak not only as people struggling against occupation and environmental devastation, but also as people with unique and valuable insights into what a sustainable relationship between humankind and the environment can look like, he told RFA.

As more and more people wake up to the need to preserve our planet, we hope to find a receptive audience at COP26.," added Tenzin.

Or, as the Dalai Lama put it: Global warming, that is quite serious. We should pay more attention.

Reported by Lobe for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
The Chinese government has worked to undermine the international body and cover up its own rights abuses, they say.

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks during a meeting of the UN Security Council at the 76th UN General Assembly in New York, Sept. 23, 2021.

Chinas 50th anniversary of membership in the United Nations, celebrated this week with a speech by President Xi Jinping claiming that Beijing had blazed a path in human rights development, has generated more despair than hope for Tibetans and Uyghurs on the receiving end of Chinese policies, advocates said.

For these 50 years, the Chinese people have upheld the authority and sanctity of the United Nations and practiced multilateralism, and China's cooperation with the United Nations has deepened steadily, Xi said on Monday in Beijing.

On Oct. 25, 1971, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) supplanted the Republic of China (ROC), based in Taiwan, at the U.N., becoming one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

The ROC was a founding member of the U.N. in 1945, four years before the government was overthrown by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and fled to Taiwan.

China has acted by the spirit of the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and earnestly applied the universality of human rights in the Chinese context, Xi said in a speech at touting Chinas commitment to world peace, reform and opening-up, global development, and multilateralism.

It has blazed a path of human rights development that is consistent with the trend of the times and carries distinct Chinese features, thus making major contribution to human rights progress in China and the international human rights cause, he added.

Xis appeal to a domestic audience came at a time when governments in North America and Europe have leveled genocide charges at Beijing over the mass incarceration and forced birth control policies in Xinjiang, and a coalition of persecuted Uyghurs, long-suffering Tibetans, and victims of a harsh crackdown Hong Kong are calling for a boycott of Februarys Beijing Winter Olympics.

Early this month, nearly 40 UN member states publicly condemned China for rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and called for the creation of a U.N. mechanism for monitoring human rights in China.

Weakening UN norms

For Tibetans and Uyghurs, largely unwilling citizens of the PRC who have borne the brunt of repressive Chinese ethnic minority policies for decades, there is almost nothing to celebrate about Chinas half-century in the U.N. because it has not upheld key principles in the U.N. Charter.

Despite being a member of the U.N. and its Human Right Council, China has disregarded international rules, norms, and criticism of its own rights violations, said Nury Turkel, vice chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

China has attempted to weaken and subvert the international human rights system and norms within the U.N. by arguing that economic progress should precede respect for individual rights, including the right to religious freedom, he said.

China not only attempts to minimize international scrutiny over its human rights abuses  particularly its genocidal campaign against the Uyghurs  but also to further its efforts to promote a distorted concept of human rights in international fora, Turkel added.

Chinese authorities have subjected Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region to arbitrary arrests, restrictions on religious practice and culture, a pervasive digitized surveillance system that monitors their every move, and an extensive police presence.

Since 2017, Uyghurs accused of having strong religious views and politically incorrect views  as well as prominent intellectuals and businesspeople  have been jailed or detained in political internment camps where they are subject to various forms of abuse.

Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. high commission for human rights (OHCHR), has been negotiating with China without success for about three years to gain unfettered access to Xinjiang for a an independent and comprehensive assessment of the rights situation there.

This amounts to an admission, after nearly three years, that her request was not being honored by the Chinese authorities, said Sarah Brooks, program director at the International Service for Human Rights, a Geneva-based NGO.

No moral power

For Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress exile group, this was yet another example of how China has been doing everything in its power to obstruct the U.N. from fulfilling its role, especially in the case of addressing the Uyghur genocide.

Advocates for the six million Tibetans say their cause also gets sidelined by heavy-handed Chinese pressure on member states to stifle debate throughout the U.N. system on issues including arbitrary detention, and violation of religious freedom, and harsh curbs on Tibets language and culture.

Kai Mueller, executive director of the German office of the nonprofit advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), said China has long prevented debates about Tibet in the U.N.

In June 2020, more than 50 rights experts called for the establishment of an independent human rights monitoring mechanism at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, he said.

This unfortunately never materialized, and this is indicative of the influence of the Chinese government on other member states at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

This pertains to the human rights situation in Tibet not exclusively, but also with regard to other issues under the PRC or CCP leadership, added Mueller, head of ICTs U.N. advocacy team.

Speaking in Rome Friday ahead of the Group of 20 (G20) leaders summit, the elected leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government in exile, called on China to add a moral dimension to its expanding economic and military power in the world.

Despite being politically, militarily, and economically empowered, China lacks the moral power, Penpa Tsering told the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group of some 200 global parliamentarians, diplomats, and experts.

It is paramount that you ensure the values you cherish in your countries be available to those ruled by authoritarian ones like the Chinese government, added Tsering, known by his Tibetan title Sikyong.

Translated by the Tibetan Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Tran Quoc Khanh livestreamed 22 videos critical of the government and nominated himself for an assembly seat.

An undated photo of jailed Facebook user Tran Quoc Khanh, who livestreamed videos critical of Vietnam's government.

A court in Vietnam Thursday sentenced Tran Quoc Khanh, an aspiring political candidate, to 6.5 years in prison for social media video streams critical of the government, the latest conviction aimed at shutting down criticism online of the one-party communist state, state media reported.

Khanh, 61, was arrested on March 10 and charged with creating, storing, disseminating and spreading information, materials and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in accordance with Article 117, Vietnams Penal Code. He also received two years probation.

Khanh had regularly posted false and misleading information which causes public confusion and anxiety on his Facebook account Tran Quoc Khanh and his fan-page Tieng noi Cong dan (Voice of Citizens), the Cong Ly (Justice) newspaper, mouthpiece for Vietnam Supreme Peoples Court, reported Thursday.

In posting 22 livestreamed videos from September 2019 to January 2021, Khanh was distorting; smearing the authorities; confusing the public; providing an incorrect interpretation about the partys guidelines and the states policies and laws, according to the procuracys indictment.

His videos also constituted defaming party and state leaders; distorting history and denying the leadership of the Communist Party; and calling for pluralism and a multi-party regime and separation of powers, the document added, acknowledging that his posts had generated many likes and shares.

Before his arrest, Mr. Khanh announced that he would nominate himself as a candidate for a seat in the National Assembly. Le Trong Hung, another self-nominee for Vietnams top legislation body, was also arrested in the same month.

Vietnam has proposed a new decree that would increase government control over livestreaming, a recent report by the South Africa-based CIVICUS CSO said.

Under the terms of the decree, any account that operates on a social media platform in Vietnam and has more than 10,000 followers must provide contact information to authorities. Only registered accounts will be allowed to livestream, the report said.

Additionally social media sites like Facebook would, under the new law, be required to delete content within 24 hours if a justified complaint is submitted by an organization or individual that the content affects, the report said.

Vietnam is ranked 175th out of 180 countries in RSFs World Press Freedom Index for 2021.

Vietnams already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. Arrests continue in 2021.

Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Citing a rising number of coronavirus cases and fatalities, Armenian health authorities announced that wearing masks in open public spaces will again become mandatory in the Caucasus country beginning on November 1.

Armenia relaxed mask-wearing regulations on June 1 amid a relative slowdown of the coronavirus infections, requiring the masks only in closed public spaces, including public transport.

The Health Ministry on Saturday explained the decision to revert to a universal mask mandate by the need to curb the spread of the deadly infection that has already killed nearly 6,300 people in the country with a population of about 3 million.

Over the past 24 hours, health authorities reported 2,193 new coronavirus cases and 52 deaths.

On October 26, Armenias schools and universities switched to online learning at least until November 15, while school holidays have been extended by a week -- until November 8. The extension of school holidays for another week is also being considered.

Earlier this week, Armenias Health Ministry also allowed COVID-19 vaccinations for children aged 12 and older.
Iryna Slavnikova, a representative of the Belsat TV channel, has been detained at Minsk airport together with her husband, Belsat deputy director Alyaksei Dzikavitski said on his Facebook page on October 30.

Slavnikova, who is also the deputy chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, and her husband, Alyaksandr Loiko, were detained late on October 29 as they were returning from Egypt, Dzikavitski said.

He added that border guards and customs officers told Irina's father, who had come to meet her at the airport, that no one had been detained.

Slavnikova's whereabouts are unknown and her phone has been switched off, Dziavitski said.

Polish-funded Belsat television channel was declared extremist by the Belarusian authorities in July and had its website and all social media accounts blocked in Belarus amid an intensifying crackdown on media and civil society.

Belsat is a popular news source for Belarusians that closely follows opposition to strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Belsat extensively covered mass protests against Lukashenka following last year's presidential election which Lukashenka claimed to have won by a landslide. The opposition and West say the election was won by opposition candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

The protests were met with the heavy-handed detention of tens of thousands of people, much off the opposition leadership being jailed or forced into exile, and the countrys international isolation.

Belarusian authorities have also ramped up their campaign against media and civil society, with hundreds of raids of offices and apartments of activists and journalists.

Dozens of journalists were detained and sentenced to jail sentences, including two female journalists from Belsat, Katsyaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova, who were sentenced to two years in prison in February for their reporting of protests.
The leaders of the United States, Germany, France and Britain on October 30 called on Iran to return to nuclear talks and resume compliance with the 2015 nuclear accord to prevent a "dangerous escalation."

"We urge President Raisi to seize this opportunity and act in good faith so that negotiations can urgently find an outcome. It's the only safe way to prevent a dangerous escalation, that would be in no country's interest, U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement released after a gathering on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Rome.

We agreed that continued Iranian nuclear advances and obstacles to the IAEAs work will jeopardize the possibility of a return to the JCPOA, the statement said, referring to the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA).

"We are convinced that it remains possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on return to full compliance," the joint statement released by the White House said, adding: "This will only be possible if Iran changes course.

Iran's talks with six world powers aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal are slated to resume by the end of November, Iran's top nuclear negotiator said earlier this week. The exact date has not been announced yet.

Merkel said she was deeply concerned by Iran's uranium enrichment.

"We are counting on a return of Iran to the negotiating table. But the clock is ticking. Uranium enrichment is occurring in Iran and this deeply concerns us," she said on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Rome.

Earlier, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters that the meeting was Merkel's initiative and would give the leaders an opportunity to go over the topic ahead of a critical period coming up.

"This is going to be a serious opportunity to check signals as we head into a really vital period" on this issue, Reuters quoted the official as saying.

The EU and world powers have been struggling to revive the talks, which have been on hold since Irans presidential election in June that brought hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi to power.

Former President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the international accord in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions, despite Iran's compliance with the deal. In response, Tehran has gradually breached limits imposed by the pact, including on uranium enrichment, refining it to higher purity, and installing advanced centrifuges.

President Biden has pledged to rejoin the deal if Iran returns to full compliance. But six rounds of indirect talks with Iran in Vienna that began in April failed to reach agreement.

Asked as he went into the October 30 meeting when he wanted the Iran talks to resume, Biden said only: "They're scheduled to resume."

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on October 28 that the U.S. was still trying to determine whether Iran was serious about the negotiations.

Its not entirely clear to me yet whether the Iranians are prepared to return to talks, he told reporters aboard Air Force One as Biden flew to Rome for the Group of 20 summit. We have heard positive signals that they are, but I think we have to wait and see when and whether they actually show up at the negotiating table.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP and AFP
The leader of Burma's ruling junta called Russia a "true friend" during a speech marking Armed Forces Day, as security forces in the Southeast Asian country reportedly killed scores of people in the bloodiest day of protests since last months coup.

The lethal crackdown, which took place on March 27 as Russia's deputy defense minister visited the country to improve relations, drew swift international condemnation.

The United Nations said it had received reports of scores killed, including children, in what it described as shocking violence. It said there were mass arrests and hundreds were also injured in at least 40 towns and cities. The Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, which documents deaths and arrests, put the number of deaths by late evening at 91, spread over many cities and towns.

U.S. Ambassador Thomas Vajda in a statement said "security forces are murdering unarmed civilians, including children.

This bloodshed is horrifying. These are not the actions of a professional military or police force," he said.

Myanmars people have spoken clearly: they do not want to live under military rule, he said, using another name for Burma.

The European Unions delegation to the Southeast Asian country described the day as one of terror and dishonor.

The European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions on Burmese officials linked to the coup and the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

The bloodletting came as Russian Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin attended the Armed Forces Day military parade after meeting the junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the day before.

During a March 26 meeting, Russia offered support for the military regime, according to Interfax.

Defense ties between Russia and Burma have grown in recent years, with Moscow providing training and selling arms.

Fomin called Burma a reliable ally and strategic partner of Russia in Asia, Interfax said.

"The Russian Federation is committed to a strategy aimed at bolstering relations between the two countries," the Defense Ministry quoted Fomin as saying, according to Interfax.

Fomin said his visit to Burma was reciprocal after Min Aung Hlaing attended Russias parade commemorating the 75th anniversary of victory in the World War II last year.

Armed Forces Day in Burma commemorates the start of the military's resistance to Japanese occupation in 1945.

Diplomats said eight countries -- Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand -- sent representatives, but Russia was the only one to send a minister to the parade.

Burmas military seized power on February 1 in a coup that ousted the elected government of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained along with other figures from her National League for Democracy party. The coup reversed years of the country gradually emerging from a half-century of military rule.

The junta leaders say last Novembers elections, won by Suu Kyis party in a landslide, were fraudulent.

Widespread protests against the junta have been met with a harsh crackdown, with more than 2,600 people arrested and the latest violence set to bring the number of deaths to over 400 since the coup.

With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, Interfax, and Reuters
ZANGILAN, Azerbaijan -- Nestled between gently sloping hills lies a neat row of newly built green and white houses, all fenced off from a freshly paved and painted road. The brand-new houses in the village of Agali are empty but according to Azerbaijan's president will soon be filled by displaced Azerbaijanis returning to the place they called home over 27 years ago.

During an October 20-21 visit to Zangilan, one of the districts surrounding the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh that since 1993 was under Armenian rule and was recaptured by Azerbaijan in a deadly six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that a "new era" was beginning for the district. Further down the road in Agali lie the husks of houses still being built.

For many of the hundreds of thousands of Azeris who fled because of the war between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces over Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s, returning home might sound like a dream come true. But despite the official promises of return, many potential returnees are skeptical, airing concerns that not enough houses, schools, and hospitals have been built. What worries some people the most is that in a region that for years has been mostly abandoned, there won't be enough jobs.

'Smart Villages'

Speaking in Agali, a village that was occupied by Armenian forces in October 1993 and is now where much of the initial reconstruction in the region is taking place, Aliyev said that "the first 'smart village' project in all the liberated lands has been implemented in the district of Zangilan."

The "smart village" concept has been widely touted in Azerbaijani state media and purportedly aims to rejuvenate and connect traditional villages with digital and eco-friendly technologies.

"Some buildings are ready," Aliyev said, "and we will try to start relocating [former] Zangilan residents to Zangilan early next year, maybe later this year."

According to UN figures, about 860,000 people fled Armenia and the Azerbaijani districts that were occupied by Armenian forces during the first war that was fought between 1988 and 1994.

Garay Huseynov, a representative of the Agali district authorities, a body that has continued to exist in exile since the 1990s, told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service that a list of people who could return had been drawn up.

According to Huseynov, 200 houses are being built in the new settlement in Agali. Houses have three, four, or five rooms and will be given to families according to their needs.

"How will we survive when there is no livelihood?"

The news of the settlement's near readiness came as a surprise to some of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were driven out of Agali in the early 1990s.

Rahib Dunyamaliyev, 51, originally from Agali and now living in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, said he didn't know anything about it until the president's speech. It was only after Aliyev spoke, he said, that the district authorities called him and told him that he might move back to Agali. But for Dunyamaliyev, many questions remain.

"How will we survive when there is no livelihood?" Dunyamaliyev asked. "How can we live there with our families when there is no work?" Dunyamaliyev also questioned the 0.5-1 hectares of land they would receive and said that without additional support they wouldn't be able to use the land. "It would be good if the [process of] adaptation is slow," he said.

Zangilan and other districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh came under Baku's control as part of a cease-fire deal signed in November 2020 following the 44-day war between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces.

Before then, the districts were occupied by ethnic Armenians, who mostly regarded the territory as a "security zone" around the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Most of Zangilan was uninhabited, with the homes of the former Azeri inhabitants looted and gutted, their ruins still scarring the landscape. After 1993, some ethnic Armenians relocated to Zangilan, to areas not far from the Armenian border, but since last year's war, most of them have left.

IDPs had a different status to ethnic Azeris who left Armenia proper with the beginning of tensions in the late 1980s. The first wave of refugees received more public sympathy and were often rehoused in homes left by fleeing ethnic Armenians.

IDPs, however, were stuck in limbo for years, clinging to the government's assurances that, one day, unlike the refugees from Armenia, they would go home. Despite the country's vast oil and gas wealth, housing was in short supply and many lived in makeshift dwellings, sometimes even repurposing containers or railway carriages.

Not long after last years war ended in November, some IDPs tried to return to the reclaimed districts, with many curious about what remained of their old homes. Travelling without permits on unmarked roads and fields, some returnees were killed by land mines left by Armenian forces, which some experts have estimated might take up to a decade to clear.

Agali representative Huseynov told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service he was not aware of all the details of the resettlement. He said that the list of returnees must be fully approved and a resettlement plan drawn up. The plan, he said, was to send the elderly first and that people with young children would be relocated at a later stage after the construction of a school.

Despite the uncertainty and fears for the life awaiting them in Agali, the Azerbaijani authorities are pushing ahead with banner infrastructure projects in their regained territory, which they have said will include manufacturing plants, power stations, and railways.

Turkey's Role

On October 26, Aliyev was joined by his Turkish counterpart and ally, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to open an international airport in the city of Fuzuli, the first town that Azerbaijan recaptured from Armenian forces during the 2020 conflict. Azerbaijani officials have said that construction companies from Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, will take a leading role in infrastructure projects and rebuilding.

Erdogan and Aliyev also broke ground at the construction site for a new highway in the region and a "smart agricultural park" in Zangilan.

Another issue for the authorities will be how to fairly allocate the new homes.

Nurisan Hasanov, an IDP from Zangilan who lives in Baku, said that he hopes that the resettlement plan will consider the number of family members people now have.

"The children were young back then, they lived with their parents. [But now] some of them created a family, moved out, and had their own children, who have now grown up. So will this be taken into account during the construction?"

Reported and written by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service with contributions from RFE/RL's Luke Allnutt in Prague.
Polls closed on October 30 in Georgia's second round of local elections amid a political crisis in the Caucasus country with ex-President and opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili on hunger strike in prison.

The vote pitted Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili's ruling Georgian Dream party candidates against those from Saakashvili's opposition United National Movement (UNM) for mayoral posts in five large cities -- the capital Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Poti, and Rustavi.

Based on exit polls from pro-government Imedi TV station, Georgian Dream claimed victory in all municipalities where its candidates faced a challenge from Saakashvili's United National Movement (UNM.)

"I congratulate everyone with our victory in the second round, we won in all municipalities," Prime Minister Garibashvili said in televised remarks.

But a rival exit poll by pro-opposition Mtavari TV gave the opposite results and showed UNM was leading the polls.

UNM chairman Nika Melia, a Tbilisi mayoral hopeful, called on observers from his party to "defend votes at polling stations" and prevent falsifications as vote counting was under way.

The central election commission is expected to release official results by the morning of October 31.

Mayoral posts in 15 smaller municipalities and 42 seats in two dozen local councils were also up for grabs.

In Tbilisi, the race pitted incumbent Kakha Kaladze of Georgian Dream, who won nearly 45 percent of the vote in the first round on October 2, against ENM party chief Nika Melia, who garnered 34 percent.

The first round was overall won by the Georgian Dream -- a victory overshadowed by Saakashvili's arrest within hours of his return from eight years in self-exile abroad on October 1.

The opposition decried electoral fraud, while the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the ballot was marred by allegations of "intimidation, vote-buying, pressure, on candidates and voters."

The 53-year-old Saakashvili, who was president from 2004-2013, was sentenced in absentia to prison in 2018 for abuse of power and seeking to cover up evidence about the beating of an opposition member of parliament when he was president.

Saakashvili has said the charges against him are politically motivated.

Garibashvili this week urged voters to back Georgian Dream, calling Saakashvili's UNM an "anti-state and anti-national force."

In a statement released by his lawyers before polls opened, Saakashvili said the vote was "decisive for the Georgian democracy."



Pro-Western Saakashvili has been on hunger strike for 30 days to protest his imprisonment, which he says is politically motivated, and the United States has expressed concern over his condition.



The opposition, doctors, and Saakashvilis lawyers have been calling on the ruling Georgian Dream government to move the former leader to a private hospital to receive treatment.

But Garibashvili has ruled out moving Saakashvili from prison, and on October 28 raised eyebrows when he said in a televised interview that Saakashvili has a right to commit suicide amid concerns about his deteriorating health.

The law says an individual has the right to commit suicide, Garibashvili said.

The local elections are held as the country has been in a protracted political crisis since Georgian Dream -- founded by former Prime Minister and reclusive billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who openly clashed with Saakashvili -- won parliamentary elections a year ago.

Under an EU-brokered agreement reached in April to defuse the paralyzing political crisis between Georgian Dream and opposition parties, early parliamentary elections were to be called in 2022 if Georgian Dream received less than 43 percent overall nationwide in the local elections.

But in July, Georgian Dream leader Irakli Kobakhidze annulled the so-called April 19 agreement, blaming the opposition for its failure and claiming most other key provisions had been met.

Critics have accused Georgian Dream of using criminal prosecutions to punish political opponents and journalists.
CHISINAU -- Lawmakers in Moldova have confirmed the new government of Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita after her Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won snap elections earlier this month.

The Harvard-educated Gavrilita's PAS holds 63 of the 101 seats in parliament in Moldova for what she described as an "integrity government."

Postcommunist Moldova is wedged between Ukraine and EU member Romania, with which it shares a common language.



The PAS had campaigned on a platform of carrying out reforms and tackling corruption, and advocates closer ties with the European Union and the United States.



Gavrilita, a former finance minister, was designated as prime minister by President Maia Sandu.



Before the vote, Gavrilita said "the most important mission is to show that an integrity government is good for the country, and Moldova can return to the list of decent states."



She vowed before the August 6 vote that her government "will not steal, will not divide public money by percentage, and will not protect crooks and bandits."

Sandu defeated her Moscow-backed predecessor Igor Dodon in a presidential election in November and called the July 11 elections in a bid to consolidate power.



"People expect a change for the better and for that we need firm actions and competent decisions that will have the interest of our citizens at heart," Sandu wrote on Facebook.



The incoming government expects to receive 600 million euros ($708 million) between 2022 and 2024 in assistance from the European Union, as well as money from the International Monetary Fund.



The West and Russia are competing for influence in the ex-Soviet republic of 3.5 million people, which is one of Europe's poorest nations and has suffered a sharp economic downturn during the pandemic.



Moldova has been dogged by instability and corruption scandals in recent years, including the disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system.
Russia on October 30 reported 40,251 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, its highest single-day case tally since the start of the pandemic.

The government's coronavirus taskforce reported 1,160 deaths related to the virus, three short of the daily record of 1,163 set the day before.

Russia will go into a nationwide workplace shutdown in the first week of next month, while Moscow has reimposed a partial lockdown from October 28, with only essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets allowed to remain open.

Authorities have blamed a spike in coronavirus infections in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe in large part on a slow vaccination rate.

In neighbring Belarus, health authorities on October 30 reported the highest number of daily COVID-19 deaths -- 18 -- since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total number of fatalities to 4,614 people.

In China, health authorities are testing the entire population of Lanzhou, a city of 3.7 million people, and the capital of the northwestern province of Gansu, for the coronavirus for the fifth time, after the they detected five new locally transmitted infections on October 29, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The government had imposed a strict curfew on Lanzhou at the beginning of the week, in response to a new outbreak of the virus.

China's national health commission has recently been reporting about 50 daily new COVID-19 infections -- a relatively small figure compared to the country's population of some 1.4 billion.

However, the central government is pursuing a strict "zero-COVID-19 strategy" with curfews, mass testing, contact tracing, quarantine and strict entry restrictions, as well as a vaccination drive.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 29 authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years, making it the first COVID-19 shot for young children in the country.

The FDA decision is expected to make the jab available to 28 million American children, many of whom are back in school for in-person learning.

The shot will not be immediately available to the age group. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to advise on how the shot should be administered, which will be decided after a group of outside advisers discuss the plan next week.

Only a few other countries, including China, Cuba, and the United Arab Emirates, have so far cleared COVID-19 vaccines for children in this age group and younger.

The United States started administering the vaccine to teens between ages 12 and 17 in May.

In the United States, around 58 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, lagging other nations such as Britain and France.



With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and TASS
Tajikistan has appealed to members of a Russian-led military alliance of ex-Soviet states for help in dealing with security challenges emerging from neighboring Afghanistan, according to media reports.

Dushanbe's call came hours after Moscow vowed to defend its Central Asian allies threatened by the intensifying violence in Afghanistan.

The Taliban has captured large swaths of territory in northern Afghanistan as foreign troops exit the country, with over 1,000 Afghan civilians and servicemen fleeing to neighboring Tajikistan in recent days.

Tajik authorities say that two-thirds of the 1,357-kilometer border with Afghanistan is under Taliban control and they are preparing for an influx of refugees to enter the country. They say they are already providing Afghan refugees with food and shelter.

In an appeal on July 7 to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led military alliance that besides Tajikistan also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, Dushanbe said it could not manage the instability at its border without external assistance.

"Given the current situation in the region, as well as the remoteness and mountainous terrain of some parts of the border with Afghanistan, dealing with this challenge on our own seems difficult," Russia's RIA Novosti news agency quoted Hasan Sultonov, the Tajik representative at the CSTO, as saying.

"Therefore, we would like to call on the member states of the organization to contribute to the full implementation" of a 2013 resolution to provide assistance to Tajikistan in strengthening the Tajik-Afghan border, Sultonov said, according to Armenia's Armen Press.

His comments came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was ready to use its military base in Tajikistan, one of its largest abroad, to ensure the security of its allies in the region.

"We will do everything we can, including using the capabilities of the Russian military base on Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan, to prevent any aggressive impulses toward our allies," Lavrov said on July 7.

Following a top security meeting on July 5, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon ordered 20,000 reserve officers to the Afghan border.

He also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterparts from fellow Central Asian states Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan about the situation in Afghanistan.

On July 4, Rahmon spoke with his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, about the "alarming" situation along the border, according to Tajik state media.

According to a Kremlin statement, Putin said that Moscow was ready to "provide Tajikistan with the necessary support," both on a bilateral basis and through the CSTO.

With reporting by RIA Novosti, Armen Press, and Reuters
Turkmenistan might be getting one of its natural-gas customers back.

Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov was in Tehran from October 26-28 for a meeting of the foreign ministers from the countries bordering Afghanistan plus Russia.

Meredov used the opportunity to meet with Iranian officials to discuss a very important bilateral issue  Iran's importing natural gas from Turkmenistan.

After meeting with Meredov, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji reportedly said his country is interested in resuming the imports that Turkmenistan cut in early 2017.

Possible breakthrough?

The timing could not be better for Turkmenistan, as the country has been experiencing several years of severe economic problems.

The possible breakthrough with Iran comes as Turkmenistan is sending representatives to Kabul to try to breathe life back into the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-Afghanistan (TAPI) natural-gas pipeline project.

The difference is that very little of TAPI has been built and financing remains a huge question, whereas there are already two pipelines connecting Turkmenistan to Iran -- the older (1997) Korpeje-Kordkuy pipeline with a capacity of some 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, and the newer (2010) Dauletabad-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipeline, which has an annual capacity of 12 bcm.

In the early days of Turkmenistans economic woes, the government showed its desperation by announcing in late 2016 that Iran owed some $2 billion for gas it had received in the winter of 2007-2008. It added that if it was not paid before 2017 then Turkmenistan would cut off supplies.

Iran said the debt given by Turkmenistan was far higher than the $500-$600 million that Tehran said it owed and decided not to pay.

So Turkmenistan ceased shipping gas to Iran on January 1, 2017.

Iran is rich in natural gas, but its big fields are in the south of the country and the north has poor connections to the domestic gas-pipeline network.

So Turkmen gas is very important for northern Iran, something that Turkmen authorities were banking on in late 2016 after they lost Russia as a customer earlier in the year.

Turkmenistan didn't think Iran would be able to do without its natural gas.

Nearly five years later there is still no gas flowing from Turkmenistan to Iran.

But if Owjis remarks are genuine, that could change soon.

Owji -- previously the head of Iran's national gas company -- said positive negotiations were held to settle the debt" and that talks are ongoing.

He added that the debt to the Turkmen side will undoubtedly be settled and we are determined in this regard.

Flour for gas?

The two sides took their dispute to international arbitration and, in June 2020, there were reports that the court ruled in favor of Turkmenistan, though Iran said neither side had won.

Settling the debt is only the first step needed for Turkmen gas to resume flowing to northern Iran.

Iran had previously paid for Turkmen gas by barter, with the Turkmen government increasingly demanding cash instead.

Considering Turkmenistans dire economic situation and shortages of basic goods such as cooking oil, flour, and sugar, barter might be acceptable to Ashgabat for the time being.

It appears the chances are good that Turkmenistan will resume supplying gas to Iran  and with that a warming of bilateral ties as well.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov discussed resolving the gas issue with Iran with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Dushanbe in September.

Also announced during Meredovs visit to Tehran was a more than decade-old n agreement for Iranian contractors to build a 400 kV power line from the Turkmen city of Mary to the Iranian border town of Sarakhs.

Turkmenistan has continued to export electricity to Iran even after turning off the gas pipelines.

Afghanistan also gets electricity from Turkmenistan but, since the mid-August takeover by the Taliban, it is already clear the Taliban authorities will be unable to pay -- at least in full -- for the Turkmen electricity they are importing.

A new power line to Iran could offset the losses in revenue for electricity exports to Afghanistan, though Iran has also been paying for its Turkmen electricity by barter.

Turkmenistan and Iran also reached a new agreement on railway traffic, and Iran promised to make available a zone at its Persian Gulf port at Shahid Rajaee for the transit of Turkmen goods through Iran.

Iranian officials also announced on October 17 that all four border crossings with Turkmenistan -- Sarakhs, Lotfabad, Bajgiran, and Incheh Borun -- had been reopened, a move that will improve bilateral trade.

This is all very welcome news for Turkmen authorities who have been struggling for years to find new sources of revenue to help quell its economic meltdown.
The United States has hit Iran with fresh sanctions for supplying lethal drones and related material to insurgent groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and Ethiopia.

The Treasury Department on October 29 announced the new sanctions against two senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), two other individuals, and two companies that the United States says are affiliated with the IRGC's unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) program.

The Treasury Department statement said Irans proliferation of UAVs across the region threatens international peace and stability.

"The IRGC has used and proliferated lethal UAVs to Iranian-supported groups, including attacks on U.S forces and on international shipping," the State Department said in a statement.

The two targeted IRGC commanders, Brigadier General Saeed Aghajani and Brigadier General Abdollah Mehrabi, oversee the IRGCs drone activities, including support for UAV attacks by proxies on commercial vessels, Saudi oil facilities, and U.S. and allied interests throughout the Middle East, according to the Treasury Department.

The two firms, the Kimia Part Sivan Company and the Oje Parvaz Mado Nafar Company, along with the managing director of the latter, were sanctioned for supplying engines and technical assistance to the drone program, the Treasury Department said. Another individual with links to the IRGC also was added to the sanctions list.

"We are firmly committed to countering all of Iran's threatening activity and those who support it," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter.

The sanctions block any assets that the individuals and entities may have in the United States, bar Americans from conducting business transactions with them, and subject people and firms that do business with them to potential penalties.

The sanctions were announced as President Joe Biden prepared for meetings with European leaders at which the possible resumption of nuclear talks with Iran is expected to be discussed. Biden is set to meet the leaders of Britain, France, and Germany on October 30 in Rome during a Group of 20 summit.

Iran has yet to commit to a date to return to the talks in Vienna but has signaled it is prepared to do so by late November.

The negotiations were put on hold in June ahead of Iran's election that brought hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi to power.

In recent months, there have been repeated delays in reviving the talks, which made little progress over six rounds.





With reporting by AP and AFP
Salem - Joanne E. (Roulier) Bomarsi, 81, of Salem, passed away Tuesday morning, November 16, 2021 in Peabody. Born in Salem, MA, Joanne was the daughter of the late Lionel E. and Alice (Frasier) Roulier. A graduate of the former St. Chretienne Academy in Salem, Joanne worked for many years a
On Halloween, thousands of miniature ghosts and goblins will roam North County streets in search of candy. But a local paranormal researcher says the region may be home year-round to hundreds of real spooks.

Nicole Strickland of the San Diego Paranormal Research Society conducts dozens of spirit-seeking observations every year at places like the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe in Vista, the Pine Hills Lodge in Julian and the San Pasqual Battlefield near Escondido. Over the years, she and her fellow researcher Ali Schreiber say theyve observed shadowy figures and full-bodied ghosts, experienced unexplained cold drafts, heard strange noises and disembodied voices and even carried on conversations with the dearly departed.

Strickland said San Diego County is a hotbed for spooky phenomena. Spirit-seekers from all over the world come to San Diego to visit the Whaley House Museum in Old Town, which the Travel Channels Americas Most Haunted series called the most haunted house in America. Also, several books have been written about the Hotel Del Coronados resident ghost Kate Morgan, a heartbroken young woman who killed herself on a hotel staircase in 1892.

A portrait of Cave Couts hangs on the wall of the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe, which is family once owned. (Charlie Neuman )

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According to a 2009 Harris poll, 42 percent of Americans believe in ghosts. Strickland became convinced after she said her late grandmother materialized by her bedside in 2001. She understands that many people are skeptics about the existence of ghosts, and its not her job to convince them otherwise.

We dont go in looking for paranormal activity. We go in trying to find a logical, natural reason for whats occurring, said Strickland, an author and nursing student who lives in Tierrasanta. Lots of people call us ghost hunters but we cringe at that. That implies a thrill-seeking motive and were just students who present our findings and let people decide for themselves.

In honor of Halloween, Strickland and Schreiber will host several paranormal research programs this month at the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe. The sessions will include a tour and an explanation of how paranormal research is done. Participants will see demonstrations of the spirit box and other equipment and may have the opportunity to interact with the spirits there. The Spirits of the Adobe events are scheduled at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Oct. 21, 28 and 31. Tickets are $25. To register call (760) 643-5275.

Heres a list of what Strickland and others say are North Countys most haunted spots.

Rancho Buena Vista Adobe, Vista

In 1846, Felipe Subria built a small adobe on an 1,100-acre Spanish land grant in whats now Vista. It passed through many hands and today is a historical museum owned by the city of Vista. Strickland and Schreiber have conducted numerous research projects at the adobe and found it to be one of the most active paranormal locations in North County. Theyve had conversations with several past residents including famed local pioneer Cave Couts Sr. and his wife and children. Activity is so heavy there, Strickland said the adobe could be a portal through which ghosts seek to communicate with the living world. 640 Alta Vista Dr, Vista.

The Avo Playhouse, Vista

Built on the site of an old avocado grove, the Avo opened in 1948 as a cinema. After years of decline it closed in 1989 and the city bought it and converted it into a playhouse. City staff, janitors and volunteers have reported many ghostly occurrences there since the 1990s, including apparitions, mysterious footsteps and cold drafts. Many have reported seeing and hearing a man sitting in the audience, gliding along the balcony rail and laughing in the old projection booth upstairs. Strickland said she saw a man dressed as a farmer materialize in the seating area. Some say the ghost could be the spirit of the avocado grower or that of Earl Willis, who owned the cinema before it closed. 303 Main St., Vista.

Escondido Public Library

The 40,000-square-foot, two-story library opened in 1980. Not too many years after that, employees and volunteers began reporting spooky experiences, such as disembodied voices, unexplained equipment malfunctions, cold spots and sightings. One employee heard books sliding off shelves when nobody was there. Others have reported sightings of a man in Mexican vaquero (cowboy) clothing as well as a man dressed in 18th century attire. 239 S. Kalmia St., Escondido.

San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park

On Dec. 6, 1846, one of the bloodiest battles of the U.S.-Mexican War took place on horseback in the San Pasqual Valley between Mexican Californios and U.S. dragoons. Strickland said many ghost sightings have occurred at battlefields, because these locations were once a focal point of heightened human emotion. Psychics have pinpointed hot spots of violence on the property and others have seen ghostly soldiers in uniform on horseback, and heard voices, including one who mentioned the name of Major Andres Pico, the leader of the Californios. 15808 San Pasqual Valley Rd, Escondido.

Elfin Forest

There are many ghostly legends about these winding hills between Escondido and San Marcos, though none appear to have much basis in fact, Strickland said. There were reports that around the turn of the 20th century, a group of Gypsies were slaughtered when they refused to leave the area. People also reported sightings of a 10-foot owl that soared in the skies at night, as well as a witch seen riding a black stallion through the hills. One of the most common stories was the sighting of a lady in white, perhaps drawn from the Mexican folk legend of La Llorona, a floating ghost woman who weeps for the souls of her dead children. Strickland said many people have reported feeling a sense of impending doom when they drive through the area at night. She hasnt seen anything there in her drives, other than fog and mist in the headlights. Elfin Forest and Harmony Grove roads, between San Marcos and Escondido.

The Julian Gold Rush Hotel

Built in the 1890s by former slave Albert Robinson and his wife, Margaret, this historical hotel is said to be haunted by one or two ghosts. After Albert died in 1915, legend has it that his spirit returned to the hotel to cause noisy mischief. There have also been comments from visitors that a female ghost named Lola has been seen moving around the guest rooms. 2032 Main St., Julian.

Julian Pioneer Cemetery

The small mountain village of Julian was the focus of a gold rush in the 1870s that brought in hundreds of ore miners. Many who stayed ended up buried in the towns cemetery, which has drawn ghost-hunters for decades, including a crew from the TV series Soul Seekers. Most of the reports involve sightings of floating apparitions, including a woman in a nightgown and men dressed as 19th-century miners. 2811 Washington St, Julian.

Former North County Times office, Fallbrook

Employees at this former newspaper office refused to work alone in the two-story office building because of unexplained footsteps on the stairs, slamming doors, cold drafts, disembodied voices and creaky floors. The building has been renovated and is now occupied by a Mexican restaurant and martial arts studio. 232 Main St., Fallbrook.

Del Mar Fairgrounds

Since the mid-1990s, employees say theyve been seeing floating apparitions in the old Turf Club area on the top floor of the grandstand. A paranoramal research group recorded a shadowy figure moving through the room, and employees told a KUSI news crew that theyve heard voices and felt cold drafts while alone in the rooms at night. 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
Tiffany and Shaun Phelan each have been involved in senior care for years and now theyve opened a center to train other caregivers.
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The San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) and the Council for Teaching Filipino Language and Culture recently kicked off a new virtual exchange program for students and teachers.

Connecting young people across the globe, the Dalawang Baybayin (Two Shores) Intercultural Exchange Program partners schools in San Diego County with schools in the Philippines to provide students and teachers with authentic opportunities for meaningful interaction and collaboration in world languages.



Truly, language is a bridge that brings together people and cultures who are separated by thousands of miles, said Rizalyn Cruz, president of the Council for Teaching Filipino Language and Culture. We hope this is one of the many ways we can collaborate with each other  and deepen everyones understanding of the cultures, traditions, and experiences of the other.

The Consul General of the Philippines Edgar Barrairo Badajos also joined the meeting to address the group.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Philippines, Badajos shared, describing the importance of the long and interwoven history of intercultural understanding between the two countries. The U.S. is also home to the largest number of Filipinos outside of the Philippines.

Speaking about the Dalawang Baybayin program, he said, This program helps to perpetuate an even greater cultural understanding between our peoples.

In the 2020-21 school year, SDCOE, with the Consulate of Spain in Los Angeles, created the Dos Orillas Intercultural Exchange Program with the goal of expanding intercultural understanding and global competence and promote engagement and communication.

Together, weve created a collaborative framework for a virtual, intercultural exchange that supports our San Diego County students as global citizens, explained Dr. Paul Gothold, San Diego County superintendent of schools. Students gained global competency and cultural proficiency, and really learned how to connect and have empathy for each others experiences."

Both programs provide partner teachers in different countries to together plan engaging activities and provide authentic opportunities for students to interact and practice their language skills and cultural understanding.


World leaders have been meeting for 29 years to try to curb global warming, and in that time Earth has become a much hotter and deadlier planet.

Trillions of tons of ice have disappeared over that period, the burning of fossil fuels has spewed billions of tons of heat-trapping gases into the air, and hundreds of thousands of people have died from heat and other weather disasters stoked by climate change, statistics show.

When more than 100 world leaders descended on Rio de Janeiro in 1992 for an Earth Summit to discuss global warming and other environmental issues, there was a huge feeling of well-being, of being able to do something. There was hope really, said Oren Lyons, faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, one of the representatives for Native Americans at the summit.

Now, the 91-year-old activist said, that hope has been smothered: The ice is melting. ... Everything is bad. ... Thirty years of degradation.

Data analyzed by The Associated Press from government figures and scientific reports shows how much we did lose Earth, said former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief William K. Reilly, who headed the American delegation three decades ago.

That Earth Summit set up the process of international climate negotiations that culminated in the 2015 Paris accord and resumes Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, where leaders will try to ramp up efforts to cut carbon pollution.

Back in 1992, it was clear climate change was a problem with major implications for lives and livelihoods in the future, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the AP this month. That future is here and we are out of time.

World leaders have hammered out two agreements to curb climate change. In Kyoto in 1997, a protocol set carbon pollution cuts for developed countries but not poorer nations. That did not go into effect until 2005 because of ratification requirements. In 2015, the Paris agreement made every nation set its own emission goals.

In both cases, the United States, a top-polluting country, helped negotiate the deals but later pulled out of the process when a Republican president took office. The U.S. has since rejoined the Paris agreement.

The yearly global temperature has increased almost 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) since 1992, based on multi-year averaging, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Earth has warmed more in the last 29 years than in the previous 110. Since 1992, the world has broken the annual global high temperature record eight times.

In Alaska, the average temperature has increased 2.5 degrees (1.4 degrees Celsius) since 1992, according to NOAA. The Arctic had been warming twice as fast as the globe as a whole, but now has jumped to three times faster in some seasons, according to the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program.

That heat is melting Earth's ice. Since 1992, Earth has lost 36 trillion tons of ice (33 trillion metric tons), according to calculations by climate scientist Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds. That includes sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic that melts now more in the summer than it used to, the shrinking of giant ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, and melting glaciers.

And Michael Zemp, who runs the World Glacier Monitoring Service, said Shepherds numbers may be a little low. He calculates that since 1992, the glaciers of the world have lost nearly 9.5 trillion tons of ice (8.6 trillion metric tons), about a trillion tons more than Shepherds figures.

With more ice melt in the ocean and water expanding as it warms, the worlds average sea level has risen about 3.7 inches (95 millimeters) since 1992, according to the University of Colorado. That may not sound like much, but it is enough to cover the United States in water to a depth of 11 feet (3.5 meters), University of Colorado sea level researcher Steve Nerem calculated.

Wildfires in the United States have more than doubled in how much they have burned. From 1983 to 1992, wildfires consumed an average of 2.7 million acres a year. From 2011 to 2020, the average was up to 7.5 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

The unhealthy choices that are killing our planet are killing our people as well, said Dr. Maria Neira, director of the World Heath Organizations environment, climate change and health program.

The United States has had 265 weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage  adjusted to 2021 dollars  since 1992, including 18 so far this year. Those disasters have caused 11,991 deaths and cost $1.8 trillion. From 1980 to 1992, the U.S. averaged three of those billion-dollar weather disasters a year. Since 1993, the country has averaged nine a year.

Worldwide there have been nearly 8,000 climate, water and weather disasters, killing 563,735, according to the EMDAT disaster databas e. Those figures are probably missing a lot of disasters and deaths, said the Debarati Guha-Sapir, who oversees the database for the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters at the University of Louvain School of Public Health in Brussels.

Medical researchers earlier this year looked at 732 cities worldwide and calculated how many deaths were from climate change-caused extra heat. They found that on average since 1991, there have been 9,702 heat deaths from global warming a year just in those studied cities, which adds up to 281,000 climate-caused heat deaths since 1992.

But thats a small proportion of what really is happening, said study author Ana Vicedo-Cabrera, an epidemiologist at the Institute of Social and Preventative Medicine at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Using those cities, researchers calculated that during the four hottest months of the year, the added heat from climate change is responsible for 0.58% of the globes deaths.

That comes to about 100,000 heat deaths caused by climate change a year for 29 years, she said.

WHO officials said those figures make sense and calculate the annual death toll from climate change will rise to 250,000 a year in the 2030s.

Scientists say this is happening because of heat-trapping gases. Carbon dioxide levels have increased 17% from 353 parts per million in September 1992 to 413 in September 2021, according to NOAA. The agencys annual greenhouse gas index, which charts six gases and weights them according to how much heat they trap, rose almost 20% since 1992.

From 1993 to 2019, the world put more than 885 billion tons (803 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide in the air from the burning of fossil fuels and making of cement, according to the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists who track emissions.

A pessimistic Lyons, the Native American activist, said, I would say this meeting in Glasgow is the last shot.

___

Read stories on climate issues by The Associated Press at https://apnews.com/hub/climate.

___

Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Entomologists with the state Department of Agriculture are asking the public to keep an eye out for the spotted lanternfly  a destructive pest indigenous to parts of China, India and Vietnam  after a possible sighting in Central Washington earlier this month.



The agency received a photo of what looks like a spotted lanternfly from someone in the Omak area of Okanogan County. The witness also reported seeing as many as five live specimens. Department officials couldnt find any of the bugs during a search of the area, but did notice the area could be inhabitable.



Our search revealed abundant host material in the area, Sven Spichiger, an entomologist with the department, said in a blog post. For the next several weeks, we ask people to look for both adults and egg masses. If they think they found any suspected life stage of the pest, they should report it.



Spotted lanternflies primarily attack grapes, but have been sighted on other crops such as hops, apples and peaches. The first U.S. sighting was in Pennsylvania in 2014. Since then, they have popped up in several East Coast states and other areas throughout the country.



The Washington Invasive Species Council says the pests could do serious damage to the states agriculture industry if they take root here. In the blog post, Justin Bush, the councils executive coordinator, said reporting a spotted lanternfly  should you see one  is integral in preventing that.



This is another example of the important role everyone plays in stopping invasive species, he said. You may be reporting a new invasive species and help prevent millions, if not billions, of dollars in damage and loss.



Department spokesperson Karla Salp said that, for the time being, the agencys advice to the public is to capture and report a spotted lanternfly if you see one. The department needs to confirm that theyre actually in Washington before issuing a kill order, she said.



The spotted lanternfly has an incredibly distinctive look. Adults have a black head and gray-brown forewings adorned with black spots. When resting, their crimson hind wings are partially visible through the semi-translucent forewings, giving the lanternfly a red appearance. Salp said theyre about the size of a moth.



Reports can be made using the Washington Invasive Species Councils online reporting form. You can also email the state Department of Agriculture at pestprogram@agr.wa.gov or call 1-800-443-6684.


RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  For four years, nothing rallied Democrats like the push to get Donald Trump out of office. Now, they're not sure what to do without him.

Democrats in Virginia are scrambling to stave off disaster in the state's governor's race  the most competitive major election since Trump left the White House. The surprisingly tight contest has exposed the depth of the party's dependence on Trump as a message and motivator. Without him top of mind for many, and with headwinds from Washington, Democratic officials privately fear they may lose their first statewide election in Virginia in more than a decade on Tuesday.

Public polling has been shifting in Republican newcomer Glenn Youngkin's direction in recent weeks, while Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a former governor and close ally of President Joe Biden, has struggled to energize his base as Biden's approval ratings sink. Republicans, consumed by infighting and crisis while Trump was in office, are suddenly optimistic they can win in a state Trump lost by 10 percentage points last year.

Virginia is a very blue state  I do not consider Virginia a purple state  so the fact that were this competitive speaks volumes about the state of our country and the popularity of Biden, said Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.

A loss in the Virginia governor's race, long considered a bellwether for midterm elections, would trigger all-out panic among Democrats far beyond Virginia. The party is already wary about their chances in elections that will decide control of the House and Senate and statehouses next year.

Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, acknowledged a McAuliffe loss would be a doomsday scenario. But he argued that Virginia Democrats would show up and pull off a win for McAuliffe.

Im not running around with my hair on fire, not at this point," he said.

Regardless of the outcome, the race will be picked over for clues about what resonated with voters  and what didn't.

The politics surrounding Trump, who left office more than nine months ago, remain complicated. McAuliffe's team believes he remains very unpopular among the Democratic base, independents and even some moderate Republicans in Virginia. As such, he should be a good motivator for McAuliffe's coalition. But Trump's absence from the spotlight, combined with voter fatigue and the lingering pandemic, seems to have diluted anti-Trump passions  at least for now.

Still, McAuliffe spent the vast majority of his record fundraising haul warning voters that his opponent, who was endorsed by Trump but kept his distance from him, is a Trump wannabe. McAuliffe's closing TV ads featured footage from the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection led by Trump supporters who believed the former president's lies about a stolen election.

Youngkin created the opening for those attacks when he made election integrity the centerpiece of his run during the nomination contest and declined to say Biden was legitimately elected until after he locked up the nomination. Youngkin has shown a disqualifying lack of leadership," said Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, defending McAuliffe's decision to elevate the issue.

We cant forget  and I certainly will never forget  that we had an insurrection on Jan. 6 at the nations Capitol," she said. Literally, people beat police officers with American flags under this notion of a lie that the former president spewed and people with loud voices, elected officials, propagated."

In an interview that aired Saturday night on Fox News, Trump addressed dismissed McAuliffe's' anti-Trump strategy.

I think it backfires, because I think that gets the base to come out and vote, Trump said, noting that he has endorsed Youngkin strongly. "I think if my base doesnt come out he cant win. I think my base has to come out very strong.

Meanwhile, Youngkin has not played the part of an angry Trump loyalist.

A former private equity executive who often dodges questions on thorny policy issues, Youngkin devoted more than $20 million of his personal fortune to a monthslong advertising campaign defining himself as an affable, suburban dad in a fleece vest. He has not campaigned with Trump or any high-profile Republicans, and he told reporters he would not be involved with a Trump telerally on Monday.

To connect with the party's base, Youngkin seized on conservatives' frustrations with schools over pandemic policies and race and diversity education. Hes benefited from a network of parent groups, some led by political professionals with ties to the GOP and Trump administration, activated in key suburbs. He ran an ad featuring a mother and GOP activist who eight years ago led an effort to ban Beloved, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Black Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, from classrooms.

McAuliffe calls it a racist dog whistle," an allegation Youngkin denied.

History is working against Democrats, who control the legislative and executive branches in Virginia and in Washington. Traditionally, the party that holds the White House almost always loses the Virginia governor's race. McAuliffe himself was the first in 40 years to break that trend in 2013.

McAuliffe's team points to Biden's slipping popularity, which has fallen close to Trump's levels at this point in his presidency. Meanwhile, the Democratic-led Congress has failed to deliver sweeping campaign promises as negotiations over a massive climate change and social safety net package drag on. This week, Democrats dropped a popular paid family leave proposal, disappointing many Democratic women in Virginia, a critical constituency.

Aside from disappointment, Democrats in Virginia say they're exhausted.

Weve had four years of being on high alert, coming out of COVID, coming out of a lockdown. I think people were just living their lives and didnt want to think about an election, said state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, who ran against McAuliffe for the Democratic nomination.

A Republican presidential candidate hasn't carried the state since 2004. Census data shows the state's Democratic-leaning northern part of the state growing, while GOP strongholds lose population.

Fairfax County, which voted nearly 70% for Biden and is by far Virginia's most populous county, grew at a 6% rate to a population of 1.15 million in the last decade. It also became a majority-minority county. Meanwhile, in deep red southwest Virginia and along the states southern border, nearly every locality lost population.

The trends, combined with a Democratic shift among suburban Republicans during the Trump era, suggest that Democrats would win easily on Tuesday if only they turn out their supporters. The early voting period, which ends Saturday, did not attract the surge in voters in key areas that Democrats hoped for, however.

A McAuliffe get-out-the-vote event in the conservative southern edge of the state drew only a few dozen people to a church reception hall earlier in the week. One attendee, Martinsville Vice Mayor Jennifer Bowles, said she hopes McAuliffe wins but sees evidence of Trumps strength where she lives.

Its not diminished. If anything, it feels like its getting stronger, Bowles said. It scares me.

McAuliffe campaigned alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and musical artist Pharrell Williams on Friday night in Norfolk, drawing roughly 1,000 people, according to a state party spokesperson.

McAuliffe went after Youngkin and his supporters, telling the crowd: "I cannot tell you how critical this election is. The stakes could not be any more clear. On one side ... conspiracy theorists, weve got antivaxxers and we got Donald Trump. Theyre all on one side.

Three hours to the north in rural Warrenton, more than 1,000 people attended a rally that featured Youngkin and a handful of state legislators.

We have Terry on the run, Youngkin told the electric crowd. We are gonna sweep Republicans in across this Commonwealth and make a statement that will be heard around the world.

___

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  The quest by a civil rights pioneer to have her arrest record wiped clean after nearly 70 years after she protested racial segregation has raised the possibility of similar bids to clear the names of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., whose convictions remain on the books in Alabama's capital.

Parks, a Black seamstress and activist who was convicted of violating racial segregation laws after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955, was convicted of violating racial segregation laws. King, who helped lead the resulting Montgomery Bus Boycott, paid a $500 fine after being convicted in 1956 of violating a law banning boycotts.

Parks refused to pay her $10 fine, and she and King went on to become icons of racial justice and the modern civil rights movement. Yet their cases remain on the books in Montgomery, said civil rights attorney Fred Gray, who represented both.

In the case of King, an up-and-coming pastor at the time, efforts to reverse the conviction in court failed, Gray said.

"We might just decide to file a lawsuit on his behalf to have that record expunged," Gray said. The same goes for Parks and others, potentially, he said.

The chief prosecutor in Alabama's capital, Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey, said he would generally support a move to expunge the arrest records of King and Parks, but he'd need to see details of any such request before responding in court.

Bailey and Gray spoke on behalf of Claudette Colvin as she asked a court on Tuesday to remove records stemming her from arrest and conviction after she refused to move to the back of a bus in compliance with racial segregation laws in March 1955 in Montgomery. Now 82, Colvin was a 15-year-old high school student at the time.

My mindset was on freedom, she said after filing the expungement request, which has yet to be decided.

An attorney representing Colvin, Phillip Ensler, said he would support a bid to expunge the court records of other activists from the civil rights movement. But Colvin, who was convicted of assaulting an officer during her arrest and declared delinquent, isn't sure that such an effort would be possible since there was so much injustice for so long.

That would take a hundred years, maybe 200 years to go through the court system, she said. You could never finish it.

Representatives from The King Center in Atlanta and The Rosa and Raymond Parks Foundation in Detroit, where Parks lived most of her life, did not return emails seeking comment.

Hundreds of people were arrested across the South during civil rights demonstrations in the 1950s and 60s, and its unclear how many would want to remove their arrest records, which many see as a badge of honor. When the city of Birmingham offered mass pardons to people arrested during protests in 1963, many refused.

Montgomery County Circuit Clerk Gina Ishman said expunging court documents removes convictions from defendants' record but generally does not result in the destruction of documents, such as the historical police and court records involving people like Colvin, King and Parks.

Colvin, who left Alabama for New York at age 20, said the conviction never bothered her much, although her family was worried because she never received notice saying her probation had ended. The worst thing about the ordeal was losing high school friends over her act of defiance, she said.

They didn't want to be around me, said Colvin.

___

Reeves is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP)  A schoolhouse where enslaved and free Black children were taught before the Revolutionary War will be moved from the William & Mary campus to Colonial Williamsburg and restored to its original state, officials announced Friday.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is buying the building that housed the Bray School, the university and foundation said in a news release. Once modern additions to the building are removed, it will be moved a few blocks to the living-history museums campus, where it will be restored and incorporated into the foundations public history programming.
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The mother of a man fatally shot by a man he robbed  a retired Oakland police captain  said Friday she has watched the surveillance video showing her sons death at least 30 times and questions whether deadly force was necessary.

Trepania Williams of Vallejo said she understands her son, Desoni Djuan Lamar Gardner, 20, was wrong to have robbed someone.

I want to apologize to everyone in the Oakland community who was affected by that situation, Williams said of the robbery at a Chevron gas station on Oct. 21 that ended with her son shot dead by the victim, retired Capt. Ersie Joyner.

But death was not the answer, Williams continued, noting that many people act unruly and even commit crimes in young adulthood, but go on to lead productive lives.

I understand my son was wrong, but hes already been held accountable, Williams said. She wants to see more scrutiny placed on Joyner, who took the initiative to shoot and kill.

Gardner of Vallejo and two unidentified people ambushed Joyner at the gas station near downtown Oakland. Surveillance footage captured a harrowing scene in which Joyner was robbed, then pulled out a gun he was carrying and shot two of the assailants. One ran toward a black sedan while the other, identified Friday by an Alameda County Sheriffs Office spokesperson as Gardner, crumpled to the ground. When Joyner walked around the gas pump, gun drawn, pursuing the other attackers, he immediately recoiled  apparently shot in the torso.

Under California law, a person can claim self-defense in a killing if they reasonably believed they or someone else were in imminent danger of being slain or badly injured, or that they were in danger of becoming the victim of forcible crimes such as robbery or rape. The person must have a reasonable belief that their use of deadly force is necessary. But they are not required to retreat, the law states, and can pursue an assailant until the danger has passed.

Police have yet to name the other two suspects. On the day of the shooting, Chief LeRonne Armstrong described Joyner as being in critical condition fighting for his life. While police have not provided an official update this week, two sources familiar with the situation say he is recovering and able to walk.

Gardner is the second son Williams has lost in just over a year. Her older son, Demazhe Gardner, was killed in July 2020. The brothers were rap musicians  Demazhe performed under the stage name Bandlife Birdy, while Desoni used the handle Lil Theze.

Both had recorded several songs and appeared in music videos, though friends lamented that Theze didnt draw attention on social media until after his death.

Lavelle Montgomery, a courier and music producer in Vallejo, remembered Gardner as a spirited young man who made a bad decision that led to his death.

I tried to be a mentor, Montgomery said, recalling how he built a music studio in his garage for neighborhood teens like Gardner and his own son, Lavelle Montgomery Jr., who uses the stage name Lil Vell.

Gardner and Lavelle Montgomery Jr. spent long nights recording songs in the studio and occasionally fell asleep in the sound booth. The elder Montgomery said he drove them to perform in venues as far away as Portland, Ore.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

We finished our album in a week, Montgomery Jr. told The Chronicle. He was over every night.

A year ago, Lavelle Montgomery produced a video featuring Bandlife Birdy and two other artists, showing off motorcycles and bottles of alcohol. It ends with a dedication to Demazhe Gardner, whose life was taken from us by gun violence in the streets of the Country Club Crest, Vallejo, California.

Montgomery said he had tried to protect Desoni Gardner to make sure he didnt go down that path.

Chronicle staff writer Andres Picon contributed to this report.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan

Correction: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect spelling for Trepania Williams.
With California and its worsening wildfires, droughts, freak storms and record heat at the center of the unfolding climate crisis, the stakes at this weeks United Nations climate change conference are big.

International leaders in Glasgow will be trying to harden the worlds commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and slow the dangerous warming thats driving weather extremes on the West Coast and across the globe.

The state is sending a 22-person delegation to the conference, known as COP26. Gov. Gavin Newsom had planned to lead the group, but because of undisclosed family obligations said Friday his attendance would be limited to virtual meetings. While the state doesnt have an official seat at the bargaining table, it will be on the sidelines pushing for more aggressive climate action and offering some of its world-leading climate expertise and strategy.

California will share a message around urgency and the grounding sense of the cost of this crisis, said Lauren Sanchez, senior climate adviser for the governor and among the group headed to Glasgow. We will use our market power as the worlds fifth largest economy and all of our international partnerships to accelerate this agenda. The one thing we dont have in this crisis is time.

More for you Newsom cancels plans to travel to U.N. climate conference in Glasgow

In addition to the government envoy, California will be represented by throngs of researchers, business leaders and environmentalists, many of whom have been critical of the state for talking a big game about climate change but not doing enough to confront it. They hope the conference will help re-energize the states leadership.

California has long been regarded as a leader on climate policy. Its flagship legislation, AB32, has driven huge cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by spurring carbon auctions for industry, clean energy mandates for power plants, fuel standards for cars and green building regulation.

The rest of the country hasnt been nearly as enterprising. While President Biden earlier this year announced a target greenhouse gas reduction of 50% to 52% for the nation by 2030 over 2005 levels, the programs and regulation needed to get there remain elusive. Congressional leaders were still battling last week over how much to approve in new climate spending.

Already, the U.S. is running behind on its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 26%-28% by 2025, set during the Obama administration.

The targets are believed to be whats necessary for the U.S to do its share in the international effort to keep global temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. Thats the point at which extreme weather events are expected to become particularly unbearable, if they havent already. The ceiling on heat was established at the Paris COP in 2015.

The problem facing world leaders this year is that the planet is now on track for a temperature rise closer to 3 degrees. To avert catastrophe, the roughly 190 nations participating in the conference will have to commit to even deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions than they have in the past.

The commitments are growing more slowly than needed, said Chris Field, director of Stanford Universitys Woods Institute for the Environment and part of a group from Stanford headed to Glasgow. Im cautiously optimistic that well have an outcome that moves us closer to the (Paris) target. It still doesnt get us where we need to get. Were going to have to see increasing ambition in the future, but this is a really important step.

California stands to lose as much as anywhere if temperatures continue to rise, say many of the state scientists and climate activists participating in the conference. Studies have shown that as much as half of the acreage burned in western wildfires in recent years is due to global warming and that this years record-setting heat could not have occurred without the drastic uptick in greenhouse gas emissions.

We are ground zero for climate impacts, said Ellie Cohen, CEO of The Climate Center based in Santa Rosa, who will be attending the conference. Were already seeing climate chaos. Its here and now.

The states delegates to COP26 say theyll be making the case for bigger commitments to greenhouse gas reductions by showcasing their success with big goals. State officials said they plan to tout Californias recent policies to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, its record $15 billion budget for climate programs and Newsoms proposal to reduce oil drilling in urban areas.

But to many environmentalists, the Democratic governor and state legislators have a less rosy record to take on the road than they claim. Climate advocates have become increasingly critical of the states reluctance to stop fossil-fuel drilling, particularly as Newsoms administration has approved more than 5,000 permits for new oil and gas wells since he took office.

As much as Gov. Newsoms climate aspirations may be good, the actions that follow dont meet the crisis with the urgency and speed that is required, said Lauren Cullum, a climate policy advocate for Sierra Club California.

According to a new analysis from the Center for Biological Diversity, an advocacy group that has urged California to stop issuing new permits, the oil and gas wells Newsoms administration has approved could generate at least 144 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over their lifespan, the equivalent of 31 million extra cars on the road for a year.

At the same time, environmentalists have praised Newsom for moving to clamp down on oil drilling in populated areas. In October, Newsoms administration issued a draft rule to prohibit new drilling within 3,200 feet of homes, schools and other sensitive sites  if approved, it would be the most stringent setback rule in the nation.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute, said Newsoms action on buffer zones around oil wells signals a major turning point for the state to begin to phase out oil extraction, though advocates are pushing to make the rule stronger.

I think were going to look back and see it as a huge inflection point because it shows the momentum we need, she said. We need more of that leadership. Weve always said that Newsom can be the leader on climate and environmental justice that we need.

RL Miller, president of Climate Hawks Vote, an environmental advocacy group, said Newsoms plan on setbacks shows hes beginning to realize he can in fact be a transformational leader on climate.

She said Newsom, however, is being forced to go it alone after the Legislature rejected nearly every major piece of environmental legislation this year and the California Democratic Party recently punted on a proposal to reject campaign contributions from fossil fuel companies.

Hes doing it without the party, without the Legislature and without a significant chunk of the labor movement, Miller said.

Newsom, in many ways, faces changing expectations when it comes to environmental policy. For years, California maintained its reputation as an eco-friendly steward by setting long-term goals to reduce emissions and by passing one-off measures like bans on straws and single-use plastic shopping bags.

Many environmentalists say the time to trumpet incremental measures has passed. Heidi Harmon, former mayor of San Luis Obispo and an advocate with the Lets Green California Initiative for the Romero Institute, likened the states climate track record to a misleading online dating profile. She has called on Newsom to declare a climate state of emergency.

Were putting forward this gorgeous image of being environmental stewards, she said. But when you meet us in person, were still extracting oil, fracking, and legislators are taking money from the fossil-fuel industry.

Kurtis Alexander and Dustin Gardiner are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com, dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander, @dustingardiner
To study the role Earths oceans play in climate change, NASA recently launched a mission 100 miles off the San Francisco coast that involves a ship, two airplanes, and a fleet of saildrones and other robotic research vehicles.

The scientists are studying lesser-known features of the ocean surface, such as eddies and whirlpools, that they suspect play an important part in the transfer of gases and heat between the atmosphere and the ocean. The mission began Oct. 19, when the research vessel Oceanus left Newport, Ore., and will finish up Nov. 6. It took a short break during the recent storm, when the ship had to come into port in San Francisco because waves in the study region reached 30 feet high.

Though NASA is best known for space exploration, it also operates a fleet of satellites to study the earths surface, several which focus on the oceans.

This particular mission is called the Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment, or S-MODE; sub-mesoscale refers to ocean dynamics that are smaller than 10 kilometers across like ocean eddies, which swirl around the oceans surface, stirring up the water.

These eddies have a really important effect on climate, said Tom Farrar of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the principal investigator on the mission, in a press briefing about the mission Friday.

The ocean absorbs 31% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Farrar and others suspect that eddies have an effect on the exchange of heat and gases between the air and sea and likely play a role in moving heat, carbon and oxygen from the surface to deeper layers of the ocean. But eddies are too small and short-lived to be studied by satellite, which is why the S-MODE mission is using so many different instruments at once, closer to the source.

The site off the San Francisco Bay was chosen because its located on the California Current, a dynamic movement of water along the West Coast that is the site of many eddies. Two aircraft are collecting data on wind and currents on the ocean surface from different elevations, one under the clouds and one at 28,000 feet, while the Oceanus and autonomous research vehicles are collecting images and measurements in the water.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The goal is to map out a full 3-D structure, Farrar said.

The Oceanus transported most of the ocean robots out to sea, though five saildrones, bright-orange, solar-operated robotic vehicles that embarked from Alameda and made their way out to the study area. They can measure air and ocean currents along with salinity and chlorophyll content, or the amount of phytoplankton in the water. With all the instruments working together, the team hopes to study the eddies as theyre happening to learn more about how the ocean slows the impact of climate change.

What they find can be used to support an international project NASA is taking part in next year using satellites to take the first global survey of all bodies of water on the planet, from oceans to lakes, said Nadya Vinogradova-Shiffer, program scientist from NASAs Earth Science Division, at the briefing.

Observing ocean circulation directly from space would be a huge leap forward for science, she said.

Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan
Last week, Florida boasted a COVID-19 case rate lower than Californias  in fact, among the lowest in the nation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was a surprising development, considering Gov. Ron DeSantis very public resistance to vaccine mandates and non-pharmaceutical interventions such as wearing masks.

Some partisans were quick to jump on the news as evidence that broad public health measures are unnecessary to stop the pandemic. But case rates are only a part of the picture of the impact COVID-19 has had on communities  and data shows that Floridians have suffered more from the coronavirus than residents of most other states.

Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, Florida has counted 277 deaths for every 100,000 residents  the seventh highest rate in the nation, according to data from the CDC. By comparison, California, has had 180 deaths per 100,000 people, still a tragic loss but a measure of the states relative success in combating the disease. Californias cumulative death rate ranks 36th on a list including all 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and Guam.

The gap wasnt always this stark. In March 2021, Floridas per-capita death rate was similar to Californias, ranking 27th in the country, while California was 28th. The Sunshine State was also slightly ahead of California in vaccinations at the time, with some 11.6% of people fully vaccinated, versus 10.5% in California.

But in the months since, as Florida opened up and DeSantis fought against mandates for masks and vaccines, California took a more cautious tack. With the delta variant surging through the U.S., the Golden State encouraged  and in most Bay Area counties, required  a resumption of indoor mask wearing and other safety measures.

Since then, Californias death rate has fallen relative to other states while Floridas has risen.

Health officials say the states ongoing mask mandates and social distancing were crucial contributors. Along with an ambitious vaccination program, these measures help explain why the nations most populous state has seen lower deaths.

Dr. Nicholas Moss, the public health officer for Alameda County, told The Chronicle in September that the Bay Area has shown how vaccinations and masking together can limit the worst impacts of the pandemic, even with more activities happening.

In three of the U.S. states with the most COVID-19 deaths per capita  Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana  fewer than half of residents are now innoculated, according to the New York Times vaccine tracker. Also among the states that have suffered the most are New Jersey and New York, which were hit hard early in the pandemic, but whose death rates slowed significantly after May 2020, when vaccines started to become widespread. Now, 66% of New Jersey residents and 67% of New Yorkers are vaccinated.

A study published in early September by the CDC found that unvaccinated people were over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 and 11 times more likely to die from it. In California, unvaccinated people were between 15 and 20 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated Californians, according to state data from September.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Higher vaccination rates result in lower prevalence of the virus, said Dr. Robert Siegel, an immunology expert at Stanford. That means the risk of getting the disease is lower for everyone, he said, adding that vaccinations have protected people from severe disease and death.

As of the end of October, Florida and California now have relatively high  and similar  vaccination rates, with 60% and 61%, respectively, of their eligible populations fully vaccinated, according to the New York Times vaccine tracker. Both are above the overall U.S. rate of 58%. That may help explain why Floridas new case rate has now fallen so sharply.

Still, public health experts say that Californias strong public health policy was a vital factor in keeping Californians safer over the summer.

Next to immunization, masking is one of our most valuable tools in preventing transmission, said Dr. John Swartzberg of UC Berkeleys school of public health.

Danielle Echeverria is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev
Marin County is lifting its indoor mask mandate on Monday, making it the first in the Bay Area to stop requiring face coverings in almost all public places.

The county announced Friday that it had hit aggressive vaccination goals and reported consistently low COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations, making it eligible under previously announced criteria to drop the mandate. Seven other Bay Area counties remain under local orders.

The change takes effect at noon on Monday. Anyone who is vaccinated will be able to remove masks in Marin County restaurants, bars, grocery stores, churches and most other indoor spaces. The county already had eased mask restrictions in certain settings including gyms and offices, as long as everyone present was vaccinated.

Under state mandate, masks will still be required in K-12 schools, and people who are not vaccinated must wear masks indoors at all times. Face coverings also are required on public transit and in almost all health care settings. Businesses can continue to require masks regardless of vaccination status.

We established these criteria to ensure that conditions were in place for us to take this step when we were ready. And were ready, said Dr. Matt Willis, the county health officer.

Willis said he still strongly encourages vaccinated people to wear masks indoors, and he expects many residents will hang on to their face coverings even if theyre no longer legally obligated. Most who are covering their faces now are doing so out of understanding for the rationale and not because it was the law, he said. My expectation is theyll remain commonplace in public settings.

Eight of the nine Bay Area counties reinstituted indoor mask mandates for all residents in early August as cases and hospitalizations mounted during the summer delta variant surge. Solano County was the sole county to not issue a new masking order.

Once cases began to fall again, health officials announced an aggressive set of criteria their counties would have to meet in order to drop the mandates. The criteria included vaccinating 80% of the total population, maintaining moderate disease transmission as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for three weeks, and reporting consistently low COVID hospitalizations.

Along with Marin County, San Francisco and Sonoma already have loosened their local mandates and allow people to forgo face coverings in certain settings where everyone is vaccinated; similar changes will go into effect in Alameda and Contra Costa counties on Monday.

But in most of the counties with mandates in place, it will be nearly impossible to hit the vaccination goal without immunizing children ages 5 to 11, who are not yet eligible for the shots; CDC approval for that age group is expected next week. In fact, most counties likely wont be able to lift the mandates until the end of the year.

Marin County, which has among the highest vaccination rates in the United States, had already reached 80% when the criteria were announced. Its hospitalization numbers were also low, so it only needed to report three weeks in the CDCs moderate transmission tier. It hit that mark on Friday.

Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley, said that though he initially approved of the criteria for lifting mandates, he had reservations about Marin County dropping them now, just ahead of the winter holidays and what could be another season of swelling cases and hospitalizations. He noted that cases have been leveling off in the Bay Area after a few weeks of rapid decline.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

I thought the criteria they put together for lifting the mandates was reasonable. But I didnt anticipate that one of the counties would reach it this quickly, he said. The timing of this seems hazardous to me.

Willis said he hopes not to have to reinstate a mask mandate yet again, but its an option if another winter surge manifests. But he said an increase in cases alone wont necessarily lead to another mandate  instead, hell keep a close eye on hospitalization numbers. As of Friday, only two people were in the hospital in Marin County with COVID, a four-month low.

Some Marin County residents on Friday already celebrated the prospect of lowering their masks  even if it ends up being a temporary reprieve.

If we could stop it immediately, as in today, Id love to do that, said Kyle Hendrix, owner of Zinz Wine Bar in Corte Madera. The shop is closed on Monday, the day the order is lifted, But on Tuesday we can start fresh. That will be awesome.

He said all of his staff is vaccinated, and that everyone has been adhering to the masking rules. But staff and customers are eager to move on, he added.

Itll be nice to be able to lean across the bar without saying What? Excuse me? You wanted a Pinot? We do a lot of that, Hendrix said with a laugh. If the mandate comes back again, yes, well put them on. But Im glad its lifted for now.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  New Zealand officials said Thursday they will gradually loosen their border quarantine requirements, which have been among the toughest in the world throughout the pandemic.

But while the changes will make it easier for New Zealanders stranded abroad to return home, officials gave no date for when tourists might be welcomed back. That change is likely still months away.

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said that from next month, most people arriving in New Zealand would need to spend seven days in a quarantine hotel run by the military, half the previous requirement.

He said some new arrivals from low-risk Pacific island countries could skip quarantine altogether and isolate at home.

He said the new rules were an interim step ahead of broader reopening measures that would be gradually introduced once more than 90% of New Zealanders aged 12 and over were fully vaccinated. So far, 72% of eligible people have had both shots.

The change follows a growing outcry from New Zealanders who have been trying to return home but have been unable to secure spots in the quarantine system. Some have resorted to legal action.

I acknowledge that there's a lot of pressure there. My message to the people who are keen to get back into New Zealand is: There isn't very long to wait now, Hipkins said. And encouraging their fellow New Zealanders to get fully vaccinated will help us get to that point faster.

Hipkins said he expected most new arrivals would be able to isolate at home by sometime in the first quarter of next year. He said the first priority was New Zealanders and those with valid visas.

Tourists are more of a challenge, in that they dont necessarily have somewhere to isolate on arrival, Hipkins said. But well work our way through all of that.

Political opponents said the changes didn't go far enough and that fully vaccinated travelers returning home posed little risk.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Before the pandemic began, more than 3 million tourists visited New Zealand each year, and the industry was among the nation's largest earners of foreign income.

For more than a year after the pandemic began, the strict quarantine system helped New Zealand remain almost completely virus-free and allowed life to return to normal.

But an outbreak of the more contagious delta variant in Auckland more than two months ago has proved impossible to extinguish, forcing officials to abandon their previous zero-tolerance approach in favor of a suppression strategy.

With the virus continuing to spread in Auckland, which remains in lockdown, the border requirements had begun to seem outdated.

Thursday's announcement came after officials said two people in the city of Christchurch had caught the virus after one returned from Auckland. There was no immediate evidence the virus was spreading further in the city.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Ukraine's president on Friday pleaded with citizens to get vaccinated quickly as daily infections soared to another all-time high, fueled by a slow vaccine uptake.

The Health Ministry reported 26,870 new confirmed infections in 24 hours  the highest level since the start of the pandemic. It recorded 648 daily deaths to bring the pandemic death toll to 66,852.

Authorities blamed the surge in infections and deaths on a low level of vaccination. Just 16.4% percent of people in the nation of 41 million are fully vaccinated  the second-lowest rate in Europe after Armenias 7%.

The slow pace of vaccinations in Ukraine and other countries of Eastern Europe has been blamed on public distrust of authorities that has contributed to the broad spread of disinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines.

I'm strongly asking you to switch off social networks and switch on your brains, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainians. The only way to prevent a collapse is to increase the share of vaccinated people. I'm asking regional authorities to wake up and go to bed with that thought.

In a bid to stem contagion, Ukrainian authorities have required teachers, government employees and other workers to get fully vaccinated by Nov. 8 or face having their salary payments suspended. In addition, proof of vaccination or a negative test is now required to board planes, trains and long-distance buses.

Starting Saturday, 15 of the country's 24 regions will be listed as part of the red zone of contagion, with most stores, restaurants and cafes shut and medical services unrelated to COVID-19 suspended. Such restrictions are currently in place in eight regions.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

In the capital of Kyiv, restaurants, shopping centers and gyms will be closed beginning Monday and public transport will be limited to those who can show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test.

The restrictions have helped raise the pace of vaccination, but they also have spawned a booming black market in counterfeit documents. Fake vaccination certificates sell for the equivalent of $100-$300 and theres even a phony version of the governments digital app, with bogus certificates already installed.

Eugene Enin, the first deputy interior minister, said Friday that police tracked down the man who created the phony app. He posted a picture of himself and the young suspect, saying that he was offered work at the ministry to redeem himself.
Police officers in San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles and various cities have launched a war against COVID vaccine mandates, threatening to resign their jobs. Some in the media are manufacturing a panic, predicting that this serious shortage of officers will be the downfall of public safety.

But if some police officers want to leave because they dont want to take the vaccine, we should let them.

Police are viewed by many as instrumental to our security and critical to addressing homelessness, domestic violence, prostitution, bullying at school and neighborhood violence. As a professor at San Jose State University who has studied law enforcement strategies for a decade, I find that policing can be useful in specific kinds of situations  but that their presence can also create great harm. For instance, police presence at schools is supposed to curb violence. But having a police officer, more commonly referred to as a school resource officer, on site at Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 didnt prevent the mass shooting that left 17 people dead  nor did an officers presence nearly 20 years earlier at Columbine. An audit of middle schools in North Carolina found that schools with officers on site did not report a reduction in serious incidents like assaults, homicides, bomb threats or the possession of weapons.

There can also be unintended consequences from police presence on school grounds that harm youth. According to the Brookings Institution, schools with in-house officers are more likely to have school officials refer noncriminal offenses to the police  such as throwing a paper airplane, kicking a trash can or wearing sagging pants  which morph into arrests and higher dropout rates and impact students with disabilities. Many studies have also shown racial disparities in school arrests with Black students experiencing disproportionately higher levels of arrests.

In instances where police are called to help an individual in a mental health crisis, the results are not better. A 2020 study by the National Institutes of Health shows that 32% of victims killed by the police had experienced mental health problems. Meanwhile, a 2015 study found that individuals with an untreated mental illness were 16 times more likely to be killed by the police. During the pandemic, numerous stories of botched encounters between police and individuals experiencing a mental health crisis abound.

The benefits of police arrests in domestic violence situations have long been questionable. In the early 1990s, after spending $4 million studying domestic violence, the Justice Department concluded that arrest does not have a consistent deterrent effect on abusers. Lawrence Sherman, the architect of the Milwaukee Domestic Violence Experiment, was also quoted around the same time saying that mandatory arrests in domestic violence cases may cause more violence against women, after a careful evaluation of arrest practices in several cities. Today, those conclusions still hold. A 2021 study found that 32% of arrestees repeat domestic violence.

When it comes to the welfare of children whose parents are arrested, the outlook is grim as well. In a study of policing in North Carolina, Villanova University researchers found that arrests significantly increased child poverty rates. When incarcerated parents return to their families from prison, their criminal record is a societal death sentence that undermines employment opportunities, education, housing and successful reintegration to society.

Should we stop calling the police in emergency situations? No. There are urgent incidents, including crimes in progress that warrant police intervention. Allowing the police to specialize in the intervention of narrowly defined serious offenses is a better use of state resources than expanding the scope of the police.

How should we address incidents of mental illness, chronic domestic violence or noncompliant youth? We should leverage public health, not criminal justice models. San Francisco is experimenting with Crisis Response Teams of mental health professionals that assess threats, are trained with de-escalation techniques and can call the police if needed. If the 150 vaccine hesitant officers in San Jose resign, a whopping $15 million in salaries and benefits could be used to subsidize at least 300 mental health professionals.

Police and courts should not administer or manage mental health, domestic violence or reintegration services  this approach maintains the criminal justice systems grip on public health, which should be housed in communities, never in courts of law.

To be sure, most police officers enter the profession because their goals are noble, to stop the bad guys. Most police have no intention of harming a mentally ill person, triggering domestic violence or injuring children of incarcerated parents when responding to these situations. They simply are not equipped to deal with them.

Moreover, evidence is growing that officers who refuse to comply with mandatory vaccination may be among the ones least up to the challenge of responsible policing. A recent study in Ireland and the United Kingdom on the psychological profile of vaccine-hesitant individuals found them to possess more negative views of immigrants, lower levels of altruism, higher levels of social dominance and authoritarianism  qualities often associated with aggressive police.

We should not force these officers to comply with mandates if they would prefer to leave.

In most cases, staff shortages are undesirable. In law enforcement, a reduction of officers can improve public safety. A leaner police force will not result in an apocalyptic increase in crime  in the long run, less police intervention will be better for everyone.

Claudio Vera Sanchez is an associate professor in the Department of Justice Studies at San Jose State University .
When San Francisco supervisors rejected 316 tiny housing units in the Tenderloin this month, they seized on the small size of the apartments, saying the building was a techie dorm in the making. What the area really needs, the supervisors argued, is housing big enough for families.

They got what they asked for three weeks later when a 495-unit project just six blocks away came before them. That proposal called for kitchens, bathrooms and multiple bedrooms, with some homes big enough for multigenerational families at a site near Sixth and Market streets.

Plus 24% of units would be affordable. The project, near a BART station, would create more than 1,000 union jobs. And, surely significant for supervisors who profess to despise anything in the luxury category, the building would replace a lot used by valets to park the cars of Nordstrom shoppers.

Sounds like a no-brainer in a city short on families, short on housing and short on time to address its compounding crises. But no. Eight supervisors came up with new reasons to vote against it: gentrification, shadows over a plaza and seismic safety, among others.

Like local leaders up and down California have done for years, the supervisors sought to soften their message: Were not against building housing, they said, just this housing. Some supervisors said they preferred a 100% affordable project instead  which, in an ideal world, would be great. But we dont live in utopia. We live in very imperfect San Francisco.

It sounds like sunshine and apple pie, but its about as real as the dragon costume Im wearing right now. Its a complete fantasy, said Corey Smith, deputy director of the Housing Action Coalition, a nonprofit that supports building more housing for people of all income levels.

No proposal for a 100% affordable project at the site exists. If it did, it would cost more than $750,000 per unit to build. And it would be in line behind several other projects for city money to subsidize it.

Starting this proposal over is not the best use of time and money, Smith said.

The proposal for 469 Stevenson St. passed muster with the Planning Commission in July, but TODCO, the powerful affordable housing owner that formed in the 1970s to fight development, appealed the approval to the board on the grounds it would gentrify the neighborhood. John Elberling, executive director of TODCO, told the board that introducing a higher-income population to the low-income Sixth Street area would displace lower-income residents.

But Smith pointed to numerous studies  including from the California Legislative Analysts Office, UCLAs Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and UC Berkeleys Institute of Governmental Studies  suggesting that, while its a complicated issue, adding housing of all types tends to bring housing costs down for everybody and reduces displacement. Plus, San Francisco has some of the strongest tenant protections in the country, including along Sixth Street.

The supervisors repeatedly called the project, with market-rate rents tagged at $1,500 to $4,000 a month, luxury housing. Never mind that pretty much all market-rate housing in this city has exorbitant price tags partly because the supervisors, including those who own multimillion-dollar single-family homes, keep rejecting housing.

The eight supervisors  Connie Chan, Aaron Peskin, Gordon Mar, Dean Preston, Myrna Melgar, Rafael Mandelman, Hillary Ronen and Shamann Walton  overturned the Planning Commissions approval, instructing planners to prepare a new environmental study. That could take a year or two, with no promise of board approval.

Lou Vasquez, founding partner with the developer Build Inc., said it would take another year beyond that to get permits and two years to build. Thats after four years already spent on the proposal. So the best-case scenario from start to finish is eight years. Build Inc. has already spent tens of millions on the project, Vasquez said.

Supervisor Matt Haney, whose district includes the project, is steamed. Though supervisors almost always defer to a supervisor backing a project in his or her district, only Catherine Stefani and Ahsha Safai voted with him.

This is the kind of project weve been asking for, which is a lot of units built for families right by transit, Haney said. For Gods sake, its a Nordstrom valet lot.

So what about the families who could have been housed there but wont? I asked all the supervisors who voted no this question via text message. Chan, Peskin and Preston did not respond.

Walton responded to a different question in the same text about whether his colleagues were getting back at Haney for running for the state Assembly against David Campos, whom most of them endorsed.

Im 100% in support of Supervisor Haney for assembly, he wrote, not answering the family question.

Ronen called the project a bad deal and one she would never approve in the Mission, which she represents, because its affordability levels are too low. Mar said theres an abundance of luxury units in the South of Market neighborhood, so families can check Craigslist today. Asked what those who would have lived in the affordable units and cant afford market-rate housing should do, he did not respond.

Melgar and Mandelman phoned to discuss at length their concerns about the project. Melgar said Haney should have negotiated a deal between the developers and TODCO.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Sure, but why does one nonprofit based in the neighborhood get to kill housing thats so needed in the entire city and region?

In this town thats so polarized around things, its hard to bring people together and come to consensus, but it can be done, she said. Thats the job of the district supervisor.

Melgar said she, too, was not influenced by the politics of the Assembly race, explaining that shes focused on adding more units to her own district and isnt endorsing anyone.

Mandelman said hes concerned about gentrification in a neighborhood with many single-room-occupancy hotels nearby and would rather wait to see a more affordable project come to fruition.

If this actually is able to become a 100% affordable housing project, I will feel very good about this vote, he said. If that doesnt happen and 15 years from now its still a parking lot, then I will not feel good.

But the city cant wait 15 years. Or, really, any time at all. The streets around the Stevenson site represent a stark argument for more housing, with encampments swelling.

When I visited the now-preserved parking lot, cars filled about a third of the spaces and roughly 20 tents stretched down the sidewalk. It was the same encampment Id watched the Healthy Streets Operations Center team clear a few weeks ago, and it had all returned. Just another example of a city spending a lot of time to make little progress.

Several homeless people said building housing for families there seemed like a good idea to them.

That would be nice, Billy Ladd, 58, said as he sat on the curb eating french fries. I think it would be an excellent plan.

Agreed, sir. If only our city leaders saw it the same way.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
Police are investigating a shooting that occurred during a party at a Gilroy City Council member's home early Saturday morning that left one person dead.

Three other people were also injured when an altercation had taken place just before officers arrived at the home of City Council Member Rebeca Armendariz, police said.

One person died at the scene in what police described as a homicide. The other three were taken to the hospital, two with injuries believed to be life-threatening, according to police. The victims' ages range from 17 to 19.

City of Gilroy/Handout

"By now you may have seen the post from Gilroy Police Department regarding the investigation of a shooting on Las Animas, or one of many social media post speculating about the event and individuals involved," Armendariz said in a statement. "Because this remains an active investigation, I am unable to share more at this time but I would like to thank all of the members of the community who have reached out to express their concerns for their patience."

Gilroy police said on Sunday that a suspect was in custody. Gilroy resident Benjamin David Calderon, 19, has been arrested in connection with the shootings, although no further details were released.

"I am thankful that my family and I, who live on Las Animas, were not hurt in this tragedy, and I pray for those whose loved ones have been touched by what has occurred," Armendariz said. "In the meantime, we are giving our full cooperation to the Gilroy Police Department in this investigation. Our primary concern is for the individuals impacted and their families. We hope the Gilroy community will come together with love and support for those touched by yesterdays events at the appropriate time."

SFGATE managing editor Katie Dowd and Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (AP)  Its not just a boys club anymore.

Months after getting its first female governor, New York now has two prominent women running to lead the state in the wake of Andrew Cuomos resignation in August amid allegations he sexually harassed women.

Both candidates in next year's race  Gov. Kathy Hochul and her newly declared challenger, state Attorney General Letitia James  each had a key role surrounding Cuomo's resignation, as well as their own histories of breaking barriers and finding political opportunities in the wake of misbehaving male politicians.

James, whose office investigated the allegations against Cuomo, officially jumped into the gubernatorial race Friday, setting her up as the strongest challenger for Hochul, a fellow Democrat who is seeking to win the office herself after taking over for Cuomo.

Either would be the first women elected to a post that, prior to Cuomo's resignation, men had held exclusively for 240 years.

James, 63, is the first woman elected as New Yorks attorney general and the first Black person to serve in the role, where she repeatedly challenged former President Donald Trump's administration and oversaw an investigation that led to criminal charges against his company and its chief financial officer.

Ive sued the Trump administration 76 times. But whos counting? James said in her campaign kickoff video Friday, making a playful shrug of her shoulders as she looked into the camera.

The Brooklyn progressive has also mounted legal challenges against the National Rifle Association, but her office's investigation into the allegations involving Cuomo had perhaps the biggest impact on her political future.

A sweeping report issued by her office concluded the 11 women who accused Cuomo of sexual harassment were credible. Though Cuomo denies mistreating women, he resigned, saying he wanted to avoid putting the state through turmoil.

With Cuomo out of the running in New York  at least for now  a number of rising Democrats are eyeing next year's race, with James and Hochul leading the pack.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have both said they are considering a run. Two other potential Democratic candidates come from Long Island: Suffolk County executive Steve Bellone and U.S. Rep. Thomas Suozzi, who lives in Nassau County.

Hochul, who had been Cuomo's lieutenant governor, has stressed how her duties kept her separate from him. Since she was sworn into the governor's mansion, the 63-year-old quickly worked to set a different tone from her former running mate, promising transparency and ethics reforms.

Both women gave a nod to their history-breaking roles on Friday.

Hochul, speaking to Democratic power players at a breakfast in Brooklyn, said she felt the weight of history on her shoulders to show a woman could govern New York with strength, with heart and passion.

"When Im done with my terms, no one will ever question the ability of a woman to hold the highest office in this state or in this land, Hochul said.

James, in a fundraising appeal to supporters shortly after announcing her campaign, said too many people tried to count her out and write her off as a statistic when she was a Black girl growing up in Brooklyn.

Then I made history by becoming the first Black woman to be elected to a statewide office in New York  but the truth is, that distinction is nothing more than a historical footnote if you dont do any good with the office, she said.

Either would make history merely by getting nominated. No major party in New York has ever endorsed a woman for governor, said Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

Just 45 women have served as governors in the U.S., including nine currently in office, but none of them have been Black.

James is one of six Black women running in 2022, tying a record set in 2018. That year, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams became the only Black woman ever to receive a major-party nomination for governor.

One of my fun games to play is like, Heres how many women have ever served, heres how many men serve today,'" Dittmar said. Governor is just that continued spot where women just are persistently underrepresented. Its just made even more so when you look at women who are not white.

Hochul and James haven't just broken barriers, they've picked up the pieces and thrived after stepping in to replace male politicians who behaved badly.

In 2011, Hochul won a seat in Congress in a special election in 2011 after Republican Rep. Chris Lee resigned in disgrace once shirtless photos he sent to a woman while married surfaced online. Hochul lost her reelection bid in 2012 and, in 2014, Cuomo selected her as his running mate as he ran and won a second term.

In 2018, James, then New York City's ombudsman-like public advocate, jumped into a four-way Democratic primary to replace Attorney General Eric Schneiderman after he abruptly resigned amid allegations that he abused women.

James said she was weighing a possible run for mayor when the attorney general's seat opened up and that she was initially hesitant to enter the race, even as fellow Democrats were floating her name as a candidate.

When she ran, Cuomo was one of James strongest political allies, giving her an endorsement and headlining a fundraiser.

Like Hochul, James' relationship with Cuomo's has soured.

The former governor has attacked James' report as inaccurate and biased. James has dismissed the charge that her investigation was politically motivated, saying Cuomo should take responsibility for his own conduct.

James made her announcement the day after a criminal complaint was filed against Cuomo in Albany, accusing the former governor of committing a misdemeanor sex crime of groping a woman in December 2020.

Cuomos lawyer, Rita Glavin, said in a statement that the Democrat never assaulted anyone.

He's due in court Nov. 17 to respond to the charge.

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On Twitter, follow Michelle L. Price at twitter.com/michellelprice and Michael Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisak
BARRINGTON, R.I. (AP)  Three teachers in a Rhode Island school district have been placed on unpaid leave for two months because they aren't vaccinated for COVID-19, a teachers' union said.

The National Education Association, Rhode Island said the three Barrington teachers are among some in the district who have chosen not to get vaccinated because they believe it will present them with an undue hardship. The teachers face termination on Jan. 1 if they don't get their shots, the Providence Journal reported.
BELFAST, Maine (AP)  Nordic Aquafarms won a court battle over ownership of a disputed mudflat that's critical to the companys $500 million aquaculture project.

The ruling was a defeat for two plaintiffs who sued Nordic Aquafarms over access to the property, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The aquaculture operation would be built on land, but ownership of the mudflat is key because its where the Norwegian-owned company wants to bury its pipes to funnel water to and from Penobscot Bay.

We won all the arguments, Marianne Naess of Nordic Aquafarms said Friday. We see it as a complete victory.

The judge heard arguments in the case back in June, including testimony by surveyors and a low-tide field trip to the mudflat. The decision was issued on Wednesday.

Construction won't start right away. There there could be appeals and engineering work must take place.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP)  Connecticut's largest city plans to keep its local indoor mask mandate in place, even though the number of COVID-19 cases has been dropping and some nearby municipalities have decided to lift their masking requirements.

Bridgeport officials cite sluggish vaccination rates for the decision to continue requiring face coverings for the foreseeable future.
LYLES STATION, Ind. (AP)  Lyles Station, the last remaining historic African-American settlement in Indiana, is working to live up to its mission of creating and maintaining a community for future generations.

Lyles Station is here doing the right thing, and helping people across the world get on their feet, so then they can help someone else, said Stanley Madison, president of the Lyles Station Historic Preservation Corporation.

In September, 11 African-American sites in Indiana were chosen to receive grants to be used for the preservation of landmarks through the Standiford H. Cox Fund. The fund was established by Cox, Eli Lillys first Black chemist, to support restoration, preservation and operation of African-American historic sites in Indiana.

Lyles Station was one of the sites picked. It received a grant to continue rehabilitation on the Joseph Lucas Home which is becoming an interpretive center and to make repairs to the foundation and ceiling of Wayman Chapel.

With the $25,000 grant, Madison hopes to kick start his dream of restoring other buildings on the property to attract more young people.

When these people came here in early years, they saw that opportunity of putting down roots and becoming someone, Madison said. Thats what were trying to do with this museum is to shape and mold who we are and how we are giving back to the community.

The story of Lyles Station dates to 1813, when Charles Grier purchased 20 acres of farmland. He eventually bought more, as the farm grew to 268 acres by 1825. He traveled around and spoke about his farmlands fertile soil and its vicinity to two rivers for moving harvested crops.

Following that, Grier connected with Thomas Cole who married into the Lyles family and eventually purchased more than 800 acres of land. It became known as the Switch Settlement, a safe-haven for fugitive slaves who needed rest.

Lyles Station gets its name from Joshua Lyles, a free slave who migrated to the settlement from Tennessee in the 1830s. Following the purchase of more land and the end of the Civil War, Lyles returned to Tennessee to encourage friends, family and recently freed slaves to join him at the Indiana settlement. There was room for many more: Lyles Station had more than 1,000 acres of land.

This young community, when it first started out, was dedicated. It set down deep roots. Madison said.

From 1880 through 1913, the self-sustaining community blossomed to some 800 residents. In 1887, Wayman Chapel AME Church, the stations second church was built. In its prime, Lyles Station also had 55 households, an elementary school, two general stores, a railroad station, a lumber mill and a post office.

A flood in 1913 damaged much of the land and caused an exodus. Afterwards, the Lyles Consolidated School open in 1919. It was an integrated school until 1922, transitioned to an all-black school and then integrated again in 1950. The school closed its doors in 1958, then reopened as a museum in 2003.

The museum has been involved in helping others preserve the important history of Lyles Station and African-American farming. Lyles Station volunteers have curated a permanent exhibit in the National Museum of African-American History & Culture that displays different artifacts that have been passed down for generations. They also host a heritage classroom where students in third and fourth grade spend a week in a classroom modeled to match the original 1920s-era design.

Another program that the museum offers is their Underground Railroad Trunk, where any teacher in a 50-mile radius of the museum is able to get a trunk full of artifacts, readings and lessons to educate students on the Underground Railroad.

Madison hopes he can apply for more grants to further develop Lyles Station. Hed like to establish campgrounds, an amphitheater to agriculture classes, he hopes that he can create a way to attract more young people to learn everything about farming.

We need to share (the history) with as many young minds as we can, said Madison on the future plans of Lyles station. A field trip or a Saturday afternoon is so important for them to learn about the early African American history of being farmers and how we were were able to take (what seemed like) worthless land, and some flooding land and make a living.

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Source: Evansville Courier & Press
HAMDEN, Conn. (AP)  Connecticut's attorney general is investigating the closure of Quinnipiac University's Great Irish Hunger Museum, which shut its doors permanently in August after nine years dedicated to to study of what's commonly known as the Irish potato famine.

Attorney General William Tong's spokesperson Elizabeth Benton confirmed the probe to the New Haven Register on Thursday, saying in a statement: we have an open and ongoing inquiry into this matter.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  Clark County authorities haven't been able to determine what killed a young Las Vegas girl whose dead body was found in her mother's sweltering home in late June.

The coroner's office announced Thursday it was unable to determine the cause and manner of death of 5-year-old Nyomi Coleman, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Matthew Fortner//AP

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP)  An Amtrak train carrying nearly 500 passengers collided with an SUV at a South Carolina rail crossing before dawn Saturday, leaving three of the SUV's four occupants dead, authorities said. None of the train's passengers or crew were hurt, Amtrak said.

The North Charleston Fire Department said the SUV was heavily damaged when police arrived at the marked crossing early Saturday after the collision was first reported to emergency dispatchers shortly before 2:30 a.m.
SALEM, Ore. (AP)  An agreement has been reached between timber and environmental groups to overhaul management of 10 million acres of private forestlands in Oregon.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the deal, announced Saturday by Gov. Kate Browns office, concludes more than a year of negotiations to develop a plan to boost protections for vulnerable fish and wildlife while shielding the timber industrys ability to log.

Friday was the deadline for both sides to either reach consensus, abandon the process or move the deadline.

Todays historic agreement is a perfect example of the Oregon Way  coming together at the table to find common ground, to the mutual benefit of us all, Brown said in a statement. Jim James with the Oregon Small Woodlands Association similarly praised the compromise.

We were able to put down the contentious situations that weve had in the past and we had a continuous agreement to move forward, James said.

Speaking on behalf of the timber coalition, Adrian Miller with the Florida-based forest products company Rayonier said Saturdays agreement gives timber operators a sense of security going forward.

I think were all really proud to be part of a new era of forestry in Oregon, Miller said.

In 2020, the sides each planned a series of competing ballot measures that could have turned into a costly political fight.

Environmental groups sought strict limits on spraying of aerial pesticides and improved protection for forest waters. Meanwhile, the timber industry sought compensation for private landowners when state regulations limited their ability to log.

Brown instead pushed for the two sides to negotiate.

Representatives from the timber industry and environmental groups were charged with setting terms to pursue a statewide habitat conservation plan to safeguard fish, wildlife and water quality. A habitat conservation plan, or HCP, is a tool that allows practices like logging or irrigation to continue while minimizing damage to wildlife habitat.

Saturdays deal sets in motion what could be a lengthy, possibly yearslong process to craft, approve and adopt an HCP into law and begin implementation.

Theres no doubt that theres gonna be challenges ahead, said Sean Stevens, executive director of the conservation group Oregon Wild. But I do think that this agreement provides a different sort of foundation than weve ever had before for tackling those challenges ahead.

The next step will be to introduce a bill in the Oregon Legislature to make significant changes to the Forest Practices Act to protect riverbanks and streamsides, improve forest roads and allow for adaptive management of private forests.

Then the state will pursue an HCP, which will require a rulemaking process overseen by the Oregon Board of Forestry. After that, state leaders can pitch the plan to federal regulators.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Democratic leaders were hoping for House votes as soon as Tuesday on the two pillars of President Joe Biden's domestic agenda, two Democrats said Saturday, as the party mounted its latest push to maneuver the long-delayed legislation through Congress.

It remained unclear, though, whether the ambitious timetable could be met.

Top Democrats would like a final House-Senate compromise on Biden's now $1.75 trillion, 10-year social and environment plan to be written by Sunday, the Democrats said.

Talks among White House, House and Senate officials were being held over the weekend, said the Democrats, who described the plans on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak on the record. The White House unveiled an outline of the $1.75 trillion measure on Thursday that won positive reviews from many rank-and-file lawmakers, pending talks over final details.

An accord could clear the way for congressional approval of that bill and a separate $1 trillion measure funding roads, rail and other infrastructure projects, the Democrats said.

For an agreement between the two chambers to be viable in the Senate, it would need the backing of Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. House progressives l ong at odds over the party's spending and tax priorities with the two centrists would need to be convinced they could trust them to back an accord.

Manchin and Sinema forced Biden to retreat from his earlier plan for a $3.5 trillion social and environment plan and to remove and scale back some initiatives. Democrats will need unanimous support in the 50-50 Senate to pass the legislation, which is opposed by all Republicans, and will be able to lose no more than three more Democratic votes in the House.

In addition, some Democrats are still seeking to include provisions requiring paid family leave, letting Medicare negotiate pharmaceutical prices to push down prescription drug costs and helping millions of immigrants remain in the U.S.

The Senate's nonpartisan parliamentarian, who enforces that chamber's strict rules, also might decide that some provisions in the social and environment bill violate procedures and should be removed. Elizabeth MacDonough has already ruled against including two earlier Democratic proposals assisting immigrants.

After months of disputes between progressives and moderates over the social and environment bill, party leaders had pressured lawmakers to resolve their disagreements to enhance Bidens clout before he left Thursday for economic and climate talks in Europe.

Biden asked House Democrats in a Capitol meeting Thursday morning to support both bills, but their divisions remained and Congress left town until next week. Biden will be in Europe into next week, so any quick agreements in Congress could still give him a boost.

Also lying ahead is Tuesday's gubernatorial election in Democratic-leaning Virginia. Polls show Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin might defeat Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a former governor, and it is unclear how that might affect support in Congress for the social and environment package.

The $1.75 trillion measure would need to clear the Senate after passing the House.

Its initiatives include money for free preschool, tax credits to spur movement toward cleaner fuels and electrified vehicles, subsidies for child care and health coverage and more funding for housing and at-home care for the elderly. Most of its costs would be covered by higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations and bolstering the IRS's budget for pursuing higher-income tax scofflaws.

The Senate approved the infrastructure measure in August on a bipartisan vote. House progressives have sidetracked that bill in an effort to ensure that moderates will back the larger social and environment bill.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  Tigray forces said Saturday they have taken control of a key city on the route to Ethiopias capital, while Ethiopias government denied it and the United States urged the Tigray fighters to halt their advances as the yearlong war intensifies.

Tigray forces spokesman Getachew Reda told The Associated Press the fighters took the strategic city of Dessie on Saturday afternoon. He also asserted they already had commanding positions on the outskirts of the nearby city of Kombolcha and had its airport in their sights.

Ethiopian government spokesman Legesse Tulu rejected that as fabricated propaganda and told the AP that Dessie and its surroundings were under military control. Phone calls to residents of Dessie didn't go through, complicating efforts to verify both sides claims.

Taking control of the crossroads city of Dessie and Kombolcha would put the Tigray forces in position to move south along a major highway toward the capital, Addis Ababa. Getachew said its a matter of days before the fighters will be able to physically link up with another armed group, the Oromo Liberation Army, with which it struck an alliance earlier this year.

The Tigray forces say they are pressuring Ethiopias government to lift a months-long blockade on their region of around 6 million people. Thousands of people have been killed since the war began in November 2020 after a political falling-out between the Tigray forces, who long dominated the national government, and the current government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The Tigray fighters have taken the war into Ethiopias neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, moving south through Amhara toward the capital, since recapturing much of their region in June.

We dont want to be in charge. We dont want Abiy to take an entire nation down with him, either, Getachew said. The prime minister has urged all capable citizens to war.

The U.S. statement on Saturday called on the Tigray forces to halt their advances in and around Dessie and Kombolcha, withdraw from Amhara and Afar and not to use artillery against cities.

The U.S. urged both sides to begin cease-fire negotiations, saying there is no military solution to this conflict which it said has cost countless lives. It also said it continued to be alarmed by reports of the deliberate denial of humanitarian assistance in Tigray, where the United Nations has reported a de facto humanitarian blockade.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  The FBI has begun a campaign to use the Navajo language on social media to combat hate crimes.

The federal enforcement agency said Friday that it has an ad in the Navajo language on Facebook that encourages victims and witnesses to contact the FBI, which also has posted messages in the Navajo language against hate crime on Twitter.
OXFORD, Miss. (AP)  A federal judge in Mississippi has decided to take senior status beginning Monday.

U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that he's making the move after serving two decades on the federal bench.

Senior status opens a vacancy on the court for the Northern District of Mississippi and will allow Mills to handle a reduced caseload on the federal court. In his Oct. 13 letter to President Joe Biden, he stated he had attained the age and met the service requirements for that status. Still, he said, he intends to continue to carry a full case load until his replacement is sworn in.

Its been great, Mills said.. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the other judges, lawyers, and staff and hope to continue to do so.

Mills was nominated by former President George W. Bush to the seat after U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers decided to take senior status. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in October 2001. Prior to his service on the federal level, Mills served on the Mississippi Supreme Court, in the state House representing Itawamba and Monroe counties.

Longtime friend and attorney Steve Farese told the newspaper that Mills is well versed in the law and applies that knowledge in his decision-making process.

The Northern District of Mississippi has been blessed before and throughout my 44-year career with excellent Article 3 judges, said Farese. Judge Mills is certainly of that ilk. A true Renaissance Man, Judge Mills loves literature and the outdoors.

Farese said Mills is empathetic when its called for and balances justice with mercy.

His personality and demeanor give all participants a sense of understanding of his procedures, he said. I look forward to continuing practicing before him as he takes senior status.

Attorney Rachel Pierce Waide said Mills presence in her life as well as on the bench has been a gift.

Im sad to hear this news. I have known Judge Mills my entire life and his presence both personally and professionally has truly been a gift, Waide said. His chief goal in life and on the bench is to be fair and he practices that routinely.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  A magistrate judge says there is enough evidence for a rape case against a former state lawmaker to move forward in court.

Aaron von Ehlinger, 39, was a Republican state representative from Lewiston when a 19-year-old legislative intern reported that he brought her to his apartment under false pretenses and raped her. Von Ehlinger has denied all wrongdoing and maintained he had consensual sexual contact with the woman. The Associated Press doesn't name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they agree to be publicly named.

During a preliminary hearing on Friday, Ada County Magistrate Judge Kira Dale said that there was enough probable cause for von Ehlinger to face a felony trial on charges of rape and forcible penetration by use of a foreign object. She made the ruling after hearing testimony from a nurse who performed a sexual assault medical exam on the intern and a detective who testified that he collected a DNA sample from von Ehlinger during the course of the investigation.

The DNA sample was a match for body fluids collected from the intern during the rape exam, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Katelyn Farley told the court.

Anne Wardle, a sexual assault nurse examiner who examined the intern after she reported the assault, said the young woman was upset and tearful and reported having arm pain from where she said von Ehlinger had used his knees to hold her down during the assault.

Wardle also said the intern had a goose-egg-like lump on the back of her head. The intern told Wardle that the injury happened when she hit her head on a headboard while trying to jerk away from von Ehlinger, who had grabbed her by the hair.

Von Ehlinger's attorney, Jon Cox, conceded that there was enough evidence to move the criminal case to district court, but he noted that preliminary hearings rely only on probable cause, which he said was "the lowest standard of proof in criminal law.

Cox told the court that he expected the outcome would be different when he had an opportunity to fully question the state's witnesses, including the intern who made the rape report.

Von Ehlinger is scheduled to be arraigned in district court on Nov. 8. He has not yet had an opportunity to enter a plea. Both rape and forcible penetration by use of a foreign object carry maximum penalties of life in prison.

Earlier this year during a legislative ethics committee hearing, von Ehlinger maintained he did nothing illegal during his encounter with the intern. The committee, however, found that von Ehlinger engaged in behavior unbecoming and said they would support a vote to remove him from the Idaho Statehouse. Von Ehlinger resigned from office before the vote was held.
OGDEN, Utah (AP)  Remaining issues in a long-running civil lawsuit over Weber Countys gang injunction of more than a decade ago have been settled out of court. One lasting goal of the suit was clearly achieved: There will be no new gang injunction.

In their suit, filed in 2015, Daniel Lucero and Leland McCubbin Jr. argued their civil rights were violated by the 2010 injunction, which was served upon people identified in an Ogden Police Department database as gang members, the Standard-Examiner reported.

In 2019, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups granted summary judgment to the pair, saying their due process rights were violated. But remaining elements of the suit, including monetary damages to be paid to the two Ogden men for the due process violations, were in play until the case was dismissed Tuesday.

American Civil Liberties Union of Utah attorney John Mejia, who represented Lucero and McCubbin, declined Wednesday to divulge details of the settlement, citing terms of the agreement. Frank Mylar, an indemnity pool attorney who handled the case for the county, said only that the injunction fight was 11 years old and it was just time to settle it.

Weber County Attorney Christopher Allred likewise declined to offer details about the settlement, but he confirmed a court notation that said, Plaintiffs claims for equitable relief and declaratory judgment are moot because defendants will not seek a future injunction.

Were not going to pursue any other gang injunction, Allred said, adding he had no immediate further comment on that point pending consultation with Mylar about what can be discussed under the settlement terms.

In 2010, Ogden City and the county identified a civil injunction as a way to get at gang activity in Ogden. Those served with the injunction were forbidden from associating with other gang members, violating a curfew and other provisions. Once enjoined, some people later were charged with misdemeanors for allegedly violating it.

The gang injunction itself was declared unconstitutional and thrown out in 2013 by the Utah Supreme Court, but county officials soon said they might file an amended version of the injunction to pass court muster.

In the 2015 litigation, the ACLU sought court mandates that the two men be protected from possible future gang injunction action and that their names be kept out of any gang database.

The database question raged throughout, especially beginning in 2017, when Allred said in a deposition, Weber County has never kept a database or any sort of list of Ogden Trece gang members nor has Weber County ever had the ability to put a person on the (Ogden police) Trece database or remove a person from the list.

In its motion to dismiss the suit in 2018, the county said, Weber has no ownership, access to, or control over a gang database. In a March 2018 deposition, Allred added the county had no plans to serve McCubbin or Lucero with a future gang injunction. He also said he would instruct agencies not to serve someone with the injunction if there is a reasonable doubt that the person is not an active and present gang member.

McCubbin said in the suit that he jumped out of Trece about 12 years earlier but was still served with the injunction.

Waddoups ruled in 2019 that Allred had presented contradictory declarations about the lack of a gang database, because two former jail investigators testified they tracked gang membership and the information was available in the inmate tracking system. One former jail investigator testified he worked with the Ogden Metro Gang Unit, shared information about gang members in the jail and also served dozens of them with the injunction in 2010-12.

After the ruling, Allred said the jail kept notes only to separate members of different gangs in cell blocks and that they have no purpose related to a gang injunction. Allred reacted strongly to Waddoups declaration that the court has reason to question Chris Allreds bona fides because of the discrepancies.

Allred and the county tried to have Waddoups removed from the case, but another judge refused. In a subsequent ruling in June 2020, Waddoups granted the ACLUs request to delve further into the issue with additional discovery.

In an August 2020 deposition, Lt. Nealy Adams, who was in charge of the jails investigations unit, said there was some information gathering on gangs. Gangs are a growing concern in Weber County, Adams testified. That is factual. And I would say, yes, information is shared with agencies outside of the jail only when they come in specifically and ask for it.

In its motion for sanctions, the ACLU alleged the county was trying to avoid liability in the case by attempting to convince the court that its gang intelligence effort at any point was non-existent or minimal. It added, Weber did so in an attempt to pin all of the blame on Ogden police and their gang database.

Ogden City earlier settled its part of the case out of court.

The consequences of Weber submitting false information to the court in a case seeking accountability for Webers violations of rights should be treated as the serious breach of public trust that it is, the ACLU said.

In an earlier court filing, Mylar said Waddoups allowance of additional discovery incorrectly infers that there were false statements made by county officials. Weber County and the jail still do not have a Trece gang database and no evidence states as much, he said.

In a Sept. 15, 2020, document submitted in response to the additional discovery demands, the county said, Weber County Jail would provide bulletins to other law enforcement agencies in the area and would occasionally include gang related information.

In April this year, Waddoups sealed all subsequent case documents from public view, including further arguments over the actions and statements of Allred and Dee Smith, who was county attorney when the injunction was formulated, until the settlement order was published Tuesday.

Smith, who later returned to the county attorneys office as a deputy attorney focusing on major crime cases and was involved in the defense against the civil suit, died while on a bicycle outing in June 2020.
KINGS BAY NAVAL SUBMARINE BASE, Ga. (AP)  The Navys submarine base on the coast of Georgia is welcoming a new top officer.

Capt. Christopher Bohner assumed command Wednesday at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, located in Camden County at the Georgia-Florida state line. The base serves as the Navys East Coast hub for submarines armed with nuclear missiles.
BERLIN (AP)  German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she is satisfied with the timing of her departure after 16 years at the helm of the country and is now looking forward to dedicating time to things she had to neglect during her chancellorship.

Merkel said she wants to perhaps travel a bit or read, or simply enjoy some leisure time knowing that no possible upheaval may happen in the next 20 minutes, weekly paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Saturday.

The chancellor, who announced in 2018 that she would not run again in the national election last month, steered Germany safely through a succession of crises including the global financial crisis, the migrant crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.

She said that while the years in office had fulfilled her, they had also been challenging because of the constant need to pay attention to, prevent, or react to crises.

I can say with a good feeling now that it is right for someone else to take over, Merkel told the newspaper.

Germany held its national election last month. The Social Democrats, the Greens and the Free Democrats are currently in talks about forming a coalition government. The three parties said earlier this month they aim to have the countrys next chancellor in place in early December.

Outgoing Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose center-left Social Democrats narrowly won the election, appears to have the best chance of succeeding Merkel.

Until the next government has been formed, Merkel will continue to lead Germany in a caretaker position, and on Saturday was attending the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

Merkel, who is 67, said she feels gratitude to have been able to have served the county and also looks back with satisfaction on a long, and in some cases complicated, period."

"A little melancholy will perhaps also come later, she added.

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For more AP coverage on Germanys election: https://apnews.com/hub/germany-election
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  A small cargo ship carrying about 400 mostly Afghan migrants and refugees was towed Saturday to a safe anchorage off the Greek island of Kos near the Turkish coast, Greeces coast guard said.

A coast guard spokesman told The Associated Press on customary condition of anonymity that he couldn't divulge the precise location and said he didn't know what the coast guard was planning to do with the ship and its passengers.

The coast guard said Friday the Turkish-flagged freighter was located by a Greek search-and-rescue vessel east of the island of Crete following a tip that it needed assistance.

Greece has made a formal request to Turkey to take back the ship, which, according to the coast guard, sailed from the Turkish coast and was headed to Italy.

Greek authorities have said it would like to tow the ship to a port, pending Turkeys response, but haven't decided on which port yet. They are also mindful of the possible reaction from local populations, who have seen the arrival of migrants over the past six years on their shores with at least mixed feelings, if not outright hostility.

There was no information available about the health of the passengers, who are mostly male.

After the Taliban victory in Afghanistan, European Union authorities are wary of a possible increase in migration. In 2015, nearly 1 million people, mostly Syrian refugees, crossed into the EU through Greek islands.

The EU and Turkey have signed an agreement which obliges Turkey to take back those migrants crossing into the EU from its territory that are not granted asylum. But Turkey, which itself now hosts over 3 million migrants, has shown signs of using the issue as leverage and the mood among many EU members is in favor of tougher border controls, accusations of pushbacks notwithstanding.

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Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
WASHINGTON (AP)  Over the objections of the Biden administration, the Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider a climate change case that could limit the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The court also said it would hear a Republican-led immigration challenge.

The earliest the cases will be argued is 2022 and, as is typical, the high court did not explain its decision to take either case. Both are unusual, however, in that the Biden administration either has changed or said it will change the rules at the center of each case.

On climate change, the court will review the decision of a federal appeals court that struck down one of the Trump administrations most momentous climate rollbacks. The Biden administration has said it is working on a replacement rule.

As a practical matter, the decision to review the ruling in the case will probably make it harder for the Biden administration to move forward with a new rule to regulate planet-warming carbon emissions from the power sector.

West Virginia, leading a coalition of 19 mostly Republican-led states, and coal companies told the high court in asking it to take the case that the appeals court's ruling would give EPA almost unlimited authority to regulate in a way that would harm the coal industry.

How we respond to climate change is a pressing issue for our nation, yet some of the paths forward carry serious and disproportionate costs for States and countless other affected parties," the states wrote in urging the court to take the case. Continued uncertainty over the scope of EPAs authority will impose costs we can never recoup.

In a statement posted on Twitter after the court agreed to hear the case, EPA administrator Michael Regan said: Power plant carbon pollution hurts families and communities, and threatens businesses and workers. The Courts have repeatedly upheld EPAs authority to regulate dangerous power plant carbon pollution.

The court also will consider whether Republican-led states can take over the defense of a Trump-era rule denying green cards to immigrants who use public benefits like food stamps, after the Biden administration dropped the legal challenges.

A federal appeals court in Chicago upheld a lower court order striking down the Trump-era rule nationwide. In March, the Biden administration announced an agreement with the parties and states challenging the rule and also dropped its objections to the appellate decision.

The administration proposed a new rule in August.

Under the Trump administration policy, applicants for green cards had to show they wouldnt be burdens to the country or public charges.

Federal law already required those seeking permanent residency or legal status to prove they wouldnt be a public charge. But the Trump administration rule included a wider range of programs that could disqualify them, like Medicaid, housing vouchers or other public benefits.

The immigration case is being led by the state of Arizona.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Hundreds of people opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates rallied Saturday at the Kansas Statehouse and pushed state lawmakers to quickly counter them, while an international labor union disavowed a local leader's comparison of the mandates to the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews.

The rally kicked off ahead of a rare weekend legislative committee hearing on mandates from President Joe Biden that affect as many as 100 million Americans. The hearing gave dozens of mandate opponents a chance to vent their frustration and anger both with the Democratic presidents administration and Democratic Gov. Laura Kellys handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Many of the speakers during the committees hearing argued that lawmakers should call themselves into special session instead of waiting to reconvene until 2022. Lawmakers can do that without Kelly if two-thirds of them sign a petition, but so far such an effort hasnt gained much traction.

If we allow this to continue, there will be no stopping further government overreach, said Cody Foster, a utility line worker and volunteer firefighter in central Kansas.

Several critics of the mandates suggested Saturday that they violate international human rights standards enacted in the wake atrocities during World War II. Bryan Luedeke, a Wichita-area aircraft worker, called them reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

His comments followed Friday's comparison of the mandates to the Holocaust by Cornell Beard, president of the Wichita district of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. A committee member, Republican Rep. Brenda Landwehr, of Wichita, appeared to agree with the analogy.

The international union issued a statement Saturday saying it strongly condemns the offensive and inappropriate comparison" to the Holocaust.

Regardless of ones views on divisive political issues, there is never a place for this type of hurtful rhetoric, the statement said.

The legislative panel's name  the joint Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates  signals that Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature already have concluded that the mandates violate peoples liberties. But many are not yet sure what power the state has to resist.

The committee is supposed to recommend steps for the Legislature to take. In hearings that began Friday, almost everyone testifying strongly opposed vaccine mandates, with some repeating misinformation about vaccine safety.

But with many speakers calling for lawmakers to have a special session, the Senate's top Republican leaders didn't rule it out.

I'm going to look for that kernel of something we can do and see if there's a window there, said Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican.

More than 80 people spoke to the committee Saturday, and only one supported the vaccine mandates, Sheila Sonnenschein, a Kansas City-area resident. She attended the hearing with her psychiatrist-husband Ken and said later, It really hits my heart when I hear these lies and conspiracy theories.

Sonnenschein told the committee: As a Jewish person, it offends me  I mean, I can't even say it  it's so upsetting to hear people compare having the vaccine mandates and the mask mandates to the Holocaust.

Saturday's hearing came after state Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican hoping to unseat Kelly next year, announced that he has brought Kansas into a federal lawsuit against Biden's vaccine mandate for employees of government contractors.

The Biden administration is also requiring vaccinations for all federal workers and certain health care workers. Private employers with 100 or more workers will have to require them to be vaccinated or tested weekly.

The war at hand is the well-being of our nation, the soul of our nation, Republican state Sen. Mark Steffen, a Hutchinson anesthesiologist and pain-management doctor who's promoted discredited COVID-19 conspiracy theories and dubious treatments, said at the start of Saturday's hearing.

Republican activists and consultants across the country contend that opposition to vaccine mandates could create a movement akin to the tea party movement.

Participants in the Statehouse rally brought Gadsden flags  which say show a coiled snake and say, Don't tread on me. Speakers urged attendees to vote for candidates who oppose vaccine and mask mandates in Tuesday's local school board elections.

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna
MELROSE, Mass. (AP)  Comedian Jimmy Kimmel thinks residents of a Massachusetts school district that has chosen not to host Halloween can perform an end-run on the policy by celebrating an alternative holiday such as National Gourd Appreciation Day or All Snickers Eve.

Kimmel poked fun at the Melrose school district on his Jimmy Kimmel Live show on Wednesday. The district's superintendent sent a letter to parents on Oct. 22 that the district has worked to deemphasize Halloween and shift our focus toward community building through fall celebrations.
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP)  Police officials in a Central Texas city refused to provide an escort for a Joe Biden campaign bus when it was surrounded by supporters of then-President Donald Trump on an interstate, an amended lawsuit filed over the 2020 encounter alleges.

The updated lawsuit, filed Friday, included transcribed 911 audio recordings, The Texas Tribune reported. The suit alleges that law enforcement officers in San Marcos privately laughed and joked about the victims and their distress" in the audio recordings.

The city of San Marcos didn't return a request for comment from the newspaper. A spokesperson previously has said that the city and the San Marcos Police Department would not comment because of the pending litigation.

Videos shared on social media from Oct. 30, 2020, show a group of cars and pickup trucks  many adorned with large Trump flags  riding alongside the campaign bus as it traveled from San Antonio to Austin. The Trump Train at times boxed in the bus. At one point, one of the pickups collided with an SUV behind the bus.

The Biden bus was traveling to San Marcos for a political event that Democrats ended up canceling. Neither Biden nor his running mate, then-Sen. Kamala Harris, were aboard. Then-President Donald Trump criticized the FBI at the time after the agency said it was investigating.

According to the transcriptions, when the Biden bus entered San Marcos jurisdiction, a New Braunfels 911 dispatcher tried to get San Marcos police to take over the escort that New Braunfels had provided along Interstate 35. A police corporal told a San Marcos dispatcher we're not going to escort a bus, according to the documents.

The dispatcher told one bus passenger to call back if the caller felt threatened.

Are you kidding me, maam? the caller replied. Theyve cut in on me multiple times. Theyve threatened my life on multiple occasions with vehicular collision.

According to the documents, Chase Stapp, the public safety director, later texted to police that from what I can gather, the Biden bus never even exited I-35 thanks to the Trump escort. Police in later emails called it a debacle and prepared for a political fire storm."

A report of the incident four days later cited staffing issues, lack of time to plan, and lack of knowledge of the route as reasons police did not provide an escort.

However, Lisa Prewitt, a former San Marcos City Council member who was a candidate for the county commission at the time, told the Tribune that she notified local law enforcement 24 hours before the event and mentioned safety concerns.

The lawsuit alleges that police and the city violated an 1871 law that's often called the Ku Klux Klan Act, originally designed to stop political violence against Black people. It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
PHOENIX (AP)  The Maricopa County Sheriff Office is looking at ways to use Arizona National Guard personnel to help operate the understaffed jail system of the states most populous county, a sheriff's office spokesman said.

The Maricopa County Sheriffs Office continues to evaluate administrative needs in the office and if those needs can be met, temporarily, by the AZ National Guard," Sgt. Calbert Gillett told the Arizona Republic.

The sheriff's office on Wednesday sent a request through county emergency officials for 135 state National Guard personnel to fill jail staffing needs but rescinded the request Thursday, county spokesman Fields Moseley said.

Gilbert said the request was a draft copy sent inadvertently before evaluation by Command Staff."

The request said the sheriffs office has reached critical staffing levels across multiple departments. Multiple jails are reaching maximum capacity with manpower shortages and a deficit in overtime funding causing the Sheriffs Office to use badged field personnel to fill vacancies and help with the backlog in numerous departments. Due to this situation, MCSO is requesting National Guard Members to assist with the most critical vacant positions.

According to Gillett, the sheriff's office has over 775 vacant positions, including civilian jobs, detention officers and deputies.

The office is still evaluating how the National Guard could augment operations within the MCSO to include sworn, detention, and civilian operations, he said.

The county Board of Supervisors doesn't have a role in this process" but board members are very concerned about the shortage of detention officers and jail staff which is not a new issue, Moseley said.

Actions taken in recent years to bolster jail staffing included providing money for hazard pays, performance-based retention increases, market pay adjustments and other incentives, Moseley said.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina tax return preparer was sentenced to nearly two years in prison for conspiring to defraud the IRS, prosecutors said.

Court documents and statements made in court showed that from 2012 through 2017, Andrea Pasley of Durham conspired with two others to prepare fraudulent tax returns, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of North Carolina.
PEORIA, Ill. (AP)  National reports of fungus and wet weather threatening U.S. pumpkin crops may have pumpkin lovers spooked ahead of Halloween and Thanksgiving. But pumpkin farmers and experts say there is nothing to fear locally.

For Peoria-area pumpkin farmers and manufacturers, the frights of fungus and excessive moisture have largely avoided the area, the Journal Star reports.

John Ackerman, a pumpkin farmer of Ackerman farms in Morton, is growing mostly Jack o Lantern pumpkins this season and said his farm has been lucky enough to avoid the phytopthora fungus, which has been known to ravage pumpkin fields.

What Ive been hearing from fellow farmers in the area is theyve been having decent to average yields in the canning pumpkins and for the ornamental ones I am having just a terrific year, so we are very lucky, very blessed, Ackerman said.

Mohammad Babadoost, an expert on vegetable and fruit diseases at the University of Illinois, said there is no pumpkin shortage in the United States, despite what reports have said, and any worries of a phytopthora fungus were taken care of months ago and they didnt let the pathogen get out of control.

In the past five years or longer we havent had a really serious problem with phytopthora, Babadoost said. That does not mean we did not have phytopthora infection, but not huge losses.

Nestle, which owns Libbys canned pumpkins in Morton said its pumpkins have grown as expected this season.

This year and every year, the team in Morton, Illinois continually monitors the soil health, climate, and crop to ensure were delivering the authentic taste, texture and color that have made Libbys a family favorite across generations, Nestle said in a statement.

The Morton facility processes the lions share of the canned pumpkin sold in the U.S. thats later used for cooking and baking.

Many of the pumpkins processed there are grown in and around the Peoria area.

More so than any kind of disease, what local farmers have seen is a typical concern about pumpkin plants being picky about how much moisture they get.

Its a low-lying plant with big leaves, it stays wet and it kind of likes dry conditions, Ackerman said. I was kind of concerned through the summer because it was so wet, but things turned out to be really, really good.

The Peoria-area has been a bit wetter than what Ackerman and the pumpkins would prefer, but he said things have dried up quickly enough that everything will be fine.

They can retain a lot of moisture, theyre incredibly efficient about retaining moisture, they even drop roots along the vines, Ackerman said. But if you really want a great pumpkin yield, those are usually in a dry year.

Wet weather in July sparked a bit of concern with Babadoost about a potential pytopthora breakout because the pathogen, which lives in soil, wakes up in wet conditions to spread its spores.

In August, some pytopthora was noticed in commercial pumpkin fields, Babadoost said. But fungicides and other techniques were used to avoid any kind of fungal pandemic like Illinois saw in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Babadoost said pythopthora was so bad in some places back then, there was worry the pumpkin industry in Illinois could disappear.

Weather has in fact given Ackerman and other pumpkin farmers quite the gift so far this growing season by not providing any kind of frost, something the pumpkins really dont like.

I am surprised there has not been a frost, usually by this time were looking at our first frost and maybe even a hard-freeze the following week and the 10-day forecast doesnt show a frost in sight, Ackerman said.

Any kind of hard-freeze will damage pumpkins and if farmers see one coming they will pick like mad men Ackerman said. But this year there has been no reason to panic.

John Zaiser, a pumpkin farmer at Zaiser Farms in Deer Creek, did highlight a different problem he said plagues local growers: larger retailers selling pumpkins at prices farmers cant compete with.

I would just say if anything to get the word out to people to support your local farms that are out there picking these things by hand rather than going to Walmart or Kroger and buying your pumpkin there, Zaiser said.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  Officials with the state Health and Human Services departments are awaiting federal approval to tap into a temporary funding stream to help end a 13-year wait faced by New Mexico families seeking services under a developmental disabilities program.

The officials told a panel of lawmakers this week about their plan to move about 4,100 people off the waiting list and into services in the next two years.

State funding of about $75 million a year would be needed eventually, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Dr. David Scrase, who also leads the Health and Human Services departments, called it a rare opportunity of alignment between federal funding and a critical state goal.

We have made progress over the last two years getting more than 700 people the services they need, Scrase said in a statement. These dollars will allow us to provide services for thousands more."

Long waits have plagued the state Developmental Disabilities Waiver program for years. In the Albuquerque area, those being removed from the waiting list have typically been watching since 2008 for the funding to become available.

Participants can receive therapy, help with employment and other services aimed at allowing them to be active members of the community. Its called a waiver program because the federal government has waived the requirement to use a nursing home or other institutional setting to provide the services.

Under the plan outlined outlined during a meeting of the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, the state would rely on federal funding at first to pay for services for every individual on the waiting list. Then state funding would be used starting in about four years to maintain the program.

We believe we have a blueprint to move our state forward and tackle this problem, said Jason Cornwell, director of the Developmental Disabilities Supports Division of the Department of Health.

New Mexico is seeking approval from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to use funding available for home- and community-based services.

Robert Kegel, whose son receives waiver services, testified that legislators should take immediate action on a variety of fronts to improve the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities.

Weve denied people the care theyre absolutely entitled to, he said.

Senate Majority Whip Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, said New Mexicos strong financial position makes it an appropriate time to end the waiting list.

Strong revenue growth is projected for the coming year, and federal coronavirus relief funds have flooded the state.

We have to figure out a plan  a plan that really works, Lopez said.
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP)  Northwestern University's Police Department has launched an investigation after several people were drugged without their consent at off-campus gatherings, the department said.

The investigation comes just weeks after reports of similar incidents at on-campus fraternity houses prompted the Evanston school to suspend all fraternity-related activities. That ban on social events, which was initially set to be lifted after three weeks, was extended earlier this month until at least Jan. 3 of next year, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP)  Police in North Carolina say that an unloaded handgun was found in an elementary school classroom after it fell out of a student's pocket.

The Winston-Salem Police Department issued a news release saying the gun was discovered around noon on Friday at Mineral Springs Elementary School.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Mainers have weighed in on a number of high-profile ballot questions  casinos, universal health care, marijuana legalization, assisted suicide, abortion and same-sex marriage, to name a few.

None of them come close to the level of spending as the battle over a 145-mile (233-kilometer) electricity transmission line.

More than $90 million from utilities has flowed into the fight over the $1 billion project funded by ratepayers in Massachusetts that supporters say would remove carbon from the environment and provide needed electricity.

The high-stakes campaign put environmental and conservation groups at odds, and pitted utilities backing the project against operators of fossil fuel-powered plants that stand to lose money.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who supports the project, made a last-minute pitch this weekend for bold action against climate change. We just cant afford just to do nothing," she said.

A ballot question on Tuesday will let Maine voters have their say.

The project has received all the necessary permits, and construction began 10 months ago. But a court ruling called into question a state lease for a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) section. More litigation is expected regardless of the outcome of the vote.

Lewiston Mayor Mark Cayer said he doesnt understand the opposition, noting that the new sections are being built in working forests that have been logged repeatedly over the years.

In Maine and New England, the idea of change can sometimes raise emotions. A lot of people turn to not in my backyard, he said.

Back when it was proposed, Central Maine Power thought it had a winner after New Hampshires Northern Pass project was spiked. Both projects aimed to bring plentiful renewable energy into the region courtesy of Hydro Quebec, which produces an excess of power from its dams.

In rejecting the 192-mile (309-kilometer) New Hampshire project, regulators questioned its promised benefits and worried about the impact it would have on rural communities. Their decision was upheld in court.

The Maine proposal for a transmission line mostly followed existing utility corridors. But a new section needed to be cut through 53 miles (85 kilometers) of woods to reach the border.

The project would supply up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower to the New England power grid.

The arguments against the project are presented as black and white in ads that suggest the project benefits only Massachusetts, that it destroys pristine wilderness, that there was some sort of backroom deal. Even environmentalists dont agree on the environmental benefit.

Supporters say big proposals are needed to combat climate change. They say the project would lower carbon emissions by 3.6 million metric tons, benefiting the region, not just Massachusetts.

CMP offered $258 million in Maine incentives that would boost the number of electric vehicle charging stations, subsidize heat pumps, improve rural high-speed internet and help low-income customers.

The city of Lewiston already received half of its $3 million increase in property taxes thanks to the project. All told, more than 20 communities will share $5.4 million in annual tax increases.

But that pales into comparison to the money pouring into the campaign.

Three opposing utilities that operate fossil fuel-powered plants in the region have contributed more than $27 million to stop the project. Central Maine Power, affiliated utilities and Quebec Hydro have donated more than $64 million in support of the project.

The spending is unprecedented for a referendum in Maine.

By comparison, about $9.2 million was spent on a battle over a York County casino in 2017 and nearly $8 million was spent on an effort to overturn the states same-sex marriage law in 2009, according to a report completed this summer for the Government Oversight Committee.

In Maine, weve never had anything remotely like this for a referendum, said Mark Brewer, political science professor at the University of Maine.

The amount of campaign money is unnerving to Anya Fetcher, director of Environment Maine, which opposes the project.

At the end of the day, I wish that all of this money that was poured into the marketing and campaign could just go to clean energy solutions, she said.
OAKVILLE, Ala. (AP)  A quest to buy a book printed in 1936 with results from that years Berlin Olympics required two military tours of Germany, 20 trips to booksellers and $240, but the effort led to an Alabama man donating a copy of the book to the Jesse Owens Museum in Oakville.

Owens, an Oakville native, won four track-and-field gold medals at the Berlin Olympics, a feat that gained him international fame because it refuted German leader Adolf Hitlers theory of Aryan supremacy.

Justen Burns of Springville said he found and purchased the 168-page Olympics cigarette photo book titled Olympia 1936 in 2019. He and his wife Fabiola donated the 85-year-old book to the museum on Wednesday.

I love history and with my appreciation for Jesse Owens and what he accomplished, I wanted the book, said Burns, 41, who retired from the U.S. Army as a sergeant first class. It showed the adversity he had to overcome. He went into Germany in 1936 with the Nazi regime at its height and to pull off four gold medals is pretty incredible. But actually, the gold medals were secondary to what he accomplished.

There is no other situation I can find of an athlete going into a country that has openly voiced its disdain for any other race and heres Jesse Owens comes in and bested their best. With all the negativity and all of the comments that came out, he put them all to bed that day. Nobody can deny what he did and he did it on a world stage.

Owens became the first Olympian to win four gold medals. He set Olympic records winning the 100-meter dash (10.3 seconds), 200-meter run (20.7 seconds), long jump (26 feet, 5.25 inches) and the 4x100 relay (39.8 seconds).

Burns said during his seven years in Germany he likely went to more than 20 places to find the complete book. He said he saw about 100 copies of it, but most were in poor condition.

I saw one in Nuremberg in 2008 and it fascinated me. So I went on my search to find the perfect one, he said.

Burns said he bought one in 2010 when he was first returning to the United States. Most of the pictures were in it, but a lot of the pages were torn, and the cover was marked up pretty bad. I gave it away when I knew I was going back to Germany.

On his second tour of Germany, from 2017 to 2020, Burns continued his personal mission, which ended in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a walled, medieval town founded in 1274, southeast of Frankfurt.

He went into an antique store there and inquired about the book.

(The manager) took me through what was like a secret backdoor. She actually had three but only one was in pristine condition so I bought it, he said.

It was complete with photos and had little wear on the pages and cover. He paid 200 euros, about $240, for the book listed in very good condition. The book is written in German.

It wasnt long after he purchased it that he began thinking of donating it to the Owens museum in Oakville, the Lawrence County community where Owens was born in 1913.

Fabiola said she was shocked at first about his intention.

I was surprised because he spent so much time invested in the search for it, she said. I asked him if he wanted to keep it in the family. He said it belongs in a museum for everyone to see.

Burns said he was thankful she didnt object too much.

It is better to be in a museum. It honors his life so everybody can see it, he said. If I keep it, it will stay on my bookshelf and every now and then I might show it to friends and family. But it wouldnt serve its purpose, which is to let everybody see what he had to go through to accomplish what he did. I cant give the appreciation it deserves for what he did.

Its better here than on a shelf in a house.  Sometimes you have to bring the history to the people, especially some of the younger people.

He said many people dont realize Owens was one of 10 children born to a pair of Oakville sharecroppers.

Some people dont know hes from Alabama, he said. A lot of your life is based on your upbringing. Im sure he didnt start running when he got to Ohio State. Something he learned here got him there. He was an exceptional athlete and a wonderful part of Alabama history and world history.

Owens and his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, when he was 9.

Nancy Pinion, director of the Jesse Owens Museum, said she is thrilled the Burnses donated the book.

This rare book is a priceless addition to the museum collection, she said. We are humbled that Justen and Fabiola made the decision to donate it after searching for years throughout Germany for a pristine copy of this specific book only to make the difficult decision to place it in the museum. We invite everyone to come and see it for themselves.

The museum at 7019 Lawrence County 203 is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

The admission fee is $5.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Dozens of relatives and dignitaries gathered in South Koreas capital on Saturday to pay their final respects to former President Roh Tae-woo, a key participant in a 1979 military coup who later won a landmark democratic election before his political career ended with imprisonment for corruption and treason.

Pandemic restrictions limited the size of funeral services for Roh, who died Tuesday at age 88 from complications from various illnesses. Doctors said his condition worsened in recent years because of a degenerative disorder.

President Moon Jae-ins decision to hold a state funeral for Roh was controversial because of his links to the coup and a bloody suppression of pro-democracy protesters in the southern city of Gwangju in 1980 that killed around 200 people and injured hundreds of others.

Gwangju and several other cities and provincial governments refused to raise flags half-staff or set up memorial altars for Roh in accordance with state funeral procedures.

Moon, who did not visit Rohs memorial altar at a Seoul hospital before leaving for Rome on Thursday for meetings with Pope Francis and Group of 20 leaders, said through his office that Roh made significant contributions to national development despite many historical wrongdoings.

On the final day of a five-day funeral procession, honor guards wrapped Rohs coffin with the national flag and placed it into the back of a limousine. The vehicle then rolled out of the hospital and followed a black convertible topped with a huge portrait of Roh in a motorcade that drove toward his house in northern Seoul.

Family members quietly toured the house, led by a grandson who carried a smaller portrait of Roh. Then they headed toward southern Seoul for a funeral service at a square at Olympic Park, a venue built for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games held during the first year of Rohs presidency.

The funerals participants were limited to 50 people, including relatives, government officials, religious leaders and foreign diplomats, because of COVID-19 concerns. Rohs wife, Kim Ok-suk, and their two children, Roh Soh-young and Roh Jae-heon, sat quietly in chairs distanced apart, looking solemnly at the ground.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, Seouls No. 2, said in a speech that Roh will be remembered for his many accomplishments as president, including the successful hosting of the Olympics, expanding relations with communist nations and easing tensions with North Korea.

Kim also regretted that Roh never apologized in person over the coup and military atrocities, although his children conveyed his remorse while his health deteriorated in recent years.

Its undisputable truth President Roh Tae-woo has an immense fault that cannot be erased, said Kim. Attending the funeral service today, we realize that nobody is free from the (judgement) of history.

Rohs criminal convictions legally prevent him from being buried with other former leaders and national heroes at the countrys national cemetery. His cremated remains will be kept at a Buddhist temple in Paju, north of Seoul, until his tomb is ready at nearby Paju Reunification Park, which was built during his presidency in 1989 as a symbol of peace between the two Koreas.

Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-sup, a member of Moons liberal Democratic Party, said the city couldnt honor Roh when he was a core member of dictator Chun Doo-hwans military junta that massacred its citizens.

He was the president of our country, and while its our traditional sentiment to mourn a person who died, Gwangju cannot do that (for Roh)," Lee said Wednesday.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement that Roh leaves a complicated legacy but credited him for solidifying South Koreas democratic transition as president.

Roh took office in 1988 after he became the countrys first directly elected leader in decades following successive military governments in Seoul.

He was a major player in a December 1979 military coup that brought his longtime army friend Chun to power. Their takeover came months after their mentor, dictator Park Chung-hee, was assassinated by his spy chief following 18 years of rule.

Roh had been Chuns hand-picked successor, but massive pro-democracy protests in 1987 forced them to accept a direct presidential election, which initiated South Koreas transition toward democracy.

Despite his military background, Roh crafted a softer image during the presidential campaign, calling himself an average person. He won a closely contested vote in December 1987, largely thanks to a split in liberal votes between opposition candidates Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, who both later became presidents.

During his five-year term, Roh actively pursued diplomacy with communist nations following the fall of the Berlin Wall, establishing relations with the Soviet Union and China in the early 1990s.

He also took steps to improve relations with North Korea, which led to the Koreas jointly issuing a statement vowing a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and joining the U.N. at the same time in 1991.

His government was also credited for successfully hosting the 1988 Seoul Olympics, which were seen as South Koreas coming-out party to the world following its rapid rebuild from the destructions of the 1950-53 Korean War.

After his successor, Kim Young-sam, investigated the coup and the crackdown in Gwangju, Roh was arrested, convicted of mutiny, treason and corruption and received a prison term of 22 1/2 years. Chun was sentenced to death.

The Supreme Court later reduced those sentences to life imprisonment for Chun and 17 years for Roh. After spending about two years in prison, Roh and Chun were released in late 1997 under a special pardon requested by then President-elect Kim Dae-jung, who sought national reconciliation.

Roh had stayed mostly out of the public eye following his release from prison. Last April, his daughter, Roh So-young, wrote on Facebook that her father had been bed-bound over the past 10 years without being able to speak or move his body.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  South Carolina again is requiring all registered sex offenders in the state still under supervision for a crime against a child to stay home and not give out candy Halloween night.

The curfew lasts from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday, the state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services said.
DETROIT (AP)  A high-tech strategy could help Detroit save $165 million while also pinpointing the number of lead water lines in the city.

Data crunched with software from technology startup BlueConduit will hopefully provide a report of the probable locations and number of lead lines, the water department said.
WASHINGTON (AP)  In only a handful of cases has the Supreme Court, where decorative turtles symbolize the deliberate pace of justice, moved as quickly as it is in the fight over the Texas law that bans most abortions. They include some of the most famous disputes of the last 50 years.

The cases being argued Monday could signal how the justices will rule in an even bigger abortion case that will be heard a month later and asks them to overrule the two landmark cases that guarantee a woman's right to an abortion, Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

But abortion is not directly at issue in the Texas cases. Rather, the court will decide whether abortion providers or the federal government can sue in federal court over the Texas law, which has an enforcement mechanism that Chief Justice John Roberts has described as unusual, if not unprecedented.

The high court has so far allowed the Texas law, which effectively bans abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy, to be in effect even as it appears to conflict with the Roe and Casey decisions. Those cases remain the law of the land until the Supreme Court says otherwise.

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WHO CAN SUE, BE SUED?

The Texas law bans abortion once cardiac activity is detected in the fetus, usually around six weeks and before some women even know they are pregnant.

Federal courts have had no trouble blocking similar laws enacted elsewhere as inconsistent with the Supreme Courts rulings on abortion that essentially dont let states prohibit abortion before a fetus can survive outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks.

The difference in Texas is the way the law is enforced. Rather than let state officials enforce it, as typically happens, Texas puts the power in the hands of private citizens, who can sue anyone who performs or abets an abortion. The pregnant woman herself cannot be sued.

Texas legislators have said that they designed the law this way precisely to make it hard to challenge in federal court.

Abortion providers first sued to block the law before it took effect, but they were rebuffed by a federal appeals court and ultimately the Supreme Court.

The Justice Department then stepped in with a new lawsuit. A federal judge blocked the law, agreeing with the substance of the new suit, but the appeals court put the law back in place after just 48 hours.

When the Biden administration asked the court to block the law, the justices put off a decision but agreed to decide whether, at this early stage of the court fight, either providers or the federal government could sue in federal court to stop a law that the administration argues has made abortion effectively unavailable in Texas after roughly six weeks of pregnancy.

The decision on enforcement, the state and an architect of the law say in court papers, means that federal courts are effectively closed to the law's challengers at this point. The issues also include whom to sue and whether federal courts have the power to compel state judges to follow their orders.

In neither case is the constitutionality of the law directly at issue, but the motivation for both lawsuits is that the Texas ban conflicts with Roe and Casey.

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EXPRESS LANE

The Texas cases join Bush v. Gore, the Watergate tapes and Pentagon Papers cases, and just a few others that were heard and decided by the justices under a tight timeline that compressed months of briefings and arguments into weeks, and in some cases, days.

In those situations, hard deadlines loomed or the fate of a presidency hung in the balance.

It's not clear why the court is acting so quickly now. The justices, by a 5-4 vote, rejected an early plea to block the law before it took effect in September.

The conservative majoritys one-paragraph opinion last month cited novel and complex procedural questions that the court usually leaves to lower courts to sort through before it steps in.

Polls conducted after the courts Texas abortion vote showed sharp drops in approval of the court. At around the same time, several justices made public pleas that they not be viewed as partisan politicians.

It's possible that the decision to grant full review to the Texas cases and, presumably, issue a reasoned opinion is aimed at addressing these concerns.

Then too, the court might want to have the Texas cases squared away before arguments on Dec. 1 in a case from Mississippi that could dramatically change abortion rights in the United States.

The justices have not offered an explanation for their actions. It remains to be seen how quickly the court will issue a decision.

___

PRIOR EXPERIENCE

Justices Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer are the only two justices who were members of the court during Bush v. Gore, which effectively settled the 2000 presidential election in favor of Republican George W. Bush. Thomas was part of the majority, and Breyer dissented.

Roberts was a law clerk to Justice William Rehnquist in 1981, when the court moved quickly to decide a case that was related to the release of the American hostages in Iran. Faced with a deadline for the U.S. to transfer previously blocked assets to the Iranians, the court acted in less than a month to grant, hear and decide the case. Rehnquist wrote the court's opinion, which was issued eight days after arguments.
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP)  The edge of the steps leading to Marcus Giddens front porch is lined with tokens of affection  candles, flowers, balloons tied to the railing, a can of his favorite beer.

Several feet away, through the front door to the building on the steps leading to the landing of his second-floor apartment, a blood stain marks the need for the memorial to Giddens.

Forty-one-year-old Giddens  known in his Uptown neighborhood by the nickname Lucky  was killed at about 11:20 p.m. Oct. 8 in the four-unit building on the 6300 block of 24th Avenue.

A neighbor who lives in the building said she was home the night of the murder. She said she heard Lucky laugh, then heard gunfire. The shooter fled. Lucky was found lying on the steps with multiple gunshot wounds, the neighbor said, a beer still in his hand.

Giddens death was the 10th homicide in the City of Kenosha this year, the Kenosha News reported.

On Oct. 19, there were two more. Eighteen-year-old Marian Pizarro, who was 9-months-pregnant and due to have her baby any day, and her boyfriend Sebastian Perez-Alverez, 17, were shot and killed in their home on the 600 block of 40th Place. Pizzaros mother Luz Pizarro-Perez, and Pizarro-Perezs 14-year-old son, were shot and wounded. Police believe Pizarro-Perezs 24-year-old boyfriend Jostin Gutierrez-Pagan shot everyone in the family, then shot and killed himself. Kenosha Police Sgt. Leo Viola said police believe the shootings happened after Gutierrez-Pagan became enraged about Perez-Alverez being in the home.

A tragedy like this is almost beyond comprehension, Interim Kenosha Police Chief Eric Larsen said about the Oct. 19 shooting.

But tragedy has become a nearly monthly occurrence in the county this year. The City of Kenosha is now up to 12 homicides this year  nearly triple the average annual total. Add to citys total the three men killed in April at the Somers House tavern and that brings the number of people killed Kenosha County to 15 so far in 2021.

Behind each of the numbers is heartbreak. I wont answer messages but I just ask for a lot of prayer for me and my family. Hard days are coming and I will need a lot of strength, Pizarro-Perez wrote on social media the day after the shooting that decimated her family.

In Uptown, a week after Giddens death, two friends sat on his porch near his memorial. They said his death had shocked the neighborhood where he was known as friendly, non-confrontational and devoted to his family. Lucky was love, nothing but love, said a friend who was sitting on Giddens front steps near the memorial. She said she did not want to be identified, fearing retribution.

Visible from the front steps of Giddens home  just across the street and to the south on the same block  another set of steps, another makeshift memorial, another blood stain. On Labor Day, a gunman killed 23-year-old Chrishon Wright  the ninth homicide victim of the year  shooting him in the chest as he attended a cookout in the front yard.

Wrights mother Nicole Jones said her son, who split his time between his home in Lake County, Illinois, and his girlfriends home in Kenosha, was on 25th Avenue that day attending a family gathering at the home of a relative of his girlfriend.

Police described the shooting as a targeted killing.

According to Jones, her son Chrishon was out on the front lawn along with his girlfriend, her relatives and Chrishons young children when the gunman appeared.

When the gentleman approached them he told Chrishons girlfriend to move out of the way, Jones said. And then he just shot my son. It was very targeted. It was bold, a very bold thing that that gentleman did to go after him in front of all the kids.

The day after the shooting neighbors described hearing gunfire and children screaming.

The City of Kenosha typically has about five homicides each year. This year, the first two homicides came just six days into the year when a 24-year-old man is alleged to have hacked his father and step-mother to death with a machete. Murders hit their normal annual total by the second week in March.

Kenosha isnt alone in seeing an increase in murders. According to FBI statistics released in September, the United States saw a record one-year increase in homicides from 2019 to 2020, with a total of 21,500 people killed, up about 4,900 from the previous year. Seventy-seven percent of people murdered died by gunfire. While the number of murders is increasing, overall crime is on the decline.

This year, the number of homicides is continuing to rise nationwide, although at a slower pace than last year. Kenoshas two much larger neighbors  Chicago and Milwaukee  are having particularly violent years. According to data compiled last week by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Milwaukee had 160 homicides so far in 2021, up slightly from the same date last year, which was itself a record year for murders in the city. In Chicago, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, about 650 people had been killed by the third week of October, outpacing last year and reaching the highest level since the 1990s.

The cause of the increase nationwide is subject to debate, with speculation nationally focusing on the societal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the proliferation of firearms and the impact of widespread protest about police shootings.

Kenosha Police Chief Larsen has a longtime interest in using data as a tool in directing resources. What the data shows in the homicide increase here presents a puzzle, he said.

Weve seen an increase in all firearm-related activity and I think certain aspects of that are starting to catch up with us, Larsen said. Last year there were 189 verified shots-fired calls in the city, up nearly 114 percent from 2019 and up 186 percent from 2018. Aggravated assault with firearm cases increased from 8 in 2019 to 52 in 2020.

Guns were involved in all but two of the 15 homicides in the county this year.

To combat increasing gun crime, Kenosha Police formed the Special Investigations Unit this year. The unit is made up of officers who had been assigned to the gang unit and to drug investigations. The SIU also has assigned federal officers from the ATF and includes a partnership with Pleasant Prairie Police. One focus of the group is targeting illegal guns.

On Oct. 18, the FBI unveiled a report showing a 30 percent increase in homicides in 2020. Cheddars Chloe Aiello looks into the bureaus numbers that show a steep increase in gun violence amid the growing pandemic.

But even as homicides have doubled, shots-fired calls have fallen sharply this year. Larsen said last week that there have been 87 shots-fired calls from Jan. 1 through Oct. 18 this year compared to 153 in the same time period last year.

Shootings resulting in injuries are also sharply down. Larsen said there were 34 shooting incidents involving injuries in 2020 and only 10 thus far in 2021.

Thats why it is difficult to use 2020 as any kind of measure. There were so many social, economic, and even educational factors that affected everyone, Larsen said.

The police chief said the increase in murders cannot be attributed only to gun crime. Fifty percent of them (homicides this year) are domestic related, which is significant, he said in an interview he gave days before the most recent homicides. With the double homicide on 40th Place, that percentage has climbed to about 67 percent. This isnt just happening on the streets, its happening in our households also.

Larsen said that indicates there are wider societal causes behind the increase.

Recently, four Kenosha Police officers walked the Uptown neighborhood looking to address those issues, trying to chat with local residents and to offer a guidebook to resources in the community. They hoped not only to give people links to services, but to work to build relationships and trust in a neighborhood that has been rocked by violence over the last year and by rioting that occurred last August in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting by Officer Rusten Sheskey.

They knocked on doors, stopped to talk to people gathered in a barbershop, and to talk to people working in their yards or hanging out on porches.

One of the stops they made was on Luckys porch, where a neighbor and a friend of Luckys were sharing beers.

Were not here investigating anything, were just letting people know what support is out there, Kenosha Police Lt. Joe Nosalik told the women sitting on Luckys porch. The officers were handing out a pocket-sized booklet from the Kenosha County Division of Health and the Department of Human Resources that had phone numbers for mental health and substance abuse counseling services, legal assistance, and for food pantries and shelter programs.

But the talk quickly turned to Lucky, with the officers sharing recollections of a man they knew from the neighborhood and for his side business selling DVDs and CDs on the street, and the women on the porch sharing memories of their friend.

When the officers walked away, one of the women on the porch was nervous. People are going to see I was talking to them, theyre going to be saying Im a snitch, she said.

When police left the woman looked at the booklet they had handed her and said I dont need this, I dont need support.

I do, said another man from the neighborhood, taking the booklet from her. I need counseling.

The man said he lived next door to the home where Chrishon Wright had been killed, and had been home with his children when the shooting happened. They heard the shots and heard the screams of the kids in the yard. He said while watching a movie this week he was surprised when felt panicky when there was gunfire in the film. I didnt know how much it affected me.

Chrishon Wrights mother Nicole Jones has another theory in what may be fueling homicides  at least that that took the life of her son. I really believe its social media, she said, saying that she thinks what began as a dispute on social media may have led to her sons shooting. Words being thrown back from different individuals.

Social media feuds are often the spark behind violent crime in Kenosha. And according to past statements from Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley, worries from witnesses about the possibility of being outed on Facebook have led to a growing reluctance to cooperate with police and prosecutors in investigations.

The thing about social media is that it makes communication that much easier because you can communicate any time of the day with anyone regardless of where you are. That being said, you also can have conflict any time of the day, with anyone, Larsen said. It could be argued that friend groups are larger and similarly enemy groups could also. Rumors in the past might have a limited audience; now they could be shared to thousands.

Jones said since Wrights death, shes been mourning for him, worried about her traumatized grandchildren, and remembering happier times, including her birthday a year ago when all of her children and grandchildren, including Wright, were with her to celebrate.

My son, he had his faults. He got into mischief here and there, she said. But he was loveable, always happy, always had a good smile on his face. He loved his kids. He was a great dad.

She said Kenosha Police detectives have been keeping in close contact with her about their investigation, and she said she is grateful for their work and feels they will ultimately make an arrest.

Its hard to understand who could hate him so much to walk up to him in broad daylight and shoot him like that, Jones said. That is a person who has to be heartless. Hes a cold-blooded killer  they need to get this individual off the street before another mother, or other kids, have to see their loved one shot down like this.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will face a bramble of unsettled legal questions when it reviews Texas's most-restrictive-in-the-nation abortion law Monday, but the inquiry itself is evidence of a changed court whose view of abortion as a constitutional right is in doubt.

Monday's hastily scheduled hearing opens the most dramatic month for reproductive rights at the Supreme Court in three decades. That was when a surprising majority of Republican-nominated justices did the unexpected and affirmed rather than renounced the right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

Such an outcome this time around - as the court considers the Texas law and, on Dec. 1, a Mississippi ban on abortionmonths before current Supreme Court precedent allows - would be a bitter disappointment for antiabortion activists who feel this is their chance.

"For two generations, the U.S. Supreme Court has tied the hands of states to enact laws protecting unborn children and their mothers," Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the antiabortion group Susan B. Anthony List, said of the Texas legislation. "It is time to restore this right to the people and update our laws."

Abortion rights supporters, meanwhile, say the court's action will have immense consequences, beginning with the Texas law, known as S.B. 8.

"The outcome of this case will define the future of our constitutional democracy," said Sam Spital, director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which is supporting abortion providers and a Justice Department lawsuit against Texas.

"Absent the Supreme Court's intervention, S.B. 8's model for openly defying precedent set by the highest court in our land will metastasize - and not just with respect to abortion rights," he said. "Many of our constitutional rights will be in grave danger."

A brief filed by former prosecutors and judges concurs. "S.B. 8 is perhaps the most blatant attempt to subvert federal authority since the Jim Crow era," it says.

Samuel Corum / Getty Images / TNS

Texas's law virtually bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, a point clearly at odds with Roe and 1992's follow-up Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which said states may not impose an undue burden on those seeking an abortion before fetal viability, about 22 to 24 weeks.

But Texas's law was designed to avoid review by federal courts, which are bound by Supreme Court precedent and routinely stop state officials from enforcing laws that attempt to ban abortion or restrict the procedure early in a pregnancy.

Texas has shifted enforcement of the law from state officials to private citizens, who may bring lucrative civil lawsuits against those who aid or abet the prohibited abortions. Those cases must be heard in state court, the state says, and only after the civil suits have been filed.

Pleas by abortion providers to have the Supreme Court step in before the law could take effect Sept. 1 were turned away on a 5-to-4 vote - the most tangible evidence yet of how the court's conservative majority has shifted.

It is hard to imagine that a court including Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired in 2018, or Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last year, would have allowed the Texas law to go into effect.

But both of their successors, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, were in the five-member majority, along with President Donald Trump's other Supreme Court nominee, Justice Neil Gorsuch. While the court ignored requests to reconsider Roe and Casey as part of Monday's arguments, doubts about whether they should remain as precedent provide the background for the state's law that has mostly shut down the availability of abortion in the nation's second-largest state.

"SB 8 deters violations only because abortion providers perceive that the future of Roe v. Wade is uncertain," Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general who is one of the law's architects, writes in a filing with the Supreme Court. He represents three private citizens who want to enforce the law, and he will participate in Monday's arguments.

Any decision of the Supreme Court that overturns Roe will apply retroactively, he notes. That would open those who help with a prohibited abortion to multiple lawsuits and damages of at least $10,000 for each violation.

"No abortion provider can take that risk - even if it is confident that it could defeat SB 8 enforcement lawsuits today - because the law could change while the case is on appeal," Mitchell writes.

To antiabortion activists, the Texas law passed last spring was brilliant.

"Texas's genius," Roger Severino, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, wrote in the National Review, was to "neutralize the abortion industry's most potent weapon, the pre-enforcement challenge."

"Abortion clinics are now in an impossible bind because on the one hand, there is no one to sue because no state official is allowed to enforce the law, while on the other hand, there are too many people to sue because they can't identify who among the millions of Texas pro-lifers will step forward to enforce the law," he wrote.

The court on Monday will hear two cases, one brought by abortion providers and the other by the Biden administration, to determine what role federal courts have in reviewing the law.

The abortion providers, led by the Center for Reproductive Rights, wants to enjoin judges and county clerks from entertaining the law's civil suits. The Justice Department has filed suit against the state of Texas.

Texas and the respondents represented by Mitchell said both suits have no basis in precedent.

"No court can ever enjoin another court from hearing a case, because a judge does nothing unlawful by presiding over a lawsuit, even when the lawsuit is seeking to enforce an unconstitutional statute," Mitchell wrote. "A judge that adjudicates a case does not become a federal lawbreaker unless and until he enters an actual ruling that violates someone's federally protected rights."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, R, said the Justice Department is attempting a "striking power-grab."

"Texas does not cause the United States injury by the mere existence of an allegedly unconstitutional state law that may affect private parties," he wrote in the state's filing to the court.

Moreover, "Congress has not given the Attorney General a cause of action to enforce abortion rights . . . let alone against a State," he writes.

The abortion providers and Justice Department urge the court not to let the unorthodox nature of the Texas law obscure its intent and effect.

A law "banning abortions at approximately six weeks of pregnancy [is] in clear violation of nearly fifty years of this Court's precedent," wrote Marc Hearron, a Center for Reproductive Rights attorney representing state abortion providers.

Biden administration Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, confirmed by the Senate on Friday and arguing before the court Monday, called the law "an affront to this Court's constitutionally assigned role as the final arbiter of the rights the Constitution secures to the people of this nation."

"Texas's various procedural objections do not withstand scrutiny once S.B. 8 is recognized for what it is: a brazen nullification of this Court's precedents accomplished by subverting the judicial review Congress authorized to protect the supremacy of federal law," Prelogar wrote.

When the Supreme Court first considered a request from abortion providers to keep the law from going into effect, the majority's one-paragraph opinion cited the "complex and novel" procedural questions and said it was not clear that abortion providers challenging the law were suing the proper defendants.

"Federal courts enjoy the power to enjoin individuals tasked with enforcing laws, not the laws themselves," the majority wrote in allowing the law to go into effect.

The majority consisted of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Jr., along with Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett.

The statement said the law presented "serious" constitutional questions and that the order "is not based on any conclusion about the constitutionality of Texas's law, and in no way limits other procedurally proper challenges to the Texas law, including in Texas state courts."

In a speech at the University of Notre Dame, Alito objected to media opinion pieces that he said promoted "the false and inflammatory claim that we nullified Roe v. Wade. We did no such thing. And we said that expressly in our order."

But that is not far from what his three liberal colleagues said when the court allowed the law to go into effect.

"Texas law prohibits abortions for the vast majority of women who seek them - in clear, and indeed undisputed, conflict with Roe and Casey," wrote Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor.

And when the court on Oct. 22 again declined a request to enjoin the law - setting Monday's argument instead - Sotomayor dissented again.

"For the second time, the Court is presented with an application to enjoin a statute enacted in open disregard of the constitutional rights of women seeking abortion care in Texas," she wrote. "For the second time, the Court declines to act immediately to protect these women from grave and irreparable harm."

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. initially provided a fourth vote for blocking the law, saying it required additional judicial scrutiny. "The statutory scheme before the court is not only unusual, but unprecedented," he wrote. He would have allowed more time for courts to consider "whether a state can avoid responsibility for its laws in such a manner."

After the suit brought by abortion providers was turned away, the Justice Department got involved, suing Texas on behalf of those who it said were being denied their constitutional rights. A federal district judge agreed with the government. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman halted the law, writing, "This court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right."

Two days later, however, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit overruled him and reinstated the law.

The Supreme Court decided to step in before those judges could consider the law's merits.

Beyond not reconsidering Roe or Casey on Monday, the justices are unlikely even to pass judgment on the constitutionality of S.B. 8, focusing instead on the roles of federal courts in the dispute.

But the Justice Department has asked them to invalidate the appeals court action, which would likely allow abortions after six weeks to resume while the litigation continues.
Police in Virginia say a teenage boy was arrested after a handgun was found in his belongings on a high school campus.

A news release issued Friday by the Henrico County Police said that school administrators and a school resource officer received information about a student possessing a gun at J.R. Tucker High School. The student was removed from class and attempted to flee while interacting with the school resource officer. He was later taken into custody without incident.
Arian Schuessler/AP

CHICAGO (AP)  A fireworks show that has nothing to do with the Fourth of July and everything to do with the cosmos is poised to be visible across the northern United States and Europe just in time for Halloween.

On Thursday, the sun launched what is called an X-class solar flare" that was strong enough to spark a high-frequency radio blackout across parts of South America. The energy from that flare is trailed by a cluster of solar plasma and other material called a coronal mass ejection, or CME for short. That's heading toward Earth, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue a warning about a potentially strong geomagnetic storm.
BERNALILLO, N.M. (AP)  Officials in a New Mexico town deny wrongdoing in the installation of a hidden surveillance camera in a police office used by a now-former police sergeant who says her expectation of privacy was violated.

An attorney for the former Bernalillo Police Department sergeant, Monica Torres, has formally notified the town that Torres intends to file a lawsuit alleging violation of a New Mexico law requiring consent from at least one person in a recording, KRQE-TV reported.

Video obtained by KRQE showed a town worker installing the video camera in an air conditioning vent under the direction of Police Chief Broderick Sharp and a police lieutenant when Torres was on vacation in November 2020.

I freaked out, Torres recalled to KRQE about when an office visitor spotted the camera a week or two later. I had changed (clothes) numerous times in there,

KRQE reported that it obtained records of a New Mexico State Police investigation prompted by a complaint by Torres.

Video from the hidden camera showed a male sergeant shutting the door to change clothes inside the office, KRQE reported.

The State Police investigation ended by concluding that no crime had been found. The matter was submitted to the District Attorneys Office of the 13th Judicial District for review. That office said a special prosecutor would decide whether to file charges.

Bernalillo officials said in a statement that the town stands by its policies and would like to state that nothing improper was identified on our end.

Sharp declined to discuss the hidden camera with KRQE because it involved pending litigation, but he told state police agents that the installation of the camera didnt violate any rules.

I know for a fact it wasnt illegal, it wasnt unethical, it wasnt immoral, and these guys all have the (town) policy, Sharp told investigators.

While the office was generally used only by one shift sergeant at a time, Sharp emphasized to state police agents that the office was shared. It's not a private office."

Sharp told agents that he specifically requested placement of a camera with audio in the office because he'd heard there had been problems of theft and fighting in the office.

Torres was fired by Bernalillo after the camera incident over allegedly failing to search a suspect and mischarging the suspect. She denies the allegations and is now a Torrance County deputy.
PHOENIX (AP)  A lawsuit challenging the quality of health care for more than 27,000 people incarcerated in Arizonas prisons is headed to trial Monday after a 6-year-old settlement resolving the case was thrown out by a judge who concluded the state showed little interest in making many of the improvements it promised under the deal.

The decision in mid-July came after the state had already been hit with a total of $2.5 million in contempt of court fines for noncompliance. Judge Roslyn Silver had concluded the fines werent motivating Arizona to comply, faulted the state for making erroneous excuses and baseless legal arguments and said the failure to provide adequate care for prisoners led to suffering and preventable deaths.

Lawyers for the prisoners are asking the judge to take over health care operations in state-run prisons, appoint an official to run medical and mental health services there, ensure prisons have enough health care workers and reduce the use of isolation cells, including banning their use for prisoners under age 18 or those with serious mental illnesses.

In court papers this week, the attorneys said Arizonas prison health care operations are understaffed and poorly supervised, routinely deny access to some necessary medications, fail to provide adequate pain management for end-stage cancer patients and others, and dont meet the minimum standards for mental health care.

So much of the death and suffering that our experts found was completely preventable, said Corene Kendrick, one of the attorneys for the prisoners. And if there had been interventions earlier, we wouldnt have people suffering permanent injury and death  including death by suicide and death by medical conditions that were ignored for all too long. But by the time the person got the care or treatment they needed, it was too late. Its an all too common story.

The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry declined a request to comment on the trial.

In court records, the agency has denied allegations that it was providing inadequate care, delayed or issued outright denials of care and failed to give necessary medications.

The case will be decided by Silver, not a jury.

When questioned in the past about the courts actions against the state for noncompliance in the case, Gov. Doug Ducey has said he wants state agency directors  not judges  running state agencies.

A court-appointed expert has concluded that understaffing, inadequate funding and privatization of health care services are significant barriers in improving health care in Arizonas prisons.

The case was settled in 2014 just days before it was headed to trial. Another settlement isnt expected.

The lawsuit alleges the state didnt meet the basic requirements for providing adequate medical and mental health care for prisoners. Some prisoners complained that their cancer went undetected or that they were told to pray to be cured after begging for treatment, the lawsuit said. It also said the failure of the medical staff at one prison to diagnose a prisoners metastasized cancer resulted in his liver enlarging so much that his stomach swelled to the size of a pregnant woman at full term. Another prisoner who had a history of prostate cancer had to wait more than two years for a biopsy.

The case challenges health care in state-run prisons, not in the private prisons where the state houses 7,500 other people.

In the nine years since it was filed, the lawsuit has cost the state $20 million, including $10 million for attorneys defending prison officials and $8.1 million for lawyers who pressed the case on behalf of prisoners, according to records.
Leon Keith

To the dismay of millions of children -- and the parents trying to keep them busy and cope with their anguish -- the popular gaming platform Roblox crashed Friday, and the company was still trying to restore service Saturday.

The scariest part of Halloween this year is Roblox being down, lamented Twitter user @NikilisRBX.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Tyler Daniel says he felt shock and horror when he saw a poster that had the Mississippi State University president's face defaced with an Adolf Hitler mustache, a swastika scrawled in the upper corner.

Another sign on the Starkville campus Tuesday read, Heil State," the s replaced with a swastika. Hail State is fight song and athletic rallying cry for the public institution with about 23,000 students.

We didnt know what those symbols were there to represent," Daniel, president of the campus Jewish students' organization Hillel, told The Associated Press on Friday. We didn't know why they were there  if there was any danger. It was very scary to us.

The 24-year-old Ph.D. student said he found out the signs were part of a protest against a policy mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for university faculty and staff.

The board that governs Mississippi's public universities voted Monday to require that most employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, after an executive order from President Joe Biden mandating vaccination for employees of companies or institutions with federal contracts. Other universities around the U.S. are making similar decisions.

Although about 75% of Mississippi State employees were already vaccinated, the news was not welcomed by some unvaccinated workers.

Daniel said he spoke to the protester who held the sign with the defaced photo of Mississippi State President Mark Keenum. He said the man told him a vaccine mandate is akin to Nazism. Daniel said he explained why it was offensive and frightening to students, and they were able to come to a place of understanding.

Its just so important to have patience, and have understanding, be strong, and condemn things that are wrong, Daniel said. When youre approached by those who did the wrong thing, you have to take the time to talk to them and help explain to them why what they did was wrong.

Daniel and other Hillel board members released a statement saying COVID-19 safety requirements are not at all akin to the horrors of Nazism, and those horrors must not be belittled in this way.

To those who posted the signs, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the egregiousness of the Holocaust in order to understand why the inclusion of Nazi imagery is unreservedly inappropriate in your political messaging, it read.

Daniel said the Jewish population at Mississippi State, although small, is active and vibrant. He said anti-Semitism is rare on campus, and his organization feels supported by the community.

Mississippi State spokesman Sid Salter told the AP that about 30 to 35 protesters took to Drill Field, a green space in the center of campus, on Tuesday. He said school officials believe participants were a mix of Mississippi State employees, outsiders and students.

Most of the signs did not reference Nazism. The sign with the Keenum photo was being held by a member of the crowd, Daniel said. A few others were strewn around Research Park, home to several research institutions.

Mississippi State Department of Forestry research associate Mark Murphy, who did not use Nazi symbols during the protest, said he apologized to Daniel.

"We had no control over who attended or who made what sign," Murphy wrote in an email. "That was and is not our message. We are against this unconstitutional mandate and nothing else."

Salter said the university does not interfere with people exercising free speech on campus, even if the free speech is sometimes offensive.

The response from Keenum was swift and clear.

I condemn the use of these images in that setting  in any setting  on the MSU campus or anywhere, Keenum wrote in a letter to Hillel. There is no place for such egregious displays.

___

Leah Willingham 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.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  A Kansas labor leader on Friday compared President Joe Bidens COVID-19 vaccine mandates to the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews, and a top Republican lawmaker seemed to agree with the comparison.

The comments from Kansas House health committee Chair Brenda Landwehr, of Wichita, and Cornell Beard, the president of the Wichita district of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers came as a legislative committee launched an effort to find ways for the state to fight Biden's policies.

Bidens mandates could affect as many as 100 million people, including health care workers, employees of government contractors and employees in companies with more than 100 workers.

Beard, who is Black, gave the committee a written statement accusing people who won't work with others who are not vaccinated of "preserving and perpetuating the ideology of a modern-day racist.

Were basically saying youre the modern-day Jew, Beard told the committee in person. Youre gonna wear that star  and we dont give a damn if you complain about it or not.

Beard, who said he's vaccinated, referred to the yellow star that the Nazi government in Germany forced Jews to wear before and during World War II. Landwehr thanked him for his comments then later said the remarks made during the committee hearing reminded her of comments in a Holocaust documentary suggesting that the Nazis told Germans, Well take you all down a path.

Now do I believe that thats what were trying to do? I hope not. Because this is America and I dont want to lose hope in it, she said.

No one on the committee objected to the analogy during the committee's meeting. Democratic Rep. Vic Miller, of Topeka, said afterward that he didn't get the reference.

Rabbi Moti Rieber, executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action, called the comparison between the Holocaust and vaccine mandates "odious and historically ignorant and offensive.

Its absurd to even say it, he said. Nobodys going to be put into prison. Nobodys going to be sent to concentration camps."

The Kansas City area's Jewish Community Relations Bureau put a statement on its Facebook page calling such comparisons sickening displays of ignorance and antisemitism.

"This is Holocaust distortion, and it has no place in the legislature," the statement said.

The legislative panel  the joint Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates  heard a day of testimony, most of it from critics of the mandates. Republican lawmakers already have concluded that Bidens mandates violate peoples liberties and will damage the economy. Their goal is to find ways for Kansas to resist effectively.

The committee plans to have another daylong hearing Saturday and to wrap up its work by Thanksgiving.

During Friday's hearing, Beard described himself as a conservative Democrat, and he has criticized Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly for not making public statements about the mandates. Her office has said Kansas still has not seen all of the details from the Biden administration.

Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican who serves on the committee, said the comparison to the Holocaust shows that for vaccine mandate critics, They feel like its life and death.

The Republican president of the West Virginia Senate, a GOP Maine House member and the Oklahoma Republican Party in recent months likened vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany, an infamous Nazi doctor who did experiments on Jews and the persecution of Jewish people by the Nazis.

Last year, a Kansas county Republican Party chairman who owns a weekly newspaper apologized for a cartoon posted on the papers Facebook page that equated an order from Kelly to wear masks in public with the Holocaust.

After Friday's committee meeting, Landwehr denied to reporters that she compared vaccine mandates to the Holocaust and again mentioned the documentary.

I took offense to, We all should follow down a path, she said. And having just gone through a documentary over the whole Holocaust, it brought me back to thinking of the Jews being marched to the incinerators.

___

Andy Tsubasa Field 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.

____

On Twitter, follow John Hanna at https://twitter.com/apjdhanna and Andy Tsubasa Field at https://twitter.com/AndyTsubasaF
FAIRFAX, Vt. (AP)  Some Vermont school districts are using electric school buses this fall as part of a pilot project to test their effectiveness.

Gov. Phil Scott and education leaders celebrated the introduction of four electric buses in Fairfax on Thursday with more expected to arrive next month. The buses also being used by the Champlain Valley School District and the Barre Unified Union District will start using them next month.
Marin County will Monday lift a local mask mandate requiring face coverings in indoor public places, county health officials announced Friday.

While the mandate ends at noon Monday, masks are still recommended, according to Dr. Matt Willis, the county's public health officer. Also, the change doesn't affect state requirements for unvaccinated individuals, school settings, businesses or organizations requiring face coverings.

"Face covering has been and will remain a critical tool for preventing spread of the virus," Willis said in a statement. "The mandate helped get us through the fourth wave, but as the local picture improves, we're shifting from a legal mandate to local recommendation."

The change is part of the process of "tiptoeing back toward normalcy," the public health officer said.

Marin's mask mandate was put in place August 2 as part of a Bay Area-wide public health response to the surge in cases related to the Delta variant. On October 7, Bay Area counties established criteria for lifting county-level mask mandates. Marin County met the criteria on October 29, county officials said.

The vaccination rate is above 80 percent, hospitalizations declined and remained low and Marin maintained 21 consecutive days of moderate level data on the Centers for Disease Control's Community Transmission Tracker, according to the county.

Residents are asked to continue respecting businesses, agencies and other entities that may choose to continue requiring face coverings indoors for everyone, including those who are vaccinated.

In a similar move, Alameda County residents will be allowed to eschew masks in some indoor settings starting Monday, thanks to declining coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the county.

Alameda County health officials announced the change Thursday.

Eligible Alameda County settings include controlled spaces closed to the public such as offices, gyms, employee commuter vehicles, and other places, such as churches, where groups gather on a regular basis.

No more than 100 people can gather without masks, everyone must be free of COVID-19 symptoms and the host organization, such as the church or business, must verify that everyone attending is fully vaccinated.

The city of Berkeley is also easing masking requirements Monday in a similar way as Alameda County. Contra Costa, San Francisco, Marin, and Sonoma counties have eased masking requirements in similar ways recently.

Copyright  2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
The hit HBO series "Succession" chronicles the lives, loves, and intrigues of a tyrannical media baron and his scheming progeny.

Considering the fictional family's power and wealth, it's no surprise that many scenes are shot in some of New York City's toniest properties. Take this regal residence in the Woolworth Tower Residences, which is now on the market for $23,335,000.

In the early episodes of the third season, this luxe apartment serves as the digs of Kendall Roys ex-wife, where the rebellious Kendall creates a war room to plot against his father, Logan. He huddles there for some time with his attorneys, his new girlfriend, and his feckless cousin Greg. It's a good thing this 6,711-square-foot unit offers plenty of space for them all.

Great room of luxe Manhattan condo where scenes from "Succession" were shot Realtor.com

Kendall Roy, right, played by Jeremy Stone, with his ex-wife, Rava (Natalie Gold) HBO

A mansion in the sky, the tasteful five-bedroom home sits on the 29th floor and features an additional 2,770 square feet of terrace space.

Other grand-scale highlights include 22-foot ceilings illuminated by six skylights, as well as a floating spiral staircase that leads up to the mezzanine and rooftop deck.

The property is located in the Tribeca neighborhood, and the views from the decks and windows may be among its most luxurious features.

Deck Realtor.com

The glorious kitchen is filled with luxury brand names: sparkling white custom Dada cabinetry, Calacatta Caldia marble countertops, as well as Miele appliances, including a full-sized wine fridge and two dishwashers. For dining in, there's a sizable island and a convenient butler's pantry.

Kitchen Realtor.com

A library/media room off the great room provides a private space to read or watch television, while an office with a wet bar will accommodate a top exec in style.

Library/media room Realtor.com

Most of the bedrooms have French doors that open on terraces, but the master suite comes with two sets of French doors. It also features a "morning kitchen," a large walk-in closet, and a generous bathroom with a steam shower, a free-standing soaking tub, and floors with radiant heat.

Master suite Realtor.com

Bedroom Realtor.com

Set designers usually have to glam up a property for the purposes of filming, but in this case, it looks as if they had to take it down a notch.

As a prime example, they added floral drapes to the arched living room windows.

Great room as it is today Realtor.com

Great room as it appeared in "Succession" Realtor.com

They also switched out the dining-room furniture and artwork for more humble pieces at a smaller scale.

This may have been to accommodate the needs of the camera crew and lights, and because the white upholstery was probably safer out of the range of all the cast members.

Dining room as it is Realtor.com

Dining room as it appeared on "Succession." Realtor.com

If the hit drama had deigned to shoot the exteriors at the tower, it would have been equally as impressive.

The building was commissioned by the retail mogul Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1910, just 31 years after his first five-and-dime store opened. It served as the F.W. Woolworth corporate headquarters for decades, and its neo-Gothic design became an icon on the New York skyline, receiving the distinction of becoming a National Historic Landmark.

No longer a building for big business, it's been transformed into the chic Woolworth Tower Residences. Resident amenities include a lounge, pool, fitness studio, wine cellar and tasting room, white-glove concierge service, a private lobby, and even on-site parking.

However, if you want to live like an international media mogul, you'll have to spend like an international media mogul. In addition to monthly mortgage payments, there's a sizable monthly homeowners association fee.

Units in this building have proven popular. In addition to this one, only one other property in the building is currently availablethe six-story, unfinished penthouse, on the market for $79 million. Kind of makes this place sound like a bargain, doesn't it?

The post Luxe Manhattan Condo Featured in 'Succession' Season 3 Available for $23.3M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
The N3 Ranch, a gem of the natural world with plentiful wildlife, streams and land for grazing, stretches across 50,500 acres in the East Bay, making it nearly double the size of San Francisco.

The ranch was recently sold to Bill Brown, the founder of Walnut Creek's Central Garden and Pet Company, as well as his foundation, the William Brown Foundation, according to Todd Renfrew, who brokered the sale, which closed Monday.

The new owners intend to preserve the storied history of the ranch and ensure its "protection from urban encroachment ... while preserving the ranch's diverse ecosystem," according to a press release.

The property was listed at $68 million. A sale price was not disclosed.

Not everyone is pleased that the ranch will continue to serve as grazing land for cattle. Many, including state Sen. Steve Glazer and California State Parks, had pushed to see the huge landmass, which spans Alameda, San Joaquin, Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties, converted into a park for public use.

California State Parks and the Newsom Administration remain committed to establishing a new state park in California. The park will be inclusive and support equitable access for all Californians," the California State Parks told SFGATE via statement.



"State Parks is hopeful that the stated goal of the new owner of the N3 Ranch to protect the ranch from 'urban encroachment and future development' will result in a place where future generations can enjoy its pristine beauty.

Glazer did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but noted in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle (SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently of one another) that he was "disappointed that we were not able to acquire this special property.

"But," he added, "we will not be deterred in our enduring mission to purchase and protect Bay Area open space lands for the benefit of nature and the enjoyment of our residents.

The huge landmass includes meadows, oak forests and lakes and features terrain ranging in elevation from 800 feet to 4,000 feet. It has been owned by the same family of cattle ranchers, the Vickers and Naftzger families, for 85 years, according to the press release.

Brown, a fifth-generation Californian whose family has been involved in cattle ranching since the 1850s, touted his commitment to "preserving ranch lands in California" via a statement.

It is humbling to be able to purchase this historic ranch and I consider it an honor to preserve its future, protect the land and watersheds, and maintain this amazing property, he said.
A Bay Area man was accused of sexually assaulting a passenger on a Monday flight from Sacramento to Denver.

According to a criminal complaint first obtained by KXTL in Sacramento, the suspect, 26-year-old Robert Earl Glasper III of Oakland, was arrested in Denver after allegedly touching a passenger and masturbating openly during the flight while under the influence.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado, said Glasper grabbed the male passengers buttocks and repeatedly put his hand on top of the Victims left leg and firmly cupped his leg.

Glasper also allegedly attempted to hold the victims hand and asked to jerk him off, the complaint said. When the flight reached cruising altitude, the suspect reportedly asked to switch seats with the victim to be closer to a third passenger on the same row. The victim refused, all the while appearing paralyzed and deeply uncomfortable, according to a statement in the criminal complaint obtained from a separate witness across the aisle.

Ummm this guy is really handsy and a creep, read a message from the victim shown to the third passenger, per the complaint.

Glasper later began masturbating on the flight and exposed himself to the victim, the complaint alleged.

The witness then asked a flight attendant to seat both themselves and the victim away from Glasper. The witness said the victim was crying later in his new seat.

It is unclear on which airline the alleged assault took place. A report by travel blog One Mile at a Time speculated that, due to the timing and location of the flight, the incident likely took place on a Southwest or United flight.

A Southwest spokesperson told SFGATE that the airline is unaware of any such incident taking place on one of its flights; a United spokesperson did not immediately respond to SFGATE.

If convicted of sexual assault, the man could face up to two years in prison, KTXL reports.

This individual is not noted jazz pianist Robert Glasper, who is 43 years old.
37-year-old Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Thi Ngoc Thuy

Many private corporations have lately stepped up investment in higher education. However, once the investor chases profits, disrespects the pedagogical team, the relationship between investors and the management team is not good and many conflicts arise. Since then, the quality of training and the educational environment have also been significantly affected even though the school has invested a lot in facilities and human resources.

In the last five years, when well-known investors have poured money into private universities, they will carefully select a principal who is responsible for the academic performance, administration and public image of their school. Many famous teachers at public universities are top priorities to attract more learners and have schools good development strategy. However, if the principal for some reason fails the requirements of the investor, investors will soon find a replacement for them.



Investors have usually invited retired principals of public schools or famous educationists with Ph.D. degrees to be principals of private facilities.



According to a professor of Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City, there are three existing styles of invitation for principals of private universities in Vietnam presently.



The first is the family-style. This means investor meets the statutory requirements to be a principal and then continues letting their children inherit the career; such as Duy Tan University, Binh Duong University. The professor believed that such an option is still long because it does not violate current regulations.



Second, investors are looking for employees who are retired public school principals to invite them to work as principals. This model is quite popular nowadays. According to an investor, this doesnt violate the regulations and investors can hire experienced and capable principals.



Third, investors have both recruited principals who have retired for a while and trained several young teachers for a gradual replacement.



According to a consultant of a private university in Ho Chi Minh City, the investor's goal will determine the person chosen as a school principal. Every investor is interested in profit, but they have a different vision. If investors have a good vision of the school, they will support a principal with a long-term view, a methodical strategy that will help build the school into a prestigious institution.



Any principal that does not do well with these requirements, an investor will find a replacement for them. In contrast, investors with a short-term view, only focusing on profits, are often interested in how to recruit students well, open more facilities, buy more schools to expand the market and real estate. property, regardless of the input point and facilities investment or the training of young lecturers and science and technology transfer.



It doesn't matter who a principal is and whatever the model, they must follow investors direction. In recent years, principals of private universities have been constantly replaced. This is a rare phenomenon since the establishment of private schools during the past 32 years.



The Council of Hoa Sen University on July 12 decided to appoint 37-year-old Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Thi Ngoc Thuy, former Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, as the school principal from August 1, 2021.



With the appointment of a new acting rector, Hoa Sen University has had five replacements of principals within just five years. Specifically, in 2014, after prolonged scandals, Dr. Bui Tran Phuong resigned as principal, and Dr. Luu Tien Hiep was appointed as a principal by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on January 17, 2017.



In July 2018, Assoc. Prof-Dr. Tran Dan Thu, Dean of Faculty of Information Technology, University of Natural Sciences under the National University of Ho Chi Minh City was the next principal of Hoa Sen University. In the second half of 2018, Nguyen Hoang Group acquired all shares and reorganized Hoa Sen University's activities. By December 2018, Professor-Dr. Mai Hong Quy, former Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Law was appointed as Rector. In March 2020, Ms. Quy resigned, and Assoc. Prof-Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Dien was appointed as the principal of this school.



In September 2014, the higher education community in the country was stirred up by the news that 35-year-old Dr. Dam Quang Minh was appointed Rector of FPT University. At that time, a young person under 45 years old as a university president was unprecedented. But only two years later, Dr. Dam Quang Minh left the position.



After becoming the main investor of Hong Bang International University, Nguyen Hoang Group has invited Assoc. Prof. Thai Ba Can, former principal of HCMC University of Technology and Education to be principal of this university for the tenure 2015-2020. At the end of his term, Mr. Can became Deputy General Director in charge of the university division of this corporation and was succeeded by Assoc. Professor Ho Thanh Phong from October 2018. By April 2021, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ho Thanh Phong left the position. Another school of the group, Gia Dinh University, has just replaced principal Dr. Ha Huu Phuc by Associate Professor Vo Tri Hao.

By Thanh Hung - Translated by Dan Thuy
Sharon, PA (16146)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 32F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 32F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
You are now listening to the sounds of the New Generation. A podcast created for those who desire a new way of gaining information rather than reading a traditional newspaper. In our show we will discuss everything from sports, pop culture, politics, and local news. To stay up to date on our latest episodes every week be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast service. And dont worry, we keep it short.
SHELTON  Nine Republicans may be running for the Board of Education, but it is five Democrats hoping to gain control of the GOP-led board this Election Day.

Incumbent Democrats Kate Kutash, Patti Moonan and Diana Meyer are joined on the ballot by Lorraine Rossner and Joan Littlefield. The five, known among their supporters as the Lady Ds, hope to wrest control of the board on Nov. 2.

On the Republican side, the five incumbents  chair Kathy Yolish, James Orazietti, John Fitzgerald, Amy Romano and Carl Rizzo  are joined by RTC-endorsed candidates Jim Feehan, Joseph Pagliaro, Jr., Michael Mainiero and Darlisa Ritter, who was a board member until two years ago.

Sheltons city charter gives the majority five seats, with the minority  no matter how many end up among the top nine vote-getters  getting four seats. In the 2019 municipal election, eight of the top nine vote-recipients were Republicans.

The hot topic remains the buses, with the boards three-year contract with the city-owned Shelton Student Transportation Service concluding after this school year. And the divide on the partnership breaks down along party lines.

Kutash, a board member since 2009, calls the looming close of the contract the biggest issue facing the new board  no matter the political leadership.

There are those that say this alliance has saved the BOE money, Kutash said, However the city bus company has not been forthcoming with line-by-line detail on the costs they have incurred to run the buses in the last three years.

Kutash said the bus company, lauded by Mayor Mark Lauretti as a model for the state, frequently misses runs, sporting events and students.

I feel when we go out to bid in January, we need to not only consider the proposed costs by bidders but the quality of service and of vehicles to transport our students, Kutash said. A city run bus company may not be in the best interests of our pockets, or of providing reliable, safe transportation.

Rossner, recently retired assistant superintendent and longtime staple of the school district, said the city should get out of the school bus business as soon as possible.

This is a huge expense and investment by the city for a transportation system that is a huge responsibility and is probably not as profitable as originally thought, Rossner said. The city and the taxpayers do not need the current financial burden of running a bus company and the city definitely does not need the economic burden of maintaining and fixing an aging fleet of buses that are approaching the end of their shelf life.

Republican hopefuls, however, see a financial benefit to maintaining the partnership with the city for student transportation.

Orazietti said the bus company has come under a tremendous amount of unfair political biased criticism, as evident by surrounding towns sending out messages of unavailable bus service.

The Republican ticket insists that Shelton Student Transportation Service has saved millions of dollars that can be redirected to the classroom.

Our city has proven once again that in-house services are very cost effective and allow us to retain control of the costs and expenses, Pagliaro said.

Rizzo said the board and city have also made a significant investment in the new routing and GPS technology by the city and BOE will allow for a more user-friendly, higher level of service starting early next year.

The investments made in new technologies and software will dramatically improve the transportation experience by bringing more predictability, safety and peace of mind to everyone who relies on a city school bus, Rizzo said.

Romano said that when the time comes to discuss a new bus contract, the board will need to look at cost combined with performance.

I feel a bit apprehensive on how these other bus companies could even perform as they are experiencing the same if not more shortages, as they service multiple towns, Romano said. It will certainly be a topic that will require collaborative conversations and decisions based on these factors and possibly more.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)  The University of Florida is prohibiting three professors from providing expert testimony in a lawsuit challenging a new law that critics claim restricts voting rights, saying it goes against the school's interest by conflicting with the administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Though the decision is being criticized as threat to academic freedom and free speech, the university said in a statement Saturday that allowing professors Dan Smith, Michael McDonald and Sharon Austin to serve as paid experts for plaintiffs challenging the law would be adverse to the universitys interests as a state of Florida institution."

The University of Florida has a long track record of supporting free speech and our facultys academic freedom, and we will continue to do so," the statement said.

Lawyers for a coalition of civic groups challenging the law said in court papers Friday that the professors were told by the university that their expert testimony would dissent from the administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, creating a conflict for the school.

UF will deny its employees requests to engage in outside activities when it determines the activities are adverse to its interests. As UF is a state actor, litigation against the state is adverse to UFs interests," according to an email from an assistant vice president at the university to McDonald that was filed with the court documents.

Another university official said in an email to Smith that outside activities that may pose a conflict of interest to the executive branch of the State of Florida create a conflict for the University of Florida."

Attorneys for the professors said Saturday that they would take legal action claiming violations of the First Amendment and academic freedom if the school doesn't reverse the decision.

The university cannot silence the professors on matters of great public importance. These professors are citizens entitled to participate in the marketplace of ideas," attorneys Paul Donnelly and Conor Flynn said in a letter to a university lawyer. These unlawful restrictions are shameful, and could very well deter top scholars from joining UFs ranks."

The legal director of the ACLU of Florida, writing on behalf of Smith, said the professor was acting as a private citizen and his testimony would be crucial to the public in understanding one of their most valuable rights."

But perhaps most importantly, UF simply should not be looking to Governor DeSantis to decide which speech activities it will permit its employees and students to engage in," the ACLU's Daniel Tilley wrote to university officials.

Like universities elsewhere, the University of Florida routinely allows its professors to testify in cases in which they can provide expertise, and Smith has previously testified in voting rights cases in Florida.

In its statement, the University of Florida said the decision not to let the professors perform outside paid work wasnt denying them their First Amendment rights or academic freedom.

Lawyers for the coalition of civic groups are trying to get testimony from the governor about his role in the formation of the new law, but administration attorneys are fighting the attempt. The new law limits how vote-by-mail drop boxes can be used, requires voters to ask for a vote-by-mail ballot and prohibits non-poll workers from giving food or drink to voters waiting in line.

Two weeks ago, on the day he found out he wouldnt be able to provide testimony, Smith tweeted an image of Hannah Arendts classic book The Origins of Totalitarianism.

Dusting this classic off the bookshelf for some light weekend reading, Smith wrote.

For his part, McDonald on Friday night tweeted a video of Tom Petty singing, I won't back down." He and his colleagues are the faculty being denied our constitutional right to free speech by the university," he wrote.

___

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP
Page Content

Health care and health care-related employers have not just been at the heart of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, they have also recently been on the battleground in the fight over mandatory vaccination.

Multiple states and locales have enacted some form of a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirement. Many of these vaccination mandates are directed at health care workers and state employees. These mandates vary by locality as to where the mandates apply, to whom the mandates apply and in what contexts, and when exemptions apply. And, of course, the federal mandates announced in September 2021 loom in the background.

Some of the recent COVID-19 vaccination mandates allow for weekly testing as an accommodation for anyone who does not want to be vaccinated, regardless of whether an individual qualifies for an exemption. Other mandates allow only for a testing alternative as an accommodation for individuals who cannot be vaccinated due to medical conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs.

Two states, New York and Rhode Island, have mandates that recognize accommodations for medical conditions, but they are silent as to accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs, leaving employers with a lack of clarity around how to comply with the mandates while being mindful of employers' duty to accommodate under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and state laws.

Complying with all of these mandates, in particular for health care and health care-related employers, is already confusing, but a recent federal court ruling in Rhode Island provided a little guidance for employers attempting to interpret their duties under the mandates.

Rhode Island's Regulation Requiring COVID-19 Vaccination for Healthcare Workers

On Aug. 17, Rhode Island adopted Emergency Regulation 216 RICR 20-15-8. The regulation provides, among other things, the following:

By Oct. 1, "subject to a medical exemption," both health care workers and providers are required to be fully vaccinated and health care facilities are required to deny entry to any health care worker or provider who is not.

Those health care workers "subject to a medical exemption" must be tested twice weekly for COVID-19 and "wear a procedure mask or higher-grade mask" while working.

Given that the regulation failed to mention anything about religious exemptions and only listed medical exemptions, many believed that the regulation simply ruled out religious exemptions. This left health care and health care-affiliated employers with an untenable quandary: follow the mandate and risk Title VII lawsuits or allow for religious accommodations and risk the penalties associated with violating the regulation.

It is of note, however, that while the regulation is silent about religious exemptions, it has two important features: (1) the regulation announces up front that it is meant to be "in addition to compl[iance] with state and federal laws or regulations" and (2) while the drafters of the regulation addressed medical exemptions, they did not state that medical was the only type of exemption, leaving the possibility of unmentioned other exemptions, such as religious exemptions. This is the precise part of the regulation that the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island relied upon when it recently denied plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order.



Featured Resource Center

COVID-19 Vaccination Resources



The Lawsuit

A class of health care workers recently brought a lawsuit, Dr. T. v. McKee, against the governor and the director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged, among other things, that by failing to provide for a religious exemption, the mandate had operated to discriminate against them based on their religious beliefs and in conflict with Title VII's requirement for religious accommodation in employment. The plaintiffs moved for a temporary restraining order and/or a preliminary injunction enjoining Rhode Island from enforcing the state vaccine mandate against any entity allowing religious accommodations, or anyone who would otherwise request and qualify for a religious accommodation.

In its Sept. 30, order, after a hearing, the court refused to rule on the motion for a preliminary injunction and denied the plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order. Generally, the court denied the motion since plaintiffs could not meet their central burden of showing a likelihood of success on the merits.

The court's specific holdings, while still preliminary, are instructive. The court noted that for more than 100 years, vaccination mandates, such as Rhode Island's, have been upheld as precisely the types of generally applicable laws that are constitutionally valid expressions of a state's police power, specifically not in violation of the right to free exercise of religion under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or the equal protection clause under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Recognizing that the regulation was silent as to religious accommodation, the court stated, "Nothing in the language [of the mandate] prevents any employer from providing a reasonable accommodation to an employee who seeks one in accord with their sincerely held religious beliefs. Indeed, the Regulation is silent on the issue of religious exemptions." Pointing out that a religious accommodation "does not have to be the best accommodation possible" under Title VII, the court went further and reasoned that even if the mandate somehow made it harder to provide a religious accommodation, that alone would not make it a "'physical impossibility'" to accommodate and so the mandate was not in conflict with Title VII.

The court reasoned that even if the regulation made religious accommodation more difficult than a medical accommodation, that fact by itself did not prove that reasonable accommodation for sincerely held religious beliefs was "physically impossible," as would be required to show preemption. The court pointed out that the regulation does not require a termination of employment. Instead, under the Rhode Island regulation, health care and health care-affiliated employers are required only to deny entry to their facilities, and only to unvaccinated individuals who come into contact with patients or infectious agents. The court reasoned that this left open the possibility for employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with religious objections to COVID-19 vaccinations.

What Does This All Mean for Health Care Employers?

The result in Rhode Island is only a district court ruling on a motion for a temporary restraining order. The plaintiffs in the case can still move for a preliminary injunction after putting more evidence in the record. Notwithstanding that, health care and health care affiliated employers can take away the following caveats when confronted with a difficult-to-interpret mandate:

Even where a mandate looks as if it does not permit accommodations, employers may want to look again at the mandate's definitions and provisionsoftentimes they, like the Rhode Island regulation, leave open the possibility that unspecified accommodations are available.

Employers may want to be on the lookout for clauses in mandates stating that the mandates are meant to be in compliance with state and federal law. Such clauses may reasonably be deemed to incorporate all of Title VII's requirements.

Accommodations for religious beliefs need not be the same as accommodations for medical conditions. Employers have a less demanding burden to show undue hardship for a religious accommodation than for a medical accommodation.

Unfortunately, many mandates were written quickly and are confusing, which can make it hard for employers to develop compliant policies. The good news is that developing case law is beginning to address how to interpret state and local mandates.

Janice G. Dubler is an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Philadelphia. Sean J. Oliveira is an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Philadelphia in St. Louis.  2021 Ogletree Deakins. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission.
Rabat, Oct 30 (IANS) The total number of people fully vaccinated against the Covid-19 in Morocco reached 22,012,820, representing more than 70 per cent of the target population, the Moroccan Ministry of Health said.

So far, a total of 24,177,909 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Morocco, as well as 1,372,951 third booster shots, said the Ministry in a statement.
Actor Vishal has said that he will never work with Mysskin.

"Though he is not angry about me, I can't say the same about him. Yes, I agree that he is one of the directors who sculpted me as an actor but what he did to me in Thupparivaalan 2 is a pure betrayal. I've invested more than ten crores in the film. When Mysskin messaged me and asked to do the film with some other director, I was shattered and sat on the platform of the streets in London. Mysskin's brother was supposed to travel throughout the film but he refused to send him. Now, I have completely reworked the script. You are going to witness the new Vishal from now", said the actor in his recent interaction.
"Nintendo of America headquarters are in Redmond, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia," the company confirmed in a statement to The Verge.

San Francisco, Oct 30 (IANS) Japanese gaming giant Nintendo has confirmed that it is closing its Redwood City, California and Toronto, Canada offices.

"We are moving more of our employees and operations into those headquarters and will be closing small satellite offices in Toronto, Ontario, and Redwood City, California, over time," it added.

Devon Pritchard, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs and Publisher Relations for Nintendo of America (NOA), will assume interim leadership of Sales, Marketing and Communications following the departure of Nick Chavez.

Pritchard will oversee strategy and execution of sales, marketing and communications across the US and Canada.

Kotaku reports that about 100 employees have been displaced in the Redwood City offices as a result of the decision.

Nintendo declined to comment on how many employees would be affected by the move, but its statement does suggest some employees will be able to relocate. It's not clear why the offices are being closed, the report said.

The Redwood City office is still shown on a map of Nintendo's office locations on the company's jobs website.

"Here you will find the Sales and Marketing departments, as well as NMI, a dedicated merchandising field team who work with retail stores across the country," a description reads.

The Toronto office is also still on the site, described as a "sales office for NOCL".

Given that the Redwood City office was focused on sales, marketing and merchandising, it likely won't affect the development of Nintendo's games or hardware, the report said.

Most of Nintendo's games are developed overseas, though it also has developer Retro Studios in Texas, it added.

The closure comes just weeks after the launch of the Nintendo Switch with an OLED screen and Metroid Dread, one of Nintendo's biggest games of the year.

--IANS

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Here are five other landmark corporate brand transformations, and how experts say they stack up to Facebooks renaming. Andersen Consulting becomes Accenture - 2001 Andersen Consulting was legally required to take a new name after splitting from its sibling professional services firms Andersen Worldwide and Arthur Andersen. But its move to Accenture is hailed by branding experts as the gold standard for renaming, Adamson said. Andersen Consultings rebranding to Accenture is hailed by branding experts as the gold standard for renaming, Credit:Renee Nowytarger The name is catchy - which always helps - but executives of the rebranded firm immediately outspent competitors on advertising to make Accenture a household name, Adamson said. The Andersen companies were thought of as legacy accounting firms. Accenture leaned into its 21st century provenance and billed itself as a forward-thinking competitor to power players McKinsey and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Arthur Andersen, its brand was accounting, it was about telling you what already happened, Adamson said. Consulting is telling you what the future holds. Google becomes Alphabet - 2015 The worlds dominant search engine spent the early 2010s aggressively branching into other technology services and product lines: Android smartphones, Waymo autonomous electric vehicles, Calico life sciences, and more. Consumers still largely know the company by its old name Google, but Alphabet has been a success with investors. Credit:AP The Google name, Ricca said, was not elastic enough to cover all of the corporations businesses. It needed a holding vessel that told investors Google was about more than typing something into a search bar. And the Alphabet name has meaning, too: alphabet is the core of language and represents Googles search origins, company co-founder Larry Page said; it also alludes to the companys bets on ambitious products that could create alphas, or returns above investment.

Ricca said the Alphabet name has done its job. Its a strong brand for investors and gives its subsidiaries uniting themes. Under the best circumstances for Facebook, its Meta brand will follow a similar trajectory. To investors, youre essentially seeking a higher multiplier by saying, as an organisation, were headed to another future that has lower risk and higher opportunities than the current business as you know it, Ricca said. A new name to reflect that is important. Youre trying to use the name to tell a better story to investors. Kraft creates Mondelez - 2012 Kraft Foods in 2012 had two branches of food products. The first was its low-growth, but revenue-steady grocery division, which sold brands including Velveeta, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Oscar Mayer. Its snack division included rapid growth brands such as Oreo cookies, Cadbury chocolates and Ritz crackers. Mondelez left its products names unchanged, holding on to household brands such as Kraft and Cadbury. Credit:Kraft/YouTube

Shareholders chose the name Mondelez - a name concocted by employees and meant to evoke the words for world and delicious in Romance languages - to spin off its snack business. The spinoff went over well, Adamson said. It was transparently aimed at Wall Street; consumers could still buy Oreos and Ritz crackers in the same packaging and employees still made the same products in mostly the same factories. To investors, Adamson said, the name Mondelez conveyed the companys ambitions: spread delicious snacks all over the globe. British Petroleum becomes Beyond Petroleum - 2001 The company is still known almost universally as BP, but its rebrand to de-emphasise its fossil fuel holdings was a well-conceived, but poorly-executed effort, Adamson said. Beyond Petroleum? BPs new branding didnt reflect its business strategy. Credit:AP

BP, he said, did not move swiftly enough to expand its renewable energy practice, and even as it did make renewable investments, they were not well publicised. It left both investors and consumers muddled on what the company truly stood for. Loading And then, of course, its Deepwater Horizon oil rig in 2010 was responsible for what many consider to be the largest marine oil spill in American history. The catastrophe, Adamson said, flew in the face of the companys overtures about investing in renewables. By 2013, it announced that it had divested of its wind-power assets and doubled down on oil and gas extraction. If youre going to change your name, make sure you have a business plan, and you can deliver on that product, Adamson said.

Philip Morris becomes Altria - 2003 The Philip Morris-Altria transition is the worst-case scenario for Facebook, Ricca and Adamson said. Philip Morris, one of the worlds largest tobacco and cigarette producers, took on the name Altria to shield its other brands - including Kraft Foods and Miller Brewing - from negative associations with the tobacco industry. (The company spun off Kraft in 2007 and sold most of its stake in Miller to Anheuser-Busch in 2016). Was Big Tobacco, still is Big Tobacco: Philip Morris rebranding to Altria didnt improve its image. Credit:AP Researchers at the University of California-San Francisco found in a 2003 study that internal Philip Morris documents released as part of litigation discussed for more than a decade changing the name of the company for reputational purposes. Deliberations about a rebranding dated to 1989. The strategy backfired, Ricca and Adamson said. Consumers and investors alike recognise the Altria name as one linked to tobacco and tobacco-caused death and illness, though antismoking advocates played a large role in consumer education.
Over time lesser imaginations, most notably among the federal arts ministers of the 21st century, saw films and the books that bred them not as part of the apparatus of society but a condoned indulgence. Indeed, the new economics put a low price on national tales, for in a globalised world any old tale from any old place, California in particular, would serve. Conservative commentary attacked the idea of Australian quotas on television; they were a cramp on the market. Cate Blanchett, Chris Hemsworth, Rose Byrne and other notable Australian actors were left to lobby Mitch Fifield, the very model of the modern neoconservative when it comes to the arts.

It was an era when states were willing to speculate on films, knowing the craft must be learned but that successes were golden for us. Neville Wran created a NSW Film and Television Office, and Victorias logo also appeared on films. It was an age of enthusiasm in which all things were possible and politicians saw the arts as an extension of identity and part of the business of making Australianness known to the world. Many commentators thought this sudden triumphalism vulgar: Patrick White and the brilliant novelist, New York-based Sydney woman Shirley Hazzard, both thought the strut was as fraudulent as the cringe that came before it, or else thought it was a shallow renaissance.

By 1972 the glamorous and progressive Don Dunstan had emerged as the remaker of the state of South Australia, decriminalising homosexuality, creating the State Theatre and the SA Film Corporation. The name of this first-founded government mechanism for stoking the cinematic energies of Australians would appear on many of the 400 films made between 1970 and 1984, some forgettable but no more so than the film product from other markets. The successes included Sunday Too Far Away, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Storm Boy, Dons Party and The Getting of Wisdom. Hence Dunston had a hand in the emergence of Peter Weir and of Bruce Beresford, and in Breaker Morant and Weirs dazzling film Gallipoli, produced by that woman warrior of Australian producers Pat Lovell, the Miss Pat who also produced Mr Squiggle.

They warned that under a reassessment of the viability of the Australian film industry our screens, little and big, would go over entirely to foreign productions. The question should not have been viability; it should have been what government policy was causing failures. Much smaller nations  Denmark, the Czech Republic, New Zealand and Ireland  had a robust industry.

Cate Blanchett and other Australian actors lobbied Arts Minister Mitch Fifield to protect the countrys screen industry. Credit:AP

Such names as Blanchetts would have once commanded the reverence of arts ministers and prime ministers, but no longer. Fifields idea of the government promoting the film business was to inveigle large productions from America to film in, say, the Gold Coast studios in return for a tax break, thus making Australian technicians the servants in other peoples tales. The actors mentioned above, led by Blanchett, pointed out the film industrys turnover and foreign earnings and its offering of employment to 25,000 workers. Yet the arts never cut a swathe and, again, as with heritage, the actors were selling, as well as the statistics, the imponderable value a citizenry gets from its own vigorous television and film industry, which Fifield, like a sad procession of Liberal arts ministers, was incapable of understanding or finding valuable.

My concern with a series of arts ministers and particularly George Brandis, Mitch Fifield and now Paul Fletcher, is that they have arrogantly aggregated to their own discretion a large part of the arts budget previously distributed at arms length by the panels or committees of the Australia Council for the Arts. That is, they assume the air of satraps, of Habsburg emperors, distributing beneficence, a method that compared to arms-length endowment is gratuitous and subjective. These were the same men, like the governments in which they served, who saw the ABC not as a cultural resource, not as a maker of television drama employing the thousands previously dependent on some mega pea-brained production from elsewhere, as undesirable because somehow they derive from a political enemy.

I think my concerns were reflected by a statement I made in 2019. As an ageing Australian my life has been so enriched (not in the literal but in the immaterial sense) by a genuine arts policy, one that recognises the arts not as a lefty indulgence or a charity but as an industry and a benefit for all classes, all classes, of Australians. I am used to the canard that in matters of the arts those who speak out are feathering their own nests. Let me say I am not a client of the Literature Board of the Australia Council for the Arts. I would not be ashamed to be, but the one time I was given a grant, in 1978, I returned it because I received unexpected income from America (and, by the way, a lot of artists both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, earn foreign income from Australia). Further, may I say that when I was honoured beyond my merits and given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Australia Council, in protest against George Brandis sequestering a great slice of Australia Council moneys to his own unpredictable discretion, I handed the prize back. It went to finance a Literature Board grant to a brilliant novelist in mid-career, and the book written with that prize will soon appear.
I dream big, and if I had not, I wouldnt have gotten here at all, she says. But in my big dreams, I wanted to be a superhero. I wanted to work with the best directors, to have big blockbuster movies, but also movies that are art, that are made from very deep places. You cannot ask for more. But it didnt happen for me. You fight for it in your 20s, in your 30s, and in your 40s, you go, screw them, they dont get it. So its very humbling when, in the middle of your 50s, a brilliant director gives you the opportunity to do both. To do something that comes from a deep place. That its also a big blockbuster. I was wrong. Everything is possible. And when you think about it, Im short with big boobs. Its not the normal superhero. Im not muscular. I dont look like that. I dont have Botox. Im Mexican. Im Lebanese. Im Arab, also. Im in my 50s and they let me do my action movie. For Nanjianis part, Zhao had to play a game of misdirection to secure him, by promising there would be no dancing, even though the script Nanjiani saw contained several Bollywood-inspired sequences. (In the film his character, Kingo, spends part of his eternal life on Earth as a Bollywood star.) Nanjiani tells the story a little differently. I cant swear, so put in a swear word here; Chloe lied to me, Nanjiani says. Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) in Eternals. Credit:Sophie Mutevelian / Marvel Studios When we first talked about the movie, she was like, Theres a Bollywood dance sequence, and I was like, Chloe, I dont think I can do that, so she said, OK, well make it a Bollywood action scene, Nanjiani says. And then as soon as I got to London, she was like, Its a dance sequence. So, I said, Get me a dance teacher right now. And [choreographer] Nileeka Bose was wonderful, and worked with me for months because it was so outside my comfort zone.

For Nanjiani, his wobbly moment over the question of dancing became a metaphor for the entire project: it worked because he surrendered his trust to Zhaos vision. He said he felt excitement initially, then fear. And then after meeting Chloe, I was like, Oh, shes not going to let me suck in this thing. So if she wants me to do something, Im going to do it, because I completely trusted her. Zhao had this whole universe in her head, Nanjiani says. I didnt understand it until I watched the movie but I knew enough to trust her. So for me, I was like, Yeah, this doesnt feel like something I would do, but if Chloe thinks I can do it, lets do it. [I have] finger-guns and I was like, how do I shoot? [She showed me and] I said, Chloe, thats so goofy. She said, No its gonna look awesome. And it looks awesome. Henry, who plays Phastos, concurs. It really piggybacks on what Kumail said. It came down to trust, and I truly, wholeheartedly trusted Chloe, he says. I thought about all the images of black men out there and how we are portrayed, how power was taken from us, the lack of power or feeling powerful, and what I loved was that Phastos, despite being eternal, still chose love, he still decided to have a family even though he may have to watch them perish. Richard Madden and director Chloe Zhao on the set of Eternals. Credit:Sophie Mutevelian / Marvel Studios It really resonated with me, and a lot with how I felt, how my place in society was, how, you know, we can be kings and queens, and at the same time, theyll take our pedestal and take our superpowers from us, like that.

What I love most about Eternals is that Chloe and [producer] Nate Moore really just re-instilled that power back in me again. I remember the first time that they were like, So we want you to be a superhero. And I was like, Cool, how much weight do I have to lose?  Eternals shimmers on the screen, both in terms of its scale and visual substance. Notably, and unlike most films in the superhero genre that are shot on sound stages and using green screens, Zhao uses real-world filming locations and as much natural light as the production would allow. The result is a film that is deliberately more naturalistic than most films in the genre and certainly many films in the MCU. Sprite (Lia McHugh), Druig (Barry Keoghan), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), Karun (Harish Patel), Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Ikaris (Richard Madden). In the film, this planet, our planet that we live on, is a big part of the story, and not just our planet today but our planet 7000 years ago, Zhao says. So its important for us to really capture the beauty and the reality of our planet. Some things you just cant quite re-create. And also, when you shoot on location, you are often humbled by how unpredictable things are, whatever nature throws you. We are making a film about gods, about immortal beings, so its a dangerous thing to then stay on stage because we might just get a bit too self-centred. Its great to go out there and get shut down because we lost a location or we have 30 minutes to get a scene because the sun is setting. It makes us more human.

The film was shot in Britain mostly, including London and locations in Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and Berkshire standing in for locations as diverse as Chicago and Alaska, as well as on location in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, two of the Canary Islands, standing in for story locations including Babylon, Mesopotamia and Australia. For the cast, Madden says, the preference for location filming over green screen was a driving factor when the first conversations around the film were had. When Chloe first talked to us about it, it was, Were going to try and do as much on location and as little green screen as possible,  Madden says. And inevitably, you still need to do some green screen and in the studio but thats what kind of makes this visually very different for me. And, as a performer, it creates huge challenges, Madden adds. In the studio I can be flying on these wires and the light is controlled, and there is no wind but then youre on location and hanging off the side of a cliff, and the crane is swaying because of the wind and the rains coming, and weve got 15 minutes to shoot this because the suns going to leave the shot. It adds a different level of complexity. But that can lead to something great because theres a pressure of, We only get one chance to do this. 

The characters in Eternals are drawn from Marvels own comic book mythology but they were inspired, at least in part, by Greek myth. Athena becomes Thena, Hephaestus becomes Phastus, Circe become Sersi, Icarus becomes Ikaris and so on. And what makes those characterisations so rich, is that, unlike many other cultural mythologies, the Greek gods were often riven by human-like emotion and internal conflict. Its the most important thing [about the story] because we created these gods, this myth because we want to figure out our problems, Zhao says. And I love the genres of fantasy or sci-fi, or superhero films because sometimes its easier for some people to work out their issues, understand themselves through an allegorical way, not necessarily just right in my face. I think these films mean a lot to people and Marvel Studios are so good at making their heroes human. I want to continue that tradition, especially with this film. So, the key for me was thinking about the aspects of human nature that each of them can embody. And then also finding a cast who is willing to bring a sense of who they are, which is undeniably human, with the characters. Gemma Chan, who plays Sersi, concurs. Chloe certainly brings her signature style and sensibility to everything she does, she says. I think one of the beautiful things about this film is that it does have that epic scale and that spectacle, but also really character-driven, intimate moments alongside. Those moments were very raw and grounded, and I think they are rare in films of this kind. Theres a lot going on in the film, theres a lot of plot, theres a lot of story to get through, Chan adds. But to be able to have those moments where maybe its just Sersi and Ikaris trying to make each other laugh or wandering around the village with the camera just following us. Those are the little kind of special, joyful moments that we try to find.

MYTH AND MAGIC: WHO ARE THE ETERNALS? Eternals (from left) Gilgamesh (Don Lee), Thena (Angelina Jolie), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Ajak (Salma Hayek) and Sersi (Gemma Chan). Over the near-century they have been a dominant platform for storytelling, comic book mythologies have borrowed heavily from real-world mythologies and pantheons. Perhaps the most significant example is Wonder Woman, whose alter-ego Diana is the child of the Amazon queen Hippolyte, who, according to Greek myth, did battle with Hercules in Ancient Greece. The comic book picks up the story there and weaves even more Greek mythology around itself: that Diana was brought to life from clay by the powers of the Greek gods. As lovely as Aphrodite, as wise as Athena, with the speed of Mercury and the strength of Hercules, it was boasted in her origin story. But Wonder Woman was not alone. The Japanese manga comic Yu-Gi-Oh borrows from Egyptian mythology, Marvels Thor is based on the story of the Norse god of Thunder, and borrows heavily from Norse legend, including Thors brother Loki, and Thors iconic hammer, Mjolnir.

The comic book hero Deadman draws some of his power from the Hindu goddess Rama Kushna. Shazams powers are drawn from Greek myth, with the wisdom of Solomon, a Biblical reference, thrown in for good measure. And the 1970s gave us the made-for-television Egyptian super-heroine, Isis. The immediate parallel between the Eternals and the Greek myths, on which their stories are partly built, can be seen in their names: the Greek goddess Athena becomes Thena, the Greek god Hephaestus becomes Phastus, the god of speed Mercury becomes Makkari, the sorceress Circe become Sersei and Icarus, the son of master craftsman Daedalus, who famously flew too close to the sun, becomes Ikaris. Ajak (Salma Hayek) was a male superhero in the comic books, and was known, at different times in ancient Peru as either the Incan god Tecumotzin or the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. In the film, she is the spiritual leader of the Eternals and, via a golden sphere, she communicates with the God-like Celestials, who the Eternals serve. Thena (Angelina Jolie) traces her origin to Ancient Greece where her name was changed to resemble Athenas to seal the treaty between the Eternals and the Olympian gods and was, at times, mistaken for either Athena or her Roman counterpart Minerva. In the film, Thena creates swords and spears out of cosmic energy. Ikaris (Richard Madden) was born in Siberia, and is the son of two older Eternals, Virako and Tulayn. In the comic book mythology, Ikaris is a name taken after the death of Ikariss son, Icarus, who was killed when he flew too far using mechanical wings. In the film, Ikaris can fly and blasts powerful beams from his eyes.

Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) is, much like his Greek mythological counterpart Hephaestus, an inventor who can build anything. In the comic book stories, Phastos cares more for objects than for people. In the film, Phastos can build anything, combining technologies to create new and powerful items. Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) is described in his comic book mythology as a samurai, master swordsman, film star and producer. In the film, Kingo can launch powerful bursts of cosmic energy from his hands. He also admires Ikaris, and strives to emulate what he sees as Ikariss heroism. Sprite (Lia McHugh) is described in the comics as an Eternal who was, in order to protect him from the ravages of the world, made to remain childlike for eternity. He became a trickster but has little mind for the consequences of his pranks. In the film, Sprite is 7000 years old but lives in the body of a 12-year-old girl; she uses cosmic power to create illusions. Lauren Ridloff plays the super-fast Makkari, cinemas first deaf superhero. Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) is sometimes confused with Mercury, the Greek god of speed. In the comic stories he was born in Olympia and, at different times of his life, taught writing to the Egyptians, but also saw the Trojan War, the reign of Vlad the Impaler and the Alamo. In the film, Makkari is the fastest woman in the universe, running at the speed of sound.
Just days ago, Patti posted a photo of Newton with his grandchildren by his bedside, with the caption: Thats what Happiness Is. Ford described Newtons death as the end of an era in Australian show business. Hes the last of the iconic figures of those original days, he had a most extraordinary career in television, not to forget theatre, and also radio too. His success in radio in Melbourne was record-breaking, Ford said. Everybody should celebrate that extraordinary career and the fun he brought people, but part of me cant help but feel he didnt get the last chapter he deserved.

Newton, widely lauded as a television pioneer, collaborated with Don Lane and Graham Kennedy on their variety shows, as well as with his singer wife. Loading Their two children, Lauren and Matthew, are both celebrities in their own right, with the latter living in the US, his relationship with his family having thawed after a period of estrangement. Tributes have also been flowing from Australias political leaders, with federal Health Minister Greg Hunt describing him as part of [the] very fabric of our television landscape and a key part of the continuing evolution of the silver screen. Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese also paid tribute: My heart goes out to his family who have lost a husband, a father and friend. And to Australia who have lost an icon.

As well as his television work, Newton appeared on stage in the Wizard of Oz, Beauty and the Beast, The Producers, The Sound of Music, Wicked and The Rocky Horror Show, and on the big screen in a number of local films. Ford told 3AW on Saturday night that people talked about Newtons TV career because theres so many important things that are included there, including the partnerships with Graham Kennedy and the partnership with Don Lane, and loads of things that he did on his own as well such as Good Morning Australia which introduced him to a new, younger audience. Graham Kennedy and Bert Newton on the set of In Melbourne Tonight, October 1964. He also had 20 years of performing in peak musicals around Australia like Beauty and the Beast, The Sound of Music and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Television and radio announcer Pete Smith called Newton the best of the best when it came to Australian television.

Weve all lost the most admired entertainer Australian television has produced, Pete Smith to 3AW on Saturday night. Smith added that Newtons brilliance came from how well he worked with other entertainers such as Graham Kennedy and Don Lane. Well, the magic of Bert Newton, call it magic if you like, was that while he was such a success in his own right over the years, his partnerships with people like Graham Kennedy and later with Don Lane endured, Smith told 3AW on Saturday night. People wonder, how come that endured? It wasnt Graham Kennedy and it wasnt Don Lane. It was Bert Newtons brilliance in making those people feel as though they were all that mattered.

When he was on air with them, they didnt feel at all threatened. All that mattered when he was on air with you was that you were the only one that counted, and I felt that experienced firsthand myself in much smaller ways as a guest on different spots and different shows. The Chase Australia host and The Morning Show co-host Larry Emdur said everyone loved Newton which was as good as it gets in our business. Watching Bert always made me feel like a TV executive had wandered into TV Hosts R Us and custom ordered the perfect TV host. Charming, witty, relatable, adorable, self-deprecating and a smile to rival the Luna Park entrance, Emdur said. Presenter and comedian Rove McManus posted on Twitter: I dont know that Im ready to accept this yet. Today I lost a mentor and friend, our country lost an icon, but most importantly a family has lost their hero and soul mate.

Television personality Grant Denyer said he was lucky enough to follow Newton as one of the hosts of Family Feud. Loading I couldnt be him, no one could. His wit was razor sharp and he commanded a stage like a king. He will forever be absolute royalty to me. The rest of us are just jesters, he said. Nines Director of Television, Michael Healy, described Newton as a giant of our industry, entertaining generations of Australians across our television screens. He brought unbridled joy and laughter into our homes as part of so many programs, partnerships and formats. He was loved by us all at Nine and we wish Patti, Lauren, Matt and their families our sincere condolences at this sad time, Mr Healy said.
At last Australia has a target to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. It has taken a long time to reach this point and many fraught negotiations. But if ever there was a prime minister suited to understanding the significance of presenting at COP26, it is the man who is disparaged as Scotty from Marketing.

He is now winging his way to the Glasgow meeting. He has a plan, which has been denigrated as merely a pamphlet. Even a planphlet by the wits and the wordsmiths. Despite their cynicism, it is the right document for the meeting he is about to attend.

Field of dreams: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrests Sun Cable flagship project is the Australia-Asia Power Link, which will harness and store solar energy from the Northern Territory for 24/7 transmission to Darwin and Singapore via a high voltage direct current transmission system.

The UN Conference of Parties has never managed to fulfil the original vision of a serious forum in which countries negotiate and commit to achievable emissions-reduction targets to which they are able to hold one another accountable. For many years, renewable technology wasnt capable of powering a developed economy. It still isnt and countries remain unwilling to take an economic hit by relying too heavily on it.

As a result, developed countries routinely fall short of their targets. The UNs 2021 Emissions Gap Report notes, for instance, that Canada and the United States of America have submitted strengthened NDC [Nationally Determined Contribution] targets, while independent studies suggest that they are not on track to meet their previous NDC targets with currently implemented policies. Consequently, they will be subjected to the sternest peer pressure. The UN gave up any pretence that there would be sanctions or punishment at the time of the Paris negotiations in 2015.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Australian designer Bianca Spender began her fashion journey working with her mother, the late Carla Zampatti, in 2004, before embarking on her own sartorial path with an eponymous brand in 2009. But its taken a pandemic for the 44-year-old to shift her fashion voice, loosening her signature tailoring to accommodate the changing times. Biancas focus is now on tailoring with a twist, where asymmetric lines give a sense of movement while we power towards a new way of dressing. Strong shoulders have been dropped for softer silhouettes as she finds new means of expressing herself. Bianca spent most of this year at home, juggling work and remote learning, but has used the time to lean into her maternal powers, learnt how to hush her inner critic and turned her grieving and loss into a moment of empowerment. Her mother is never far from her mind  for this shoot,

she wears an apple necklace, a 30th birthday gift from her mother who wore it in the 1970s. She has been working most recently with the Sydney Dance Company, of which her mother had been a board director since 2012. The resulting performance, Years, features pieces from the Bianca Spender archives, and will be available online November 4-6. Bianca Spender Tempo gown, $695. Jewellery Biancas own. Credit:Hugh Stewart How did the pandemic change your collection?

I have always loved tailoring, but with the pandemic we deconstructed our aesthetic and made jackets out of stretch fabrics, or some werent lined, others didnt have collars. We made shackets and broke away from a traditional mens tailoring look. We also pulled away from trenches and corporate throw-over key pieces. For me, it was about turning to washable fabrics, where even light colours or pieces with a sheen still had a special feel but could go in the washing machine at the end of the day. People also needed to be inspired to buy. We needed more fun in our clothing  so I did that by exaggerating volume and making it more playful.

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What silhouette is uniquely your own and captures what the brand is about?

I feel my brand is more about a movement than a silhouette. Its about how clothing feels, and I want a sense of innate freedom in all of the clothes. I call it liberated tailoring. Its not constrained, its about clothes you can dance in. I take large strides when I walk and my arms are always moving because I am the worlds biggest gesticulator. I want clothes that allow and embrace that movement. Whether its asymmetry, a drape or twist, this three-dimensional movement is imbued in all my garments. Bianca Spender Notre Dame dress, $795. Credit:Hugh Stewart Loading Whats the future for Aussie fashion? Australian fashion is more in tune with the COVID-19 world than any other country. We have always incorporated casualisation and comfort in our clothing; a weekend-inspired look has always been part of us, and now there is a focus on that more than ever. People are more connected to local designers and local markets. Australian designers are closer to their consumer and I hope, going forward, we have more commitment to local manufacturing; its fundamental for us to thrive as an industry. I feel my brand is more about a movement than a silhouette. Its about how clothing feels, and I want a sense of innate freedom in all of the clothes. Your siblings work in fashion, too. Do family dinners and catch-ups revolve around business talk?

I love being one of three children. We all grew up in the business and during school holidays I worked with Mum. She hated the thought of us being at home watching TV, and as a working mother I understand that. My sister, Allegra, was a managing director for nearly a decade and my brother, Alexander, is CEO of Carla Zampatti. There is definitely a dialogue that goes on between us; the business is like the other child in the family who we always end up talking about. But there are days we draw the line and say this is a non-fashion get-together. Having siblings in the business is a wonderful source of support, too. My brother and sister have incredible minds, and knowing that I can connect into their different perspectives on the industry is a gift.

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Loading Tell us how your mothers legacy continues to inspire you.

Mum has always had an incredible presence and with her passing, I have really reflected on what her energy, spirit and life represent in me. Mum had so much courage and determination, commitment and single-mindedness, and a real vision of equality for women that she was fiercely fighting for. That for me is at the forefront of my mind more than ever. Since her passing I have really felt committed to making things happen. You only have one life. You have to make the change you want to see. Im pushing hard in my designs and company to create an environment that is true to me and where women thrive, whether its my customer or my staff, and feel more confident to take risks and be dynamic. Mum had this ability to forget her mistakes, I never quite had such a gift. I think we need to be more forgiving of ourselves. We can our best friend or our harshest critic, but we need to learn to be our best friend. I am trying as much as possible to push myself to champion people around me to believe in themselves. Loading What is next for you?

Im collaborating with the Sydney Dance Company for a world premiere in the first week of November. During these times, it is important to bring dance to people, as we have been so distant from the emotive creative experience. Ill be directing the costuming and diving into archives from the past decade for the show. Dance can powerfully stimulate our emotions, and the Sydney Dance Company is bringing this meaningful experience to the public as a gift amid turbulent times. The performance will be full length and available for free online. My mother was an avid supporter of the arts and former board director of the Sydney Dance Company. So the performance is dedicated to her legacy  she was so influential in driving the company ever forward and supporting new works.

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The music itself is so deeply linked to Mum and our experience of Mum. Dancers hold so much emotion in their body, and clothes portray so much emotion when they move. The music takes it to another level. How do you most like to unwind?

I love to swim  there is nothing like plunging into a cold body of water in the ocean to press reset on life. I also love a bath, and I like to ride around Centennial Park on the weekends and go for walks. Night walks are amazing if youve had a day you cant let go of. Proenza Schouler dress, $2565, from Parlour X. Paco Rabanne bracelet, $550, from Parlour X. Credit:Hugh Stewart How have you leaned into motherhood during the pandemic while working from home?

I love being Mum. Im a deeply maternal person who loves being in the middle of my family. Its been beautiful to be around them in this time and connect to how much I revel in that maternal role. I am comfortable and dont second guess myself as a mum. Im quite instinctual and have a clear vision of it. I question myself much more in design and fashion. Tell us about your dyslexia diagnosis and that of your nine-year-old son, Florian.

Weve been on a big journey the last few years. My son was having a lot of problems reading. He was incredibly bright but couldnt follow reading or writing. It caused real distress and I am such a mother bear. I wanted to find out what was going on. There is so much to learn about how our minds work, and the way we educate in schools and learn. Thats when I discovered Florian and myself are both dyslexic. It was fascinating because it made so much sense to me. For my son, we started looking at ways to focus on his progress  more oral presentations and less focus on spelling. At work, I was honest with my team and allowed myself to be vulnerable about it, and it has opened dialogues with others.

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Thats all we have for you tonight but before we go, here is a quick look at some of the major stories from the day:

Booster shots made available for all NSW adults as international and regional travel restarts

Victoria passes 80 per cent jab target as state records 1036 COVID cases, 12 deaths

Double-dose jab countdown ends ahead of Qlds border reopening

How Blacktown became one of the most vaccinated LGAs in NSW

Pfizer booster jab reduces risk of COVID hospital stint by 93 per cent

Spirits lift during post-lockdown trick or treat

Blue skies ahead as holidaymakers return to regional Victoria

Our weekday Australian news live blog will be back in action from early on Monday morning and we will have more COVID-19 and reopening coverage tonight and throughout the week.

Thanks for joining us once more and for all of your comments and interactions.

Bye for now.
Australians whose foreign partners were barred from entering the country during the international border closure will have to wait for several months until general inbound tourism resumes before they can be reunited.

The federal governments staged resumption of international tourism puts partners who have been unable to meet existing criteria at the back of the queue, behind parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents, skilled workers and international students.

Australian Danielle Edwards and her partner Darren are in a registered relationship but have been separated since early 2020 because of the international border closure.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews told ABC Radio on Friday, We will work to bring in international travellers as soon as we can, but the priority is Australians, followed by skilled workers, international students.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a week ago, at a press conference at a Qantas hangar at Sydney Airport, he was confident that it was very possible and very achievable Australia would be accepting international visitors, starting with those from Singapore and New Zealand, by the end of the year.
MCB: Dinkum. We could power the entire world five times over from the Australian sun that we have. Its a good measure of how large our country is, and how much great sun we have. We have a country almost designed to benefit most from the renewable boom. And we have 3 billion consumers nearby who can take our sunlight when we ship it up to Asia. We absolutely can be a renewable energy superpower. Its not just the sun and the wind, its our great engineering force, great tradies, great financial resources, all the things we need. That absolutely should be a change in our economy in a massively positive direction. The other thing is our fossil fuel export industry is under great threat. Right now, prices are going up because supply is going down. That happens for a little while until prices start going down and supply goes down. Korea is one of our biggest coal customers and they just declared theyre going for another 40 per cent reduction in the amount of coal theyre going to consume by 2030. So almost every one of our major customers in coal and oil, gas has some plan over the next 10, 20, 30 years to eliminate that fuel source. Customers are saying, Im gonna stop buying stuff. So that threat for us means we have to replace that industry with something. Its renewables. Fitz: Your tweet this week ranting at your frustration with the governments latest emissions policy went viral. Beyond Twitter, are you never tempted to say to the likes of Clive Palmer, I see your reported $80 million put to the last election, pissant, and raise you $100 million to achieve electoral change? MCB: Im not sure elections should be determined by money. I think that should be determined by ideas, and Im much more in favour of putting money behind positive ideas and ...

Fitz: And welcome to the Australian Republic Movement! Great to have you on board! MCB: (Awkward pause.) I dont really care for politics in terms of Liberal, Labor, red, green, blue, whatever. But if we had a debate at the next election about who had the best climate policy, that would be a super positive for Australia. Loading Fitz: But dont the Nationals have a point about change hitting the battlers hard? Isnt that just a fact? Arent the National simply representing their electorates? MCB: No, not at all. Every major study done  Accenture and Deloitte and all these different firms  show the vast majority of the benefits from renewables, the jobs and economic prosperity, flow to regional Australia. And I just funded a study called Rewiring Australia, which shows that if we electrified every house in the country with renewables, the household saving is about $5000 a year, a lot of money.

Fitz: Some conservatives are livid about corporates, not sticking to their knitting and getting involved in things like climate change. Why should business people be interested in anything other than shareholder value and leave politics to the politicians? MCB: Because business needs to determine the investment framework for risk for every business in Australia over the next 10 to 20 years. That is very important to business. Secondly, government cant do this alone. Our state governments doing a pretty damn good job actually, but the federal government isnt. I think business has a very important role to play in that as one of the constituent actors in the whole society change. Fitz: Lastly, what have you done in your own life to limit your carbon footprint? MCB: Everything I can. I drive an electric vehicle. I live on a farm that runs almost entirely on sunlight, electricity. I have electric farm vehicles up the wazoo. I obviously offset all my flights and all that sorts of thing and as you know, try to look for the most sensible and efficient way to do everything. Atlassian already runs on 100 per cent renewable energy. Its the economic choice, as well as being the environmental one. Fitz: OK, last one. On those rare occasions when you shave, and you look at yourself in the mirror, just in the quiet of the morning, do you ever do double punches and say This is f---ng fabulous? Ive got 40 billion bucks and everybody wants my attention. And I can do what I like!

MCB: No. I have no shortage of tasks, so no time for that. Fitz: I gather that. You remind me of when I interviewed Bill Gates, and every minute was scheduled. Is that what your lifes like? MCB: Only a little bit like that. But I am busy. Fairfax chips in to Holmes a Court climate campaign Whether or not the Climate200 mob will succeed in getting climate activist independents up in the coming election to oust LNP members remains to be seen. But in the meantime, it seems apparent they have already had success in getting some of those targeted LNP parliamentarians to focus fiercely on the task at hand. I cite particularly David Crowes story on Friday noting that Liberal MPs Dave Sharma, Katie Allen, Trent Zimmerman and Jason Falinski all pushed Prime Minister Scott Morrison to include a net zero emissions by 2050 pledge as part of his climate policy  even threatening to cross the floor if he did not.

Meantime, the Climate200 fund-raising drive goes well, and it is now nudging towards $3.5 million in its war-chest. A sign of its traction is the commitment made this week by those conservative scions of Sydney, Nick and Sandra Fairfax, whose family once owned this newspaper. (Howl!) We are delighted to assist [Climate 200], they told this columnist, and hope the community will also feel inspired to contribute. Every donation made to Climate 200 we will match dollar-for-dollar, up to a maximum of $100,000, to achieve a collective goal of $200,000. Nicholas Fairfax is doing his bit for climate. Credit:Louise Kennerley The most terrifying words in NSW right now Friends, let me put it this way. Are there seven more terrifying words in the English language in NSW right now, than those uttered regularly by counsel assisting, Scott Robertson at ICAC: Perhaps I can help you with that?

The answer is no. But there are three words even more terrifying: Play the tape. Whatever else the last two weeks have proven, and whatever will be revealed, who doubts that any potentially corrupt politicians and public officials out there, would look at these proceedings and be more inclined to say, Actually, I might stay on the straight and narrow. ICAC makes us all stronger, and we need one in the federal arena too. Making the case: Counsel assisting the ICAC, Scott Robertson. Credit:Janie Barrett

Spread the word about stolen medals Vietnam veteran and one time Leading Seaman Clearance Diver Normie Rees, an old sailor from Lithgow, only recently recovered from serious burns sustained in the fires last year, had a break-in at his home last week. The thieves took his service medals engraved NJH Rees R95773 and his mothers service medal from WW2 Land Army engraved P. Griffiths, together with lots of other military memorabilia. Spread the word. Look out. Surely, someone must know what happened to them? Joke of the Week I met a fairy today who granted me one wish. I want to live forever, I told her. Sorry, says the fairy, Im not allowed to grant wishes like that, so try something else. Fine, I said, I dont want to die until Australia has a credible policy to take on climate change.

Said the fairy: Youre a shifty little bastard, arent you?

Tweet of the Week You know when a teenager creates an atmosphere of such low expectations that you end up congratulating them for the bare minimum, like putting one plate in a dishwasher? Anyway, so the Nationals have agreed to Net Zero by 2050. - @Craigreucassel Quotes of the Week Guns Dont Kill People, Alec Baldwin Kills People. - A t-shirt bearing this shocking slogan, and selling for $US27.99 on a merchandise site, was being promoted by Donald J Trump Jr. Just when you think that family has finally reached rock-bottom  The more doors you knock on, the more ledgers you write, the better your chances of securing something. - Daryl Maguire on Wednesday, to ICAC. The essence of the problem before the corruption body was that Maguire didnt have to knock on then Premiers door, as he had a key  and has never returned it.

The easiest way around these voter ID laws is to just tell the polling booth worker youve donated $1 million to a cabinet ministers blind trust. Then you wont have to reveal your identity at all. - @chaser What I want to make very clear is that the state of Victoria will not be applying for any exemptions for unvaccinated players  So we dont apply for an exemption, then no exemption will be granted  Im not going to actually require people sitting in the grandstand [and] people working at the event to be vaccinated while players arent, so were not going to be applying for an exemption. - Victorian premier Daniel Andrews over-ruling the PMs let-em-in-stance, settling the question of unvaccinated players at the Australian Open. Ive seen more detail on fortune cookies than on the documents released by the government. This is the biggest challenge facing the planet and the biggest opportunity facing Australia. It requires leadership and detailed plans but all we have today was the slides, slogans and no solutions. - Chris Bowen, shadow minister for climate and energy, on the governments new climate plans. Becoming climate refugees means losing everything: our homes, our culture, our stories and our identity. If you take away our homelands we dont know who we are. We have a cultural responsibility to make sure that doesnt happen and to protect country and our communities, culture and spirituality from climate change. - Wadhuam Paul Kabai, one of the two Torres Strait community leaders who are taking the Australian government to the Federal Court, alleging it failed to protect First Nations traditional owners living on the front line of catastrophic climate change. The main driver is the college continuing to do what its done in history, which is producing societys leaders, which in the 21st century is men and women. Were not driven to this by financial reasons, but to have a long wait list because weve doubled the pool of applicants does strengthen our position. - Reverend Dr Ed Loane, warden of Sydney Universitys all-male St Pauls College, which on a bad day was notorious for its misogyny, but will open the doors of its undergraduate wing to women from 2023 despite opposition from some students and alumni.

Australia will be one of the most highly vaccinated societies in the world. One of the most recently vaccinated communities in the world. And one of the first to receive a whole-of-population booster program. - Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt announcing the opening of a booster shot program against COVID. Ive seen many of us declare conflicts of interest for just knowing someone because we worked with someone or have been an associate with someone, let alone being in a relationship. The conflict was the relationship . . . the underlying factor here is that there should have been a disclosure. - John Barilaro, in all honesty, throwing Gladys Berejiklian under a bus to the ICAC. Ill throw money at Wagga dont you worry about that  lots of it. - Gladys Berejiklian to Daryl Maguire in October 2017, played at ICAC. Again, I must ask. How does this statement fit with her claim that she only ever did what was best for the people of NSW? How many now think if she had no relationship with Maguire, Wagga would have received the largesse it did? They are beckoning us outdoors. It is as if they know we need cheering up after our long winter lockdown. Jacarandas represent rebirth, wisdom, wealth and good luck. Just what we need. - The Mayor of North Sydney, Jilly Gibson, celebrating the start of jacaranda season this week. When we go to Glasgow, well be able to say that our projections, which are included in our nationally determined contribution, will see emissions reduce, we expect, by 35 per cent by 2030. Australians know what our policies are, they know what theyre designed to achieve, they know what they have met, they know how those targets have been beaten, and they know how we plan to get there. - Scott Morrison, once again trying to kid Australia that everything is fine, he has a plan and when it comes to climate change, they are on to it.
An ABC podcast that had two episodes pulled after serious credibility issues were raised has been nominated for as a finalist in the best true crime category at the Australian Podcast Awards.

Unravel: Juanita looks at the mysterious disappearance and suspected murder of Kings Cross activist and journalist Juanita Nielsen in 1975.

Juanita Nielsen, editor and publisher of the newspaper, Now, at her Potts Point office in 1974. Credit:Fairfax Media

The podcast and accompanying documentary series relied heavily on a never-before-seen account from a new star witness, John Rossell Innes.

Innes claimed in the documentary to have gone undercover in prison to befriend Eddie Trigg, a suspect in Nielsens disappearance.
It was only six steps from the lift to the door, but my heart was pounding.

Whatever lay inside room 110 would be not just home for my daughter Tamasin and I, but - for a fortnight - our entire physical world. I was fearing the worst.

Andrew Thomas and his 10yo daughter Tamasin are one of the last families to get out of quarantine after returning from the UK. Credit:Wolter Peeters

About a quarter of million people have been through Sydneys hotel quarantine system since it began on March 29, 2020. Many spent their 14 days and nights confined inside business suites at the Hilton or Marriott hotels. In those small rooms the beds take up half the floor. Narrow windows are sealed shut. South-facing rooms are never even brushed by the sun.

Was that what awaited us?
The new mayor of Ku-ring-gai has extended an olive branch to the councils general manager by signalling his intention to withhold discussing the latters future so a factional stalemate can end.

Kur-ring-gai Council mayor Cedric Spencer has been barred from talking to staff. Credit:Ku-ring-gai Council

Cr Cedric Spencer said he had written to a council director to have the business item regarding John McKees performance review withdrawn from the next meetings agenda, after Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock said she was readying to intervene.

It comes after five of the 10 councillors, including former mayor Jennifer Anderson, declined to attend eight attempts to hold meetings, with Mr McKees tenure front and centre of the proposed discussions, after Cr Spencer won the mayoralty on September 21.

The absences of those councillors meant that no proposed meetings had the required numbers to go ahead, bringing the discussion of any council business to a halt.
Jason Wong gets two types of reactions when he tells people his three daughters attend Lindfield Learning Village, an unorthodox public school on Sydneys north shore. That hippie school? some say, sceptically. That school thats doing amazing, progressive stuff? say others.

LLV, as its known, is in high demand; when it opened in a fortress-like former UTS campus 2019, it had a 3000-strong waiting list. Some parents tried to enrol their unborn children, attracted by its abandonment of old-school traditions, such as uniforms, detentions and timetables.

P&C president at Lindfield Learning Village Jason Wong with his wife Teresa and daughters Ella (black t-shirt) Bree (white dress) and Lucy (pink dress). Credit:Rhett Wyman

But others, including some educators, are dubious. They worry Lindfield - a government-run school - is relying on what they call faddish, untested ideas such as basing learning on a childs stage rather than their age, replacing normal subjects with student-driven projects, and putting pupils in charge of their own learning.

[We have been] unlearning what school is, shedding those assumptions that we bring as educators to what school has to have, principal Stephanie McConnell said last year.
The spotlight has again fallen on the cosmetic surgery industry this week after the Herald, The Age and ABCs Four Corners uncovered allegations of troubling practices across Dr Daniel Lanzers network of clinics, including serious hygiene and safety breaches, and multiple examples of botched procedures that have left patients in extreme pain and requiring further medical treatment. Meanwhile demand for cosmetic procedures boomed during the pandemic - when people could recover at home - with an increase of 50 per cent in face lifts, breast enhancements and other treatments. And Australian women are among the worlds biggest cosmetic surgery spenders. Influencer culture has helped normalise operations that were once considered a big deal and too expensive. Clinics are now on TikTok and Instagram (some offering bargain prices) and global stars such as Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajowski, and Kendall Jenner are setting a heavily desired beauty aesthetic. Tummy tucks, breast augmentation, eye, brow and face lifts or multi-surgery mummy makeovers  and, more recently, bum-boosters and designer vaginas  are promoted as proudly aspirational.

Paris Hiltons all over skinny look was aspirational in the early 2000s before a curvier silhouette became more fashionable, says Dr Gemma Sharp. Credit:Arthur Mola The rise of a uniform face and body ideal, currently embodied by Kim Kardashian, and of the coveted look dubbed Instagram Face  defined by the site Pedestrian TV as why all professionally hot people look the same  seemingly has much to do with it. Paris Hilton made all over skinny hot in the early 2000s, says clinical psychologist and body image researcher Dr Sharp, but thanks to exponential social media growth, the influence of the Kardashian silhouette is now pervasive. And where traditional influences such as magazines, TV, movies and music videos were quite passive, social media apps allow people to be interactive about their own appearance, which is a big driver [of rise in cosmetic surgery]. The biggest increase has been in non-invasive injectables and Botox, but were seeing an increase in invasive procedures like liposuction, breast augmentation and now the Brazilian butt lift is the latest trend, says Dr Sharp, head of the Body Image Research Group at the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre.

The latter involves harvesting fat from one part of the body and injecting it into the buttocks to make them bigger, higher and rounder. It is popular despite the price ranging from $6000 to $12,000 in Sydney, and $9000 to $12,500 in Melbourne with one clinic offering bottoms titled Sports Illustrated, Beyonce or Kim Kardashian. The Brazilian butt lift is considered the most deadly of aesthetic procedures. It has a reported death rate overseas of about one in 3000 due to fat embolisms that block arteries. One Sydney cosmetic surgery clinic offers a Beyonce butt lift. Credit:Invision The mainstreaming of pornography and sexting has also prompted a big rise in demand for cosmetic surgery on womens genitals, known as labiaplasty, to tidy up the area and create one, smooth curve with no protruding external genital tissue visible ... like Barbie, says Dr Sharp, who is also a researcher into the influences on womens decisions around labiaplasty. You wouldnt have a gastroenterologist posting on TikTok. Its very specific to this profession. Dr Gemma Sharp, of the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre

Heavy marketing of cosmetic surgery to young people has been a contentious issue for a long time. You dont see this as much with other medical professionals - you wouldnt see a gastroenterologist posting videos on TikTok. Its very specific to this profession,  Dr Sharp says. The vast majority hold their profession to a high standard and want to do good for patients, but they saw the traditional website was not going to get you anywhere with young people, you need to be on the same platforms they are, she says. Dr Gemma Sharp with her childhood Barbie - she holds one of the dolls up in lectures to illustrate what is being pushed as the ideal appearance of female genitalia - one smooth curve. Credit:Ben Searcy As a result, there is more body dysmorphia (a mental health disorder in which people focus obsessively on perceived defects) than weve ever seen. More people are dissatisfied with their own bodies, she says.

Psychologist Sarah McMahon, a director of the specialist mental health group Body Matters Australasia, says technology that presents the idea we can look how we like, coupled with the normalisation and accessibility of cosmetic surgery - its marketed ... as a refresh - and the bombardment of homogenised imagery, is prompting more women to consider cosmetic surgery. Changing our appearance is something we think we can easily do now, she says. Because of the use of filters people think they have a certain image to maintain and uphold. We hear stories about people becoming more and more obsessive and dedicated to using these, says McMahon. Its a motivator for people wanting to (take steps) to look more like this idealised version of themselves that theyre publicly displaying, she says. Even people you may assume keep a critical eye on the difference between projection and reality can fall victim to obsessing with their faults: The pressure to conform is astronomical, says McMahon.

Many clients simplify the idea of surgery that is permanent and potentially dangerous, and have a skewed perception of the risks and complications. Loading Though many say they want cosmetic surgery just to please themselves, which is a valid choice, even things like recovery from surgery and the reality of what its going to look like for them is minimised and the benefits are amplified. Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, head of psychiatry at Monash University medical school, believes some women are being taken advantage of by some cosmetic surgery providers. She describes the popularity of labiaplasty among very young women as terrifying. Younger women are much more into genital cosmetic surgery. They go out and get all sorts of things done without knowing, of course, you can cut nerve endings, she says.

Many women walking around with fashionable vulvas ... have actually lost sexual feeling - and this is a rapidly rising sector of surgery. Its frightening when you look at the numbers of young women going to get labiaplasty, you think, What happened to feminism? There is also a massive acceleration among middle-aged women opting for cosmetic surgery as they feel the need to compete in an ageist society. There is seen to be a certain look on social media influencing older generations too, an unrealistic representation of the female form, Kulkarni says. Donna Patterson has spent 21 years living with the mental and physical scars of a breast reduction operation conducted in a Melbourne cosmetic surgery clinic. Credit:Aaron Smith/ABC Specialist Dan Kennedy says surgeons would continue to lobby for more transparency in the cosmetic surgery industry, specifically around qualifications of doctors. If you go to a knee surgeon, you have every expectation they have an orthopedic fellowship, theyre not a GP practising knee surgery. However its become accepted you might go along (to a cosmetic surgery) and somebody with general medical certification might do your face lift, liposuction or genital surgery, he says.
At that time, Australia was the only country in the world where authorisation was needed from the Family Court for children and teenagers to access hormone treatment. This was the situation when AJ Clementine, model and author of new book Girl, Transcending, was a teenager. AJ Clementine, a trans woman and model, says a mental health assessment is an important part of the process for gender affirmation. Credit:Chris Hopkins Clementine, 25, from Melbourne, says she always believed herself to be a girl, and her mother was supportive, but the prospect of going to court was too offputting. At 16, she was yet to go through puberty and naively thought it wouldnt be that bad. I didnt want to go through that process because the whole notion of court and needing someone elses approval to get something I needed just felt really scary, so I just thought Id wait it out, she says. If I could go back in time then I would definitely transition before puberty, just because a lot of the effects and a lot of the struggle and my trauma has come from having to go through male puberty  it was torture.

Subsequent legal decisions mean children and teenagers can generally access puberty blockers and sex hormones without the courts involvement, if their parents and medical team agree. Equality Australias legal director, Ghassan Kassisieh, says the law varies across Australia around whether children have medical decision-making capacity at a set age or through a gradual process of maturation, but state laws will interact with a precedent set in the Re Imogen case in the Family Court in NSW last year. Loading The court ruled a 16-year-old transgender girl, given the pseudonym Imogen, should be given access to oestrogen treatment to aid in her physical feminisation, treatment to which her father agreed but her mother did not. While a win for Imogen, the broader effect of the judgment was to clarify that the court would always need to be involved when there was disagreement between the parents or the treating medical team when the patient is under 18. It did put barriers in place, says Kassisieh. The position statement comes at a time when treatment for transgender young people is more politicised than ever, with much of the debate framed by Britains Tavistock scandal. In 2018-2019, psychiatrist David Bell blew the whistle on the Gender Identity Development Service, a clinic at the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust in north London. His concerns included that the clinic employed too many inexperienced psychologists and that staff minimised the complexity of gender dysphoria by prescribing puberty blockers in cases they described as straightforward, children being recommended for treatment after only two appointments and followed up poorly, and that children appeared to be giving rehearsed answers to access puberty blockers. There was then a case brought against Tavistock by a young woman, Keira Bell (reportedly no relation to David Bell), who began puberty-blocking treatment as a teenager before later regretting it. Born a girl but at the time identifying as a boy, Keira Bells treatment left her without breasts, with facial and body hair, a deepened voice and probably infertile.

RANZCP president Vinay Lakra said it was important for psychiatrists to undertake due diligence when treating people with gender dysphoria. In a landmark ruling on the Bell v Tavistock case in 2020, Britains High Court found children under the age of 16 considering gender reassignment were unlikely to be mature enough to give informed consent to be prescribed puberty-blocking drugs. However in September 2021 the Court of Appeal overturned the decision and said it had been inappropriate for the High Court to issue the guidance. While the Tavistock revelations and court case have been a huge talking point in Australia, Kassisieh says their import is overstated because the case never had any legal bearing here. However, the position statement was published a month before the appeal decision and lists the now-overturned 2020 judgment in its references as evidence for the need to provide patients and families with full information. Lakra says the college decided the position statement was needed when reviewing its policy on supporting the mental health needs of LGBTIQ+ people, in part because of the polarising views within the wider community.

Some people are obviously for and some people are against and some people somewhere in the middle, Lakra says. Its an issue that generates a degree of community interest. The updated position statement reports an increase in the number of people seeking help for gender identity issues worldwide, especially among teenagers who were assigned female at birth, and notes gender dysphoria often occurs alongside autism. The policy notes the evidence from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health standards of care that a gender-affirmative approach can help children and adolescents, but also highlights the paucity of quality evidence on outcomes for people with gender dysphoria. The document instead emphasises the need for comprehensive assessment to explore the patients gender identity, the context in which this has arisen, other features of mental illness and a thorough assessment of personal and family history. Lakra says the position statement was developed by a steering group which consulted experts and also committees with community representatives with lived experience.

Jeremy Wiggins, the executive officer for Transcend Australia, which provides information, support and referral to gender-diverse young people and families, says theres no evidence of consultation in the document itself. If thats the case, I think that should be transparent, Wiggins says. Its questionable the level of expertise that went into this work. I was disappointed with it. Wiggins points out a position statement on general psychiatric issues published a month later emphasises the need to consult people who have lived experience. Teddy Cook, vice-president of the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health, says there was not enough consultation. Teddy Cook, the vice-president of the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health, also says there was not enough consultation and he hoped to discuss the position statement with the college.

I just think they could have done better and trans people deserve better, Cook says. I look forward to constructive consultation. Cook says contemporary practice was moving away from referring to gender dysphoria in favour of gender incongruence. Gender dysphoria is clinically defined as a mental disorder under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5), which entails marked incongruence between a persons experienced or expressed gender and their assigned gender, associated with clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning. Gender incongruence is defined by International Classification of Diseases 11th revision (ICD-11) as a condition related to sexual health rather than a mental disorder and may not include distress or impairment. Until the 1970s, homosexuality was also defined as a mental illness in the DSM. Eloise Brook, the policy and communication manager at the Gender Centre in Annandale, says psychiatrists have a bad history and track record of gatekeeping where trans people were forced to prove their identity to access health care, and she hoped the college was trying to signal a more trans-friendly approach.

A trans adult can access health care such as hormones from their GP. However, the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for trans and gender-diverse children and adolescents recommend treatment by a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals, including a mental health professional who will often be a psychiatrist. (This is the goal but not all children have access to this level of care, especially in regional areas where services are scarce.) Loading The need for mental health treatment is not just because of the gender dysphoria itself but because studies suggest transgender young people have higher rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and self-harm. Clementine saw a psychologist for anxiety as a teenager, but needed to be assessed by different mental health professionals before she had gender-reassignment surgery at 22. I was a bit confused about why there needs to be an assessment but once I was in the whole process of it, I knew that that was important because transition is a life-altering thing, she says.

Psychiatrist Roberto DAngelo, the president of the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, says the notion that psychiatrists are gatekeepers is outdated because its possible to find clinicians to write letters of referral for gender-affirming treatments without ever seeing a psychiatrist. DAngelo, who is formerly from Sydney and now practises in the Northern Rivers, was an expert witness in the Re Imogen case for the mother, who had concerns about gender-affirming treatment for her child. DAngelo says his main concern is that the research on outcomes for young people is extremely limited and clinicians should be honest about that. Patients may still decide to go ahead with treatment. Most rigorous reviews that have been performed conclude that [the research evidence] is very weak and subject to bias, and that its conclusions are uncertain, he says. Its not an ideological position about whether people, young people should have gender-affirming treatments or not, its really about do we know whether they work and whether the benefits are durable in the long run? DAngelo says the position statement still hedges its bets a lot and doesnt really give anybody any clear direction but is an improvement because it reflects the state of the literature and research more accurately and it also reflects the diversity of opinion within the psychiatric profession about gender dysphoria.

There are two major studies in the pipeline that should improve the available evidence one way or another: the Australian Trans20 longitudinal cohort study and Gender identity Longitudinal Experience (GENTLE) cohort study. Professor Ian Hickie said the RANZCP position statement on gender dysphoria was a commonsense position. Credit:Steven Siewert Professor Ian Hickie, co-director of health and policy at the University of Sydneys Brain and Mind Centre, said the position statement supports the commonsense position. Hickie says children in early puberty often make a lot of statements about their identity but their view of themselves can also change quite rapidly. Brook also says work at the Gender Centre showed not every gender-questioning child or teenager would ultimately decide they are trans and it was important to give them a safe space to figure this out.
The number of vehicles crossing the states borders is expected to double to 40,000 a day when restrictions ease in December, before case numbers climb into the hundreds a day.

The warning came as vaccination hubs opened at Surf Life Saving clubs from the Gold Coast to Cairns on Saturday amid a government push to lift jab rates in time for the planned reopening.

Once the borders reopen, border traffic is expected to double from the roughly 20,000 vehicles now being checked daily. Credit:Dan Peled

The total number of residents aged 16 and older to receive one vaccine dose has now passed 77 per cent, while the doubled-dose figure stands at 63.1 per cent.

While no new local cases of the virus were reported for a fourth day on Saturday, Deputy Chief Health Officer James Smith warned that such streaks would end once border restrictions relaxed and people began bringing the virus into the state more frequently.
A 200-year-old Vampyre with a mysterious past has been found lurking deep in the archives of the University of Queensland.

Rather than a blood-sucking fiend, what researchers found was less ghoulish but just as interesting  a first edition of John Polidoris The Vampyre.

A first edition copy of 1819s The Vampyre by John Polidori has been unearthed in the archives of UQs Fryer Library Credit:University of Queensland

The story has been credited as essentially inventing modern vampire fiction, especially in English, and was a direct inspiration for Bram Stokers Dracula.

The book was found in the archives of UQs Fryer Library, its repository of old and rare books that have accumulated at the university over the years.
For Tishiko King, a Kulkalaig woman from the Torres Strait, the slow catastrophe of climate change is personal.

The 33-year-old Melbourne resident from Masig Island, also called Yorke Island, recently returned for the first time in 20 years and heard first-hand from her family how climate change was affecting their island home.

Tishiko King is headed to Glasgow. Credit:Jason South

Fruit crops werent as plentiful, the fishing grounds previously used for coming-of-age rituals no longer hosted fish, and their burial grounds had eroded, exposing the remains of family members, they told her.

First Nations people have done the least to cause the climate crisis, but we are hit the first and the worst, Ms King said.
A 23-year-old North Melbourne man who police say was carrying a gun in Melbournes CBD has been charged with 17 offences, including reckless conduct endangering life.

Police were called to the foyer of a building near the corner of Bourke and Swanston streets about 11am on Friday, following reports a man had been seen with a firearm.

Shoppers on Bourke Street mall on Friday night after many major retailers reopened after three months of lockdown. Credit:Luis Ascui

A spokeswoman for Victoria Police said officers, including members of the critical incident response team, responded to the report in under two minutes and arrested a man without incident. No one was injured.

The 23-year-old has been charged with 17 drug and firearm offences, including unlicensed possession of a firearm, using a firearm in a dangerous manner, reckless conduct endangering life and possessing cannabis.
Plastic surgeon Ian Holten and anaesthetist Eoin Fehsenfeld were once such close friends that they bought a yacht together for $280,000.

The colleagues used the 40-foot vessel  named the Akatea after a Maori word for a white climbing flower  for sailing in regattas and intended to split maintenance expenses.

However, Akatea is now at the centre of a costly court battle after Dr Holten used it to have sex with a patient after a night of drinking.

Dr Holten, founder of Australian Skin Face Body Clinics, was banned from practising for three months in 2019 after the medical regulator found he had failed to maintain professional boundaries with a female patient.

According to the finding, Dr Holten admitted that he drove the woman to the Geelong Yacht Club, where they climbed over a fence to gain entry, consumed alcohol and had sex on a night in January 2014.
Trapped in her Brunswick apartment over the past 20 months of the pandemic, Janan Salih Sarikaya has been dreaming of the cliffs and oceans of her motherland, Cyprus.

I always said I wish I was a stamp on a letter and be sent in the post, she said. I said, as soon as it opens I will go.

Janan Salih Sarikaya will be one of the first to travel internationally from Australia without permission next week. Credit:Chris Hopkins

True to her word, Ms Sarikaya, 60, will be one of the first Victorians to depart Melbourne Airport for a trip overseas with no travel exemptions.

From Monday, Australias international border officially reopens for the vaccinated public, with travellers no longer needing government approval to leave the country.
Faith leaders do not need to be vaccinated to conduct a service. We know there are some activities that are essential and necessary to access whether a person is vaccinated or not and have factored that into particular settings including real estate, hydrotherapy, religion and essential retail, a Department of Health spokesperson told The Sunday Age. Melbourne Catholic Archbishop Peter Comensoli  who says Catholics are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated  welcomed Victorias second last opening-up stage from Friday. But unlike NSW  where unvaccinated people will have the same freedoms by December 1  Premier Daniel Andrews has flagged in Victoria they will be barred from most venues and events until 2023. Archbishop Comensoli believes Victorians also need a marker when a unified gathering might happen. He says he will continue to work with other faith leaders on proposals that allow both vaccinated and unvaccinated people to worship in person safely.

After many long months of isolation, continued forms of segregation within the community are deeply damaging. We cannot let this become the only way for COVID-accommodation, he says. As faith communities we are here to support and comfort those in need, and to be open to all regardless of who a person is or why they come. Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann is worried that those who refuse to get vaccinated are at risk of becoming more disconnected from society. Credit:Eddie Jim Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann from the Ark Centre, a modern Orthodox synagogue and community centre in Hawthorn East, says most synagogues are unwilling to risk COVID transmission by allowing the unvaccinated to attend services or prayer groups. But he worries that those who refuse to get vaccinated are at risk of becoming more ostracised and disconnected from society if they cant attend places of worship.

Rabbi Kaltmann has found himself fielding calls from congregants who had watched videos saying the vaccine shouldnt be trusted because it hasnt been tested or they were concerned vaccines came from a fetus. Dr Kylie Quinn, a vaccine researcher from RMIT University, says fetal cells are not present in COVID vaccines. When the AstraZeneca vaccine is being made, it is grown up using some laboratory-made descendants of cells derived from a fetus that may have been miscarried or aborted decades ago. The vaccine is then purified carefully, Dr Quinn said. However, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines do not use any cells during their manufacture  they are pure mRNA and lipids. Rabbi Kaltmann says he begged congregants to take the vaccine but while successful on a number of occasions there were people who wouldnt buckle.

Those who were resistant tended to be older men, he says, who dont like being told what to do by the government. What I am seeing is the people most in need of a sense of community are the ones who arent taking up vaccinations, Rabbi Kaltmann says. Im seeing people falling through the cracks of society and becoming increasingly isolated. I think once we reach 90 per cent double vaccination the government must re-evaluate. Islamic Council of Victoria president Adel Salman last week voiced frustration that non-essential retail was opening to the unvaccinated from Friday for a month-long transition period while numbers were capped for places or worship. Its clear double standards here, he said. Mosques had demonstrated very high levels of compliance with COVID protocols with no reported outbreaks in Victoria, Mr Salman said, and were a safer and more controlled environment than crowded retail outlets. Bishop Paul Barker from the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is horrified by Mr Andrews suggestion that the unvaccinated will remain excluded in Victoria until at least 2023.

Loading We are anxious that in society  not just in churches  we dont create a division or an underclass of the unvaccinated, Bishop Barker says, noting that Professor Sharon Lewin, the director of the Doherty Institute, had also voiced concerns. Bishop Barker said he understood Victorian health officials were reluctant to set a date for when unvaccinated people could have the same freedom because they didnt want them to simply wait it out. But I think personally, if we get to 90 per cent double vaccination and low case numbers it should end then. In the meantime the capped services for those of unknown vaccination status was a reasonable temporary measure, he said, which balanced health concerns with places of worship being welcoming to all.

Probably the bulk of our churches will be offering services for the vaccinated and a separate service for a mixed congregation, he said. There are some churches who have said we dont want anyone unvaccinated, they are not welcome, which were very sad about actually but we cant control that even as bishops. Reverend Andrew Price says 98 per cent of parishioners at his churches are vaccinated. Credit:Eddie Jim A survey of Anglican churches Holy Trinity in Doncaster and St Johns in Blackburn recently revealed 98 per cent of parishioners were either already vaccinated or soon would be. But we believe Jesus died and rose for all people, that all who believe in him can have the guarantee of life eternal, Senior Pastor Andrew Price says, citing John 3:16, one of the most famous verses in the Bible. So we want to minister to all people, including the few who for their own reasons are not yet vaccinated.
Amnesty International estimates that G20 countries represent 62 per cent of the worlds population but have gained 82 per cent of the COVID-19 vaccines produced so far, while only 3.1 per cent of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. The federal government chose vaccine producer CSL to make 50 million AstraZeneca doses at its Melbourne facility and has used some of this production to help neighbours in the Asia-Pacific. However, The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age have been told by industry sources discussions have been held between CSL, AstraZeneca and the federal government about temporarily shutting down the Melbourne production line to produce flu vaccines and antivenom in November and December. The line would then restart in January and produce another 25 million doses to complete the contract with the federal government for 50 million doses. These doses would be for Australia and its regional neighbours.

CSL has previously flagged production would finish in January but the factory has, to date, produced a little over 20 million doses. A spokesman for CSL said the company had no plans to produce any more of the vaccine beyond the initial contract of 50 million doses. The government has promised to send 60 million doses to people overseas by the end of 2022, on top of $130 million for the COVAX consortium to help countries in need and $623 million so far on vaccines being shipped to the region. Loading Labor has called on the federal government to extend its vaccine contract with AstraZeneca so the target of 60 million jabs for the region can be met more quickly. Foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong and health spokesman Mark Butler said with low vaccination rates in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia  which have fully vaccinated just 2 per cent and 33 per cent of their populations respectively  there was a dire health risk to people in Australias neighbourhood.

In addition, they highlighted the risk of new, and more contagious variants emerging in unvaccinated populations close to Australia and a risk to Australias geopolitical interests by undermining our reputation for being a good neighbour by not extending sufficient support in our regions time of need. The remaining vaccines being produced by CSL should be diverted to the region, the opposition said, so that vaccines can be provided to Indonesia and others urgently and the contract with CSL should be extended to fulfil Mr Morrisons promise of 60 million [for the region] doses quickly and with a vaccine that can be easily distributed. Loading To date, Australia has committed 40 million doses to our region and another 20 million in a partnership with UNICEF, which has called on Australia to ramp up its COVID-19 aid. About 5.8 million doses have been sent to neighbouring countries including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Indonesia and Vietnam so far.

Infectious diseases pediatrician Professor Robert Booy. A spokesman for DFAT said Australia was allocating around 800,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses for sharing with regional partners each week and had contributed $130 million to the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility. Neither the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade nor the Health Department responded to questions about whether the government would extend or renew the contract to manufacture AstraZeneca at the CSL plant in Melbourne. University of Sydney infectious diseases paediatrician Robert Booy said AstraZeneca was the most widely-used vaccine in the world and cost about $5 per double dose. Australia should be sending more of the vaccine to our near-neighbours. It has a cost-benefit ratio which in the context of epidemics and pandemics strongly favours vaccination, he said.

Loading PNG is in crisis, hospitals are overflowing, people are dying for a lack of medical care and the vaccination rate is well under 5 per cent. We can help by way of assisting with infrastructure, vaccine supplies, medication supplies, oxygen supplies and vaccine delivery. Of the 280 million vaccine doses procured by Indonesia to date, 219 million have been the Chinese-made Sinovac and 8.4 million have been the Sinopharm, also made in China, with the balance of about 53 million being Western vaccines including Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Indonesia has a population of about 270 million people and needs to acquire at least another 200 million doses. Australia has already pledged to donate 3.5 million doses of AstraZeneca to Jakarta. The country has reported more than four million infections and close to 150,000 deaths, but the true figures are likely much higher. Professor Zubairi Djoerban, the head of the Indonesia Medical Associations COVID-19 taskforce, expressed disappointment about Canberras decision to stop making the vaccine at CSL.

Indonesia still needs a lot of vaccines in the future, he said We also plan to do the third shot next year. So Australias decision to stop the production is deeply regretted because many countries outside Australia still need them. Lowy Institute South-East Asia program director Ben Bland said, it would be good for Australia to be more ambitious, that would always be well-received in the region. Scott Morrison did promise 10 million extra doses for ASEAN countries by mid-2022 this week and thats positive, he said. When you compare the population of Australia to the number of doses promised, if you are giving away twice as many as your population, thats good. But, as a wealthy developed nation with the capacity to manufacture more vaccines, and a stated aim of deepening ties with south-east Asia, Australia should be thinking even more boldly.
Liberal backbenchers Jason Falinski, Katie Allen and Dave Sharma told The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age they were among the government MPs working closely with Senator Cash to strengthen the bill. The MPs indicated the draft model would be improved to address concerns about its weaknesses and that it would be introduced before the end of the year. However, any changes will have to be signed off by cabinet and the party room. Mr Falinski said the MPs wanted changes that included anyone being able to forward a complaint to the commission and for the agency to be able to commence an investigation on its own, without reference from a federal agency. He said he did not support public hearings, but his colleague Liberal MP Celia Hammond has previously called for public hearings to be allowed in certain circumstances. Mr Sharma confirmed he held discussions with Senator Cash and that the current model could be improved, to broaden the scope of its jurisdiction and ensure public confidence in the model, but also to strengthen safeguards and protections.

Dr Allen said she had been working closely with the Attorney-General to make sure the legislation gets the balance right and to make sure that an appropriate approach that increases the trust of the public [in the commission] is balanced with ensuring it doesnt become a politicised weapon. Among LNP voters, 71 per cent backed an integrity commission  which Mr Morrison promised to legislate before the last election  while 7 per cent opposed it and 23 per cent were undecided. For Labor voters, 68 per cent supported a commission and 6 per cent opposed it, while among other voters there was 70 per cent support and 4 per cent opposed it. More significantly, 42 per cent of all voters stated all hearings for such a body should be public and 35 per cent said hearings should be a mixture of public and private, while just 11 per cent agreed that all hearings should be private. On the commissions investigative powers, 25 per cent of voters agreed the body should have the power to decide what to investigate and 43 per cent agreed the commission should be set up so that it could be directed to investigate potential corruption, or to make its own decisions.

Just 14 per cent supported a model where what the commission investigates is decided by others. Loading Senator Cash told Senate Estimates on Tuesday that further refinement of the proposed laws setting up the commission was being undertaken and ultimately it will be a decision for cabinet when the bills are introduced, and what form they take. Centre for Public Integrity chair Anthony Whealy QC said in the current proposed model the definition of corruption is too narrow, there is an impossibly high threshold for investigations to commence, no whistleblowers are allowed and virtually no own-initiative investigations. Then there are no public hearings, no public reports and no public criticism of parliamentarians or their staff allowed.

The former NSW Supreme Court judge added that we dont want to unfairly damage peoples reputations but you dont do that by denying the effectiveness of the body. Earlier this month the Prime Minister said the NSW ICAC was not a model that we ever consider at a federal level and that there are millions of people whove seen whats happened to Gladys Berejiklian. Asked on Thursday  before Ms Berejiklians ICAC appearance but after former colleagues testified that she should have revealed her secret relationship with Mr Maguire  if he stood by those remarks, Mr Morrison said: I dont have any regrets about that in terms of the statements Ive made previously. Weve been setting out our model, if that model is not accepted by others in this parliament, well, thats a matter for them, he said. We have a lot of other institutions here at the federal level that I think are being ignored by others who have a very important role. Im not about to let or support a system that, you know, takes us down the path where its trial outside of proper processes.
Moscow: A leading light in the Russian Communist Party tipped to be the next anti-Putin opposition leader has been accused of poaching an elk in an incident said to have all the hallmarks of a Kremlin set-up.

Outspoken Valery Rashkin who has attracted young supporters to the party, was reportedly caught with the butchered animal in the back of a car.

Russian Communists party candidate Valery Rashkin, center, speaks to the media as he arrives for a protest against the results of the Parliamentary election in Moscow, Russia in September. Credit:AP

Hunting authorities told Russian media that rangers headed to the woods outside the city of Saratov on Thursday evening to respond to reports of shooting, only to find Rashkin and two other men with the carcass of an elk in their vehicle. An axe and two knives with traces of blood were also found in the car, they said.

The Communist Party says Rashkin was framed, and the incident has triggered speculation that the Kremlin is trying to disable a threat to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The board of the United St. Maarten (US) party has called on Chairperson of Parliament MP Rolando Brison to resign immediately as President of Parliament and not further shame and embarrass the country. The board also called on all factions in Parliament to show the people of St. Maarten that their highest body stands for integrity and end the soap opera antics of MP Brison and the consequences which St. Maarten suffers.

Enough is enough, the board said on the heels of a video that has circulated all over the world of Brison denigrating MP Grisha Heyliger-Marten, boldly talking about deals with just certain people in the National Alliance, his coalition partner, dismissing Parliaments instructions to Minister of VROMI Egbert Doran by stating that the Minister will grant the land at Over The Bank anyway, and very disturbingly referring to permits as if they are on sale with the coalition.

The President of Parliament has added legitimacy to every negative thing the Dutch and other have to say or assume about politicians on St. Maarten, while we know all should not be painted with the same brush. His actions as the Chairperson of our highest governing body is unacceptable, lacks integrity, irresponsible and callous, the USP board said, adding that the fact that MP Brison has allegedly dismissed the recording as a moment of anger, speaks volumes to his character.

The board further questioned how much more of MP Brisons antics will the current government tolerate. This government and to an extent this Parliament, seems to be comfortable with apologies. MP Brison interferes with controllers doing their jobs, he skips IPKO to attend club parties with celebrities, he contacts Coharis Law Groups on his own putting members of Parliament in compromising positions, he circumvents the countrys pandemic protocols so that friends in the night life sector can operate and on and on.

When do integrity and the reputation of the country and our governing bodies trump apologies? These things have become habitual for MP Brison because nobody holds him accountable. An apology or some flimsy explanation this time should not suffice. The words were uttered from his mouth. MP Brison should resign as President of Parliament immediately and the United People (UP) party has to decide if thats the kind of representation the people of St. Maarten deserves and the party wants to represent, the US board concluded.
News

spotlight

Shelter from intimate partner violence often begins at the emergency room

Emergency room staff are often the first to come in contact with a victim of intimate partner violence. While victims may not always feel comfortable opening up to the medical professionals treating them, management at the local hospitals say it is a priority to ensure their patients feel safe. (Olga Kononenko/Unsplash)

Statistics show it takes a victim roughly seven times to leave an abusive and violent partner. Intimate partner violence can be an overwhelmingly isolating situation, but the reality is the victim is never alone, and often they have an entire department of people waiting by to support them.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in five women and one in seven men report having experienced severe physical violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. There are many negative health outcomes associated with intimate partner violence, including conditions affecting the heart, digestive, reproduction, muscle and bones, and nervous systems  many of which are chronic.

From the very first injury to any of the above listed health issues, many victims find themselves at some point or another inside an emergency room.

Patient intake

At the Allina Health hospitals and in both Owatonna and Faribault, policies have long in place to allow for emergency room staff to help victims of domestic violence. Leaders in both departments say this is a crucial practice, as hospital emergency rooms are often the first point of contact of domestic violence victims.

We have policies in place for domestic violence, both with what we can do and what we cant, said Samantha Meyer, the patient care director for the District One Emergency Department in Faribault. We screen all our patients that come into the ER and have a set of questions that are a part of our initial triage process  we directly ask people if they are being hit, kicked, pushed or yelled at.

Jessica Whipps, the patient care director for the Owatonna Hospital Emergency Department, said her staff asks the same set of questions of every ED patient, despite their reason for being there. She said this helps identify anyone who may need additional resources and medical care as it directly relates to domestic violence.

The roadblock, however, is intimate partner violence does not fall under the category of mandated reporting.

When it comes to a patient coming in to be treated for [domestic violence], we would only report that with the victims consent, Whipps said. We dont want it to turn into us trying to coerce them, its about providing care that will benefit them.

Meyer echoed Whipps, stating that when it comes to the medical health industry interacting with victims of intimate partner violence, it really boils down to following a patients lead.

If they just want us to care for their injuries and nothing else, we can do that. We will treat them and send them home, Meyer said. We want to support a patient with where they are at.

Beyond medical care

Unless the violence at home involves a child or a vulnerable adult, Meyer said the level of care a victim receives is entirely up to them. There is, however, a plethora of resources are available inside an emergency room.

We help facilitate making reports to law enforcement, we can provide the safe space for them in the short term, and we can connect them with the HOPE Center here in [Faribault], Meyer said. We can do everything from the basics of assessing, evaluating and treating their injuries to starting the reporting process.

In Owatonna, Whipps said they refer patients to the Crisis Resource Center of Steele County, who will send an advocate to the emergency room as soon as possible to meet with a victim and provide them with whatever they need. Soon, however, Whipps said they are hoping to bring another resource from directly within the hospital.

Sexual assault nurse examiners  or SANE nurses  are forensic nurses who are trained through Allinas sexual assault program. Not only are they trained to work with victims of sexual assault, but Whipps said they also receive specialized training in domestic abuse cases.

We are currently in the process of training nurses here to respond to intimate partner violence, though I dont have a date for when that will officially roll out, Whipps said. But moving forward, we will hopefully have our SANE nurses to work with these patients in conjunctions with the Crisis Resource Center.

Both hospitals also have on-site social workers who are available to serve patients if requested.

Creating a safe space

Though the emergency departments staffs are trained and ready to assist patients beyond the medical care their injuries require, both women said it is far too common for victims of intimate partner violence to be unwilling for one reason or another to disclose the true severity of their living situation.

We want to open the door for patients to feel they can share anything with us, Meyer said. If patients are not alone in the ER because maybe they have a family member of a significant other with them, we will actually mark a box on that initial triage that we were unable to assess them because of that reasons and then will follow up with them at a later date.

Regardless, there are still situations where a victim does not open up to the ER staff that they are experience violence at home. Whipps said there are several red flags that alert staff of likely intimate partner violence, ranging from repeat visits for similar injuries to a patients general demeanor, but they cannot force a potential victim to tell the hospital staff what the cause of the injuries are.

Its always difficult in those situations, Whipps said. One of the things we do is our mission and our goal as caregivers is to provide whole-person care and be sure we are treating the patient in every way that we can, but part of that is also meeting the patient where they are at then in that moment.

Meyer agreed that is can be hard for medical health professionals to see a patient who is hurting, but unable to treat the pain beyond the physical injuries presented to them. Because of that, though, she said it is even more paramount that they build good relationships with these patients.

The more we build a trusting relationships, the more we respect them and treat them and help them, the more likely that the next time we seem them coming to the ER that will be the time they are ready to report, Meyer said. We are here, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. We have a system of safeguards in place. You can come in and be listed as a private encounter and no one will know you are here. We have security that will keep you safe. The hospital is still a safe place to come and we would love the opportunity to help you wherever you are on this journey.

Whipps agreed that letting people know the emergency room is a safe place to turn to is one of the most important messages she wants to share.

You didnt deserve this and this is not your fault, Whipps wants victims to know. We are here to support you. There is help and hope. You are not alone.

NEED HELP? If you or someone you love are concerned about your relationship, reach out to talk to someone about your options. In Rice County, HOPE Center advocates are available 24 hours a day at 1-800-607-2330. The Crisis Resource Center of Steele County is available 24/7 at 507-451-1202. If you are planning on leaving an abusive relationship, reach out. Advocates are available to assist. One of the most dangerous times is when people are leaving the relationship, and these resources can talk through a safety plan, and help with resources and options to leave safely. All of services are free and confidential. You don't have to walk this path alone.

Editor's Note This is the final article in a three-part series published in the Owatonna Peoples Press. "How housing  or lack thereof  can influence domestic violence" can be found at bit.ly/3w1FbJ5 "Southern Minnesota not immune to intimate partner homicide, violence" can be found at bit.ly/2ZGnRO8
Tunis, 30 October 2021 (SPS) - Tunisia is committed to its fraternal and historical relations with all the Arab Maghreb countries and the principle of positive neutrality in the Western Sahara issue, Adviser to the President of the Republic of Tunisia, Walid Hajem, told TAP Friday evening.



Based on its commitment to international legality and the role of the United Nations in preserving peace and security in the world, Tunisia "reiterates its full support for the ongoing efforts of the UN Secretary-General to achieve a political solution in the Western Sahara and its support for the important role of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)," he added.



He reaffirmed Tunisia's concern to "give priority to the path of dialogue in the Western Sahara issue in order to achieve a satisfactory political solution that strengthens the stability of the region and opens promising horizons to strengthen cooperation between the member countries of the Arab Maghreb Union and consolidate their ability to meet common challenges at the level of security, economy and development.



The adviser to the President of the Republic of Tunisia confirmed, "Tunisia welcomes the appointment of the new Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura" and considers that this is an "important step towards the impetus of the political process" and a "positive momentum for a peaceful solution.



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STAMFORD  When regional leaders gathered across from the Stamford Transportation Center to celebrate breaking ground on a new state garage, lawmakers were abuzz with hope for the future.

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., implied that the new garage would help create a "progressive commercial hub" in Downtown Stamford where people could exist without cars. State representative and city mayoral candidate Caroline Simmons, D-Stamford, called it a win for "hardworking commuters, for public safety, for quality of life." Rep. Cory Paris, D-Stamford, said that the $81.7 million investment proved that "the crown jewel of our state is setting a great example as to how we can invest in infrastructure."

But in the hours after legislators lauded the 928-spot garage as a win for Stamford and the region, reaction began to bubble up online.

"No, no, no," wrote Hartford-based city planner Autumn Florek on Twitter. "Constructing gigantic parking garages destroys the environment and our communities. This is nothing to celebrate!"

Florek was far from alone. The consensus among urban planning practitioners and enthusiasts is that building a larger garage is terrible for residents and bad for the environment.

"It's tripling down on the car-centric land use around that very busy station, as a lot of folks are finally coming to realize, at exactly the wrong time for increasing driving and increasing pollution in urban areas and increasing greenhouse gas emissions," said Hartford-based transportation advocate and engineer Anthony Cherolis.

In 2008, Connecticut set out to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to 80 percent or below 2001 levels, a goal the state has not always been on track to meet. Transportation continues to be one of the largest producers of gas emissions in the state, "primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels in vehicles," according to a 2021 study from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Cherolis argues that by building almost 1,000 spaces of parking, the city is encouraging more driving for decades to come. The existing state garage for the Stamford Transportation Center, for example, was built in 1985.

Plans for the new garage on Washington Boulevard include improvements to the roads surrounding the garage  like dedicated lanes for buses, rideshares and taxis  and direct pedestrian connection to Track 5 of the train station where the Metro-North Railway takes passengers down to Grand Central Station.

State Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giulietti said on Monday, when the garage project was formally introduced, that roadway improvements would be "bike and pedestrian-friendly" to compliment the 100 sheltered bike storage spaces that DOT will include in the garage.

However, Cherolis rejected the idea that the garage could make the station accessible to non-drivers while increasing the number of spots for drivers.

"I think they're putting lipstick on a pig," he said. "Walking or biking past entrance or exit to a parking garage at rush hours  it's hard to design that better and make it safe or convenient."

New proposal, new critiques

While urbanists are critical of the garage design, DOT faced almost the exact opposite criticism last time it attempted to revitalize the area around the train station.

The department in 2013 put forth a $500 million plan to replace the ramshackle garage at 43 Station Place across from the train station with "600,000 square feet of commercial office space, 60,000 square feet of retail floors, 150 hotel rooms and 150 residential units." The plan aimed to bring Transit-Oriented Development, an urban development strategy that seeks to maximize the amenities near public transportation, to Stamford.

Under that plan, commuter parking was poised to move a quarter-mile away. Some commuters lobbied hard against the proposal.

"The commuters want the parking garage to be rebuilt, in place. The DOT wants a transit-oriented development project, which will expand station uses and bring in revenue," said John Hartwell, then-vice chairman of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council, in 2016.

Following years of delays, the vision for a mixed-use bubble near the train station withered on the vine. In October 2016, state officials quashed the redevelopment more than three years into the process because the designated real estate and construction team failed to pass its vetting process.

Two years later, when the state attempted to gather public input on building a parking garage instead of a multi-use complex, the public reaction was still mixed. Few residents attended community meetings with the state, and those there wanted to see a new garage built directly where the current parking facility sits.

City Rep. Eric Morson, D-13, was of that opinion then and backs it still today. The new parking garage plan doesn't replicate the old garage's same convenience.

"If you have to pick up your train at the north end of the platform or are dropped off at the north end of the platform... that parking garage is at the far south end of the platform," Morson, a longtime commuter, said. "It's quite a walk for some people who may not be able to do that. It's going to take some people more time. And when you're rushing for your train? Maybe you miss it."

Giulietti revealed at Monday's ceremony that the state has more ambitious plans for the existing garage. It must demolish a significant part of the facility because of structural problems. In the process, the DOT expects to find a new use for the property.

"This is prime real estate," Giulietti said of the parcel. "We're looking to go and attract investors so that we can offset some of our costs for going into an operation by maybe putting in something there that will generate funds for the system."

Designing for the future

The very lack of convenience for motorists and concerned commuters like Hartwell and Morson is what some urban planners think cities should be aiming to do.

Mary Donegan, a professor of urban planning at the University of Connecticut, understands that people drive places, especially in this state. But she also knows that building more garages and roadways causes more driving, a statement backed by research.

A study from several UConn professors in 2016 linked parking provision to the number of people driving using geospatial data. As the number of parking spaces per person increased from 0.2 parking spaces to 0.5, the share of people commuting by car rose with it.

"We sort of have this narrative in Connecticut that we need to make service better for people to use transit, and that is true," Donegan said. "But it's also true that we have to make it harder to drive. If we just make service better, people aren't going to switch."

For the sake of Stamford's residents, both present and future, she thinks it behooves the state to compel that switch.

Donegan also argues that there's an equity component to not building a garage.

"The poorest residents don't own cars and certainly won't be able to afford that garage," she said. "So, you're spending a lot of money on infrastructure to help sort of wealthiest of the city and in ways that are detrimental to sort of small business owners or residents who want to walk and bike."

Dice Oh, an active member of the local transportation advocacy group People Friendly Stamford, understands that there needs to be some parking at the garage, given the Stamford Transportation Center's role as a regional hub. Still, he's frustrated with the design.

"The priority of the station should be much more about allowing the kind of developments that would create walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods, and not making cars the number one priority, which is what's happening now," Oh said.

The old garage was falling apart. He gets that something new needed to happen, but it should have had a more forward-looking approach.

"What we would want to see (from) the state is to have a vision of the station of the future that is not just 1,000 people driving to the station every day," he said.

veronica.delvalle@hearstmediact.com
MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (AP)  In the rankings of political upsets from November 2016, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory's defeat was a distant second. Still, when the Republican best known for signing the transgender bathroom bill narrowly lost at the same time Donald Trump comfortably won the state, it left many stunned.

Now, McCrory, a rising star of the pre-Trump GOP, is trying to mount a political comeback in a post-Trump era. McCrory is vying for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, contending with hard-right politicians who may not have had a shot several years ago and struggling to position himself amid a debate contorted by Trump's lies about the 2020 election.

The primary fight for the seat being vacated by GOP Sen. Richard Burr is one of several across the country that will test Trump's influence. The former president upended the race this summer by endorsing U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, a conservative who backed his attempt to overturn the election results. That has forced McCrory to try to win over the Trump loyalists who took over the party in his absence.

That hasn't been easy for the former governor, who once said Trump was destroying democracy." He has softened his criticism of Trump  and tried to focus his message on electability.

Im the candidate with the broadest appeal in the general election, no ifs, ands or buts, McCrory said in an interview last month with The Associated Press.

McCrory was once considered a good fit for North Carolina's shifting politics. He was viewed as a pro-business moderate  in line with many of the suburban voters driving growth in the state's expanding tech and research industries.

He spent 14 years as Charlotte's mayor before narrowly losing his first gubernatorial bid in 2008. He was then elected governor in 2012 by more than 11 percentage points. He won, in part, by convincing voters he was best qualified to jump-start the battered economy in a state with the fifth-highest unemployment rate in the country. Having previously worked at Duke Energy and then his brother's sales consulting firm, McCrory often touted his business experience.

But McCrory's career unexpectedly turned with passage of House Bill 2, legislation he signed in 2016 that required transgender people to use the public restroom of the sex listed on their birth certificate. The bill became a flashpoint in the still-burgeoning transgender rights movement.

McCrory, a religious conservative, defended the measure, even as several large corporations and sports leagues relocated events to other states. The bill was partially repealed in 2017 by McCrory's Democratic successor, Roy Cooper.

We remember HB2, and we remember the damage that it did to our state and the loss of jobs, said Bobbie Richardson, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. I dont think that people are going to forget, and I know we as Democrats are not going to allow people to forget.

McCrory now declines to say whether he regrets signing the measure. His campaign also declined to share McCrory's attitudes on a bill Republicans floated this year but ultimately did not pursue that would have prevented transgender girls and women from competing in sports designed for those who were born female.

I dont relive circumstances. Im looking to the future, McCrory said.

House Bill 2 was among many factors that contributed to his narrow defeat in 2016. He also received pushback over his support for building toll lanes along Interstate 77 north of Charlotte and drew the ire of environmental activists who accused him of having a cozy relationship with Duke Energy leading up to the 2014 coal-ash spill along the Dan River.

I gave Duke Power the largest fine in North Carolina history, McCrory said. Duke Power was not happy with what I did."

It took nearly a month for him to concede the election to Cooper, which he did after it became clear he fell outside the 10,000-vote margin needed for a statewide recount. Some of his supporters are facing a defamation lawsuit over claims they made falsely accusing a handful of voters of casting multiple ballots.

Days after his concession, McCrory interviewed for a position in the Trump administration, offering to provide his expertise about infrastructure and transportation. But he was rebuffed. McCrory said he later learned Trump didn't appreciate his criticism after the Access Hollywood video surfaced showing Trump making lewd comments about women.

McCrory says he wouldn't take it back: I believe what I said, which I said basically, many of us, including Mr. Trump, need to have their mouth washed out with soap."

After his defeat, McCrory went on to host a popular talk radio show about politics. The show kept him in Republicans' ears, but it didn't necessarily endear him to the new wave of Trump loyalists in the state.

Two days after the 2020 election, McCrory pronounced his belief that Trump lost. On Nov. 23, McCrory accused Trump of destroying democracy through his efforts to overturn legitimate election results. The day after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, McCrory argued that Trump lost because of personality."

Since announcing his candidacy this year and quitting his radio show, McCrory has dialed back his criticisms of Trump.

I was a strong defender of President Trumps policies, especially as it relates to immigration, tax cuts, military, foreign policy, McCrory told the AP. The only thing that I continue to be discouraged in is the deficit spending, and I strongly disagree with (how) the federal government got involved in unemployment and started paying people more not to work than to work.

McCrory was referring to boosted federal unemployment benefits the Trump administration extended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the campaign trail, McCrory has tried to describe himself as a political outsider ready to shake up Washington  an attempt to contrast himself to Budd, a three-term congressman.

Budd voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and has called the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol a few hours on one bad day." He has since said that he accepts that President Joe Biden won fair and square.

Former Rep. Mark Walker is also in the race, though he is fighting to remain viable after an abysmal fundraising period between July and September in which he brought in $122,000, far less than the more than $1 million McCrory and Budd raised.

Among the Democrats running for Burr's seat are Cheri Beasley, the former chief justice of the state Supreme Court, and Jeff Jackson, a state senator.

Many undecided voters remain torn between Budd and Walker, which could boost McCrory's chances of capturing a plurality of primary votes in a three-way race.

Nancy Sieber, a 70-year-old Winston-Salem resident, said she can't decide between Budd or Walker.

Obviously, Trump putting his all-in for Budd is an impressionable thing to me," she said.

But for some voters, Trump's support won't be the only factor.

At a recent event where all three candidates spoke, Rion Choate, a Charlotte resident and member of the Mecklenburg County GOP, was donning a Trump 2024 hat. He said he believes Trump defeated Biden and acknowledged Budd got Trump's endorsement but noted he supports McCrory simply because Ive known him all these years.

___

Follow Anderson on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BryanRAnderson.

___

Anderson 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.
ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP)  A fugitive wanted on charges related to violent crimes elsewhere in New England has been arrested in Maine, authorities said.

The U.S. Marshals Service and Maine state authorities said late Friday that Ramon Smith, 33, of Massachusetts, was arrested in Ellsworth after being sought by Connecticut for a warrant issued for homicide and by Massachusetts for another warrant issued for strangulation. Authorities said he was located in a hotel in Ellsworth and was apprehended without incident.
Mayoral candidates across the country are closing out their campaigns pledging to restore law and order, a major setback for racial justice protesters who only a year ago thought they had permanently reshaped the debate on policing in American cities.

As voters head to the polls Tuesday, local elections are dominated by discussions about safety and law enforcement amid a surge in violent crime. The tone of the debate, even in many liberal urban communities, highlights how major policing reforms have stalled.

From Buffalo to Seattle, Democratic politicians who once championed significant reductions or reallocations of police department budgets are backtracking. In other cities, including Cleveland, liberal candidates are being hammered over their stances on public safety.

And even in cities without a competitive mayor's race, the question of how to get tough on crime and bolster public safety has emerged as a defining issue. In Miami Beach, for example, Mayor Dan Gelber, D, is campaigning for a controversial referendum that would ban the sale of alcohol at bars and nightclubs after 2 a.m., which the mayor says is needed to regain control of the city after a tumultuous year of unruly behavior and gun violence. Gelber is also exploring how Miami Beach can hire more police officers.

"My residents are saying 'we need to crackdown', or 'we need to have zero tolerance,' " said Gelber, adding that his party has been hampered by public perceptions that it is soft on crime.

The shift in the political strategies among big-city politicians, many of whom are Democrats, comes as a new poll shows public support for traditional policing strategies has increased since last year, when the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement and powered its "defund the police" slogan.

A Pew Research Center poll published Tuesday shows that 47% of Americans want to increase funding for police, compared to 15% who want to decrease funding. Last June, when the racial justice protests were at their peak, 31% of Americans wanted to increase funding while 25% supported a decrease. Three-fourths of Black Americans, who form a decisive voting bloc in many mayoral contests, either support increasing or keeping spending on police the same, Pew found.

The shift in public opinion comes after the U.S. cities experienced a 30% jump in killings in 2020, the largest one-year increase since the federal government began compiling national figures in the 1960s.

In many cities, the number of homicides continued to rise this year, though at a slower rate than in 2020. At the same time, many large police departments have seen a decline in the number of active officers, fueling residents' sense of unease.

Ned Hill, an Ohio State University professor who studies urban politics, said the shift on police occurred quickly, forcing local politicians to recalibrate their public safety message. The tenor of the debate in many mayoral races moved even further in favor of police this fall, after Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain who campaigned on fighting crime, won the Democratic nomination for mayor in New York.

"Mayors aren't stupid, and they understand if taxpaying residents of their city start leaving, as they did in the 1970s, the whole city is endangered," said Hill, who teaches economics at Ohio State's John Glenn College of Public Affairs. "But more importantly, they understand it's the home-owning residents who turn out to vote in nonpresidential election years, and it's those residents who feel most affected by crime."

Mayoral candidates who only a few months ago were on the front lines of the police-reform movement have been moderating their positions ahead of Tuesday's election.

In Buffalo, community activist India Walton is attempting to become the country's first socialist mayor in decades after she defeated the incumbent mayor, Byron Brown, in the June Democratic primary. Walton's bid for public office grew out of the racial justice protests that swept the nation following Floyd's murder, and she had been a fixture at Black Lives Matter demonstrations.

Before her campaign for mayor, Walton embraced calls to shift resources away from police. According to the Buffalo News, Walton used expletive-laden anti-police chants at a rally. Her affiliation with the Black Lives Matter movement has become fodder for Brown, who is mounting a write-in campaign.

On the campaign trail, Walton has largely stopped talking about cutting funding for police and instead stresses the need for accountability for police misconduct and a greater role for mental health professionals in responding to residents in distress.

Jesse Myerson, a spokesman for the Walton campaign, said Walton does not recall using profanity on the campaign trail last year. Myerson added Walton has shifted away from the "slogans of activists" during moments of "searing injustice" and is now focused on becoming an effective mayor.

"India has transitioned from one to the other, and that accounts for the change in rhetoric," said Myerson, adding Walton still supports diverting $7.5 million of the Buffalo Police Department's $86 million annual budget. "But what stays the same is her commitment to justice, and her determination that we have a society that fosters safety, health and accountability."

A poll released Tuesday by WIVB-TV and Emerson College showed Brown holds a 17-point lead in the race.

In Seattle, a city that experienced a 73% increase in homicides last year, City Council president and mayoral candidate Lorena Gonzalez is also on the defensive over her past support for reducing police funding in that city by as much as 50%, and diverting that money to social programs.

Gonzalez's chief opponent in the race, former council member Bruce Harrell, is hammering Gonzalez for that stance, arguing city homeowners and businesses are clamoring for safer streets in a city that has lost about 300 police officers in the last year.

"Make no mistake about it, I am not defunding the police," Gonzalez charged in a debate on Thursday night. "My opponent has made it clearly a purpose-driven part [of her campaign] to defund the police."

Gonzalez responded by saying she still wants to "invest in community-based safety and non-law enforcement systems" but will also "fully support hiring plans" to add more officers to the Seattle Police Department.

Several recent polls suggest that Harrell now leads Gonzalez.

Justin Hansford, executive director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University, said big-city political dynamics this fall highlight how the Black Lives Matter movement has faded as a political force.

Hansford, a onetime Black Lives Matter activist, said the movement is suffering from its diffuse leadership structure, most notably that Black Lives Matter never established a clear leader or political arm. As a result, Hansford said the movement has been unable to fight back against its critics or organize itself politically, which has made it easier for Democratic leaders to distance themselves from the group's message.

"That lack of cohesion, what that does, is it means you cannot come up with a counter-strategy that everyone can agree on, and you can't come up with a long-term strategy," Hansford said. "We always knew there would pushback to changing policing, but what is surprising is how quickly Democrats are back to a law-and-order narrative."

In some mayoral contests, candidates have been on the defensive for even publicly supporting the Black Lives Matter movement last year. In Park City, Utah, a liberal island in an otherwise conservative state, Mayor Andy Beerman has faced criticism during his reelection campaign for authorizing a "Black Lives Matter" mural on a city street last year, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Chanelle Helm, a leader of a Black Lives Matter chapter in Louisville, which does not hold a mayor's race until next year, said organizers have always understood that their campaign to "fundamentally change policing" would be a tough slog.

"Resting is a part of this, because it is a long-term battle," Helm said. "You lose some battles. You win some battles. But you still have to rest, because you know the GOP is still going to organize. White supremacy is still going to organize, and centrist Democrats are still going to organize."

And despite setbacks for movement, Bruce Katz, director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University, said the current political environment in major cities still largely aligns with the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement. He notes that many candidates couch their requests for more police officers with promises to also hold them accountable while investing in social and mental health programs to deter crime and arrests.

"Mayoral candidates are being compelled to respond to realities on the ground. But the response to those realities is going to be dramatically informed by what happened to George Floyd and it will not be the response we would have seen in 2018 or 2019," Katz said. "There will be a much more thoughtful, broader, comprehensive response."

But one test of how voters balance these competing needs will come in Cleveland, where residents are voting both for a new mayor and on a referendum to fundamentally change oversight of city police.

Cleveland's police department has been in turmoil since an officer shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 while Rice held a toy gun. A year later, the department entered into a consent decree with the Justice Department after it was determined the department engaged in pattern of excessive force.

In response to concerns about the department, voters are considering a ballot question that would create a civilian commission that could fire or discipline officers. Political analysts once expected the measure to pass handily.

But in recent weeks, the referendum has emerged as the main point of contention between the two candidates for mayors.

In a September primary, Justin Bibb, a Black 34-year-old nonprofit executive, was the top vote-getter after he rallied a diverse coalition of young and left-leaning voters to the polls. In Tuesday's runoff election, however, Bibb finds himself locked in a tight race against City Council President Kevin Kelley, who using public safety issues to rally older, more conservative voters behind his candidacy.

Kelley, 54, has been arguing that Issue 24 - and Bibb's vocal support for it - will divert resources away from city police after Cleveland saw 177 homicides last year - a pace that continues to accelerate this year. Kelley, who is White, has also argued that an expansion of the board's powers will force officers to leave the force.

"From everything we have seen, from polling to knocking on front doors, to any conversation we have had with people, crime and safety is the absolute number-one issue in every neighborhood in the city of Cleveland," Kelley said. "We are already down almost 200 uniformed police officers, and we just cannot afford this risk" of enacting Issue 24.

In an interview, Bibb accused Kelley of "using Trump talking points" against him, a reference to President Donald Trump's "law-and-order" campaign strategy last year.

"I will not run away from this narrative that you can't have effective law enforcement while also focusing on police accountability and equal justice under the law," Bibb said.

Still, Kelley concedes his task has become harder this year because many voters think Democrats want to "defund the police."

"It was the worst label, and the worst branding in American political history," Bibb said. "It boxed many of us in, because anytime we talk about police accountability or police reform, the other side says it is 'defund the police' and we don't support police officers."

"And when we [Democrats] overplayed our hands with defund the police, we are forced to go back to the other extreme," Bibb added.

One city where the political whiplash has been especially intense in Atlanta, where 14 candidates are vying to replace Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, D.

Last summer, following citywide protests after an Atlanta police officer shot a man in the back as he attempted to flee, many city leaders advocated for broad reforms to policing. The Atlanta City Council came within one vote of temporarily slashing its police budget by nearly a third.

Now, amid a sharp increase in homicides and carjackings, the issue of police reform is not even brought up on the campaign trail as the candidates instead discuss how to quickly hire more officers.

One leading candidate, former mayor Kasim Reed, D, is aligning himself with Atlanta's police union, an unthinkable political decision just a year ago when the city rallied behind Black Lives Matter.

"We have to support the women and the men of the police department," Reed said while picking up the endorsement. "Because if we don't, we are going to lose Atlanta."

- - -

The Washington Post's Joanna Slater contributed to this report.
ROME (AP)  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday invited Pope Francis to visit the country, extending an official opening after plans for a 2017 papal visit fell apart.

I would like to see you in India," Modi told Francis as he bade him farewell after an unusually long, 55-minute audience at the Vatican. On my part, it would be an honor to receive you there.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said the invitation was to come visit at an early date and was accepted with pleasure.

Modi is in Rome for the Group of 20 summit, and his visit to the Vatican marked the first time in more than 20 years that an Indian leader has met a pope.

India is home to the second largest Catholic population in Asia after the Philippines, but the roughly 18 million Catholics represent a small minority in the largely Hindu nation of 1.3 billion. Religious tensions have continued to flare after Modis hard-line, Hindu nationalist government was returned to power for a second term in 2019, with attacks against Muslims and Christians.

The Vaticans official communique made no mention of the invitation or the content of Modi's meeting with the pontiff. It said only that Modis visit with the Vaticans secretary of state was brief and that the cordial relations between the Holy See and India were discussed.

Francis had hoped to visit India and Bangladesh in 2017. After negotiations with the Indian government dragged on, Francis went instead to Bangladesh and Myanmar. Upon his return to Rome from that trip, Francis acknowledged he had wanted to go to India but that procedures became protracted, and time was pressing."

But he said it was actually providential" because visiting India requires one journey: you must go to the south, to the center, to the east, to the west, to the north for the diverse cultures of India."

He said at the time that he hoped to go in 2018 if Im still alive!"

There was never an official explanation given for why the trip fell apart. But religious tensions have intensified since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept national elections in 2014 and elected Modi as the countrys prime minister. The countrys minorities, particularly Muslims who roughly make up 14 percent of the population, have been targeted by Hindu groups tied to Modis party. Christians have also been attacked and churches targeted.

Modi's meeting Saturday with Francis  which the Vatican closed to independent media, citing coronavirus restrictions  appeared warm based on Vatican photographs Modi tweeted showing the two men embracing on several occasions.

Thank you very much for your visit," Francis said to Modi in English, holding his hands, according to Vatican video of the encounter. I am happy.

During the encounter, Modi gave Francis a silver candelabra and a book, The Climate Climb: India's strategy, actions and achievements." Francis gave Modi a collection of his main teaching documents and a bronze medallion featuring a tree and the words in Italian The desert will become a garden."

___

Hussain reported from Srinagar, India.
NEW HAVEN  The suspect accused in the slaying of Yale graduate student Kevin Jiang will not be able to have prosecutors send case documents directly to him at Cheshire Correctional Institution, a judge ruled Friday.

Instead, the documents must be available  at least for now  for Qinxuan Pan to review after the material is sent to the legal library at the correctional institution, according to the ruling by Judge Gerald J. Harmon.

Attorney Norm Pattis, representing Pan, had petitioned Harmon to allow Pan private access to documents concerning his case, receiving them from the prosecution through the discovery process, rather than sending them to the prison library.

Pattis said Pan reported the library was run by other prisoners, but allowing him to review the documents in his cell, where he is alone in protective custody, would ensure that they did not fall into the hands of others.

Harmon declined to grant the request Friday, saying it was policy to send documents to the legal libraries at correctional institutions and ruled that they should try that procedure before changing it. The state, the judge said, would safeguard the documents to ensure Pan can access them.

The overall case against Pan was continued again Friday, as those involved in the proceedings in New Haven agreed to wait on a decision from the Connecticut Supreme Court regarding the appropriateness of the suspects bond.

Pattis asked Harmon to put off a planned probable cause hearing for the time being, allowing the Supreme Court more time to deliberate.

The case was continued to Dec. 16.

After the proceedings, Pattis said he was pleased with the documents turned over by the prosecution to date, pointing to what he said were inconsistencies and insinuations in the states case.

Weve begun to review the material and were very encouraged by what we see, said Pattis.

Asked for an example, Pattis reiterated concerns regarding the identification of a suspect in the case. He previously noted that witnesses initially reported that people of other races were involved in the incident.

Pan previously filed a petition for the Connecticut Supreme Court to review his $20 million bond, arguing it was disproportionately high.

Under the state constitution, defendants have the right to be released on bail upon sufficient security; the justices considered the meaning of that phrase during a Sept. 8 hearing.

During that hearing, Pattis raised the example of Peter Manfredonia, accused of two killings, kidnapping, home invasion and other crimes, in which bond initially was set at $5 million.

The Pan family wonders whether this is Yale, the shadow of Yale, cast on the criminal courts, said Pattis. Every case involving Yale seems to acquire a special gravitas.

Senior Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Sugrue argued that the court should uphold the bond, which he said took into account the totality of factors, including nature of the alleged crime, the likelihood of flight and the possibility of harm coming to the community, as well as Pans alleged resources.

The state is obligated to offer some bond to the defendant, Sugrue said, but in this case believes there is no amount that reasonably could assure he would reappear in court if released from custody.

If hes out, hes gone, said Sugrue . Hes a serious and acute flight risk.

Pattis said Friday that the Supreme Court did not necessarily need to make a decision before the case in New Haven could move forward.

Jiang was shot to death on Lawrence Street in the citys East Rock neighborhood Feb. 6. Those who knew Jiang have described him as a person of faith and energy, including his parents, speaking during his funeral at Trinity Baptist Church in New Haven.

New Haven police obtained a warrant charging Pan with Jiangs slaying in late February. The department had named him as a person of interest in the case Feb. 10.

Pan, formerly a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was not arrested until May 13 in Montgomery, Ala., following a search by U.S. marshals and others.

Pan was living in Malden, Mass., on the day he allegedly drove to New Haven and killed Jiang.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
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ST. LOUIS  A Breckenridge Hills man was charged Friday in a deadly high-speed crash in St. Louis in 2019.

Donnell Fisher, 31, of the 3200 block of Coles Avenue, was charged with second-degree involuntary manslaughter. Police said in charges that on Dec. 19, 2019, Fisher was speeding 72 mph in the 6000 block of West Florissant Avenue in icy, snowy conditions when he struck a tree. His passenger, Rebecca Sanders, was killed.

The speed limit in that block of West Florissant is 35 mph, charges said. The Chevrolet Impala's airbag module indicated Fisher's gas pedal was pushed to the floor and that Fisher did not use the brakes before striking the tree.
This account is based on police reports obtained by the Post-Dispatch under Missouris Sunshine Law, including statements to officials from the homeowner and the Louisiana woman, videos of part of the incident, plus interviews with witnesses. The homeowner declined to comment. The Louisiana woman, identified in court documents only as R.H., did not respond to interview requests.

R.H. told officials that she thought Lozier was a police officer when she awoke to find him in the basement of her friends home, shining a flashlight in her face. He told R.H. she was under arrest but didnt show identification nor say what she was being arrested for.

R.H. told police that she had been involved in a series of domestic incidents with her husband and knew there were misdemeanor warrants for her arrest in Louisiana. She said shed been told to contact prosecutors when she returned to the state.

After the three left St. Peters, Lozier and Sullivan let R.H. call her friend, who told R.H. that shed been taken illegally and that her captors were not officers, police records show. Her friend told R.H. to have someone call police at their next stop.
It is an ideology that is involved here, one that is so terrible that most people cant accept it, Hermanson said in a wide-ranging interview at a cafe in Wildwood, his hometown. Its an ideology that the people are basically slaves to be done away with, to be used. And weve got too many of them so weve got to kill some off. Thats exactly what is going on. I am telling you the absolute truth.

How is the government reducing the population?

Through a kill shot vaccine, he said. Through putting masks on everybody to suffocate them. To cause wars. To do all of these things that kill millions of people. We should have never had the Spanish-American War. We should have never had World War I. We should have never had World War II. We could have avoided the Civil War. Do you know who paid for the Hessians in the Revolutionary War?

It hasnt stopped, he added. The 1%, if you will, have been controlling the world.

Werent you a banker? A yachtsman?

I have been in banking, yes. I have done a number of things. I have been in insurance. I have been a contractor. An accountant.
No state in our nation is more affected by climate change than Louisiana, but its also true that no state is better positioned to be part of the solution to the problems facing our world," he said recently.

The governors will participate on panels through the U.S. Climate Alliance alongside members of the Biden administration. They'll also participate alongside 65 subnational governments in announcing dozens" of new commitments on Nov. 7. The panel will also focus on politics that can turbocharge greenhouse gas emissions reductions," according to an alliance press release.

Governors and mayors around the world do not believe we should rely just on our federal governments," Inslee, of Washington, said during a Thursday news conference.

It's critical for U.S. and world leaders to move from planning to implementation of aggressive climate strategies, said Katelyn Sutter, senior manager for U.S. climate at the Environmental Defense Fund.

We need policy to back up pledges to reduce emissions," she said. Thats where a state like California, and now Washington and others that have momentum moving forward, can really be impactful."
In the past five years or longer we havent had a really serious problem with phytopthora, Babadoost said. That does not mean we did not have phytopthora infection, but not huge losses.

Nestle, which owns Libbys canned pumpkins in Morton said its pumpkins have grown as expected this season.

This year and every year, the team in Morton, Illinois continually monitors the soil health, climate, and crop to ensure were delivering the authentic taste, texture and color that have made Libbys a family favorite across generations, Nestle said in a statement.

The Morton facility processes the lions share of the canned pumpkin sold in the U.S. thats later used for cooking and baking.

Many of the pumpkins processed there are grown in and around the Peoria area.

More so than any kind of disease, what local farmers have seen is a typical concern about pumpkin plants being picky about how much moisture they get.

Its a low-lying plant with big leaves, it stays wet and it kind of likes dry conditions, Ackerman said. I was kind of concerned through the summer because it was so wet, but things turned out to be really, really good.
Trump couldnt have been more obvious about gaslighting his supporters if hed just announced to them: The only way were going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.

Oh, wait  he said exactly that, and variations of that, multiple times.

When Trump did indeed lose the election, by a whopping 7 million votes, he claimed to have won and alleged fraud, just as everyone (including himself) predicted he would. We did win this election, he told supporters in the wee hours of Nov. 4, based on, literally, nothing. In the weeks and months after, his campaign lawyers were laughed out of one courtroom after another for trying to get judges to accept the unsupported lies that Trumps base so willingly accepted.

Trump has long been remarkable in his willingness to act so much like a comic-book villain that, if you saw that behavior written into a Hollywood movie, you would laugh it off as unbelievable. Remember when he personally called Georgias secretary of state and harangued him to find enough votes to win the state for him?
RESTON, Va., Oct. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LDOS) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.36 per outstanding share of common stock of Leidos Holdings, Inc. The cash dividend is payable on December 30, 2021 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 15, 2021.

About Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500 technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets. The company's 43,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $12.30 billion for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2021. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Media contact:

Melissa Lee Duenas (571) 526-6850Duenasml@leidos.com

Investor Relations:

Stuart Davis(571) 526-6124ir@leidos.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leidos-holdings-inc-declares-quarterly-cash-dividend-301412175.html

SOURCE Leidos
The Marine Corps banned sleeve tattoos in 2007, just as they had reached peak popularity in the United States. The service announced it was reversing that decision on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps)

Marines are once again allowed to cover most of their arms and legs with so-called sleeve tattoos under a revised policy announced Friday by the Marine Corps.

At the same time, the updated policy expands the definition of tattoos forbidden as extremist.

The Marines banned sleeve tattoos in 2007, just as they had reached peak popularity in the United States.

The tattoo policy over the years has attempted to balance the individual desires of Marines with the need to maintain the disciplined appearance expected of our profession, said the bulletin issued by Commandant Gen. David Berger. This Bulletin ensures that the Marine Corps maintains its ties to the society it represents and removes all barriers to entry for those members of society wishing to join its ranks.

Tattoos on the head and neck remain banned, according to the announcement, which warns Marines that body art choices could still affect future career options in the Corps.

Officer and Enlisted Marines may continue to be assigned or allowed to serve on Special Duty Assignment (SDA), although assignment to ceremonial and other high visibility units may be Restricted, the announcement said.

The Defense Department has been taking a harder look at extremism within the ranks in the wake of the Jan. 6 mob assault on the U.S. Capitol, which included active-duty service members and veterans. The ban on extremist tattoos includes any that symbolize philosophies or organizations that advocate racial, gender or ethnic hatred.

Also banned are tattoos that advocate violence or other unlawful means of depriving individual rights under the U.S. Constitution and federal or state law or that advocate, engage in, or support the forceful, violent, unconstitutional, or otherwise unlawful overthrow of the government of the United States, any state, commonwealth, district, or territory of the United States.

It also bans ink that encourages military personnel to disobey lawful orders for the purpose of disrupting military activities.

Marines are allowed once again to cover most of their arms and legs with so-called sleeve tattoos under a revised policy announced by the Marine Corps on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps)

The Marine Corps last updated its tattoo policy in 2016, which left some Marines disappointed that the sleeve restriction was left in place. The Navy had moved earlier that year to allow sailors to sport sleeve tattoo, following an Army decision the year before to allow them for soldiers.

Cpl. Jasper Piala launched an online petition last year calling on the Marines to allow tattoo sleeves, and as of Friday the petition had garnered more than 78,000 signatures.

The current tattoo regulations are discriminating against Marines with a desire for sleeve tattoos, Piala wrote on Change.org, adding that the rules have a negative impact on morale, retention and equal opportunity.

Competent and decorated Marines in the past and present who have proven to be an asset for the Marine Corps have been denied reenlistment and advancement in their field due to increasingly restrictive tattoo regulations, he wrote.

The published policy can be found here.

Marines
A worker receives a dose of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine at a Yandex office in Moscow on June 28, 2021. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg)

MOSCOW  A routine medical checkup in mid-September nearly cost Alexander Ivanov his life. The clinic was packed with people, almost no one wearing masks.

Or distancing, he said  a common sight in Russian public spaces and on transport. I even told some of the people that they should be wearing masks, but people didnt care.

Three days later he fell ill with the coronavirus and wound up in intensive care in Yekaterinburg, in Russias Urals region. The 47-year-old resident  who was not vaccinated  watched other patients dying, thinking he was next.

Russias catastrophic fourth wave is a cautionary tale for a failing vaccination campaign, showing the difficulties in correcting course after the governments confused, on-off messaging about COVID-19.

Russias pandemic measures began with a strict lockdown in early 2020 and dropped before a crucial July 2020 vote on constitutional changes. This summer, Moscow brought in QR codes to prove vaccine status to enter bars, restaurants and cafes, but the unpopular measure was abandoned after a few weeks.

Some analysts say Russians distrust of authorities and skepticism of doctors  going back to Soviet times  helps explain the countrys vaccine reticence. Others blame anti-vaccine activists and rampant disinformation on social media.

But the result leaves Russia as a pandemic hot spot, while countries with higher vaccination rates are lifting restrictions.

Almost daily, a grim record of Russian deaths is marked: more than 1,100 a day, according to official figures. That is still understated, many independent analysts say. Hospitals are struggling and small business owners are angered by the reimposition of restrictions, including a partial lockdown from Thursday.

As authorities played down the crisis before September parliamentary elections, Russias vaccination rate hovered among the lowest globally. In recent weeks, officials have ramped up warnings about the coronavirus and the need for vaccines.

Russias Ministry of Health says it has fully vaccinated 8 million Russians since Oct. 14, bringing the current total to 50.9 million, or about 35 percent of the population. That compares to 74% in Canada, 72% in Japan, 68% in France, 67% in Britain, 66% in Germany and 57% in the United States, according to the Britain-based Global Change Data Lab.

Ivanov is not against the vaccine, but his attitude illustrates how the government failed to convince even those not opposed to vaccines. A retired policeman who spends a lot of time with his dogs and chickens at his small farm outside Yekaterinburg, he didnt think the jab was necessary.

I was planning to do it, but I just thought tomorrow. And tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. I just didnt get around to it, said Ivanov. I didnt take this virus seriously at all. I thought it was like the flu, not dangerous at all. I was not afraid.

In intensive care for several weeks, his only contact with the outside world was a doctor who reported his condition to his family and read them notes he wrote.

So I wrote, Dont worry, Im OK. But of course I was thinking I could die, especially when I saw people around me dying, Ivanov said.

Vlad Nesterov  father-in-law of Ivanovs daughter  had similar views about getting the virus. He also fell sick in late September, along with his family and almost everyone in the office where he worked.

Nesterov, a journalist, thinks he picked it up at an office birthday party. There was plenty of vodka and toasts and many guests later came down with COVID-19.

Im not against the vaccine. Its just that I thought that Jesus Christ would help me, and whatever should happen would happen, said Nesterov. He spent four weeks battling the coronavirus at home, ill and constantly exhausted.

St. Petersburg doctor Lev Averbakh feels as is if he is wading against a tide of ignorance, apathy and disinformation. I am so sick and tired of explaining to people what this virus is about and why they need to be vaccinated. This resistance from the population is huge, he said in an interview.

Another doctor, Sergei, working in the red zone  or the coronavirus treatment unit  at a regional hospital, no longer feels much compassion for unvaccinated patients. He just thinks about the generous red zone bonus payments that means he earns double his normal pay.

But we COVID doctors are very cynical now, because of these COVID payments. For us, COVID is good, as awful as that might sound, said the doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals. For us, the worse the COVID situation is the better, he said, referring to doctors bonuses.

Afew months ago, he asked every one of 120 coronavirus patients under his direct care if they had been vaccinated. All said no, citing vague reasons such as side effects or genetic problems, he said.

His 200-bed hospital was ordered to add 70 extra beds when the disease peaked.

And there was no space to put beds. We had to stick beds in the corridors, in the operating theaters, anywhere we could find a space, said the doctor. Patients without coronavirus-related illnesses were sent home prematurely, he said, only to return soon after, sicker than ever.

With cases hitting record highs, hospitals across Russia are under similar intense pressures.

One person in Siberia took drastic action: he bought PPE gear, disguised himself as a nurse and snuck into the red zone at Tomsk Medical Sanitary Unit No. 2 to check on his 80-year-old grandmother.

Identifying himself only as Sergei, he videoed himself pulling on a white protective suit, surgical gloves, blue goggles and a mask, and walking up the hospitals interior stairs.

Grandma, hi. Quiet, quiet, he said, approaching her bed, recording multiple black bruises on her arms and discovering that her diaper had not been changed and pressure sores had not been bandaged. The video was aired Wednesday on Tomsk independent television TV2.

He spent nearly nine and a half hours in the hospital the first day and returned a day later to find her unwashed, lying again in a dirty diaper, he said. On day three, a doctor confronted him and he fled.

Antonina Stoilova, head of therapeutics at the hospital, said all patients are properly cared for, TV2 reported.

Russian authorities have ordered a partial lockdown to regain control, including a nonworking week until Nov. 8. But instead of staying home, many people are jetting off on vacation to Egypt, Turkey or Russias Black Sea coast, according to travel agents cited in Russia media.

One Russian posted a TikTok video on Oct. 26 from Cide on Turkeys Black Sea coast, panning across crowds frolicking in the sea. The beaches are packed. The sea is warm. The temperature is 30 degrees (86 degrees Fahrenheit). People are delighted, resting. Only in Russia is there a lockdown, she said.

Kremlin propagandist Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of state-run RT, said on Telegram she had a change of heart about anti-vaccine claims because children were dying en masse.

At first, the anti-vaxers evoked my understandable sympathy. People are afraid, people are not explained, people are confused, she wrote Oct. 20. But now she calls them a threat to childrens lives.

Choke on ventilators, crawl with an [oxygen] saturation of 70 in the corridors of jam-packed hospitals, she wrote. Thats your choice. But I cannot forgive you the deaths of my countrys children.

But Tatiana Stanovaya, an analyst at Moscow-based think tank R. Politik, said President Vladimir Putins uneven messaging and resistance to mandatory vaccinations were more to blame.

If any other country had the same information policy as Russia, she said, everything would be the same.

The Washington Posts Natasha Abbakumova contributed to this report.
Buy Photo (Bob Cutts/Stars and Stripes)

Saigon, South Vietnam, December 1965: An American service member is interviewed by a CBS news team in front of the Metropole Hotel hours after a truck bomb exploded outside the building, which served as a bachelor enlisted mens quarters for the U.S. military. Eight Vietnamese, one U.S. Marine and a soldier from New Zealand were killed in the early morning blast that also injured more than 175 people, including 72 Americans.
Four F-35A Lightning II fighter jets taxi on the runway at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Oct. 19, 2021. (Jose Miguel T. Tamondong/U.S. Air Force)

The Air Force is planning to test a nuclear micro-reactor at a base in Alaska in coming years as part of the services quest for reliable energy sources on its installations.

The reactor, expected to be operational at Eielson Air Force Base by 2027, would be commercially owned and operated and be permitted and licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Air Force would purchase electricity at an agreed upon rate.

Micro-reactors are still in the experimental stage.

First and foremost, this initiative is about installation resilience, Mark Correll, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for environment, safety and infrastructure, told reporters during a conference call Friday.

The focus of this micro-reactor pilot project is not on the technology of micro-reactors; it's on the resilience piece, he said. It's about our ability to use a micro-reactor and integrate it into our energy needs at an installation in a way that supports our mission.

Micro-reactors produce no more than 20 megawatts of power at full capacity.

The components of the reactor would be made at a factory and then shipped to Eielson, which is about 25 miles southeast of Fairbanks. Only a few acres of land would be needed for the complex to house the reactor, Correll said.

We anticipate the micro-reactor that we put in place there will have a capacity of somewhere between one and five megawatts, he said.

To give you a kind of a sense of what that means at Eielson, their average daily demand is 10 to 15 megawatts on the installation, he said. It can surge to 25 megawatts depending on the time of year and what's happening.

The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act mandated that at least one micro-reactor be operational on a Defense Department installation by 2027.

We expect to meet that goal without any difficulty, Correll said.

The project will require completion of a full environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act. That will include consultations with the states tribes and communities and collection of public comments.

The Air Force is now drafting a request for proposals, which it expects to release this winter, with a goal of choosing a vendor for the project by late next year.

Construction is slated to begin in 2025.

The U.S. Department of Energy touts the future of micro-reactors on its website, saying that a handful of designs are under development and could be ready to roll out within the next decade.

These compact reactors will be small enough to transport by truck and could help solve energy challenges in a number of areas, ranging from remote commercial or residential locations to military bases, the DOE website said.

Safety systems would be used to prevent any potential for overheating or reactor meltdown, according to the site.

The costs of developing micro-reactors has been borne by the firms creating them, with no research funding coming from the Defense Department, Correll said.

They still remain experimental at this stage, however.

I am aware of one company that is likely to be testing their reactor, Correll said when asked to cite an example of an operating micro-reactor. I don't know exactly when, but they're going to be doing it fairly soon. So, they want to do a test. But to my knowledge, they have not done it yet.

The reactors are only one avenue of energy resilience the Air Force is pursuing.

We're not looking at nuclear micro-reactors as being the panacea that we're going to use everywhere, he said, noting the potential of capturing geothermal heat some 15,000 feet below the Earths surface, as well as the more mature alternatives of wind and solar.

There are some places where folks dont want nuclear, and they don't really care what we say, he said. OK, then we'll look at a different option for them.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is shown at an election campaign rally in Eslamshahr, Iran, on June 6, 2021. Raisi, who was elected in June, is key to revival of a deal with other nations over its nuclear program. (AFP, Getty Images/TNS)

ROME (Tribune News Service)  Facing the possibility of renewed negotiations with Iran in the coming weeks, President Joe Biden on Saturday opened the door to lifting sanctions as part of a diplomatic effort to prevent Tehran from building nuclear weapons.

The offer was made as part of a joint statement with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron. The four leaders met on the sidelines of the G-20 conference in Rome to plan their strategy for dealing with Iran, which has raised alarms by increasing its enrichment of nuclear material.

It will likely be difficult to break a diplomatic stalemate that has persisted on the issue for months, and Biden signaled that he wasnt willing to move forward without commitments from Tehran.

This will only be possible if Iran changes course, the statement said, adding that they were urging Irans new president, Ebrahim Raisi, to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency. That is the only sure way to avoid a dangerous escalation, which is not in any countrys interest.

Biden campaigned on returning to the Iran nuclear agreement, which was reached by President Barack Obama in 2015 and abandoned by President Donald Trump three years later. Since then, the U.S. has targeted the Iranian economy with punishing sanctions; Tehran, in turn, has ramped up its nuclear activities.

We are convinced that it is possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on return to full compliance and to ensure for the long term that Irans nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes, the statement said.

Vali Nasr, a professor of Middle East studies and international affairs at Johns Hopkins University, doesnt believe the Biden administration has high hopes for negotiations and may no longer view the existing framework as viable.

The challenge, Nasr said, is maintaining unity with European allies, who are more interested in resuscitating the JCPOA. He said Saturdays meeting shows Biden is very keen on keeping the Europeans very close to the United States.

Jake Sullivan, Bidens national security adviser, described the U.S. and Europe as closely aligned, telling reporters Thursday that they would be all singing from the same song sheet on this issue.

Russia and China, two other participants in the Iranian nuclear agreement, did not participate in the joint statement nor Saturdays meeting.

Simply getting back to the negotiating table, let alone reaching a new deal, has been challenging. Robert Malley, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, blamed Tehran for spending months stalling. He said Monday that its hard to find an explanation, an innocent explanation for why they are taking so long.

A break came Wednesday when Irans deputy foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, said the nations leaders have agreed to start negotiations before the end of November.

No date has been set for resuming talks, and there are doubts in the White House that they will take place.

We have heard positive signals that they are, but I think we have to wait and see when and whether they actually show up at the negotiating table, Sullivan said.

Michael Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said Biden should continue Trumps maximum pressure strategy, where the U.S. ratchets up punishments until Tehran makes concessions.

However, he said, the Biden administration will likely seek an informal understanding where talks continue and neither side escalates the situation. In such a gray area, U.S. sanctions arent lifted but are selectively enforced, and Iran doesnt rush toward building a nuclear weapon.

The deal will never come, but there will be informal understandings along the way, Doran said. Its convenient for the Iranians and its convenient for the Americans.

Turmoil in the Middle East has also jeopardized diplomatic efforts. Most recently, Iran has been blamed for a drone attack on a military base in Syria where U.S. troops are based. No American casualties were reported.

Brian Katulis, a senior fellow and vice president for policy at the Middle East Institute, said the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles, drones and proxy forces will make it hard to deal with the nuclear program in isolation.

In the real world, theres an escalation going on, he said.

Katulis added, Its not an environment of trust and confidence.

2021 Los Angeles Times.

Visit at latimes.com .

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Buy Photo Naval Air Station Sigonella personnel move a waterlogged sofa out of a home in the base's Marinai housing complex, Oct. 29, 2021. With floodwaters gone, residents and base officials are beginning clean up and the recovery process. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)

CATANIA, Italy  A cyclonic storm expected to wallop Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily again fizzled out, to the relief of base residents and officials who began to turn their attention to recovery efforts from earlier flooding.

The Catania area near the base saw 1-2 inches of rain Friday, said Capt. Kevin Pickard, NSA Sigonellas commanding officer. Some local forecasts said the latest cycle of the storm could dump up to 12 more inches, but the Navys weather forecasters consistently anticipated much less, he said.

From Oct. 24-25, more than 20 inches of rain fell over 36 hours, setting off a chain of events that saw up to 2 feet of water entering 68 units at the bases Marinai housing complex and displacing 92 residents. A Navy Exchange mini-mart also was damaged.

The storm knocked out power, resulting in a temporary boil water order as a safety precaution. It also made area roads impassable, briefly isolating the bases two sites and the housing complex from each other, Pickard said.

Worried about additional flooding as the storm rolled back into the area Friday, NAS Sigonella prepared for another major rain event, he said.

Those efforts included setting aside shelter space for residents and placing public works, housing and safety crews on alert.

When we have the ability to do so, we are going to prepare for what we believe is the most realistic, worst-case scenario that we have, which is what we did in this case, Pickard said.

Buy Photo A watermark line is visible on the exterior wall of a home in the Marinai housing complex at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily, Oct. 29, 2021. Torrential rains earlier in the week caused flooding on the base. About 92 people were displaced, being moved into empty residences in the complex or hotels in the area. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Naval Air Station Sigonella personnel at the base's emergency command center keep watch on weather, flooding and other potential issues, Oct. 29, 2021. A cyclonic storm brought 20 inches of rain in about 36 hours to the Catania, Sicily area near the base earlier in the week, causing significant flooding. A return of the storm on Friday brought lighter rain, much to the relief of residents and officials. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Standing water remained in only a few scattered areas of Naval Air Station Sigonella, including this courtyard near the base's chapel, Oct. 30, 2021. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Extra pumps to push out rainwater remained at one of the retaining pond areas at Naval Air Station Sigonella's Marinai housing complex, Oct. 30, 2021. Earlier in the week, the area in Catania, Sicily, saw 20 inches of rain, resulting in dozens of base homes being flooded. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo The levee system around the Marinai housing complex on Naval Air Station Sigonella is designed to keep water overflow from nearby rivers from invading homes. The berms were built shortly after a flood in December 2005 damaged every unit in the complex, stranding 475 families overnight. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Residents of the Marinai housing complex on Naval Air Station Sigonella were pulling out damaged furniture and other items, Oct. 30, 2021, from homes that were flooded. The base had 68 units, seven of which were unoccupied, damaged by floodwaters earlier in the week. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)

On Saturday morning, just a few scattered areas of standing water remained on base and Marinai residents had started clearing water and damaged furniture out of their homes.

Couches, tables, chairs and other household goods were sitting in front of homes and near garbage bin areas. Waterline marks were evident on the exteriors of some homes and on vehicles. Many of those cars were irreparably damaged, officials said.

The NEX store, commissary and food court were open. One man standing in front of the commissary with his children told Pickard he was able to prevent damage to his home by soaking up water with towels.

The community here is an incredibly resilient community, Pickard said. Its amazing to see how quickly they bounce back from challenges. Thats what the community here at Sigonella has consistently done.

Many of the displaced residents, including the base public works officer, Cmdr. Jason Christensen, were temporarily placed in other homes at the 526-unit complex. Others were taken to hotels in the area, base officials said.

Christensens home saw about 1 1/2 feet of water and two cars might be a total loss, he said.

Pickard said officials were working with the housing complexs landlord to begin repairs as soon as possible.
Vladimir Putin, Russias president, center, sits alongside Sergei Shoigu, Russias defense minister, second left, during the Russian Navy day in St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 28, 2019. Renewed movements of Russian forces near the Ukrainian border come as the Kremlin embraces a harder line on Ukraine. Russian officials from Putin down have escalated their rhetoric in recent months, attacking Kyivs Western ties and even questioning its sovereignty. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg)

A renewed buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border has raised concern among some officials in the United States and Europe who are tracking what they consider irregular movements of equipment and personnel on Russias western flank.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said the troop movements have reignited concerns that arose in April, when the largest buildup of troops by Russia near the Ukrainian border in years sparked an international outcry.

The renewed movements of Russian forces in the area come as the Kremlin embraces a harder line on Ukraine. Russian officials from President Vladimir Putin down have escalated their rhetoric in recent months, attacking Kyivs Western ties and even questioning its sovereignty. Putin has warned that any expansion of NATO military infrastructure on Ukrainian territory represents a red line for Moscow.

The situation also comes as the simmering 7-year conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in the eastern Donbas region enters a new stage. On Oct. 26, Ukraines military confirmed it had used a Turkish-made drone against a position in Donbas, the first time Kyiv has employed the technology in combat, prompting an outcry from Moscow.

Relations between Moscow and NATO are especially tense. Russia suspended its mission to NATO in Brussels on Oct. 18 after the alliance expelled eight members of the Russian mission on accusations of espionage.

What the Russian forces gathering near the Ukrainian border are doing is unclear.

Videos have surfaced on social media in recent days showing Russian military trains and convoys moving large amounts of military hardware, including tanks and missiles, in southern and western Russia.

The point is: It is not a drill. It doesnt appear to be a training exercise. Something is happening. What is it? said Michael Kofman, director of the Russia studies program at the Virginia-based nonprofit analysis group CNA.

Officials in the United States and Europe began noticing the movements particularly in recent weeks  after Russia concluded a massive joint military exercise with Belarus known as Zapad 2021 on its western flank in mid-September.

According to Kofman, satellite imagery shows that forces from Russias 41st Combined Arms Army, normally based in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, didnt return to Siberia after the exercises, and instead linked up with other Russian forces near the Ukrainian border. Kofman also said imagery appears to show that Russias 1st Guards Tank Army, an elite unit based outside Moscow, is moving personnel and materiel toward Ukraine.

Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraines national security and defense council, said in a statement that after the conclusion of the Zapad 2021 exercises, Russia left military equipment, as well as control and communications centers, at training sites along the Ukrainian border.

Danilov estimated that the number of Russian troops deployed around the Ukrainian border at 80,000 to 90,000, not including the tens of thousands stationed in Crimea.

Moscow has prompted alarm by amassing large contingents of troops near the Ukrainian border in the past, only to subsequently withdraw those forces and quell fears of a renewed invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials see such moves as a way for Moscow to keep the situation tense and uncertain. Since 2015, when the front lines of the conflict more or less froze in place, the buildups havent led to a mass, territory-gaining offensive by Russia or the separatist forces it backs.

Kofman said this time the situation may merit particular attention, however, because Russia appears to have lowered its threshold on what would prompt the Kremlin to act in Ukraine.

I think you have to step back and look at this past year holistically, and if you do, you will know that the Russian tone and messaging on Ukraine has changed dramatically, he said.

In statements over the course of the year, Putin and other top Russian officials have said the expansion of NATO activities in Ukraine represents a red line for Moscow, whereas previously they cited NATO membership for Ukraine as a move they couldnt abide, Kofman said.

It appears that Russia is shifting the goal post of what is acceptable, he said.

Putin outlined that view in an article in July, claiming Ukraine was being functionally controlled by Western nations to foment anti-Russia sentiment.

We will never allow our historical territories and people close to us living there to be used against Russia, Putin wrote. And to those who will undertake such an attempt, I would like to say that this way they will destroy their own country.

In comments to the Valdai discussion club this month, Putin said formal NATO membership for Ukraine may never happen, but military expansion on the territory is already underway, and this really poses a threat to the Russian Federation.

Former president and deputy head of the Russian security council Dmitry Medvedev called Ukraine a vassal state that is under direct foreign control in an Oct. 11 article in the Kommersant newspaper.

Earlier, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Putin, accused the United States of building NATO military bases in Ukraine using training bases as a cover.

U.S. troops have been training Ukrainian forces in western Ukraine for years, an initiative undertaken by Washington and its NATO allies after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Ukrainian forces also have participated in joint exercises with the United States and its NATO allies. The United States has provided Ukraine with Javelin antitank weaponry but has not taken any active role in fighting.

Kofman said Russia this year suddenly invested a large amount of money in developing a ready reserve for its military and also ordered forces to practice anti-drone and anti-Javelin maneuvers relevant to the conflict in Ukraine, attracting attention of military analysts.

Putin has condemned comments by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who during a visit to Ukraine in October, described Russia as an obstacle to peace and said NATO membership remained open to Kyiv. Austin, referring to Russia, said no nation had a right to veto it.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday accused Ukraine of plans to retake control of the Donbas region by force. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov a day earlier said sales of Turkish drones to Ukraine potentially destabilized the situation.

German and French Foreign Ministry officials expressed concern about Ukraines use of the Turkish drone, calling for deescalation. But Ukrainian officials said the country was exercising its right to self-defense after a Russian howitzer attack killed a Ukrainian serviceman and wounded another.

When the Ukrainian army feels the need to defend its land, it does so. And it will further act under this principle, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in comments to journalists Friday.

We are not mounting an offensive, we are just responding, Zelensky added.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba said Russia is actively spreading fakes about Ukraine allegedly preparing an offensive or other nonsense. For the record, Ukraine does not prepare any offensive in the Donbas.

Kuleba noted that Moscow has left in place hardware and personnel that were sent near the Ukrainian border during the spring buildup and the September exercises.

The Russians pulled back only a tiny part of the armada, Kuleba said.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv warned Friday that Russia had repeatedly deployed howitzer artillery and drones against Ukrainian forces in direct violation of a July 2020 cease-fire agreement.

Official Russian rhetoric suggesting Ukraine is aggravating the situation is not only misleading, it serves to escalate tensions, the U.S. statement said.

The Washington Posts John Hudson contributed to this report.
National Directorate of Security forces escort alleged Taliban fighters before they are presented to the media following an operation in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, in Jalalabad on March 14, 2021. (Noorullah Shirzada/AFP)

WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service)  The U.S. government set numerous conditions over the years on billions of dollars in military aid to Afghanistans security forces but only rarely enforced them, a recent federal audit found.

Consequently, U.S. officials lost considerable control over spending that totaled nearly $89 billion, and Afghan forces that ultimately fell to the Taliban might have been less effective, as a result, than they could have been, according to the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstructions previously unpublicized Oct. 6 report.

The Afghan forces wilted in August in the face of a Taliban offensive that resulted in the fall of that countrys government. Since then, Americans have wondered how Afghan military units supported by so much U.S. training and equipment could have toppled so easily.

The Oct. 6 inspector general report may provide one clue.

The U.S. military assistance office in Afghanistan did not hold the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) to account by enforcing the conditions it established to create a stronger, more professional, and self-reliant ANDSF, wrote the inspector general, John Sopko, in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and other military leaders that is included in the report.

DOD will never know if the ANDSF could have performed at a higher level in the wake of the U.S.s withdrawal had the department held the ANDSF accountable for failures, rather than performing tasks for them and providing funding regardless of actual progress, Sopko wrote.

The Oct. 6 report was completed and circulated for comment inside the Defense Department prior to the fall of Kabul two months ago.

The department did not provide a response to Sopko then and did not reply to a request for comment on Friday.

Despite the fact that the audit was done prior to the fall of Kabul, the auditors wrote that their work provides important information about the poor performance of the ANDSF in the months and years before its collapse in August 2021.

Sopko and his team have reported since 2008 on how corruption in the Afghan ministries and inadequate monitoring of U.S. government spending in that country have imperiled the U.S. military and reconstruction effort there.

And indications abounded even before August that Afghan military units might not do well in a fight.

But Sopko said in another report  a quarterly report to Congress made public Friday  that no one publicly predicted how rapidly the Afghan forces would fold.

No federal entity is on public record predicting the precise timing or the startling speed of the collapse of the Afghan government and security forces, he wrote in a chapter of the quarterly report called, How Could the ANDSF Disintegrate in 11 Days?

Apparently, no such prediction of a rapid fall came even in private, classified U.S. government settings. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that no such prediction was found in more than two dozen classified intelligence assessments from four agencies. Most assessments saw the Afghan government falling  but not for months and certainly not with some U.S. troops still in the country.

In retrospect, several factors appear to have contributed to the rapid fall of Afghanistans army, experts say, besides the failure of U.S. officials to exercise more controls over how U.S. military aid funds were disbursed. These factors include the debilitating effect on Afghan forces morale resulting from abiding corruption in the Afghan government; the reduction in U.S. forces maneuvering with Afghan units, cutting back on Americas intelligence about Taliban gains and Afghan capabilities; and the Talibans own successful strategies, among other issues.

As for the unmet conditions on U.S. military aid to Afghanistan, the auditors Oct. 6 report covered most of the last decade of Americas nearly 20-year military engagement in Afghanistan.

The audit said that from 2014 through 2019, the Pentagons Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan signed so-called commitment letters with the Afghan defense and interior ministries.

These agreements stipulated that the $3 billion-plus in recurring annual U.S. military aid was conditioned on Afghan security forces meeting certain criteria.

These included objectives such as ensuring financial management controls were in place, that weapons were not being purchased from sanctioned Russian arms dealers and that purchased supplies were actually delivered to their intended recipients in the Afghan security forces  among dozens of other strings attached to the money.

Although the two governments agreed to the conditions and associated penalties and incentives contained in the commitment letters, Defense Department officials did not always determine if the ministries complied with the conditions, nor did they have a consistent method for making such determinations, the auditor said.

Moreover, when the Americans did document failures to meet the conditions, U.S. officials rarely assessed penalties, according to the audit.

For example, when the Afghan defense ministry failed to meet 12 of 44 conditions in 2016, only two of the failures were penalized.

U.S. officials told the auditor that they enforced only a handful of violations because they believed that penalties would negatively affect the war effort or ANDSF development or circumstances outside of the ministries control prevented the conditions from being met, among other justifications.

After 2019, U.S. officials dispensed altogether with the formal commitment letters. Instead, they set more informal conditions  but did not document much of it, the auditor said. It was an ad hoc, undocumented approach that did not develop written criteria or assessment documentation.

The auditor said this practice conflicted with a Pentagon regulation requiring the maintenance of proper documents about transactions.

Other audits have hit the Pentagon for failing to properly set and enforce conditions on its military aid to Afghanistan.

One relatively small example came in a Defense Department inspector general audit in 2017 of just two contracts to provide U.S.-bought fuel for the Afghan army. The audit found that Afghan officials relied on reports about the disposition of the fuel but the Americans did not require them to physically check.

Consequently, the Pentagon auditors found, the U.S. government does not have reasonable assurance that all of the $175 million worth of fuel that Americans paid for in those two contracts was actually used by the Afghan army.

2021 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtons lawsuit targets the federal vaccine mandate for contractors. (Nick Wagner, Austin American-Statesman/TNS)

DALLAS (Tribune News Service)  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over an executive order that mandates vaccines for federal contractors, condemning the directive as a dramatic infringement upon individual liberties, principles of federalism and separation of powers, and the rule of law.

The lawsuit, filed Friday, seeks to stop enforcement of the mandate, which Biden announced in September. Under the order, companies that contract with the federal government must require their employees get vaccinated by Dec. 8.

Biden also has announced rules affecting private-sector companies with more than 100 employees and workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid funds  all told, about 100 million American workers. Private-sector employees have the option to test weekly instead of getting vaccinated; government contractors do not.

Paxtons lawsuit targets only the mandate for contractors.

A coalition of 10 other states  including Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri and New Hampshire  jointly filed a separate lawsuit over the contractor mandate on Friday.

In a written statement Friday, Paxton said the White House has repeatedly expressed its disdain for Americans who choose not to get a vaccine, and it has committed repeated and abusive federal overreach to force upon Americans something they do not want.

The federal government does not have the ability to strip individuals of their choice to get a vaccine or not, Paxton said.

Paxtons lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, describes the mandate as an illegal overreach and says it will exacerbate worker shortages and potentially cause Texas to lose out on billions in federal contracts.

Major companies, including Raytheon Technologies, which employs about 8,600 people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, have said the mandate might cost them thousands of workers.

The administration has made it obvious that they will accept nothing less than complete obedience and compliance with their vision for how to fight COVID-19, Paxtons lawsuit says.

While more than 190 million Americans are fully vaccinated, both the country and Texas are running out of unvaccinated people who are willing to get their shots. While announcing the mandate in September, Biden said the unvaccinated minority can cause a lot of damage, and they are.

Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order that sought to bar Texas companies from enforcing vaccine mandates. The White House accused him of playing politics at the expense of public health.

2021 The Dallas Morning News.

Visit at www.dallasnews.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Former Kentucky National Guardsman Joshua Rohrer, was arrested at the scene and charged with two misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer, a misdemeanor count of begging for money and a solicit from highway infraction. (Mykal McEldowney, IndyStar/TNS)

Charlotte, N.C. (Tribune News Service)  Donations are pouring in for a homeless Iraq War veteran who was arrested for what police said was begging at a busy Gastonia intersection with his service dog, Sunshine, by his side.

A Gastonia Police Department spokesperson confirmed at the time that officers Tased the 2-year-old Belgian Malinois during the Oct. 13 incident, Observer news partner WBTV reported. Sunshine scampered off. Days later, she was found dead, hit by a car, multiple media outlets reported.

The veteran, former Kentucky National Guardsman Joshua Rohrer, was arrested at the scene and charged with two misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer, a misdemeanor count of begging for money and a solicit from highway infraction, Gaston County Jail records show.

Rohrer was freed the next afternoon on $3,000 bail, according to the records. Friends posted his bail, according to a GoFundMe site that had raised $13,250 by Friday afternoon from 350 donors. The money will be used for Rohrers legal fees, housing costs and mental health treatment.

Rohrer suffers from post traumatic stress disorder , according to the fundraising page established by friend Gina Ramsey.

You are not alone, wrote a $25 donor from Texas, there is an army behind you supporting you through this difficult unnecessary lack of human decency.

Been There ....... Vietnam Vet, wrote another $25 donor.

Gaston County Police later released a 911 call from a citizen who complained about a man using a dog to get money, WBTV reported.

Rohrer denied the accusation during interviews with Charlotte-area news media.

He told WBTV that he was merely walking at the intersection, smiling, waving and chatting with passers-by.

I fought for my country, he told the station. I fought for everybodys freedom, and I feel like a freedom we should have is being able to walk where we please, as long as its not private property, no trespassing.

Two witnesses to the Oct. 13 encounter told WCNC that officers  slammed him up against  a patrol car and handcuffed Rohrer. The witnesses said an officer Tased Sunshine after she nipped the officers boot, according to the station.

Rohrer was so distraught over Sunshines death that he  tried throwing himself in front of any car that he could, friend and fellow veteran Dave Dowell of Shelby told Military Times.

At an Oct. 22 community rally, dozens of supporters lined Gaston Mall Drive near the scene of the encounter to memorialize Sunshine.

Its overwhelming to see all the love and support , Rohrer told WBTV at the rally. It is hard to process, but it is a blessing to see. It means the world to me and Sunshine.

2021 The Charlotte Observer.

Visit charlotteobserver.com .
Jerry Glenn Howell, 88, passed away on Monday, November 15, 2021 at his home in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Visitation will be held on Friday, November 19, 2021 from 5-7pm at Dighton Marler Funeral Home in Stillwater. www.dightonmarler.com.
Shawna Frank drove from Owasso Friday evening to show her 10-year-old daughter Bella the walkaround. Frank is an alumna from Oklahoma State University.

Frank wasn't the only person who drove to Stillwater to see the walkaround, several people at the event were from other cities in Oklahoma.

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Changes to the SunCommercial's back end processing means the e-edition is getting a facelift. The biggest change is the e-edition, by default, is now presented in Text view.
Applications open next week for BayTrusts $100,000 Dillon Scholarship fund which can help Western Bay students with significant physical or intellectual disabilities to pursue tertiary study in 2022.

Former Tauranga Boys' College student Jordan Clere is one of 32 local recipients this year and is using his scholarship to pay for his laptop, textbooks and transport costs to attend Waikato University where hes studying a Bachelor of Business Studies.

The 20 year-old was born with club feet and also suffers from a condition that weakens the muscles in his lower legs and feet.

After more than 10 operations, hes now able to stand and walk but his disability prevents him from doing part-time entry-level jobs that most students apply for.

I cant stand up for long periods of time so its not an option to work in hospitality or retail, he explains.

I decided to enroll at university so I can get eventually get an office-based job and Im majoring in management and finance.

Jordan has received a Dillon Scholarship for the past three years and is urging other local students to apply.

The application process is really easy and it takes the pressure off paying for all those small costs like parking and petrol which can get expensive.

The unique annual scholarship fund has awarded a total of $1.93m to more than 500 Bay of Plenty students since it first began in 1990 and is the only one of its kind in New Zealand.

Its designed to level the playing field as students with disabilities often face additional study costs compared to their able-bodied peers.

It also allows recipients to concentrate on studying rather than having to work part-time or worrying about how to make ends meet, and helps pay for things like medical bills, learning aides, special equipment and transport.

There is no age restriction and those eligible may receive up to $5000 per year for a maximum of five years to help them obtain tertiary qualifications.

BayTrust CEO Alastair Rhodes says Jordans story is a reminder why eligible Western Bay students should apply for the Dillon scholarship if they need extra support.

Our first scholarships in 1990 awarded a total of $1800. Were now approaching the $2m mark and its always inspiring to hear the aspirations of students with significant disabilities. The challenges they have to overcome just to get to class each day are incredible and BayTrust is fortunate to be able to support them in this way.

Dillon Scholarship funds can help pay for any costs reasonably associated with tertiary study and can include course fees, books, computers and living costs.

The beauty of this scholarship is there are no boundaries around it, Rhodes says.

The recipients can choose to use the money for whatever they need. I hope it continues well into the future and keep the original spirit of helping people with significant disabilities.

Its something we have right here in the Bay of Plenty that doesnt exist anywhere else in New Zealand which is pretty special.

BayTrust will consider applications from students whose home base is within the Bay of Plenty, and who are applying to study at university, polytechnic or other New Zealand-based institutions in a course recognised by NZQA or equivalent.

Applications for the Dillon Scholarship open on Monday, November 1, and will close on January 14 for the 2022 academic year.

Bay of Plenty students who have a medically-recognised significant disability can apply on-line by visiting http://www.baytrust.org.nz/dillon-scholarship or phoning BayTrust on 0800 654 546.
Thousands of people have gathered at Memorial Park on Saturday to make a stand about freedoms in New Zealand.

Promoted as a peaceful protest/Freedoms Picnic via social media by The Freedoms & Rights Coalition of New Zealand, the gathering which began at 11am was planned to be a peaceful stand for all those concerned with the state of our nation.

The crowd that gathered stood quietly, listening to speakers, and joining in singing together.

The event follows on the heels of a previous gathering held at Coronation Park at Mount Maunganui on Super Saturday October 16 where about 450 people attended.

Some promoted todays gathering as a Tauranga protest and encouraged their social media followers to fight for your freedom by coming along to Tauranga Memorial Park.

A gypsy fair being held concurrently in another area of the park also meant that numbers of people in the park swelled further. There were hundreds at the gypsy fair, despite a sign saying only 100 were allowed to be there at one time.

James, a Tauranga resident, says the peaceful gathering at Memorial Park was to discuss the freedoms that are rapidly being taken away from NZ citizens.

Amongst those freedoms is the proposed Water Reform, which is going to affect all Tauranga and Bay of Plenty ratepayers. The Government has announced that it is happening with or without local Council and ratepayer consent. Does this sound democratic to you?

The other main reason kiwis of all backgrounds gathered was because the Government has been set on tearing us apart for too long, says James.

The recent announcement by the Prime Minister to divide the population into two classes is nothing if not medical apartheid. Apartheid. Segregation. Two classes, those with rights and those without.

James say this should be of deep concern for everyone, and people should reflect on these matters and ask themselves if it feels right.

A lot of the country are very fearful right now and families are being torn apart. Is this moral, ethical, democratic?

Memorial Park gathering on Saturday. Photo: Supplied.

On Tuesday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a Covid-19 vaccination mandate for businesses in which vaccine certificates are set to be needed for entry. This includes hospitality, events, gyms and hairdressers and barbers  classed as close contact workplaces.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood announced that vaccination will be required for all workers at businesses where customers need to show Covid-19 Vaccination Certificates, such as hospitality and close-contact businesses.

Overall, Wood suggests, combined with the border, healthcare and education workers already mandated, it will equate to 40 per cent of the New Zealand workforce. Non-vaccinated workers in roles requiring vaccination will be given a new four-week notice period to get vaccinated before employment can be terminated.

A Tauranga resident who works for a mental health organization says that some of her colleagues are having to leave their jobs after many years service, having received a no jab no job letter from their employer this week.

I think that many people who have been vaccinated think that those here at the park today are all anti-vax. Im not anti-vax, Im pro-choice. Ive just received my second vaccination today. But we are going to lose so many top staff with years of experience working in mental health because of the mandate about vaccinations.

Some people at the park had signs showing their stance on Covid vaccinations or told stories of family members who had experienced adverse reactions.

The New Zealand National Anthem was sung with people standing quietly across the park, some with picnic blankets, and some waving the NZ flag and other flags above them.

Words in the anthem were resonating with many - in the bonds of love we meet, hear our voices, and God defend our free land stirring the crowd as they joined in singing the first verse.

We are not a team of five million anymore, says one attendee, referring to the vaccination no jab no job mandate. We are two teams now.

Despite the numbers of COVID-19 community cases rising, with the highest daily total ever recorded in NZ of 160 new community cases, and the spread now extending to Canterbury, the majority of people present were not wearing masks.

The event had been promoted as a picnic with the suggestion that people sit in small groups of under ten people and bring their picnic basket. Although some people spread out a picnic blanket the majority of people present were standing to listen to the speakers who talked of freedoms, rights and vaccination.

A haka performed at the front of the crowd towards the end of the gathering brought applause.

A Tauranga man was arrested on Thursday, and police are not ruling out further charges, in relation to the previous gathering at Coronation Park which Police state was in alleged breach of Covid-19 restrictions..

Police say a 43-year-old man was arrested and was charged with failing to comply with an order, under Covid-19 regulations.

After that event, a group of Bay of Plenty doctors made contact with SunLive, concerned with a speech made at the gathering which contained misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccination.

A post following the Memorial Park gathering on The Freedoms & Rights Coalition  Tauranga Facebook page states that there will be a convoy going to Wellington on November 9 to protest to the NZ Government.

The gathering at Memorial Park. Photo: Daniel Stuart-Menzies.
Not many people want or choose this career for various reasons, says local butcher Doug Jarvis, who is on the hunt for skilled workers.

Its really hard to find good butchers, meat professionals, or anyone from the meat industry.

We in New Zealand rely on foreign workers, like immigrants from the UK, Australia, and South Africa, to fill our specific areas of shop butchers. My problem is Im losing butchers and unable to replace them.

Covid-19 and border restrictions are the key contributors to this beefy crisis.

I cant even get any from Auckland because of strict movement, he adds.

Im at my wits end with worry because I still have to pay rent, outgoings, electric and everything else that comes with owning a business.

Doug is no ordinary butcher. He studied meat inspection and food hygiene in the UK before working as a meat inspector. Hes the popular owner-operator of Doug Jarvis Butcher and Deli, which has outlets in Papamoa and Mount Maunganui.

It is the mark of desperate times when you cant find good butchers to make Lancashire black pudding, English-style pork pies, traditional Cumberland and Lincolnshire sausages and Cornish pasties.

Being a butcher is a hard job with early starts, and keeping customers supplied with every type of delicious item makes it doubly tough at times.

This has come to a critical point, and it looks like I will have to close one of my stores, admits Doug.

He says workers from meat works are good at what they do in their roles but not trained in shop working and small goods like sausage making, curing and meat cutting.

His business is famous for its extensive range of sausages, aged beef, young tender lamb, corn-fed chickens and fresh, farm free pork.

There is no subsidy or funding available for this. If I dont find staff soon it will take everything down and Im left with nothing.

Its not just me - I know everyone is affected by Covid but I just scraped through our lockdowns and now its looking bleak.

Doug is after two apprentice butchers, two qualified butchers and two butcher managers for his two shops. A great disposition, presentation, enthusiasm and energy is required, as well as a keen eye for detail and good hygiene standards.

Please send an up to date CV with a cover letter to: doug.jarvis02@gmail.com
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When Spain's coalition government presented its 2022 budget at the beginning of October, it had already been delayed two weeks by disagreements between the Socialists and their more left wing junior partner, Podemos. Now, as we enter the last two months of the year, the spending plan has yet to be approved by congress, although it proposes generous Christmas bonuses to some of the parties whose votes Pedro Sanchez counts on. But because the Socialist leader can't do much without the support of his most committed adversaries, there's little chance that next year's fiscal blueprint will be passed before the end of 2021.

As far as the micro-managing accountants in Brussels are concerned, this is very bad news. The EU Commission has said that it wants to see progress in two major areas - pensions and the labour market - by the end of 2021. But labour reform is the main issue that the Socialists and Podemos disagree on, with the latter in favour of a complete overhaul of the company-biased measures Mariano Rajoy introduced in 2012 and the former advocating a more piecemeal approach. Spain is also awaiting an expert-authored report on how to shuffle its post-Covid public finances, but that's not due until next February. This means that any reforms that affect issues like debt-to-GDP ratio (currently flying high at 120%) and budget deficit are likely to be deferred until then.

Tensions within the government itself exist alongside cross-party animosity, which is ultimately the biggest threat to Sanchez's 2022 spending plan. Even if Catalan separatists are mollified by the 11.5% increase in their allocation of public funds next year (on top of the exceptional boost they secured last year for supporting the 2021 budget), the Conservatives are unlikely to be thrilled with a reduction of almost 8% for Madrid, currently under the control of Popular Party (PP) figurehead Isabel Ayuso, the Spanish opposition's most compelling voice (a coincidence?). I also wouldn't bet on the PP backing all the tax hikes that the government claims will raise an extra 232 billion euros in 2022.

The proposed budget for next year specifies a record-setting 196 billion euros of public spending, bolstered by 27 billion euros in Covid recovery grants from Brussels. Sanchez's government is breathlessly excited about splashing so much money in a relatively short space of time, but there's good reason to doubt its ability to do so effectively, or without wasting an inordinate amount on unprofitable, essentially pointless projects that the private sector has been unwilling to finance itself (probably for good reason). Opposition within and outside of government ranks makes the task even more difficult. Impatient as it is, the EU's going to have to wait for much longer than another two months to see its donation well spent.
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City commissioners and officials are mulling over several options for the future use of the Coca-Cola property, including the city buying the 27-acre site.
(Photo : Pixabay/PhotoMIX-Company) Gupshup platform

Gupshup, the leading conversational messaging platform, announced that Gaurav Kachhawa would be its Chief Product Officer or CPO.

Gaurav is expected to lead the product strategy of the company, as well as its product management, growth, design, analytics, and global innovation lab.

The announcement follows Gupshup's recent acquisition of RCS platform Dotgo, together with its raise of $340 million.

Gupshup's New CPO

The San Francisco-based Gaurav brings more than 20 years of product experience. He led iconic products that are used by millions of people at massive companies such as Twitter, Adobe, Zynga, and Electronic Arts.

Most recently, Gaurav was the Sr. Director of Product Management with the Creative Cloud group at Adobe, where he was also responsible for driving experience and engagement for Adobe's diverse cloud offerings used by tens of millions of creatives around the world.

Also Read: Business Messaging Startup Gupshup Secures $240 Million in Follow-on Funding Round





Gupshup also wants to set up a Conversational AI Innovation lab in Silicon Valley to tap into the global talent pool and create a partnership with the key industry players.

The lab will bring together top talent focused on natural language processing and AI with the goal of driving the next generation of conversational experiences while fostering collaboration with industry players to drive Gupshup's shared Conversational AI vision.

Gaurav shared with Business World that he is thrilled to be returning to Gupshup and help drive its next phase of growth and impact. He added that he was inspired by Beerud and the culture of innovation, long-term strategic focus, and grit that he has nurtured at the company for years.

Gaurav said that he sees a tremendous opportunity ahead for Gupshup as today's mobile and conversation-first users are looking to interact, engage, and transact with businesses in intuitive ways over their preferred communication channels.

Gaurav expressed his excitement to play a role in powering Conversational AI innovation at Gupshup and empowering businesses to engage with customers over emerging and delightful conversation experiences.

Acquiring Dotgo

Gupshup acquired Dotgo, a rich communications system or RCS business messaging player based in New Jersey. This was done for geographical and business expansion purposes.

Dotgo has been a strong partner for companies like Synchronoss, Mavenir, Google, Vodafone, and Orange. It manages RBM in several markets and operates the largest RBM Hub with global connectivity to RCS users across the world.

Dotgo is well-positioned to help brands integrate, with simple APIs, the RCS channel into their customer communications, whether for sales, support, services, or other business processes. The transaction value was not disclosed.

Google Jibe stated that RCS upgrades SNS with rich media, branding, interactivity, and analytics. With RCS, businesses can bring interactive mobile experiences straight to the default messaging app.

Dotgo, together with Google Jibe, has been selected to operate RCS business messaging at numerous mobile operators. The company grew in 2021 as RCS gained traction in Europe, India, North America, Brazil, and Nigeria.

Dotgo will significantly strengthen Gupshup's conversational messaging platform that enables businesses and developers to build rich customer experiences.

Gupshup also plans to leverage Dotgo's strong experience, and presence in Africa and they will expand there.

Related Article: Facebook Shines Light On Future Of AI With New Artificial Intelligence Lab In Paris



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Written by Sophie Webster

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Microsoft's Two Hat acquisition could provide a better gaming experience, as well as expand the manufacturer's consumer services.

"Today, we are excited to announce that Microsoft has acquired Two Hat, a leading content moderation solution provider offering protection measures for online communities with a vision to build better experiences for everyone," said Microsoft via its official blog post.

The latest collaboration of Microsoft and Two Hat is expected to prevent harmful content in Xbox platforms. The new acquisition is currently a major deal since Two Hat is a content moderation provider that has been operating since 2012, as reported by The Verge.

This is not the first time that the two tech firms worked together. But, the latest is a different one since Two Hat would be completely under Microsoft instead of just being a partner of the manufacturer.

Microsoft's Two Hat Acquisition

According to Microsoft Blog Post's latest report, Two Hat's role under the giant software company is essential since it would further enhance Microsoft's first-party content moderation.

Also Read: Microsoft Claims New Russia-Linked Cyberattacks Target US | 22,000 Malicious Activities Already Take Place?

This effort would combine both of the companies' research capabilities, innovative technology, highly skilled teams, as well as the most complete could infrastructure.

On the other hand, Two Hat said that they are thrilled since being under Microsoft would improve their shared visions, leading to healthier, safer, and inclusive online spaces.

Microsoft and Two Hat are not the only companies combining their expertise. Recently, we reported that IBM and McDonalds also partnered with one another to release a new automated voice recording system for drive-thru stations.

Meanwhile, Verizon also teamed up with the giant retailer, Amazon. This new partnership is expected to widen wireless broadband services to rural areas.

Why Two Hat Would Be Helpful

Since Two Hat is a moderation service provider, it can filter billions of user interactions on a platform. These activities include those seen in images, usernames, videos, messages, and other content.

The giant content moderator can do this using artificial intelligence technology, allowing Microsoft to identify and prevent more harmful Xbox content.

For more news updates about Microsoft and its upcoming partnerships, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Microsoft Plans to Save Around 5.7 Billion Liters/Year by 2030 as Company Plans to Be 'Water Positive'

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COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids 5 to 11 has received its U.S. FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to be administered to the age group for their immunization needs. The focus of this would be on Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine dose that uses the mRNA base, but signatures are yet to come, so the administration is not yet on the table.

COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids 5 to 11 gets FDA EUA Approval

Earlier today, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave its emergency use authorization approval for the COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids 5 to 11, made by Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech. The only thing left is for the regulatory agency to sign its papers for administration, which would take weeks before its actual application.

The EUA serves as solid proof that shows how much the FDA recommends its administration for children and its safety to be given to them so that they develop antibodies and fight against the virus. The vaccine would help in giving immunity and helping the children against COVID-19 so that it would soon be ready for society's reintegration.

Read Also: Top Travel Technologies Helpful During COVID-19 Pandemic

Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids

Pfizer's Vaccine is the first to be authorized for the lower age groups of 5 to 11 against the virus that sparked this global pandemic. Also, the pharmaceutical company is one of the top highest-rated ones to help in developing antibodies for the immune system.

The COVID-19 Vaccine of Pfizer is also one of the most known vaccines that are recognized by different countries across the globe.

COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids

In the past week, the COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids 5 to 11 has been getting its recommendation from the FDA for its soon use and administration to the children age group. However, that does not yet seal the deal for the adolescents, as it would need the health agency to approve its use, something that would solidify what it needs for distribution.

It appears so that most of the higher age group's population has already received the vaccine, and those that are prioritized are already getting immunity from it, hence its arrival for the children. In this way, the healing process may start and go against the virus that has put the world on its knees and forced them into staying at home.

The COVID-19 vaccine for kids may be the way for the world to heal, something that was the end goal of this pandemic, especially by the health professionals that focus on eradicating the virus of the planet. The virus has given the world a massive problem, something that the world has faced for almost two years now and still counting.

Related Article: Ohio State's Non-Invasive Breath Test Can Accurately Detect COVID-19 From Breath Print Within 15 Seconds

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Intel Arc Alchemist might already be finished according to the latest leak. Judging from the recently leaked photos on YouTube, it will feature several variants for the "DG2" type cards.

The upcoming GPU is set to be released in the first quarter of 2022.

Popular tech tipster Moore's Law is Dead has unveiled some interesting information about this hardware. Here are some details about Intel's new GPU brand.

Intel Arc Alchemist Spotted in the Wild

Videocardz discovered via Moore's Law is Dead that the Intel Arc Alchemist GPU is drawing closer to its release date following the leaked photos on YouTube.

Before disclosing the features of the newly-leaked graphics card, the famous YouTuber has exposed the early look of the Intel Xe-HPG which shows its reference design.

The flagship GPU under the Arc branding is potentially now in the pre-production stage, as the report stated.

Furthermore, the global chip processing company could be looking forward to rivaling other competitors such as NVIDIA and AMD Radeon. In addition, the Arc Alchemist graphics card is set to become the first GPU based on Intel's current roadmap.

For further testing, Intel has quite invested in the Intel DG1. However, the company found out that it was mediocre due to a low-power graphics architecture in Xe LP. As a matter of fact, customers can't purchase even one of them.

To amplify the user's gaming experience, Intel's XE HPG roadmap suggested that the Arc Alchemist GPU could be related to the NVIDIA RTX 3070. Both of them share features such as 16 GB GDDR6 memory and 512 execution units (EUs).

According to the latest leak, the upcoming flagship card is set to have many "DG2" GPU variants that are now in the early stage of development. These variants include 128EUS for entry-level cards, as well as 448EUs, 384EUs, and 256EUs.

The leaked photo also showed that it would arrive with two fans, according to a report by The Verge on Friday, Oct.29.

Read Also: Intel Exec Says Reference Designs for Alchemist GPUs Have Already Shipped

Preliminary Pricing of Intel Arc Alchemist GPU

Last month, Tech Times reported that Intel was making a significant move to launch another flagship card under the "Alchemist" branding. The processor manufacturer, at that time, said that its new GPU can compete with AMD RX 6700XT and NVIDIA RTX 3070.

According to the early rumors about this computer hardware, its initial price for Alchemist GPU could sit between $100 and $500. The previous details came from a Chinese language site, Baidu Forums.

Lucky Buyer Gets Unreleased Intel Core i9-12900K

Before Intel finally unveiled its latest 12th gen core, a lucky customer has successfully got one before its official release. A Reddit user shared some photos of the newest Core i9 chip.

According to the buyer, the cost of the Core i9-12900K is cheaper than its usual price. The customer obtained two of them which cost $610 apiece.

At that time, the customer was not able to share its specs since there's no note about them in the packaging.

Related Article: Intel ARC Alchemist GPU Could Disappoint Consumers! Unofficial Renders Show Possible Design

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SpaceX and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have decided to delay the launch of the Crew-3 mission from October 31 to November 3.

The decision was made due to the weather conditions on October 31. NASA made the announcement in a blog post published on its website. The launch time is at 1:10 a.m. EDT. The Falcon 9 rocket will still launch the mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA's announcement also mentions the Crew-2 astronauts, who are aiming to return to Earth sometime in early November. The Crew-2 mission was launched to the International Space Station last April.

SpaceX, NASA Delay Crew-3 Launch

SpaceX and NASA have decided to delay the launch of the Crew-3 mission, which was set to depart Earth on October 31 to head to the International Space Station (ISS). The new launch date has now been set to November 3 at 1:10 a.m. EDT.

The delay is "due to a large storm system meandering across the Ohio Valley and through northeastern United States this weekend, elevating winds and waves in the Atlantic Ocean along the Crew Dragon flight path for the Oct. 31 launch attempt," according to the announcement posted on the NASA website.

The Crew-3 mission will still launch from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, per a report by Space. The launch time on November 3 means that the Crew-3 mission will arrive at the ISS at 11 p.m. on the same day.

Crew-3 Mission

The Crew-3 mission that will now launch on November 3 aims to take four astronauts to the ISS. These astronauts will be staying there for a total of six months.

Three of the astronauts, Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, are all NASA astronauts while the fourth astronaut, Matthias Maurer, is from the European Space Agency (ESA). Chari is the mission commander while Marshburn is the pilot. Both Barron and Maurer are the mission specialists for the Crew-3.

The four astronauts will board one of SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsules, which they have named Endurance. The space company's Falcon rocket will launch the capsule to space. It has recently been reported that SpaceX has been able to fix the Crew Dragon's toilet problem that causes urine leaks.

Related Article: SpaceX's Toilet for Crew-3 Mission Still Needs To Be Reviewed by NASA After Last-Minute Fix

Crew-2 Astronauts Set to Return

NASA's announcement also included an update on the four Crew-2 mission astronauts currently in the ISS.

Per the announcement, the four astronauts who are part of the Crew-2 mission are targeting to return to Earth sometime in the early part of November. The Crew-2 mission was launched in April of this year.

The astronauts who are part of the Crew-2 mission are NASA's Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA's Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.

Read Also: SpaceX 'GuinGuin' Zero G Indicator is Crew-2's Fifth Member, Also a Flying Penguin Plushie

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Jim and James Linden Hogg, from left, will provide live music for First Presbyterian Church's Reformation Sunday's event.
Power outages, downed trees and finicky water access that many residents of St. Helena Parish grappled with in the days after Hurricane Ida are largely in the past.

But two months since Ida made landfall, residents of the low-income rural parish north of Baton Rouge are still trying to piece part of their lives together with a different kind of post-storm work, officials said at last week's police jury meeting.

We are in recovery mode now, Ed McQuillan, a division supervisor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told the St. Helena Parish police jury in the meeting.

Since the storm, FEMA has processed 4,165 requests for emergency assistance from St. Helena Parish residents, McQuillan said  a figure good for about 42% of the parishs population of just over 10,000. The agency has doled out about $6.5 million in relief payments there since the hurricane.

The applications have kept coming in recent weeks. People have also streamed through a disaster recovery center FEMA set up in Greensburg to appeal claims that fell through and file new ones, said Roderick Matthews, the parishs director for emergency operations.

Meanwhile, officials are flying drones over parish waterways so they can pitch the federal government on funding to clear those arteries of snarled branches and shattered tree limbs.

With resources like electricity and water back, recovery in the parish is taking a similar tack as in other hard-hit places around Louisiana: People are trying to patch up roofs splintered by fallen trees, mend shattered sheds and gather compensation for hefty costs that came with burning generator fuel.

Those costs mean a lot to people in a parish whose annual per capita income hovers just above $24,000, according to recent census estimates.

People are checking on the status of their current applications or appealing applications thats been denied, said Matthews, and also trying to get direct housing.

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+4 Ida-ravaged St. Helena still without power, hundreds without water; `We need help!' As a landscaper, Dayna Cutrer is used to south Louisiana's scorching summer temperatures, but being without power or water since Monday is tes

Twenty-three St. Helena Parish households had been placed in FEMAs Transitional Sheltering Assistance program as of midweek, said agency spokesperson Aissha Flores. Many homes took on damage from fallen trees and the shrieking winds.

Most of the 10,920 residents of the pine-forested parish sandwiched between the Mississippi line and Baton Rouge's northern suburbs never imagined a hurricane coming so far north with such force.

Like other recent storms in the Gulf, warm shallow water helped give Ida the extra strength it needed to travel all the way to the Magnolia State.

Thousands of trees felled across the parish crippled St. Helenas energy infrastructure and roads. Rebuilding the energy grid turned into a massive undertaking by state, parish and federal agencies, state Rep. Robbie Carter, D-Greensburg, said last month.

St. Helena police jury president Frank E. Johnson at Tuesdays meeting spoke highly of FEMAs role in the parish since the storm.

+4 Two weeks after Hurricane Ida, nearly half of St. Helena Parish remains without power Two weeks after Hurricane Ida felled countless trees and electrical lines, nearly half of St. Helena Parish still lacked power. And the outage

In the days after Ida swept through, the police jury offices in Greensburg that had been set up to function as a de facto emergency hub lost power. Police jurymen and emergency staff went dark for several days, eventually setting up shop in a residence in Pine Grove  some 11 miles south of where officials usually work.

FEMA staff outfitted the disaster recovery center with generators and Wi-Fi out of which the police jury began dispatching information to residents.

This is the best that FEMA has ever worked with the parish, Johnson told McQuillan in the meeting. Yall did an outstanding job.
Its 6pm minus 25 on Friday. My Uber arrives in four minutes: $30.07 for a 6.9-kilometre ride. Its 12.6 degrees but feels like 8.1, with 60 per cent chance of rain and 25,499 active COVID cases.

Happily, only one number matters tonight: 78.8 per cent (the proportion of Victorians aged over 16 who are fully vaccinated). Close enough for jazz.

All smiles: Music lovers express their delight as Al Matcott plays the Brunswick Ballroom on Friday night. Credit:Chris Hopkins

At the stroke of six, in the front bar of the Charles Weston Hotel, one guy with six strings leans into the microphone like a man released. Its Hugh McGinlays first gig in three months. The Ambassador is a love song for someone Ive been through six lockdowns with.

Most diners have only one ear on his fingerpicked stories of love and other human foibles, but the way he changes the energy in the room is beyond calculation. Intimate communion, real time, live electricity. After each song every stranger stops, recognises each other, and gives thanks. Thats right, thats a thing. It might actually be everything.
While some are delaying first post-lockdown dates until theyve managed to nab a hairdressing or beauty appointment, Ms Anton isnt mucking around. God, if theyre gonna look at my regrowth theyre looking at the wrong parts  sorry, she says. Payman Behraban has begun lining up dates in bars again. Credit:Jason South Payman Behraban, 27, is also relieved to be able to take dates to cocktail bars instead of park walks. Hes been on one restaurant date since lockdown lifted last week and has another next week.

The healthcare worker has witnessed COVID-19 patients in ICU and the risk of infection weighs on his mind as he ventures out again, but he can tell theres a palpable vibe of hedonism around the city. I think people will go crazy this summer because thats what happened last summer when we came out of lockdown, he says. They already are - I was on Chapel Street last Friday night and people were dancing, someone was DJing off a balcony and then all of a sudden, a bunch of girls went crazy. Melbourne Sexual Health Centre expects a surge in STI presentations in the coming months as people venture out  especially after a 70 per cent drop in asymptomatic STI screening in Melbourne during lockdowns.

[The clinic] is getting busier again now but theres always a lag, says centre director Professor Christopher Fairley. Just like how deaths lag COVID, presentations for STIs lag changes in sexual behaviour, so we anticipate to be busy again in December, January. Loading He urged the public to get tested at their GP or a sexual health service before diving back into casual sex, warning most STIs did not show symptoms and there was still a high amount of gonorrhea and syphilis circulating in Melbourne. But not all singles are feeling gung-ho about hooking up with strangers, according to app data. Of the 1029 single Australians aged 18-49 years surveyed by Bumble early September, 75 per cent said they felt some form of anxiety about the idea of dating again as lockdowns lift.

More than half said they would be waiting longer to have sex with a new partner compared to before the pandemic. Loading According to rival app Tinder, 40 per cent of Gen Z users members said they will continue to go on digital dates, even as when in-person dating was allowed. Associate Professor Christopher Fisher from the Australian Research Centre for Sex, Health and Society said there could be more social media hype around a #hotvaxsummer than what actually eventuates. My sense is, probably not unlike what the US found, that well probably have a group of people who have had less sex in the last 18 months and there may be some pent-up energy that comes out over summer, he said.

[But] youre also going to have other groups [such as couples] where maybe theyve been having more sex than usual and so for them, its probably not going to be a huge shift or might even go down because now theyve got other things to do on their social calendar. But he says if a promiscuous summer does materialise for some, it could be a good thing for mental health after such long stints of isolation  provided people are safe. In one context I hope we do have a hot vax summer because the human connection thats had with sex is really important, he said. For Ms Anton, true freedom will be her first steamy pash on a dance floor - providing the venue is enforcing vaccine passports. Five a night, she laughs. Thats what I need!
Under chaos theory, a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil and causes a tornado in Texas. But what happens when humans disappear from a zoos butterfly enclosure for months for the first time in history?

In this case, a global event, the COVID-19 pandemic, caused a butterfly to flap its wings more.

When Melbourne Zoo fell quiet during pandemic lockdowns, butterflies immediately occupied all the walking paths in the butterfly enclosure. Credit:Justin McManus

At Melbourne Zoo, there was a surge in activity as butterflies reclaimed the space, almost immediately occupying the walkways for human visitors that most of the insects rarely used.

The change in their behaviour, a phenomenon extremely difficult to observe in butterflies, is just one of the research projects being undertaken around the globe into the effects of pandemic lockdowns and the lack of human traffic on zoo animals.
In the interim, De Goey will not be permitted to train or play with Collingwood or make use of club resources, staff or facilities. Collingwood is deeply disappointed by reports and events of the last 48 hours involving De Goey in the US. Given the circumstances, the club believes it is appropriate to remove him from the AFL program. Collingwood has been in contact with De Goey and his management today and has explained to both its decision. In a statement, the NYPD said De Goey had been charged with forcible touching. Police alleged he grabbed buttocks and vagina outside clothing without permission or authority to do so of a 35-year-old female. He was also charged with assault, having allegedly punched with a closed fist and kicked a 37-year-old male causing pain and swelling. Continued to punch and kick victim while victim was on floor with a co-defendant. Collingwood star Jordan De Goey leaves a New York court after he was earlier arrested earlier. Credit:Nine News Dyson, 28, was also charged with forcible touching and assault, where he had allegedly struck 37-year-old male in the face with a glass bottle causing swelling to lip. Continued to punch and kick victim while victim was on floor with a co-defendant.

De Goey and Dyson had been drinking and partying at the PHD Rooftop Lounge at the Dream Hotel on West 16th street about 2.30am when they approached a woman on the dance floor. Dyson and De Goey were arrested at the scene and taken into custody. Police said all parties involved in the incident were intoxicated. The AFL released a statement on Sunday evening, rubber-stamping Collingwoods move. Leading lawyer David Galbally, QC, told The Age that De Goey was facing jail time if found guilty of indecent assault. In Australia, indecent assault can carry a jail term of five years, while gross indecency can be more than 10 years.

De Goey partying with his friend in New York. Credit:Instagram If its any form of indecency, in terms of indecent assault, it carries a jail sentence. I would think judges have discretion, but they will want to send a message, he being a footballer, they will want to send a message, loud and clear, Galbally said. The police will get every detail about him, every bit of background  and they will run it in court. De Goey, who has frustrated Magpies officials through the years by not keeping in shape during the off-season, has spent time during his official leave period training hard at The W Training Facility in southern California under his Monster Energy partnership. The match-winning forward-midfielder is off contract next season and is expected to be one of the hottest free agents on the market, hoping to land a contract of more than $900,000 a season.

However, Galbally said the Magpies could have grounds to sack De Goey, regardless of whether De Goey was found guilty. They would have grounds to terminate his contract if convicted, Galbally, a former Collingwood board member, said. They would probably need to wait to see what happens in terms of what he does, if he pleads guilty or fights it, but, yes, this would be regarded as gross misconduct ... although with his past history, they could go ahead and do it and he would risk having everything aired if he was to bring a breach-of-contract claim. It would all be aired publicly. If he said: You [Magpies] couldnt terminate my contract, you had no right to do it, they would say: Yes, we did, for the following reasons. Then if he issued legal proceedings and it went to court, Collingwood would run every indiscretion he has had. He would be made a public laughingstock, as it were, just to coin a phrase. In August, De Goey had an indecent assault charge withdrawn and Victoria Police has been ordered to pay his legal costs.
Amazon Bought More From Rivian Than Trucks - How About 20% Of Their Company

SEE ALSO: Amazon Ordered Trucks And Now Invests In Electric Vehicle "Startup" Rivian

October 29, 2021: Reuters reported that Amazon.com Inc, an early backer of Rivian Automotive, now owns about a fifth of the electric-truck maker, the e-commerce giant disclosed in a quarterly filing on Friday.

Ford Motor Co F.N, which has a strategic relationship with Rivian, removed a representative from the startup's board earlier this month.

At the end of the third quarter, Amazon had an equity interest of about 20% in Rivian, according to the filing.

Rivian is also aiming to raise between $5 billion and $8 billion in a stock market debut later this year, and seeking a valuation of about $80 billion, Reuters reported in September.

The company's pre-IPO investors also include T. Rowe Price TROW.O and BlackRock BLK.N.

Amazon on Thursday reported lackluster quarterly results and warned that a tightening labor market and rising costs would hurt its holiday-quarter results.

(Reporting for Reuters by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
All-Electric bZ4X Production Model Announced in Japan

Toyota took another step forward along its electrification leadership journey with the global announcement of the Toyota bZ4X all-electric BEV production model.

https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/toyota/36254760.html

The bZ4X is part of Toyotas beyond Zero brand umbrella for battery electric vehicles. U.S. product details will be shared in mid-November.
Mark Twain is often given credit for the quote, History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme. The quote emphasizes that events do not always unfold in the same way, but they often unfold in similar ways. The tale of Chinas military ambitions as a great power, just now starting to
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Associated PressIn this May 5, 2006, file photo, former Secretary of State Colin Powell gives the closing keynote at the World Congress of Information Technology in Austin, Texas.
19 States Sue Biden Administration Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

Comes after Florida launches own lawsuit

Several U.S. states on Friday mounted multiple federal lawsuits against the Biden administration over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal workers and contractors.

Texas sued individually in a federal court in Galveston. Another lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Missouri involves Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Yet another lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Georgia, involves Georgia, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia.

The lawsuits come a day after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he sued the administration over the same vaccine mandate. As of late Friday, the total number of states suing the Biden administration over the mandate is 19.

President Joe Biden on Sept. 9 issued a far-reaching executive order that requires almost all federal employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment, including civilian federal employees and contractors. The order goes into effect on Dec. 8. Regular COVID-19 testing isnt an option, but religious or medical exemptions from vaccination may be granted, according to the order. Contractors that dont comply may lose out on government contracts.

All 19 states seek to block Bidens requirement, arguing that the mandate violates federal procurement law and is an overreach of federal power. The states also argue that Bidens vaccine mandate violates the 10th Amendment that separates the power between federal and state governments; uses federal spending to coerce the states, which is unconstitutional; and did not properly allow for 60 days of public comment.

The Biden administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Subterfuge

The Texas complaint (pdf), filed in a federal court in Galveston, asks the court to declare Bidens vaccine mandate unlawful and to issue preliminary and injunctive relief to block it from being enforced.

The Biden Administration has repeatedly expressed its disdain for Americans who choose not to get a vaccine, and it has committed repeated and abusive federal overreach to force upon Americans something they do not want, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Friday. The federal government does not have the ability to strip individuals of their choice to get a vaccine or not. If the President thinks his patience is wearing thin, he is clearly underestimating the lack of patience from Texans whose rights he is infringing.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at a border town hall in Brackettville, Texas, on Oct. 11, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, praised the lawsuit late Friday. Under my Executive Order no Texan can be forced to take the vaccine shot, he said on Twitter, referring to the order he issued on Oct. 11 that prohibits vaccine mandates by any entity. He added, Bidens order should be ruled illegal.

The lawsuit accuses the Biden administration of using subterfuge to accomplish what they cannot achieve directlyuniversal compliance with their vaccine mandates, regardless of individual preferences, healthcare needs, or religious beliefs.

Unconstitutional, Unlawful, Unwise

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson on Friday co-led a ten-state coalition in a lawsuit (pdf) against the Biden administration. The suit calls the administrations mandate unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise.

If the federal government attempts to unconstitutionally exert its will and force federal contractors to mandate vaccinations, the workforce and businesses could be decimated, further exacerbating the supply chain and workforce crises, Schmitt, a Republican, said in a statement. The federal government should not be mandating vaccinations, and thats why we filed suit todayto halt this illegal, unconstitutional action.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt speaks during a news conference in St. Louis, Mo., on Aug. 6, 2020. (Jeff Roberson/AP Photo)

In explaining how the vaccine mandate violates the Procurement Act, the complaint reads, Far from increasing economy and efficiency in procurement, the contractor vaccine mandate will have deleterious effects on economy and inefficiency by causing the large-scale resignations of unvaccinated employees of federal contractors. These disruptive consequences will directly oppose both economy and efficiency.'

Among other counts, the suit also contends the administration has violated the Anti-Commandeering Doctrine and the Administrative Procedures Act.

Untenable Situation

Georgia also led a multi-state lawsuit (pdf) against the federal mandates on Friday. A release from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemps office says the complaint, in part, explains how the Biden administrations mandate has placed Georgias state agencies and officials in an untenable position.

In addition to being an unlawful and unconstitutional overreach, this vaccine mandate on federal contractors will only further divide Americans and hamstring our economy, Kemp, a Republican, said in a statement. Polling shows 70 percent of unvaccinated Americans say they would quit their jobs if their company required the COVID-19 vaccine. From an employers perspective, 9 in 10 fear significant reductions in their workforce if they had to implement vaccine mandates.

He added, We will not allow the Biden Administration to circumvent the law or force hardworking Georgians to choose between their livelihood or this vaccine.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp speaks during a press conference in Atlanta, Georgia, on Aug. 10, 2020. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

The suit argues that the mandate could only stand if Congress had passed it in a law.

States furthermore argue that a large number of federal contract workers will quit over the mandates, meaning states are caught between breaching the federal contracts either because of not being able to complete all the work due to staffing shortages, or because of retaining unvaccinated workers, thereby violating the federal vaccine requirement.
7 California Teachers, Employees Terminated for Rejecting COVID-19 Vaccine

LOS ANGELESSeven employees at Granada Hills Charter School (GHC) have been terminated for not following the districts COVID-19 vaccine requirement.

Iris Arnold is one of the seven employees who lost her job for not being vaccinated for COVID-19. Arnold worked as a high school Social Science teacher and has been a member of the Granada Hills Charter since 2006.

I teach students the importance of the United States Constitution, and the freedom and rights it preserves.  I never expected the GHC Governing Board to coerce me into taking the Covid vaccination as a condition of employment, Arnold wrote in a statement.

Arnold said she would undergo daily testing; however, the school doesnt provide alternative options to the vaccine requirement.

My requests were religious  sincerely held belief-based and medical based. Then, I also have a history of cancer, Sarah Olczak, a former student counselor at GHC who was recently terminated, told CBSLA.

Olczak worked for GHC for 13 years. She requested a religious exemption but was eventually denied.

GHC confirmed in a statement that its board of directors terminated its unvaccinated employees.

GHC must also comply with [Los Angeles Unified School Districts] vaccine mandate that all charter school employees be fully vaccinated, GHC said in a statement.

Moreover, GHC has said that out of a total of 550 staff, over 98 percent of GHC employees have completed the vaccine requirement.

The school emphasized that the action to terminate these employees is necessary to keep its students, employees, and the surrounding community from being negatively impacted by the pandemic.

GHCs actions in this regard were guided first and foremost by what is lawful and in the best interests of preserving the health and safety of its students, employees, and the surrounding community, according to a statement released by GHC.

In addition to the employee vaccine mandate, the GHC Governing Board also began requiring all age-eligible students to be fully vaccinated earlier this month to access in-person learning and activities on campus.

Students or employees with certain medical conditions can be exempted from getting the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the GHC doesnt allow religious or personal belief exemptions.
In this file image from video, journalist Andy Ngo speaks to The Epoch Times in West Palm Beach, Fla. (The Epoch Times)

Alleged Antifa Member Charged With Robbery in Attack on Reporter Andy Ngo

An alleged member of the far-left Antifa network has been charged with robbery in an attack on Andy Ngo, a reporter who regularly covers the extremist movement.

Court documents show that John Colin Hacker was indicted on Oct. 21 by a grand jury on one count of third-degree robbery for an incident that took place on May 7, 2019, in Multnomah County, Oregon.

Video footage recorded by Ngo showed a man who appeared to be Hacker stealing his phone at a 24 Hour Fitness.

According to the grand jury, Hacker did unlawfully and knowingly, while in the course of committing and attempting to commit theft, and with the intent of preventing and overcoming resistance to defendants taking of property and retention of property immediately after the taking, use and threaten the immediate use of physical force upon Andy Ngo.

I hope last weeks indictment of Mr Hacker signals a change in the prosecutors office in Portland, Ngo said in a statement. For years, too many violent extremists falsely claiming to be fighting for racial justice have gotten away with campaigns of terror and violence against journalists and citizens.

Two years later, this is finally a step in the right direction for the rule of law in Portland, where Antifa has been operating with impunity, Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer representing Ngo who is also CEO of the Center for American Liberty.

There is still a long road ahead for the justice that Andy Ngo deserves. Andy has endured years of harassment, serious threats on his life, and the inability to live in his hometown at the hands of these domestic terrorists. This is a good start, but were hoping to see more of these actions, she said.

Hacker did not have a lawyer listed on the court docket. According to Ngos law firm, an active arrest warrant was issued for Hackers arrest and he has not turned himself in.

Antifa is a far-left, anarcho-communist network whose members have repeatedly committed violent acts in recent years across the United States. They are most active in the Pacific Northwest.

The video from the gym appeared to show a man assaulting Ngo, who said the male also dumped liquid on him.

Ngo, currently with The Post Millennial, is a journalist known for infiltrating Antifa in disguises and being attacked by members on multiple occasions. He recently penned a book about the group.

The entire agenda and project of the Antifa ideology, that is, anarchists and communists, is to destroy the United States and to destroy its system. So when they say burn it down, burn the system down, they really do mean that. That system is the rule of law, its systems of governance, elected representativesall of that. They want to get of rid of all that, Ngo told The Epoch Times earlier this year.
Application Process Starts for LAs Basic Guaranteed Income Pilot

LOS ANGELESApplications are open through Nov. 7 for the citys guaranteed basic income pilot program, which will give $1,000 a month to 3,000 households for a year.

The nearly $40 million BIG:LEAP (Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot) program is the largest of its kind in the United States.

Its name perfectly captures what were doing here in L.A. because were taking a big leap forward in our generational fight to end poverty, Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Oct. 27.

The application process opened Oct. 29. People can apply at bigleap.lacity.org. More information is available from Councilman Curren Prices district office at 323-846-2651.

Only households with at least one dependent child will be considered, and recipients must live in the city of Los Angeles, be over the age of 18, and have an income at or below the federal poverty line. They also must have experienced economic or medical hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than a quarter of the recipients will come from Prices District 9. Price said on Oct. 26 that his district office, at 4301 S. Central Ave., would serve as a command center during the application window to assist constituents. Additional sitesincluding the Vermont Square Branch Library, Ascot Branch Library, Junipero Serra Branch Library, the All Peoples Community Center, and Trade-Tech Collegewill provide computers, Wi-Fi, and language support to help District 9 residents apply.

Garcetti said officials looked at data from a smaller GPI program in Stockton while developing the pilot, and research showed that the 125 Stockton residents who received $500 per month were more than twice as likely to secure full-time jobs as people in a control group.

They landed full-time employment because they could afford to take that job interview that before they couldnt. Maybe instead of two jobs, they could have one, and they were able to get full-time employment more than twice the rate of nonrecipients, Garcetti said, citing findings by Stacia West of the University of Tennessees College of Social Work and Amy Castro Baker of the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

Critics of the programs often cite opposition to handing out money without restrictions on how it can be spent.

If its the governments money, they should absolutely be able to control how its spent. You dont want people going out and buying cigarettes and booze with this, said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a nonprofit that seeks to defend the rights of taxpayers. It would be more consistent with existing programs, for example the SNAP program, the food stamp program; you get vouchers to buy food. Same with Section Eight housing, you get vouchers to purchase housing.

On Oct. 26, the city council approved $27.4 million for the program citywide, which includes about $3.4 million for Prices district. Prices office will provide another $6 million from its Guaranteed Basic Income Funds.

The offices of Council Districts 6, 8, and 10 also provided funding from their offices GBI funds, totaling more than $5 million.

The council also approved nearly $4 million for research and design services related to the pilot program.

The city partnered with academics to study the programs impact on factors such as recipients mental health, food security, housing security, employment, homelessness, parenting, family dynamics. Garcetti said he hopes the program, as the largest sample in the U.S., will provide data to the state and federal governments in hopes of larger such programs being implemented.
French President Emmanuel Macron poses with Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on June 15, 2021. (Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images)

Australian PM Says French Presidents Call a Positive Sign for Strained Relationship

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that French-Australian diplomatic ties are heading back in the right direction after a phone call with President Emmanuel Macron.

Morrison spoke to his French counterpart on Thursday for the first time since Australia scrapped a $90 billion submarine deal with Naval Group and opted instead for an agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom on nuclear-powered subs.

Macron said Australia broke the relationship of trust between the two countries and it was up to Morrison to repair the relationship.

On arrival in Italy on Friday night for a Group of 20 (G20) meeting, Morrison told reporters he very much appreciated that Macron had reached out to make a personal call to him, and Australia respected and understood the obvious disappointment of France.

So weve started the way back, I think thats a positive thing. Of course there will be candid conversations at the start as we deal with the issues as theyve presented, he said.

The way you build back those relationships is you work together on the things that matter to us both, Morrison said, referencing shared interests in the Indo-Pacific and policies on oceans and technology.

Antarctica is another key area and Australia is a highly reputable operator there. I know France equally has their interests there, he said.

The call between the two leaders delayed Morrisons departure from Canberra on Thursday night for the G20 summit in Rome.

The federal government said the phone call came after Morrison wrote a letter to Macron in October.

U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters after meeting Macron overnight that the United States had been clumsy in its orchestration of the AUKUS agreement.

I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not going through, Biden said Oct. 29 during a meeting with Macron in the French Embassy to the Holy See.

I honest to God did not know that you had not been.

I think what happenedto use an English phrasewhat we did was clumsy, Biden said. It was not done with a lot of grace. I was under the impression that certain things had happened that had not happened.

Associated Press contributed to this report.
Conservative commentator Aaron Gunn announces his leadership bid for the BC Liberal Party in Victoria on Oct. 9, 2021. (Courtesy Aaron Gunn)

BC Liberals Leadership Candidate Says Rejection From Race An Affront to Democracy

Conservative commentator and advocate Aaron Gunn says the rejection of his application to run in the BC Liberals leadership contest goes against party members democratic rights to choose their own leader.

Its an affront to democracy, Gunn told The Epoch Times, adding that the rejection is an example of elites thinking that they know better than their own partys membership.

The BC Liberals informed Gunn by email on Oct. 22 that after its Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) conducted a thorough review of his statements made on social media, it concluded that his candidacy would be inconsistent with the BC Liberal Partys commitment to reconciliation, diversity, and acceptance.

The email also said Gunn had been given an opportunity to respond to concerns raised by certain of those statements. Gunn, however, says that even though he responded a week later, he was rejected without any further explanation.

Gunn says the party added a new clause to its leadership rules, adopted by the LEOC in February, that candidates must not have the potential to damage the partys reputation.

To be eligible to become a Leadership Contestant, a person must  not be a person whose approval to become a Leadership Contestant would likely bring the Party into disrepute, the rules say. All Leadership Contestants must undertake in writing to the Party that they will  conduct themselves and their campaigns in a manner so as not to bring the Party into disrepute.

Gunn said the new clause is subject to interpretation.

That is obviously completely subjective. Unlike all the other clauses that are there, that is a subjective clause, he said.

On Oct. 8, after the political outsider announced his intention to run for the partys leadership, he received immediate flak from the ruling B.C. NDP, accusing him of expressing harmful views such as denying the existence of systemic racism.

A few days later, a rival in the leadership race, Vancouver-Langara MLA Michael Lee, took a similar position and sought to prevent Gunn from competing.

Aaron Gunn has the right to express his views, but the BC Liberal Party has a responsibility to not give a platform to intolerant views like those hes shared. I urge candidates to affirm inclusive values & join me in calling for his candidacy to be rejected, Lee said on Twitter on Oct. 14.

In a string of tweets, Gunn said the reason party officials rejected him was that he committed the unforgivable sin of refusing to call Canada a genocidal state on 3 separate occasions over twitter, referring to the view that Canada committed genocide against First Nations people.

Oddly enough, I know from private conversations that many current BC Liberal MLAs agree with my position (along with the vast majority of conservatives and most historians), he posted on Oct. 25.

The real reason my candidacy was rejected was because I posed a serious and credible threat to the enclaves of political power currently held by political insiders.

The Epoch Times reached out to the BC Liberal Party for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.

Ellis Ross, the MLA and B.C. Liberal candidate for the Skeena riding, speaks to supporters while BC Liberal Leader Christy Clark (L) and Stikine riding Liberal candidate Wanda Good look on, in Kitimat, B.C., on April 13, 2017. (The Canadian Press/Robin Rowland)

Just the Beginning

BC Liberal MLA Ellis Ross, who is running in the leadership race and who has previously spoken out in defence of Gunn, said he was disappointed by the LEOCs decision not to approve Gunns application.

The decision as to his leadership should have been made by the voting members of the BC Liberal Party, Ross said on Twitter on Oct. 22.

This is not about whether or not I agree with all of Mr. Gunns views, but whether or not he should have been permitted to run.

The MLA for Skeena added that British Columbians have been clear that to earn their trust again, we must be a big tent party that is inclusive of views and opinions from across the political spectrum.

Gunn said the party isnt accommodating a big tent of differing voices, particularly conservatives views and those who believe in common sense and free speech.

Described on his website as an independent journalist and advocate for taxpayers and common sense, Gunn has worked for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and is the producer and director of an online series called Politics Explained.

According to Gunns election platform, his common sense policies include scrapping the carbon tax, defending free speech, opposing cancel culture, and cracking down on crime and anarchy. He added that he is ready to engage in frank and honest discussions on issues plaguing B.C. concerning the rising cost of living, money laundering, and the opioid epidemic.

Gunn said he will announce his future plans in the next two weeks, and pledged to continue fighting for the rights of British Columbians.

Its time to look at alternatives, and thats exactly what Im doing, he said. I think theres no common sense anymore with our politicians and our political decision-making, so its time for a change and a new direction.

With reporting by Noe Chartier.
Biden Administration Withholding Key Information About Afghanistan: Watchdog

President Joe Bidens administration is withholding information about Afghanistan, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko said during an Oct. 29 speech.

The Department of Defense (DoD) withheld information on the performance of Afghan security forces, including unit strength, training deficiencies, and casualty data, or in essence, nearly all the information you needed to know to determine whether the Afghan security forces were a real fighting force or a house of cards waiting to fall, according to Sopko.

In light of recent events, it is not surprising that the Afghan government, and likely some in DoD, wanted to keep that information under lock and key, he said.

Sopko said he was forced to relegate the information into the classified appendices of a recent report his office released detailing flaws in the United States 20-year war in Afghanistan.

This information almost certainly would have benefited Congress and the public in assessing whether progress was being made in Afghanistan and, more importantly, whether we should have ended our efforts there earlier, he said.

The DoD stated that Sopkos report lacks context in their response to the SIGARs claim.

DoD is well aware of the Special Investigator for Afghanistan Reconstructions recent report. Its assertions that DoD deliberately withheld information on the Afghan Security Forces lacks context as the department took significant effort to ensure that the availability of data on Afghan forces was treated similarly to how DoD would manage such data on U.S. forces, Maj. Rob Lodewick, a Pentagon spokesman, told The Epoch Times in an email.

The Pentagon maintains that it was the Afghan government that wanted to classify the data and that it recommended against it, but abided by the decision of the original classification authority. Overall, the department says it has cooperated with the SIGAR since the office was created by Congress.

The State Department wrote to Sopko shortly after U.S.-backed Afghan forces were routed by the Taliban terrorist group as the United States moved to fully withdraw from the country.

Shortly after the fall of Kabul, the State Department wrote to me and other oversight agencies requesting to temporarily suspend access to all audit, inspection, and financial audit  reports on our website because the department was afraid that information included in those reports could put Afghan allies at risk, Sopko said.

While the watchdog believes that Afghans at risk should be protected, the State Department was never able to describe any specific threats, nor could it explain how removing the reports could possibly protect anyone, since many were years old and already extensively disseminated worldwide.

While Sopko complied reluctantly with the request, he became more puzzled when the agency reached out asking him to redact roughly 2,400 items in the reports, including the name of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. A review found all but four requests to be without merit.

In my opinion, the full picture of what happened in Augustand all the warning signs that could have predicted the outcomewill only be revealed if the information that the Departments of Defense and State have already restricted from public release is made available, Sopko said.

The speech was delivered to a conference in Arlington, Virginia.

A State Department spokesperson said in an email that the agency has worked to address the challenges SIGAR has identified in its report and recognizes the importance of the watchdogs work.

Due to safety and security concerns regarding our ongoing evacuation efforts, we requested some reports be temporarily removed to redact identifying information from public records and protect the identities of Afghans and Afghan partner organizations. SIGAR has the authority to restore the reports when it deems appropriate, the spokesperson said.

To protect the identities of Afghans and Afghan implementing partner organizations, the Department of State has worked to remove identifying information from multiple public records. The identifying information are the only details intended to be shielded. Because of the volume of information, some entities temporarily removed reports or full datasets.
Breakthrough Infections, Deaths Among COVID-19 Vaccinated Rose in Recent Months: CDC

Infections, hospitalizations, and deaths linked to COVID-19 have risen in recent months among people who have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But the bulk of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths occurred among unvaccinated Americans, the data show.

COVID-19 cases per 100,000 among the fully vaccinated increased to 121 in mid-August from 12.3 in late June, according to CDC data. Around the same time, COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in that population rose to 75 per 100,000 from 8.9 and COVID-19 deaths jumped to 1.1 per 100,000 from 0.1.

A stream of studies in recent months has indicated that COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness is waning, especially against infections. The CDC data, gathered from surveillance systems in states and hospitals, provide another source verifying a drop in protection.

The marked pronounced change in vaccine effectiveness is likely due to emergence of the Delta variant as the dominant variant, and the waning of vaccine immunity over time, Paul Alexander, a former Trump administration COVID-19 adviser who has a masters of science in clinical epidemiology and community health, told The Epoch Times in an email.

The immunity from the vaccine drops markedly over the few months post-vaccine. The Delta is more infectious (yet far less lethal), but the real issue is that there is a mismatch as the vaccine does not hit the Delta, so there is immune escape. It has effectively failed against the Delta and the accumulated evidence shows this (UK, Israel, etc.). So once infections rise, there is usually a hospitalization curve and then a death curve that follows, said Alexander, who also consulted for the World Health Organization.

Scientists often refer to cases, hospitalizations, or deaths that occur in the fully vaccinated as breakthroughs. None of the vaccines is 100 percent effective, and all of them have declined in effectiveness over time, according to studies and clinical data. The decline has largely matched the introduction and quick dominance of the CCP viruss Delta variant.

A breakdown of the CDCs data by age shows that cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the vaccinated have increased across all age groups.

Officials in Maryland, which contributed data on cases and deaths, said theyve seen an increase in deaths attributed to COVID-19 among the vaccinated.

Of the 190 deaths among confirmed COVID-19 cases between Sept. 16 and Oct. 18 in the state, 32 percent were fully vaccinated people, Andy Owen, deputy director for media relations for the Maryland Department of Health, told The Epoch Times in an email.

Many of these deaths are linked to comorbidities that make patients more vulnerable. This further underscores our mission to maintain immunity by urging all eligible Marylanders to get their booster shots. Keep in mind that as the number of our residents who are vaccinated continues to increase, we expect to see an increase in the proportion of COVID-related deaths occurring in vaccinated individuals, he said.

Still, just 295 of the nearly 4 million Marylanders who have been fully vaccinated have died of COVID-19, officials in the state said.

The waning effectiveness of vaccines recently drove drug regulators and the CDC to authorize and recommend booster shots for millions of Americans, including individuals who got the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Boosters are needed to generate long-lived immunity with virtually every non-live vaccine, including polio and hepatitis A shots, said Dr. David Boulware, professor of medicine at the University of Minnesotas Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine.

Thus, needing a booster was an expectation for most immunologists, infectious disease physicians, and/or pediatricians familiar with vaccines. The only question was, When?' he told The Epoch Times in an email.

While data show that antibodies from the vaccines are decreasing over time, memory B cells are retained, which help the human body respond rapidly to infections. However, the Delta variant brought shorter incubation periods, highlighting a need for a larger population of the B cells.

This is achieved with a booster, which is why boosters are beneficial at >6 months. With boosters, I (and others) expect vaccine breakthrough infections to greatly decrease, and the emerging data support this, Boulware said.

The data on breakthrough metrics show a slight drop in breakthrough cases near the end of August.

The bulk of the infections, hospitalizations, and deaths were found to be among the unvaccinated, or people who had no verification of having received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC. The agency said the data show that an unvaccinated person in August had a 6.1 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 and an 11.3 percent greater risk of dying from COVID-19.

While metrics among the unvaccinated did rise across age groups, the data illustrate how younger, healthy people are at little risk from the disease. Unvaccinated 18- to 29-year-olds saw deaths lower than most fully vaccinated age groups, and the death rate for unvaccinated 30- to 49-year-olds was well below that of fully vaccinated people 80 or older and close to that of fully vaccinated 65- to 79-year-olds.

Most of the deaths were reported to be among unvaccinated people 65 or older.
Consumer goods shortages, higher prices, and container ship chaos at Californias portsall are symptoms of broken supply chains. So, what if more goods were made in America? Would that fix the problem? We find out from author James Stuber, who studies these questions in his book, What if Things Were Made in America Again.

And in America Q&A, we ask if youve been impacted by delays or shortages in your everyday life.

Then, as another migrant caravan heads to the U.S.Mexico border, its unclear what the Biden administration will do. So far, the focus on root causes of illegal immigration are having little impact. We talk to Steve Hecht, a writer and businessman in Guatemala, who points out the pull factors in U.S. immigration policy.

Finally, in our second America Q&A, we ask: Do you agree with denying medical treatment to the unvaccinated?

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As allegations of fake news splash across American headlines, the term appears to be a familiar one to Chinese state-run media outlets as well.

In recent years, a number of examples have raised red flags among netizens.

And some of the countrys state-owned media now appear to have few reservations about tweaking the facts in their coverageranging from street interviews to media coverage of Chinese police officers, and to even coverage of top Chinese Communist Party officialsthough it seems those outlets dont always get it right.

In this weeks special report, we dive into some cases where apparent media blunders managed to surface, despite what look like efforts to carefully craft the news.

Watch the full episode on EpochTV.

Have other topics you want us to cover? Drop us a line: chinainfocus@ntdtv.org

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Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China.

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Citi Mandating 65,000 US Employees to Get Fully Vaccinated

Citigroup, the nations third-largest bank, said Thursday that it will require all U.S. employees to be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 as a condition of employment.

In a post on Linkedin, Sara Wechter, Head of HR, said that the decision was influenced by two key factors. First, as the U.S. government is a large and important client of Citi, we have an obligation to comply with the Executive Order issued by the White House mandating that individuals supporting government contracts be fully vaccinatedan order that would impact the vast majority of our U.S. colleagues.

Second, having a vaccinated workforce enables us to ensure the health and safety of our colleagues as we return to the office in the U.S. Citibank, the consumer division of the group, has more than 700 branches concentrated in six metropolitan areas of the country: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Miami.

The group is offering a $200 incentive to each of its 65,000 U.S. employees when they submit proof of vaccination. The deadline is being set for Jan. 14, 2022, although the corporation is requesting workers to comply by the mandate in December.

Wechter said in the post that medical and religious allowances, along with regional considerations, will be assessed case by case. Bank of America has also offered $200 to fully vaccinated employees at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.

Most of the big banks like Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase have recommended their employees get vaccinated before returning back to the workforce. Citi is the only major lender to make it a condition of employment. Morgan Stanley has made it mandatory for employees in its headquarters and large offices to be inoculated before reporting to work.

Wechters post had garnered more than 1,000 reactions with almost 500 comments at the time of this publication. A majority of the commentators decried the move saying the organization was infringing on employee rights, while a few others commended the companys leadership.

I was always proud of Citi being progressive and advanced, but that decision should be left in hands of an individual. What will now happen to 30-40% of unvaccinated employees, are we ready to let go our talent for the sake of vaccine? said Ioulia Miasnikova, a senior project analyst at Citi.

This is disgusting, illegal and unethical. Citi should be ashamed and embarrassed. When you say your catchy slogans like we all come together to support each other does that include threatening to fire employees? These are still experimental vaccines that have many side effects and I know many Citi employees that have concerns along with some of them having serious side effects from the first vaccine dose, said Sheila Williams, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Confidential.
Death Row Inmate Seeks Execution; Judge to Decide Competency

JACKSON, Miss.A Mississippi judge will decide whether a death row inmate who says he wants to be executed is mentally competent to waive all his appeals.

The state Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the examination in the case of David Cox.

Cox wrote to Mississippi Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. in August saying he wanted to fire his lawyers, give up all his appeals and have the state Supreme Court set his execution date.

I seek in earnest to (waive) all my appeals immediately, I seek to be executed as I do here, this day, stand on MS death row a guilty man worthy of deathplease grant me this plea, Cox wrote in an Aug. 16 letter .

Cox pleaded guilty to shooting his wife Kim in 2010 in the Union County town of Sherman, raping her daughter in front of her, and watching Kim Cox die as police negotiators and relatives pleaded for her life. He also pleaded guilty to seven other crimes without making a bargain with prosecutors that precluded the death penalty. A jury sentenced him to death.

Coxs lawyers argue that he is mentally ill and isnt competent to waive his appeals, and that its unconstitutional for the state to execute him.

There is no reliable evidence that Mr. Cox has a free or unrestrained will necessary to lodge a permanent, voluntary waiver of his right to continue pursuing post-conviction remedies, wrote Benjamin H. McGee III of the state Office of Post-Conviction Counsel.

McGee has filed a fresh petition with Mississippis justices seeking a new sentencing hearing. The lawyer says Coxs trial lawyers didnt adequately lay out the history of abuse that Cox endured as a child, including poverty, neglect, parental abandonment, chronic exposure to pornography and witnessing his father sexually abuse his sister. Coxs sister, in a sworn statement, said he dropped out of school and huffed gasoline all day, later becoming addicted to methamphetamine. Lawyers argued the substance abuse permanently injured his brain and that it would be unconstitutional to execute him, just as the Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional to execute someone with mental disabilities.

Mr. Coxs rage, violence and impulse control problems are product of brain dysfunction, not a reflection of choice or character. He has a severe psychopathologythat is, a severe mental disorder or mental illnessbut he is not a psychopath, Forensic psychologist Robert Stanulis wrote in a report for the defense.

Mississippi hasnt executed anyone since 2012, amid legal disputes over lethal injection procedures and difficulty procuring execution drugs.
Join study partners, John & Jane as they explore the challenges to the evolutionary theory and why the Bible makes the most sense of the scientific evidence. This is an essential video for Christian students attending Junior High to College. Through the fun conversations of the actors, this program provides solid answers about creation, evolution, the fossil record, extinction, adaptation, natural selection, common ancestors, branching & homologous, and human evolution.

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Note: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the producers, creators and presenters of Awesome Science do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of The Epoch Times. Debunking Evolution addresses topics related to evolution and invites conversation, thinking and analysis of current streams of thought discussed and taught in education circles today.



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Disclosed Documents Reveal AT&Ts Racial Equity Guidelines for Employees

Internal documents have revealed AT&Ts guidelines for its employees to undergo racial inequality training by confronting white privilege.

Journalist Christopher Rufo with City Journal obtained the documents from an employee who told him, If you dont do it, youre [considered] a racist, Rufo said in his Oct. 28 report.

AT&T is another Fortune 100 company that has succumbed to the latest fad: corporate diversity and inclusion programming that traffics in the ugly concepts of race essentialism and collective guilt, Rufo wrote on Twitter.

The material found in the documents is based on the core teachings of critical race theory, Rufo said.

Critical race theory is a Marxist-based philosophy that suggests that society is a class struggle between oppressors and the oppressed, labeling white people as the oppressors and all other races as the oppressed.

AT&T Corporation has created a race reeducation program with materials claiming that racism is a uniquely white trait and teaching employees: White people, you are the problem,' Rufo said.

The reeducation program promotes the concept that racism is strictly a white characteristic.

AT&T CEO John Stankey started the program, which he called Listen. Understand. Act, in reaction to the death of George Floyd, Stankey wrote in a letter found in the documents.

Stankey said surveys have reported that people are increasingly looking to companies and CEOs to weigh in on the difficult societal and political issues that divide us as a country.

He said not only has Dallas-based AT&T been working on police reform, but its employee political action committee has suspended contributions to 147 members of Congress who voted to not certify the Electoral College votes of Arizona and Georgia after what he called the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

The documents cited concepts that claimed that the pandemic created conditions conducive to people facing racism, paralleling racism to the virus by comparing the vulnerability people feel toward the virus with black people and racism, according to Andres Tapia, a diversity and inclusion strategist with Korn Ferry, a global organizational consulting firm.

The documents also contain the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge, written by Eddie Moore of the America & Moore diversity education consulting firm.

Finally, AT&T encourages employees to participate in a 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Challenge, which teaches that Whiteness is one of the biggest and most long-running scams ever perpetrated and that the weaponization of whiteness is a constant barrage of harm for minorities, Rufo said.

Moore wrote that the challenge involves taking actions to further your understanding of power, privilege, supremacy, oppression, and equity, as well as reading, listening to podcasts, and watching videos that revolve around the subject of race, such as the book How White People Got Made, by Quinn Norton, and watching videos such as How white fragility reinforces racism.

Moore asked that employees make racial observations, such as what the racial composition is of the surrounding people in a particular environment and to consider what portion of ones day is engaged in discussing racism.

Engaging in racially mixed settings can trigger age-old power and privilege dynamics, Moore said. The goal is to be a learner more than a knower, exactly the opposite of what dominant U.S. culture teaches us to be.

Some of the music Moore recommended included Born this Way by Lady Gaga and White Privilege by Macklemore.

AT&T officials didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Documentary Showcases Mustangs, A Symbol of Americas Spirit of Freedom

The story of the American mustang is one that reflects much of the countrys own story: one of resilience and freedom. This is the central theme explored in the documentary The Mustangs: Americas Wild Horses.

We wanted to tell, first of all, a great story and feel like an American adventure. We go to all these places throughout the West, Steven Latham, the films director, told NTD Television.

The film explores the history of mustangs, the current situation, and challenges the horses face, and some stories from people who are working to make a difference in the lives of wild horses.

The official poster for the film The Mustangs: Americas Wild Horses. (Courtesy of Steven Latham)

The wild horse is an incredible animal.  The wild horse represents fierce independence, freedom in the way they live their lives, family bonds, loyalty, integrity, Latham said. These are living symbols of our collective past.

The film begins by exploring the origins of American mustangs, which can be found across the western United States. The horses were first brought to the country by Spanish settlers. Over the years, some domesticated horses escaped into the wild or were freed from corrals by wild stallions seeking to add domesticated mares to their herds.

By the 1900s, the need for mustangs as working animals declined, and the pet food industry began using horses in canned dog food. In the 1950s, the methods and practices used for capturing horses came to light, and they were deemed to be extreme and cruel.

Activist groups called on the U.S. government to pass laws that would protect wild horses, leading to the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

Wild horses approach a member of the film crew. (Courtesy of Steven Latham)

People try to romanticize wild horses.  Theyre symbols of freedom, and let them be free: Dont round them up. I wish we could say that, but its complicated, Latham said. Thats what we wanted to show in the film. Theres no silver bullet. Theres no easy answer. But that shouldnt prevent us from doing the hard work to manage them and to protect them for the future.

As the film reveals, managing and protecting wild horses is a complex issue. Latham said that only about 10 percent of public land is allocated for wild horses to roam, known as herd management areas.

He said that even on federally protected public land, wild horses live in competition with the interests of farmers and ranchers. U.S. public lands are also home to other wildlife and conservation areas.

Some of the reason why its so divisive is because people have sort of weaponized misinformation, Latham said. When you have all these social media pages, and theyre all trying to raise money off this issue, its just not true.

The film shares some of the current methods grassroots groups are using to manage the wild horse population, including fertility control. Latham said that mustangs can easily double their population every three to four years, leading to overpopulation, followed by routine roundups into corrals.

Mustangs being herded into corrals on federally protected public land. (Courtesy of Steven Latham)

Latham said the purpose of the film is to provide information and share different stories from horse trainers, veterans, fertility control groups, and sanctuary workers about the experience of working with and building bonds with wild horses.

Brian Pratt, the films cinematographer, revealed that making a film about wild animals can be challenging at times. On some days, the crew had to drive around for hours before spotting any wild horses.

We had to sometimes be very gentle and stay away from them, because, you know, theyre beautiful animals, but they can be spooked very easily, Pratt told NTD Television.

The film crew used two cameras to film the mustangs from a distance in the wild.

Taking photos of mustangs from a distance. (Courtesy of Steven Latham)

More than 80,000 wild horses roam federal lands in the United States. Pratt and Latham described how a lot of people said they were unaware that wild horses even existed and were unaware of the connection they have with U.S. history.

They hope the documentary can allow viewers to understand the journey and situation mustangs face, while at the same time showcasing the horses bonds with each other and humans, their perseverance, and their spirit of freedom.

With reporting by NTDs Jason Blair
Dozens of NYC Firehouses Could Close on Monday Due to Vaccine Mandate: Union President

MANHATTAN, New YorkDozens of NYC firehouses may close on Monday as a result of a vaccine mandate placed on city workers by Mayor Bill de Blasio, according to Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro.

Prior to a press conference on Friday, Ansbro talked to The Epoch Times outside a firehouse near Penn Station that had been closed nine hours on Friday due to a staffing shortage.

Thousands of municipal workers took to the streets in protests earlier in the week after de Blasio announced a sweeping mandate requiring the entire municipal workforce to get vaccinated, with no testing option.

Firefighters want to be recognized for their natural immunity, gained after a large percentage of them had already been infected and beat the virus. There has only been one NYC firefighter death to COVID-19 during the entire CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

The union is not anti-vaccine but is against the mandate.

They have been trying to negotiate with city officials, but by Friday afternoon, their calls to debate were ignored and the deadline passed.

There are already firehouses closing due to the shortage of staff, a problem weve had for a long time, Ansbro told The Epoch Times.

Come Monday morning, I fear for the citizens of New York, I fear for my own members. New York City residents worry that theres going to be a fire, and they may die from it, but my members know theres going to be a fire. And if we dont have enough firefighters there, the fires get bigger, and thats when we risk our own lives. Were trying to avoid that as well, said Ansbro.

An NYC firehouse can get about 6,000 to 7,000 calls per year, averaging one call every hour and a half.

The reason why I tell people that response times matter is because they do, they do, Ansbro said.

The union has had in recent weeks up to 16 firefighters out on leave due to sickness or injury for every one out due to COVID-19.

Firefighter Union leaders speak to reporters in Manhattan, New York, on Oct. 29, 2021. (Enrico Trigoso/The Epoch Times)

Our injured members were the size of the Dallas Fire Department prior to this mandate, Uniformed Firefighters Association Vice President Bobby Eustace told reporters.

We had over 1,200 members on limited duty and over 1,000 members on medical leave. We were nearly 9 percent on medical leave, before the mandate, because they are overworked. Thats how high the injuries were. So prior to any of this, our members are already getting injured at a much higher rate than they normally were. We would have been the 36th largest local in the international professional firefighters. Just our injured members alone, Eustace said.

When de Blasio was asked at a Thursday press conference whether he was having any second thoughts about the mandate given the likelihood that some police, fire, and sanitation workers would rather quit or go on leave rather than get the shot, he replied in the negative.

No, I am not having second thoughts, de Blasio said. We expected that a lot of the vaccinations would happen toward the end of the deadline. We also know a lot of people make the decision once they really realize that theyre not going to get paid. Thats just the human reality.

Firefighters rally against vaccine mandates outside Mayor Bill de Blasios residence in Manhattan, New York, on Oct. 28, 2021. (Enrico Trigoso/The Epoch Times)

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
Workers install solar panels at the construction site of 40MW photovoltaic on-grid power project in Huaian, China, on June 11, 2018. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Green Energy Investors Neglect Human Rights Risks in China, Analyst Says

WASHINGTONLarge investment firms are increasingly focusing on sustainable investing that considers environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. But while they seek to own shares of environmentally friendly companies, many continue to disregard human rights risks hidden in their investment portfolios, according to an analyst.

There is a grave risk that U.S. companies across sectors are benefiting from human rights violations in China, said Allison Gill, forced labor director at the Global Labor Justice International Labor Rights Forum, a human rights organization in Washington.

Speaking at The China Forum, an annual conference hosted by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation on Oct. 27, Gill pointed to the solar industry and the apparel and textile sector as being the most exposed to the risk of having Uyghur forced labor in their supply chains.

There is an unspoken tension in the investment world, she said, between environmental sustainability and social sustainability, which includes human and labor rights.

That is made perhaps the clearest by the problems that we see in the solar supply chain where you have a lot of investment, including U.S. multinational development bank investment, flowing to green energy solutions, like solar panels, and yet you have this supply chain that is heavily tainted with forced labor goods, she said.

An investigation by Sheffield Hallam University found that some 45 percent of the worlds supply of polysilicon, a key component of solar panels, comes from Xinjiang, a region where the Chinese regime has detained more than 1 million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities, in a vast campaign of repression that includes the use of forced labor.

An additional 30 percent of the global supply also comes from other parts of China, which also has serious exposure to forced labor, Gill added.

So that puts the entire solar supply chain at risk, she said.

To reduce the exposure to Chinas forced labor, investors and multinational development banks must harmonize their ESG requirements, she said.

Production supply chains in the apparel and textile sector have been the center of attention for a while over the concerns for the use of forced labor, child labor, and human trafficking. China is the worlds third-largest cotton-producing country, behind India and the United States. Chinas Xinjiang region produces nearly 85 percent of Chinas and 20 percent of the worlds cotton supply.

A report published in December 2020 by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation showed that at least 570,000 Uyghurs in 2018 were forced to pick cotton by hand through the Chinese regimes forced labor training and transfer scheme.

In response to mounting evidence of the use of forced labor in Xinjiang, Washington last year blocked the import of all cotton and tomato products from the region and of silica-based products from a Xinjiang-based firm earlier this year.

Slave labor in Xinjiang is part of a colonial project of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to Michael Sobolik, a fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council, a Washington-based nonprofit.

Speaking at The China Forum, he said the use of forced labor in Xinjiang is central to the regimes Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), adding that thats the biggest reason why many governments are willing to be silent on this human rights issue.

Since 2013, the CCP has made the BRI a centerpiece of its plan to grow its geopolitical influence by pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure development projects around the world.

The BRI encompasses nearly 140 countries, accounting for 40 percent of the global economy and 63 percent of the worlds population, according to the New York-based think tank Council on Foreign Relations.

Global Governance

China also has been waging a campaign for global influence by winning control of influential international organizations, speakers at the forum said.

Last year, for instance, Beijing sought to lead the World Intellectual Property Organization, a U.N. agency that promotes the protection of intellectual property and copyrights worldwide. Through the diplomatic efforts of the United States, however, member countries approved the U.S.-supported candidate, Daren Tang of Singapore, over Chinas nominee, Wang Binying.

Andrew Bremberg, president and CEO of Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said that there needs to be a more coordinated, concerted international diplomatic pressure and effort to push China to change its behavior on the world stage.

It is very positive that the Biden administration has repeatedly emphasized the importance of engaging with international organizations and having a multilateral approach to global affairs, he said at The China Forum.

But Washington needs to do more, he noted, to unite allies against China.

They need to put their political muscle, he said, to hold China accountable on human rights abuses, whether it is in Hong Kong or Xinjiang or with Falun Gong or the organ harvesting.

Miles Yu, a Chinese-born academic who helped shape the Trump administrations China policy, sounded the alarm on the CCPs global ambitions, which include exporting its model of governance to other countries and international organizations.

Speaking at the conference, he touted the Trump administrations tough-on-China policy, calling it a crowning achievement.

We changed the global dialogue on China and placed the China threat on a realistic foundation. Thats a very big deal, he said.

The Biden administration has repeatedly said that while the United States is in an intense competition with China, it seeks to cooperate in areas of common interest, such as climate change.

According to Yu, however, it is very difficult to cooperate with China.

China, really deep inside, does not care nearly as much about the issues like climate change as the United States current government does, Yu told The Epoch Times.

He cautioned that Beijing would use climate change as leverage to extract U.S. concessions on human rights, forced labor, tariffs, espionage, and other substantial issues.

So, I dont think climate change is Chinas top strategic priority, he said. They focus on this radical push for just economic power at any cost, even at the expense of global ecology.
Illinois Mayor Ignores Governors Mask Mandate: We Have to Start Moving On

An Illinois mayor is standing against the statewide mask mandate issued earlier this year by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, lifting the requirement and making the measure optional in Elk Grove Village, a suburban community in northern Illinois.

We have to start moving on. Were as safe as we can be. If you want to wear a mask, wear a mask, Mayor Craig Johnson announced at a city council meeting, ABC 7 reported. But its time to move on.

Pritzker, a Democrat, announced the statewide mask mandate in late August as he also ordered every eligible student, among other high-risk settings, to get vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19.

The governor said at the time the measure applies to everyone in all indoor settings who is over the age of 2, regardless of their vaccination status.

Johnson said he is following the science as he confirmed earlier this week that the mask mandate will be lifted, which took effect immediately. The mayor explained that the number of COVID-19 patients in the community has been consistently dropping.

We are following the science. Thats our key, WGN9 reported. And the science has said, according to the governor last spring. Once you drop below 5 percent, hed open up. Well, today we are at 1.6, 1.7 percent. Why arent we opening? he added as he questioned the governors line of logic.

The mayor told ABC 7 that the CCP virus in Elk Grove Village is currently not much of a problem anymore, as a large percentage of people in the community are vaccinated, making masks unnecessary.

Pritzker issued the mask mandate in August citing a resurgence of CCP virus cases, spurred largely by the Delta variant of COVID-19, and increasing reports of breakthrough cases in which people already vaccinated against the virus are becoming infected.

The Illinois governor announced in October that his indoor mask mandate will be lifted after CCP virus numbers show a steady decline across the state.

On Oct. 19, Pritzker said during a news conference at the James R. Thompson Center in the Loop that he hopes to lift certain mask mandates in time for the winter holidays.

We want to remove the mitigations as we approach the holidays, he said, the Chicago Tribune reported. Thats an important marker for us.

From NTD
Security personnel keep watch outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology during the visit by the World Health Organization (WHO) team tasked with investigating the origins of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on Feb. 3, 2021. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

US Intelligence Agencies Update Report on COVID-19 Origin: Natural or Lab Leak Both Plausible Theories

An updated assessment from U.S. intelligence agencies on COVID-19 origins concludes that both theorieslab leak and natural jump from animal to humanremain plausible, with a lack of evidence driven by Chinese authorities refusal to cooperate with the probe precluding a definitive judgment either way.

The report (pdf), released by the Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on Oct. 29, is an update on previous determinations and identifies areas for potential additional research on the source of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen that causes the disease COVID-19.

After examining all available evidence, the intelligence community (IC) remains divided on the most likely origin of COVID-19, the report notes.

All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident, the report reads.

Four IC elements and the National Intelligence Council judged with low confidence that the CCP virus emerged naturally by making a jump from animal to human. One IC element assessed with moderate confidence that it was most likely the result of a lab-associated incident, likely involving experimentation, animal handling, or sampling by the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).

A worker is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on Feb. 23, 2017. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

Most agencies determined with low confidence that the CCP virus was probably not genetically engineered, though two of them believe there was insufficient evidence to make an assessment either way.

The agencies also judged that the CCP virus was not developed as a biological weapon, basing this assessment on the fact that proponents of this theory lack access to the WIV or made scientifically invalid claims to support this hypothesis.

At the same time, the IC left the door open to potential future revision of their conclusions, noting a lack of clinical samples or a complete understanding of epidemiological data from the earliest infections.

If we obtain information on the earliest cases that identified a location of interest or occupational exposure, it may alter our evaluation of hypotheses, the report reads.

The report states that cooperation on the part of Chinese authorities would most likely be needed to make a definitive judgment on the virus origins.

Beijing, however, continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information, and blame other countries, including the United States, the report reads, noting that numerous information gaps remain, particularly relating to technical data.

The newly declassified report is an update of a 90-day review that the Biden administration released in August.

On the day of its release, Chinese authorities criticized the report. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, in an emailed statement called the new assessment a political farce.

The Chinese regime has repeatedly denied that the CCP virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), despite some evidence pointing to it. The institute has been doing research on bat coronaviruses for more than a decade, and its located a short drive from a local market in Wuhan, Hubei province, where the first cluster of infection cases is suspected to have emerged.

The report indicated that IC analysts who support the lab leak theory assessed that WIV researchers inherently risky work with coronaviruses provided numerous opportunities for them to unwittingly become infected with SARS-CoV-2, and that available information suggests researchers in China used biosafety practices that increased the risk of exposure to viruses.

Academic publications suggest that WIV researchers did not use adequate biosafety precautions at least some of the time, increasing the risk of a laboratory-associated incident, the report states.
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) gestures as he speaks to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) during the G20 Summit in Rome on Oct. 30, 2021. (Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)

Johnson Seeks to Calm Turbulence in UKFrance Ties as Fishing Row Heats Up

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted on Saturday that UKFrance relations have been hit by some turbulence amid an intensifying dispute about fishing rights, but emphasised that the two countries have more common interests than divisions.

France has accused the UK of breaking the UKEU pact on post-Brexit relations after dozens of applications by French fishermen to fish in British waters were rejected.

France is threatening to block British boats from its ports and tighten checks on vessels if the issue is not resolved by Tuesday. The UK has said it could retaliate if France carries out its hard-line stance.

French fishing boats protest in front of the port of Saint Helier off the British island of Jersey to draw attention to what they see as unfair restrictions on their ability to fish in UK waters after Brexit, on May 6, 2021. (Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images)

But Johnson told the BBC on Saturday that, despite some turbulence in the relationship, the things that united the two countries are more important than their divisions.

Fending off Frances accusations, Johnson told Sky News that he was worried Paris may be about to become in breach, or is already in breach of the UKEU deal, and refused to rule out triggering the dispute mechanism clause in the Brexit trade agreement.

It comes after French President Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with the Financial Times, accused the UK of not keeping its Brexit pledges on fishing and lacking credibility.

When you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility, he told the newspaper.

Frances Prime Minister Jean Castex, meanwhile, has written to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to encourage Brussels to back Paris position against London.

Downing Street has said the UK government wants to resolve the dispute but stood ready to respond if Paris carried out its threats.

We have been working with the French government to issue more licences. We stand ready to continue that work, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said on Saturday.

We have seen a number of comments from the French government at varying levels in recent days and weeks that we dont think are justified. If France were to proceed with the threats that they have set out, we will act in a calibrated manner.

Meanwhile, the president and chairman of the French ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer told British media that he hopes the British will find an agreement, a solution to get out of this point.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme, Jean-Marc Puissesseau said there would be a disaster if France carried out its threat of blocking British trawlers from French ports.

It will be terrible for both sides of the Channel: for you, for us, for the ports, the fishermen in your country, for the fishermen in our country, he said. And thats only for 40 little boats which are not allowed to fish in your country, so I hope there will be an agreement on that over the weekend.

PA contributed to this report.
In this image from video, Dr. Eric Rubin, left, explains why he will vote to advise the FDA to authorize Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for young children during an FDA advisory panel meeting on Oct. 26, 2021. (The Epoch Times via FDA)

Children and Vaccines: After FDAs Emergency Authorization, a Look at the Evidence

News Analysis

To read the headlines, youd think the verdict was in.

On Oct. 26, the Food and Drug Administrations (FDAs) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee recommended the approval of Pfizer-BioNTechs RNA COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11, under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).

On Oct. 29, the FDA issued an emergency authorization based on the committees recommendation.

Still, a few small steps remain before vaccines reach a kindergarten near you.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel needs to carry out their own vote on giving kids the vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will then offer her own recommendation after evaluating that panels finding.

Assuming these decisions go Pfizers way, the path would be clear for the widespread vaccination of young children throughout the United States.

The Biden administration seems confident that the pharmaceutical giant will triumph: on Oct. 20, they released their Fact Sheet on their prospective rollout of the drug, stating that the Administration has procured enough vaccine to support vaccination for the countrys 28 million children ages 5-11 years old.

On Oct. 28, Pfizer announced that it had sold 50 million doses of its pediatric vaccine, deliverable by April 2022, to the U.S. government.

Our planning efforts mean that we will be ready to begin getting shots in arms in the days following a final CDC recommendation, the Biden administrations Fact Sheet stated.

The FDA advisory committees recommendation was, we were assured, wholly scientificafter debating the evidence, including some results from an ongoing clinical trial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, panelists voted 170, with one abstention, to confirm that the benefits of two-course vaccination outweigh the risks in children 5 through 11.

Yet a few memorable sour notes marred that days presentations.

In one widely circulated comment, panelist Dr. Eric Rubin, editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, said safety data are still lackingbut thats just the way it goes.

Were never going to learn about how safe the vaccine is unless we start giving it, said Rubin, before adding that knowledge about rare vaccine complications was acquired the same way in the past.

In an email to The Epoch Times, Rubin defended his comments, writing, The clinical trial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in children showed no adverse events. All data to date indicate that it is safe. It will prevent the hospitalization of children with severe disease, as it does with adults. The vaccine works, and saves lives.

Concerns with long-term safety data partly motivated the panels one abstention, from Dr. Michael Kurilla of the National Institutes of Health.

Lets cut through the noise: What exactly is the case for vaccinating young childrenand whats the case against it?

Risks From COVID-19 for Young Children

The risks of death and serious illness from COVID-19 among young children are one key point of contention.

The FDAs own briefing modeled scenarios for relative risks of serious illness or death from COVID-19 and serious illness or death from just one possible risknamely, heart inflammation.

Relying on real-world data from individuals 20 years of age or older during the Delta wave, they assumed that the vaccine was 70 percent effective against COVID-19 and 80 percent effective against hospitalization.

In its briefing to the FDA, Pfizer stated that COVID-19 was among the top ten causes of death in children aged 5 to 14 between January and May 2021, referencing an analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The CDC has noted that over 94 percent of COVID-19 deaths included other comorbidities, with an average of 4 additional conditions or causes per death.

Citing a Research Letter that analyzed CDC data, Pfizers FDA briefing counted 1.8 million cases and 143 deaths related to COVID-19 through Oct. 14, 2021, and 8,622 hospitalizations through Sept. 18, 2021, in children ages 5 through 11reflecting a vanishingly low risk of serious illness or death in that population.

Notably, while the briefing did not specify how many of the children who died had serious comorbidities, roughly two-thirds of those hospitalized had one or more underlying comorbidity.

Researchers have consistently found that the dangers of COVID-19 to young children are very low.

A Nature study estimating the COVID-19 infection fatality rate (IFR), or the proportion of those who die from infection, found an IFR of just 0.001 percent in children aged 5 to 9less than one in 100,000.

Risks From the Vaccine

While Rubin told The Epoch Times the clinical trial data did not identify any adverse events in children ages 5-11, the FDAs own briefing document from Pfizer detailed a few, including 13 cases of lymphadenopathy, or lymph node swelling.

Notably, the trial did not detect any heart inflammation, a concern for young people receiving the vaccine.

However, Pfizers FDA briefing document stated that the number of participants in the current clinical development program is too small to detect any potential risks of myocarditis [heart inflammation] associated with vaccination.

Some physicians have spoken in favor of administering the vaccines, even to their own young children.

I am a board certified immunologist. My wife is a pediatric ER physician. Ive followed #COVID vaccine data in teens & adults, read Pfizer safety/efficacy data in 5-11 year olds & listened to FDA discussion. We will vaccinate our 8 & 11 year old children w confidence & gratitude, wrote Dr. David Stukus, a professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Nationwide Childrens Hospital on Twitter.

Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst and former president of Planned Parenthood, argued in The Washington Post that young children need vaccines.

Others have expressed misgivings, based in large part on what they see as insufficient safety data.

I dont think children should be vaccinated for COVID. Im a huge fan of vaccinating children for measles, for mumps, for polio, for rotavirus, and many other diseases, thats critical. But COVID is not a huge threat to children, said Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a Harvard University Professor of Medicine, in an interview with Jan Jekielek on EpochTVs American Thought Leaders program.

Its not at all clear that the benefits outweigh the risks for children, Kulldorff later added.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), a medical doctor who once served as chief of obstetric anesthesiology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, voiced similar concerns to NTD about vaccine mandates

Well, we certainly dont know what the long-term consequences of the vaccine are, because its only been a matter of months since children have gotten this vaccine, because of course, the early studies done now nearly a year and a half ago, were done only in adults, Harris said. We do know that most children who are not particularly high risk, that the risk of COVID is actually not that high.

Slowing the Spread?

Given the low rates of serious illness and death among children, a particularly key justification for vaccinating them is reducing the rate of community transmission.

Children, Pfizers FDA briefing claimed, are important reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and may become a primary driver of the pandemic in the near future.

Yet researchers have generally not identified childrenparticularly young childrenas key sources of community transmission.

One observational study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that children up to the age of 9 attending school were not major contributors to COVID-19 spread, although the studys findings on teenagers were more equivocal.

A 2020 meta-analysis, or analysis of multiple studies, on COVID-19 susceptibility among young children and adolescents concluded that susceptibility was lower in those groups than in adults and offered weak evidence that they play a lesser role in population-level transmission.

More recently, a 2021 meta-analysis on COVID-19 transmission clusters concluded that children infected in school are unlikely to spread SARS-CoV-2 [COVID-19] to their cohabiting family members.

The FDA seems to concede that preadolescent children are not super-spreaders in its briefing, noting that in schools, transmission between school staff members may be more common than transmission involving students and that there is evidence that SARS-CoV-2 transmission is greater in secondary and high schools than elementary schools.

Whats more, in the weeks since U.S. schools resumed in-person instruction, many for the first time since the pandemic began, hospitalizations of children with COVID-19 havent risen, as one might expect if children are major drivers of transmission.

In actuality, hospitalizations have rapidly fallen according to Department of Health and Human Services data, and as reported by Bloomberg.

Should it continue, this trend would make it even harder to justify vaccination of children 5-11 according to the FDAs own risk-benefit assessments, most of which are predicated on the COVID-19 incidence and hospitalization rates in early September at or near the peak of the Delta variant surge.

Additionally, new research suggests that vaccinated individuals have the same likelihood of spreading the COVID-19 Delta variant within their households as unvaccinated individuals, raising further questions about the effectiveness of vaccinating children if slowing the spread is a key aim.

With these facts in mind, it seems difficult to state conclusively that vaccinating young children would make much of a difference at all when it comes to COVID-19 transmission.

Money and Influence

The current push for mass vaccination of our children seems to have multiple, often overlapping motivationssome more understandable than others.

For many, genuine concern about illness, hospitalization, and death in young COVID-19 patients is no doubt the predominant factorparticularly after months of media coverage on the dangers of coronavirus, leading viewers of outlets such as CNN and MSNBC to have a less accurate understanding of the COVID-19 death rate than viewers of more conservative outlets such as Fox News and OANN, according to a poll by Rasmussen. And many very well-informed individuals, such as the doctors quoted above, say they intend to vaccinate their children.

At the same time, its hard to ignore Big Pharmas big money and influence.

As mentioned above, the Biden administration has already purchased 50 million of Pfizers pediatric doses, which are one third the size of the companys adult dose.

According to Endpoints, the cost of these 50 million doses was not initially made available, although the cost of the Pfizer vaccines has steadily risen for the US, hitting $24 a dose in July 2021 versus roughly $19.50 per dose in July 2020.

Open Secrets reports that Pfizer alone was the 25th largest lobbyist in the United States in 2020, spending over $10.8 million that year alone. (Thats in addition to the $381,930 Pfizer-affiliated individuals donated to Joe Bidens presidential campaign, the $119,768 such individuals donated to Donald Trumps campaign, and the $47,869 such individuals donated to Bernie Sanders campaign, among many other political donations.)

Yet Pfizers lobbying still falls short of the Big Pharma trade group Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America. That organization was the third largest lobbying group in the United States in 2020, spending $25,946,000 according to Open Secrets.

Patrick Howley of National File has reported that numerous voters on the FDAs advisory committee have direct Pfizer ties. Gregg Sylvester, for example, was previously the vice president for Pfizer vaccines.

Other motivations seem to go beyond the purely medical and financial.

Control

For the globe-trotting, technocratic class James Burnham identified as the managerial elite, power may be an end in itself, with compliance a necessary means to that end.

Thus, in New York City and many other jurisdictions, the vaccine passports that people age 12 and older (though soon, perhaps, 5 and up) need to access indoor restaurants, gyms, and other spaces do not recognize natural immunity as an alternative to vaccinationa policy at odds with how the CDC, the Army, and other entities have approached immunity in the past.

In Israel, meanwhile, individuals who have received green passes through vaccination are losing them six months after their vaccines second dose, necessitating a booster shot to retain access to many indoor venues. While this policy may arise partly out of doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccine, the drive for compliance doesnt stop there. Those who have recovered from COVID-19, and can therefore be expected to have natural immunity, are now being required to receive one dose of vaccine to keep their green passes.

Authorities there have not yet stated whether people will need more boosters in the future to retain freedom of movement.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine and health policy at Stanford University, in an interview with The Epoch Times, lay the blame for vaccine policy on deference to experts who seek control.

Much of American policy has not been conducted by politicians. Its been conducted by the science classyou know, a class of scientists, he said.

And the politicians have essentially said, Im gonna relegate the powers I have off to these scientists who are advising me, and were gonna follow the science, right?

What does it mean other than, Im gonna abdicate my responsibility as a politician to this group of experts, and Im gonna do whatever these experts say? I think that is not a liberal social order. What that is very different than that. Again, I would call it a biosecurity state aimed at control. Now it has not been as extreme as Australia, but thats essentially what weve had the last 18, 19 months, Bhattacharya added.

Some college students, representing a group only a few years older than the children now on the path to vaccination, see the role of government or corporate compliance in the campaign for vaccinationincluding the vaccine mandates common across many universities.

Juliana, a college student at a university that has imposed a vaccine mandate, agreed that there is a dimension of social or political control to the policy.

I think its also pretty significantly just a P.R. move by the university administration, just trying to cater to what the broader culture wants it to comply with, she said, adding that most of her fellow students unquestioningly comply.

Though Juliana has requested a religious exemption, she feels her institution has deliberately made it difficult to receive such exemptions.

Graham and Noah attend a school with no vaccine mandatebut the students are still encouraged to get jabbed.

I think the main rationale for emphasizing vaccines at our school is we dont want to hit a certain number of cases where we all get shut down, Graham said.

I think any institution inherently wants more power and more control, said Noah. I think theyre trying to push how far they can extend their power over peoples lives.

Enthusiasts for globalism speak of the need to build back better, which means, in part, moving toward a world without borders, whether between nations or between our bodies and a corporatist state. Perhaps this spirit informed Central Bank President Christine Lagarde in saying that the whole world needs to be vaccinated, lest COVID-19 come back to haunt us.

In this world, little children may not be exempt.
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in Los Alamos, New Mexico, recently put up this jobs billboard. The facility fired 185 employees who failed to comply with an Oct. 15 vaccine mandate. LANL has 580 jobs currently posted on its website. Photo taken Oct. 25, 2021. (Angelo Artuso).

Los Alamos Laboratory Hiring Hundreds Amid Vaccine Firings

The New Mexico research lab that over seven decades ago created the atomic bomb listed 580 job openings on its website after nearly 200 employees separated from the company due to its CCP virus vaccine mandate.

Careers for everyone, reads a highway billboard in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) had 580 job openings on its jobs board on Oct. 28. Many of the jobs are skilled, technical, or scientific positions, including proton radiology postdoctoral research associate and causal analyst tech project manager, among others.

I wish I had an actual figure for what was normal but, generally, when I would look at listings, it was only in the engineering and science disciplines, said Anthony Sterling Butters, a former systems engineer at LANL who lost his job over the facilitys COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Butters said he was denied a medical exemption, even though his condition puts him at high risk of inflammatory response after taking a vaccine.

Regarding the large number of job postings, My speculation, however, would be that that number is definitely not normal, Butters told The Epoch Times.

LANL announced the vaccine mandate in late August. It went into effect on Oct. 15.

Last week, the nuclear research-and-development facility had separated from 185 employees who declined to take the vaccine, while another 153 are on indefinite leave without pay.

LANL said 96 percent of employees are now fully vaccinated.

Triad National Security, the company that runs LANL, didnt respond to numerous requests for comment.

The facility currently employs around 14,000 peoplemany of whom worked remotely during the pandemic.

Stephen Crampton, senior counsel at the Thomas More Society in Chicago, said he thought the job openings most definitely include those of terminated employees. His firm is representing eight LANL employees who filed legal action regarding religious exemptions over the vaccine mandate.

They [LANL] told us in their response theyre shifting people around, Crampton told The Epoch Times. Theyve got to fill those slots. Hundreds of those [vacancies] are our people.

These are really trusted people  front-line people with regard to defending the nation.

On Sept. 27, Butters and a number of employees filed a complaint in the New Mexico district court alleging LANL had violated their right to refuse the vaccine.

A motion for a preliminary injunction to block the mandate was filed two days later. It was denied by a state district court judge on Oct. 5.

I just feel he passed the buck. In my view, he didnt make a decision based on our particular case, but on using other cases to decide, said Jonathan Diener, an attorney representing the employees in the case.

On Oct. 18, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their complaint without prejudice, meaning they can refile in another court at a later date.

Butters said that in August 2018, he was diagnosed with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, a rare inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that can worsen after taking a vaccine.

On Sept. 7, he requested a medical exemption, which LANL denied in spite of a number of referenced studies suggesting the risk of relapse associated with immunizations.

As a systems engineer, Butters questioned the science behind the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines.

In short, I think there has been a gross manipulation of founded scientific methodologieseven violative of principles dating all the way back to junior high curriculums, he said.

I also find it ironic that when the science is followed, you are led away from the narrative.

Yet once you follow the science, as you were told, you are labeled as a conspiracy theorist  such that all questions you posed, or will pose, whose answers might suggest [or] reveal something contrary to the mainstream narrative, are immediately suppressed or censored. This is opposite of science.

Butters also said the nearly 200 terminated employees wont be easy to replace.

Any position requiring clearance means anywhere between six and 18 months before the hire can become productive in the capacity for which they were hired. This is arguably the most important element and does not consider training, experience, and other qualification deficits.

Will timelines match up with the obligations of the laboratory? I hope for the sake of the laboratory, and our national security mission in general, that they are prepared to realize worst-case scenarios, Butters said.

A LANL scientist with a doctorate in chemistry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said being fired has been personally devastating.

My family and I are being forced to leave our friends, our home, and our family. We cannot afford to live here without a paycheck. We had really put down roots here, intending to stay forever, and it is very trying to suddenly be forced out.

The former employee said it will take many years for LANL to recover from the loss of so many skilled employees.

The lab is already facing a crisis as the older generation, who actually performed real underground tests, retires. This loss of talent and experience is very poorly timed and will, at best, set back our nation by many years.

Another terminated employee who refused the vaccine worked in program management and had sought a religious exemption as a Buddhist.

I believe in the sanctity of life, the employee told The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity.

Because I see my body as the physical manifestation of my soul, I have not had a flu vaccine in 10 years.
Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler is seen during a school board meeting in Ashburg, Va., on June 22, 2021. (LCPS/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Loudoun County Sheriff Rejected Superintendents Request for Explosive Sweep, Quick Reaction Force at Board Meeting

Loudoun Countys sheriff rejected a request by the school districts superintendent to dramatically ramp up the law enforcement presence at a pair of school board meetings in August, newly released emails show.

Scott Ziegler, the superintendent for the Virginia county, asked the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office (LCSO) for three deputies to be inside the administration building for the Aug. 10 and Aug. 11 meetings, the emails show. He also requested a K-9 explosive sweep, a five-person Quick Reaction Force, undercover deputies, and another team stood up and on standby at nearby location.

Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman rejected the request, according to one of the emails.

Chapman informed district officials that there would be no uniformed officers inside the building where the meetings were taking place nor would there be a law enforcement presence on campus.

Officers would be in the area in case they needed to quickly respond to a call, he said, according to a report on a discussion between district officials and the sheriffs office conveyed to Ziegler in one of the emails.

Chapman said he was motivated not to approve the requests because the school board made a number of decisions without consulting the sheriffs office, including deciding to limit public comment for a previous June 22 meeting and hiring a security firm with a metal detector.

LCSO has been made to appear as the muscle for school board and work at the school boards direction, Kevin Lewis, a district official, told Ziegler in the call summary. The sheriff also said he believed citizens should have a right to address the board and that the board was being dismissive of people with whom they disagreed.

The documents were obtained by the Fight for Schools PAC and published by Fox News.

An LCSO spokesman confirmed to The Epoch Times that the conversation took place.

The concerns raised by Sheriff Chapman was regarding the request for extensive resources and security measures that were not deemed necessary based on intelligence gathering for that meeting, he said in an email.

He also said that the sheriffs office does and continues to provide security for the school board meetings.

For safety and security reasons, we cannot share law enforcement sensitive operational plans in regards to public meetings but we can assure residents that we allocate the appropriate level of resources based on the nature of the public meetings and the intelligence developed prior to each meeting, he said.

The school district did not respond to a request for comment.

The northern Virginia county has become the epicenter for tension between parents and school board members seen across the nation in recent months.

Members have been vocally challenged in recent meetings on proposed policies like one that would let children who identify as a sex different than the one they are born with use various bathrooms. That policy was eventually approved, even though most parents who publicly testified opposed it.

Ziegler claimed in the June meeting that the district had no record of assaults happening in bathrooms, which was factually untrue, according to an email recently disclosed by district officials. He has said he misunderstood the question and is defying calls to resign.
Man Without Arms and His Soulmate Ignore Social Stigma, Get Married After 6 Years Together

An Indian man who lost his arms as a child has endured the judgment of others ever since. However, one person who never stigmatized him was his college sweetheart and partner of six years.

He married her, proving that true love goes above and beyond all the challenges.

Kshitiz Aneja, 28, who originally hails from Saharanpur, a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, touched a live wire by accident at the age of 9 and, as a result, both of his arms were amputated.

My whole life had changed, he told The Epoch Times. I had to relearn everything in a different manner. I was completely dependent on my family.

Kshitiz Aneja as a child. (Courtesy of Kshitiz Aneja)

Kshitizs mother attended school with her son for two years, helping him with written work. The boy felt lonely and isolated by his physical difference, but was determined to be independent, moving to Delhi for three months and discovering self-reliance.

Those three months were the most challenging time, as well as my most fruitful time, he recalled.

While studying in Delhi, Kshitiz met the love of his life, Shivangi Chaudhary Aneja, now-27, in 2012 during their first year at Delhi Universitys Shri Ram College of Commerce. Kshitiz, an elected class representative, showed late-arrival Shivangi around on her very first day; a Delhi native, she returned the favor by helping Kshitiz navigate the city.

Kshitiz Aneja with his wife, Shivangi. (Courtesy of Kshitiz Aneja)

On her first day itself, I asked for her number for all the communication, Kshitiz recalled. But she was taken aback. Shivangi, who had attended an all-girls convent school, was reassured by Kshitizs explanation.

According to a Facebook post, Shivangi even gave him a thank-you note after class. Soon, the two became friends.

The pair would hang out with the same set of friends but Kshitiz felt like he couldnt fit in because he had enrolled in college with a disability quota. Shivangi noticed this and invited him to a conversation at a cafe.

I told her about my insecurities, Kshitiz said. For the first time, I opened up about my accident.

However, it wasnt until Kshitiz returned to his hometown of Saharanpur a year later that he realized he was in love with Shivangi. As he missed her, he confessed his feelings for her and when he was back from his trip he threw a surprise party for Shivangi in front of all of their friends.

After four years of college, Kshitiz had to move to Bangalore, a city in the south of India, for further studies, but the pair made long distance work.

Kshitiz and Shivangi at their graduation. (Courtesy of Kshitiz Aneja)

Kshitiz told The Epoch Times that it was Shivangis father who first introduced the idea of marriage by asking his daughter, Do you want to marry Kshitiz? She replied, Yes.

Kshitiz proposed on their sixth anniversary and the couple married just two months later, on Feb. 19, 2021. Their families, who came around to the authenticity of their love, attended the ceremony and blessed them with a happy life ahead.

Kshitiz aad Shivangi at their wedding. (Courtesy of Kshitiz Aneja)

Shivangi explained to The Epoch Times that she was very particular about the wedding and how it would look, including the decorations, color scheme, and flowers. She and her fiance traveled through several northern Indian states to find the perfect venue, settling on the beautiful Noor Mahal Hotel in Karnal, Haryana.

Shivangi lamented that the busy bride and groom at any wedding often seem to have the least fun. We decided to change that and have fun at our wedding, she said. And the rest  as they say, a picture speaks a thousand words!

The couple have made a home for themselves in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Kshitiz works as a sales manager with a leading fast-moving-consumer-goods company, and Shivangi works as a freelancer using her French-language skills.

Kshitizs lonely days have been relegated to the past. Claiming that his wife brings life even into the most mundane tasks, he has learned, with Shivangi by his side, to pay no heed to social stigma.

Earlier, when I had shifted to Delhi and used to travel by metro, I used to travel with my head down because I knew people were watching, he said. Now when I go in public places, I know that people are still watching me. But I dont bend my head down.

People in public sometimes assume Shivangi is Kshitizs caregiver, but the bride maintains that they love to travel together. He handles every situation with the utmost grace, and with ease, she said.

As to their secret to a successful relationship, Kshitiz believes that open communication and mutual respect are key. He encourages anyone going through a hard time in life to keep their head held high.

Hard days teach you a lot more than good days, he insisted. Try to survive by taking one step at a time; it will be better tomorrow.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
This is no way to treat people, said Nikki McDaniel and Dr. James McDaniel in their home in Lindale, Texas, on Oct. 16 , 2021, after a medical outreach to the South Texas border town of McAllen. (Patrick Butler/Epoch Times)

Medics Witness Terrible Scenes on Outreach Mission to Treat Illegal Immigrants at Border

TYLER, TexasAs a military surgeon in Vietnam, Dr. James McDaniel, saw plenty of blood, pain, and death from battle.

But what McDaniel witnessed at the United States southern border in July at McAllen, Texas, opened his eyes to a new kind of suffering; the pain, misery, and looming death stemming from illegal immigration.

The former Mobile Army Surgical Hospital doctor came to the conclusion after spending five revealing days in what seemed like a South Texas battle zone.

Close the borders and put an end to the suffering, he said. Its the right thing to do.

His wife, Nikki, a retired career trauma nurse, concurred.

As a native Texan, you hear about the suffering and trauma illegal immigrants are exposed to and how dangerous it is, she said, but when you see it with your own eyes, it just makes you angry.

The McDaniels were part of a five-day medical outreach with Mercy Works of East Texas to McAllen, a town of about 143,000.

Their task was to assist with basic medical needs for hundreds of border crossers that officials scheduled for relocation to various destinations in the U.S.

Only Sound was Silence

The medical outreach was sponsored by a McAllen nonprofit organization cooperating with U.S. officials.

We had quite a large pharmacy we brought with us, James McDaniel said. Private donations were plentiful. We didnt need any supplies from the government.

The McDaniels first stop was enough to startle them, they said, but even more astonishing things were yet to come.

We were escorted to a massive building, early on our first morning, to set up a clinic on the second floor, Nikki McDaniel said.

The first floor was coveredwall to wall, elbow to elbowwith mothers and their children, about 250 of them, huddled on the floor on little mats. They had spent the night right there, getting ready to be shipped out.

The lucky ones were up against the wall, where they at least had something to lean on. The windows were blacked out and we were not allowed to take pictures.

The large room was eerily quiet, she said.

There wasnt a word. The children were huddled against their mothers. They didnt speak, play, or even cry. The only sound was silence.

The medical team had to wade through the sea of hushed humanity with their supplies to get the stairs to the next floor.

Their heads were looking down, eyes on the floor, Nikki McDaniel said. No one said anything to us.

Citizens in McAllen are familiar with this unusual behavior, she said.

War at Border

The locals have seen just about everything in their town, she said. People know all about the brutal cartels controlling the other side of the border and even cartels that operate on the Texas side. The people coming to the U.S. have to get through those killer cartels first.

A planned medical assessment trip across the border a few days into the outreach was canceled due to a shootout between the cartels in Mexico, Nikki McDaniel said.

The people in Mexico sponsoring our assessment trip said: Dont come. Its not safe.

We were told 18 people died in the shootout. We were astonished. A cartel war was right at the border. Needless to say, we didnt go.

James McDaniel said: I feel sorry for these poor people trying to get here. They think they are coming for the American dream, but are thrown into a nightmare instead.

They have no idea whats going to happen to them, if they will even make it, or what will become of them once they get here.

After the border trip cancellation, James McDaniel continued medical assessments. He handed out basic medications such as pain relievers and blood pressure medicines on the second floor.

His trained orthopedic surgeons eye quickly saw the need for immediate surgery and hospitalization.

As a retired chief of surgery from Hendrick Medical Center in Amarillo, Texas, McDaniel is now a state-licensed charity physician.

The charity license allows me to prescribe non-narcotic medications and perform basic medical assessment, he said, but I cant do surgery, or send people to the hospital.

When he sees a pressing need, all he can do is recommend extensive attention.

Basically Scalped

There was one young woman from Honduras with a toddler boy, and the mother had a head injury that amazed me, he said.

She had a gash three inches wide and six inches long that went down the skull and peeled back the skin on her head. The wound was all wrapped up in a bloody T-shirt stuck to her head.

She was basically scalped.

The Epoch Times reviewed a photograph of the injury, but withheld it from publication due to the gruesome content.

As the McDaniels treated the severe wound, they learned the cause from her upset husband.

He said they had been waylaid by a cartel and imprisoned in what is called a stash house, Nikki McDaniel said. They would be released if they could pay, but of course, they could not.

After a few days, the husband heard his captors talking about selling the child, putting his wife in sexual slavery, and killing him, she said.

He knew nobody would miss him if he was killed. Somehow, he kicked out a little window in the night and got his family away. All those deep cuts they got were from the broken glass. They hid and traveled for five days, then got here.

Once James McDaniel removed the bloody shirt stuck to her head, and examined the deep wound, he knew what was needed.

I said to her husband if you want to save her face, you need to get to a plastic surgeon immediately.

But they said: No, no, we have to get on the plane to South Carolina tomorrow, Nikki McDaniel said. We will lose our place in line if we go to the doctor.

Unable to convince them to go to a hospital, she became insistent. I told them: As soon as you land, tell whomever you see, that the doctor in Texas said you needed a plastic surgeon today, and say that over and over and over again until someone hears you.

These are just the at-risk people we know about, Nikki McDaniel said. What about all those you never hear of? You know we dont see them all.

Evil Rules Down There

James McDaniels reflection from his five days in McAllen was sorrow.

Nikki McDaniels reaction was anger.

Evil rules down there, she said. The cartels rule.

Sure, I was angry with the cartels, but I was angry with our government too. Our government has failed everyone; Americans and these lovely people who want a different life.

James McDaniel added: The mandate for us (doctors and nurses) is to protect and serve those who are in front of us.

The mandate for government is to protect our borders and uphold the law, but what we saw was lawlessness. Lawlessness brings harm to everyone and it seems our government has simply turned their back on the problem.

Nikki McDaniel said: From what we saw, its as if the government is blinded to the harm being done to everyone.

Legal immigration is a beautiful thing, but this is not. Its horrible to see these poor souls suffering.

This is no way to treat people.
In this file image from video, a Loudoun County school board meeting is seen on June 22, 2021. (The Epoch Times via LCPS)

New Hampshire School Boards Association Leaves National Organization Over Parent Controversy

The New Hampshire School Boards Association (NHSBA) announced Thursday that it has withdrawn from the national organization following the groups efforts to target parents.

The National School Board Association (NSBA) recently sent a letter to the Biden administrations Department of Justice that described the actions of some parents protesting policies such as critical race theory or COVID-19 restrictions as the equivalence of domestic terrorism.

This email is to inform you that NHSBA [the New Hampshire School Board Association] has decided to withdraw its membership from the National School Boards Association, effective immediately, NHSBA Executive Director Barrett Christina wrote. NSBAs recent actions have made our continued membership untenable.

The NSBA wrote Sept. 29 (pdf), Americas public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat.

The letter added, As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.

Following the NSBAs letter, Attorney General Merrick Garland sent a memorandum to the Federal Bureau of Investigations to direct investigators to address the disturbing spike in harassment of school board members by parents.

The controversy led lawmakers in Washington to discuss the matter with Garland this week. Republicans on the Judiciary Committee blasted the attorney general after he failed to rescind the letter or apologize regarding the matter.

Thank God youre not on the Supreme Court, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told Garland. You should resign in disgrace.

The NSBA has since apologized for its letter.

On behalf of the NSBA, we regret and apologize for the letter. To be clear, the safety of school board members, other public school officials and educators, and students is our top priority, and there remains important work to be done on this issue, the NSBA wrote last Friday.

However, there was no justification for some of the language included in the letter. We should have had a better process in place to allow for some consultation on a communication of this significance, the letter added.

Despite the apology, the damage has already had negative consequences nationwide.

In addition to New Hampshire, state school board associations in Ohio, Missouri, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania have already withdrawn from the NSBA.

Three additional states, Alabama, Florida, and Kentucky, have also announced they are considering a departure from the national organization.
(L) New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on July 24, 2021. (Courtesy of Murphy For Governor 2021) (R) Jack Ciattarelli, candidate for Governor of New Jersey. (Courtesy of Ciattarelli for Governor)

New Jersey Voters to Choose Between Progressive Governor or Proponent of Fixing States Problems

New Jersey voters will decide on Nov. 2 in the governors race between the Democratic incumbent, called a progressive governor by his supporters, and his Republican challenger, running under the slogan, Lets Fix New Jersey.

Gov. Phil Murphy, who is seeking a second term, held leadership roles at Goldman Sachss offices in Germany and Hong Kong for more than 20 years and served as an ambassador to Germany during the Obama administration. He was also a finance chair for the Democratic National Committee.

Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli is a certified public accountant, a two-time small-business owner, a former New Jersey assemblyman, and a lifelong resident of New Jersey.

Murphy, a Democrat, talked about his achievements as New Jersey governor on Oct. 26 on the radio program Keepin it Real with Al Sharpton.

The governor said that hes most proud of a tax fairness initiative for middle-class families, establishing a minimum wage of $15 per hour in the state, equal work for equal pay for millions, and funding public education. He also listed reform to the criminal justice system, which gave voting rights in New Jersey to those who are on parole or probation, as well as allowing in-person early voting for the first time in New Jersey.

I want to make sure were protecting womens health at all costs, including a womans right to choose,  Murphy told Sharpton.

In the budget address he delivered in February, Murphy talked about two measures that were enacted to ensure tax fairness: expansion of the earned income tax credit and the reinstatement of the millionaires tax.

The Tax Foundationa Washington-based independent tax policy nonprofit that evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvementranked New Jerseys tax system as the worst in the nation in 2021, according to a Foundation report (pdf). The states individual income tax system was also ranked last.

New Jersey  is hampered by some of the highest property tax burdens in the country, has the second-highest-rate corporate and individual income taxes in the country and a particularly aggressive treatment of international income, levies an inheritance tax, and maintains some of the nations worst-structured individual income taxes, the report reads.

Murphy told Sharpton that he was also proud of the legalization of adult-use of cannabis in New Jersey.

I did that for social justice with expunged 362,000 low-end drug crimes, overwhelmingly impacting young persons of color, Murphy said, noting that the legalization was intended for the next generation. In adult-use cannabis, its both for the next generation and the last generation, who were so damaged by the war on drugs.

Making college more affordable was also one of the things Murphy said he was proud of.

Murphys administration implemented a program allowing New Jersey families with income lower than $65,000 to apply for tuition-free college if they satisfy certain eligibility criteria. However, the benefits of this program could be offset by raising tuition costs, room and board costs, and books costs, according to an NJ.com analysis.

Only New Jerseys private religious colleges cut their tuition between 2017 and 2020, NJ.com reported. However, state Republicans said the tuition-free college program will contribute to a tax increase, which, in turn, will make it difficult for everyone to save for college and afford tuition, NJ.com reported.

The fact is hard-working, middle-class people still do not qualify for free community college or reduced tuition, Stami Williams, Ciattarellis campaign communications director, told NJ.Com.

However, illegal immigrants in New Jersey have been eligible to obtain state-funded financial aid to pay for college education if they satisfy certain criteria under the law, which was signed by Murphy in 2018.

Challenging the Incumbent

Murphys Republican challenger runs under the campaign slogan, Lets Fix New Jersey.

Ciattarelli told The Epoch Times at a Meet and Greet event in Woodbridge, New Jersey, that the state currently is the worst place in the nation in which to do business.

The state has the highest property taxes in the nation. Our government spending is out of control in Trenton [the states capital]. Were not supporting our local and state police as we should be, and our public school curriculum isnt teaching critical life skills or providing vocational training to our students, he said. Those are the five areas that are very broken. I want to fix those things.

It seems as though the people of New Jersey agree.

To address these issues, Ciattarelli said if elected, he would lower property taxes, create more jobs, control spending, support our local police so they can do their job to make our community safe, and change the public school curriculum.

According to a recent study conducted by WalletHuba personal finance and credit advisory websiteNew Jersey is the worst place in the nation to start a business. WalletHub ranked all states based on a variety of metrics. New Jersey also scored the lowest rank in terms of business costs, was No. 39 in terms of the business environment, and ranked 11th in terms of access to resources, according to the study.

State Sen. Steve Oroho said in a statement that a payroll tax increase imposed on employers to cover a projected deficit in the unemployment insurance fund was unnecessary.

The Murphy administration forecasted high payments in unemployment benefits in New Jersey, which would have resulted in the unemployment insurance fund running a deficit of nearly $1 billion in June. But the state unemployment fund held more than $51 million in surplus at the end of Junea billion-dollar miss, Oroho said on Oct. 28.

The unemployment insurance tax increase [set to take effect at the end of October] was not announced until Friday, August 13. There was plenty of time for the administration to recognize that their forecast was way off and to nix any tax increase, Oroho, a Republican, said in the statement.

Moreover, New Jersey has also borrowed nearly $4 billion and the states spending is up by $11 billion in less than four years time, Ciattarelli said during an Oct. 27 press conference in Hoboken.

Get Out to Vote

Ciattarelli encouraged people to vote and to tell others either directly or through social media to vote, too.

Let us not wake up the morning of Nov. 3Wednesday, Nov. 3and find out we lost by 1,797 votesnot with whats at stake: the future of our state, he said, referring to former Republican New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, who won the election by 1,797 votes out of 3 million votes cast.

Get out, remind people whats at stake.  Our future is at stake.

Ciattarelli said he himself has won seven elections in New Jersey. He told the audience his story of running for town council in a mostly Democratic town where all six council seats were held by Democrats.

On Memorial Day, I started knocking on every door. And on Labor Day, I was done. I went back and knocked on every door again. And the people of my hometown gave me the privilege of serving on that council. And three years later, I won with 88 percent of the vote, he said.

Ciattarelli said it taught him that the hard-working, decent people of New Jersey will vote for a person who gives them a reason to vote.

Heres my reason, he said. There are two things that everybody in this country wants: opportunity and security. And I believe a common-sense, conservative approach provides opportunity and security to people of all colors, all races, all ethnicities, and all religions in this most diverse state in the country.

Ciattarelli is undeterred about his chances, since the state hasnt reelected a Democratic governor since Brendan Byrne in 1977,

Murphy held a campaign rally at Rutgers University in New Brunswick on Oct. 28, where he was joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

During the rally, Murphy touted the policies he has implemented, such as tax fairness for middle-class families, minimum wage at $15 an hour, more affordable public education, more child care, environmental policies, and legalizing marijuana.

We have come a long way but our work is not done. We have to keep moving forward, we cannot go backward, Murphy said. You have got to vote either by mail or early in-person voting for the next three daysor if not, on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Sanders, an openly socialist member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, called Murphy a progressive governor and asked the audience to not only vote for Murphy, but to encourage others to vote for him as well.

Im asking you to bring out two or three of your friends. Let us win this election, Sanders said at the rally.
Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu speaks after receiving the Silver Commemorative Medal from the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, in Prague, Czech Republic, on October 27, 2021. (David W Cerny/Reuters)

On Europe Trip, Taiwan Foreign Minister Calls for Collaboration in Facing China

TAIPEITaiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu urged freedom-loving countries on Friday to work together against China, during a rare trip to Europe taking place amid heightened tensions between Taipei and Beijing.

Self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own and has not ruled out taking by force, does not have formal diplomatic relations with any European countries apart from Vatican City. But it is keen to deepen ties with the European Union democracies.

Wus European trip has angered Beijing, which last week warned Slovakia and the Czech Republic against undermining their bilateral relations with China by allowing Taiwan to visit those countries.

The rise of the Peoples Republic of China, as led by the Chinese Communist Party, is the defining challenge for the worlds democratic states. This warrants our working more closely together, Wu said in a virtual address at a summit held in Rome by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international group of parliamentarians seeking a tougher stance on China.

Taiwan is on the frontline of an ideological battle against authoritarianism, Wu said, and the world would feel the impact if China attacks the island.

We are determined to defend ourselves, he said in his remarks broadcast online.

Taiwans defence minister said this month that military tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years.

Fearing retaliation from Beijing, many countries are unwilling to host senior Taiwanese ministers.

Earlier this week, Wu gave a speech at a conference in Slovakia and then travelled to Prague to meet the citys Mayor Zdenek Hrib and Czech Senate speaker Milos Vystrcil, both of whom visited Taiwan last year, a move that angered China.

Wus visit overlapped with a Taiwan trade delegations visit to Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania, which have all donated COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan.

Lithuania and Taiwan announced earlier this year that they would open de facto embassies in each others capitals, drawing Chinas ire.

By Sarah Wu
A U.S. Air Force staff sergeant handles a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Massachusetts on Feb. 16, 2021. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

Over 11,000 Active-Duty Air Force Personnel Unvaccinated With Days Left Before Deadline

The Air Force could lose thousands of troops in the coming weeks as over 11,000 active-duty personnel remain without a COVID-19 vaccine, just days before the deadline to get one.

Some 96.4 percent of active-duty airmen were partially or fully vaccinated as of Oct. 25, the branch said in its latest vaccination update.

That means approximately 11,462 airmen have not begun a vaccination program before the Nov. 2 deadline to become fully vaccinated.

Another nearly 12,000 reserve personnel or Space Force members remain unvaccinated, according to data released by the Air Force. Reserves have until Dec. 2 to become fully vaccinated.

Fully vaccinated means getting a vaccination regimen and then at least two weeks elapsing. Members who havent yet started a program cannot come into compliance with the mandate.

We dont anticipate we will be to a 100 percent vaccination rate, an Air Force spokeswoman told Defense One this week.

Any troops who dont get a vaccine by the deadline and have not received or is not in the process of seeking a religious or medical exemption will be deemed in violation of a lawful order and subject to discipline under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

They could be court-martialed or face other disciplinary measures.

The mandate stems from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins order in late August for all troops to get a vaccine unless they receive an exemption.

Each branch head decided separately on mandate details, including deadlines.

The Air Force has the earliest deadlines for active-duty troops and reserves.

An Air Force spokesperson told The Epoch Times earlier this month that the deadlines would not be pushed back.

Hundreds of thousands of troops across the military werent vaccinated in the middle of October.

As of Oct. 27, over 381,000 troops remain unvaccinated, according to an analysis of Pentagon data. The vast majority, or nearly 320,000, are in the Army, the Army reserve, or the Army National Guard.

Army reserves have the most lenient deadline, by far. They have until June 30, 2022, to become fully vaccinated. Active-duty sailors and Marines have until Nov. 28, while active-duty soldiers have until Dec. 15.

It remains unclear how many religious and medical exemptions have been approved. The Pentagon previously referred requests for numbers to each branch. The Army didnt respond to a query and the Navy declined to comment. The Marines said it had not started approving any religious accommodation requests while declining to speak about medical exemptions. The Air Force told The Epoch Times earlier this month it is not tracking exemption requests and therefore could not say how many were approved, if any.

The Air Force told news outlets this week it would start releasing approved exemption numbers after the deadline.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday declined to directly address complaints from some sailors who said that leaders told them their religious exemption applications were going to be denied.

I dont have any direct knowledge of a situation where a member of the military was told by his or her leadership, hey, go ahead and apply, but youre going to get denied,' he told reporters in Washington. I go back to what the secretary expects, that there is theres an exemption policy been in place well, before the COVID vaccine, so its not new. And his expectation is that if members of the military want to apply for one that they should be able to. And they should be able to make their case. And the leadership should follow the same process for that exemption request as they would for any other.
Police Boost Security in Northern Virginia Malls After Public Safety Threat

Police in northern Virginia will be increasing law enforcement presence in malls and shopping centers in the area through the Halloween weekend after news of a potential threat to public safety in the area emerged in the past 48 hours, according to multiple reports.

The news comes amid an upcoming gubernatorial election in Virginia, to take place Nov. 2.

Authorities in multiple Virginia countiesincluding Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun, and Prince Williamissued statements on Friday saying that the threat is not specific, but asked residents to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity.

Yesterday, we received information concerning potential public safety impacts to malls and shopping centers across the region. As you all know, we take any and all information very seriously, Fairfax County Chief of Police Kevin Davis told a news conference on Friday.

And as we work to corroborate it, we have increased our police presence throughout the county to include major thoroughfares, transit hubs, shopping plazas, and shopping malls.

He said there will be increased patrols throughout the next several days.

We receive information. Sometimes the information we receive is not with great specificity, but we have to respond to it nonetheless, Davis said, adding that police are being proactive.

A spokesperson for the FBI Washington Field Office told local outlets in an emailed statement that the agency had no comment.

However, we would remind you the FBI takes all potential threats to public safety seriously and we take all appropriate steps to determine the credibility of any information we receive, the spokesperson said.

Mike Valerio, a reporter for CBS-affiliate WUSA9, said on Twitter, Federal officials Ive spoken with today hope the word of an elevated police presence and public knowledge of the threat will deter the person(s) from acting.
Social Media Isnt Going Away, but Parents Can Equip Children to Resist the Harms

In September, the Wall Street Journal reported on internal Facebook research findings indicating that social media is particularly hard on the mental health of teenage girls. We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls, read one slide from an internal meeting. The WSJ also reported on another slide that read: Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.

The WSJ expose on Facebook and Instragram has now resulted in two congressional hearings on the negative effects of social media on children, including one held on Capitol Hill on Oct. 26.

As a therapist, it isnt news to me that social media dampens the self-esteem and body image of teenagers, although it helps to have empirical evidence to prove what we have known for years. We can only hope that Facebook and Instagram integrate these findings into making their platforms less damaging to childrens self-image. However, social media is here to stay. What then can parents do to inoculate their children from the self-esteem-draining effects?

Ideally, the best thing that a parent can do for their child is to help them cultivate emotional security and a foundation of healthy self-esteem before they reach adolescence. This means being physically and emotionally present from birth through adolescence, modeling good self-esteem and body image for them, being aware of their environmental, social, and emotional challenges, de-emphasizing achievement and emphasizing connection, and getting help for them early rather than later in their development.

It is also critical to monitor for any signs of body image issues that may arise during adolescence. I have heard some parents say things along the lines of: Kids will outgrow their self-critical and self-disparaging or harsh feelings about themselves or their bodies. This is an act of denial; parents should never ignore any early indications that their children may have an eating disorder or body distortion, no matter how subtle the signs. Self-acceptance and self-love are not a given but the result of the belief that we are imperfect but loveable, and it is the responsibility of parents to do their best to instill this belief in their children. By doing so from an early age, children, especially teenage girls, will have less trouble with social media-inspired body-image issues.

Another thing parents can do is to check their own perfectionistic tendencies. Perfectionism has become an obsession in our society, and the bar continues to be set higher as each of us has continually increasing, all-access internet passes to see the best of the best of everything across the world. Perfectionistic tendencies and unrealistic expectations of ourselves and our lives are expressed not only in the focus on superficial traits and body images, but in lifestyle, achievement, and social expectations. If parents get swept up in constantly comparing themselves and their lives to what they see on social media, this characteristic will rub off on their children.

Finally, I would agree with Professor Twenges recent Institute for Family Studies blog post and recommend that parents not allow social media until at least middle adolescence, or ages 14 to 18, and only allow it in a limited way from the beginning. An adolescent girls brain is particularly susceptible to the harsh criticism and increased demand for perfection on social media, so the longer you can delay it the better. The longer a young girl has to develop a supportive social group and to learn to accept her strengths and limitations without social media, the better. Parents can play a big role in helping their daughters celebrate their strengths and accept imperfections before they have access to social media. Once they have access, I encourage parents to set limits on social media and internet usage from the beginning, when they first start using a smartphone. It is far easier to set limits from the start than to try to implement them later.

At the end of the day, we cannot keep social media from influencing our children. It is unfortunately here to stay. The best thing we can do is ensure that children enter into adolescence with a full tank of resilience and a well-rounded sense of their own self-worth, lovability, and attractivenessbased not on how thin or tall or short they are, or how big their breasts or noses are, but on their innate value as human beings who we love unconditionally. As parents, we can de-emphasize the outside and emphasize the inside. We cannot eliminate social media from childrens lives, but we can set them up for success rather than failure in our parenting approach.

This article was originally published on the Institute for Family Studies blog.
Supreme Court Declines to Block Maine COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Health Workers

Litigation to continue in lower courts for health care workers seeking religious exemption

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency request by health care workers seeking a religious exemption to the state of Maines COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The courts decision not to grant the immediate relief for the health care workers until it decides to review the case, means the states COVID-19 vaccine mandate will take effect while litigation continues in lower courts.

The Supreme Court did not explain its actiontypical in emergency appeals. But three conservative-leaning justices provided a dissenting opinion saying they would have granted the emergency request.

Maine is not offering a religious exemption to its COVID-19 mandate in hospital and nursing homes, which means if workers opt to not take the vaccine, they risk losing their jobs. The deadline for health care workers to be vaccinated in the state was by the start of October, but the state government said it would not enforce the mandate until Friday.

This case presents an important constitutional question, a serious error, and an irreparable injury. Where many other States have adopted religious exemptions, Maine has charted a different course, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a dissenting opinion (pdf), joined by Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito.

There, health care workers who have served on the front line of a pandemic for the last 18 months are now being fired and their practices shuttered, he added. All for adhering to their constitutionally protected religious beliefs. Their plight is worthy of our attention.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett in a concurring opinion said that the court has discretionary judgment about whether to take up an emergency appeal, adding that she believes the case at hand, which is the first of its kind, would benefit from a full briefing.

Were the standard otherwise, applicants could use the emergency docket to force the Court to give a merits preview in cases that it would be unlikely to takeand to do so on a short fuse without benefit of full briefing and oral argument, she wrote in an opinion joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In my view, this discretionary consideration counsels against a grant of extraordinary relief in this case, which is the first to address the questions presented.

Since 1989, Maine had required health care workers be vaccinated against various diseases. But state removed all non-medical exemptions, including religious exemptions, from mandated vaccines in 2019 because of falling vaccination rates. A referendum challenging the law in 2020 was rejected.

Lawyers for the health care workers who challenged the vaccine mandate in Maine argued that having no religious exemption was a violation of their right to free exercise of religion under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

They said their objection was in part because the vaccine was developed with the involvement of fetal cell lines that originated in elective abortions. While published data of the composition of the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines show no fetal cells, the companies used fetal cell lines in either the testing stages for production stages of their vaccines.

The Liberty Counsel, which filed the lawsuit, says it is representing more than 2,000 Maine health care workers, some of whom were fired from their jobs Friday. There are nine unnamed plaintiffs in the suit.

Read More Maine Hospital Suspends Emergency-Level Care Over Staffing Shortage

A federal judge had earlier rejected the bid for an exemption, and later, a three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier in October let the ruling stand.

Apart from Maine, two other statesNew York and Rhode Islandhave vaccine mandates for healthcare workers that do not have religious exemptions.

Liberty Counsel, in a statement, noted that the states executive orders banned employers from even considering the sincere religious beliefs of employees. The group said that Maine Governor Janet Mills threatened to revoke the business license of any employer that granted an employee a religious exemption.

Gov. Mills has ordered employers to disobey the federal law known as Title VII. However, states do not have the authority to order employers to disobey Title VII federal employment law that prohibits religious discrimination, the group said Friday.

Mills, a Democrat, said in a statement in August when announcing the vaccine mandate, Health care workers perform a critical role in protecting the health of Maine people, and it is imperative that they take every precaution against this dangerous virus, especially given the threat of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

With this [COVID-19 vaccine] requirement, we are protecting health care workers, their patients, including our most vulnerable, and our health care capacity.

Gorsuch, in his dissent, challenged the states mandate, writing, No one questions that protecting patients and health care workers from contracting COVID19 is a laudable objective. But Maine does not suggest a worker who is unvaccinated for medical reasons is less likely to spread or contract the virus than someone who is unvaccinated for religious reasons.

Nor may any government blithely assume those claiming a medical exemption will be more willing to wear protective gear, submit to testing, or take other precautions than someone seeking a religious exemption.
The Toyota logo is seen at a booth during a media day for the Auto Shanghai show in Shanghai, China, on April 19, 2021. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Toyota Eyes Cost Cuts, Scale With First of EV-Only bZ Series

TOKYOToyota Motor Corp. disclosed on Friday the driving range and other specifications of its bZ4X sport utility vehicle (SUV), the first in a series of EV-only models it plans to launch globally to catch up in the electric vehicle market.

The worlds top-selling carmaker has said it will launch 15 battery electric vehicle (BEV) models worldwide by 2025, but so far its plans seem modest compared with those of U.S. automakers such as General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co.

Toyota did not announce a price range or sales target for the bZ4X but said joint development and procurement of core components with affiliate Subaru Corp. would help rein in the normally high cost of producing BEVs.

The model would also initially be built on a mixed line with gasoline-engine cars, both in Japan and China. It will be sold in Japan, North America, China, and Europe starting in mid-2022, the company said.

The car will be offered in front-wheel and four-wheel drive versions, with a driving range of about 310 miles for the former. An optional roof-mounted solar panel can be used to charge the battery in the absence of a charging station or in disaster conditions, Toyota said.

As governments tighten zero-emissions regulations, Toyota has said it would invest $13.5 billion through 2030 on EV batteries and introduce seven bZ series models by 2025.

By Maki Shiraki
A file photo of U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, Penn., on March 10, 2018. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

US, EU Reach Deal to Settle Rift Over Steel and Aluminum Tariffs

The United States and European Union (EU) have reached a deal to settle the dispute over tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the EU.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced the agreement on Oct. 30.

The Article 232 tariffs wont be removed entirely, but some quantity of European steel and aluminum will be allowed to enter the United States without tariffs under the deal, they said.

We were able to reach an agreement whereby the EU will drop their retaliatory tariffs [on American goods], Raimondo said.

The agreement would ensure that all steel entering the U.S. via Europe is produced entirely in Europe, he said.

Former President Donald Trump in March 2018 imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent levy on aluminum imports. Some countries were permanently exempted from the tariffs, including South Korea, Argentina, Australia, and Brazil, while the levy on Canada and Mexico was lifted after the signing of the United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement.

The tariffs were put in place after a Section 232 investigation found foreign products were a threat to U.S. national security. However, it led Europeans and some other countries to impose counter-tariffs on U.S. products, including whiskey, motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter, and jeans, among other items.

Raimondo said on April 17 that the Trump-era tariffs saved jobs in the United States.

With respect to tariffs, there is a place for tariffs. The 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum have in fact helped save American jobs in the steel and aluminum industries, Raimondo told reporters at the White House, marking a rare point of agreement with the policies of the prior administration.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States applauded the deal.

Lifting this tariff burden on American Whiskeys not only boosts U.S. distillers and farmers, it also supports the recovery of EU restaurants, bars, and distilleries hit hard by the pandemic, Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the organization, said in a statement. With the removal of these EU tariffs, we are energized and ready to ramp up our American Whiskey promotions in the EU to re-introduce Americas native spirits to EU consumers and resume a great American export success story.

American whiskey exports to the EU plunged 37 percent after the EU imposed counter-tariffs on the product, Swonger said.

The Aluminum Association, which represents the majority of aluminum production in the United States, has long favored a gradual phaseout of the Section 232 tariffsrather than a tariff rate quota (TRQ)as the best way to resolve the trade dispute with the European Union, said Matt Meenan, the associations senior director of external affairs.

The association looks forward to learning more about the specifics of the proposal and working with the administration to ensure that the ultimate agreement brings us closer toward our shared goals of growing American aluminum jobs while combatting unfair Chinese industrial policy.

The Associated Press and Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to the report.
Flags of Taiwan and the United States are placed for a meeting between U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce and Su Chia-chyuan, president of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 27, 2018. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

US Policy on Taiwan Needs Change

Taiwans sovereignty is in urgent need of international recognition

News Analysis

Beijings increasing belligerence toward Taiwan voids the one China policy and prior arms sales limitations, which should be increased to maintain the military balance and keep the peace.

On Oct. 21, President Joe Biden vowed that America would defend Taiwan against any future Chinese attack on the island. In August, Biden called the U.S. defense of Taiwan a sacred commitment. Taiwans foreign ministry called it a long-time promise. This is indicative of an unpublished U.S. commitment to Taiwan to defend the islands. It would not be the first time the United States assured Taiwan of something but did not announce it to the public.

With this American red line on Taiwan, new or old, now becoming public, it should be abundantly clear that the main existing policies on Taiwanconstituted by a set of agreements with Beijing called the Three Communiques, along with the Six Assurances to Taiwan and the Taiwan Relations Act, all of which date from 1972 to 1982need updating.

Since the early 1980s, Chinas economy and military strength have increased by multiples, it committed the Tiananmen massacre, its domestic politics have become increasingly totalitarian and technologically sophisticated, it is a recognized genocidal actor against the Uyghurs, it violated agreements on Taiwan and Hong Kong, and it has moved aggressively to advance its claim to the entire South China Sea, the Senkaku Islands of Japan, and large parts of the Himalayas belonging to India.

U.S. policy that limited Taiwans sovereignty and arms sales, including its attempt to acquire a nuclear weapon in the 1980s, was all predicated on maintaining a balance of power between the two sides, and Chinas peaceful approach to the issue of unification. Now the balance of power is shifting decidedly in favor of Beijing, and true to form, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is raising the risk of violent means to resolve the dispute in its favor.

In a declassified cable from 1982, U.S. Under Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger wrote to the director of the unofficial U.S. Embassy in Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Eagleburger informed James Lilley on proposed limitations in arms sales to Taiwan being predicated on Beijings peaceful approach to the dispute.

While I realize the concern that these positions may cause you, I would emphasize that any agreement we reach with Beijing will be predicated on a continuation of Beijings peaceful intentions toward Taiwan, Eagleburger wrote. We will not be guided simply by Beijings word in this matter. We will continue to monitor carefully, through various intelligence capabilities, Beijings military production and deployment.  Any significant change in PRC [Peoples Republic of China] actions in the direction of a more hostile stance toward Taiwan will invalidate any understanding we may reach with Beijing regarding our future arms sales to Taiwan.

A U.S.-made F-16V fighter jet with its armaments is on display during an exercise at a military base in Chiayi, southern Taiwan, on Jan. 15, 2020. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

The hostility of the PRCs actions has since significantly increased.

The Taiwan Relations Act

The Taiwan Relations Act, passed in 1979, is the sad product of a failed policy that optimistically and self-servingly (in a short-term way) accepted Beijing as Americas only official contact for both mainland China and Taiwan. Many U.S. allies followed.

We reassured ourselves that communist China would eventually evolve into a liberal market democracy through engagement, trade, and Chinas reform and opening up, which started in earnest after Mao Zedongs death in 1976.

With the jettisoning of the biding time strategy, Xi Jinping has recast these market reforms into national rejuvenation to achieve the China dream, and ramped up his military adventurism to match Beijings exploding economy and military spending.

Xis policies make clear that Americas engagement strategy failed, especially in that it created a much stronger and more totalitarian China than it began with. China has indeed reformed, but toward more totalitarianism. Opening up better describes the opening of foreign economies for Beijings exploitation, than the Chinese economy for foreign business.

China remains closed to most international businesses, and those that do operate in the country must comply with CCP mandates, laws, and arbitrary directions in order to succeed. But that success is limited by the ready introduction of Chinese competitors if foreign profits get too high.

The Act states that it is U.S. policy that the United States decision to establish diplomatic relations with the Peoples Republic of China rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means  to consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States  to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character; and to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.

The Act served as a framework for U.S.-China relations after 1979, and ensured that America could continue to sell Taiwan arms at market prices, which balances against Beijings growing power, all the while increasing lucrative trade with China.

Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a press conference where she responded to a speech by Chinas leader Xi Jinping on Taiwan relations, at the Presidential Palace in Taipei on Jan. 2, 2019. (Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images)

Washingtons great hope, now dashed, was that Taiwan could be maintained long enough that the two Chinasone formerly communist and one always capitalistmight decide to peacefully unite as a single democracy so that our one official contact could cover both territories and accommodate Beijings wishes.

The Three Communiques

The Three Communiques were agreed between the United States and China in 1972, 1979, and 1982, and show the disconcerting marks of an American coddling of aggressive communist intentions toward Taiwan. We did so most likely to grease the skids of trade and other contact with China, through which we hoped the country would reform politically and economically.

The Feb. 28, 1972 communique came 19 years after the Korean War with China, and toward the tail end of the Vietnam War. It was negotiated while U.S. and ARVN troops were failing in their last ditch Operation Lam Son 719 attempt to invade Laos and cut off the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

By the end of February, the South Vietnamese northern flank was collapsing, the southern flank was under intense enemy pressure, and the column along Route 9 was effectively stalled and under heavy attack, according to historian James Willbanks. General Sutherland reported the developing situation to General Abrams, saying, The enemy is all over that goddamn area, and seems to be getting stronger, if anything.'

The operation failed, in part because of President Richard Nixons strategy of Vietnamization and because the Cooper-Church Amendment of 1970 disallowed U.S. ground troops to accompany South Vietnamese troops across the border.

Meanwhile, the November 1972 presidential election was looming. Desperate for any win on the international stage, and for Chinese assistance in assuring an honorable retreat from Vietnam, Nixon was over a barrel in the negotiations with Beijing.

The Shanghai Communique that resulted has the feel of capitulation. It included mutual recognition of territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs. The United States acknowledged that both Beijing and Taipei consider all of China, including Taiwan, as one, and that as tensions diminished, U.S. forces would be withdrawn from the island. Both sides agreed not to seek regional hegemony or spheres of influence, where the United States had something of the sort in much of Asia after World War II and had a chance at it on a global level. Beijing had no opportunity at global hegemony in 1972, but it does now.

Exchanges in trade, science, technology, culture, sports, and journalism would be facilitated between the two countries. This was particularly valuable to China, which was far behind the West in science and technology. The United States did in fact withdraw military forces from Taiwan, after which Beijing continued to threaten Taiwan with military invasion. The United States only this year acknowledged publicly that it has limited training forces in Taiwan.

The 1979 communique, agreed by President Jimmy Carter less than two months before the Chinese militarys invasion of Vietnam, established joint diplomatic recognition. The United States recognized the PRC as the sole government of China, while downgrading Taiwan to unofficial relations. The United States has since proved its good faith by, for example, withdrawing permanent military forces from the Philippines in 1992 at the latter countrys request. Meanwhile, Chinas influence in the Philippines is increasing, including through methods of elite capture such as the provision of lucrative consulting contracts to President Rodrigo Dutertes closest associates.

The 1982 communique of President Ronald Reagan states that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan will not exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms, the level of those supplied in recent years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, and that it intends gradually to reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan, leading, over a period of time, to a final resolution. Beijing and Washington agreed to strengthen their ties in the economic, cultural, educational, scientific, technological and other fields.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan addresses the people of West Berlin at the base of the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987. Tear down this wall! was the famous command Reagan gave to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The address is considered by many to have affirmed the beginning of the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism. (Mike Sargent/AFP via Getty Images)

The same day as the communique, Reagan issued a memorandum stating: The U.S. willingness to reduce its arms sales to Taiwan is conditioned absolutely upon the continued commitment of China to the peaceful solution of the Taiwan-PRC differences. It should be clearly understood that the linkage between these two matters is a permanent imperative of U.S. foreign policy. In addition, it is essential that the quality and quantity of the arms provided Taiwan be conditioned entirely on the threat posed by the PRC. Both in quantitative and qualitative terms, Taiwans defense capability relative to that of the PRC will be maintained.

The Three Communiques evidence a rapid deterioration of the U.S.-Taiwan alliance and geopolitical position relative to Beijing between 1972 and 1982. The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 was a Congressional attempt to stop the loss. But the downward trend in relative negotiating positions with the PRC has continued during the 1990s and up to the present.

Up or Out: US Policy on Taiwan Must Strengthen or Beijing will Continue to Trend Toward Hegemony in Asia

As the CCPs growing power and threatening behavior became manifest to most of the American public during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has already cost 4.9 million deaths globally, Biden toughened his stance toward Beijing. While Chinese authorities were busy covering up the outbreak in Wuhan, Taiwan brought COVID-19 to public attention. Increased appreciation for Taiwan followed.

Bidens Oct. 21 commitment to defend Taiwan was not his first. In August, Biden suggested a similar commitment when interviewed by ABC News. After the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden apparently sought to reassure allies by saying that We made a sacred commitment to [NATOs] Article 5 that if in fact anyone were to invade or take action against our NATO allies, we would respond. Same with Japan, same with South Korea, same withTaiwan.

Of all these countries, Taiwan alone has no defense treaty with the United States in case of attack. So Bidens inclusion of Taiwan in the list was doubly significant.

After his Oct. 21 statement, Taiwans foreign ministry thanked Biden for the U.S. long-time promise to Taiwan, indicating that there could in fact be a non-public promise to defend the country from a mainland attack.

On Oct. 26, Secretary of State Antony Blinken went further, stating on Twitter that Taiwan is a critical partner to the United States and a democratic success story. Taiwan should have meaningful participation in the @UN system, especially as we face an unprecedented number of global challenges.

The United States and Taiwan had held an Oct. 24 meeting on increasing Taiwans participation in U.N. organizations. The Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) was launched in 2016 to increase Taiwans participation with the international community. Japan joined in 2019, followed by participation from several European countries and Australia.

The U.S. State Department released a statement on Oct. 24 supporting Taiwans involvement in U.N. organizations, and specified a U.S. commitment to Taiwans meaningful participation at the World Health Organization and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Taiwans involvement in these organizations is a step forward in the recognition of its sovereignty. As Taiwan is brought back, the Three Communiques and Taiwan Relations Act, which are predicated on Taiwans lack of sovereignty, must be revisited.

According to Professor James Kraska, who holds dual appointments at Harvard Law School and the U.S. Naval War College, it is time to discard the Three Communiques that underlie U.S.-China relations on the issue of Taiwan.

The U.S. policy is based on the Taiwan Relations Act as well as the Three Communiques, Kraska wrote in an email. The United States should scrap the communiques, as China has not complied with them.

The Act, too, is based on the underlying assumption that Beijing would never attempt to force Taiwans unification with the mainland, by annexation or otherwise. The Chinese militarys almost daily and increasing flights near the island, including nuclear-capable bombers, and its multiple training exercises with amphibious landing ships, make clear that Beijing is attempting the coercion of Taiwan into unification by increasing the risk of a highly destructive war.

What was a flawed Taiwan Relations Act to begin with is therefore outdated. At minimum, it has needed as a complement the occasional presidential hint to Beijing that the United States still sees Taiwan as a legitimate if unofficial diplomatic partner, and the United States will defend the island militarily (which implies that it is a sovereign). But these are stopgap measures. The Act needs a thorough overhaul.

Chinas violation of the understanding that undergirds the Act now makes Americas recognition of China, rather than Taiwan, a one-sided bargain. America established diplomatic recognition of China only with the understanding that China would pursue its claim to Taiwan through strictly peaceful means. Chinas promise is now broken, as is its 1984 promise to Britain to leave Hong Kongs unique political autonomy and freedoms intact.

The logical imperative is shocking but inescapable: Diplomatic recognition of communist China should be withdrawn. In its place, Taiwan should be championed by the international community, including through full diplomatic recognition, a formal apology for the derecognition of 1971, full admittance to the United Nations, and sufficient military support to ensure its survival even if communist China attempts an invasion. The Taiwan Relations Act should be amended to reflect these new realities and policies.

Taiwan military honor guards line up in front of the Chiang kai-shek Memorial Hall to welcome President of the Marshall Islands Christopher Loeak in Taipei on March 27, 2013. (Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images)

American legislation, international agreements, and policy on Taiwan from 50 years ago need a thorough revision to stop Beijing from making historys biggest mistake, the invasion of Taiwan.

First, Taiwan should invite the United States to put a military base on the island as a temporary defense against the Chinese military.

Second, Washington should pass legislation preauthorizing the president to militarily defend Taiwan in case of a Chinese attack. This will put Beijing on notice that any attack on Taiwan, is an attack on America.

Third, the Taiwan Relations Act should be revised to make it U.S. policy to encourage the diplomatic recognition of Taiwan by other countries and the U.N., including through preferential trade access and development funding reserved for those countries that give official diplomatic recognition to the island democracy.

Fourth, we should publicly recognize that the Three Communiques are void due to Beijings increasing military belligerence toward Taiwan. Serious consideration should be given to derecognizing communist China as a legitimate state, from which economic decoupling is an ethical and strategic imperative.

No less is required to protect the Chinese peoples only democracy, which is a canary in a coal mine for the rest of the worlds democracies. If Taiwan goes, what is to stop a progression of other democratic countries falling to Beijing? If we are to defend them when we are weaker due to the loss of Taiwan, all the better to defend Taiwan now, while that defense still makes us stronger.

Read part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The U.S. Navy, in collaboration with the U.S. Army, conducts a static fire test of the first stage of the newly developed 34.5" common hypersonic missile that will be fielded by both services, in Promontory, Utah, on Oct. 28, 2021. (Northrop Grumman/Handout via Reuters)

US Successfully Tests Hypersonic Booster Motor in Utah

WASHINGTONThe Pentagon successfully tested a booster rocket motor on Thursday designed to power a launch vehicle carrying a hypersonic weapon aloft, the Navy said.

The United States and its global rivals have intensified their drive to build hypersonic weaponsthe next generation of arms that rob adversaries of reaction time and traditional defeat mechanisms. Defense contractors hope to capitalize as they make the weapons and develop new detection and defeat mechanisms.

This week, the top U.S. military officer confirmed a Chinese hypersonic weapons test that military experts say appears to show Beijings pursuit of an Earth-orbiting system designed to evade American missile defenses.

We are on schedule for the upcoming flight test of the full common hypersonic missile, said Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe Jr, Director, Navys Strategic Systems Programs, lead designer on the program. That flight test, of the combined boost rocket and hypersonic weapon, is slated to happen before autumn 2022.

Last week in Kodiak, Alaska, the United States failed a hypersonic weapon test when the booster failed.

U.S. military services will use the common hypersonic missile as a base to develop individual weapon systems and launchers tailored for launch from sea or land.

The U.S. Navy, in collaboration with the U.S. Army, conducts a static fire test of the first stage of the newly developed 34.5 common hypersonic missile that will be fielded by both services, in Promontory, Utah, on Oct. 28, 2021. (Northrop Grumman/Handout via Reuters)

The common hypersonic missile will consist of the first stage solid rocket motor as part of a new missile booster combined with the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (CHGB).

This static fire test marked the first time the first stage solid rocket motor included a thrust vector control system, the Navy said. Thrust vector control systems allow the rocket motors to be maneuverable in flight.

The U.S. Navys Strategic Systems Programs conducted two prior tests of the solid rocket motor used in the development of the Navys Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) offensive hypersonic strike capability and the Armys Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW).

Arms makers Lockheed Martin Corp, Northrop Grumman Corp and Raytheon Technologies Corp all touted their hypersonic weapons programs at the top of their quarterly earnings calls this week as world focus shifted to the new arms race for an emerging class of weapon.

By Mike Stone
Sandra Oudkirk, the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy, speaks during her first public news conference held in Taipei, Taiwan, on Oct. 29, 2021. (American Institute in Taiwan via AP)

US to Deepen Relations With Taiwan in Face of China Tensions

The United States wants to deepen its relationship with Taiwan and will work to counter Beijings malign influence, a U.S. diplomat said Friday.

In her first public news conference, Sandra Oudkirk, the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy, reiterated that the United States remains deeply committed to Taiwan and is actively working on new areas of cooperation such as in cybersecurity and supply chains.

The value of our partnership and our support for Taiwan is rock solid, Oudkirk said. We are committed to deepening our ties with Taiwan.

The U.S. support for Taiwan comes as tensions between Beijing and the island are now at the highest in decades, with the Chinese regime stepping up its military harassment by flying fighter jets toward Taiwan. The communist regime claims the self-ruled island as its own and has never renounced the use of force to seize Taiwan.

Though the United States ended its diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of Beijing in 1979, it has continued to maintain a strong unofficial relationship with the self-ruled island.

Oudkirk declined to comment on any security initiatives or give any details about the presence of U.S. troops on the island, after Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen confirmed Thursday that U.S. boots were indeed on the ground, though less than what people would think.

We are going to continue to advance global and regional goals of the Biden administration, including countering malign PRC influence, recovering from the devastating impacts of the pandemic and addressing the threat of climate change, Oudkirk said, referring to the Peoples Republic of China, the regimes official name.

Washington has supported Taiwan with arms sales to boost the islands ability to defend itself, and also routinely navigates the waters around the island in what it calls freedom of operation movements.

Oudkirk, who became director over the summer, also reaffirmed that the United States will support Taiwan in its role on the international stage, without giving details.

A U.S.-made S70C helicopter is guided by a navy soldier during take-off from a frigate at the sea near the Suao navy harbor in Yilan, eastern Taiwan, on April 13, 2018. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called on other members of the United Nations to support Taipeis independent participation in international organizations related to transportation, health, climate change, culture, and education. Taiwan, for example, is not a member of the World Health Organization.

Beijing has already slammed Blinkens statement. On Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Beijing has the sole right representing the self-governed island internationallya claim denounced by Taiwan.

The Chinese regime has aggressively sought to exclude Taiwans participation from international bodies. Since 2017, Beijing has barred Taiwan from participating as an observer in the World Health Organizations decision-making body, the World Health Assembly.

During the two World Health Assembly sessions held in May and November 2020, exhortations for the WHO to welcome Taiwan into its fold came from leaders and high-level government officials of numerous countries, including the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, and Sweden, as well as more than 1,700 parliamentarians.

A major new focus of the U.S.Taiwan relationship is on supply chains amid the global crunch on computer chips known as semiconductors.

Taiwan is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc., or TSMC, the biggest contract manufacturer of processor chips in the world. Those chips are used in everything from smartphones and medical equipment to gaming computers.

In recent weeks, local media reported that Taiwanese companies are concerned about a request for information from the U.S. Department of Commerce to chipmakers on potentially sensitive information such as their inventory, production, and their top customers. TSMC, for example, serves clients in China as well as across the world.

I have stressed that the Department of Commerces recent request for information is just that, it is a request, Oudkirk said in response to those concerns, saying it is voluntary.

The Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
Flags of Taiwan and the United States are placed for a meeting between U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce and Su Chia-chyuan, President of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan on March 27, 2018. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Washington Forum: Strategic Ambiguity Policy and Taiwan

Communist China flew a record number of military aircraft into Taiwans Air Defense Identification Zone, raising serious warnings earlier this month of potential military attacks.

Many Washington insiders believe that the United States should be ready to help defend Taiwan when the Chinese Communist Party attacks. But others argue that the United States must avoid war with China over Taiwan at all costs, as America should refuse to be drawn into a war with Beijing.

President Joe Biden said in a CNN Town Hall on Oct. 21 that the United States would defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack. However, the White House later clarified that the U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity had not changed.

Is Taiwan ready to defend its democratic land militarily? Is this a critical time to reevaluate the policy of strategic ambiguity? Will the United States sell more weapons to Taiwan to further equip and train the military of the island? Join us in this Washington forum for a discussion on U.S.Indo-Pacific strategies and cross-strait affairs.

Speakers:

Miles Maochun Yu, Ph.D.

Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institute

Former Principal China Policy Adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Joseph A. Bosco

Fellow, Institutes for Corean-American Studies, and Institute for Taiwan-America Studies

Member of Advisory Board, Global Taiwan Institute

Former China Country Desk Officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense

David Wallace

President, Fair Energy Foundation
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) speaks to reporters after a House Republican Caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 21, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Wed Probably Lose a War Over Taiwan: Rep. Gallagher

The United States military is not currently prepared to win a war with China over Taiwan, according to Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.).

Its clear to me that if we went to war in the Taiwan Strait tomorrow, wed probably lose, Gallagher said. Its also clear to me that the threat horizon for the Taiwan scenario is growing more near by the day.

Gallagher, who has previously served as a U.S. Marines intelligence officer, made the comments during a webinar on strategic competition, hosted by the Project 2049 Institute, a Washington-based think tank dedicated to security issues in the Indo-Pacific.

The congressman noted trends in wargames over the past several years, in which the United States consistently lost to China in simulated invasions of Taiwan by the mainland. He also expressed concern about the United States lack of growth in hard power assets like naval vessels.

I am very concerned about our failure to build a bigger navy, Gallagher said. I think youre seeing a less favorable balance of power by the day.

Gallagher said that the ships and other capabilities currently being budgeted by the Pentagon were important, but wouldnt be built, much less ready to fight, by 2025 or 2026. Meanwhile, some U.S. military officials have expressed concern that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could happen within that timeframe.

As such, Gallagher said that the United States ought to consider repurposing extant resources and work to more effectively deploy key forces throughout the Indo-Pacific.

What we need to do is find ways that we can rapidly surge combat power into the region with innovative options that we can field in the next three to five years, the congressman said.

He suggested deploying a dispersed force across the Indo-Pacific, likely mostly made up of Marines along with long-range missile capabilities, stationed in places like Guam, Midway Atoll, and maybe even Palau.

For Gallagher, having hard power in the region was necessary for projecting soft power abroad. But the Pentagon, in the lawmakers view, doesnt feel a sense of urgency about the situation with Taiwan, and is instead about to take a massive step backward in its approach to dealing with China.

He questioned the usefulness of the emerging concept of integrated deterrence championed by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, which focuses more heavily on developing joint interoperability between forces and using technologies like artificial intelligence than on creating and maintaining new weapons systems.

I really think its a bankrupt buzzword thats going to be used as a smoke screen to cover for the fact that we are going to disinvest in hard power or in conventional deterrence and put all of our eggs in the basket of a technological Third Offset, Gallagher said.

The Third Offset was a strategy promoted by the DoD in 2014 that focused resources on research and development planning, as well as increased cooperation with the private sector, as key methods of mitigating the advantages of other great powers like China and Russia.

Gallagher argued that the United States would need to develop a more realistic approach that integrated a full understanding of the Chinese Communist Partys global ambitions, while not sacrificing long-term strategic goals to short-term crises.

As such, the congressman highlighted the importance of Australia and Japan in securing stability in the region, and welcomed recent reports that United States troops were in Taiwan and training forces there. More work, he added, would need to be done to develop a joint command and control apparatus with Japan and Australia, and to integrate operational planning among the United States and its allies.

In all, Gallagher stressed that the United States relationship with China and the corresponding strategic situation would not go back to the status quo that existed before the trade war which began in 2018. According to Gallagher, Chinese adventurism simply would not permit it.

General Secretary Xi Jinping wont let us [go back], Gallagher said. Hes getting more aggressive by the day.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from health care workers in Maine to block a vaccine mandate that went into effect Friday.

Three conservative justices noted their dissents. The state is not offering a religious exemption to hospital and nursing home workers who risk losing their jobs if they are not vaccinated.

Only New York and Rhode Island also have vaccine mandates for health care workers that lack religious exemptions. Both are the subject of court fights. On Friday, a federal appeals court panel upheld New York states vaccine mandate for health care workers, rejecting arguments by lawyers for doctors, nurses and other professionals that it did not adequately protect those with religious objections.

As is typical in emergency appeals, the Supreme Court did not explain its action. But Justice Neil Gorsuch said in a dissent for himself and two fellow conservatives that he would have agreed to the health care workers' request.

Where many other States have adopted religious exemptions, Maine has charted a different course," Gorsuch wrote. There, healthcare workers who have served on the front line of a pandemic for the last 18 months are now being fired and their practices shuttered. All for adhering to their constitutionally protected religious beliefs. Their plight is worthy of our attention.

He was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted in a short statement agreeing with the courts decision not to intervene that the justices were being asked to grant extraordinary relief in a case that is the first of its kind. She was joined by a fellow conservative, Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The legal team that sued to stop the mandate vowed to return to the Supreme Court to press for a full review on the merits. This case is far from over," said Mat Staver, founder and chair of the Liberty Counsel.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said she was gratified that the mandate was upheld, saying it's imperative for hospitals to take every precaution to protect their workers and patients against this deadly virus.

This rule protects health care workers, their patients, and the stability of our health care system in the face of this dangerous virus," she said in a statement. Just as vaccination defeated smallpox and vaccination defeated polio, vaccination is the way to defeat COVID-19.

The high court has previously turned away students at Indiana University and teachers in New York City who objected to being vaccinated. Both the university and city allow people to seek religious exemptions. All of the justices have been vaccinated.

Maines requirement was put in place by the governor. A federal judge in Maine declined to stop the mandate, concluding that the lawsuit was unlikely to succeed. The Oct. 13 decision prompted a flurry of appeals that landed, for a second time, in the Supreme Court.

The Liberty Counsel, which filed the lawsuit, claimed to be representing more than 2,000 health care workers who dont want to be forced to be vaccinated.

Dozens of health care workers have opted to quit, and a hospital in Maines second-largest city already curtailed some admissions because of an acute shortage of nurses.

But most health workers have complied, and Maine residents in general have been supportive of the vaccine. The Maine Hospital Association and other health care groups support the requirement.

Enforcement of the mandate began on the same day the governor announced 80% of eligible Mainers were vaccinated.

Mills said she applauds those who "rolled up their sleeves to do whats right for themselves, their neighbors, and their communities.

___

Sharp reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.
ROME (AP)  Traditionalist Catholics descended on Rome on Friday for their annual pilgrimage, hoping to show the vibrancy of their community after Pope Francis issued a crackdown on the spread of the old Latin Mass that many took as an attack on them and the ancient rite.

An evening vespers service at Romes Pantheon basilica, the first event of the three-day pilgrimage, was so full that ushers had to add two rows of chairs to accommodate the faithful. Many young families, couples and priests filled the pews, hailing from the U.S., France, Spain and beyond.

One of the Vaticans ceremoniere, or official priests, Monsignor Marco Agostini, celebrated the evening service, which featured Latin chants, incense and brocaded vestments with the priests facing the altar rather than the pews. Many women wore lace veils, or mantillas. Many priests eschewed face masks.

We want to demonstrate our attachment to the Successor of St. Peter and that we are in the heart of the church, said Pedro dAquino, who travelled from Brooklyn, New York, for the pilgrimage. Were not interested in ideology or polemics.

Francis in July reimposed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass that Pope Benedict XVI had relaxed in 2007. Francis said he was reversing his predecessor because Benedicts reform had become a source of division in the church and been exploited by Catholics opposed to the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church and its liturgy.

The move riled Francis' conservative critics, many of whom have gone so far to accuse him of heresy and watering down Catholic doctrine with his focus on the environment, social justice and migrants. Francis says he preaches the Gospel and what Jesus taught.

His new law required individual bishops to approve celebrations of the old Mass, also called the Tridentine Mass, and required newly ordained priests to receive explicit permission to celebrate it from their bishops, in consultation with the Vatican. Bishops were also tasked with determining if the current groups of faithful attached to the old Mass accept Vatican II, which allowed for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin.

Joao Silveira, who organized the pilgrimage, said it appeared that the vast majority of bishops were allowing the Latin Mass celebration to continue as it was.

I have found things are not so different, he said after service. The bishop has more power to forbid, but the majority are not using the power to forbid.

Pilgrim Diana Catalan, a 25-year-old nurse from Pamplona, Spain, said her bishop had restricted the celebration of the old rite to one Mass per week, celebrated by one priest. She came alone to the Rome pilgrimage and said she was happy to meet others in the community who were attached to the ancient Mass.

I think were conscious of the circumstances and made a special effort to show that tradition is alive, she said.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP)  The United States representative to the United Nations stressed the importance of Malis return to civilian rule through democratic elections in February after she visited the West African nation as part of a U.N. Security Council mission.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke to reporters online Friday from Libreville, Gabon, after visiting Mali and Niger.

We reiterated that the United States continues to stand firmly with the people of Mali in their aspirations for democracy, peace, development and respect for human rights, she said of her meetings with Malis transitional government and civil society groups.

A military junta staged a coup in August 2020, overthrowing Malis democratically elected president. Col. Assimi Goita led the coup and is now president of the transitional government. He has pledged to keep the country on track to return to civilian rule with an election in February 2022.

We were very clear as the Security Council in Mali, that they needed to put in place immediately plans to move forward on the election, Thomas-Greenfield said, adding that the February date was actually set by the transitional government themselves.

She said she is hopeful that Goita and other transitional officials listened to the 15-member Security Council mission and will put in place a timeline to the February elections.

However, after the meetings with the U.N. Security Council mission, Malian authorities said they want to organize days of consultations in December amongst Malian groups to determine a path toward elections. Some fear this may delay the elections.

The ambassador affirmed that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is interested in Africa.

We are committed to this continent. We are engaging with the continent, noting bright spots such as Niger, which experienced its first peaceful transfer of power to an elected president, and Ghana which has had ongoing democratic transitions of power.

While in Gabon, Thomas-Greenfield is meeting with President Ali Bongo Ondimba to discuss climate issues and congratulated him on the countrys recent election to a term on the Security Council.

Bongo will be attending the U.N conference on climate change, known as COP26, in Glasgow as a representative of the African, she said.

During her trips to the West African countries, Thomas-Greenfield also viewed the deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines from the U.S. to Mali and Gabon. The U.S. has also donated vaccines to Niger.

This has been a very productive trip, one of a series of recent senior-level engagements in Africa, and I was proud to reaffirm our commitments with our partners in Mali, Niger and Gabon, she said.
NEW YORK (AP)  A federal appeals panel on Friday upheld New York states vaccine mandate for health care workers, rejecting arguments by lawyers for doctors, nurses and other professionals that it did not adequately protect those with religious objections.

The ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reversed a decision by an upstate judge who had temporarily blocked vaccination requirements on the grounds that the mandate did not accommodate religious exemptions.

In a brief order, a panel of three 2nd Circuit judges also upheld a ruling by a Brooklyn judge who had found the mandate constitutional.

The appeals court said a written decision would follow at a later date.

Attorney Cameron Lee Atkinson, who argued before the appeals panel, said late Friday that he's already drafting an appeal to bring to the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier on Friday, that court rejected the appeal of a similar mandate in Maine that also does not allow for a religious exemption.

New Yorks mandate forces an abominable choice on New York health care workers: abandon their faith or lose their careers, he said.

He named three plaintiffs, all nurses, who he said had refused to get vaccinated and refused to buy one-way tickets to hell on the hysteria express.

We remain optimistic that the United States Supreme Court will strike down New Yorks discriminatory mandate as violating the First Amendment, he added.

In a statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, commended the ruling, saying she had pledged to take bold action to protect the health of all New Yorkers.

The appeals judges made clear during Wednesday arguments that they were likely to uphold the mandate.

They ordered a Utica federal judge who had ruled that the mandate violated workers Constitutional rights to change his findings to conform with the appeals decision.

In an August order, the state required at least a first shot for health care workers at hospitals and nursing homes by Sept. 27, and more recently expanded the requirement to include workers at assisted living homes, hospice care, treatment centers and home health aides.

New Yorks deputy solicitor general, Steven Wu, told the 2nd Circuit on Wednesday that employers can allow religious exemptions when workers agree not to work directly with patients.

Atkinson said Friday that Wu's claim that religious exemptions can be allowed was the state's attempt to try to mend the mandate's flaw on the fly during litigation. He said he had not heard that claim before.

The Christian plaintiffs oppose medical cooperation in abortion as a matter of religious conviction. All of the available vaccines employ aborted fetus cell lines in their testing, development or production, according to court papers, but religious leaders have disagreed over the issue and the Vatican issued a statement last year saying the vaccines were morally acceptable.
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Alert: White House: US, EU reach deal to settle diplomatic rift over steel, aluminum tariffs
CHICAGO (AP)  A lot can be hidden behind a marriage. For Brad and Cyndi Marler, it was that they are both gay.

A few years after their wedding, they told each other their secret. Then, for more than three decades, they told no one else.

We always said it was us against the world, Brad said.

After living what they call the all-American life in the small Illinois towns of Smithton and Freeburg, the Marlers, now both in their late 50s, decided they need to live authentically. Theyve come out to their two adult children  a son and a daughter  and are navigating new lives in Chicago.

While research from the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy shows that people in the U.S. are coming out at a younger age than previous generations, Brad and Cyndi are part of a segment of the LGBTQ community that waits until later in life.

Society is still inhospitable. Thats not to deny so many amazing shifts in public attitudes, in laws, in policies, but it did not wash away a hundred years of homophobia in society, said Ilan Meyer, a distinguished senior scholar of public policy with the Williams Institute.

Bob Mueller, 75, who grew up in suburban Chicago and now lives in Iowa, didnt breathe a word of his sexual orientation to his family until he was 40, when he wanted them to meet his partner. And he still didnt tell everyone.

It was common practice to stay in the closet if you wanted to have a job. It wasnt until 2005 that I officially came out at work, he said.

Having grown up in religious households in small Illinois communities, coming out wasnt an option for the Marlers, who marked 32 years of marriage in September.

Being homosexual, youre just going to go straight to hell. Theres no two ways to it, Cyndi said of what she and Brad were taught.

Even as strides were made nationally for gay rights, the Marlers feared being found out. They built homes, raised their kids and never strayed from their marriage. In public, they were sure to maintain traditional gender roles: Cyndi kept her hair long, and they never mentioned that Brad was the one who decorated their house.

We wanted the house, the dog, the two kids  and we did all of that, Cyndi said.

We made a decision to make it work. This was what we were going to do, she added.

But there came a limit. It was a house of cards that needed to come down, Brad said.

He had become deeply depressed and began working on his internalized homophobia with the help of weekly therapy.

For such a long time, I hated that part of me.  I didnt understand why what I had with Cyndi wasnt enough, he said.

The couple also says they never would have been able to come out if their parents were still alive. Brad noted that the shame he associated with his sexuality was triggered after his mother confronted him when he was 16 about the possibility of being gay. She just said, If you are, thats not OK. Youre not going to do this to the family.  We never spoke about it again, he recalled.

Another big factor was that their daughter came out as a lesbian.

It was the overwhelming need to protect her, Brad said.

The Marlers lived together until March when, having retired and sold their home, they moved into separate apartments in Chicago to explore life as part of the LGBTQ community for the first time.

Michael Adams, CEO of SAGE, said the nonprofit helps thousands of older Americans in their coming out journey. He says the unique obstacles they face can include higher levels of fear and anxiety, as well as managing others expectations.

Paulette Thomas-Martin, 70, came out after a 20-year marriage and when most of her children were adults.

It was very painful.  I would call them and they would not call back, she said.

It took several years before her children started speaking to her again, Thomas-Martin says, but in the end it brought her family closer.

My son texted me recently telling me how proud he is of me. It came out better for my kids. Im happier. I have more joy and peace, said Thomas-Martin, who lives in New York with her wife.

Adams says coming out later in life may also make socializing and dating more complicated.

Brad describes it as going through a second adolescence.

Everything is new, he said.

Cyndi is focusing on figuring out herself before pursuing a relationship with a woman.

Its like taking this filter off and asking myself, What am I? she said.

Even though the Marlers now live separately, they have no immediate plans to divorce and still see each other almost daily.

Were still best friends, Cyndi said.

And despite some struggles, they believe things have improved for them.

Our whole dynamic is better now, Brad said.

Their daughter recently wrote her parents each a letter about the experience.

She wrote that she was happy to see that Im happy, Brad said.
NEW YORK (AP)  Have a heart, New York!

A giant red heart sculpture installed this week in Central Park as a tribute to health care workers and COVID-19 victims has been taken down  an apparent casualty of confusion and red tape.

Italian sculptor Sergio Furnari says he was walking by the park Thursday afternoon with friends when he noticed that his Heroes Heart Monument" was gone.

When he went to file a police report, he said, he was bounced from police station to police station until a police officer on Friday showed him video of people removing the 10-foot-tall, 3,000-pound (3-meter, 1,360 kilogram) monument and placing it on a truck.

They literally broke my heart, Furnari said when reached Friday night.

Furnari conceded he did not have a permit to place the heart in the park but considered a $4,000 grant he received from New York City's government to be his permit for the temporary installation. He said he considered the removal of his memorial an abuse of power.

A message seeking comment was left with the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the park on behalf of the city. Furnari said he planned to go to the organization on Monday to find out what happened to his heart.

Furnari said he wanted the sculpture to be a place for emotional and spiritual solace in the bustling city and not just a popular spot for selfies, though he said he was cool with that, too.

The work was an extension of another piece he created earlier in the pandemic: a life-size sculpture of a health care worker kneeling with arms stretched to the sky.

In an interview prior to the sculpture's removal, the artist explained his vision for the piece.

Everybody suffers in different ways and needs all different types of comfort, Furnari said. I hope this heart helps them remember their loved ones and cope with the grief. For a moment, they can forget about their problems.

___

Associated Press reporter Philip Marcelo in Boston contributed to this report.
Larry and Susie Skaggs examine the graves at the Read Family Cemetery on their farm that were positioned in a row.
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Expedite efforts to give people jobs, Phuket Gov says

PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Narong Woonciew, has urged local authorities to expedite the ongoing recruitment campaign to help fight unemployment and provide local people with a source of income.

economicsCOVID-19

By The Phuket News

Saturday 30 October 2021, 03:06PM

The call was made at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall last Friday (Oct 29) where representatives of local government agencies and authorities discussed the most pressing local issues mostly related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Talking about the employment project, Gov Narong pointed out that so far 3,083 people have got jobs via the scheme while over 7,000 vacancies are yet to be filled.

Under the scheme, employees are offered four-month-long contracts with 20 working days per month and a minimal daily wage of B336 per person.

At the meeting, those in attendance were also briefed on the current COVID-19 situation in Phuket. Namely, the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO) pointed out that infections are on decline and the occupancy rate of COVID beds at hospitals and other places stands at 81.86%.

Health officers and other relevant staff keep conducting proactive screening focusing on high-risk places such as workers camps, hotels and communities.

It was also highlighted that the province is prepared to control disease at all levels.

Of note, before the meeting Gov Narong presented certificates and awards to different agencies and organizations for outstanding performance and achievements.
First united foundation in Phuket to provide grants supporting the most vulnerable communities

Living Waters Phuket is fully established to provide grants to projects investing in sustainable community solutions across Phuket and the surrounding islands.

COVID-19disasterscharityeconomics

By Press Release

Saturday 30 October 2021, 10:00AM

A United Foundation

This one-of-a-kind and brand-new Foundation, Living Waters Phuket, is working to combine the efforts of registered charities, foundations, private companies and government organisations. It aims to provide strategic and credible aid by issuing financial grants to projects around essential relief areas including solutions to sustainable food security, education, renewable energy and environmental issues.

The Foundation marks its official Phuket launch on 1st November 2021 with an unparalleled financial grant for a sizeable collaborative food donation programme. This initiative consists of over 8,700 Super Life Packs to help families in need; working together with the Phuket Red Cross, Phuket Has Been Good To Us and several government departments.

Where It All Began

Shaun Stenning (CEO and Founder of 5 Star Marine) and his team have been diligently running their Life Bags food donation programme for over 20 months. Their dedication towards the most vulnerable communities across Phuket and the surrounding islands has been an undeniably essential effort, and has seen staggering and non-stop weekly funding, sourcing, packing and delivery efforts take place.

They continued this relief aid throughout the pandemic, and carried on despite multiple restrictions stopping volunteers packing; during which time 5 Star Marine and Sutai Muay Thai solely took over packing efforts to keep the deliveries going, including targeting some of the remote and hardest to reach areas and islands utilising the fleet of 5 Star Marine speedboats.

A Natural Extension

Living Waters Phuket was born as a natural extension to, and formed a strategic transition from the last 20 months of relief efforts. It sits in synergy as the next stage for 5 Star Marine who founded and funded this first of its kind Foundation in Phuket, which will now provide a more long-term, sustainable and ongoing means to continue providing relief via funds for projects where the community needs the most help.

First Of A Kind Grant Collaboration

Living Waters Phuket together with 5 Star Marine have granted a financial aid package for over 88,700 Super Life Packs which contain enough staple food items to feed a family of 4 people for 1 whole week. This effort will include a staggering 44 tonnes of rice, along with noodles, tinned fish, and nearly 9,000 litres of cooking oil and sauces.

This financially funded project marks the largest single food bag donation to date, and the execution will be a collaborative effort between Living Waters Phuket, 5 Star Marine, the Phuket Red Cross, Phuket Has Been Good To Us and various government departments.

Sustainable Support

The foundation has already been involved in supporting a sustainable farming and food production education programme for the Kathu Wittaya School. This long-term initiative is designed around teaching nearly 1,000 children about producing food, with all food grown being donated to a local orphanage. This also aims to give these children the skills to be self-sufficient and take this knowledge back to their communities in the hope of a better future.

Grants are currently being awarded to community groups, Not-For-Profit organisations (NFPOs) and individuals who want to bridge a gap by finding solutions to sustainable food security, education, renewable energy and environmental issues. The independent board of advisors at Living Waters Phuket will review each grant application objectively, fairly and impartially.

A Brighter Future For Phuket

Phuket has needed a well thought out Foundation for a long time, and I am excited to see many more positive initiatives get the opportunity to come to fruition in the future. I founded Living Waters Phuket to carry forward the work 5 Star Marine completed during the Pandemic, providing Life Bags to over 360,000 families. Now Living Waters Phuket can continue on and provide sustainable solutions to food security, education and environmental issues. said Shaun Stenning (CEO and Founder of 5 Star Marine).

Further Information on Living Waters Phuket, contact:

Shaun Stenning

+66 (0)937206221

https://www.facebook.com/livingwatersphuket

https://www.instagram.com/livingwatersphuket/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1UUvFHaT1BGZ6FQUxvE3Ow

https://twitter.com/livingwaters_th
Pattaya booze ban stays, operators peeved

PATTAYA: Local tourism operators in Pattaya are upset that the popular resort city has been left off a short list of places where alcohol sales will be allowed in restaurants starting on Monday (Nov 1).

tourismenvironmentCOVID-19alcohol

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 30 October 2021, 01:34PM

Pattaya is hoping to see throngs of visitors once again, but tourism operators say continuing the alcohol ban could make the city less attractive. Photo: Bangkok Post / file

Pattaya deserves to be included in a four-province cluster where restaurants will have permission to sell alcoholic beverages to patrons, said Boon-anant Pattanasin, president of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association, reports the Bangkok Post.

He made the comment after the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) announced yesterday that that eateries in Bangkok, Krabi, Phang Nga and Phuket [sic] would be the only places allowed to sell beer, wine and the like from Monday in line with the reopening of the country to travellers.

Of note, the sale and consumption of alcohol in restaurants and other eateries in Phuket has been allowed since Oct 1.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has said that authorities hope to be able to allow alcohol sales in restaurants and other venues nationwide from Dec 1, as the country gears up for the year-end festive season.

Pattaya risked losing an edge to compete with other tourism provinces, even though the city is among the leading destinations in the country for foreigners, Mr Boon-anant said.

He said COVID cases in Pattaya were fewer than Bangkok but the alcohol ban was being lifted in the capital. The spread of the virus in Chon Buri province also tended to be concentrated in factory clusters outside Pattaya, he added.

Chon Buri on Friday reported 382 new cases, the provincial public health office reported. Sri Racha district had the most new infections with 90, while Bang Lamung, where Pattaya is located, logged 48.
Phuket Music Scene: Getting down in Phuket Town

The live music scene on Phuket was dealt a severe blow by COVID, but happily not a mortal one. We are now starting to see green shoots of recovery, particularly in Phuket Old Town.

Phuket-Music-Scene

By Andy Tong Dee

Saturday 30 October 2021, 11:00AM

Michaels Bar on Takuapa Rd, now renamed Michelangelos Bar, had something of a pre-COVID reputation for being moribund. All that has now changed under the new and dynamic management of my Hawaiian friend Don Mangiameli and his Thai partner Alice. I suggested to Don early on that a jazz and blues jam might work. Don is a drummer and he set up his drum kit at the back of the bar, bought a couple of amps and sold off the pool table to make space for live music. The Tuesday night jam was an early success and is attracting some fine musicians.

Don is now always busy booking acts to try to get live music of a good standard every night of the week. The house band Gypsy Sun plays blues and classic rock on Saturday nights, a hot act about which I wrote in June. Solo artists fill in the gaps in between bands and the Tuesday jam, bands such as the excellent Naughties and Whats Up bands. So this bar is no longer moribund; its on fire!

The intimate Bebop Jazz Bar just a few metres away is run by Boy Navio, a gifted virtuoso jazz guitarist. He set it up a few years ago and it has somehow managed to survive the COVID impact. Happily, it is now buzzing again with some stunningly good music played by class acts such as the Impromptu and Bebop bands. Its perfect for a romantic night out, but make sure to book a table on the weekends when its busy.

Head north into Yaowarat Rd and you will hopefully find the Good Vibes Bar opposite Harmonics Music Shop. I say hopefully as it could easily be missed, for it has no front or roof for that matter! This is because the bar is in an empty five-metre-wide space between two existing buildings. I can recall when it was boarded up and full of trash and rubble, but now its packed with Thai youngsters having fun.

There is no electricity supply, so the bar relies on an extension cable to supply it from the next door shop. However, the shop shuts at 9:30pm, so the bar must then switch to battery power. At 11pm the recorded music ends and acoustic guitars are brought out for sing-a-longs. With furniture made out of driftwood and decorations from things found on the beach, this bar is Bohemian with a capital B!

Just up the road is the famous Rockin Angels Blues Bar run by Singaporean Patrick Chua to which I will dedicate a full article later. For now, I just want to say its open again every day except Mondays for live music with a three-piece band usually on Fridays and Saturdays. Music starts at 8pm.

To end your musical trip around the Old Town, take a five-minute walk along Thalang Rd to find the Beer Sound Bar on Phuket Rd which I hear now has a live band on the weekends. Head east another five minutes and on Montri Rd you will find the Old Towns newest live music venue, the Midtown Jazz cafe run by Phukets jazz stalwart Jeffery Sevilla. Its only been open a few weeks, so only has a jazz jam on Sunday nights for the time being. However, Jeffery confidently tells me he hopes to restart the annual Jazz Festival next April. Watch this space!

Expat Andy Tong Dee is a live music enthusiast and musician living in Phuket. Follow him on www.phuketmusicscene.com
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Local area rates are for Randolph, Chambers, Clay and Cleburne counties in Alabama
ALTON  On Friday afternoon, convicted child-killer Paula Sims left prison after serving more than 30 years of a life sentence.

Sims, 62, was convicted of killing one of her children and later admitted to a second child murder. On Thursday the Illinois Prisoner Review Board voted 12-1 in favor of parole.

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, Sims left the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln at about 4:25 p.m. Friday for her new state-approved home. Its location has not been disclosed.

Sims spent more than 30 years in prison for killing her six-week-old daughter, Heather, in 1989 in Alton. She later acknowledged killing her first daughter, Loralei, in 1986 in Brighton.

In March, Gov. J.B. Pritzker granted Sims executive clemency, changing her sentence from life without the possibility of parole to life with the possibility of parole. Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine had sent a letter to the board opposing parole, but no one from his office participated in Thursdays hearing.

On Thursday, state Sen. Rachelle Crowe, D-Glen Carbon, said she was disheartened by the boards actions.

At the time of her trial, Sims created a fabricated story under oath, showed no remorse for murdering her daughters and as a result, worked to delegitimize mothers who suffer from postpartum mental health issues, Crowe said.

The decision to grant parole to Sims is truly insulting to those whose lives were destroyed by her crimes, she added. To secure justice for victims and protect the integrity of our criminal justice system, individuals must be held accountable for their vile actions.

The parole boards action on Thursday also was heavily criticized by state Sens. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville; Steve McClure, R-Springfield; and Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro.

In the past several years Sims attorney, Jed Stone, had sought a new trial or commutation of her sentence, citing laws allowing postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis to be introduced at a trial or sentencing.

In 1986 Sims initially told police that Loralei Sims  just 13 days old  was taken by a masked gunman. The childs body was found in a wooded ravine behind the rural Jersey County home she shared with her husband, Robert.

The couple later moved to Alton where, on April 29, 1989, Paula Sims said she was taking out the garbage when a masked man knocked her unconscious and, when she awoke, her 6-month-old daughter, Heather, was gone.

Robert Sims and the couples son, Randall, died in an automobile accident in 2015.

Recent related stories:

 Child-murderer Sims granted parole

 Haine will oppose parole for Sims

 Child-killer Sims could get parole

 Prosecutors oppose new trial for Sims

 Sims asks court for new trial
ROME (AP)  The Latest on the Group of 20 summit taking place in Rome:

ROME  French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to boost ties in the Indo-Pacific region during a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit.

Macron's office said France and India will open a strategic dialogue next week in Paris to set a common agenda. The talks will address bilateral, regional and international issues.

France has said India is its main partner in the Indo-Pacific area after the announcement in September of a secretly negotiated submarine deal between Australia, the U.S. and Britain.

Macrons office listed trust and independence amid principles which must guide France and Indias actions in the region shaken by concerns over the growing influence of China.

Macron also met Saturday with Presidents Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Moon Jae-in of South Korea about similar issues.

___

ROME Leaders have expressed broad support for a landmark deal to establish a 15% global minimum corporate tax that aims at deterring multinational countries from using clever accounting to elude taxes by using low-rate havens.

Leaders spoke on the proposal during the opening session Saturday of the summit, said officials from host country Italy. Following formal approval to be reflected in Sundays closing statement, countries would enact the minimum tax on their own. The idea is that headquarters countries would top up a companys tax to 15% if the firms profits went undertaxed in another country.

In todays digital and global economy profits can come from intangibles such as copyrights and trademarks, and can thus be easily shifted to countries offering near-zero taxes in hopes of attracting revenue they otherwise wouldnt have.

A key question is whether the U.S. Congress will pass legislation to comply, since the U.S. is home to 28% of the worlds 2,000 largest multinationals.

-

ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he unsuccessfully pressed President Xi Jinping to increase Chinas carbon-cutting goals ahead of a key United Nations climate change summit.

China released an updated version of its climate targets this week, promising to hit net-zero carbon emissions by 2060 and to have carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2030.

Johnson told reporters that he pushed Xi to move the peak to 2025 when the two men spoke by phone on Friday.

I wouldnt say he committed on that, Johnson said as he flew to Rome for a G-20 summit. On Sunday Johnson will host world leaders, though not Xi, at the two-week climate conference in Scotland.

Johnson said Xi explained about Chinas heavy dependence on coal power, and Johnson said that he replied that the U.K. had cut its own coal reliance from 40% of energy in 2008 to 1% today. Johnson said China should embrace technology to speed the transition to green energy.

___

ROME  U.S. first lady Jill Biden says she and Brigitte Macron, her French counterpart, sipped wine together as if they were sisters.

The women spent about an hour Friday getting better acquainted at an Italian restaurant in Rome.

Their husbands, President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, were meeting elsewhere in the city to ease tensions that flared after France felt blindsided by a U.S.-U.K.-Australia military deal.

The leaders are in Rome to attend the Group of 20 nations summit.

Upon leaving the restaurant, Jill Biden said the meeting with Brigitte Macron was wonderful.

She added: Its nice, two friends together, just like sisters.

___

ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has arrived in Italy for a Group of 20 summit with a stark message: modern civilization may crumble like Ancient Rome if world leaders dont act to curb climate change.

Johnson told reporters on his plane that Romes ruins are a fantastic reminder, a memento mori for us today  that humanity, civilization, society can go backwards as well as forwards, and when things start to go wrong they can go wrong with extraordinary speed.

After the two-day G-20 meeting, Johnson is set to host a two-week U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

Johnson will urge G-20 leaders to act more quickly, saying the worlds rich countries, which grew wealthy from using the fossil fuels that promote global warming, must bear the brunt of fighting climate change.

___

ROME  France has donated 67 million vaccine doses to the worlds poorest countries, making it the second country after the United States to have given the most to the UN-backed COVAX vaccine initiative.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that France has met its commitments regarding vaccine donations, which have benefited over 45 countries, including around 30 in Africa. France has pledged to donate another 60 million doses by mid-2022.

The announcement comes as health and finance officials who gathered ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Rome warned of a two-track pandemic recovery, with COVID-19 vaccine shortages and spending gaps slowing poorer countries from bouncing back after the pandemic.

___

ROME  Health and finance officials who gathered ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Rome warned of a two-track pandemic recovery, with COVID-19 vaccine and spending gaps slowing poorer countries from bouncing back.

Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund, said Friday that efforts to speed vaccinations were short $20 billion needed to pursue a goal of 40% of the world vaccinated by years end and 70% by the middle of next year.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the increasing divergence between developing and developed countries would be a major strategic risk for the rest of the world.

The ministers decided to create a G-20 joint task force to ensure efforts to combat the pandemic and prevent future ones are adequately funded.

The G-20 has supported the UN-backed COVAX initiative, which has failed to alleviate dire shortages in poor countries. Summit negotiators have been focusing on efforts to strengthen local health resources, vaccine supply chains and vaccine production in less prosperous countries.

___

ROME  Prime Minister Boris Johnson tried to calm stormy waters over fishing with France as he flew to Rome for a G-20 summit, where he is due to meet French President Emmanuel Macron.

France is one of our best, oldest, closest, allies, friends and partners, he told reporters. The ties that unite us, that bind us together are far stronger than the turbulence that currently exist in the relationship.

Calling Macron a friend, he said that people on either side of the Channel may be trying to stir up disharmony between the U.K. and France, but I dont think Emmanuel shares that perspective.

Im puzzled about whats going on, Johnson said. He said there appeared to be an implicit breach of the legally binding Brexit divorce treaty in Frances threats  and reiterated Britains willingness to respond to any French sanctions.

We will stand by to take the appropriate action, he said. Any infraction of that agreement, by France or any other partner, is something we would obviously need to respond to.

___

ROME  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the upcoming climate summit in Glasgow may not provide the boost for global efforts to fight climate change that many are hoping for.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a G-20 summit in Rome, Guterres said there is a serious risk that Glasgow will not deliver.

He said that despite updated climate targets by many countries, we are still careening towards climate catastrophe.

Guterres said there are serious questions about some of those pledges and noted that collectively they wont be enough to keep the global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius, the target set in U.N. talks on fighting climate change.

He said G-20 leaders in Rome, whose countries are responsible for most of the worlds global greenhouse gas emissions, have an opportunity to put things on track for the Glasgow talks, which will begin as the Rome summit ends.

___

VATICAN CITY  U.S. President Joe Biden has arrived at the Vatican for a private meeting with Pope Francis.

The worlds two most notable Roman Catholics plan to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and poverty.

Biden and his wife Jill arrived at the Vatican in an unusually long motorcade of more than 80 vehicles, owing in part to Italian COVID-19 restrictions on the number of people sharing a car. A dozen Swiss Guards stood at attention in the San Damaso courtyard of the Apostolic Palace to greet them.

Biden is in Rome for the Group of 20 summit.

___

VATICAN CITY  South Korean President Moon Jae-in has given Pope Francis a statue of a cross made with barbed wire from the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.

Moon, a Catholic, called on Francis on Friday before the start of the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

The Vatican, which didnt allow independent media in the audience, said Francis gave Moon a medallion replicating Berninis original plan for St. Peters Square. The design envisages the two main colonnades of the piazza embracing humanity in the church.

South Korean presidential officials had said they expected Moon and the pope to discuss a possible papal visit to North Korea since Francis had previously expressed a desire to do so if it becomes possible. Moon first floated the idea of a papal visit to the North in 2018 when he revealed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had said the pope would be enthusiastically welcomed in the officially atheist North.

___

ROME  Italy is deploying 5,300 extra troops and police officers, curbing public transport and sealing off a whole neighborhood of Rome to keep the peace during this weekends Group of 20 summit.

Police were out in force already Friday as leaders began arriving, and schools in the Italian capital canceled afternoon activities so students could get home before most roadblocks were set up. Protests and demonstrations were planned throughout the weekend.

The main security zone was around the Nuvola cloud-like convention center in Romes Fascist-era EUR neighborhood. But other areas were being cordoned off at different times depending on where the leaders were, including around the presidential palace and even the Trevi Fountain.

COVID-19 economic recovery and climate change are the two main issues being discussed by the leaders of the worlds 20 biggest economies, who are gathering in Rome before heading to Glasgow, Scotland, for the U.N. climate conference.
SANAA, Yemen (AP)  At least eight people were killed by a car bomb in Yemen's southern city of Aden Saturday, officials said. The blast was the latest to hit Aden, the seat of the country's internationally recognized government.

The explosion happened close to a security checkpoint outside Adens international airport in the neighborhood of Khormaksar, in the afternoon, they added. At least 11 others were injured, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The blast damaged buildings and an internet cafe in the area. Footage circulated online showed ambulances, sirens wailing, rushing to the site.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack and security authorities in Aden said investigations were ongoing. Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed called the explosion a terrorist attack."

The coastal city has been rocked by several explosions in the past years, which have been blamed on local affiliates of al-Qaida and the Islamic State groups. The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have also targeted the city with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones.

Aden has been the seat of the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi since the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels took over the capital, Sanaa, in 2014 triggering Yemens civil war.

The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States, to try restore the government to power. Despite a relentless air campaign and ground fighting, the war has fallen largely into a stalemate, and spawned the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

Meanwhile, the Houthis on Saturday shelled the residential Camp neighborhood on the outskirts of the government-held city of Taiz, killing at least three children from the same family.

Moammar al-Iryani, information minister of the internationally recognized government, said at least six others were wounded, and posted graphic images showing wounded children.

The government-run SABA news agency reported that the Houthis fired a howitzer round that landed in the neighborhood.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

The shelling was the latest attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis to leave civilian casualties. On Thursday, a Houthi ballistic missile struck a residential neighborhood in the central province of Marib, killing at least 11 civilians and wounding 16 others.
Jack C. Taylor, 86, formerly of Corbin, Kentucky, passed away peacefully on Sunday, November 7, 2021. Jack will always be known as a hardworking and caring family man. He was an exceptional athlete, receiving 1954, high school All-State Honors in both football and basketball by the Courier-J
SAM MONTALTO, Stonington, Boys Soccer, Senior; Montalto scored three goals including the 100th of his career in the Bears 4-0 victory over Plainville in the Class M state tournament. Montalto, who missed the first three games of the season, has 32 goals and nine assists this season.

GIRLS & BOYS Soccer Team, Chariho; It wouldnt be fair to single out a player from either team, both of which captured Division II titles over the weekend of Nov. 12. The girls tied their game with Prout with 1:02 left in regulation and prevailed in penalty kicks. The boys scored the winning goal in the final two minutes of the second overtime to beat North Smithfield.

ZACK TUCK, Westerly, Football; Tuck rushed for 150 yards on 29 carries in a loss to unbeaten St. Raphael in the Division II semifinals. Tuck has rushed for 1,533 yards and scored 19 touchdowns this season for the 7-3 Bulldogs.

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A payment of 3.8million suddenly arrives at the NatWest branch on Brixton high street in London, transferred to a bank account that has never previously received more than a few thousand pounds.

The money has come from Saudi Arabia. Almost as soon as it arrives, the person controlling the account starts transferring it to accounts in Eastern Europe and Hong Kong.

To most of us, that would sound pretty suspicious. Yet NatWest did not freeze the account when the Saudi money arrived. It also allowed the outward payments, despite the fact they triggered fraud alerts.

In the shadows: Our high street banks are the unknowing conduits for a widening torrent of fraud and money-laundering

By the time the bank's fraud team took decisive action, it was too late. The Brixton branch account was empty, and the funds had been dispersed offshore, probably into the hands of organised criminals.

The money had been stolen from Maire Tecnimont, an international engineering conglomerate, which is suing NatWest in a case due to commence at the High Court in London in December.

The bank denies liability, and the court will decide where blame lies. But what is clear is that our high street banks are the unknowing conduits for a widening torrent of fraud and money-laundering. And that should worry all of us.

Regular readers of The Mail on Sunday's Personal Finance pages will be familiar with 'authorised fraud', in which people are duped into transferring money to criminals or sharing bank details with them.

But now businesses, including large and sophisticated ones like Maire Tecnimont, are falling victim to the scam as well.

And as financial transactions move increasingly online and working from home makes citizens and organisations more vulnerable to hacking, experts are predicting a new 'pandemic of fraud'.

It feels like that pandemic has already arrived. Banking association UK Finance says 'authorised fraud' rose by 71 per cent this year, creating 106,000 victims.

A new bank fraud hotline for concerned customers has just been launched, sponsored by the banks. But in doing this, the banks are admitting their own weaknesses. Their old-fashioned anti-money laundering (AML) controls are no longer enough to contain the threat.

Our protection blanket is patchy indeed. It consists of AML monitoring at banks which is often based on outdated technology, and cannot detect fraud swiftly. Yet while high street banks remain stuck in their ways, a host of fintech companies have been springing up with powerful data-crunching abilities and a can-do approach.

I have no doubt that banks could copy their example and integrate a vast supply of datapoints, cross-referencing quickly and intelligently to detect suspicious activity  if they were willing to spend the money required.

This isn't about what's possible, as the banks might claim. Rather, it's an issue of incentives. Under the industry's voluntary code, when a bank's systems are used to channel the proceeds of a fraud, banks only pay compensation if the victims are their own customers.

There is no automatic compensation for customers of other banks, or if the victim of the fraud is a business.

That has been a huge financial let-off for the banks. No wonder they aren't really motivated to invest in prevention, and develop the 'big data' solutions already common in other industries.

The tide may now be turning. This month, prosecutors secured their first criminal conviction against a bank for AML failures when NatWest pleaded guilty for failing to prevent a huge alleged money laundering operation.

This case is unconnected to the Brixton one I have described above. The bank faces a fine of up to 340million  which is big money for a business that reported quarterly profits of 1.1billion on Friday.

Meanwhile, MPs on the Treasury Select Committee are investigating the problem of economic crime. I hope they and the Government will consider putting banks on the hook to compensate all fraud victims, both citizens and businesses, let down by their anti-money laundering controls. My hunch is that such a move would finally spur banks to invest properly to fight the fraudsters.

As Business Secretary in the years following the 2008 financial crisis, part of my job was to help restore the public's faith in our banking system. My successor Kwasi Kwarteng and his Treasury colleagues face a similar challenge today. They need to make banks truly accountable for bank fraud.
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Afghanistans Taliban government is pressing for the release of billions of dollars of central bank reserves as the drought-stricken nation faces a cash crunch, mass starvation and a new migration crisis.

Afghanistan parked billions of dollars in assets overseas with the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks in Europe, but that money has been frozen since the Islamist Taliban ousted the Western-backed government in August.

A spokesman for the finance ministry said the government would respect human rights, including the education of women, as he sought fresh funds on top of humanitarian aid that he said offered only small relief.

Under Taliban rule from 1996-2001, women were largely shut out of paid employment and education and normally had to cover their faces and be accompanied by a male relative when they left home.

The money belongs to the Afghan nation. Just give us our own money, ministry spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal told Reuters. Freezing this money is unethical and is against all international laws and values.

One top central bank official called on European countries including Germany to release their share of the reserves to avoid an economic collapse that could trigger mass migration towards Europe.

The situation is desperate and the amount of cash is dwindling, Shah Mehrabi, a board member of the Afghan Central Bank, told Reuters. There is enough right now  to keep Afghanistan going until the end of the year.

Europe is going to be affected most severely, if Afghanistan does not get access to this money, said Mehrabi.

You will have a double whammy of not being able to find bread and not being able to afford it. People will be desperate. They are going to go to Europe, he said.

The call for assistance comes as Afghanistan faces a collapse of its fragile economy. The departure of U.S.-led forces and many international donors left the country without grants that financed three quarters of public spending.

The finance ministry said it had a daily tax take of roughly 400 million Afghanis ($4.4 million).

Although Western powers want to avert a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan, they have refused to officially recognise the Taliban government.

Haqmal said Afghanistan would allow women an education, although not in the same classrooms as men.

Human rights, he said, would be respected but within the framework of Islamic law, which would not include gay rights.

LGBT Thats against our Sharia law, he said.

Mehrabi hopes that while the United States has recently said it will not release its lions share of roughly $9 billion of funds, European countries might.

He said Germany held half a billion dollars of Afghan money and that it and other European countries should release those funds.

Mehrabi said that Afghanistan needed $150 million each month to prevent imminent crisis, keeping the local currency and prices stable, adding that any transfer could be monitored by an auditor.

If reserves remain frozen, Afghan importers will not be able to pay for their shipments, banks will start to collapse, food will be become scarce, grocery stores will be empty, Mehrabi said.

He said that about $431 million of central bank reserves were held with German lender Commerzbank, as well as a further roughly $94 million with Germanys central bank, the Bundesbank.

The Bank for International Settlements, an umbrella group for global central banks in Switzerland, holds a further approximately $660 million. All three declined to comment.

The Taliban took back power in Afghanistan in August after the United States pulled out its troops, almost 20 years after the Islamists were ousted by U.S.-led forces following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

SOURCE: REUTERS
WEITCHPEC, Calif. (AP)  Elizabeth Azzuz stood in prayer on a Northern California mountainside, grasping a torch of wormwood branches, the fuel her Native American ancestors used to burn underbrush in thick forests.

Guide our hands as we bring fire back to the land, she intoned before igniting leaves and needles carpeting the slope above the Klamath River.

Over several days in October, about 80 acres (32.4 hectares) on the Yurok reservation were set aflame in a program that teaches ancient skills of treating land with fire.

It was among many cultural burns allowed in recent years by state and federal agencies that had long banned them  a sign of evolving attitudes toward wildfire prevention. Research increasingly confirms low-intensity burns can reduce the risk by consuming fire fuels.

Wildfires have blackened nearly 6,000 square miles (15,540 square kilometers) in California the past two years. Dozens have died; thousands of homes have been lost.

But to the Yurok, Karuk and Hupa in the mid-Klamath region, cultural burning is about reclaiming a way of life suppressed with the arrival of white settlers.

The tribes' hunter-gatherer lifestyle was devastated by prohibitions on fire that tribes had used for thousands of years to spur growth of acorn-bearing trees, clear space for deer and spur hazel wood stems used for baskets.

Fire is a tool left by the Creator to restore our environment and the health of our people, said Azzuz, board secretary for the Cultural Fire Management Council, which promotes burning on ancestral Yurok lands. Fire is life for us.

Merv George, a former Hoopa Valley Tribe chairman who now supervises Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, said officials who once considered native burners arsonists realize a new approach is needed.

Two national forests  Six Rivers and Klamath  crafted a 2014 landscape restoration partnership with the Karuk tribe and nonprofits that endorsed intentional burns.

Yurok, Karuk and Hupa activists and The Nature Conservancy later created the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network, whose training burns that have drawn participants from across the U.S. and other countries.

Its really exciting and gives me a lot of hope that the tide is changing, said Margo Robbins, a basket weaver and director of the fire management council. We revived our language, our dances, and now, bringing back fire, well restore the land.

This month's burn involved 30-plus crew members who prepared extensively  scouting the area, positioning fire hoses and water tanks.

As Azzuz finished her ceremonial prayer, the wormwood that coaxed the first flames was replaced with modern drip torches  canisters of gasoline and diesel with spouts and wicks. Team members moved quickly along a dirt trail, flicking burning fuel droplets.

Smoke billowed. Flames crackled. Tangled foliage was reduced to ash, while bigger oaks, madrones and conifers were largely spared.

Jose Luis Dulce, a firefighter in his native Spain and Ecuador, hopes to help revive Indigenous techniques in Europe and South America. Stoney Timmons said his tribe  the Robinson Rancheria Pomo Indians of California  wants to host its own training session next year.

Robert McConnell Jr. spent years with Forest Service wildfire crews, attacking from helicopters and driving bulldozers. Now a prescribed fire specialist with Six Rivers National Forest, he works with fire instead of against it.

Its encoded in my DNA," he said. "Its like theres a spark in my eye when I see fire get put on the ground.

When Yurok forestry director Dawn Blake helped light the hillside, she felt a connection with her grandmother, who wove baskets and set fires in the area long ago.

Weve been talking and begging about doing this for so long, just spinning our wheels, said Blake, 49. It feels like were finally being heard.

But tribes want to go beyond training exercises and family burns on small plots. Theyre pushing to operate throughout the vast territories their ancestors occupied.

My ultimate goal is to restore all this land back to a natural state, said Blaine McKinnon, battalion chief for the Yurok Fire Department.

Relations with federal and state authorities have improved. But cultural fire leaders say pledges of cooperation arent always carried out by local officials, who fear dismissal if fires get out of hand.

Craig Tolmie, chief deputy director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the agency tries to balance the tribes desires for more fire with opposition from a jittery public.

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People have really been traumatized and shocked by the last two fire seasons, Tolmie said.

Under new state laws, tribal burners and front-line regulators will work more closely, he said. One measure requires his department to appoint a cultural burning liaison. Another makes it easier to get liability insurance for prescribed fires.

Still, Tolmie argued that many areas first should be pre-treated with mechanical grinding and tree thinning to reduce decades of accumulated debris.

Chad Hanson, forest ecologist with the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute in California, contends regulators are trying to extort tribes by making cultural burns contingent on logging.

Tribes should be empowered to handle prescribed burns while Cal Fire and the Forest Service focus on suppressing wildfires, said Bill Tripp, the Karuk tribes natural resources director.

The mid-Klamath area is ideal for a teaching center where cultural burners could guide us into a new era of living with fire, Tripp said.

Tribes are uniquely positioned to train younger generations about stewardship-oriented fire management, said Scott Stephens, an environmental policy professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Wed need literally thousands of people doing this burning to ramp it up to a scale thats meaningful, he said.

Talon Davis, 27, a member of the Yurok crew, welcomed the opportunity to show the world what good fire is.

This is how were supposed to care for Mother Earth, he said. Put fire back on the ground, bring our home back into balance.

___

Associated Press reporter Gillian Flaccus contributed to this story.

___

Follow John Flesher on Twitter: @JohnFlesher

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Hundreds of people opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates rallied Saturday at the Kansas Statehouse and pushed state lawmakers to quickly counter them, while an international labor union disavowed a local leader's comparison of the mandates to the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews.

The rally kicked off ahead of a rare weekend legislative committee hearing on mandates from President Joe Biden that affect as many as 100 million Americans. The hearing gave dozens of mandate opponents a chance to vent their frustration and anger both with the Democratic presidents administration and Democratic Gov. Laura Kellys handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Many of the speakers during the committees hearing argued that lawmakers should call themselves into special session instead of waiting to reconvene until 2022. Lawmakers can do that without Kelly if two-thirds of them sign a petition, but so far such an effort hasnt gained much traction.

If we allow this to continue, there will be no stopping further government overreach, said Cody Foster, a utility line worker and volunteer firefighter in central Kansas.

Several critics of the mandates suggested Saturday that they violate international human rights standards enacted in the wake atrocities during World War II. Bryan Luedeke, a Wichita-area aircraft worker, called them reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

His comments followed Friday's comparison of the mandates to the Holocaust by Cornell Beard, president of the Wichita district of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. A committee member, Republican Rep. Brenda Landwehr, of Wichita, appeared to agree with the analogy.

The international union issued a statement Saturday saying it strongly condemns the offensive and inappropriate comparison" to the Holocaust.

Regardless of ones views on divisive political issues, there is never a place for this type of hurtful rhetoric, the statement said.

The legislative panel's name  the joint Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates  signals that Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature already have concluded that the mandates violate peoples liberties. But many are not yet sure what power the state has to resist.

The committee is supposed to recommend steps for the Legislature to take. In hearings that began Friday, almost everyone testifying strongly opposed vaccine mandates, with some repeating misinformation about vaccine safety.

But with many speakers calling for lawmakers to have a special session, the Senate's top Republican leaders didn't rule it out.

I'm going to look for that kernel of something we can do and see if there's a window there, said Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican.

More than 80 people spoke to the committee Saturday, and only one supported the vaccine mandates, Sheila Sonnenschein, a Kansas City-area resident. She attended the hearing with her psychiatrist-husband Ken and said later, It really hits my heart when I hear these lies and conspiracy theories.

Sonnenschein told the committee: As a Jewish person, it offends me  I mean, I can't even say it  it's so upsetting to hear people compare having the vaccine mandates and the mask mandates to the Holocaust.

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Saturday's hearing came after state Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican hoping to unseat Kelly next year, announced that he has brought Kansas into a federal lawsuit against Biden's vaccine mandate for employees of government contractors.

The Biden administration is also requiring vaccinations for all federal workers and certain health care workers. Private employers with 100 or more workers will have to require them to be vaccinated or tested weekly.

The war at hand is the well-being of our nation, the soul of our nation, Republican state Sen. Mark Steffen, a Hutchinson anesthesiologist and pain-management doctor who's promoted discredited COVID-19 conspiracy theories and dubious treatments, said at the start of Saturday's hearing.

Republican activists and consultants across the country contend that opposition to vaccine mandates could create a movement akin to the tea party movement.

Participants in the Statehouse rally brought Gadsden flags  which say show a coiled snake and say, Don't tread on me. Speakers urged attendees to vote for candidates who oppose vaccine and mask mandates in Tuesday's local school board elections.

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ALBANY  The report of a binational task force on U.S.-Canada pandemic border policy said Friday that the federal government eroded public trust due to its flawed handling of prolonged land border restrictions.

U.S. authorities failed, the report said, by seeming to ignore concerns from the public and Congress' Northern Border Caucus on the impacts of border restrictions; by failing to produce a plan to reinstate crossings; and by refusing to coordinate with the Canadian government despite collaboration being a key tenet of the existing North American pandemic plan, last updated in 2012.

The perception of injustice and inequity in the border restrictions was damaging, the report stated.

The task force, composed of former elected officials, noted that the Northern Border Caucus members were marginalized when they spoke up, and the government held few public hearings under either the Trump or Biden administrations.

As an example, the report pointed to the seeming indifference of federal officials to the case of Point Roberts, Wash., a small peninsular slice of U.S. territory whose residents are connected by land only to British Columbia. Residents found themselves cut off from the 25-mile land corridor through Canada required for them to enter the U.S.

The task force is composed of two former border-state governors, Christine Gregoire of Washington and James Douglas of Vermont, as well as two former deputy prime ministers of Canada. It was brought together by the Canada Institute of the Wilson Center, a U.S. policy think tank.

U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, a New York Democrat who co-chairs the Northern Border Caucus with Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, agreed generally with the reports conclusions. The caucus had been lobbying for over 18 months before the U.S. government recently announced that both land borders would reopen for vaccinated visitors on Nov. 8.

Right from the beginning, there was nobody really in charge at the White House. And there was nothing but conflicting information coming out of it, said Higgins, who added that the pandemic border rules involved many different agencies.

The conventional wisdom  just because we were all left to guess  was they didn't want to open the U.S. border to Canadians without opening the U.S. border to Mexicans, Higgins said. He noted the steep difference in vaccination rates between Mexico and Canada, but said that the prolonged closure even for vaccinated travelers was a lost opportunity, where border crossing could have been used early on to incentivize vaccination.

The members of the task force  which collected perspectives from experts, government officials and private citizens  said they understood the challenging nature of a pandemic.

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All four of us had a great deal of empathy for decision-makers in this process, said Jean Charest, one of the Canadian members. We were the first to recognize this wasn't an easy situation, and one that called on them making difficult decisions and doing it in record time.

But the legislators expressed hope that, in future crises, governments would shift their strategy to a risk-based approach to restricting border crossings rather than a near-total shutdown.

Both countries relied on categories like essential travel to determine who could cross the border since March 2020, even after vaccination efforts were underway. But when the border caused family separations, that definition became a point of contention.

(The) bottom-line lesson of our experience is that we need to minimize uncertainty, we need to have consistency, predictability in these processes and these procedures," Douglas noted in the report.

The former governor added that he thinks people have a right to know that border decisions are rational and risk-based, taking into consideration the types of frequent, crucial, low-risk crossings that occur in communities bifurcated by the northern border.

The report criticized Canadian officials for many of the same failings committed by their U.S. counterparts.
ALBANY  The attorney for former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Saturday sent a letter to Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple requesting that his office "preserve all records relating to your investigation into allegations" that Cuomo had groped a female aide during a workplace encounter at the Executive Mansion in December.

In keeping with a pattern of both sides  Cuomo's and law enforcement's  making public statements about the case, Rita Glavin's letter, which was also sent to Albany County District Attorney David Soares, was immediately released to the press on Saturday afternoon by Cuomo's spokesman, Richard Azzopardi.

Glavin's letter was sent a day after Apple conducted a news conference to explain that his office was "caught off-guard" when an Albany City Court judge promptly issued a criminal summons charging the former governor with forcible touching, a misdemeanor, after a sheriff's investigator met with a judge to obtain "guidance" on the filing of the criminal complaint.

The sheriff said his office had been seeking to have a judge issue a bench warrant for the charge, which may have kept it temporarily sealed, but the judge instead issued a criminal summons against Cuomo. The filing was almost immediately leaked to an online news site. Apple said he learned from the leak that a summons had been issued.

Glavin's very public battle of words with Apple began in August when the sheriff conducted a news conference and acknowledged that, as part of the investigation, subpoenas had been issued seeking evidence in the case. Those subpoenas, returnable to a grand jury, were issued by the Albany County District Attorney's Office. At the time, the district attorney's office and sheriff's department were working together on the case.

The Times Union reported on Friday that not long after that August news conference, the sheriff's department and district attorney's office separated their investigations into the allegations of the woman, 33-year-old Brittany Commisso. Apple said his effort has relied on judicially authorized search warrants to gather evidence, including phone records and text messages, that he said confirmed Commisso's account of assisting the governor at the mansion on Dec. 7.

Glavin has since accused Apple of improperly disclosing grand jury materials  the subpoenas  and on Saturday asked that his office preserve all of its communications, including text messages, with Commisso, the attorney general's office, legislators and news reporters.

During Cuomo's time in office, his administration garnered a reputation for stonewalling Freedom of Information Law requests, including for copies of records of communications by the governor, his staff and others.

"We expect you to preserve everything relating to your investigation and have set forth below a non-exhaustive list of specific categories for which we request preservation," Glavin wrote. "First, we request that you preserve all records relating to your and your offices communications with Brittany Commisso and her attorney, including but not limited to phone records, text messages, email and any other electronic communications, notes, memoranda, recordings, and calendar entries."

The request also asked for any communications by the sheriff's office involving "personal cell phone communications or texts made by you or any member of your staff concerning any matters detailed in this letter, including communications made from personal email accounts."

Cuomo is scheduled to appear in City Court on Nov. 17 to enter a plea to the misdemeanor charge. It's unclear how the district attorney's office will handle the case. The district attorney's office this week said it was unaware the sheriff had filed a criminal complaint against Cuomo until after it was made public on Thursday afternoon.

Although police agencies often file such complaints  especially those involving misdemeanor charges  without consulting prosecutors, several attorneys interviewed by the Times Union said it was unusual to do so in such a high-profile case.

Apple had said he expected the issuance of the summons to take days to execute.

"If we consulted with the (district attorney) on every single misdemeanor case there would be no justice in this county," he said Friday. "Would I have liked to? Absolutely  Everything moved too fast."

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Glavin said she will also be "asking for an investigation of unlawful grand jury leaks, and we are also exploring legal remedies for such leaks." It's unclear who would conduct that type of investigation.

Grand jury subpoenas that have been served on a government agency are subject to disclosure under New York's Freedom of Information Law. There is also nothing that prohibits the recipient of a subpoena from disclosing information about it. But Glavin claims Apple, as a "public officer," was not permitted to do so.

Neither the sheriff nor Soares could immediately be reached for comment on Saturday.

Commisso, an Executive Chamber employee, has been cooperating with investigators in multiple investigations examining her allegations. She is planning to move forward with the criminal complaint, according to her attorney, Brian D. Premo.

Her allegations were first investigated by the state attorney general's office earlier this year, and sustained in a report issued Aug. 3 by the office of Attorney General Letitia James. Cuomo has accused the attorney general, who announced her candidacy for governor on Friday, of conducting the investigation  which he had requested  for her own political gain. Cuomo announced he would resign from office a week after the report was issued.

Commisso's allegations also are being investigated by the state Assembly's Judiciary Committee, part of an effort that began as an impeachment probe when Cuomo was still in office. He has continued to assert that the 11 women who have accused him of misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to unwanted touching and inappropriate behavior are either lying or misunderstood his intentions, depending on the allegation.

The governor, who has not made any public statements about the investigation since leaving office, said earlier this year that he "never inappropriately touched anybody and I never propositioned anybody and I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to."

On Oct. 11, the Times Union reported that electronic records gathered by investigators for the state Assembly's Judiciary Committee, which is expected to issue a report on their separate investigation that began as an impeachment proceeding, showed Commisso was at the governor's mansion with Cuomo on Dec. 7. Many of those same records were gathered by the sheriff's department using search warrants.

Azzopardi, Cuomo's spokesman, said the records may confirm that Commisso was alone with Cuomo at the mansion that day but do not confirm that the governor groped her  an incident that allegedly took place when they were alone in his second-floor office with the door closed.
ALBANY  Two of New York's most prominent good-government groups find themselves at odds over a proposed constitutional change that would tweak the once-a-decade drawing of the state's political maps.

Both groups wish the state would adopt a nonpartisan, citizen-led redistricting commission similar to those in place in many other states. In the absence of that best-case scenario, Common Cause NY and the state League of Women Voters are split over Proposition 1, the fate of which will be decided in Tuesday's general election.

Common Cause calls the proposed change a step toward a more nonpartisan process. The League believes it should be rejected to better preserve the voice of the political parties who find themselves in the minority.

The two groups were divided in 2014, too, when voters were asked to approve the redistricting process that's currently playing out  and so far doing it with a significant degree of gridlock.

Common Cause reemphasized, following the publication of the story, they are a part of a coalition of at least 50 civic engagement groups that are in favor of the ballot question, including the nonprofit New York Public Interest Group. Common Cause is also on the campaign committee of the registered state political committee "Vote Yes on 1, 3, 4."

The 10-member Independent Redistricting Commission, which is split evenly between the two major parties, has been under increasing criticism in recent weeks after releasing its initial maps  one set supported by its Democratic members, the other by its Republican contingent.

The consequences of the process and who controls it can have sweeping political impact.

The proposed Democratic maps would create 20 congressional districts composed of voters that would have voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election and six districts that would have opted for former President Donald Trump; the Republican map proposes 17 congressional districts that would have voted for Biden and nine that would have voted for Trump. (Both outcomes are based on a Times Union review of proposed districts using maps from the City University of New York Graduate Center.)

Proposition 1 includes eight main parts, most of them touching on matters that are agreed upon by nonpartisan groups.

It would freeze the number of state senators to the current figure of 63. Good government groups say the number  the state started with 50  has been manipulated over the years to benefit the ruling party's redistricting process.

The proposal would also require district lines to be drawn based on counts of all residents, including non-citizens and Native Americans, regardless of the U.S. Census Bureau's count. Watchdogs of the process were previously concerned the Trump administration would take steps to exclude the tally of non-citizens.

The proposal includes counting incarcerated people in their place of last residence and not where they are being held. In the past, counting prisoners as being residents of the districts where they're imprisoned tended to advantage rural districts over urban ones.

The more controversial elements of the plan involve how much politics should be involved in the selection of the executive directors of the redistricting commission. Other changes tweak who needs to vote in the Legislature to approve the maps, and the deadline for the commission to submit their designs.

The proposal would remove political parties from the process of determining the two co-executive directors of the commission. Currently, a Democrat and Republican lead the group.

Instead, it would have the directors selected by a simple majority vote. The Legislature would no longer have the ability to appoint directors if the commission failed to do so, and the directors would no longer need to be represented by different political parties.

The proposal would mean that the 10-person commission would need seven of its members to vote in favor of its plans to approve them. Both the state Assembly and Senate would then each need a majority to approve the maps.

If the commission fails to get seven votes for its maps, it would need to send them to the Legislature for approval from at least 60 percent of its members. Currently, when the Assembly and Senate are controlled by the same party, as they are now, it would take a two-thirds vote to approve. The new rule would lower that threshold, and no longer consider which party rules the Legislature's chambers during the process.

If the commission does not vote on any plans by its deadline, the Legislature would be empowered to propose its own maps.

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause NY, supports the proposal as a means to dial down the political elements of redistricting.

"The public shouldn't have to wonder who's up, who's down in the horse race of drawing lines," Lerner said. "The public should know its citizens draw the lines in a fair and impartial way, based on set criteria."

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The League of Women Voters argue the change would give too much to the ruling party and freeze out the minority, as well as smaller parties.

"The League as an organization is nonpartisan, but that doesn't mean we think there shouldn't be fair representation of all the parties," said Jennifer Wilson, deputy director of state League.

The proposal would also require the commission to submit its plans two months earlier than the current schedule calls for.

The commission currently needs to submit its maps to the Legislature by Jan. 15; if those maps are rejected, it has until Feb. 28 to submit new ones. The Legislature could still reject the maps and draw its own, an outcome that some members of the Democratic leadership have indicated a desire to do after years of seeing Republicans draw their own maps.

The state primaries are held in June.

"That's the thing that gets overlooked here: If this (proposition) doesn't pass, it's just chaos," Lerner said.

Wilson said the League also wants the process done sooner, but views drawing new maps under such a time crunch as unrealistic.

"It's almost as if they're setting them up to fail with that 15-day deadline ... and then with this amendment, it'll be up to the incumbent Legislature to take over the process," Wilson said.

If the change is approved, the commission's deadline would then be Jan. 1; if the maps are rejected, it would then have until Jan. 15 to amend them.

Republicans, who vehemently oppose the ballot question, have indicated they might challenge the maps in court, seeking to put the final approved maps into a judge's hands.

Democratic leaders, who could redraw the lines the commission gives them, are generally in favor of the proposition.

The vote will be closely watched by political candidates left in limbo as to which district they might be running in  especially members of Congress, who will have to contend with a map that includes one less seat in Congress after next year's general election due to New York's accelerating population decline.
[October 30, 2021] CGTN: China puts forward proposals on boosting global development, addressing economic difficulties

BEIJING, Oct. 30, 2021 /CNW/ -- In early October, the International Monetary Fund, in its World Economic Outlook, trimmed its 2021 global growth forecast to 5.9 percent and warned of high uncertainty in economic recovery. Against such a backdrop, the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies gathered in Italy's Rome on Saturday trying to make the multilateral platform work again  just as it did when they held two summits a year in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 global financial meltdown. China, the important growth engine of the global economy, highlighted cooperation, inclusiveness and green development at the 16th Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit. Cooperation against pandemic As the COVID-19 still ravages the world, global vaccine cooperation was prioritized by Chinese President Xi Jinping when delivering his speech via video at the first session of the summit. He proposed a six-point Global Vaccine Cooperation Action Initiative with a focus on vaccine R&D cooperation, fair distribution of vaccines, waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, smooth trade in vaccines, mutual recognition of vaccines and financial support for global vaccine cooperation. Inequality in vaccine distribution is prominent, with low-income countries receiving less than 0.5 percent of the global total and less than 5 percent of Africa's population is fully vaccinated, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO has set two targets to deal with the pandemic: to vaccinate at least 40 percent of the world's population by the end of this year and increase it to 70 percent by mid-2022. "China is ready to work with all parties to increase the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries and make positive contributions to building a global vaccine defense lin," Xi said.



China has provided over 1.6 billion doses of vaccines for over 100 countries and international organizations to date. In total, China will provide over 2 billion doses for the world in the whole year, he added, noting that China is conducting joint vaccine production with 16 countries. Building open world economy

In promoting the economic recovery, the president stressed that the G20 should prioritize development in macro policy coordination, calling for making global development more equitable, effective and inclusive to ensure that no country will be left behind. "Advanced economies should fulfill their pledges on official development assistance and provide more resources for developing countries," Xi said. He also welcomed the active participation of more countries in the Global Development Initiative. Not long ago, he proposed the Global Development Initiative at the United Nations and called on the international community to strengthen cooperation in areas of poverty alleviation, food security, COVID-19 response and vaccines, development financing, climate change and green development, industrialization, digital economy and connectivity. The initiative is highly compatible with the G20's goal and priority of promoting global development, Xi said. Adherence to green development Meanwhile, addressing climate change is high on the global agenda as the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will open on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland. In this context, Xi urged developed countries to lead by example on emissions reduction, saying that countries should fully accommodate the special difficulties and concerns of developing countries, deliver on their commitments of climate financing, and provide technology, capacity-building and other support for developing countries. "This is critically important for the success of the upcoming COP26," he said. Xi has, on many occasions, highlighted China's view on global climate governance and expressed China's firm support for the Paris Agreement, facilitating major progress at the global level. In 2015, Xi delivered a keynote speech at the Paris Conference on Climate Change, making a historic contribution to the conclusion of the Paris Agreement on global climate action after 2020. Earlier this month, he emphasized efforts to achieve China's carbon peak and neutrality targets when addressing the leaders' summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The G20 summit this year was held both online and offline under the Italian Presidency, focusing on the most pressing global challenges, with issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and economic recovery topping the agenda. Created in 1999, the G20 comprising 19 countries plus the European Union, is the main forum for international cooperation on financial and economic issues. The group accounts for almost two-thirds of the world's population, over 80 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product and 75 percent of global trade. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-10-30/China-puts-forward-proposals-on-boosting-global-development-14MDU37P5gk/index.html View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cgtn-china-puts-forward-proposals-on-boosting-global-development-addressing-economic-difficulties-301412393.html SOURCE CGTN

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[October 29, 2021]

Opening of '2021 IoT KOREA ONLINE BUSINESS MEETING' by NIPA

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Korea's National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) announced that it would hold a '2021 IoT KOREA ONLINE BUSINESS MEETING' for 3 days from November 2 to 4, 2021 to support the overseas expansion and exchange of Korean IoT companies.

This event was prepared to connect excellent Korean IoT companies with international business partners as they are having difficulties in developing ales channels in the global markets due to COVID-19. In the event, the Korean companies will have a one-on-one remote meeting with local buyers in Europe and North America for pitching, exploration of new buyers who meet their needs, and so on.







The online business meetings will be participated in by 20 Korean IoT companies that have a competitive edge. They will introduce goods and services in areas related to COVID-19 response and AI/5G, including security, safety, location control, smart factory, and materials.

For more information on participating companies, see '2021 IoT KOREA ONLINE BUSINESS MEETING' on the website (http://www.iotkbiz.com/html/main.php).

Meanwhile, the NIPA is a quasi-governmental agency of Korea that implements a supportive project on information and communication businesses. As an agency specialized in ICT industry innovation, the NIPA is contributing to economic development and the increased quality of lives of Koreans by enhancing the competitiveness of the ICT industry in Korea and fostering its growth engines. For more information, see the website (https://www.nipa.kr/).

SOURCE NIPA(National IT Industry Promotion)
[October 29, 2021] EQUITY ALERT: Rosen Law Firm Encourages Camber Energy, Inc. with Losses in Excess of $100K to Secure Counsel Before Important Deadline in Securities Class Action - CEI

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces the filing of a class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of the securities of Camber Energy, Inc. (NYSE American: CEI) between February 18, 2021 and October 4, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than December 28, 2021. SO WHAT: If you purchased Camber securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Camber class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2170.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than December 28, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class ction settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.



DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Camber overstated the financial and business prospects of Viking Energy Group, Inc. ("Viking") as well as the combined company post-merger; (2) Camber failed to apprise investors of, and/or downplayed, the fact that its acquisition of a controlling interest in Viking would exacerbate the Company's delinquent financial statements and listing obligations with the NYSE; (3) an institutional investor was diluting Camber's shares at a significant rate following the Company's July 12, 2021 update regarding the number of its shares of common stock issued and outstanding; and (4) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the Camber class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2170.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn (News - Alert): https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter (News - Alert): https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook (News - Alert): https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211029005566/en/

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[October 30, 2021]

MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence Concludes the 5-Week, Short Term Course on Artificial Intelligence for Teachers

PUNE, India, Oct. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence (MIT FuSE), MIT Art, Design and Technology University concluded its unique 5-week and 2-credit Short-Term Course on Artificial Intelligence in Education that attempted to upskill teachers from various colleges and schools all over India, with current and future emerging technologies. The Short Term Course on Artificial Intelligence was organized from September 27 to October 29, 2021, in association with MIT School of Education & Research. The course was supported by CloudThat Technologies, InnoWise India, CITIS Educon Ltd, Edupeer & Navabharat. This course was curated keeping in mind the technological up-gradation of teachers to keep up with dynamic classrooms. The Short-Term Course on AI was initiated & curated by the MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence to bridge the gap between classroom teaching and the advancement in online teaching with the use of Artificial Intelligence. MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence right from the inception, has been promoting awareness on adoption of emerging technologies to generate smart & employable technocrats with the aim to uplift, upgrade & upskill the working professionals. Around 10,000+ students, tech enthusiasts & working professionals have been benefited from the initiatives & certifications.

AI is already being used in education, notably in the form of skill development tools and testing systems. As AI educational solutions improve, it is hoped that AI will be able to help bridge gaps in learning and teaching, allowing schools and teachers to accomplish more than ever before. AI can improve efficiency, personalisation, and administrative responsibilities, giving teachers more time and freedom to focus on understanding and adaptability. The objective for AI in education is for them to work together for the best outcome for students by using the best features of machines and teachers. This was the motivation behind curating this exclusive course for teachers.

Teachers from all over India actively participated in the training on various topics covering the basics to advanced concepts in Artificial Intelligence. Eminent Industry veterans like Dr. Raja N. Moorthy, Member Advisory Board Kirusa Inc, Mr. Arpit Yadav, Senior Data Scientist INSOFE, Ms. Rupa Singh, CEO and Founder AI-Beehive, Dr. Dharmendra Singh Rajput, Associate Professor, VIT Vellore, Ms. Pradnya Paithankar, Senior Trainer and Consultant and Mr. Tushar Kute, Researcher and Senior Trainer, MITU Research, conducted the training sessions and engaged practical sessions using Industrial Case Studies which span over 5 weeks.

Distinguished Professor from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Prof. Kannan Moudgalya, Erach and Meheroo Mehta Advanced Education Technology Chair, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest of the Valedictory Function. He shared his initiatives in upskilling students from humble backgrounds. His iconic project, 'Spoken Tutorial' is an educational multimedia platform that has won numerous awards, funded by the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and launched by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD), Government of India. Here, one can self-teach various Free and Open-Source Software. The self-paced, multilingual courses allow anybody with a computer and a desire to learn from anywhere, at any time, and in their preferred language. He believes that everyone deserves equal opportunity to reach the pyramid of success. He congratulated the teachers on their enthusiasm and urge in learning the new emerging technologies. He also commended & appreciated the endeavours by the MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence for upskilling & reskilling initiatives.







Mr. Sushant Gadankush, Founder & MD, InnoWise India, also graced the occasion. He presented an overview on RiYSA Labs, a unique online platform that can provide students with a rich, engaging experience and make it easy for the teachers to monitor their progress using live virtual machine views. He encouraged the education fraternity to understand the balance between educational organisations and technology. He appreciated the teachers' efforts in skilling up for a better teaching-learning experience in the new hi-tech classrooms. Dr. Vinnie Jauhari, Director of Education Advocacy at Microsoft Corporation India Limited sent her best wishes to the participants. She believes in Institutional excellence and setting global benchmarks in higher education, executive education and learning. She congratulated the teachers who have started their journey of upskilling towards emerging technologies.

Shri Tushar Kute shared his experience of training the teachers who had joined from all corners of India. He expressed his gratitude towards all the teachers for being participative, sincere and attentive throughout the training sessions. He said that this training would always be special to him as he had the good fortune of training the ones who were already working on the noble cause of nation-building. Dr. Asawari Bhave - Gudipudi, Dean, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, MIT Art, Design and Technology University has advised the education fraternity to explore Artificial Intelligence as it is an integral part of the lives and careers of the current and future generations. A few teacher participants also shared their remarkable experience from a total newbie in AI to a fairly knowledgeable AI enthusiast. For them, it was a total deviation from the regular classrooms of mathematics or science or languages to some challenging and exciting technology Gyan. From anxiety in the beginning to the accomplishment of becoming reasonably tech-savvy, their stories of an exciting journey said it all.

Prof. Suraj Bhoyar, Project Director, MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence shared the intent and summary of the 5-week, 2-credit course which was initiated exclusively for teachers looking to upskill themselves with Artificial Intelligence. MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence (MIT FuSE) firmly believes in the potential of teachers in building the future of the nation and such training is an attempt to help teachers with their endeavour in keeping up with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020's and guidelines by CBSE to mandate AI Training in Schools, Colleges to spread awareness on emerging technologies for students right from classromms. He promised more such short courses for tech enthusiasts in future. He also reiterated that AI is not a futuristic vision, but rather something that is here today and being integrated with Education and deployed for better student-teacher interactions and go hand in hand with exponential technologies like IoT, Data Analytics, Robotics, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, etc.

The short-term course on Artificial Intelligence was inaugurated on Sept. 27, 2021 with insights & blessings from the Top Global Artificial Intelligence Influencers and industry veterans, Mr. Utpal Chakraborty, TEDx speaker & Former Head of Artificial Intelligence, YES Bank Ltd., Dr. Anoop V.S., Senior Scientist (Research & Training) from IIITMK Kerala and Mr. Arpit Yadav, Senior Data Scientist from INSOFE. The valedictory ceremony concluded with a pledge to build smart and enterprising India from the teacher participants & educators. Prof. Vilas Khedekar, Prof. Ajita Deshmukh, & Dr. Priya Singh have taken efforts to curate the short-term course on AI in Education for teachers. Ms. Smruti Shelke from MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence (MIT FuSE) compered the ceremony along with Prof. Komal Gagare from MIT School of Education & Research.

MIT FuSE has curated exclusive courses keeping up with the current job market requirements of experts in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Enterprise Resource Planning, Robotic Process Automation, Cloud Computing, Cyber Security & Blockchain Technology. Budding tech-enthusiasts can check the MIT FuSE Website for more information on career opportunities in various emerging technologies and guidance on pursuing the same.

About MIT-ADT University

MAEER's Trust which is known to set the strong precedence for the privatization of Engineering education in Maharashtra had taken a first mover's advantage by establishing the Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT-Pune), in 1983, which continues to remain the flagship institute of the group.

MIT Art, Design and Technology University, Pune has been established under the MIT Art, Design and Technology University Act, 2015 (Maharashtra Act No. XXXIX of 2015). The University commenced its operations successfully from 27th June 2016. The University is a self-financed institution and empowered to award the degrees under section 22 of the University Grants Commission act, 1956. The University has a unique blend of Art, Design, and Technology as the core of its academics.

Recently, MIT Art, Design and Technology University, Pune has accomplished the following accolades:

1. Ranked 26th for ARIIA 2020 by the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India.

2. Received 5 Star rating for exemplary performance by the Ministry of Education's Innovation Council, Govt. of India.

3. Conferred with Best University Campus Award by ASSOCHAM, New Delhi

4. Granted with Atal Incubation Centre under ATAL Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Govt. of India

MIT Art, Design and Technology University has been taking a holistic approach towards imparting education wherein the students are being motivated to build a complete winning personality which is "physically fit, intellectually sharp, mentally alert and spiritually elevated". The students are being encouraged to participate in yoga, meditation, physical training, spiritual elevation, communication skills, and other personality development programmes. Currently, we have 7500+ students studying in various schools of higher education under the University viz. Engineering and Technology, Food Technology, Bioengineering, Arts, Design, Marine Engineering, Journalism and Broadcasting, Film and Television, Music (Hindustani Classical Vocal and Instrumental), Teacher Education, and Vedic Sciences.

Prof. Suraj Bhoyar

Project Director

MIT-FuSE, MIT-ADT University, Pune

Mobile No.: 9028483286

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1674545/MIT_Artificial_Intelligence_Course_for_TEACHERS.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1479539/MIT_ADTU_Logo.jpg
Trade talk and frustration have sparked an online war of words.

Sadly, this is another controversy local news has ignored . . .

THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS REBUKE 'TOXIC' FANS AMID LOSING SEASON FRUSTRATION!!!



Special thanks to AWESOME TKC READERS for encouraging us to post a social media beef that has now sparked nationwide controversy.

Check the sitch . . .



The Chiefs players were responding to a list on a fan's Instagram account that ranked the so-called "bad" moves general manager Brett Veach has made over the last few years. Hitchens five-year, $45 million contract made the list . . . Mathieu piled on, saying the Chiefs fan base "might be one of the most toxic fan bases in all of sports."



For the record . . .

This is a DUMB move and possibly one of the most misguided statements we've ever seen from a local pro-sports athlete. We expect an apology soon and if the Chiefs don't get ahead of this PR NIGHTMARE quickly they risk not only what's left of their season but also their local legacy.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .

Chiefs players rip fans on social media: 'Most toxic' fan base in sports Anthony Hitchens and Tyrann Mathieu blasted Kansas City Chiefs fans on social media Friday. The Chiefs players were responding to a list on a fan's Instagram account that ranked the so-called "bad" moves general manager Brett Veach has made over the last few years. Hitchens' five-year, $45 million contract made the list.

The update . . .

VIDEO: Tyrann Mathieu apologizes for social media comments KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) --- Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu apologized Saturday for social media comments directed towards Chiefs fans. Mathieu said the Chiefs fan base "might be one of the most toxic fan bases in all of sports" in response to a comment Chiefs linebacker Anthony Hitchens made on an Instagram post.

More . . .

Tyrann Mathieu walks back comments on Chiefs fan base; Andy Reid offers his thoughts Safety Tyrann Mathieu and linebacker Anthony Hitchens, properly considered the two most important leaders of the Kansas City Chiefs defense, made headlines in Kansas City on Saturday for all the wrong reasons.

Developing . . .
Right now we share a look at local crime reports, police action and voter impact on law enforcement.

Check the www.TonysKansasCity.com collection . . .



2 people charged in connection to homicide investigation where body was found in a plastic tote KANSAS CITY, MO -- Two people are facing charges in connection to a homicide investigation that began when an illegal dumping investigator discovered a dead body hidden inside of a plastic tote. The illegal dumping investigator made the gruesome discovery on Tuesday near 37th and Oakley in Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas City, Kansas, police investigating double shooting KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department is investigating a shooting that left two people injured. According to KCKPD, the shooting happened just after noon on Saturday at the Prairie View at Village West apartments. Upon arrival, officers located two adults with apparent gunshot wounds inside a vehicle on Delaware Parkway, according to a news release.

Wyandotte County Sheriff's deputy injured in crash while responding to shooting call KANSAS CITY, KS (KCTV) --- A Wyandotte County Sheriff's deputy was injured in a crash Saturday afternoon while responding to a double-shooting in Kansas City, KS. The double-shooting was reported in the area 112th and Delaware Parkway in KCK, according to police.

Family of man killed in KCK crime spree mourning loss of husband, father and brother KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The family of the victim in Wednesday's tragic crime spree in Kansas City, Kansas is sharing their loss. Police say 42-year-old Isidro Garcia-Jimenez was shot and killed Wednesday during a crime spree in KCK. Alyssa Leanne Arreola, 22, of Independence, has been charged with his murder as well as attempted murder for stabbing an elderly woman.

Problems at Hickman Mills School District continue after weapon brought to Ruskin High KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Authorities stopped a student outside Ruskin High School who they say tried to bring a weapon to school. A tip alerted authorities who were then able to stop the student when he or she arrived at school.

Kansas intends to suspend and penalize Shawnee daycare following FOX4 investigation SHAWNEE, Kan. - The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports it intends to suspend a Shawnee daycare's license. This comes after reporting over the past month by FOX4's Sherae Honeycutt. Former clients and employees are speaking out about the state's administrative order.

Kansas man sentenced for burning woman to death, injuring officers A Baxter Springs man who killed his neighbor and injured two police officers by setting them on fire has been sentenced to life in prison.Harvey Raymond Ortberg, 53, was sentenced Monday for first-degree murder in the 2017 death of 65-year-old Sharon Horn.

Trial set for woman charged in Missouri road rage killing SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A trial date has been set for a woman accused of intentionally running down another woman with her car in a road rage incident on a Springfield street three years ago. A judge has ordered Elizabeth McKeown, 49, to stand trial on June 6 for first-degree murder in the death of 57-year-old Barbara Foster, television station KYTV reported .

Clay County voters to decide future of sheriff's budget If you want to continue to fund the Clay County Sheriff's Office, sheriff's officials are asking for your vote on Tuesday.Clay County voters will decide whether to renew a 1/8-cent sales tax that provided roughly 25% of the sheriff's office budget in the last fiscal year."That's a fourth everything we do," said Sarah Boyd, a spokeswoman for the Clay County Sheriff's Office.The sales tax has remained in place after it was approved in 1998, then renewed in 2009.

Developing . . .
Once again local news shared PR hype without any context.



There's a great deal of online chatter about a potential wind farm at New KCI without mention of this inconvenient fact . . .



LAST YEAR EVERGY QUIETLY CANCELLED SOLAR ARRAY PLANS NEAR KCI AFTER AN AIRLINE STUDY REVEALED CONCERNS OVER GLARE!!!!



Here's the word . . .

Kansas City utility Evergy has quietly abandoned plans for a large community solar project at the citys new airport after an engineering study concluded the designs would cause glare problems for air traffic controllers.



The utility and the citys aviation department had intended to put the 5-megawatt project atop a six-story parking garage that will be part of a new airport now under construction. They were attracted to the airport and the garage in particular because of their high visibility to people arriving in town.



The Federal Aviation Administration requires developers of airport solar arrays to conduct a glare study to determine whether reflections from the panels are likely to interfere with the vision of pilots or air traffic controllers.



Sadly, those same problems persist.

However, the airport desperately wants to distract from growing concern about corruption and rigged bidding concerns.



And so we share the local news hype via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .
A losing argument serves to alienate far more people than it convinces.



Here's a breakdown of the divisive rhetorical tactic that MOST people find offensive . . .



Rabbi Moti Rieber, executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action, called the comparison between the Holocaust and vaccine mandates "odious and historically ignorant and offensive.



Its absurd to even say it, he said. Nobodys going to be put into prison. Nobodys going to be sent to concentration camps."



The Kansas City area's Jewish Community Relations Bureau put a statement on its Facebook page calling such comparisons sickening displays of ignorance and antisemitism.



"This is Holocaust distortion, and it has no place in the legislature," the statement said.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . .

Vaccine mandates compared to Holocaust in Kansas hearing TOPEKA, Kan. - A Kansas labor leader on Friday compared President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates to the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews, and a top Republican lawmaker seemed to agree with the comparison.

Kansas legislative committee meeting witness compares wearing masks to the Holocaust KANSAS CITY, Mo. - During a Kansas Legislature special committee meeting, a witness compared being required to wear a mask to Jewish people in the Holocaust being forced to wear a yellow Star of David by the Nazis.

Nationwide attention for Kansas . . .

Vaccine mandates compared to Holocaust in Kansas hearing TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas labor leader on Friday compared President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates to the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews, and a top Republican lawmaker seemed to agree with the comparison.

Backstory . . .

Shocking rise of Holocaust Trivializing Yellow Stars Across Europe Anti-Covid measures and anti-vaccination demonstrations have become the hotbeds of Holocaust trivialization and antisemitic conspiracy theories and tropes across Europe. The examples above demonstrate the lack of understanding and empathy for the suffering and trauma of the Jewish people during and beyond the Holocaust.

Protest continues today . . .

Kansas vaccine mandate foes rally, vent anger in hearing TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Hundreds of people opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates rallied Saturday at the Kansas Statehouse, encouraged by Republicans who see President Joe Biden's policies as a spur for higher turnout among conservative voters. The rally kicked off ahead of a rare weekend legislative committee hearing on mandates that affect as many as 100 million Americans.

Developing . . .


This report from yet another local prog blog employs a euphemism rather than simply stating the facts.



Here's a nice way to consider the debate . . .



As Johnson Countys largest city experiences a boom, the use of tax incentives for development projects has become a central issue in the Overland Park mayoral race.



One candidate, former business executive Mike Czinege, has criticized tax incentives, describing them as wasteful and unnecessary. In social media campaign ads, public statements and debate forums, Czinege has criticized Overland Parks use of tax breaks for development projects and pledged to reform the citys tax incentive policy to  as his website states  prioritize taxpayers.



His opponent, Overland Park City Council president Curt Skoog, has voiced support for subsidies for projects that attract employers and jobs to the city.

TKC reality check . . .

The fight isn't with developers, it's with poor people . . .

OVERLAND PARK RESIDENTS ARGUE OVER THE INFLUX OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS!!!

This debate is longstanding and can get ugly when we start talking about demographic shifts.

Nevertheless . . .

What''s disappointing is the conversation is mostly hidden by the local news media . . .



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .
Picture this

Think you know what Meghan Andrews looks like? Have a vision of what the holiday season was like when she was a child?

This is your invitation to take out your drawing kit and get visually involved with "Your Story."

With this magical Christmas tale written by members of the community, we're inviting artists young and old to help us illustrate the story of Meghan trying to find her holiday spirit.

We will include pictures with future chapters of this holiday story in print and online.

Just send full-color illustrations by noon Thursday to Renee Carthew, news editor, at rcarthew@tribdem.com.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Tennessees GOP-controlled General Assembly has signed off on a number of measures undercutting COVID-19 protections, while also begrudgingly backing off on threats to revoke a business' ability to enforce mask mandates.

Lawmakers approved the slate of bills early Saturday while most Tennesseans were asleep, marking the second time the Legislature has recently advanced significant legislation in the middle of the night.

Democratic lawmakers quickly criticized that their Republican lawmakers were willing to concede to concerns raised by influential businesses lobbyists, but not those pointed out by school and health officials alarmed at other measures that advanced during the three-day special legislative session.

On Friday, Gov. Bill Lees office confirmed Ford Motor Co. and other manufacturers had expressed concerns with several of the proposals being discussed during the special session.

Lee had declined lawmakers' requests to call a special session to address the virus, forcing them to collect enough signatures so they can call without the governor. By Saturday, Lee thanked Republicans for taking up certain issues but held off from promising he would sign all of the bills into law.

We are evaluating each piece of legislation to ensure we push back on harmful federal policies and do right by Tennesseans, the governor said on Twitter on Saturday afternoon.

Ultimately, lawmakers agreed to carve out various industries from COVID-19 vaccine mandate bans they want to enforce on many others. Exceptions range from many health care facilities and businesses like entertainment venues as long as they require either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Businesses reliant on federal money could also apply to the state to be exempt from the vaccine mandate ban.

I hope COVID goes away, but its probably going to be around for a little bit, said Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson. This is our attempt as a state and state government to do the best we can to put this awful chapter behind us.

However, government entities  including public schools  would largely be prohibited from implementing mask mandates. Those entities would only be allowed to require masks if they lived in a county with a rolling average 14-day COVID-19 infection rate of at least 1,000 per 100,000 residents  a mark that Tennessee has yet to hit despite its multiple virus surges over the past two years. Under the legislation, private schools could implement mask mandates. Exemptions include state and local jails and airports.

Im glad a lot of businesses have spoken small and large...but I wish this went further to protect children, said Rep. Jason Powell, a Democrat from Nashville.

Ford was particularly in the forefront of the Legislatures mind after the company announced last month that it plans on creating a $5.6 billion campus to build electric F-Series pickup trucks about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Memphis, in rural Haywood County.

The blockbuster announcement was quickly hailed by Lee and other top state leaders as one of the biggest investments in Tennessee history. Within days of the announcement, the Republican governor called a special legislative session so the General Assembly could approve a nearly $900 million incentive package to secure the deal.

Nearly a week after signing off on the economic incentives, Republican lawmakers set their sights on prohibiting a wide range of COVID-19 restrictions, sparking concerns from multiple business groups that such rushed actions could result in struggling business owners enduring costly mitigation as they navigate conflicting state and federal mandates.

Notably, GOP members moved to block President Joe Bidens COVID-19 vaccine mandates for private employers even though those regulations have yet to be issued.

In passing these measures, Tennessee joined a handful of Republican states that have called special legislative sessions seeking to counter vaccine mandates, mask requirements and more after battling the virus outbreak.

Yet in doing so, Tennessee Republicans put them at odds with the business groups who argued that business owners will now be open to crippling litigation costs as they navigate conflicting state and federal mandates.

Labor officials also warned that the federal government could revoke Tennessees authority to oversee its own workplace safety enforcement if the state refuses to comply with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administrations COVID-19 rules. The Biden administration already issued such threats to three Republican-led states earlier this month.

Heres a look at what also passed during the special session:

 The states six independent county health boards  which oversee public health actions in the most populous counties  could not issue their own preventative health orders during a pandemic. Instead, the state health department would be in charge of handing down those decisions.

 School board elections could become partisan under a bill allowing local political parties to choose to nominate school board candidates  thus allowing the candidates to campaign as that partys nominee. The races are currently nonpartisan.

 Republicans slightly trimmed how long a state of emergency could stay in place under a governors executive order from 60 days to 45 days.

 A bill that would allow the Attorney Generals office to petition a court to replace district attorneys who peremptorily and categorically refuse to prosecute certain laws. The governor still needs to sign off on the proposal, even though its unknown how much of a difference lawmakers might make. Tennessees Constitution already says that when a district attorney fails or refuses to attend and prosecute according to law, the court shall have power to appoint an attorney pro tempore. Tennessee Republicans have increasingly pointed to Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk as the reason the bill was needed. Funk has publicly stated he wont prosecute multiple hot-button policies that target abortion rights, transgender people, mask requirements in schools and small marijuana possession cases.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Democrats' decision to drop a proposal for paid family leave from their massive social safety net and climate change package was met with disappointment and irritation by female voters in Virginia, a critical constituency in the tight and closely watched governor's race.

Days before Election Day, many Democratic voters there saw the elimination of the plan as a significant step back from the ambitious agenda Democrats pledged if voters ousted Donald Trump from the White House. Some worried it would leave voters soured on the party, just as Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe was scrambling to get out the vote.

"I dont think that the Biden administration is doing themselves any favors, in terms of actually, you know, making good on the promises that they campaigned on," said Meredith Katz, a Richmond mom of a 4-year-old son and an assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, who cast an early ballot for McAuliffe. A lot of people are upset and frustrated and disappointed because of that.

Its unclear whether the gloomy sentiment will become powerful enough to influence the results of Tuesdays election. Polls indicate the race for governor is deadlocked between McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin, with many Virginians having already cast their votes. And other national issues, including threats to abortion rights, may hold more sway with Democratic voters than the chaotic negotiations on Capitol Hill.

Still, McAuliffe hoped to enter the final weekend of the campaign with a sense of momentum, buoyed by progress in Congress that would remind voters that Democrats can pass bold legislation that improves their lives. Instead, he seems eager to move on from the debate.

I'm hopeful that something's going to get done, McAuliffe said when asked directly about the elimination of the family leave provision from the legislation being considered in Washington. But this race is about Virginia.

Biden originally called for up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, allowing workers to get their wages partially replaced in the event of a new child or to care for a seriously ill loved one. It's among several top Democratic priorities that were eliminated to appease two Democratic senators  Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona  who have insisted on a smaller package. Other dropped proposals include expanding Medicare to cover dental and vision care and having Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices.

The concept of paid family leave is particularly popular. A UChicago Harris/AP-NORC poll conducted in February found that 66% of Americans said they favor government funding for paid family leave, compared with just 16% who said they were opposed.

The president nonetheless described his $1.75 trillion framework as historic, saying it would "fundamentally change the lives of millions of people for the better.

Women in Virginia led the early resistance to Trump when their votes and activism helped propel Democrat Ralph Northam to a nearly 9-point victory over his Republican opponent in the 2017 governors race. In last year's presidential election, 53% of voters in Virginia were women, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of the electorate, and they backed Biden decisively over Trump, 57% to 41%. That helped Biden carry the state by 10 points.

McAuliffe has pledged to pursue legislation at the state level that would guarantee an unspecified amount of paid sick days and family medical leave. Hes also released several ads highlighting his commitment to the issue. Youngkin's campaign has not said where he stands on paid family leave.

The risk for McAuliffe is that paid family leave is a particularly tangible component of a broader piece of legislation that Democratic leaders have often struggled to explain and its elimination could be particularly stinging.

Some prominent activists, including the actor Alyssa Milano, encouraged women to consider other provisions in the package, including free prekindergarten, new child care subsidies and a one-year extension of a child care tax credit that was put in place during the COVID-19 rescue.

Kristina Hagen, the director of the Virginia Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, said the measure would be transformative for Virginia families.

This is why, Hagen said in a statement, with just five days left in the 2021 cycle, we are leaning in on our full support for Terry McAuliffe.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who campaigned with McAuliffe in Norfolk on Friday, spoke about the importance of both elder care and child care and electing a governor who would prioritize those issues.

If you care how workers are doing and working people and you understand that when 2 million women had to leave the workforce, a large part of it had to do with an inability to afford or have access to childcare, who is governor matters, she told the crowd.

Several women interviewed in Virginia on Thursday recalled the informal arrangements and individual kindness of bosses they had to rely on to care for their families without losing their jobs.

Katz, the Virginia Commonwealth University professor, said she was able to spend about six months at home with her son after his birth thanks to an accommodating" department chair and the ability to do some teaching remotely.

Ciarra Smith, a 35-year-old Richmond resident, recently returned to work after having her third child and said time away from work was critical for her and the baby. Her leave was paid for through her job with the state.

For them to even consider removing that (from the legislation), thats going to jeopardize not only the mothers health, but also those developmental bonds with the baby, she said. Then theyre going to be forced with, how do I maintain and survive and still care for my child? And unfortunately, women are always placed in that position.

Eucharia Jackson, a 58-year-old who attended a McAuliffe campaign event at a Richmond church on Thursday, said she was able to cobble together at least three months of leave after the births of her two children because her employer was flexible.

She called paid leave absolutely necessary for new parents and said shes seeing women increasingly disillusioned and open to Republican arguments, animated in particular by the debate over the curriculum being taught in schools.

It certainly would be good to have some good news coming from Washington, she said.

___

Sloan reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Emily Swanson and Hannah Fingerhut in Washington contributed to this report.
It's just over two weeks to go to the Tobago House of Assembly elections.
The share of coal imports in November in overall coal consumption will increase against October, while thermal generation will continue to mostly be fed by Ukrainian-produced fuel.

Thats according to First Deputy Minister for Energy, Yuriy Vlasenko, Ukrinform reports with reference to the ministrys press service.

"Out thermal generation is fed mainly by Ukrainian coal. In October, the thermal power plants received more than 1.1 million tonnes of domestic coal. This is 85% of the total supply," Vlasenko said.

Next month the government intends to increase the supply of domestic coal to 1.4 million tonnes.

Read also: Government expects increase in coal production

"The share of imports will also increase due to the diversification of coal supply sources. Ukrainian companies have already sealed contracts for coal supplies in November from Poland, Kazakhstan, and South Africa. The state-owned Centerenergo plans to import about 200,000 tonnes of coal from the said countries. Negotiations are also underway with suppliers from the United States of America," the first deputy minister stressed.

The Ministry of Energy has been monitoring coal supplies and utilization at thermal power plants on a daily basis, the statement said.

As of October 29, a total of 35 thermal power units and 11 nuclear power units operated across Ukraine. Coal is delivered to thermal power plants rhythmically enough to ensure uninterrupted generation.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Russia will suspend thermal coal supplies to Ukraine from November 1, 2021.

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On October 27-28, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Presidents Office, Andrii Sybiha, visited the UN Headquarters in New York. There he held talks with the organization's officials, including Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Peacebuilding Rosemary DiCarlo and Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris. It was on these days that draft resolutions on the human rights situation of the occupied Crimea, as well as the militarization of the peninsula and parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, were submitted to the General Assembly.

An Ukrinform correspondent in New York asked Mr. Sybiha a few questions in this regard.

- You have just stepped out of the UN headquarters. What did you discuss there?

- Indeed, I had meetings where I discussed, among other things, the two resolutions on Crimea, submitted to the General Assembly earlier today. This is primarily about an updated  I will say more  strengthened resolution on the human rights situation of the occupied Crimea.

In the UN, we also discussed assistance in the release of Ukrainian citizens illegally held by Russia, whose list had previously been handed over to the secretary-general. We raised the issue of recent arrests in Crimea, including that of Nariman Dzhelal, Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Tatar People's Mejlis, whom the occupation authorities detained as he returned home shortly after he participated in the Crimea Platform summit (in Kyiv - ed.). The possibility of the UN secretary general visiting Ukraine was also discussed.

- When could this happen?

- Well, it would be weird if you didn't ask

When the time comes and such a visit is filled with substantive content, which is now being worked on by both our Permanent Mission to the UN and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 I also briefed my interlocutors on the latest developments in eastern Ukraine and told them about the challenges facing our country in connection with the completion of Nord Stream 2. I saw full understanding of this being a real security challenge  not only for Ukraine, but for the whole region.

- Will the topic of the Crimea Platform be included in the resolution on the human rights situation of the occupied Crimea?

- Yes, it definitely will. This enhanced resolution, tabled in the General Assembly, contains provisions on the Crimea Platform.

- So we can say that, if it is adopted, it will be the first UN document that will officially refer to the Crimea Platform, is that correct?

- Yes, the first official document.

Besides, the resolution will contain additional provisions on Crimean Tatars as an indigenous people of Ukraine.

- As per the law on indigenous peoples?

- Thats right It will also condemn the census by the Russian authorities and the involvement of young people in military exercises in the occupied territories.

We also discussed the outcome of the first ladies' summit held in Kyiv this August. One of the documents adopted following the summit was a statement on the protection of women and girls rights in conflict zones. It testified to how quickly the Ukrainian side responded to the challenges related to the evacuation from Afghanistan. Our country evacuated more than 700 people, and among those rescued was the family of Sahra Karimi, an acclaimed Afghan filmmaker, who was invited to the Kyiv summit held in Kyiv at the time, where she delivered her address. The adoption of the relevant statement was an immediate reaction to this all.

- Apart from the UN, what other meetings did you have here?

- I was honored to visit the major Ukrainian community centers in New York. This gave me the opportunity to see once again the enormous potential and capabilities of these highly organized associations of Ukrainians. In particular, in New York I visited the Ukrainian Institute of America, the Ukrainian Museum, while in New Jersey I went to a pantheon of Ukraines prominent historical figures.

- As we know, the Ukraine-U.S. Strategic Partnership Commission will soon convene after a long break, where the updated Charter on Strategic Partnership will be signed. Could you please specify when exactly this Commission will meet and what significant changes will the document envisage?

- The Commission will meet in the first half of November. We are currently in the active stage of drafting the content for this meeting, where the key issue, of course, will be the adoption of an updated Charter on Strategic Partnership. The process of coordinating the parties positions is now underway.

This is what the presidents of Ukraine and the United States have agreed on during Volodymyr Zelensky's recent visit to Washington, as was reported earlier. I believe this was a milestone visit as it really launched new opportunities on our bilateral agenda, with a focus on defense and security. This was continued by the Kyiv visit of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. We are now also actively working on filling the strategic defense agreement that was signed during the Ukrainian presidents visit to the United States.

It should be recalled that a strategic energy dialogue was launched during that trip. The joint statement has set out the position of both parties on trade liberalization. In practice, this means new opportunities as regards gaining access to the U.S. markets and expanding the range of Ukrainian goods represented there. We also talked cooperation in nuclear energy, countering Nord Stream 2, as well as cooperation in space. By the way, Volodymyr Zelensky was the first president of Ukraine to visit the NASA headquarters, where important talks were held on Ukraine's possible participation in space projects.

In short, everything is going according to plan, while the Commission will meet real soon.

- The U.S. administration has declared that Nord Stream 2 must not become the Kremlin's new weapon, but we see that it has already become one. What steps do we expect from our American partners to counter Moscows energy blackmail?

- Yes, were already seeing the practical use of Nord Stream 2 as a geopolitical weapon.

Were in constant contact with both the American and German sides. These countries have appointed their special envoys for the issue. Ukraine has initiated consultations with the European Union on the threats and risks, related to Nord Stream 2, for the energy security of the European continent. According to a decree of the president of Ukraine, a relevant group was set up to develop tools  ranging from legal to political ones  to counter the said project.

- Russia has been avoiding meetings in the Normandy format, including at the level of foreign ministers. How can their position be influenced? Is it possible to engage American partners in the negotiation process, as President Zelensky has repeatedly suggested?

- We are not the party thats been blocking the peace process. We have a common position with Germany and France on the so-called cluster approach. That is, its a combination of different approaches, different formats aimed to resolve the situation.

- As you have already mentioned, Volodymyr Zelensky handed over the lists of about 450 prisoners to both U.S. President Joe Biden and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. What kind of support can we count on?

- We hope all of our partners will support us in exerting pressure on Russia, so that all illegally held citizens return to their homeland ... The issue is raised at all meetings and at all levels. To date, there has been no progress in this regard. Therefore, we continue to actively work with our partners to achieve the desired result.

Volodymyr Ilchenko, New York

Photo by author
The United States Embassy in Ukraine has called on both sides of the conflict in the east of the country to implement the ceasefire agreement, which the Russian occupation forces have repeatedly violated.

Thats according to a statement the diplomats posted on Facebook Friday, October 29, Ukrinform reports.

" We urge both sides in the Donbas conflict to abide by the terms of the ceasefire agreement, but lets be clear  The Russia-led side has repeatedly deployed howitzer artillery and drones against Ukrainian forces, in direct violation of the enhanced measures agreed last year, and recently killed a Ukrainian soldier," the statement reads.

U.S. diplomats have emphasized that Russia's official rhetoric that Ukraine is aggravating the situation is not only misleading, but also escalating tensions.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on October 26, the Ukrainian Army for the first time deployed its Bayraktar TB2 reconnaissance and strike UAV to hit an enemy target in the Joint Forces Operation zone.

A spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry said that Berlin was "very concerned" about the drone use by Ukraine in response to the enemy shelling that killed a Ukrainian soldier.

On October 28, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said German partners should first and foremost express concern over the use by Russian occupation forces of howitzers proscribed by the Minsk agreements, rather than about Ukraine exercising its right to self-defense, using UAVs.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 28 also expressed concern over Ukraines first-time use of the Bayraktar drone.

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has expressed protest over the ruling of Russias Southern District Military Court to convict four Ukrainian nationals in the so-called "Third Bakhchisaray-based Hizb ut-Tahrir group."

Thats according to the MFA Ukraines press service Ukrinform reports.

Russias FSB has illegally detained these citizens in the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea and, accusing them under Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (setting up a terrorist organization.)

Also in violation of international law, they were unlawfully moved to the Russian territory, the city of Rostov-on-Don.

"By today's so-called sentencing for imprisonment of Seitumer Seitumerov (for 17 years), Osman Seitumerov (14 years), Amet Suleymanov (12 years), and Rustem Seitmemetov (13 years) on trumped-up charges, the Russian Federation has once again demonstrated its policy of repression and oppression, aimed to intimidate and suppress any dissenting civil movements and initiatives in the temporarily occupied Crimea, the comment reads.

Ukrainian diplomats say Russia must overturn the court ruling and immediately release Seitumer Seitumerov, Osman Seitumerov, Rustem Seitmetemov, and Amet Suleymanov, as well as all other illegally held Ukrainian citizens.

"We call on the international community to condemn Russia's illegal prosecution of dissent and the systematic abuse of anti-terrorism legislation as regards Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars in Crimea, to increase diplomatic pressure on Russia to release all illegally held Ukrainian citizens, and to continue protecting the rights and freedoms of the residents of the Crimean peninsula, including within the framework of the Crimea Platform," says the comment.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on October 29, a Russian court sentenced four members of the "third Bakhchisaray group" to 12 to 17 years in a maximum-security penal colony.

A rally in support of those targeted in the case was held outside the court premises in occupied Crimeas Simferopol, where Russian security forces detained 30 of its participants. First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar said two of those apprehended are journalists.

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The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and all Ukraine, met at his residence with the Vice President of the European Commission for the Promotion of the European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas.

Thats according to the OCU press service.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the religious situation and protection of religious freedom, European integration processes in Ukraine, and the experience and prospects of interaction between the religious organizations and the European institutions, the report reads.

Schinas invited the head of the OCU to further cooperation, noting that religious communities are an integral part of the European space.

Read also: Zelensky congratulates Ecumenical Patriarch on 30th anniversary of enthronement

Deputy chief of the OCUs External Church Relations Department, Archbishop Yevstratiy of Chernihiv and Nizhyn has also attended the talks.

Margaritis Schinas also met with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations officials, the Spiritual Front of Ukraine reports.

Ukraines religious leaders voiced support for the countrys path to joining the European Community, noting the importance of preserving European spiritual roots. The parties also discussed certain issues of assistance to those suffering from lawlessness, including in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

A common will was expressed to continue cooperation between the Council, as an institution of Ukrainian civil society, and the institutions of the European Union.

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A rally titled "Freedom to Kremlins Political Prisoners" was held in the Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square in Kyiv.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, several dozen activists who came to support the Kremlin's political prisoners took part in the event.

Before the rally, anthems of Ukraine and the Crimean Tatar people were played. After that, the participants delivered their speeches.

Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Refat Chubarov, stressed that "in recent months, not a day has passed in Crimea that the Crimean Tatars homes not been invaded and searched, people being detained, tried, and illegally convicted."

In September and October 2021 alone, about ten such raids took place. More than 100 of our compatriots who rallied outside the Russian FSB offices in the occupied Crimea or those who rallied outside the courts to support their compatriots who had been illegally tried, were detained and prosecuted in their courts, Chubarov said.

He stressed that "the occupiers are trying to crush the indigenous Crimean Tatar people and ethnic Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied Crimea, so that no one dares to say a word in defense of those who are being repressed, so that no one speaks up in support of anyone."

"Here, in this square, no one, including me, is able to recall all the names of political prisoners as there are already 130 of them!Chubarov said.

According to the official, the protesters gathered to formulate joint actions.

"We can keep talking about condemning, demanding something from the Russian Federation, but all this has been ineffective. We must try to find forms of pressure on our own state, on our international partners, who are able to take measures that will force Russia to release political prisoners of the Kremlin, as well as to adhere to and return to international law," Chubarov said.

Former Russian prisoners of war, including MP Akhtem Chiygoz, Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, and researcher Ihor Kozlovsky, also spoke in support of the Kremlins political prisoners.

Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Anton Korynevych, said the attention to the citizens of Ukraine illegally detained by the Russian Federation on the part of the government and the international community should be as high as possible.

"We have to praise their contribution, their role in overcoming Russian aggression and fighting this absolutely terrible enemy, which we all can and must eventually tackle. Ukraine will always make every effort to ensure that all our political prisoners held by the Kremlin, all our citizens, eventually return home, to their families, or anywhere where they will be safe, Korynevych stressed.

At the same time, he added that, along with Ukraines efforts in the international arena, "we must also form an appropriate base within the state so that all detainees and their families have the right and opportunity to receive appropriate legal and social protection."

Speakers mentioned Kremlin political prisoners, including Deputy Head of the Crimean Tatar People's Mejlis, Nariman Dzhelyal.

On the bridge over Institutska Street, the organizers unfurled a banner reading "#FreeNariman Freedom to Kremlins Political Prisoners" and handed out to the attendees the lists with the names of illegally held citizens of Ukraine.

Former Kremlin prisoners Ilmi Umerov, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Volodymyr Balukh, Mykola Semena, members of the Crimean Tatar People's Mejlis, representatives of human rights organizations, and public figures also attended the rally.
A Honduran mother holds her three-year-old daughter at a makeshift shelter for asylum-seekers in Tijuana, northern Mexico.  UNHCR/Tim Gaynor

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the U.S. governments most recent step to end the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program.

UNHCR has continuously expressed its serious concerns about this program and its impact on asylum-seekers' safety and security and their due process rights.

We stand ready to work with all relevant authorities to ensure border and asylum measures and policies are in accordance with international refugee and human rights law.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
Yahya Koronio Kona solemnly steers his dugout canoe through the vast swathes of water hyacinth that cover the surface of Lake Mahmouda in southern Mauritania. As he comes ashore, the Malian fisherman looks with disappointment at the days catch  some 20 mudfish squirming on the floor of his canoe.

I waited two days and this is all I got. Its barely enough to sell at the market, says the 42-year-old, poking at the fish.

While he hoped for more, he is not surprised by the small catch. He blames it on the delayed rains and the increasingly hot temperatures, which regularly rise to 50C.

Yahya first felt the effect of climate change on his livelihood in 2013 after Malis Lake Faguibine, the closest lake to his hometown of Goundam, finally dried up after it started to evaporate in the 1970s due to prolonged periods of drought. He moved to another town, where tensions arose between the local communities and the newcomers as the demand for limited resources in a rapidly deteriorating environment became unsustainable.

Im worried the lake will dry out soon. I dont know what we will do.

Armed attacks and lack of protection in the area forced him to move further south but the situation there was too volatile and he eventually crossed into Mauritania in 2019, settling by the shores of the lake.

Fishing is all I know. It is what I was taught since I was a young boy, said the father of four.

Thousands of Malians have abandoned their land and homes as lakes such as Faguibine, Kamangou and Gouber have dried up, leaving them unable to farm, fish or keep livestock. Combined with ongoing insecurity in the country  and the larger Sahel region  thousands of Malians have crossed the border into Mauritania and other neighbouring countries, including Niger and Burkina Faso.

While Yahya had hoped for better prospects on the Mauritanian side, he now faces a worryingly similar situation: Lake Mahmouda is steadily drying up and shrinking due to an increasingly harsh climate.

Malian fisherman, Yahya Koronio Kona, dries fish he has caught in Lake Mahmouda in Mauritania.  UNHCR/Colin Delfosse

Malian fisherman Yahya Koronio Kona, prepares his nets with his family members at his home near Lake Mahmouda in Mauritania.  UNHCR/Colin Delfosse

Malian fisherman Yahya Koronio Kona inspects the fish he's caught in Lake Mahmouda in Mauritania.  UNHCR/Colin Delfosse

Malian fisherman Yahya Koronio Kona fishes in the waters of Lake Mahmouda in Mauritania.  UNHCR/Colin Delfosse

A Fulani herdsman leads his cattle from Lake Mahmouda's receding waters in Mauritania.  UNHCR/Colin Delfosse

An aerial short of Lake Mahmouda in Mauritania, showing how the water levels have receded.  UNHCR/Colin Delfosse

About 90 per cent of Mauritanias territory lies in the Sahara Desert, making it particularly vulnerable to the effects of desertification caused by lengthy periods of drought and decreasing rainfall. This years rainy season, which normally begins in June and goes on until September, brought very little rain.

Im worried the lake will dry out if it doesnt rain soon. I dont know what we will do, said Yahya.

His fellow Malians  about 1,200 live by the lake  agree that things will only get worse as more of their compatriots arrive and pressure grows on already scarce resources, which they share with the mostly nomadic Mauritanian communities that keep large herds of livestock near the lake.

Yahafzou Ould Haiballa, 57, a Mauritanian herder from the nearby village of Suleyman, often passes through the fishing village as he takes his cattle to pasture and drink from the lake. Born and raised here, he has seen the population grow, especially since 2015 when the first group of Malian fishermen arrived.

I have lived here all my life and I have never seen the situation this bad, he said.

He adds that the local community has had cordial relations with the Malians who have arrived and gradually settled by the lakes shores over the years.

We have lived with the Malians for a long time and have become like brothers, he said. I dont usually eat fish because it is not our culture, but I have since tried to!

Like Yahya, Yahafzou worries about the changing climate.

Things will get worse and this lake might disappear if the rains dont come, he said.

As the climate crisis worsens and more Malians cross into the country, the need to secure their livelihoods for their wellbeing and their continued stay in the country in a dignified and sustainable manner is critical.

Time is running out and we need to act now.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is working with the local authorities to address their predicament and that of their hosts. It plans to begin registration of Malian arrivals in this area and facilitate access to basic services, such as health, education and protection for the most vulnerable, many of whom are women and children.

Around 80 per cent of the worlds displaced people originate from countries on the frontlines of the climate emergency. As the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) gets underway in Glasgow, UNHCR is warning that in places like Mauritania and around the world, the human cost of the climate crisis is already being felt, driving displacement and making life harder for those already forced to flee.

Beating the heat: The Climate Crisis is a Human Crisis (Arnold Temple, Videographer/ David Alexander, Producer/ Editor )

Ahead of COP26, UNHCRs Special Advisor on Climate Action, Andrew Harper, went to Mauritania and visited Lake Mahmouda and Mbera refugee camp, located some 60 kilometers from the border with Mali.

During his visit, refugees, Mauritanians and local authorities told him how climate change has transformed this region, pushing already vulnerable communities into poverty and food insecurity.

The people living around the lake have not only fled conflict in their country but also a climate that is becoming increasingly hostile in its impact  where the lakes in which they used to fish have now disappeared, he said. They know better than anyone that time is running out, and we need to act now.

Harper called on world leaders to help communities and governments facing the worst impacts of climate change who have contributed the least to the crisis and have the least capacity to adapt, or risk further climate-driven conflict and displacement.

I urge the more developed states to find solutions and much needed funds for governments and communities being unfairly impacted by the climate crisis, he said, adding, We need to also invest in peace and not wait for conflict to break out.

He also appealed for concerted efforts to make rapid progress on the Great Green Wall  a reforestation initiative that aims to grow an 8,000-kilometre-long barrier to combat environmental degradation and drought in the Sahel  which will also pass through the Lake Mahmouda area.

This project needs to be activated now, there is no time to waste, he said. We need to build the capacities in the respective ministries and engage with the communities in which the Great Green Wall will pass through.

As long as we have peace and food, we are happy.

By scaling up investments in areas such as tree nurseries and renewable energy use, populations that currently derive income from the destruction of the fragile tree cover will have a more dignified and sustainable future due to investments in the preservation of fragile environments that are under threat, Harper added.

For a moment, Yahyas small fishing village comes alive as crates of fish from the days catch are loaded onto a small truck that will make its way to the local markets and possibly, across the border to Mali. Whatever proceeds are made will be a source of short-term relief for the villagers.

Yahya misses his life back home where before the drought, he had a steady stream of income from fishing, his small farm, and, most importantly, peace.

For now, he just wants to focus on building a more certain future.

I pray that it rains soon so we can continue fishing and take care of our families, he said. As long as we have peace and food, we are happy.

To donate to UNHCR's climate action, please click here.
Author and Nobel Prize in literature winner Toni Morrison receives the Honor Medal of The City of Paris (Grand Vermeil) at Mairie de Paris on Nov. 4, 2010, in Paris. (Francois Durand/Getty Images/TNS)
Cheryl Edwards (right) was discovered abandoned as a newborn under a dresser in a vacant apartment of a West Philly rowhouse on Aug. 14, 1967. After a story in The Inquirer and Daily News was published relatives of her biological family and others stepped forward. Here, she hugs LaKeisha Heller as they meet for the first time earlier this month. (Charles Fox/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS)
Joel Gottfried in his home. Gottfried wrote a book, "Who's My Daddy," talking about his experience finding out his father was not his biological father. It happened three years ago and took him three months to find out who his biological father is. (Tyger Williams/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS)
Mrs. Evelyn Holland Reddick Dixon, 81, passed away on Nov. 14, 2021. A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021, at 11 a.m. in the Williams Funeral Home Chapel in Milledgeville. A burial service will be held at 2 p.m. in the Alligood Cemetery in Laurens County. The family wil
Lincoln, Nebraska  Center for Agriculture Profitability housed in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska  Lincoln hosted a webinar series on October 12 and 14 addressing the current state and potential growth of the meat processing industry.

Due to COVID-19, recent market disruptions to the meat processing industry have led the public and livestock producers to be concerned about the size and consolidation of meat processing plants. The purpose of these webinars is to address the following:

Financial and legal implications of building or renovating a meat processing plant

Show how and where consolidation has occurred in the meat and poultry processing industry

Provide information on current grant opportunities for new and existing meat processing plants

Explain what the University of Nebraska  Lincoln is doing to increase meat processing training and skills

The webinars were presented by Elliott Dennis, Assistant Professor and Extension Livestock Economist, UNL Agricultural Economics; Charlie McPherson, Nebraska Business Development Center Director, Dave Aiken, Professor and Extension Agricultural and Water Law Specialist, UNL Agricultural Economics, Greg Ibach, Under Secretary in Residence, IANR; and Gary Sullivan, Associate Professor of Meat Science.

There have been a lot of conversation over the last 18 months about the state of the meat industry  do we have enough capacity, what is the trade off between efficient and resilient plants, and whether there is a need to build more plants. The hope of these webinars was to provide a historical review of meat processing, analyze current plant building costs and benefits, and to explain the grant opportunities available to help fund these expansions in processing, said Elliott Dennis.

To view the recorded webinars:

Developing A Meat Processing Plant: Financial and Legal Issues (Oct. 12, 2021 Webinar): CLICK HERE

Grant Opportunities for New and Existing Meat Processing Plants (Oct. 14, 2021 Webinar): CLICK HERE

Organizers want the public to know there are resources out there for individuals looking to start a small meat processing facility in Nebraska.

Nebraska Business Development Center is able to assist anyone looking to start a meat processing facility from startup, expansion, purchasing and exiting. We also help with the business planning process, financial forecasting, and loan packaging. We hope individuals will reach out and take advantage of these resources, said Charlie McPherson.

For more information or to get notified of any upcoming webinars on this topic, contact Elliott Dennis: 402-472-2164 or elliott.dennis@unl.edu. For information on how NBDC can assist your meat processing facility, contact Charlie McPherson: 308-340-0422 or cmcpherson@unomaha.edu.

About:

The interdisciplinary Center for Agricultural Profitability is based in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It facilitates faculty research, conducts extension outreach related to agricultural profitability and farm and ranch management and trains undergraduate and graduate students  all to support informed decision-making in agriculture. The Center for Ag Profitability will build on strengths present in the universitys Department of Agricultural Economics through collaboration with other research and education units within IANR and the University of Nebraska system. It aims to serve agricultural producers, agribusiness professionals and the economy in Nebraska and beyond. For more information, visit https://cap.unl.edu/.
Bamako, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2021 ) :Seven Malian soldiers were killed in two separate attacks on Saturday in the centre and southwest of the conflict-ridden Sahel state, the army said.

Five soldiers were killed when their pick-up truck hit a road bomb in central Mali, the military said in a statement, while at least two soldiers were killed in another attack in the southwest, which also left three wounded.
Moscow, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Oct, 2021 ) :Moldova and Russian state energy giant Gazprom said Friday they had reached a deal to extend by five years a deal to supply gas to the ex-Soviet country after a bitter price dispute.

"The parties reached an agreement on the price formula, the audit of the Moldova-Gaz debt and on subsequent dialogue for repayments," Moldovan foreign ministry spokesman Daniel Voda said in a statement.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Riyadh, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Oct, 2021 ) :Saudi Arabia said Friday it was recalling its ambassador to Lebanon and giving Beirut's envoy 48 hours to leave Riyadh, after "insulting" remarks made by a Lebanese minister on the Yemen war.

The kingdom ordered the "recall of the ambassador in Lebanon for consultations, and the departure of Lebanon's ambassador to the kingdom within 48 hours, and decided to halt all Lebanese imports", over the "insulting" remarks made this week by Lebanon's information minister, the foreign ministry said.
Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Oct, 2021 ) :Toxic protein clusters thought responsible for the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease reach different regions of the brain early and then accumulate over the course of decades, according to a new study Friday.

The research, published in Science Advances, is the first to use human data to quantify the speed of the molecular processes leading to the neurodegenerative condition, and could eventually have important implications for how scientists design treatments.

It also upends a long-held theory that said Alzheimer's progression was mainly caused by clusters spreading between different brain regions in a "chain reaction," as has been found in mice and was thought true of people too.

"Two things came together that really made this work possible," Georg Meisl, a chemist at the University of Cambridge and the paper's lead author told AFP.

"One is very detailed data from PET (scans) and various different datasets we've put together, and the other thing is the mathematical models we've been developing over the past ten years." Specifically, the researchers used close to 400 post-mortem brain samples from Alzheimer's as well as 100 positron emission tomography scans from people living with the disease to track the aggregation of tau, one of two key proteins implicated in the condition.

In Alzheimer's disease, tau and another protein called amyloid-beta build up into tangles and plaques -- known together as aggregates -- that cause brain cells to die and lead to brain shrinkage.

This in turn results in memory loss, personality changes and inability to carry out daily functions associated with the condition, which affects 44 million people globally.

- Exponential growth - Past research, mainly performed on animals, suggested the aggregates form in one region then spread throughout the brain, much like how cancer spreads.

The new study suggests that while such spread may occur, it's not in fact the main driver of disease progression.

"Once we have these seeds, little bits of aggregate throughout the brain, they just multiply and that process controls the speed," said Meisl.

An analogy from the Covid pandemic is how travel bans between nations generally proved ineffective at stopping the spread of the virus, because it was already replicating within the countries trying to keep it out.

The team was also able to determine the time it takes the aggregates to double in number -- roughly five years. That is an "encouraging" figure, said Meisl, because it shows the brain's neurons already are good at countering aggregates.

"Maybe if we can make it just a tiny bit better we can significantly delay the onset of serious disease." Alzheimer's disease is classified according to what are known as "Braak stages," and the team found it took around 35 years to progress from stage three, when mild symptoms first become apparent, to stage six, the most advanced.

If aggregates roughly double over five years, then over 35 years they would have risen 128-fold. This exponential growth "explains why it takes so long to develop and then people tend to get worse quite quickly," said Meisl.

The team next intends to investigate frontotemporal dementia and traumatic brain injury using the same methods.

"Tau is a culprit protein in a number of different dementias, and it would make sense to explore how this protein spreads in diseases like frontotemporal dementia," Sara Imarisio, of Alzheimer's Research UK, said in a statement.

"Hopefully this study and others like it will help focus the development of future treatments that target tau, so (they) have a better chance of slowing the disease processes themselves and have benefit for people with dementia."
(@FahadShabbir)

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2021) Afghanistan is currently experiencing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with the health system and social services at a breaking point, UNICEF's representative in Afghanistan Salam Al-Janabi told Sputnik.

"Afghanistan now is amongst the world's worst crises and the needs are growing by the day," Al-Janabi said. "In addition to the growing malnutrition crisis and food insecurity, the health system and social services are on the brink of collapse."

Early this year, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was already one of the worst in the world, with nearly half of the country's population - including some 10 million children - having been in need of humanitarian aid, the UNICEF representative said.

"Due to the recent events and the economic shocks the country has been experiencing, more families are pushed to the brink," he said. "More than half of Afghanistan's population is projected to face acute hunger as humanitarian needs grow to record levels. As food insecurity spikes in Afghanistan, so does severe acute malnutrition amongst children under five years old."

Without immediate action, an estimated 1 million children are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the course of this year, and could die, the representative warned.

"With winter quickly approaching, amidst drought, measles and acute watery diarrhea outbreaks millions of children are on borrowed time," Al-Janabi said.

"UNICEF anticipates that the humanitarian needs of children and women will increase over the coming months amidst a severe drought and consequent water scarcity, an uncertain security environment, continued displacement, the devastating socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the onset of winter."

UNICEF underscored that without urgent action, the humanitarian situation will continue to deteriorate in 2022. The representative noted that the current humanitarian funding requirement for Afghanistan stands at $192 million.

"This figure will certainly increase as the needs continue to grow. Of the $192 million UNICEF's donors have funded around 70% of the needed support," Al-Janabi said. "We urge donors to maintain their humanitarian and development investments in Afghanistan so that the hard-fought gains over the past decades are not lost."

The Taliban (banned in Russia as a terrorist group) came to power in Afghanistan in mid-August, causing the US-backed government to collapse. The group then set up a new government, led by Mohammad Hasan Akhund, who served as the foreign minister during the previous Taliban rule and has been under UN sanctions since 2001.
(@FahadShabbir)

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2021) Ecuadorian police and prosecution seized 1.5 tons of cocaine meant for New Zealand from a warehouse in Guayas province in a joint operation.

"One thousand five hundred and forty-six kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride, five vehicles, a container and 20 arrests are the results of the operation carried out in Pascuales," the Ecuadorian police said on Twitter.

The busted warehouse was located near a highway in Guayas province, home to Ecuador's main port, Guayaquil. The drugs were supposed to be sent to New Zealand hidden in a banana shipment, the prosecution said.

Ecuador faces a severe drug trafficking problem, which has only grown over the recent years. Before, international criminal gangs used the country as a middle point for cocaine shipments from Peru and Colombia, but now, small laboratories started to pop up in the north of Ecuador.

Domestic consumption and distribution of drugs has also increased.

In 2021, Ecuadorian authorities, with the support of the United States, have seized record 146 tons of cocaine, compared to 120 tons a year prior, and 79 tons in 2019.

Earlier in the week, authorities installed a new radar in the province of Manabi to track illegal aircraft, and yet another will be installed in the coastal province of Santa Elena soon. President Guillermo Lasso proposed to the parliament a bill that will allow to shoot down planes that do not obey orders from the air force in order to combat drug trafficking.
As nearly 200 nations gather in Glasgow for UN climate talks starting Sunday all eyes are on Rome, where a G20 summit ending the same day will signal how committed the world's major economies are to curbing global warming

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Oct, 2021 ) :As nearly 200 nations gather in Glasgow for UN climate talks starting Sunday all eyes are on Rome, where a G20 summit ending the same day will signal how committed the world's major economies are to curbing global warming.

Never has climate change figured so prominently on the G20 agenda, and never have leaders hopped straight from a G20 to a climate summit: more than 120 heads of state and government are expected at the outset of COP26 in Scotland.

The G20 -- including China, the US, India, the EU and Russia -- accounts for 80 percent of global GDP and nearly 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

"The G20 is going to be very important for COP26," said Helen Mountford, VP for climate and economics at the World Resources Institute.

"The idea is to get very clear and strong pressure signals from the leaders on what they plan to do, both individually and collectively," she told AFP.

Climate negotiators, CEOs, policy wonks and NGOs at the 13-day climate talks will parse the G20 communique for signs of where COP26 might break down or see breakthroughs.

No measure of success at COP26 looms larger than capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius below pre-industrial levels, a threshold only a few tenths of a degree away.

"We want to be able to say with credibility coming out of Glasgow that we have kept 1.5C within reach," UK minister and COP President Alok Sharma told journalists by Zoom this week.

But that means slashing global emissions nearly in half by 2030 and to "net-zero" by 2050.

We are far from the mark. Recently updated carbon-cutting pledges -- known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs -- would still see global temperatures rise a "catastrophic" 2.7C, according to the UN.

"We need sharp emissions cuts within this decade," said Rachel Cleetus, policy director for climate and energy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

G20 countries that have not stepped up with stronger near-term carbon cutting pledges -- Australia, Japan, Brazil, Russia, Saudi Arabia -- "are likely to be among those least enthusiastic" about a strongly worded commitment to 1.5C, she told AFP.
Highlighting that Pakistan is hosting over 3.5 million Afghan refugees, a Pakistani delegate has urged the developed countries to financially help the developing countries caring for large number of refugees, and also offer the option of resettlement in the third countries

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Oct, 2021 ) :Highlighting that Pakistan is hosting over 3.5 million Afghan refugees, a Pakistani delegate has urged the developed countries to financially help the developing countries caring for large number of refugees, and also offer the option of resettlement in the third countries.

"International community needs to provide adequate, predictable, regular and sustainable financial support in line with the principle of responsibility sharing for the Afghan refugees in the neighbouring countries," Saima Saleem, a counsellor in Pakistan Mission, said in a UN panel on Friday.

Saleem was participating in an interactive dialogue with Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in the General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural matters Pakistan, she said, was committed to the principle of voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees, "in safety and dignity", but that must be backed by time-bound return and repatriation plans.

In this regard, she said Pakistan concern over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan, especially as winter approaches, and called for immediate steps to rectify the situation.

Under the circumstances, the freezing of the Afghan government's overseas assets is entirely unjustified," the Pakistani delegate said, adding that intensifying suffering of the Afghan people could trigger massive outflow of refugees, revive internal displacement within Afghanistan and threat of terrorism from there.

"Bilateral and international sanctions are impacting the work of the humanitarian organizations and have disabled banking and financial sectors." she added.

Earlier briefing the committee, Grandi, the UNHCR, who rallied governments to draw inspiration from the world's 82 million people forcibly displaced who refuse to give up on their quest to build a better life.

In making that call, he invoked the seventieth anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, celebrated this year, and appealed for renewed international solidarity.

"We must never forget that nobody wants to live with the anxiety of exile, he said, describing UNHCR's focus on solutions.

From Afghanistan and Yemen to Ethiopia and elsewhere, he requested more resources and the establishment of enabling conditions to serve those in need, hindrance free.

He objected to the construction of walls and the outsourcing of asylum management in wealthier countries, stressing that borders should be kept secure without compromising the dignity of refugees.
DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2021) Sudanese military authorities have released a number of previously detained officials, including Health Minister Omar al-Najib, Al-Arabiya broadcaster reported citing sources familiar with the matter.

The Sudanese military on Monday morning detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and several other members of the government.

The commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also heads the Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council, declared a state of emergency and dissolved the country's government.

On Tuesday, it was reported that Hamdok and his wife returned to their capital residence.

The United States and the European Union have since called on the Sudanese military authorities to release all those detained. Commenting on the matter, al-Burhan told Sputnik that a legal commission will make decisions on the fate of the detainees in Sudan.
Syrian air defense systems are working to counter an attack from the Golan Heights area, the Syrian state broadcaster reported Saturday

BEIRUT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2021) Syrian air defense systems are working to counter an attack from the Golan Heights area, the Syrian state broadcaster reported Saturday.

Explosions could be heard in a suburb of Damascus earlier in the day, state-owned media reported.
Two protesters were killed during a demonstration held in the city of Omdurman near Khartoum as the Sudanese military committee's forces fired shots, the country's central medical committee said on Saturday

KHARTOUM (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2021) Two protesters were killed during a demonstration held in the city of Omdurman near Khartoum as the Sudanese military committee's forces fired shots, the country's central medical committee said on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of people took to the streets in Sudan's most populated city following the recent developments in the country that saw several senior officials detained and the government dissolved.

"Two protesters died in Omdurman, a suburb of Khartoum, as a result of the firing by the military committee forces during the October 30 demonstration of millions against the decisions of the Sudanese army commander," the committee said in a statement.
COMECE focused its Autumn Assembly this week on the Conference on the Future of Europe and COP26. The European Bishops said Churches should be more involved in the debate if Europe is to have a soul.

By Lisa Zengarini

European bishops have expressed disappointment over the limited involvement of Churches in the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe. The Conference is a platform of discussion launched by the European Institutions in March this year where all European citizens can voice their opinions and share ideas on various issues to help shape the future of the Union.

Leaving out the voices of Churches will impoverish Europe

The EU initiative and the role of young people in boosting the European integration process was the focus of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) Autumn Assembly which took place in Brussels on October 27-28. In the two-day meeting, European bishops reiterated their support to the Conference and its aim of allowing citizens to have a say on Europes challenges and priorities. At the same time, they highlighted the need to further involve Churches and youth at the local, national and European levels.

This process is healthy and necessary, but leaving out the voice of Churches would impoverish it, the President of COMECE, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, said. A Europe with a soul would allow us to face current challenges such as migration or the rule of law with greater impetus and would show greater respect for freedom of religion, he pointed out.

Exchanges with young people

During their session, Bishops exchanged their views with a delegation of young Europeans invited by COMECE. The discussion focused on youth and faith-based initiatives carried out by the Commission and by Justice and Peace Europe in the context of the Conference and of the European Green Deal, which aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net-zero by 2050.



The assembly also engaged in a dialogue with EU representatives on the major challenges facing EU citizens and institutions today, with special regard to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them, Colin Scicluna, Head of Cabinet of the Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Democracy and Demography who gave the Bishops insights on the working of the Conference on the Future of Europe, its contents and possible outcomes. Further insights on the current state of play were given by Herman van Rompuy, President emeritus of the Council of the EU and current President of the European Policy Centre.

COP26

Another important topic of discussion at the assembly was COP26. Bishops heard from the Coordinator of the European Laudato Si Alliance (ELSiA) on its activities. In this context, Cardinal Hollerich addressed a letter to EU leaders urging them to stand for bold action against climate change at the Summit.
A laborers rights organization has sounded the alarm after five men from China who were being exploited as contract workers in Indonesia washed up on the Malaysian shore.

China Labor Watch (CLW), an independent not-for-profit organization that advocates for workers rights, issued an alarming report on Oct. 15 about five Chinese contract workers who were lured into engaging in working for Rongcheng Environmental Protection Engineering located at Delong Industrial Park in Kendari, Sulawesi, which is part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative in Indonesia.

The five workmen from Henan Province, Zhang Zhenjie, Wei Pengjie, Guo Peiyang, Tian Mingxin, and Zhang Qiang, said that in early 2021 they were coaxed into entering into an agreement with the prospect of higher wages and better working conditions than they would ever possibly obtain inside China.

However, upon arrival in Indonesia, it turned out they lost almost everything: their passports, their freedom, and even their hope to return home, which now seemed impossible because of physical and illegal obstructions posed by their employers combined with stiff COVID regulations imposed by Chinese authorities.

The five never had the opportunity to sign a formal employment contract and were not allowed to leave the work site, which was guarded by armed security. Furthermore, they were made under duress to work longer shifts than agreed for less compensation. Therefore, they decided to resign and return home, a move which turned out to be easier said than done.

First, one of their handlers attempted to extort 75,000 yuan (US$11,735) from each one of them. Then, another pressed for 50,000 yuan from each, but failed to return the men home, and would not refund the money.

Then, the Chinese Embassy stepped in and demanded the men get their passports and money back. But, the story doesnt end there. Even if they regain their items, there were still enormous COVID protocol hurdles to take to get home.

All workers are subjected to nucleic acid and serodiagnosis testing at the industrial park; only those who pass both tests with a low IgM and IgG reading are permitted to travel to Jakarta. On arrival, they must self-quarantine and undergo a series of additional testing; only those who pass those tests are allowed to enter the final 48-hour pre-departure testing queue from airlines.

The quintet decided not to wait for more bureaucratic tugs-of-war and decided to employ the aid of a human smuggler to take them to Malaysia by boat. Then, they hoped to arrive at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur, get new passports, and fly back to China.

On Sept. 18, they, along with a group of 10 Indonesian immigrants, were dropped by boat on the shores off Kota Tinggi, Johor, where the Malaysian coast guard arrested everyone.

On Oct. 10, Malaysian authorities decided not to press charges against the Chinese nationals, and, having completed their 14-day quarantine after a long odyssey, were allowed to return home.

If you want to leave the country, make sure you use the official channels, and before you leave the country, sign a contract first. Dont be like us, Zhang, one of the laborers, told the Wall Street Journal.
Cameron Hudson, former chief of staff to the US Special Envoy to Sudan and Ismail Kushkush an independent Sudanese journalist, discuss the factors leading to the recent coup in Sudan with host Carol Castiel. They tell VOA the military fear losing control over key economic sectors in which they have business interests and the prospect of facing accountability for past atrocities. Hudson and Kushkush say the Sudanese who rose up to throw off the yoke of military rule under Omar al Bashir, are likely to mount a strong resistance to this attempt at subverting the democratic transition.
Music Time in Africa is VOAs longest running English language program. Since 1965, this award-winning program has featured pan African music that spans all genres and generations. Ethnomusicologist and Host Heather Maxwell keeps you up to date on whats happening in African music with exclusive interviews, cultural information, and of course, great music -- including rare recordings from the Leo Sarkisian Library of African Music.
U.S. President Joe Biden met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday, ahead of his meeting with G-20 leaders. Biden said the pope supported his receiving Holy Communion, while some U.S. bishops want to deny him the sacrament over his stance on abortion. With Anita Powell contributing, White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report from Rome.
Green energy is the new focus of Chinas one-of-a-kind Belt and Road Initiative or BRI, that aims to build a series of infrastructure projects from Asia to Europe.

The eco-friendlier version of BRI has caught the attention of some 70 other countries that are getting new infrastructure from the Asian economic powerhouse in exchange for expanding trade.

The reset on Chinas eight-year-old, $1.2 trillion effort comes after leaving a nagging layer of smog in parts of Eurasia, where those projects operate.

Now the county thats already mindful of pollution at home is preparing a new BRI that will focus on greener projects, instead of pollution-generating coal-fired plants. It would still further Chinas goal of widening trade routes in Eurasia through the initiatives new ports, railways and power plants.

The Second Belt and Road announced in China on October 18, coincides with the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, which runs from Sunday through November 12 in Glasgow, Scotland. China could use the forum to detail its plans.

Chinas policy shift towards a more green BRI reflects Chinas own commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2060 and its efforts to implement a green transition within Chinas domestic economy, said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist with the market research firm IHS Markit.

Furthermore, Chinas policy shiftalso reflects the increasing policy priority being given towards renewable energy and sustainable development policies by most of Chinas BRI partner countries, he said.

The Belt and Road helps lift the economies of developing countries from Kazakhstan to more modern ones, such as Portugal. BRI also unnerves Chinas superpower rival, the United States, which has no comparable program.

History of focusing on fossil fuel

China has a history of putting billions of dollars in fossil fuel projects in other countries since 2013, the American research group Council on Foreign Relations says in a March 2021 study.

From 2014 to 2017, it says, about 90% of energy-sector loans by major Chinese banks to BRI countries were for fossil fuel projects and China was involved in 240 coal plants in just 2016. In 2018, the study adds, 40% of energy lending went to coal projects. Those investments, the group says, promise to make climate change mitigation far more difficult.

South and Southeast Asia are the main destinations for coal-fired projects at 80% of the total Belt and Road portfolio, the Beijing-based research center Global Environmental Institute says.

Global shift toward green energy

Chinese President Xi Jinping said last year China would try to peak its carbon dioxide emissions before 2030. The Second Belt and Road calls for working with partner countries on energy transition toward more wind, solar and biomass, the National Energy Administration and Shandong provincial government said in an October 18 statement.

Some countries are pushing China to offer greener projects due to environmental pressure at home, though some foreign leaders prefer the faster, cheaper, more polluting options to prove achievements while in office, said Jonathan Hillman, economics program senior fellow at the Center for International & Strategic Studies research organization.

There was a period in the first phase of the Belt and Road where projects were being shoveled out the door and with not enough attention to the quality of those projects, he said.

Poorer countries are pressured now to balance providing people basic needs against environmental issues, said Song Seng Wun, an economist in the private banking unit of Malaysian bank CIMB. The basics still take priority, he said, and newer coal-fired plants help.

Although I would say environmental issues (are) important, I think a lot of people dont realize how much more efficient these more modern coal plants are, so I think we must have a balance, Song said.

In the past few years however, cancellation rates of coal-fired projects have exceeded new approvals, Hillman said. The action honestly has come more from participating countries, he said. Theyve decided thats not the direction they want to go.

In February, Chinese officials told the Bangladesh Ministry of Finance they would no longer consider coal mining and coal-fired power stations. Greece, Kenya, Pakistan and Serbia have asked China to dial back on polluting projects, Hillman said.

The next decade will show to what extent the Belt and Road will drive green infrastructure, London-based policy institute Chatham House says in a September 2021 report.

Belt-and-Road renewable energy investments reached a new high last year of 57% of its total for energy projects in 2020, according to IHS data.

New pledges at COP26?

COP26 is expected to showcase the environmental achievements of participating countries as they try to meet U.N. Paris Climate Change commitments, Biswas said.

Chinas statements ahead of the conference so far differ little from past statements. But Chinas energy administration said on October 18 that its second Belt and Road emphasizes the necessity of increased support for developing countries in terms of money, technology and ability to carry out green energy projects.

Chinese companies on BRI projects may eventually be required to reduce environmental risks, Biswas said. Those companies would in turn follow principles released in 2018 to ensure that their projects generate less carbon. A year later, as international criticism grew, Chinese President Xi added a slate of Belt and Road mini-initiatives, including some that touched on green projects.

But the 2019 plans were non-binding and untransparent, Hillman said. At COP26, he said, I would take any big announcements with more than a grain of salt.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made stops in Belgrade, Serbia, and Tirana, Albania, this week, seeking to further the Chinese government's "17+1" effort to promote trade and investment between Beijing and the countries of Eastern and Central Europe.

While Wang was received cordially in both countries, Serbia and Albania have taken somewhat different approaches to economic cooperation with Beijing through China's Belt and Road initiative, which has funded infrastructure projects throughout the developing world.

A stop in Greece on Wednesday and a scheduled stop in Italy on Saturday served as bookends to Wang's visit to the Balkans. The trip is widely seen as China's attempt to shore up economic ties in the region, which has traditionally looked more toward the European Union for development assistance.

Friendship 'made of steel'

In Serbia, officials presented Wang with a building permit for a stretch of railway from Novi Sad to Subotica, part of a larger project to modernize the railroad between Belgrade and Budapest, Hungary. The move reflects Serbia's relative openness to Chinese investment in the country.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic reiterated that Belgrade supports the "one China" policy, which considers Taiwan part of China. Wang, in turn, said Beijing respects the territorial integrity of Serbia, a signal that Beijing will continue to refuse to recognize the independence of Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Wang said the friendship between the two countries was "made of steel" and added, "Serbia is a country that has its own principles and that Beijing is proud to have such a friend."

Vucic said that Serbia and China are implementing joint projects worth 8 billion euros ($9.3 billion) and trade between the two countries has tripled.

Large Chinese presence

According to Bojan Stanic, the assistant director for analytics at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in addition to 1.5 billion euros ($1.73 billion) in direct foreign investment from China in the past five years, more than 20,000 people in Serbia work in Chinese-owned companies. Additionally, more than half of the suppliers of the Smederevo Ironworks, which is owned by the Chinese HBIS Group, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, are Serbian companies.

Serbia and China have had a strategic partnership agreement since 2009 and a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement since 2016. The latter involves more high-level meetings between both country's officials, and more extensive personnel exchanges. China is the dominant lender for road construction in Serbia. Beijing is also the owner of the Bor mining complex and the Linglong tire factory, which is under construction.

Extensive Chinese ownership of businesses in Serbia has raised concerns about compliance with environmental protection and working condition regulations in factories.

Relationship unclear

Other concerns arise from the difficulty in understanding the relationship between Chinese firms and the Chinese Communist Party's security services.

Igor Novakovic, research director at the Center for International and Security Affairs Centre  ISAC Fund, said it is not always clear where a company's commercial interest ends and the CCP's political interests begin.

"I do not claim that companies operating in Serbia are dangerous in themselves, but when there is a connection between politics and business, then there is a danger of using business decisions in favor of the political interests of the country from which investments come," Novakovic said.

Belgrade visit

Wang traveled from Belgrade to Tirana Thursday, ahead of Friday's meetings with Albanian President Ilir Meta, Prime Minister Edi Rama, and Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Olta Xhacka.

In Belgrade, officials have historically been much more cautious with regard to Chinese investment and lending.

"The truth is that serious doubts have actually been raised about Chinese funding following the experiences in some African countries and in the Balkans as the time comes for debt refinancing, that is, debt repayment and liabilities that have placed the governments of these countries in great financial difficulties," said Selami Xhepa, an economist and a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania.

"This has required some kind of renegotiation, or similar diplomacy, with the Chinese authorities," he added. "I think market discipline is better than diplomatic negotiations."

UN Security Council

Last year, Albania joined a group of nations, headed by the United States, that has shut out Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE from providing equipment essential to the rollout of 5G wireless service in the country.

Nevertheless, with Albania about to take a seat on the United Nations Security Council, of which China is a permanent member, experts saw Wang's visit to the country as an important opportunity to cement ties between the two countries and open dialogue about issues important to Albania. Among those issues is China's continued effort to block the recognition of Kosovo as an independent country, which Albania supports.

"China is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and it is necessary to talk about Kosovo, about Kosovo's accession to the United Nations, where China is a very big obstacle," said Besnik Mustafaj, a former foreign minister of Albania who now serves as president of the Council of Albanian Ambassadors. "It is time to say that there is no parallelism between Kosovo and Taiwan, that Albania recognizes only one China."

Ilirian Agolli of VOA's Albanian Service and Jovana Djurovic of VOA's Serbian Service contributed to this report.
U.S. President Joe Biden will arrive at COP 26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Glasgow next week, with the promise, if not the guarantee, that the United States is about to commit to the largest single investment in combating climate change in history.

The White House and Democratic leaders in Congress on Thursday announced a scaled-back version of the presidents Build Back Better climate and social spending package. While less ambitious than earlier versions, the package contains $555 billion in spending directed at reducing the countrys greenhouse gas emissions to between 50% and 52% of 2005 levels by 2030.

That matches the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) the U.S. committed to when the Biden administration rejoined the Paris climate change accord earlier this year. According to activists and experts, it considerably strengthens Bidens ability to assert a leadership role for the U.S. in the global effort to slow climate change.

Show us first

Without this, I think it would have been tremendously hard for the U.S. delegation to appear with a credible claim that the U.S. is 'back,' said Michael Mehling, deputy director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

It has an NDC of 50% to 52%, and it has the means to achieve that, he told VOA. Without it, I think people would have just said, Yeah, show us first.

In a statement released Thursday, Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce congratulated the president and Democrats in Congress for advancing a bold vision for historic climate action, and urged lawmakers to finalize an agreement on the legislation as soon as possible.

This is a bold vision for clean energy and climate action that the President can present at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, to demonstrate that the United States is committed to taking the immediate and bold action necessary to tackle the climate crisis as a top priority, Pierce said. We urge Congress to immediately deliver a full Build Back Better Act that fulfills this promise, because we have no time to wait.

No guarantees

The president and his allies are behaving as though they are on the cusp of a major legislative achievement. However, it remains possible that infighting and policy disagreements among Democrats on Capitol Hill could derail the deal as the final legislative language is being prepared.

The two wild cards are West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, neither of whom has said that they will definitely support the package.

Manchin has already forced his colleagues to remove some of the climate elements of the original package, which he saw as overly punitive toward existing fossil fuel companies. Manchin, whose state has a long history of coal mining and still relies on coal-fired power plants for much of its electricity, also has a financial stake in the coal industry.

He has also expressed hesitation over a non-climate-related part of the package that would deliver benefits to families with young children.

Sinema has shot down several versions of the package over disagreements about how to pay for it. She objected to raising tax rates and to changing the way investments are taxed at death. It is unclear whether she will support the current package, which contains income-tax surcharges on people earning more than $10 million per year, and on income that business owners receive on a pass-through basis.

Because the Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate, either Manchin or Sinema could torpedo Bidens Build Back Better package  including the climate change provisions  by voting no.

Broad-based spending

The largest part of the climate spending in the bill is $320 billion in tax credits, spread over 10 years, aimed at making a wide array of green technologies cheaper and easier to implement.

Among other things, it would cut the price of installing home solar panels by about 30% and would offer rebates of up to $12,500 for the purchase of an electric vehicle, provided it is made in the U.S. with domestic parts and unionized labor. The package would also create financial incentives for the development of clean mass transit, buses and trucks.

The next-largest element of the package is $110 billion to incentivize the creation of a domestic supply chain for the delivery of products that will be key to broad electrification of the U.S., including batteries, solar cells and other technologies.

An additional $105 billion would go toward building resiliency in communities that are already feeling the drastic effects of climate change through extreme weather events. This includes funding for a Civilian Conservation Corps that the administration says will hire 300,000 Americans.

Rounding out the spending is $20 billion that would go toward government procurement of next-generation green technologies  essentially helping to create a market for the products and services that the other elements of the proposal will be subsidizing.

Looking on the bright side

Climate activists definitely didnt get everything they wanted in the package currently before Congress. Among other things, Bidens proposed Clean Energy Production Program, which would have rewarded electrical utilities that increase their use of renewable energy by 4% per year and punished those that did not, was scuttled after Manchin strongly objected to it.

But on Friday, with the possibility of the $555 billion package actually becoming law, environmentalist groups were focused on the positive side of things.

I've been around Washington for 20 years, and I've worked on energy and environmental issues for over 20 years, said Toby Short, associate vice president for federal affairs with the Environmental Defense Fund. A half a trillion dollars in climate and energy investments? It's incredible. From EDFs perspective, we're extremely excited about the transformational investments that can occur from this.
Ethiopias media authority on Friday ordered a local radio and TV broadcaster to cease sharing foreign news reports.

A letter from the Ethiopian Media Authority, issued to Ahadu Radio and TV (Ahadu RTV), said the station could no longer air coverage provided by international news agencies via satellite.

Ahadu RTV is an affiliate of Voice of America, which is the predominant source for its international coverage.

The letter, written in Amharic and viewed by VOAs Africa Division, provided no specific reason for the ban or a timeframe for how long it would stay in place, saying only that the station was acting outside its goals of establishment.

Several other stations received the same order, according to Eskinder Frew, a journalist in Addis Ababa who contributes to VOA.

Ethiopia has issued orders or suspended licenses for various media groups and expelled at least one foreign journalist in the past year, often on accusations that the news outlets were legitimizing terrorist groups, a reference to the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front.

Ethiopian federal forces and the TPLF have been fighting in Ethiopias northern Tigray region since November 2020.

In July, the media regulator suspended the license of the Addis Standard, which led to the news outlet's suspension of operations.

The regulator said it was investigating complaints that the Addis Standard was publishing content that posed a threat to national security, the Committee to Protect Journalists said at the time.

That same month, authorities arrested about 20 journalists from two independent broadcasters.

Media analysts including Reporters Without Borders told VOA in July that the arrests were likely connected to the media coverage of the federal government and the conflict in Tigray.

VOA sent requests for comment late Friday to Ethiopias embassy in Washington and to the Ethiopian Media Authority. As of publication, neither had responded.

The media regulator said in its letter Friday that broadcasters must operate according to the terms and obligations they agreed upon ... to inform, educate and entertain the public.

Ahadu RTV however, has been rebroadcasting the Voice of America contents via satellite link, abandoning its objective.

VOA expressed disappointment at the order Friday and called on the Ethiopian Media Authority to reconsider its decision.

The Voice of America strictly adheres to the principles of accurate, balanced and comprehensive journalism. Our content addresses issues important to the people of Ethiopia, acting director Yolanda Lpez said in a statement.

The order restricts the free flow of information to the citizens of Ethiopia and undermines press freedom. It sends a chilling message to all journalists in the country.

This story originated in VOAs Africa Division.
The G-20 Summit hosted by Italy kicked off Saturday in Rome, where leaders from the worlds major economies discussed issues of mutual concern, including pandemic recovery and climate change.

The red carpet was rolled out at La Nuvola, Romes convention center, as Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders amid strict COVID-19 protocols.

This weekends summit is the leaders' first face-to-face meeting in two years, following last years virtual summit hosted by Saudi Arabia. Notably absent are Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. They will join virtually, citing pandemic concerns at home.

Global minimum tax

On day one, G-20 leaders voiced their support for a global corporate minimum tax deal agreed to by finance ministers from 136 countries earlier this month after four years of negotiations led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The deal would mean a sweeping overhaul of international tax rules. Under the deal, countries will apply a minimum global corporate tax rate of 15% for companies with annual revenues of more than $870 million, while large multinational companies must pay taxes where they operate, not just where they are headquartered.

The president emphasized the importance of this historic deal during his intervention, a senior administration official said.

G-20 members are right to celebrate this deal, said Matthew Goodman, senior vice president for economics at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. The question is whether and how soon G20 members can implement the agreement within their respective domestic legal frameworks.

That's going to be, frankly, quite challenging in the United States and several other countries, said Goodman.

Pandemic response and prevention

On Friday, G-20 health and finance ministers released a communique committing to bringing the pandemic under control globally as soon as possible, and strengthening collective efforts to prepare for, prevent, detect, and respond to future pandemics. The communique says the G-20 will take all necessary steps needed to advance global goals of vaccinating at least 40% of the population in all countries by the end of 2021 and 70% by mid-2022, as recommended by the World Health Organization.

The ministers announced the formation of a new panel to improve the global response to future pandemics but did not specify any funding for the task force. They could not reach agreement on a separate financing mechanism proposed by the U.S. and Indonesia to prepare for future pandemics.

Were looking for not the ultimate final product of a financing mechanism or the ultimate final product of a taskforce or a board that would operate as kind of a global coordinating body going forward, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told VOA aboard Air Force One on Thursday. So the hope is to have in the communique a statement of intent that we will work towards these two outcomes.

Climate change

On Sunday, G-20 leaders will shift their focus to climate change. From Rome, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the summit an opportunity to put things on track ahead of the UN COP26 climate conference in Glasgow that G-20 leaders will participate in following their Italy meeting.

There is a serious risk that Glasgow will not deliver, Guterres said. The current nationally determined contributions  formal commitments by governments  still condemn the world to a calamitous 2.7-degree increase, he said referring to the pledge made at the 2015 Paris Climate Accord to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, ideally to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Countries are expected to announce more emissions reduction pledges to reach the target of net-zero emissions by around mid-century. But some analysts are skeptical of these voluntary commitments that come without enforcement mechanisms.

There'll be pledges, the best-case scenario something along the lines of what we saw in Paris, said Dalibor Rohac, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Rohac added that to make progress on climate change, the world needs tangible actions. Rather than to proceed with this habit of looking for a Big Bang multilateral solution, to pursue sound domestic policies that accelerate decarbonization.

A key issue to watch is whether G-20 members can agree on coal. The U.N. has called for wealthy countries to phase out coal by 2030, but G20 environment ministers have failed to agree on a timeline.

Guterres also called on wealthy nations to uphold commitments to provide funding to help developing nations mitigate the impacts of climate change. Under the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, wealthy nations pledged a minimum of $100 billion per year in climate funding to lower-income countries. Much of that money has not been delivered. enario something along the lines of what we saw in Paris, said Dalibor Rohac, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Rohac added that to make progress on climate change, the world needs tangible actions.

Rather than to proceed with this habit of looking for a big-bang multilateral solution, to pursue sound domestic policies that that accelerate decarbonization, he said.

A key issue to watch is whether G-20 members can agree on coal actions. The U.N. has called for wealthy countries to phase out coal by 2030, but G-20 environment ministers have failed to agree on a timeline.

Guterres also called on wealthy nations to uphold commitments to provide funding to help developing nations mitigate the impacts of climate change. Under the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, wealthy nations pledged a minimum of $100 billion per year in climate funding to lower-income countries. Much of that money has not been delivered.
Angela Merkel has completed her final trip as German chancellor to Greece, a country where she was not overly welcome in the past because of the strict austerity measures she backed to keep Greeces economy afloat.

Sticks, stones, gas bombs and heated demonstrations gripped Greece on Merkels first visit to Athens in 2012.

But now, a decade later, the outgoing chancellor got an almost indifferent public reception, walking freely along streets bare of any public protest or threat for the European politician many people here had dubbed an enemy.

Resentment, though, was obvious, and President Katerina Sakellaropoulou tapped into the nation's mood, bidding Merkel farewell with criticism of the austerity policies she advocated for Greece, recalling the tough times the two countries faced during Greek financial crisis.

There were times of difficulty and tension, she told Merkel with a stern face. Greeks had to pay a heavy price. And, Sakellaropoulou said, there were many times when Greece, as a European nation, felt alone.

The decade-long financial crisis saw a quarter of the countrys economy wiped out and 1.2 million Greeks losing their jobs.

Many Greeks expected Merkel to return to the country with an apology for the bitter policies she supported because Germany was the single largest contributor to a bailout scheme that helped keep the Greek economy from crashing.

She instead came with a strong dose of self-criticism.

"I knew that I was asking a lot of the people in Greece, Merkel said. But she cited the role that previous leftist governments played in making the implementation of those policies more difficult, adding to social upheaval at the time," Merkel said.

The remarks scored few points with Greeks.

Political analyst Panayiotis Lampsias explains the nations reaction to Merkel.

Of course, she played a pivotal role in keeping Greece in the EU, and that should not be underestimated, he said. But this self-criticism comes too late, and now years later and on her way out, Lampsias added, Merkel has the luxury of being able to make such remarks.

In Greeces post-crisis era, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reassured Merkel that the country would stick to fiscal discipline but not what he called, blind austerity.

Greece, he said, is no longer a source of crisis but a modern European state striving for a better future within the European Union.

Merkels vice chancellor, finance minister and likely successor Olaf Scholz accompanied her on the visit to Athens. He refrained from making any comment or offering any thoughts on whether Germany would ease up on its fiscal requirements, a concern nagging Greeks as Merkel departs the chancellorship.
Three people were shot dead by security forces during Saturday demonstrations against a military coup in Sudan.

The Sudan Doctors Committee had initially reported two protesters were shot and killed, but confirmed that a third person died when security forces fired into crowds in Omdurman, Khartoums sister city.

Twelve people have been killed in demonstrations since the military seized power and deposed the prime minister on Monday.

Saturdays demonstrations have drawn hundreds of thousands of people in the capital, Khartoum, as well as major cities throughout the country.

Protests began Monday, when General Abdel-Fattah Burhan declared a state of emergency and announced the dissolution of a landmark transitional government established in 2019. But Saturdays March of Millions is expected to be the largest coordinated demonstration yet.

Images and video footage from Khartoum and other cities throughout the country show crowds carrying Sudanese flags and banners denouncing the military government. Chants and songs that were sung in 2019 when protesters demanded the ouster of dictator Omar al-Bashir have been revived in this weeks protests as well.

I see people everywhere, from each direction, thousands of young people, women, old men, children, everyone, Walaa Salah, an activist in Khartoum, told VOAs English to Africa.

"Khartoum, the entire city, is outside protesting, calling for the fall of the military rule, calling for the fall of the coup, calling for the end of this partnership, she said. People are chanting against the military.

Witnesses reported heavy military security in Khartoum, especially by the Rapid Special Forces, notoriously for fatally shooting dozens of protesters in 2019.

Earlier this week, security forces killed at least nine people by gunfire and wounded at least 170 others during the protests, according to the Sudan Doctors' Committee. Experts and demonstrators had expressed concern that Saturdays protests could be violent.

Despite mobile internet and some WIFI being blocked throughout the country, organizers were able to coordinate demonstrations. Netblocks, which monitors internet cuts around the world, has reported that with the exception of one four-hour window, mobile internet has been cut throughout Sudan since Tuesdays military takeover.

We can't call or text. We have no idea what's going on, on the other side of the city, Salah said.

Volker Perthes, the special representative of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement Friday that he remains in constant contact with all sides to facilitate a political solution in line with the Constitutional Document. UNITAMS (the U.N. Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan) is actively coordinating with mediation efforts currently underway to facilitate an inclusive dialogue, which remains the only path toward a peaceful solution to the current crisis.

The United States had urged the military leaders of Mondays coup to refrain from "any and all violence" against peaceful protesters.

The appeal to Sudan's military leaders came from a senior U.S. State Department official who was briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.

Saturday will be a real indication of what the military intentions are," the official had said.

The military takeover occurred after weeks of escalating tensions between military and civilian leaders over Sudan's transition to democracy. The coup threatens to derail the process, which has slowly progressed since the army ousted longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir, ending a popular uprising in 2019.

But even after the landmark power-sharing agreement in August of 2019, in which now-deposed Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok was named the countrys leader, protests have continued. Demonstrators, who often used the word Medaniya, or civilian, to call for a civilian government, opposed any military control in the transitional government.

Burhan said Tuesday the army's overthrow of the country's transitional government was necessary to avoid a civil war.

Nike Ching, Nabeel Biajoa and Peter Clottey contributed to this report. Some information came from Reuters.
Myanmar junta troops have laid waste to more than 60 civilian homes and a church in months of scorched-earth operations in Chin state, a western region where fighting between the junta and ethnic armed organizations has raged on since the Feb. 1 coup, RFA statistics showed.

The military rampaged through Chins Thantlang township, on Sept. 18, destroying 19 houses. Between Oct. 13 and Oct. 25, junta soldiers torched 42 houses and one church in nearby Falam township, in parts of Talang Ron and Tal villages, and the entire village of Rialti.

Witnesses said they saw the military not only burning homes, but also looting them and killing farm animals. About 900 residents from seven villages fled to the deep forest to escape the onslaught.

It costs more than 10 million kyat [$5,572] to build a house. We put everything, all our savings, in building a house according to our Chin traditions, so it will be very difficult to rebuild when we are fleeing war, have no money, and not enough food to eat, a resident who fled Tal village told RFAs Myanmar Service.

Now we have no house in the village because of the fire. Do we have to just live in our forest hut? I dont know what to do anymore. Everyone is in tears, the Tal villager said.

Though the military has denied carrying out the arson attacks, sources told RFA that the junta soldiers were the only possible culprit.

They were the only ones in our village as everyone had already fled. If they didnt burn the houses, who did? a resident of Talang Rong village, who declined to be named for security reasons, told RFAs Myanmar Service.

It is unforgivable that they set fire to the village and stayed in our houses and ate our food.  They did whatever they wanted. They killed our animals for the sake of killing them. There are so many cases like that, the Talang Rong resident said.

The October arson attacks happened just after major military reinforcements to the region on Oct. 9, as soldiers opened fire on every village along the Kalemyo-Falam-Hakha road, a highway that connects that part of Chin state with the southern part of the Sagaing region.

Both Chin and Sagaing have been hotbeds of armed resistance by local militias against the troops that overthrew Myanmars elected government nine months ago.

RFA attempted to contact military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment but calls went unanswered. On Oct. 14 he denied to RFA that the military burned the 12 houses and church in Rialti village.

The military in Chin state has violated international law, Salai Za Op Lin, executive director of the India-based Chin Human Rights Organization, told RFA.

Almost the entire town of Thantlang was burned to the ground, said Salai Za Op Lin.

We are carefully recording and documenting what is going on. We will keep this information and will one day publish it, he said.

According to CHRO statistics, about 30,000 people have fled across the Myanmar-India border to Indias Mizoram state. Another 30,000 people are displaced within Chin state.

The CHRO said about 30,000 people have fled to Mizoram, India, due to the ongoing fighting in Chin state, and another 30,000 people have been displaced in Chin state.

Since August, military troops set fire to 300 homes in the state, the CHRO said.

Myanmars military has been conducting combat operations against armed ethnic groups in areas close to its border for decades. Many of the groups who signed cease-fire agreements with the democratically elected government declared those agreements invalid after the coup.

As of Thursday, the junta has killed 1,219 people since the Feb. 1 coup, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
While trick-or-treaters make their way across Washington on Sunday in search of Halloween candy, the White House is departing from its annual tradition and is closing its doors to little ghosts and goblins looking for treats.

Typically, the White House invites trick-or-treaters to receive candy and treats from the president and first lady. The event, however, will not take place this year.

"The president and first lady will be traveling internationally during the last days of October, and will not be hosting a specific event at the White House," the first lady's spokesperson, Michael LaRosa, said in a statement.

The Bidens will be in Rome, where the president will attend the annual G-20 summit of the world's leading economic powers Saturday and Sunday.

Despite the Bidens' absence, the White House is not taking a rain check on the spooky holiday. According to LaRosa, the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the building will be lit up in orange light to celebrate Halloween.

LaRosa said the Bidens were encouraging families and children to celebrate by trick-or-treating outdoors.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, public health experts maintain that outdoor activities and gatherings are low risk when it comes to spreading the virus.

Halloween is a highly anticipated event for children across the United States. Throughout October, many Americans put up festive decorations, watch scary movies and plan their costumes.

On Halloween night, children dress up in costumes and grab bags before heading to the streets of their communities to trick-or-treat. Going door to door, they greet their neighbors by saying "Trick or treat!" in exchange for candy. At the end of the night, they'll sort through the candy and enjoy their favorites.

Older generations also celebrate the holiday. Young adults might dress up and go to Halloween parties, while older adults stay home and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.

The White House tradition of celebrating Halloween dates to the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th U.S. president. According to the White House Historical Association, first lady Mamie Eisenhower was the first to decorate the White House for the holiday, on October 30, 1958. Skeletons and jack-o'-lanterns were hung in the State Dining Room, where the first lady hosted a luncheon for staff members' wives.

President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy brought more attention to the holiday, letting their children visit the Oval Office in their Halloween costumes.

Since then, trick-or-treaters have visited the White House each year to receive candy.

Former President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump hosted an event last year during the pandemic. While they did not personally hand out treats, White House personnel distributed candy to costumed children, and the Trumps attended the event.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Saturday the latest crisis with Lebanon has its origins in a Lebanese political setup that reinforces the dominance of the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group and continues to allow endemic instability.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries expelled Lebanese envoys in a diplomatic spat that risks adding to Lebanon's economic crisis, following critical comments about the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen by Lebanon's Information Minister George Kordahi.

"I think the issue is far broader than the current situation," Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told Reuters in a phone interview. "I think it's important that the government in Lebanon or the Lebanese establishment forges a path forward that frees Lebanon from the current political construct, which reinforces the dominance of Hezbollah."

He said this setup "is weakening state institutions within Lebanon, in a way that makes Lebanon continue to process in a direction against the interests of the people of Lebanon."

The row has triggered calls by some Lebanese politicians for the resignation of Kordahi, while others opposed such a move, which could undermine the government as a whole.

"We have no opinion about the government in Lebanon. We have no opinion as to whether it stays or goes, this is up to the Lebanese people," the minister, speaking from Rome where he was attending the G-20 summit, said.

Kordahi has been publicly backed by Hezbollah and has declined to apologize or resign over the comments.

Cordial talks

Saudi Arabia has shunned Lebanon for years because of the strong influence in state affairs of Shi'ite group Hezbollah, which it accuses of sending fighters to Yemen and Syria. Iran and Saudi Arabia, the leading Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East, have been rivals for years, but they launched a series of talks this year hoping to defuse tensions.

"We've had four rounds of talks so far. The talks are cordial but remain in an exploratory vein. We continue to hope that they will produce tangible progress ... but so far, we have not made sufficient progress to be optimistic," Prince Faisal Said.

Asked if there will be another round of talks, the minister said nothing had been scheduled, "but we are open to continue." As part of efforts to ease tensions, Teheran and Riyadh have engaged on how to end the seven-year conflict in Yemen, where tens of thousands have been killed and millions are at risk of starvation.

The war has also strained relations between Riyadh and its traditional ally Washington, as U.S. President Joe Biden has made ending the war his top foreign policy priority.

Facing intense U.S. pressure to end a blockade of Yemeni ports that its Houthi enemies say is an obstacle to cease-fire talks, the kingdom is seeking Washington's help in bolstering its defenses, sources have told Reuters.

"So, I would disagree with that characterization [of strained relations]. I think when it comes to Yemen, we with the U.S. are on the same page, we both support a comprehensive cease-fire, we both support a political process to resolve the conflict," Prince Faisal said.

"I think it's clear that the kingdom is committed to a cease-fire and it's up to the Houthis to decide to sign on for that and we would not tie any discussions about our defensive capabilities to a cease-fire."
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is again attempting to arrange for Pope Francis to visit North Korea in what appears to be another push by the South Korean leader to resume diplomacy with Pyongyang.

Moon asked the pope to visit North Korea when the two met at the Vatican on Friday, telling him such a visit would create momentum for peace on the Korean Peninsula, according to presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.Moon was in Rome to attend the Group of 20 Leaders Summit over the weekend.

The pope said he is willing to visit for peace and help all of you if North Korea invites him, Park said.

The Holy See Press Office told VOAs Korean Service on Friday that Moon and the pope discussed the promotion of dialogue and reconciliation between Koreans during their meeting.

In this regard, hopes were shared that joint effort and good will may favor peace and development in the Korean Peninsula, supported by solidarity and by fraternity, said a Holy See spokesperson.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said of Moons approach to the pope, We continue to consult closely with the Republic of Korea, Japan, and other allies and partners about how to best engage the DPRK. The spokesperson used the acronym for North Koreas official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

This is Moons second attempt to arrange a visit by the pope to North Korea.In 2018, Moon made the request and the pope expressed his willingness to travel to Pyongyang. But North Korea leader Kim Jong Un never sent an official invitation.

Moon has been trying to resume diplomacy with North Korea before he leaves the Blue House in May. In meetings with the United States this month, his government promoted the idea of a declaration formally ending the Korean War as a vehicle for starting a dialogue with Pyongyang.

Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said this week Washington does not see eye to eye with Seoul on ways to bring about an end-of-war declaration. Sullivan was in Seoul earlier in the month discussing how best to pursue the denuclearization of North Korea.

We may have somewhat different perspectives on the precise sequence or timing or conditions for different steps, Sullivan said, when asked about the U.S. position on an end-of-war declaration.

The declaration would formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with a cease-fire not a formal peace treaty.

Some former U.S. officials and experts are doubtful that a papal visit would break the current stalemate on the peninsula, where inter-Korean diplomacy and talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been stalled since 2019.Pyongyang effectively sealed its borders in January 2020 to combat COVID-19, leaving the country more isolated than ever.

Its hard for me to see, sadly, how the popes visit to Pyongyang would do much to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. I cant see how it would influence the North, said Kent Calder, director of the Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

It would be unrealistic to expect the pope to be able to broker any agreements that currently divide North and South, agreed Mitchell Reiss, director of the Office of Policy Planning at the State Department during the former George W. Bush administration.

Robert King, former U.S. special envoy for North Korea human rights issues, thinks the popes visit would do more harm than good.

What a papal visit would do for Kim Jong Un would give him status, prestige and attention. And that would be something that he would be very happy to have, King said.

But other experts say a papal visit could create an opportunity for Kim to bring North Korea out of its self-imposed isolation and establish a route toward dialogue.

Harry Kazianis, senior director of Korean Studies at the Center for the National Interest, said there is a strong chance the pope will visit Pyongyang in the near future and it could lay the foundation for a peace regime the Moon government hopes to create before it leaves the Blue House for good.

Kazianis continued, The Kim regime needs to do whatever it can to change the media narrative away from being a closed society on the verge of starvation thanks to COVID-19 to something more positive.

Ken Gause, director of Adversary Analytics Program at CNA, a Washington-area think tank, said a visit by Pope Francis would give North Korea a chance to engage with the outside world and cut through a lot of rhetoric on both sides  on the North Korean side as well as the U.S. side, to jump-start talks between the two.

Pope Francis brokered a diplomatic breakthrough between the U.S. and Cuba by sending letters to then-President Barack Obama and then-President Raul Castro and hosting a meeting at the Vatican for them in October 2014.

This led to normalized relations between the U.S. and the socialist country for the first time since the ties were severed in 1961. Washingtons diplomatic and economic relations with Havana were limited under the Trump administration. Trump placed Cuba back on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism in his last week in January.

Journalists Sungwon Baik, Soyoung Ahn and Jiha Ham contributed to this report, which originated on VOAs Korean Service.
The Taliban said Saturday that a failure by the United States to recognize their government in Afghanistan would prolong multiple crises facing the country and it could eventually turn it into a problem for the world.

The Islamist group regained control of the country in August and established an interim government in Kabul after U.S.-led NATO troops withdrew from the country, ending nearly 20 years of involvement in the Afghan war.

But the global community in general has not granted legitimacy to the Taliban administration and has blocked its access to about $10 billion in Afghan assets parked largely with the U.S. Federal Reserve, even as Afghanistan faces a deepening humanitarian crisis and prospects of an economic meltdown.

Granting recognition to the current system is the right of Afghans and no one can deprive us of this right nor will it benefit anyone, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference in Kabul.

Our message to America is, if non-recognition prolongs, problems of Afghanistan prolong, it is the regional problem and could eventually become a problem for the world, Mujahid said. He noted that in a meeting in Qatar earlier this month, Taliban leaders conveyed the same message to U.S. officials.

We are hoping they will consider it and, God willing, this issue will be resolved," he added.

2001 invasion

While reiterating Kabuls call for unfreezing Afghan assets abroad, Mujahid insisted the reason the Taliban and the United States went to war 20 years ago was the absence of bilateral diplomatic ties and recognition of the Taliban government at the time.

The U.S.-led military coalition invaded Afghanistan following the deadly September 2001 terrorist attack on America. It ousted the then-Taliban government for refusing to hand over al-Qaida chief Osama bin Ladan, whom Washington accused of planning the attack.

Those issues could have been resolved through negotiations, through a political compromise and could have prevented the ensuing, utterly exhausting 20 years of war," Mujahid said.

The Taliban spokesman said they have also conveyed to Washington their desire to see the U.S. embassy in Kabul reopen and resume normal diplomatic activities.

While the U.S.-led Western countries have shut their embassies in Kabul after the Taliban takeover of the country, some of Afghanistans neighbors and regional countries, including China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Russia, have kept their diplomatic missions open and held direct high-level meetings with Taliban officials in Afghanistan and abroad.

Taliban pledges

The Islamist group is under pressure to live up to its public pledges of protecting rights of Afghan women and minorities.

Under the previous five-year Taliban rule, women were barred from leaving their home unaccompanied and girls could not receive an education, among other human rights abuses, leaving Kabul internationally isolated at the time.

The Taliban have allowed boys to attend grades 6 to 12, but they have prevented girls in the same grades from resuming their education, saying regulations and arrangements are being put in place to ensure a safe environment for female students.

Mujahid said Saturday that young girls in many Afghan provinces have returned to school and the issue is gradually being resolved for others across the country.

But we will not give this right to foreigners to direct us about how our girls should undertake educational activities. That is an internal Afghan matter, he said.

We are part of the global community and we have fulfilled all the conditions required for the world to formally recognize our government, Mujahid insisted.

There are issues in numerous countries vis-a-via international laws, but [those countries] have been formally recognized, he said. They have no democratic systems, they have dictatorships, kingdoms and other ruling systems. Why have they been recognized and why are conditions being set for us?

UN says aid is urgent

The United Nations has been urging the global community to send urgent humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, saying more than four decades of deadly conflicts and recurrent natural disasters have resulted in a protracted food crisis in the country.

A new U.N. study said this week humanitarian needs have grown to unprecedented levels, and more than half of the conflict-torn countrys estimated 40 million people will "face acute food insecurity" by November.

Washington announced on Thursday it is providing nearly $144 million in new humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, bringing the total U.S. relief assistance in Afghanistan and for Afghan refugees in the region to nearly $474 million in 2021, the largest amount of assistance from any nation.
Leaders of the U.S., Germany, France, and the UK warned Tehran that its continued nuclear advances and obstacles to the International Atomic Energy Agencys work will jeopardize its return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear agreement.

Meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Rome, Italy on Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said they support President Joe Bidens pledge to return the U.S. to full compliance with the JCPOA so long as Iran does the same.

Former president Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA deal in 2018. Biden has said the U.S. will rejoin once Tehran returns to full compliance with the agreements restrictions on nuclear weapons development.

U.S. and European leaders reiterated that returning to the deal would result in the lifting of sanctions that currently cripple Tehrans economy.

We call upon President Raisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency, they said in a statement provided by the White House following the meeting.

The so-called E3+1 format meeting in Rome came on the heels of Tehrans announcement earlier this week that it is ready to resume negotiations before the end of November.

Theyre scheduled to resume, Biden said to reporters when asked when he would like nuclear talks to begin.

Tehran should worry that such statements signal a hardening of a collective Western stance regarding Irans nuclear program, said Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute. He noted that, to the Iranians, the statement does not address their two key demands: that sanctions relief will not be only on paper but delivered in practice and that any prospective new deal will not be nullified by a following American president.

Gulf partners regional diplomatic efforts to deescalate tensions were mentioned in the E3+1 statement, but Israel, the staunchest U.S. ally in the region, which has been threatening military action against Irans nuclear program, was not.

That suggests there may be no agreement between the U.S. and European partners on what role Israel should play in the pressure campaign against Iran, said Vatanka. Or that they believe it is best to keep Israeli threats alive but only in the background as a way to shape Iranian calculations.

Study in contrast

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Rome on Thursday that the Saturday talks will be a study in contrast with the previous administration since Iran was one of the areas of most profound divergence between the previous administration and the Europeans.

Here youll see Chancellor Merkel, President Macron, Prime Minister Johnson, and President Biden all singing from the same song sheet on this issue.

However, in his first in-person meeting with these NATO allies, Biden would likely have to placate lingering resentment over the chaotic late-August U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which left them scrambling to get their troops and citizens out as the Taliban took Kabul. Analysts say the allies are likely to press Biden for firm commitments of better coordination on Iran, which they did not believe was given on Afghanistan.

The Europeans need more reassuring now from Washington that it has a credible pathway forward to deal with Iran, and not end up with another clumsy policy blunder that will undermine European interests, Vatanka said. Europe wants the Americans to play their best diplomatic hand against Tehran than ever before. Last thing Europe wants is a new war in the Middle East.

On Wednesday U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had ordered a full-scale review of the American withdrawal. VOA asked Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre aboard Air Force One en route to Rome whether the timing of the Afghanistan review was pertinent ahead of Bidens G-20 trip.

I wouldnt connect the two, she said. I dont have much more to share about that.

Fresh sanctions

On Friday, ahead of the G-20, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions against two senior members of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps and two affiliated companies for supplying lethal drones and related material to insurgent groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Ethiopia.

With these sanctions Biden is signaling that his administration still has leverage and tools to pressure Tehran, said Sanam Vakil, deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House.

Irans sponsorship of regional instability continues to be on Bidens radar, she said.

Iran swiftly called the penalties completely contradictory behavior.

A government that talks about an intention of returning to the nuclear deal but continues Trump's policy of sanctions is sending the message that it really is not reliable," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in remarks published on the ministry's website.

Iran is upset but its options to hit back are limited, said Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute, who predicts that the sanctions will not stop Iran from returning to the negotiation table.

It can refuse to return to the talks in Vienna but then it will increase the chances that Washington can better mobilize the international opinion against Iran as the main spoiler that is preventing a breakthrough in the nuclear talks.

Analysts say Tehran is trying to avoid a scenario where the U.S. and Europe convince Russia and China that Irans nuclear program is too close to possible weaponization.

Its likely Iran will return in part because Europeans  whom Iran sees as weaker than U.S.  and Russia with whom Iran does various deals, want Iran back, said James Jeffrey, chair of the Wilson Centers Middle East Program.

Plan B

The United States and Israel have warned that they are exploring a Plan B if Tehran does not return in good faith to salvage JCPOA.

Time is running short, Blinken said at a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Washington earlier this month. We are prepared to turn to other options if Iran doesnt change course, and these consultations with our allies and partners are part of it.

However, analysts say the Biden administration is unlikely to use military options nor would it greenlight the Israelis to strike. Jeffrey said the U.S. is more likely to rely on a combination of new sanctions and tougher position on Irans aggression in the region, alongside strategic ambiguity on military response should the talks fail.

While the Iranians do not think the Biden team has a serious military Plan B, Tehran cannot allow the nuclear stalemate to go on forever, Vatanka said.

One way or another, both sides  the US and Iran - need to put the brakes on this cycle of escalation, he said.

VOA' Anita Powell contributed to this report.
The U.S. Justice Department is in talks to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to each child and parent who was separated under a Trump-era practice of splitting families at the border, a person familiar with discussions to settle lawsuits said Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the government was considering payments around $450,000 to each person affected. A person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press that figure was under consideration but changed, though not dramatically. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.

The discussions continue, and there is no guarantee the two sides will strike an agreement.

About 5,500 children were split from their parents under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy, under which parents were separated from their children to face criminal prosecution for crossing the border illegally, according to court filings in a federal case in San Diego. Inadequate tracking systems caused many to be apart for an extended time. The payments are intended to compensate for the psychological trauma.

Attorneys for the families are also seeking permanent legal status in the United States for those separated under the practice, which a judge halted in June 2018, six days after Trump stopped it amid an international backlash.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.

The settlement talks involve several law firms. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing parents in the San Diego case.

The National Immigration Litigation Alliance represents five mothers and their children who were separated for more than two months, including four children who were sent to holding facilities in New York. A federal judge in Arizona denied the government's bid to dismiss the case last year.

"No amount of money can compensate for the amount of pain and suffering these parents and children endured under this unconscionable and unprecedented policy," said Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance.

A Justice Department inspector general's report in January said a "single-minded focus on increasing immigration prosecutions came at the expense of careful and appropriate consideration of the impact of family unit prosecutions and child separations."
The World Health Organization has written an open letter to the heads of state gathered in Rome for the G-20 meeting, urging them to increase vaccine supplies for the world's poorest, ensure access to vaccines for all people on the move and support low- and middle-income countries in combating COVID-19 with all available means.

The current vaccine equity gap between wealthier and low resource countries demonstrates a disregard for the lives of the worlds poorest and most vulnerable, the open letter said. For every 100 people in high-income countries, 133 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, while in low-income countries, only 4 doses per 100 people have been administered.

The WHO letter also warned, Vaccine inequity is costing lives every day, and continues to place everyone at risk. History and science make it clear: coordinated action with equitable access to public health resources is the only way to face down a global public health scourge like COVID-19. We need a strong, collective push to save lives, reduce suffering and ensure a sustainable global recovery.

Britains Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, joined WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in signing another open letter to the G-20 leaders, urging them to make good on their promised vaccine donations to poor countries. When the leaders of the worlds wealthiest nations met at the G-7 Summit in June, they collectively announced that 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines would be sent to low- and low-and-middle-income countries to help vaccinate the world. Pharmaceutical companies have pledged almost the same.

Yet, as several nations still dont even have enough vaccines for their own health workers, the world is left asking: Where are the doses? the letter said. Of the almost 7 billion doses that have been administered globally, just 3% of people in low-income countries have had a jab so far. Where are the rest? ... Promises arent translating into vaccines reaching the people that need them.

British media has reported that Prime Minister Boris Johns is expected to announce at the G-20 summit that the U.K. will donate 20 million vaccine doses to low-income countries by the end of the year.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Saturday that it has recorded more than 246 million global COVID infections and nearly 5 million global deaths. The center said nearly 7 billion vaccines have been administered.

Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children 5-11 years old.

The FDA approved doses for children that are one-third the amount that teens and adults receive.

"With this vaccine kids can go back to something that's better than being locked at home on remote schooling, not being able to see their friends," Dr. Kawsar Talaat of Johns Hopkins University said, according to The Associated Press. "The vaccine will protect them and also protect our communities."

Tuesday, advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make detailed recommendations, and the CDC director will have the final say.

Approval by the regulatory agencies would make the vaccine available in the coming days to 28 million American children, many of whom are back in school for in-person learning. Only a few other countries, including China, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates, have so far cleared COVID-19 vaccines for children in this age group and younger.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe on Friday called for schools to stay open, provided appropriate prevention and response measures are in place.

The recommendation comes after WHO reported the European region has now seen four consecutive weeks of growing COVID-19 transmission, the only WHO region to do so. The agency said Europe's rising numbers accounted for 57% of new cases worldwide in the third week of October.

In a statement from the agency's website, WHO/Europe says instead of closing educational institutions in response to this latest surge, it recommends a "whole-of-society approach" to reducing transmission through mitigation measures such as physical distancing, cleaning hands frequently, wearing masks and ensuring adequate ventilation.

The WHO regional director for Europe, Dr. Hans Henri Kluge, said, "Last year's widespread school closures, disrupting the education of millions of children and adolescents, did more harm than good, especially to children's mental and social well-being. We can't repeat the same mistakes."

Kluge said that in the coming months, decisions by governments and the public to reduce the impact of COVID-19 should be based on data and evidence, "with the understanding that the epidemiological situation can change, and that our behavior must change with it. Science must trump politics."

The Pacific island of Tonga has recorded its first COVID infection. The fully vaccinated infected person arrived on the island Friday on a commercial flight from New Zealand.
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa says he will attend COP26, becoming the first Zimbabwe leader to visit the United Kingdom since Zimbabwe was accused of human rights abuses and election rigging. Mnangagwa also said a U.N. rapporteur had proved his government was right about the sanctions issue.

Winding up an annual conference of the ruling ZANU-PF party Saturday in Bindura, 80 kilometers north of Zimbabwes capital, Mnangagwa said he was looking forward to attending the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, in Scotland, which begins Sunday.

I wish to inform the conference that tomorrow morning (Sunday) I travel to Glasgow, United Kingdom, after over two decades have passed without Zimbabwe leadership going to United Kingdom. I have been invited by [British Prime Minister] Boris Johnson, and [he] has indicated he might meet me; one on one, as well as other leaders like India prime minister and others, we are meeting them, he said.

Mnangagwa also said he was happy about a report by U.N. Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan after a two-week visit to Zimbabwe. The Belarus national urged the U.S. and other Western governments to lift sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe nearly two decades ago and for alleged election-rigging and human rights abuses.

We as government, we as ZANU-PF, have been vindicated by the report released by the United Nations special rapporteur. We should congratulate ourselves. We have never been wrong, and we shall continue always being right. Those who have been found outside the law should reckon their position, Mnangagwa said.

But in an audio statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Harare, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said sanctions on Zimbabwes leadership were not hurting ordinary citizens.

Our sanctions target individuals and institutions that are committing human rights violations. And we make every effort to ensure those sanctions do not impact the people. What is happening in Zimbabwe is a result of bad policies in Zimbabwe. What is happening in Zimbabwe is a consequence of their leadership. It is not a consequence of our sanctions, and we will always resist any criticism that says our sanctions are impacting people unfairly. We are criticized by the government [of Zimbabwe] for these actions because they know they are responsible for these actions. I regret that the special rapporteur decided to put this in [her] report, Thomas-Greenfield said.

The European Union imposed travel and financial sanctions on then-Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and his allies in 2002, in response to reports of election-rigging and human rights. The U.S. followed suit with sanctions in 2003.

Earlier this week, in separate statements, the U.S., Britain and the European Union said Zimbabwes economy was suffering, not because of sanctions but because of corruption and government mismanagement of the countrys resources.
U.S. President Joe Biden met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday, ahead of his meeting with G-20 leaders. Biden said the pope supported his receiving Holy Communion, while some U.S. bishops want to deny him the sacrament over his stance on abortion.
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke Friday about his 75-minute private meeting with Pope Francis, saying the two men prayed together for peace and discussed global issues like climate change, as Biden prepares for a whirlwind diplomatic tour that includes a gathering of the world's wealthiest nations and a major climate summit.

Biden said the two men did not discuss an issue currently dividing the U.S. Catholic church: the divide between Biden's personal opposition to abortion and his stance as president, where he has fought against efforts by states to limit abortion access. Some conservative American bishops are seeking to deny Biden access to communion over this stance.

When asked about the matter, Biden said: "we just talked about the fact that he was happy I was a good Catholic."

Biden, a practicing Catholic who regularly attends Mass, said he did not receive communion from the head of the church. Communion is not usually part of papal audiences with heads of state, church experts have said. This is Biden's fourth meeting with this pope, but his first as president.

When asked if they discussed the rift in the U.S. church, Biden replied: "That's a private conversation."

The president and first lady Jill Biden were welcomed Friday by the head of Papal Household, Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza. Around noon, the first couple had a private audience with the pope before participating in a broader delegate meeting, which on the U.S. side included Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O'Malley Dillon.

Administration officials described this meeting as both personal and political.

Francis once guided the Biden family through personal grief and perches permanently behind the president's shoulder in a framed photo that overlooks the Oval Office.

During a visit to the United States in 2015, Biden has said, the pope took time to talk with the future president and his family not long after the death of his eldest son, Beau.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday the meeting, while primarily personal, would also cover important policy issues. The White House said the two, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, would "discuss working together on efforts grounded in respect for fundamental human dignity, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling the climate crisis and caring for the poor."

"First, there'll be the obvious personal dimension," Sullivan said earlier in the week. "On policy issues, of course, in the international realm, they'll be talking about climate and migration and income inequality and other issues that are very top of mind for both of them."

The abortion question

But on the issue of abortion, the two men are clearly divided. The Catholic Church unambiguously opposes abortion. Biden, who says he doesn't personally agree with the procedure, has as president resisted efforts by states and courts to limit access to abortion.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden's views are clear on this matter.

"You are familiar with where the president stands," she said. "He's somebody who stands up for and believes that a woman's right to choose is important."

This issue is a wedge between Biden and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which plans to meet in coming weeks to debate whether politicians who support abortion should be barred from taking Holy Communion.

Massimo Faggioli, a Villanova University theology professor and author of Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States, said the meeting could also affect the conflict between Biden and those conservative American clerics. Circumstances are different now, he said, than the last time a Catholic served as president.

"John Kennedy was not an embattled Catholic at war with his bishops, as is the case for Joe Biden," he told VOA. "And there are high stakes in this meeting and in the (climate) summit in Glasgow a few days later, because both the pope and Joe Biden have very high, on their list of priorities, climate change."

Separating church and state

And, Faggioli said, it's not just the president who wants to draw a line between the church and politics.

"The Vatican and Pope Francis are actively trying to protect Joe Biden's access to the sacraments  not protecting Joe Biden's policies, especially on abortion, but they're protecting Joe Biden's access to the sacrament because they are afraid that if the sacraments are used to make a political statement, the U.S. Catholic Church will lose its catholicity, which means essentially, not being a sectarian church," he said.

"It will be the elephant in the room, probably," he said. "But they agree on this idea that Catholicism is a big tent that should not be defined by political affiliations, and even less, partisan loyalties."

The White House stressed that this meeting was primarily personal.

"I think the president's faith is, as you all know, is quite personal to him," Psaki said earlier in the week. "His faith has been a source of strength through various tragedies that he has lived through in his life."

And, as the White House has also stressed, the president is willing to meet with other spiritual titans. Earlier this week, Biden hosted Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of 200 million Eastern Orthodox Christians.

"Our president here is a man of faith and man of vision, and we know that he will offer to this wonderful country and to the world the best leadership and direction within his considerable power," Bartholomew said, after a 45-minute meeting with Biden in the Oval Office.

More importantly, the patriarch noted, the two men used their massive platforms to push for something that other major faith leaders are also embracing: widespread vaccination.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence-France Presse.
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We've all heard of a "white whale." Believe it or not, Huntsville may have its own version of that.

It's a lot smaller, a lot quicker and a lot cuter.

Carolyn Cavender Alexander searching for the perfect shot of Monte the Albino Squirrel. Carolyn Cavender Alexander searching for the perfect shot of Monte the Albino Squirrel.

The story starts on a foggy, drizzly October morning at the overlook on Monte Sano.

"We don't have the ideal day with the rain," said Carolyn Cavender Alexander.

She's on the hunt, looking for her next target.

"Most of them have migrated south now," she said.

Alexander's not hunting the way most Alabamians do. Instead, she's hunting with her camera.

"There's been very few days where I have not gone out and used this camera," Alexander said.

There's something special she's looking for on this Monday morning.

"He is a fast little fella," she explained. "As soon as he sights you, away, he goes!"

That "little fella" is a red-eyed, snow-colored squirrel, appropriately named Monte.

"I think the general consensus, with the red eyes, is that he is albino," Alexander said.

WAAY 31 asked the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources if Monte really is albino. And, just like Alexander thought, they said those red eyes gave it away.

Alexander has spotted her furry friend a few times. On Monday, we joined her to see if we could get just as lucky.

Lo and behold, as we were setting up to get video of her perfecting her photography skills, Monte decided to make an appearance.

"Come on sweet, boy," Alexander said as she snapped photos. "Come on, sweet Monte."

There he was, chowing down on some nuts and storing others for the winter  posing for the cameras all along.

"Who would've believed he would've made an appearance for you, Luke," Alexander asked after Monte scurried into the woods.

Like all of our "Alabama Originals," Monte is special. Only 1 out of every 100,000 squirrels is born albino. Experts said those actually born white don't last long, because their pure color makes them easy targets for predators.

But we're happy to say that so far that Monte is doing just fine.

"He's good at elusion," Alexander said.

This isn't Monte's first time on WAAY 31, either. Alexander sent us some pictures of him through the Facebook group "Alabama the Beautiful." We used them on air using #ATBWAAY31.

To see other "Alabama Originals," click HERE. If you have an idea for an "Alabama Original," email Luke at lhajdasz@waaytv.com.
DeKalb County Schools is looking to get back tens of thousands of dollars in refunds from Florida-based travel company Musical Destinations after band trips were paid for then cancelled.

Altogether, the schools are looking for more than $40,000. Fyffe, Geraldine and Sylvania high schools had plans to go to Atlanta prior to the pandemic. Crossville, Ider and Plainview high schools were planning to go to Washington, D.C.

Planning for the trips started in 2019, and all were cancelled in 2020.

One parent alone said she's out nearly $4,000 for a trip to Washington, D.C, that never happened.

"We were hopeful in the beginning, and everything we were hopeful for just never panned out," said parent Vernie Slaton.

Slaton's daughter was a senior in 2020. She said her daughter was looking forward to closing out high school on the stage.

"She was looking forward to this like a great memory, kind of the final chapter, and being able to do something so large, after being in the band for six years," said Slaton.

But the travel company, Musical Destinations, cancelled all band trips when the pandemic struck.

"I think this is an example, probably, of a small business that was affected by Covid-19," said DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Wayne Lyles. "From our understanding, they've filed for bankruptcy."

The last time the district has heard from Musical Destinations was in August 2020, Lyles said  a process taking entirely too long for students and parents who gathered their own money for the trips.

"Parents are becoming more concerned as time goes on," said Lyles. "They'd like answers."

In June 2020, the president of Musical Destinations alerted the band director at Crossville High School of the refund process. Plainview High School was the first to submit the necessary documentation to Musical Destinations and the only school to get a refund.

The refund they received wasn't even the full amount students there paid.

Now, Dekalb County Schools is in the process of taking legal action to get students and parents their money back.

"For our attorneys, this is fairly technical, because this is a Florida-based company, so it has a federal process for us to take any legal action to get money from them since it's an out-of-state company," said Lyles.

Slaten said the frustrating part is that parents felt like they had no resources. The superintendent said Dekalb County Schools had booked trips through Musical Destinations in the past and had a good experience.

WAAY 31 reached out to Musical Destinations for comment but has not heard back.
MONTGOMERY (AP)  Bond has been set at $10 million for an Alabama man accused of severely injuring his 2-month-old son.

Marterrius C. Moore, 22, of Millbrook, faces a charge of aggravated child abuse. Elmore County District Judge Glenn Goggans set the cash bond Wednesday during a court appearance, WSFA-TV reported.

Defense attorney David Vickers called the bond excessive and unconstitutional. He argued Moore would be living at home with his parents and with no children in the home. He also said Moore has never been in trouble in the past other than missing court on a traffic ticket, which has since been resolved.

Vickers said motions would be filed for a preliminary hearing and bond reduction.

Moores son was taken to Baptist East Medical Center in Montgomery on Oct. 24, then airlifted to Childrens of Alabama hospital in Birmingham with severe head trauma, according to the Millbrook Police Department. Police said Moore told hospital staff and officers that he dropped the infant Oct. 19.

An investigation into the infants injuries, including multiple broken bones, found Moores story to be implausible, police said. After further questioning, Moore reportedly admitted to injuring the infant on several occasions.

Chief Assistant District Attorney C.J. Robinson called the case heartbreaking and argued in favor of the $10 million cash bond due to the nature of the offenses.

You have cranial fractures, fractures in the arm, multiple fractures other places, and the troubling part from the medical field is these fractures did not occur at the same time, Robinson said.

Robinson said Alabamas Winstons Law was created for this type of case. The law increases the possible penalty for aggravated child abuse for a child under 6 years of age to life in prison, which is the same level as attempted murder.

Moore is being held at the Elmore County Jail. It was unknown if he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
TUPELO, Miss. (AP)  Two banks with branches in the southern U.S. say they have completed their merger.

The announcement came Friday. Cadence Bancorporation merged into BancorpSouth Bank. The surviving company is named Cadence Bank.

BancorpSouth Bank and Cadence Bank will continue operating under their old brands until they finish integrating their systems. That's expected in late 2022.

The company said customers should not see immediate changes and should continue using their current bank cards, checks and other services.

Cadence said it is becoming the sixth-largest bank headquartered in its nine-state footprint. It operates in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.
Alabama on Friday officially filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden's Covid-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors.

Biden said the mandate will help put an end to the pandemic. However, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the mandate is an overreach.

"Biden has again demonstrated open disdain for the rule of law in seizing power Congress never gave him," Marshall said. "And all to impose a mandate that threatens to further wreck our economy and peoples lives by denying countless workers the ability to feed their families simply for daring to oppose this get-jabbed-or-get-fired dictate. I will vigorously oppose this deceitful attempt by Biden to strong-arm the state of Alabama and its people."

Marshall said the Biden administration notified several state agencies and institutions that they fell under the federal Covid-19 vaccine mandate within the last 10 days.

"This order was strategically designed with an unreasonable timetable to exert maximum coercive pressure on states  such that they are faced with either vaccinating a large percentage of their public and private workforces in a matter of weeks, or else they are barred from contracting with the federal government," Marshall said.

This lawsuit comes as some ULA employees in Decatur were fired for not getting their first Covid shot by Friday's deadline.

Six other states joined Alabama in this lawsuit, including Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia. However, a total of 19 states are suing the Biden administration for its vaccine mandate for federal contractors.
Gov. Kay Ivey, along with other state governors and agencies, is filing a lawsuit against the Biden administration's Covid-19 vaccine mandate for federal workers.

"I have joined a lawsuit to fight back against the outrageous, overreaching Biden vaccine mandates," Ivey said. "From the moment the White House tried to force this vaccine onto Americans, I have said that Alabama is standing strong against it and that the best way to stop this is to go to the courts. I am proud to take this important step and join Georgia and other states to pursue the most effective legal path to stop this vaccine mandate dead in its tracks. Alabamians are overwhelmingly against these egregious, overreaching federal mandates, and I stand firmly with them."

The complaint says the mandate would cause Alabama to lose a "staggering" amount of money. They also fear many employees will leave their jobs if forced to get vaccinated, causing state agencies to face a bigger labor shortage than they already that.

Six other states are also attached to this lawsuit including Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia.

The attorney general's office also filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration.
On Friday, workers with the Decatur location of United Launch Alliance had to comply with the federal vaccine mandate and show proof of vaccination by 3:30 p.m. or be let go.

Now we're hearing from a newly released employee who told us he is fighting back against the decision.

Hunter Creger walked WAAY-TV through his last day at work at ULA. He was protesting until the final cars left the building.

He told us the federal mandate on vaccines is a complete overreach.

"You're pushing people into a corner, and after going on two years of this pandemic, I think people have had enough," he said.

Creger worked at ULA until recently.

The federal vaccine mandate for contractors officially goes into effect Dec. 8, but ULA decided to start the mandate for their employees early. By end of business Friday, everyone had to have proof of their Covid-19 vaccine shot.

Creger told WAAY-TV he didn't want to be forced to vaccinated, and Wednesday was the last day he walked into work.

"I showed up for work, and they told me that I was not allowed to touch hardware until I had a meeting with (human resources)," Creger said. "During that meeting, they told me that I was suspended, pending an investigation."

We reached out to ULA in regards to Creger's employment status and haven't heard back yet, but he told us when others caught wind of what was happening, they wanted to protest.

So, Creger chose to defend his choice and call on others to do the same. Creger said the vaccine mandate offers too much of a hand in people's lives, and he will fight back until he doesn't have to anymore.

"This government is set up by the people, by the people, for the people, and I think that if you don't take back your rights now, those are rights that your children will never see," he said.

When asked if he had any medical and/or religious exemptions to the vaccine, Creger said he's Catholic. However, he added even if he wasn't, he still wouldn't agree with being forced to take the shot.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Alabama-based employers should be in favor of those employees with exemptions and that he is preparing a lawsuit to challenge this mandate soon.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Over the objections of the Biden administration, the Supreme Court has agreed to consider a climate change case that could limit the Environmental Protection Agencys authority to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The court also said Friday that it would hear a Republican-led immigration challenge.

The cases wont be argued until 2022 at the earliest. As is typical, the high court did not explain its decision to take either case.

Both cases are unusual, however, in that the Biden administration either has changed or said it will change the rules at the center of each case.
Madison City Schools Superintendent Ed Nichols on Friday released his proposal for how the school system will move away from its mask-wearing mandate.

Nichols said he will present two proposals to school board members on Thursday.

Both are dictated by the Alabama Department of Public Healths overall level of community transmission designation for Madison County.

As of Friday, Madison Countys level is classified as substantial. Thats one level above the target of moderate, meaning that mask-wearing will remain mandatory if the proposals were in place now.

No matter the classification, mask-wearing remains mandatory on school buses due to federal guidelines.

Here are both of Nichols proposals:

Proposal 1

When Madison County reaches the MODERATE(Yellow) level as designated by the ADPH, mask will become OPTIONAL in the Madison City School District.

School Buses Facial coverings will remain mandatory for passengers and drivers on school buses. The Alabama Department of Public Health has interpreted the federal order regarding facial covering requirements on all forms of public transportation to include public school buses. This requirement supersedes the facial covering policy of the schools.

This matrix will terminate on May 25, 2022 unless terminated by the Board prior to this date.

Proposal 2

When Madison County reaches the MODERATE(Yellow) level as designated by the ADPH, mask will become OPTIONAL at the high school level in the Madison City School District. When the Madison County level reaches LOW(Blue) as designated by the ADPH, mask will become OPTIONAL at the middle and elementary level in the Madison City School District. Until all schools are at a mask optional level, the Central Office building will require a mask.

School Buses Facial coverings will remain mandatory for passengers and drivers on school buses. The Alabama Department of Public Health has interpreted the federal order regarding facial covering requirements on all forms of public transportation to include public school buses. This requirement supersedes the facial covering policy of the schools.

The Elementary and Middle School Level requirement will revert to a MODERATE designation 45 days after a vaccine is released to the public for children 5-11 years of age. This matrix will terminate on May 25, 2022 unless terminated by the Board prior to this date.
Federal sex crime charges have been filed in the case of a runaway found in Alabama with a man from Washington, D.C.

Court records show Myron Lopez, 31, is being charged with production of child pornography and transportation of a minor for sex.

He is accused of raping the victim multiple times over the course of three days at a Huntsville home earlier this month.

Lopez was arrested earlier this month in Birmingham on state charges of interference with custody.

That case involved a 15-year-old girl who had run away several times from the custody of her sister.

The latest case involved her running to meet Lopez in Washington, D.C., where an emergency missing child alert was issued.

Lopez and the teen returned to Alabama  first to Huntsville and then to Birmingham  where authorities caught up to them after pinging a cell phone following a frantic call from the girl to her sister.

The FBI and U.S. Marshals found the girl at a Birmingham apartment with Lopez and another person.

Officials say neither Lopez nor the other person in the apartment are U.S. citizens.

During questioning by a human trafficking expert, the teen told authorities shed been held against her will, physically abused and raped over a three-day period.

Some of the sex crimes were recorded and recovered from Lopez's phone.

Lopez is set for a detention hearing Tuesday in federal court here in Huntsville.
The lingering pandemic could be affecting nursing college enrollment numbers, and that is not good news as hospitals across Alabama are in desperate need of more health care workers.

According to data released from the University of Alabama in Huntsville's College of Nursing, there was an enrollment drop from the Fall 2020 to Fall 2021 semesters.

As the pandemic hit the country hard in 2020, there was a rush of students wanting to answer the call to help in the health care field, but that interest may be waning now, according to the Alabama Hospital Association.

UAH offers programs for nurses and other career pathways. And it's not clear if what the school is seeing is being felt on other campuses, but it signals a major problem.

"Whats happened is this has now drug on for almost two years, I think," AHA's Don Williamson told WAAY 31. "... People are burned out and tired and frustrated, which probably contributes to a lessening interest in the health care field."

On average, nurses in Alabama are paid less than their counterparts in other states. Another issue facing nursing schools is the lack of available training.

I dont know why Huntsville is seeing a transient decline in the number of students, but the inability to train all of the eligible students who would otherwise qualify for nursing school is a major problem in this country," Williamson said.

Even as large numbers of U.S. nurses leave their jobs due to the stress of the pandemic, there's been a big uptick in applications to nursing schools, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing says.
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Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 54F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

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Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. High around 55F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 41F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.
Italy deploys more than 5,000 extra police and troops on the streets of Rome over G20 weekend.

Italy's security chiefs have drawn up plans to deal with protests scheduled to take place in Rome as the heads of the world's most powerful countries meet for the G20 Leaders' Summit in the EUR district.

The Italian interior ministry has deployed around 5,300 extra police officers and soldiers on the streets of the capital this weekend, reports news agency ANSA.

On top of the closure of 14 Rome metro stations and various streets caused by the G20, there are two main demonstrations expected in the capital on Saturday.

A sit-in "against the Draghi government and the government of the bankers" is scheduled from 14.00 to 19.00 in Piazza S. Giovanni in Laterano, which is set to lead to traffic diversions in the area.

Another protest march will take place from 15.00 and 20.00, beginning at the Pyramid of Cestius, with between 5,000 and 10,000 people expected.

The demonstration could see a mixture of protesters including trade unions, social centres, No Tav, No Triv, Fridays for Future, ex-Alitalia and Whirlpool workers, Extinction Rebellion, along with other groups against the G20.

The march will make its way to the Bocca della Verita (Mouth of Truth) in the Circus Maximus area - via the Lungotevere - causing problems for motorists and public transport.

There is also the possibility that No Green Pass and No Vax protesters could join one or both of the rallies, with police reportedly monitoring social network sites linked to the two movements.

The G20 summit is being held away from the city centre, after violent clashes broke out earlier this month between protesters and police over the extension of Italy's covid Green Pass to workplaces.

Details of the street closures and traffic diversions can be found on the Roma Mobilita website.
However, one day  later rather than sooner, we hope  bulletins from the Palace will declare something akin to what they said for her father George VI (The Kings life is moving peacefully toward its close). A telephone call will then be made on a secure line to the prime ministers office bearing the message London Bridge is down, code for her passing. The Foreign Offices Global Response Centre will share the news with 15 governments outside the U.K. where the Queen is still head of state and to the 36 other nations of the Commonwealth. Alerted within minutes by a Press Association newsflash, the vast majority of her people will learn of the death of the only monarch they have ever known.
On a recent Saturday, MJ Carpio knocked on the door of a single-story home not far from where George Floyd was killed by a police officer last year. Shes working with Yes 4 Minneapolis, a coalition that wants to pass a ballot initiative to replace the citys police department. If voters agree on Nov. 2, the initiative promises a comprehensive, public health approach to public safety  one that could include police officers if necessary.What constitutes necessary when it comes to policing? The debate stretches back decades, but rarely surfaced in the mainstream before last June, when a veto-proof majority of Minneapolis City Council members gathered on a stage in the citys Powderhorn Park, decorated with the words DEFUND POLICE. Most had in mind a more nuanced approach, but the slogan stuck, becoming a shorthand for any effort to re-imagine public safety.Carpio lives the debate on doorsteps. At this home, a late middle-aged Black man appeared in the doorway. Carpio launched into her pitch. Have you heard of the public-safety amendment? He had. Will you be supporting it? He pursed his lips, then shook his head. Im for public safety. But Im not voting for defunding the police. We need police.Carpio had heard this before, and didnt hesitate. Were not about defund, she said, and explained how the initiative would help officers do their jobs by, for example, pairing them with mental-health professionals. That piqued his interest. If a cop sees a guy fidgeting the wrong way, theyll kill him, he said, matter-of-factly.Carpio nodded: Now theyll have a ride-along.He crossed his arms. Im going to vote on Nov. 2, he said. But Im not voting to defund. Ill vote for what you just said. As she walked to the next house, Carpio opened voter-tracking software on her phone and marked the man as leaning her way.I wasnt so sure. Polite Minneapolitans arent the type to disappoint a friendly canvasser at their door. But as residents mull how to vote, bitterness and distrust toward the defund movement is always just below the surface  potentially threatening the citys best shot at police reform in decades.*****Its never been easy to be Black in Minneapolis. In the early 20th century, developers attached restrictive racial covenants to new homes in the citys most desirable areas, creating all-white enclaves. Employment bias was rife. The largely white police force engaged in rampant discrimination. By 1946, the problem was so stark that Mayor Hubert Humphrey required the police to undergo race-relations training, a national first.Many efforts to overhaul the police department would follow over the decades. Yet more than 70 years of training and reform have largely failed to produce results acceptable to Black residents. Since 2015, Minneapolis police have used force against Blacks at least seven times more often than against whites. This year, even after the vast protests that followed Floyds death, the police have stopped Black drivers for minor violations nine times more often than whites. Multiple studies suggest that racial bias is largely responsible for these disparities.Plenty of reasons can be cited for the police departments dysfunction, including poor hiring and promotion decisions, ineffective training, and a lack of enforceable oversight. But each of these problems is an outgrowth of a deeper distortion in the citys politics.Historically, the police department was just another city agency, funded by regular appropriations. That changed in 1961, when the Police Officers Federation convinced voters to support an amendment to the city charter mandating at least 1.7 police officers per 1,000 residents. It was an arbitrary ratio, created partly to remove politics from funding decisions. Yet 60 years later, its clear that the mandate has had a pernicious effect.It really does take away our leverage, said Steve Fletcher, one of three council members who introduced the charter amendment. Because when were sitting at the bargaining table, and were telling police youre going to have to change, they say: What are you going to do about it? You cant cut us. Even if were not producing any outcomes that you like, you cant cut us.The amendment, which must be approved by voters on Tuesday, would eliminate the police department from the city charter. In its place, it would establish a department of public safety led by a commissioner nominated by the mayor and appointed by the council. Few other details are spelled out, including whether the city would still employ police officers.In theory, it must. State law requires that certain duties, such as responding to a crime in progress, can only be carried out by police. How that would be accomplished with a new public-safety agency would be left to the council to decide later. Further complicating matters, the citys labor agreements with police officers will remain in effect even if the amendment passes. Fletcher told me he envisions reducing staffing to 400 or 500 officers (down from 730) over a planful, gradual, probably 10-year process.The alternative approach described by the amendments backers involves relatively mainstream reforms  such as using social workers and mental-health professionals to respond to nonviolent situations  that enjoy broad support in Minneapolis. The council, in concert with a progressive mayor, could well enact some of them.But thats far from certain. This year, the entire council is up for re-election, with some members, including Fletcher, facing strong competitors who oppose the charter amendment and the progressive public-safety agenda. Theres a reason for that.*****It feels like ancient history now, but in the days following Floyds death, a serious debate about police reform broke out. Op-eds and columns offered up new ideas; so did experts on radio call-ins and TV talk shows. Congress began a bipartisan effort to impose accountability. Even President Donald Trump conceded that video of Floyds arrest was a very shocking sight.That moment of reflection soon passed, however, as normal politics resumed. A photo of the DEFUND POLICE rally at Powderhorn Park began circulating widely. At the time, no council member had a legislative plan for what a reformed police department might look like, even though most if not all agreed it would still include armed officers. But Republican candidates nationwide suddenly had a slogan they could use against Democrats  and they did, with some success.Many council members hesitated to distance themselves from the rally, even as the political damage accumulated. Several had emerged from citys thriving activist network, and continued to rely on it for support. In the process, they tended to create a kind of echo chamber that drowned out the concerns of other constituencies, including the Black community.After the riots that followed Floyds death, the last thing many Black and East African residents wanted was a reduction in police protection. The city was already experiencing a surge in violent crime. After the protests, some officers quit or took leave; others, its rumored, simply stopped doing their jobs. Whatever the case, many Black communities have felt abandoned by the police in recent months, and that has translated into demands for more  not less  funding.People will definitely say, Hey, we dont like the way police have been patrolling us, said Teto Wilson, a Black entrepreneur who works with a group opposing the charter amendment, in his North Minneapolis barbershop. But it would be absolutely insane with the level of crime that we deal with on a daily basis, to defund and dismantle the police department.Wilson is far from alone in that opinion. A September poll of registered Minneapolis voters found that 75% of Black respondents opposed reducing the size of the police, compared to 51% of white voters. Nekima Levy Armstrong, a Black civil-rights lawyer and activist who has long pushed for police reform in Minneapolis, explained her opposition to the charter amendment as, in part, a reaction to out-of-touch progressive council members.I thought it was inappropriate for them to go to Powderhorn Park and cater to a predominantly white group of residents who consider themselves to be progressive, and sadly some who are out of touch with what happens in communities of color, she said in a video posted on Oct. 19. In particular, the Black community.*****A day before the Powderhorn rally, Mayor Jacob Frey was confronted by thousands of protestors outside his home, demanding that he commit to abolishing the police. He refused, and was berated as he walked away. At the time, many thought that would mark the end of his political career. It doesnt look that way now. As of mid-September, 52% of Black voters viewed Frey favorably; the city council was viewed favorably by 36%.Nationwide, support for defunding has plummeted over the past year, with only 15% of adults favoring it, down from 25%. Among Black adults, the decline has been especially stark: 23% now support decreased funding, compared to 42% last year. In fact, significantly more Black respondents (38%) said they support a net increase in police spending.Ultimately, thats a gap that canvassers like MJ Carpio must try to address, door by door, if they want the amendment to pass on Tuesday. As I walked with her, she didnt seem to mind the challenge. Although the vote will be close, her group has clearly made progress with its message that the charter amendment will enhance public safety, not defund it. Recent polling suggests the measure is supported by nearly half of Minneapolis voters  though only 42% of Black ones.As we walked past a house with a homemade Abolish MPD banner draped across it, I thought back on something Steve Fletcher told me. I think this year is our window. Its our best chance to do this for a very long time.
I listen. Her words are not quite hers; theyre unsorted and disordered. Shes referring to something but she cant find it in her cupboards. She wants me to do well. She knows I can do it. She cant tell me, but I can tell by the cadence of her sentence  the lilting highs that her voice used to reach whenever she needed to summon optimism when I was a boy.
The traditional model in contemporary dance is the single-choreographer company, a more-or-less stable ensemble led by a director-choreographer who creates the repertoire and keeps dancers on salary year to year. Mark Morris Dance Group and the Paul Taylor Dance Company are the most prominent examples, though since Taylors death in 2018 the entity he founded has commissioned works by others. These groups tour widely, perform annually in New York and operate their own headquarters, with schools attached, so they have rehearsal space as well as income from classes and studio rentals. In other words, they had diversified revenue, long seen as a strategic benefit.
Eastman has said that he first made contact with lawyers working on Trumps election challenges during the weekend after the election in Philadelphia, where he happened to be attending an academic conference. The law firm Jones Day had just withdrawn from representing Trump and, Eastman said in a podcast interview in June, somebody had heard I was in town and brought me over to the headquarters.
An hour after the assault at the Capitol began, one of the Presidents lawyers displayed a shocking lack of awareness of how those practical implications were playing out in real time, declaring to me that The siege is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so that the American people can see for themselves what happened. In fact, an open debate had been taking place on the Senate floor, identical to the one Democrats triggered over Ohios electoral votes in 2005, when it was disrupted by a band of thugs who had been sold the lie that the Vice President had the power to reverse the outcome of the election.
In 1983, she and Esther Katz, both then affiliated with the Institute for Research in History in New York, organized a conference titled Women Surviving: The Holocaust. They invited participants including Cynthia Ozick, the writer best known for her short story The Shawl, about a mother who tries to conceal her young daughter in a concentration camp by hiding her in the mantle of the storys title. A guard ultimately discovers the child and tosses her tiny body against an electrified fence.
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Skepticism is an important cognitive quality that [Biden] brought into the job, said John Podesta, who as a senior counselor to President Barack Obama during his second term oversaw climate change and energy policy when Biden was vice president. He was always the guy asking the last hard question. Hell be skeptical. But he also understands the stakes  that this is a question of global alignment around a net-zero goal. Its not good enough to just promise with no expectation youll deliver. He wants to know what is the plan.
The analysts who favored the lab-leak hypothesis also took into account the fact that the initial clusters of covid-19 cases occurred only in Wuhan and that the researchers at the lab had taken samples of coronaviruses from animals throughout China and thus provided a node for the virus to enter the city, according to the assessment.
Abortion clinics are now in an impossible bind because on the one hand, there is no one to sue because no state official is allowed to enforce the law, while on the other hand, there are too many people to sue because they cant identify who among the millions of Texas pro-lifers will step forward to enforce the law, he wrote.
As soon as he saw the mug shot of a suspect being held on drug possession, for example, he recognized him instantly as the same man captured on camera two years earlier exposing himself on a city bus. We had been looking for him on that bus route, and as soon as I saw him, I said, Thats the guy from the bus two years ago,  Pope says, adding that the man was charged with a sex crime and pleaded guilty. It always makes it special when I can find those kind of people because what he did was not very nice.
They said the woman in the relationship has the right to say what she wants to say . . . the man and the woman have to respect each other, said Rob Bergman, 35, a Californian who is married to a Frenchwoman and works as a bartender in Paris. He moved in 2019 and took the classes last year.
In advance of the summit, the Biden administration had downplayed expectations for Saturdays meeting on Iran, with one senior official telling reporters that there would be no deliverable from the session. The idea for the U.S.-European meeting, the official said, came from Merkel, the outgoing chancellor, and was an opportunity for all four leaders to get in one room and candidly discuss how to revive the discussions.
St. Petersburg doctor Lev Averbakh feels as is if he is wading against a tide of ignorance, apathy and disinformation. I am so sick and tired of explaining to people what this virus is about and why they need to be vaccinated. This resistance from the population is huge, he said in an interview.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was reelected to a second term by a landslide, the interior minister declared Saturday, presenting him a resounding endorsement of his plans to end Iran's pariah status and rejoin the global economy.

With 57 percent of the vote, Rouhani defeated his hard-line rival, Ebrahim Raisi, who had the backing of the ruling clergy and allied security forces. He also won a clear mandate to push through domestic reforms and pursue talks with the West, building on the nuclear deal he negotiated with world powers. That agreement, which Rouhani and his cabinet clinched during his first term, constrains Iran's nuclear program in exchange for international sanctions relief.

The landslide victory gives Rouhani a mandate he did not have during his first term, said Cliff Kupchan, chairman of Eurasia Group, a political risk firm.

He'll remain a centrist, Kupchan said. But will be more aggressive in pursuing reforms.

Rouhani and his reformist backers also dealt a devastating blow to Iranian conservatives, most of whom supported Raisi and scoff at the soft power of the incumbent leader's diplomacy.

Turnout reached roughly 70 percent, with about 40 million Iranians casting ballots nationwide Friday. At stake was whether Iran would continue to open up to the world or return to the diplomatic and economic isolation of the past.

Raisi and his supporters appeared to favor policies associated with former president and populist firebrand Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It was under his leadership that the United Nations began sanctioning Iran for failing to halt its uranium enrichment program.

[Former president Ahmadinejad wanted to run. Irans election vetters said no. ]

But while Rouhani managed to remove sanctions, economic growth remains slow and unemployment high. Many Iranians still live in poverty, and Raisi, who heads Iran's largest religious endowment, seized on the discontent to appeal to the poor and run a populist campaign. The effort, though, ultimately failed.

Despite poor economic conditions, [Iranians] said no to populism and empty promises of government subsidies, said Reza H. Akbari, a researcher on Iranian politics at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting.

This is especially refreshing given the recent rising populist trends in Europe and the U.S.," he said. The Iranian system is far from fair and balanced. However, Iranians demonstrated their belief that the most effective path to reform is . . . through the ballot box.

Iran's president commands the state's vast bureaucracy and also has the ability to shape foreign and domestic policy. But all matters of the state must eventually be approved by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Guardian Council, a body of theocrats.

(The Washington Post)

There were worries before the vote that Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard, Iran's shadowy but most powerful security institution, would rig the results to ensure a Raisi win. In the 2009 election, widespread suspicions of fraud led to a grass-roots protest movement by reformists against the state and then-president Ahmadinejad. The demonstrations were brutally quashed, and the opposition leaders  including Mir Hossein Mousavi, his wife Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi  remain under house arrest.

Its very noteworthy that Khamenei did not force a Raisi win, Kupchan said. There has been speculation that Khamenei had chosen Raisi as his potential successor.

The erstwhile successor to the leader took a body blow tonight, he said. And the path to a more moderate successor to Khamenei is now at least somewhat clearer.

On the international front, Iran will have to confront the more bellicose administration of President Trump. As presidential vote in Iran took place, Trump landed Saturday in Saudi Arabia, which is Iran's main rival. His administration has placed the nuclear deal under interagency review and recently imposed new sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program.

[Trump campaigned against Muslims, but will preach tolerance in Saudi speech]

Still, Rouhani has pledged to continue to negotiate with the United States to persuade them to lift non-nuclear sanctions. Despite the tensions, Rouhani sees Iran as benefiting from the West and from foreign investment. And, apparently, Iranian voters agree.

Iranian voters sent a resounding message to the Trump administration, Akbari said. They are committed to the path of diplomacy and moderation. They stand behind Rouhani's attempts to break the country's isolation.

At home, Rouhani will probably struggle with more progressive political reform. He has failed to secure the release of Mousavi, Rahnavard and Karroubi from house arrest. Iran enjoys greater access to social media and the Internet, and reformist publications and Facebook pages flourished. But activists and journalists are still detained and jailed. Even with his strong mandate, it is unclear how much he will be able to achieve.

Rouhani will continue to face an uphill climb on political reform, Kupchan said.

According to Akbari, The moderate and reformist elements within the society are fully aware of Rouhani's shortcomings when it comes to human rights and guaranteeing social freedoms.

However, they decided to give him a second chance to deliver on his promises, he said.

Read more

Analysis: No matter who wins Irans election, hell have a fight with the supreme leader

Analysis: Whats really at stake in Irans presidential election

Opinion: Theres no clear winner for America in Irans presidential election

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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The chalkboard on an interactive Remembrance Wall at Union Station, where survivors and relatives of traffic crash victims post memories of their loved ones. (Bill OLeary/The Post)

The District has recorded as many traffic fatalities by mid-November as occurred in all of 2020.
We will never allow our historical territories and people close to us living there to be used against Russia, Putin wrote. And to those who will undertake such an attempt, I would like to say that this way they will destroy their own country.
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At the end of every tax year, billionaires tradeable assets would be appraised. The increase in their net worth over 12 months would be taxed at the top capital gains rate of 28.3 per cent. Musk, whose net worth has increased by $US122 billion this year to become the worlds richest person, would face a $US34 billion bill for that period alone. Over the last five years, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, worth $US196 billion, would pay as much as $US44 billion. Between them, Americas top 10 billionaires, a group that also includes Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, would pay $US276 billion. Wyden insisted it would end a system in which Americans relying on monthly pay cheques are taxed at a higher rate than billionaires and would ensure billionaires pay tax every year, just like working Americans. According to Forbes magazine, Americas 400 richest people grew their wealth by 40 per cent, or $US4.5 trillion, last year. Meanwhile a leak of billionaires tax returns published by investigative news outlet ProPublica earlier this year found the likes of Musk and Bezos paid no federal income tax in some of the last 15 years, claiming that the richest paid an effective rate of around 3.4 per cent on their growing fortunes. This was not the result of evasion, however. Almost all of these billionaires wealth is made up of unrealised stakes in their companies. While they have pushed to the top of rich lists, their fortunes remain on paper until those shares have been sold.

Musk, who receives no salary, has rarely sold Tesla shares and said he never plans to, instead using his stake to borrow money with billions worth of shares posted as collateral. According to court records, he told younger brother Kimbal in 2016: You do know that I dont actually have cash, right? I have to borrow. Musk has also put houses worth tens of millions of dollars up for sale this year. Teslas warning its share price could drop dramatically if banks called in their loans has also forced the chief executive to sell shares. The same could be likely if he was taxed on Teslas rising share price. On Wednesday Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said the idea has Bidens backing to make sure the highest-income Americans pay their fair share. High-profile senator Elizabeth Warren has been a vocal supporter of higher taxes on the uber-wealthy. Credit:AP His support represented another lurch to the Left from the 78-year-old, who campaigned as a moderate but has supported a series of radical spending and tax measures. Despite calling for higher taxes on the super rich during the presidential campaign, he also presented himself as a unifier who could reach across the aisle. As it turned out, not even Bidens own party agreed. I dont like the connotation that were targeting different people, said Joe Manchin, a Democrat Senator who has repeatedly thwarted the partys progressive policy efforts. Even less independent politicians expressed scepticism. Senator Mark Warner warned it would favour one asset class over another.

The proposal has now been dropped, with Biden instead unveiling a plan for a tax on incomes above $US10 million a year. However, the debate is unlikely to go away. The principle of the unrealised gain ideas, extended down, would cause havoc in millions of peoples lives. Henry Olden, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Centre. Taxing billionaires has become increasingly popular as share prices soar, but Olden says a market crash would put authorities in a difficult position if billionaires were able to claw back tax payments if their fortunes declined. What president wants to be in charge when Elon Musk gets a $US30 billion check from the IRS? Thats one of the reasons why its dead on arrival. Aswath Damodaran, a professor at New York Universitys Stern School of Business, says the tax would create enormous unintended consequences, such as driving share prices down as billionaires are forced to sell stakes to make payments.

Nothing ever stays isolated to the group of people that are supposedly the target of these attacks, he says. Loading Donald Trump, who could himself face paying the tax, suggested that Americas richest would flee to other nations. Most [billionaires] dont need to be in the US anyway. I know all of those very smartly run countries, and they are all thrilled by what the radical Left maniacs are doing in Congress, he wrote. Musk has further flung ideas, suggesting he could spend his fortune better than the US government could. My plan is to use the money to get humanity to Mars, he said. Telegraph, London
RESPECT 

M (145 minutes), in cinemas

Before being cast as Aretha Franklin in this biopic, Jennifer Hudson was endorsed for the role by the most discerning of critics  Franklin herself.

Jennifer Hudson stars as Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige as Dinah Washington in a scene from Respect. Credit:MGM

And theres no doubt that she possesses the range, volume and chutzpah for it. The film soars whenever the music takes over, as it does for large chunks of the action. But the backstage story is less exhilarating. Franklin had a life as big as her personality.

Her career as a performer was augmented by her support of the civil rights movement  she was a friend to Martin Luther King and a defender of Angela Davis  and her childhood as the daughter of a prominent Baptist preacher with well-cultivated connections in the intersecting circles of jazz, soul and gospel music meant that she grew up knowing all the big names.
Its too easy to miss brilliant streaming shows, movies and documentaries. Here are the ones to hit play on or skip.

Modern Love 

Amazon Prime Video

Minnie Driver as Stephanie, an Irishwoman who wont sell the car that ties her to her late husband, in the new season of Modern Love. Credit:David Cleary/Amazon

Its springtime and the sap is rising  and theres a palpable yearning for romance among the millions who have spent most of the winter in COVID lockdown. So there will no doubt be a receptive audience for the new season of this romance-anthology series inspired by stories submitted to The New York Times Modern Love column.

This time around, though, the scope has expanded beyond the slightly claustrophobic confines of Manhattan and the trendier outer boroughs. Series creator John Carney, the Irish filmmaker who brought us Sing Street, has set a bunch of the stories in Ireland, and its a move that pays immediate dividends, thanks to the unfailingly wonderful Minnie Driver. In On a Serpentine Road, With the Top Down, Driver plays Stephanie, an Irishwoman strapped for cash but reluctant to sell her clapped-out old sports car because it makes her feel connected to her late husband. Its a conceit that could easily slide into saccharin (as does the series cloying opening sequence and theme song) but Driver and writer-director Carney deftly navigate a tricky bit of tarmac and end on an uplifiting note as Stephanie finds understanding and validation in an unexpected quarter.
Karen Walker discusses her upbringing, career and the men who have influenced her.

Occupation: Fashion designer

Age: 51

Relationship status: Married

Best known for: Her eponymous fashion label

Karen Walker: [My husband] is a brilliant creative mind and we are the perfect team  neither could have done it without the other.

My maternal grandfather, Reynold, was a businessman born in New Zealand. He continues to be very present in my life even though he died when I was seven. He showed kindness and support to his community and no one ever had a bad word to say about him. He always had a lolly in his pocket for me when I was a child, and always let me win when we played Cluedo.

My father, Noel, worked in the travel business. He wasnt interested in my choice to study fashion. He was entrepreneurial, with a big personality. He passed on his love of travel to me.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Long before he called Downing Street home, Boris Johnson spent much of his childhood roaming the family farm in Exmoor National Park, a four-hour drive west of London. A daily coexistence with herons, owls, woodpeckers, kingfishers and red deer was something of a storybook start for the boy who would later morph into one of the worlds greenest leaders. As the poet William Wordsworth once wrote of the beautiful Westminster Bridge, Dull would he be of soul who could pass by a sight so touching in its majesty, says Stanley Johnson, the Prime Ministers father. And while it might be a different context, the sentiment is the same for Boris. He spent formative time in this beautiful part of England, and it probably left a lasting impression. Stanley Johnson, the father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is an environmentalist in his own right. Credit:Bloomberg Five decades on and a world away from the tranquillity of the farm, Johnson will on Monday welcome 25,000 delegates to Glasgow for a summit billed as a make-or-break moment for the planet. The COP26 talks aim to spare the globe from the worst impacts of climate change, and the strength of Johnsons commitment to the cause has surprised even some of his closest allies. He recently channelled teen climate campaigner Greta Thunberg by telling a youth climate conference in Italy that the reckless actions of their elders meant your future is being stolen before your eyes. And while he this week sought to manage expectations by predicting the Glasgow talks would be touch and go, he has repeatedly framed the gathering as a chance to save the Earth. Despite dealing with an overflowing intray of domestic policy headaches, Johnson has also spent much of the past year poking, prodding and publicly shaming world leaders for not doing enough ahead of COP26. When the summit ends, when most of the world has committed to decisive, game-changing action, it will be clear to all which of us has lacked the courage to step up, he told them in September at the UN General Assembly in New York. The world will see, and your people will remember, and history will judge.

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At first glance, Johnson is an unlikely eco-warrior. The 57-year-old heads a conservative government and as a journalist wrote that many global warming concerns were without foundation, called fracking a miracle and claimed wind turbines would barely pull the skin off a rice pudding. As Prime Minister, though, its a different story. He has led the charge to end coal-fired power generation in rich nations by 2030, will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in Britain by the same year and promises voters hell deliver a Green Industrial Revolution to transform the economy, workplaces and homes. The British government aims to slash emissions by 78 per cent by 2035, one of the worlds most ambitious targets. The Prime Minister recently confessed his earlier columns for the right-wing Telegraph newspaper werent entirely supportive of the current struggle. But the facts change and people change their minds and change their views and thats very important too. As Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has rolled out detailed and ambitious plans to slash the UKs emissions. Credit:Getty Stanley Johnson says his sons critics are often too quick to slag him off and underestimate his intellect and genuine interest in the environment, particularly around biodiversity and the proliferation of plastics. Hes basically a big greenie, says Bim Afolami, one of Johnsons backbench MPs and member of the Conservative Environment Network. Before he became Prime Minister, I found myself at dinner with him at mutual friends house, and a big part of the conversation was about the environment and I remember thinking, gosh, I had no idea he was so into this. A key point is that he does not approach climate change primarily like an academic. Too much of this debate becomes very academic very quickly. What the Prime Minister intuitively understands is that people have got to understand what it means for them and their lives.

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Those who know Johnson well stress that to understand his current climate crusade, you must first understand his inner circle. At the centre of that network is Johnsons third wife, Carrie, whom he married in May. A longstanding animal rights activist and former Conservative Party director of communications, Carrie now works for the Aspinall Foundation, which aims to protect endangered animals, and is patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation. Boris Johnson with his wife, Carrie Johnson (nee Symonds), at their wedding earlier this year. Credit:Getty Downing Street tries to downplay her influence over government policy and ministerial appointments (they denied in April that she tried to have Environment Secretary George Eustice sacked because of a perceived ambivalence on animal rights), but few dispute shes a big influence on the strength of Johnsons climate convictions. Shes probably one of the most significant spouses in Downing Street in recent years, theres no question about that, says Dominic Dyer, an animal rights campaigner and friend. As then-head of the Badger Trust, Dyer met Carrie last year to lobby against a planned cull in the English county of Derbyshire. The cull was cancelled after the Prime Minister raised the matter directly with Eustice. In 2019, when Boris Johnson had only been Prime Minister for a few months, he basically used half of a bilateral meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister to speak about commercial whaling, which I know was down to me and others talking to Carrie, who talked to Boris, Dyer recalls. Carrie Johnson has a longstanding history of animal rights activism. Credit:Getty

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One of Carries strongest public defenders is Lord Zac Goldsmith, who rubbishes concerns that the Prime Ministers wife has too much influence and says criticism of her is laden with 1950s sexism. Goldsmith, the son of the late billionaire businessman Sir James Goldsmith, is extremely close to the Johnsons and carries much more heft inside Downing Street than would normally be expected for his relatively junior ministerial position of Minister of State for Pacific and the Environment. His financier brother, Ben, is also an environmentalist and equally friendly with Johnson. Stanley Johnson has also spoken out about the environment for decades, written books about it and in 2015 was even awarded a World Wildlife Fund award. Carrie and Stanley attended an anti-whaling protest targeting the Japanese embassy in London, both shouting save the whales! at the top of their lungs. The 81-year-old, who still owns the farm Johnson spent time at as a child, is itching to go to COP26 next week and would welcome an encounter with Thunberg - a prospect most senior conservatives in Australian politics would never admit to or outright avoid. I think shes absolutely marvellous, Stanley says. As I speak I have her book in front of me, No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference. She has absolutely galvanised the world. But anyone - regardless of their age - who lives here on this extremely crowded, polluted island of ours would have to be a little bit short-sighted not to realise the extent of the environmental problems at a national and international level. Unlike Australia, where climate politics have ruined a string of prime ministerial dreams, Johnsons Conservative Party has seized the environment as a core issue and made it one of economic renewal. Many of the same towns and cities in Englands north which Johnson snatched from Labour at the last election stand to gain the most from a renewables boom. A recent YouGov poll found 50 per cent of respondents believed the UK was not doing or spending enough to reduce emissions. Just 15 per cent said Johnson was doing too much. Hes playing a blinder, Stanley says of his son.

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However, criticism is growing in conservative media about Johnsons approach amid fears his rhetoric is too progressive and his net zero policy program too bold. The risk for the government is that support for the climate agenda ebbs away as the extraordinary difficulty of decarbonisation becomes apparent, as well as its impact on household bills. Confronting the critics head on, Johnson this month suggested the speed of the transition would soon accelerate to a pace where it ends up beyond even his own ambitions. There is a force out there stronger than government. And actually a force that is stronger than business. And that force is consumer choice. That force is the market. And the market is going green. Stanley Johnson has no time for those who say the UK is too green: Its very hard to accuse any government of being over-ambitious when its perfectly clear where we are right now is going to get us nowhere near where we ought to be. Dyer, Carries animal activist friend, agrees Johnson has turned the dial on climate change already but views the next fortnight as a crucial test. Loading Hes a funny politician, Boris. Hes not ideological in any way. I see him as someone who wants to go down in history as having done big things. Hes got an opportunity with Glasgow to be part of this very important decision about the future of the Earth, and the climate emergency we face.

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Rome: US President Joe Biden says he was unaware that France had not been given advance notice that Australia had resolved to tear up a $90 billion submarine contract, describing the handling of the decision as clumsy.

Speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron before this weekends G20 summit in Rome, Biden issued a full mea culpa to help repair the huge trans-Atlantic rift caused by the new AUKUS defence pact between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

What happened was, to use an English phrase, what we did was clumsy, Biden said.

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands ahead of a meeting in Rome. Credit:AP

It was not done with a lot of grace. I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not going through. Honest to God, I did not know you had not.
Pictured: Louisville Metro Police and other first responders on the scene of a wrong-way crash on Interstate 65 in Louisville on Oct. 30, 2021. (WDRB/file)
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Workers adjust a flag prior to a group photo at the G20 summit in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)
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Census results could force Chelan, Douglas counties to translate election materials

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seabrook / World photo/Don Seabrook Volunteers with the Community for the Advancement of Family Education (CAFE) leave a note in Spanish and English at a Wenatchee home encouraging registered voters to cast their ballots. Chelan and Douglas counties may began translating their election materials in Spanish in 2022.

WENATCHEE  Chelan and Douglas counties may start translating their election information in 2022  a step that would improve voting access among Hispanic voters, according to community leaders.

Both counties are close to meeting the requirements for Spanish language coverage under the federal Voting Rights Act based on results from the 2016 American Community Survey, which is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Already released census data show Douglas Countys Hispanic and Latino population grew by 33% and that Chelans increased by 18% over the past decade, meaning theres a good chance either county will meet one of two qualifications for minority language provisions under the Voting Rights Act:

More than 10,000 voting-age citizens with limited English proficiency speak the same language

More than 5% of voting-age citizens with limited English proficiency speak the same language and the illiteracy rate for that group exceeds the national illiteracy rate

Once one of those qualifications is met, governments must ensure that all election information that is available in English is also available in the minority language, including registration notices, instructions, assistance and ballots.

Counties wont know for sure if theyve met those requirements until the relevant census data is released (likely in mid-December).

Chelan and Douglas counties auditors said they would ramp up operations to comply with the Voting Rights Act by the February election if necessary.

Chelan County Auditor Skip Moore said the county is redesigning and translating all of its printed materials in the event it meets the Voting Rights Act qualifications. Douglas County Auditor Thad Duvall said even if the county doesnt have the numbers to trigger Voting Rights Act coverage, it may still decide to translate election information into Spanish.

Weve got to take a real deep dive into how much its going to cost us to do it, Duvall said. We cant do it with current staffing.

Both Chelan and Douglas counties have previously considered translating election materials into Spanish but decided against doing so, albeit for different reasons.

For Douglas County, finding a continual source of funding was the main barrier, according to Duvall.

Were not flush with a lot of money here in terms of our budget, Duvall said. One thing to understand about this particular program is once you start it, you cant just start and stop.

Funding would be less of a major issue with Chelan County. Moore estimated translation election materials would cost between $60,000 and $70,000 a year. That amount isnt too big of an increase given the current election budget of about half a million dollars, said Moore, but its a chunk of money that couldnt be used elsewhere. He added that the cost would be more difficult to absorb for smaller jurisdictions like school districts and cities, which bear election costs in odd years.

Moore said the biggest issue with voluntarily translating election materials as opposed to being required to to so by the Voting Rights Act is deciding which languages to translate into since the act covers Spanish, Asian, Native American, and Alaskan Native languages.

It becomes a slippery slope, he said. I dont want to make it appear as though the Chelan County Auditors Office, or our elections division, is picking and choosing what languages we want to help and ones we dont want to help.

If I chose to say well we have enough Native Americans in Chelan County that we could adjust to that, but then I would have other groups saying, Well were not at that threshold either, why arent you doing that for us? he continued.

Its not unheard of for counties to voluntarily provide materials in languages other than English. For example, in 2015 King County passed a local ordinance that expanded election services to include Korean and Spanish. And in 2019, Pierce County Elections started providing some language services in Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Doing so is in line with best practices recommended by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which include proactively developing plans to meet language groups needs and conducting outreach to better understand those needs.

Translating these materials aids in the enfranchisement of Spanish-speaking voters, according to Kylee Zabel, spokesperson for Washington Secretary of State. Additionally, the translation process becomes more cost-efficient over time as changes to previously translated materials tend to be smaller updates as opposed to re-translating the document wholesale.

The impact of translating resources

Various studies have shown that translating election materials gets more people out to vote. For example, a 2011 study on Spanish-language ballots found that bilingual voter assistance is an effective tool of immigrant political incorporation.

Unlike many barriers to voting, language barriers fall on specific ethnic groups, meaning that their removal can influence election outcomes as well as turnout, Daniel J. Hopkins wrote in the study.

Likewise, local Hispanic leaders say translating election materials would make a visible difference for their community.

Family counselor Jorge Chacon, who ran for Wenatchee City Council in 2019, said translating voter information would inform voters since political coverage is sparse in local Spanish-language media.

There is so much misinformation and sometimes not even any information at all, Chacon said. And all of that then is going to translate into apathy.

Immigrant and Latinx Solidarity Group member Karina Vega-Villa said translating resources would better accommodate a growing Latino population.

We should think about how our population is growing, Vega-Villa said. What are we doing proactively to be ready to serve the community that we have? Projections are that the Latino community will continue to increase. We can make changes now so that were prepared for when we have to do it.

Alma Chacon, Jorge Chacons wife and executive director of the Community for the Advancement of Family Education (CAFE), said a lack of Spanish resources and outreach comes into play with rejected ballots.

Those folks who have their ballots rejected, if they get a letter going back to their place and theyre not able to understand what it says, theyre not going to be able to address it, she said.

Although a small percentage of overall ballots are rejected during each election, both Douglas and Chelan counties were found to have higher rejection rates for ballots with Hispanic surnames, according to an InvestigateWest investigation.

Latino voters in Douglas County were found to be 10 times more likely to have their ballots rejected than other voters. In Chelan they were six times more likely.

The investigation named a number of possible explanations for the trend, such as lower education and literacy levels among Latinos and language and cultural barriers.

Following the investigation, the UCLA Voting Rights Project and League of United Latin American Citizens filed a lawsuit against Yakima, Benton and Chelan counties that claimed the counties disproportionately disqualify Latino votes.
WATERBURY, Vt. (AP)  The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a settlement with the Vermont Department of Corrections to improve conditions in the state's prisons for inmates with disabilities, the department said.

As part of the agreement, which was made public Thursday, the Corrections Department will pay $80,000 to compensate current and former inmates who were harmed and it requires the department to make a number of structural changes to the states prisons to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The agreement resolves an investigation into complaints that the Vermont Corrections Department didnt provide accessible facilities for inmates with mobility disabilities and it did not ensure effective communication for inmates with hearing disabilities.

People with disabilities in Vermont deserve equal access, and that does not change when they are incarcerated, Acting Vermont U.S. Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt said in a statement. The Vermont Department of Corrections has now committed to removing barriers to participation for inmates with disabilities in (Vermont prison) facilities, including inmates who have physical and communication disabilities."

Vermont Corrections Commissioner Jim Baker said in an email that the department acknowledged the system's shortcomings and that the department is always looking for ways to improve.

DOC was a willing partner in this, has always been at the table, and has already implemented a number of the items outlined  many of which were in place before Thursdays agreement finalization," Baker said Friday.

Vermont Defender General Matt Valerio, who oversees the state Prisoners' Rights Office, said there have been accommodation issues in the prisons for years. He said the U.S. attorney's office got involved several years ago after it became aware of a number of separate cases.

"They struggle with the fact that our prisons are old and our ability to accommodate these things on a technical level are difficult given the infrastructure that really needs to be updated," Valerio said. And thats one of the really important parts of the settlement is that the department will pursue funding to improve the infrastructure."

The Department of Justice says the agreement protects the rights of inmates to equal access to educational, counseling and recreation programs. It also ensures inmate access to prison facilities such as visitation areas, libraries, medical facilities, intake processing, accessible cells, and routes to and through prison buildings.

It also requires that Vermont provide inmates with hearing disabilities the appropriate assistance such as sign language interpreters, hearing aids and video telephones.

The agreement requires the Vermont Corrections Department to pay $80,000 to current and former inmates who were harmed. Vermont officials did not say how many inmates would be receiving a portion of the settlement.

Valerio said he thought around five inmates would be sharing the money.
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REDDING  James Porter, 64, of Stratford has been identified by police as the motorist killed in last weeks crash on Sport Hill Road.

Although the police department is still awaiting autopsy results, Chief Mark ODonnell said authorities suspect Porter may have had a medical issue, which may have been the cause or a contributing factor in the crash.
If you want to conduct an experiment in the sociology of pandemic behavior, try a quick jaunt to Las Vegas. Always a petri dish for freaks, Sin City has gotten stranger in these strange times since it continues to have a mask mandate for everyone, vaccinated or not, gathered indoors.
The Interior Department is preparing to offer oil and gas lease sales on large tracts of public land despite concluding that burning fossil fuels from those parcels could carry huge costs and contribute to climate change. Burning oil, natural gas and coal from federally owned lands accounts for about 20% of energy-related U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But officials with the Biden administrations Bureau of Land Management say in newly released planning documents that they can't accurately determine the climate impacts from upcoming oil and gas lease sales in western states. Officials proposed delaying sales of some tracts in Wyoming, Colorado and other states over concerns drilling could harm wildlife.
Leaders of the worlds biggest economies have endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations as part of an agreement on new international tax rules. That step, taken on Saturday at a G-20 summit in Rome, is seen as building more fairness amid skyrocketing revenues of some multinational businesses. The move by the Group of 20 was hailed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen as benefiting American businesses and workers. A summit of leaders from the worlds powerhouse economies was also being challenged to pick up the pace in getting vaccines to poor countries. Italian Premier Mario Draghi, hosting the two-day gathering, blasted the gaping global COVID-19 vaccine gap morally unacceptable.
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The last time I saw Mansour, I was ending his job. My employer at the time, the International Republican Institute, or IRI, was dramatically scaling back its operations in Kabul and it was my responsibility to dismiss nearly all our staff. It was March 2012, and things were not going well in Afghanistan. Taliban attacks had been increasing, and Kabul had become a T-wall lined fortress of snarled traffic, urban sprawl, and nervous guards. Amid spiraling security costs and declining funding, IRI had made the decision to reduce its portfolio of democracy-building activities to a concentrated few, with the staffing footprint to match.

I dont remember what I said to Mansour then, or what he said to me, but I know he was gracious. The Afghans Ive known over the years have always been accepting of calamity as part of life, grateful for the stability or the job while it lasts, and resilient when it ends. Far more resilient than I, who had known many of IRIs Afghan staff for years and was heartbroken to show them the door. For as heartfelt as my farewells were, I couldnt bring myself to share the truth of what I felt: America was tired of Afghanistan, had already given up on it and was just trying to figure out how to walk away. The end of IRIs big ambitious program was part of a larger shift underway in the United States, even if it might take years to fully realize. As I shook Mansours hand and sent him on his way, I was certain that I would never see him again.

The Afghans Ive known over the years have always been accepting of calamity as part of life, grateful for the stability or the job while it lasts, and resilient when it ends.

Afghan citizens pack inside a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, as they are transported from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. Capt. Chris Herbert/U.S. Air Force via AP.

Now it was 2021, and I was shaking Mansours hand again, this time in Tirana, Albania. It was six in the morning, still dark, and Mansour was one of more than a hundred Afghan evacuees filing past me into their temporary housing, rucksacks on their shoulders and suitcases trailing behind. Sleepy children were everywhere, rubbing their eyes and clutching their mothers long dresses and shawls. They had spent all night on a plane from Abu Dhabi, and were bussed from the Tirana airport with a special police escort, now guests of the Albanian government. It was August 30, and Kabul had fallen two weeks earlier.

In the waning weeks of the war, the United States and its coalition partners airlifted tens of thousands of Afghans out of the country, but only a fraction of the perhaps one million at risk and eligible for U.S. immigrant visas. The Department of Defense, guarding the walls and flying the planes, did their best for their own Afghan contractors and interpreters. The Department of State appears to have left many of their own contractors behind and hardly made an effort for the hundreds of thousands of Afghans who had worked for U.S. grantees such as IRI or the National Endowment for Democracy, or NED. As recently as July, in fact, these Afghans did not qualify for an immigrant visa at all, victims of the arbitrary distinction between contractor and grantee. Only in August did the State Department expand its refugee program by introducing the Priority 2 visa for the broader population of American Afghan allies, but by then it was too late.

Kabul, Afghanistan, August 1, 2021, refugee children after the collapse of the country in August 2021 by the Taliban in the North of the country. Trent Inness/Shutterstock.

As the enormity of the failure became apparent, into this breach stepped a motley assortment of NGOs, private charities, veterans, Members of Congress, and do-gooders. In Tirana I met half a dozen different groups involved in helping Afghans resettle there. Other evacuees wound up in Somaliland, Uganda, Colombia or North Macedoniaanywhere their sponsors could negotiate landing privileges and accommodations. This private airlift, made up of chartered flights or spare seats on military aircraft, is perhaps the least understood and yet most impressive part of the ignominious wind-down of the Afghan War. In a tragic imitation of the famous 1940 British evacuation from Dunkirk, much of the effort in Kabul fell to private citizens cobbling together whatever improvised transportation they could manage.

As the enormity of the failure became apparent, into this breach stepped a motley assortment of NGOs, private charities, veterans, Members of Congress, and do-gooders.

So, I found myself in Tirana, this time a volunteer with IRI, welcoming a straggling line of Afghans as they were processed by Albanian municipal officials, then sent to dormitory rooms only recently commandeered from incoming university students. The NED family of NGOs, including IRI, the Center for International Private Enterprise, and the National Democratic Institute, or NDI, had marshalled resources in the U.S. and around the world to arrange a series of flights for their former staff and families from Kabul to Abu Dhabi and then on to Albania, where they had negotiated landing rights and accommodations directly with the Albanian government. The evacuees I met were on the first flight of three, but the second and third never made it out of Kabul, arrangements falling apart after the August 26 suicide attack at the airport. Left behind were hundreds of our former staff and their families: Mohammad, who had been my Dari tutor and later office manager, our unflappable accountant Bilal, my resourceful driver Ahmad. Ive changed the names of the Afghan evacuees in this story, because even those who escaped have extended families in Afghanistan still at risk.

The northern province of Badakhshan, Afghanistan 2005. Photo by Hallam Ferguson.

Those who had escaped were the lucky ones, in the right place at the right time. They were the ones who had their papers in order when the call came to finalize the flight manifest, and when that call came, hard choices had to be made, immediately. The adult son of IRI evacuee Hamidzada qualified for a visa and a seat on the flight, but his wife and children did not; he left them behind, hoping they will follow someday. When Hamidzada and his family arrived at the rally point in Kabul after having traveled all day from an outlying province, they realized that one of their sons who was traveling separately was missing; they got on the plane anyway. I remember the lesson I first appreciated while reading the semi-biographical graphic novel Maus about the Holocaust: individual survival is part grit, part self-interest, and part dumb luck. There is little room for heroism.

Heroism on the part of nations, on the other hand, is another matter, and the actions of the Albanian people during the Holocaust have become part of their national mythology. Occupied first by Italy in 1939 and later by Germany in 1943, Albania nonetheless managed to largely protect its native Jews and some 2,000 Jewish refugees from elsewhere in Europe. Albania ended the Second World War with more Jews than when it started. Albanians say this is because of their traditional code of honor, which includes helping people in their time of need. During the 1999 Kosovo War, Albania opened its borders to Kosovar refugees and ultimately welcomed some 435,000 of them. And in June of 2021, when American planners still expected the Kabul government to hang on for another year or two, Albania announced that it was prepared to take in Afghan refugeesa pledge now up to 4,000.

As I experienced during my time in Tirana, the day-to-day practice of the humanitarian ideal is a lot harder than its theory. Full-time humanitarian aid organizations like the World Food Programme or the International Rescue Committee have well-established procedures, methodologies, and dedicated staff to address the different elements of a humanitarian crisis. None of the NGOs caring for Afghan evacuees in Albania were such organizations, and absent help from the professionals, had to develop new skills on the fly. Because of the chaos of the departure, there was confusion over who exactly had made it to Albania. Hamidzadas son Jahid did not, but Abdul Sattars brother was put on the plane in Kabul and made it as far as Abu Dhabi. Abdul Maqsody was in Pakistan, I was told, and Habib Khatibis daughter Nargis chose to remain in Kabul with her husband and family. First collected and screened at student dorms in Tirana, the evacuees were quickly bussed to a beach town two hours away, some with little warning late at night. At a seaside resort, the evacuees were reshuffled and given steeply discounted rates negotiated by the Albanian government and paid by sponsoring organizations like IRI and NED. The Albanian government tested evacuees for COVID on arrival, but vaccination rates were low and mask use spotty; the government organized an on-site vaccination clinic within weeks.

Kids in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan 2005. Photo by Hallam Ferguson.

Arriving with little more than a few changes of clothes, the displaced Afghans needed basics from hand soap to diapers, and initial supply distribution by the NGOs was not easy. The humanitarian professionals will tell you that distribution is one of the biggest challenges of their work, and our first attempts at order quickly broke down. One of my enduring memories is of an outdoor courtyard crowded with Afghans searching through boxes of donated clothes, a family of wide-eyed tourists in flip-flops slowly making their way through with watermelons tucked under their arms.

The Afghans are settling in for the long haul, largely understanding of the short-term hiccups and wryly grateful to be experiencing them at the beach while some of their fellow evacuees are in far less pleasant circumstances. Theyre told that their visas may take a year or longer to process, and in the meantime their sponsoring NGOs will need to assess and provide for continuing needs. Health care, education for the children, and employment for the adults will need to be arranged. Psychosocial support will also be important: Afghan resilience aside, many of the evacuees have had harrowing experiences and difficult lives.

After leaving IRI, Mansour went on to work for several other NGOs and then ultimately wound up at a government ministry, continually practicing and honing the monitoring and evaluation skills he had first learned at IRI. He and another evacuee named Sultani had studied for their MBAs together, and Mansour was at the final stage of completing his degree when Kabul fell. Smiling, he told me that hes optimistic his advisors will let him defend his thesis remotely. Mansours fellow student and former colleague Sultani had once worked for IRI helping organize issue-based caucuses among Afghanistans fractious parliament. After Kabul fell and strange men had come looking for him at his home, Sultani and his family spent ten days on the run moving from house to house while waiting for a flight out. His youngest child, staring at me with bright blue eyes, had celebrated his first birthday in the Humanitarian City in Abu Dhabi.

After Kabul fell and strange men had come looking for him at his home, Sultani and his family spent ten days on the run moving from house to house while waiting for a flight out.

The human experiences of Mansour, Sultani, and their fellow evacuees are just a handful of such stories playing out all across the world, in the millions. There are more than 2.6 million Afghan refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and another 3.5 million displaced from their homes within Afghanistan. Many of the refugees in neighboring countries have been there for decades, some since the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, or the civil war of the 1990s. Afghanistans many wars have sent successive waves of migrants as far as Europe, which is now acutely concerned about a new refugee crisis such as that endured in the mid 2010s during the Syrian civil war.

It remains to be seen, aside from the Western Afghan allies still desperate to get out of the country, whether the Taliban ascendancy will lead to a massive surge of refugees. With borders still mostly closed, few Afghans have been able to flee whether they wanted to or not, and with the end of hostilities, many parts of Afghanistan are in fact more peaceful than theyve been in years. There is a conceivable future in which the Talibans harsh rule imposes a much-needed stability on Afghanistan, stemming the tide of migrants and, perhaps, over time, encouraging a few to return. Or theres the alternative future, in which Taliban brutality decimates the country, the foreign aid dependent economy collapses, and a new humanitarian crisis pushes millions into starvation and flight.

In perhaps the worst scenario of all, even the Taliban fractures and the country descends into a new round of internecine warfare, with warlords old and new battling over Afghanistans ruins as foreign powers barter Afghan lives for influence. Already the maneuvering has begun, in remote valleys of Afghanistan and the lobbying firms of K Street. Former Afghan vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum, accused murderer, rapist and war criminal, bides his time in Turkey awaiting an opening. Ismail Khan, famous for his decades of exploits against the Soviets, his fellow resistance fighters, and the Taliban, now resides in Iran awaiting the call back to arms. Gulbeddin Hekmatyar, the post-Soviet Prime Minister infamous for rocketing his own capital into ruins, first fought the U.S.-backed republic, then joined it, then sided with the Taliban. And then, of course, there is ISIS. Competing with al Qaida and the Taliban for the mantle of fiercest enemy of the infidel, ISIS succeeded in adding 13 more Americans to the death toll on August 26, while the Taliban appeared to be letting them go peacefully. Now ISIS creeps back into the deep valleys of Kunar and Nangharhar, gathering its strength and craving the anarchy in which to thrive.

Thousands of miles away, the homeland and families they left behind were never far from the minds of the Afghan evacuees in Albania. One evening Mansour and I sat together enjoying the pleasant weather and watching children playing with young Albanian volunteers. One boy the same age as my own son was learning to ride a donated bike, and a group of girls were coloring and laughing. Groups of adults stood in the twilight talking quietly. Its like a dream, Mansour said, turning his pale green eyes to me. We spent most of our lives living in one Afghanistan and now, suddenly, its gone. Then he smiled, shrugged, and turned away.

Hallam Ferguson is a Public Policy Fellow at the Wilson Center. Previously he served as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator at the United States Agency for International Development from 2017 to 2021. While at USAID, Ferguson managed the Middle East Bureau and led the effort to help religious minorities in Iraq and Syria recover from the ISIS genocide. Prior to joining USAID, Ferguson worked at the International Republican Institute from 2004 to 2017, conducting democracy and governance programming throughout the Middle East. While with IRI Ferguson lived and worked in Afghanistan and Iraq, managed programs in closed societies, and finished his time there as Director for the Middle East and North Africa. Ferguson holds his B.A. from Colby College and his M.A. from Georgetown University.

Cover art: In this Aug. 16, 2021, photo, hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane at the perimeter of the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Shekib Rahmani/AP.
Winchester, VA (22601)

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Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 46F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

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Winchester, VA (22601)

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Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 46F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

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Winchester, VA (22601)

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The rumblings came early, shortly after the Progressive Conservatives were sworn into power with a strong majority mandate in May 2016, following 17 years of NDP rule that left the province with a skyrocketing deficit.

The rumblings came early, shortly after the Progressive Conservatives were sworn into power with a strong majority mandate in May 2016, following 17 years of NDP rule that left the province with a skyrocketing deficit.

Those attuned to the pendulum swings of provincial politics, and those on the front lines of the health-care system, knew cuts were coming. The only question was how deep and severe they would be.

The first changes to the health file were rolled out that fall, mostly around the edges: the possibility of privatized MRIs was floated; a reduction of $650,000 in funding to the Manitoba Metis Federation for medical staff was announced; and a single quick-care clinic was closed.

But behind the scenes  in the backrooms of the Manitoba Legislative Building and in the offices of Winnipegs health bureaucrats  big changes were in the works. Those in the know were certain it was only a matter of time before the other shoe dropped.

And when it did, it fell hard.

In February 2017, then-premier Brian Pallister revealed his government was cancelling more than $1 billion in health-care infrastructure projects, the first major spending slash to come to light. It was only the opening salvo, a sign of the reckoning to come.

Over the next three years, Manitobas Tory government embarked on the most radical consolidation of health-care services the province had seen since the late-1990s, the last time the party held office.

A Free Press investigation, which included interviews with front-line doctors, nurses and health-care associations, and a review of public reports and leaked internal health authority documents and communications, paints a dire picture of the impacts of the consolidation efforts.

Health-care cuts by former premier Brian Pallister in February 2017 were just the beginning. (John Woods / The Canadian Press files)

The ambitious plan was pushed through without a risk assessment and with limited consultation with those on the front lines. The results were disastrous, resulting in a reduction in ICU beds in Winnipeg and a nursing staff shortage in the leadup to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that at the precise moment Manitoba should have been increasing its ICU bed base, expanding its nursing staff and ramping up its critical-care surge capacity, it was doing the exact opposite.

Over and over again, physicians, nurses and their professional associations raised serious concerns to government officials and health authorities, warning that a pending calamity was on the horizon. It was only a matter of time, they said, before lives were lost.

Even when the architect of Manitobas health-care reforms, Dr. David Peachey, said Phase 2 of consolidation should be put on pause  citing staff burnout and unrealistic timelines  the government forged ahead.

The result was a third wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic that saw Manitoba become the first province in Canada forced to ship patients to other jurisdictions due to a health-care system pushed to the brink of collapse.

Not only was the situation predictable  it was predicted, time and time again.

The aim of consolidation was to improve emergency room wait times and find efficiencies in the system to help balance Manitobas books after years of deficits. Money was saved  yes  but Manitobans still ended up paying: the bill just came in a different form.

When the pandemic hit, instead of dollars, we paid in human misery.

There have been two major consolidation of Manitobas health-care system in recent decades. The first came in 1997-98 with the creation of regional health authorities, which were aimed at centralizing medical services and standardizing the quality of care across hospitals.

Prior to the 1997-98 consolidation, which was implemented during the waning years of the Tory government led by former premier Gary Filmon, health care in Manitoba, particularly in Winnipeg, was deeply siloed, with each hospital largely managing its own affairs.

This resulted in frequent duplication of services, wasted resources and uneven levels of care.

That same year, Dr. Dan Roberts was named regional head of critical-care services in Winnipeg, a position he held until 2001. In that role, he oversaw the consolidation of ICU departments in the provincial capital.

"It was a great leap forward in how we delivered care," Roberts said in a recent interview with the Free Press, adding the overhaul had the effect of streamlining and standardizing medical programming across hospital sites.

In the years following that consolidation, there were additional reforms around the edges of the system implemented by the NDP  led first by premier Gary Doer and later by his successor Greg Selinger  but nothing like what had been seen under the previous regime.

According to a former Winnipeg Regional Health Authority official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, on multiple occasions the NDP sent back to the drawing board proposals for more sweeping changes as "not fully baked."

But towards the end of Selingers leadership, the NDP hired Peachey  a doctor-turned-consultant based in Nova Scotia  to undertake a systematic accounting of the state of Manitobas health-care system and draw up a slate of proposed reforms.

Peacheys report wasnt finalized until after the NDP was voted out of office in the spring of 2016. When his proposals were revealed to the public, they were deeply polarizing: some called them "unconscionable" and "doomed to fail," while others welcomed them as a logical next step.

Dr. David Peachey urged the government to slow the implementation of its health-care reform. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press files)

The Tories were quick to seize on the report as they set about cutting the fat from the provincial budget. Early into its first term in office, the Pallister government revealed to the public that Manitobas deficit had soared to more than $1 billion.

Many in the health-care system recognized there was a need for change.

Roberts said Peacheys recommendations were "reasonably solid," while a former WRHA official told the Free Press the report contained a mix of good ideas and proposals that "raised eyebrows" due to the perception they had more to do with cutting costs than improving care.

Manitoba Nurses Union President Darlene Jackson was more scathing in her assessment, saying it was clear from the get-go that "when Pallister came to power he had an austerity agenda and health care was on the cutting board."

Throughout the planning stages of the 2017 consolidation, doctors and nurses  the front-line staff who would presumably be best positioned to know what was and wasnt working in the health-care system  were largely left in the dark.

Every medical professional the Free Press spoke to for this story said the consultation process at the time was minimal to non-existent  a decision which would have dire ramifications when the plan was rolled out.

"After the change in government, youve got the province saying, Weve got to balance the books come hell or high water. Plus youve got an external adviser (Peachey) saying, Heres a rationale to consolidate some services," one former WRHA official said.

"And so the stars kind of aligned to move forward on consolidation."

The face of the Tories consolidation plan was then-health minister Kelvin Goertzen, the Steinbach MLA who currently serves as Manitobas interim premier following Pallisters resignation in August. He got his start in provincial politics as a party intern during the Filmon years.

One month after Pallister revealed that $1 billion in proposed health-care infrastructure projects would be cancelled, Goertzen announced in March 2017 that the regional health authorities would have their budgets cut for the 2017-18 fiscal year.

The WRHA was instructed to reduce its budget by five per cent, to the tune of roughly $83 million. The following month, Goertzen announced the emergency rooms at Seven Oaks, Concordia and Victoria hospitals would be shuttered.

In 2017, health minister Kelvin Goertzen revealed health authorities would have their budgets cut. (Jason Halstead / Winnipeg Free Press files)

By June, nearly 200 jobs were cut to comply with directives from the province to reduce management positions in the regional health authorities by 15 per cent. The closure of four more quick-care clinics in Winnipeg came in July, followed by the layoff of 500 nurses in August.

In November, funding for personal-care homes in the province was slashed by $1 million.

The consolidation plan had wide-ranging impacts throughout the health-care system, but Winnipegs ICUs took the brunt of the blows. As part of the overhaul, the number of ICU beds in the city was reduced from 76 to 63.

In order to justify the cutback of Winnipegs critical-care bed base, the province and health authorities put forward a theory, proposed by Peachey, that the reduction in ICU capacity would be workable if patient flow was improved.

According to WRHA statistics obtained by the Free Press, the average number of transferable patients in Winnipegs ICUs was 8.4 in 2016-17. That means there were usually eight people who could be transferred out of an ICU bed if there was somewhere to send them.

The province and health authorities said they would develop a plan to improve patient flow out of the ICU  so people who didnt need critical-care beds werent occupying them.

In other words, the bottlenecking in Winnipeg hospitals would be alleviated, resulting in more ICU capacity  not less  despite the reduction in the overall bed base. In reality, that never happened; in fact, the problem got worse.

By 2018-19, WRHA statistics showed the average number of transferable patients in the citys ICUs had jumped from 8.4 to 9.4.

The Progressive Conservative governments radical consolidation of health-care services resulted in a reduction in ICU beds in Winnipeg and a nursing shortage in the leadup to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Ideally, health administration sought to always have nine open ICU beds across all Winnipeg hospitals to ensure appropriate room for incoming patients. Again, consolidation made it worse.

From 2016-17 to 2018-19, according to internal WRHA statistics obtained by the Free Press, the number of days with fewer than nine ICU beds available in city hospitals spiked by 57 per cent.

Nursing vacancies in Winnipeg also got worse. In June 2017, the vacancy rate in the city was 15 per cent; by September 2019  five months before the onset of the pandemic  it had risen to 19.4 per cent.

The staffing shortage also held true for critical-care units: from February-November 2019, the number of ICU nursing positions funded in Winnipeg dropped from 349 to 318.

The province and health authorities had assumed ER and ICU nurses who worked in hospitals that were losing their emergency rooms and critical-care wards would transfer to another hospital to keep working the same job.

But many chose to stay put, remaining at their community hospital and simply transferring into a new job in a different department. This put a further strain on the staffing complement in Winnipegs remaining ERs and ICUs.

"It takes real talent to turn a bed reduction into a nursing shortage." Dr. Dan Roberts

Jackson said its something the province and health authority administration would have learned had they conducted a risk assessment or done proper consultation with front-line staff prior to rolling out a major overhaul.

Due to the nursing-staff shortage resulting from consolidation, not even the proposed reduction in the ICU bed base to 63 was implemented by December 2019. There simply werent enough nurses to staff all of the beds.

"It takes real talent to turn a bed reduction into a nursing shortage," said Roberts.

The Free Press requested a statement from Goertzen  responding to a series of written questions  but instead received comment from a government spokesman.

The statement began by attacking the record of the previous NDP government, arguing the issues with critical-care capacity in Winnipeg hospitals "were not addressed" during the partys "nearly two decades in office."

"The NDP-commissioned Peachey Report identified that there were too many critical care beds on paper that lacked in-hospital support of nurses, physicians, or multidisciplinary teams including respiratory services," the statement reads.

"As a government we are committed to acting on the advice of health-care experts and system leaders to deliver better health care  that focuses on reduced wait times, improves access and more services in communities closer to home  for all Manitobans."

The province wrongly assumed ER and ICU nurses that were losing their emergency rooms and criticalcare wards would transfer to another hospital. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press files)

But the claim that government was acting on the best available advice from health-care experts  rather than pursuing an ideologically motivated cost-cutting agenda  is contradicted by Roberts, who said the theory used to justify the reduction in ICU beds was "sheer nonsense."

As the regional head of critical care services in the 1990s, Roberts had built a database that tracked every admission to Winnipegs ICU wards. By 2017, there was a full 20 years of data that gave a "solid, informed picture" of how many beds were needed.

Roberts said the Peachey Report relied on "questionable" data pulled from other provinces. Even worse, Roberts was ignored when he tried to take his dataset to the provincial government and health officials.

Peachey declined comment for this story.

"We had an enormous amount of data. Nobody wanted to look at it. We put the reports together and said, This is (the ICU bed base) we need. Nobody listened," Roberts said.

"We did an analysis and we calculated that we needed at least six to 10 extra beds. We were looking at 20 years of data that showed the surges. It showed how many transferable patients you had at any time of day. We had all the data you could need."

"We had an enormous amount of data. Nobody wanted to look at it. We put the reports together and said, This is (the ICU bed base) we need. Nobody listened." Dr. Dan Roberts

According to Roberts, the concerns over patient bottlenecking in Winnipegs ICUs was a red herring, largely due to transfer protocols hed developed working as a critical-care physician. The real issue was and always had been too few ICU beds.

Why, then, did the government and upper echelons of the health authorities ignore his pleas and rely instead on data pulled from other jurisdictions?

"Because they had an agenda, and the agenda was to cut costs," he said.

"The decisions on what needed to be changed were being made on a political basis."

By the summer of 2019, the situation in Winnipeg hospitals had reached a breaking point. In increasing numbers, health-care professionals were taking their concerns directly to the provincial government and the heads of the WRHA and Shared Health.

A review of leaked documents and correspondence obtained by the Free Press shows alarm bells were repeatedly rung by doctors and nurses. Yet each time concerns were raised about the lack of critical-care resources in Winnipeg  beds and ICU-trained nurses  they were ignored.

In April 2019, in an effort to address low morale, former WRHA president and CEO Real Cloutier sent a letter to 28,000 staff telling them to hang on, describing their current situation as the "valley of despair"  a concept pulled from change-management literature.

Peachey himself, a month later, wrote in a report addressed to then-health minister Cameron Friesen that ongoing consolidation efforts should be "paused immediately."

"Workload and staffing instability in the nursing workforce are significant and not sustainable.... The current challenges can be tracked back to the absence of ongoing needs assessment and, particularly, to the absence of a formal regional risk assessment," Peachey wrote.

"Confidence has been lost.... (It is) entirely predictable that the quality of nursing care to patients is and will be compromised."

"Confidence has been lost.... (It is) entirely predictable that the quality of nursing care to patients is and will be compromised." Dr. David Peachey

In July 2019, WRHA critical-care physicians sent a report to health authorities unequivocally stating that: "Critical care bed numbers must be increased."

"We have already witnessed a negative impact from earlier changes and are concerned that these proposed changes would further impair our programs ability to provide safe and effective care that criticaly ill patients require," the document reads.

By October 2019, Roberts wrote directly to Friesen, laying out his credentials as a critical-care physician and former regional head of Winnipegs ICU units. He said the citys hospitals lacked even the critical-care capacity to respond to a worse-than-average flu season.

"I am writing to express my concerns regarding the state of intensive care resources in Winnipeg, with the hope that appropriate measures can be taken to avert an impending calamity," he wrote in a letter dated Oct. 23, 2019.

His letter ended on an ominous note: "I strongly suspect that by January or February we will all profoundly regret not having dealt with this problem. Inquests often have that effect."

Friesen did not respond.

By the following month, critical-care physicians across the WRHA and Shared Health chose to write a collective letter to the heads of both authorities, arguing that "inadequacies of both the ICU bed base and ICU nurse (staffing)... have precipitated a wider crisis."

"As intensive-care physicians, we are gravely concerned that current ICU bed and nursing crises will contribute to significant and avoidable patient morbidity and mortality. With inadequate ICU beds, a severe flu season will be catastrophic," the Nov. 4, 2019 letter reads.

Again, little was done to change course or ramp up ICU capacity in Winnipegs hospitals.

The Manitoba Nurses Union rallied against provincial health care cuts in 2017, arguing patient care was in serious jeopardy. (Jen Doerksen / Winnipeg Free Press files)

On Jan. 8, 2020  roughly two months before Manitoba declared a state of emergency due to the arrival of COVID-19  Doctors Manitoba wrote to the heads of the WRHA and Shared Health to again raise concerns and demand a plan of action.

"The situation is now extremely concerning. Critical care specialists are describing this situation to us as a crisis and unprecedented.... Doctors are now in an untenable position of determining which critically ill patient receives an intensive care bed and which does not," the letter reads.

Weeks earlier, the first warnings of a strange new illness in Wuhan, China began to trickle out to the world through news reports.

Sixty-four days later, Manitoba recorded its first presumptive case of the novel coronavirus.

And six months after that, COVID-19 ravaged the provinces long-term care facilities, with bodies left for dead. And soon after that Manitobas ICU patients were being airlifted across the country because the overwhelmed critical-care system buckled.

By the time Roberts realized no one in provincial government or among the health-care officials overseeing consolidation would listen to his pleas that reducing Winnipegs ICU bed base was a bad idea, he resigned himself to sit and wait for a crisis.

"I figured, Ive said my piece, nobody is listening, well wait till disaster happens. Thats what well have to do. And then they managed to scrape through the winter (2019) flu season, but there were still impacts during that flu season," Roberts said.

"There were difficulties getting patients admitted to the ICU. There were people who stayed in emergency on ventilators. It was obvious that we didnt have enough beds."

It was a harbinger of things to come.

A Manitoba government spokesperson said no one "could have predicted the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19 and its impact to our health-care system and the people who work in it," adding that every province was "significantly challenged" during the pandemic.

"(During) the pandemic we maximized existing space in our major ICUs, we added usable beds with adequate staffing to reach our pre-pandemic baseline," the spokesperson said in a written statement.

"Then, through a variety of means and every measure at our disposal, we more than doubled that capacity during the pandemic to protect Manitobas most vulnerable."

Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

But each time during the pandemic that public-health officials announced the expansion of the provinces critical-care services, Jackson couldnt help but shake her head.

"They kept making these announcements, Were going to create 60 more positions in critical care. Well as far as Im concerned, all youre doing is creating 60 new vacancies, because we dont have enough nurses to fill the vacancies we have now," she said.

The strategy seemed to be "robbing Peter to pay Paul," she added, by transferring nurses from other programs into the ICU, only to create new staffing holes in other departments.

"It just seemed to be a snowball that was getting bigger and bigger and rolling downhill. The Manitoba Nurses Union was loud and clear that you cant just take a bandage and slap it on a gaping wound and hope nobody notices," she said.

"They kept making these announcements, Were going to create 60 more positions in critical care. Well as far as Im concerned, all youre doing is creating 60 new vacancies, because we dont have enough nurses to fill the vacancies we have now." Darlene Jackson

Doctors Manitoba said in a written statement that it remains concerned about how hospitals were "pushed beyond their limits" during the height of the pandemic, resulting in the cancellation of nearly 130,000 surgeries and diagnostic procedures.

A spokesperson for the non-profit noted that critical-care physicians had been "raising serious concerns about the state of our ICUs for months" before COVID-19 arrived in Manitoba, and that during the pandemic their views were "not sought or welcome."

But the spokesperson also said the agency has seen a "change in tone and approach" in recent months, with the provincial government increasingly reaching out and seeking physician input on a more consistent basis.

Nevertheless, the Doctors Manitoba spokesperson said there must be an inquiry into the Tories consolidation efforts from 2017 to 2020 in light of the pandemic.

"We trust the government and health system will conduct an open and transparent investigation into what happened, and how decisions before the pandemic to consolidate Winnipegs hospitals and reduce ICU beds may have contributed to this situation," the statement reads.

"Doctors Manitoba will support and participate in such an inquiry."

Doctors Manitoba is calling for an inquiry into the crisis that unfolded as a result of health cuts. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

A former WRHA source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the reduction in critical-care beds and ensuing staffing pinch among ICU nurses undoubtedly impacted Manitobas ability to effectively respond to the pandemic.

"Its like building a dike and then expecting the water to almost hit the top of that dike year after year. Every couple of years, a little bit will spill over the top. But then, every 10 or 20 years when theres a flood, youre under water."

"The problem turned to people.... When the pandemic hits, the system was extremely vulnerable to even a small surge in the number of patients in critical care. The system was redesigned to run so close to the edge. There was no cushion, no ability to flex," the source said.

"Its like building a dike and then expecting the water to almost hit the top of that dike year after year. Every couple of years, a little bit will spill over the top.

"But then, every 10 or 20 years when theres a flood, youre under water."

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe
ROME (AP)  Leaders of the world's biggest economies on Saturday endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations, a linchpin of new international tax rules aimed at blunting the edge of fiscal paradises amid skyrocketing profits of some multinational businesses.

Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police block climate activists showing banners in front of the Italian Ministry of the Ecological Transition in Rome's via Cristoforo Colombo, one of the main road leading to La Nuvola (the cloud) convention center where the G20 summit is taking place, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

ROME (AP)  Leaders of the world's biggest economies on Saturday endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations, a linchpin of new international tax rules aimed at blunting the edge of fiscal paradises amid skyrocketing profits of some multinational businesses.

The move by the Group of 20 summit in Rome was hailed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen as benefiting American businesses and workers.

G-20 finance ministers in July had already agreed on a 15% minimum tax. It awaited formal endorsement at the summit Saturday in Rome of the worlds economic powerhouses.

Yellen predicted in a statement that the deal on new international tax rules, with a minimum global tax, will end the damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation.

The deal did fall short of U.S. President Joe Biden's original call for a 21% minimum tax. Still, Biden tweeted his satisfaction.

Climate activists try to block traffic in front of the Italian Ministry of the Ecological Transition in Rome's via Cristoforo Colombo, one of the main road leading to La Nuvola (the cloud) convention center where the G20 summit is taking place, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Here at the G20, leaders representing 80% of the world's GDP  allies and competitors alike  made clear their support for a strong global minimum tax, the president said in the tweet. This is more than just a tax deal  it's diplomacy reshaping our global economy and delivering for our people.

The agreement aims to discourage multinationals from stashing profits in countries where they pay little or no taxes. These days, multinationals can earn big profits from things like trademarks and intellectual property. These companies can then assign earnings to a subsidiary in a tax haven country.

Briefing reporters midway through the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "There are good things to report here. The world community has agreed on a minimum taxation of companies. That is a clear signal of justice in times of digitalization.

Workers adjust a flag prior to a group photo at the G20 summit in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

Mathias Cormann, secretary-general of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said that the deal clinched in Rome will make our international tax arrangements fairer and work better in a digitalized and globalized economy.

The minimum rate completely eliminates the incentive for businesses around the world to restructure their affairs to avoid tax, Cormann contended.

On other issues crucial to fairness across the globe  including access to COVID-19 vaccines  the summit on the first of its two days heard pleas to boost the percentage of those in poor countries being vaccinated.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, center, pumps fists with French President Emmanuel Macron, left, during a group photo with medical personnel at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)

Italian Premier Mario Draghi made a sharp call to pick up the pace in getting vaccines to poor countries.

Draghi, the summit host, said Saturday that only 3% of people in the world's poorest countries are vaccinated, while 70% in rich countries have had at least one shot.

These differences are morally unacceptable and undermine the global recovery, said Draghi, an economist and former chief of the European Central Bank.

U.S. President Joe Biden, right, is welcomed by Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi as he arrives at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to use the summit to press fellow European Union leaders to be more generous in donating vaccines to low-income countries.

But advocates of civil society which have held discussions with G-20 officials said suspension of vaccine patents was crucial to increasing access in poor countries.

Canada noted it was both sharing vaccines as well as donating money to develop production in South Africa, which is a G-20 country. Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister, said Canada was increasing its commitment to international vaccine sharing through the COVAX program by donating 200 million doses.

World leaders pose for a group photo at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)

The summit is also confronting two-track global recovery in which rich countries are bouncing back faster.

Rich countries have used vaccines and stimulus spending to restart economic activity, leaving the risk that developing countries that account for much of global growth will remain behind due to low vaccinations and financing difficulties.

Macron has told reporters he expects the G-20 to confirm an additional $100 billion to support Africas economies.

Medical personnel and world leaders pose for a group photo at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

On the urgent problem of climate change, Italy is hoping the G-20 will secure crucial commitments from countries responsible for about 80% of global carbon emissions  ahead of the U.N. climate conference that begins Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, just as the Rome summit winds down.

Most of the G-20 leaders will head to Glasgow.

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, whose efforts to reduce emissions are paramount to combating climate change, were participating remotely in the Rome summit.

U.S. President Joe Biden poses for a selfie with medical personnel and other world leaders during a group photo at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

But midway through the summit it was the corporate tax rate rule that dominated.

White House officials say the new tax rate would create at least $60 billion in new revenue a year in the U.S.  a stream of cash that could help partially pay for a nearly $3 trillion social services and infrastructure package that Biden is seeking. U.S. adoption is key because so many multinational companies are headquartered there.

But Civil 20, which represents some 560 organizations from more than 100 countries in a network making recommendations to the G-20, was less enthusiastic. The 15% rate is a little more than those (rates) we'd consider fiscal paradises, Civil 20 official Riccardo Moro told reporters following the summit.

___

Nicole Winfield contributed to this report.
For some reason, the release this week of yet another report highlighting the deepening disconnect between urban and rural Canada over internet connectivity made me think of telephones.

For some reason, the release this week of yet another report highlighting the deepening disconnect between urban and rural Canada over internet connectivity made me think of telephones.

Growing up in rural Manitoba, where our telephone "party line" was shared by six large families, connectivity was often a topic of discussion. Sometimes the line was in use when you wanted it. Sometimes, there was a little too much connectivity because the neighbour kids liked to listen in when the boyfriend called.

The late Gilbert Alexander Muir, formerly the chief engineer for the government-owned Manitoba Telephone System, wrote a whimsical history for the Manitoba Historical Society back the 1960s of how this province became a North American leader in telecom services. Despite the utilitarian title, A History of the Telephone in Manitoba, Muir wrote a fun story well worth the read.

"In our age of jet transportation, space communications, computer technology and data transmission, the remembrances of the age in which the telephone took hold seems strange  like the tin-plated pictures in the family albums of yesteryear showing frock-coated grandfather, arms akimbo staring grimly at the camera," he wrote.

Heres the condensed version. Alexander Graham Bell discovered the telephone in 1876. The first telephones came to Winnipeg two years later. Bells patent expired in 1893. The resulting competition that saw linemen from competing companies cutting each others lines or sawing off their poles prompted the Manitoba government to take over responsibility for telecom services in 1908.

By the Roaring Twenties, almost every corner of the province was linked to the rest of Canada, the United States and several overseas points. All that spanned five decades.

By comparison, the internet was first discovered in 1983, and nearly 40 years later, we are nowhere near to having rural Manitobans connected beyond the most rudimentary levels  if at all.

The Council of Canadian Academies report Waiting to Connect: The Expert Panel on High-Throughput Networks for Rural and Remote Communities in Canada is a not-so-fun read, but nonetheless worthwhile as it zeroes in on the urgency for a better strategy.

"Compared to urban centres, broadband connectivity in rural and remote regions has generally been characterized by slower transmission speeds, less availability, and higher costs," it says.

In 2019, 86 per cent rural of Manitoba households lacked access to the federal government target of 50/10 (Mbps download/upload speeds) with unlimited monthly data transfer. The only places in Canada faring worse are Nunavut and Northwest Territories.

Nationwide, more than half of rural households lacked access to services meeting the federal target, compared to just 1.4 per cent of urban households.

Plus, rural Canada is falling further behind. Even if the current strategy, which relies heavily on providing incentives to the private sector, meets the target of getting everyone in Canada up to those speeds by 2030, urban Canada has already progressed far beyond. And the pace of change is accelerating.

"The reliance on market-based mechanisms to fund broadband connectivity programs in rural and remote communities has consistently failed to deliver levels of service comparable to those available in urban Canada," the report says.

The authors note that the pandemic has sharpened focus on the impact of these connectivity gaps. People living in underserved communities were less able to function virtually, students were shut out of education, and patients have been unable to access health care.

It is not just about delivering access. Adoption rates are lower in rural Canada as well.

Incomes tend to be lower, which makes the higher cost of service less affordable. Digital literacy is lower and there is a lack of IT support when things go wrong. Indigenous communities are particularly hard-hit by these factors, which places them at a disproportionate disadvantage.

In a nutshell, the report says improving access and adoption is not only fundamental to the future of rural Canada, its an important path towards our reconciliation of historic wrongs.

The story of connecting rural Canada via broadband has yet to be finished, but its becoming clearer that more of the same is not our path to a happy ending.

Laura Rance is vice-president of content for Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at lrance@farmmedia.com
World leaders have been meeting for 29 years to try to curb global warming, and in that time Earth has become a much hotter and deadlier planet.

FILE - In this June 26, 2021, file photo, paramedics Cody Miller, left, and Justin Jones respond to a heat exposure call during a heat wave, in Salem, Ore. World leaders have been trying to do something about climate change for 29 years but in that time Earth has gotten much hotter and more dangerous. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)

World leaders have been meeting for 29 years to try to curb global warming, and in that time Earth has become a much hotter and deadlier planet.

Trillions of tons of ice have disappeared over that period, the burning of fossil fuels has spewed billions of tons of heat-trapping gases into the air, and hundreds of thousands of people have died from heat and other weather disasters stoked by climate change, statistics show.

When more than 100 world leaders descended on Rio de Janeiro in 1992 for an Earth Summit to discuss global warming and other environmental issues, there was a huge feeling of well-being, of being able to do something. There was hope really, said Oren Lyons, faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, one of the representatives for Native Americans at the summit.

Now, the 91-year-old activist said, that hope has been smothered: The ice is melting. ... Everything is bad. ... Thirty years of degradation.

Data analyzed by The Associated Press from government figures and scientific reports shows how much we did lose Earth, said former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief William K. Reilly, who headed the American delegation three decades ago.

That Earth Summit set up the process of international climate negotiations that culminated in the 2015 Paris accord and resumes Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, where leaders will try to ramp up efforts to cut carbon pollution.

Back in 1992, it was clear climate change was a problem with major implications for lives and livelihoods in the future, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the AP this month. That future is here and we are out of time.

World leaders have hammered out two agreements to curb climate change. In Kyoto in 1997, a protocol set carbon pollution cuts for developed countries but not poorer nations. That did not go into effect until 2005 because of ratification requirements. In 2015, the Paris agreement made every nation set its own emission goals.

In both cases, the United States, a top-polluting country, helped negotiate the deals but later pulled out of the process when a Republican president took office. The U.S. has since rejoined the Paris agreement.

FILE - In this Oct. 19, 2021, file photo, Milky storks stand on garbage in Jakarta Bay in Jakarta, Indonesia. Jakarta's waters are polluted, contributing not only to a lack of clean drinking water, but also making flooding more likely during the rainy season. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File)

The yearly global temperature has increased almost 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) since 1992, based on multi-year averaging, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Earth has warmed more in the last 29 years than in the previous 110. Since 1992, the world has broken the annual global high temperature record eight times.

In Alaska, the average temperature has increased 2.5 degrees (1.4 degrees Celsius) since 1992, according to NOAA. The Arctic had been warming twice as fast as the globe as a whole, but now has jumped to three times faster in some seasons, according to the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program.

That heat is melting Earth's ice. Since 1992, Earth has lost 36 trillion tons of ice (33 trillion metric tons), according to calculations by climate scientist Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds. That includes sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic that melts now more in the summer than it used to, the shrinking of giant ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, and melting glaciers.

And Michael Zemp, who runs the World Glacier Monitoring Service, said Shepherds numbers may be a little low. He calculates that since 1992, the glaciers of the world have lost nearly 9.5 trillion tons of ice (8.6 trillion metric tons), about a trillion tons more than Shepherds figures.

With more ice melt in the ocean and water expanding as it warms, the worlds average sea level has risen about 3.7 inches (95 millimeters) since 1992, according to the University of Colorado. That may not sound like much, but it is enough to cover the United States in water to a depth of 11 feet (3.5 meters), University of Colorado sea level researcher Steve Nerem calculated.

Wildfires in the United States have more than doubled in how much they have burned. From 1983 to 1992, wildfires consumed an average of 2.7 million acres a year. From 2011 to 2020, the average was up to 7.5 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

The unhealthy choices that are killing our planet are killing our people as well, said Dr. Maria Neira, director of the World Heath Organizations environment, climate change and health program.

The United States has had 265 weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage  adjusted to 2021 dollars  since 1992, including 18 so far this year. Those disasters have caused 11,991 deaths and cost $1.8 trillion. From 1980 to 1992, the U.S. averaged three of those billion-dollar weather disasters a year. Since 1993, the country has averaged nine a year.

Worldwide there have been nearly 8,000 climate, water and weather disasters, killing 563,735, according to the EMDAT disaster databas e. Those figures are probably missing a lot of disasters and deaths, said the Debarati Guha-Sapir, who oversees the database for the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters at the University of Louvain School of Public Health in Brussels.

Medical researchers earlier this year looked at 732 cities worldwide and calculated how many deaths were from climate change-caused extra heat. They found that on average since 1991, there have been 9,702 heat deaths from global warming a year just in those studied cities, which adds up to 281,000 climate-caused heat deaths since 1992.

But thats a small proportion of what really is happening, said study author Ana Vicedo-Cabrera, an epidemiologist at the Institute of Social and Preventative Medicine at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Using those cities, researchers calculated that during the four hottest months of the year, the added heat from climate change is responsible for 0.58% of the globes deaths.

That comes to about 100,000 heat deaths caused by climate change a year for 29 years, she said.

WHO officials said those figures make sense and calculate the annual death toll from climate change will rise to 250,000 a year in the 2030s.

Scientists say this is happening because of heat-trapping gases. Carbon dioxide levels have increased 17% from 353 parts per million in September 1992 to 413 in September 2021, according to NOAA. The agencys annual greenhouse gas index, which charts six gases and weights them according to how much heat they trap, rose almost 20% since 1992.

From 1993 to 2019, the world put more than 885 billion tons (803 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide in the air from the burning of fossil fuels and making of cement, according to the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists who track emissions.

A pessimistic Lyons, the Native American activist, said, I would say this meeting in Glasgow is the last shot.

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Read stories on climate issues by The Associated Press at https://apnews.com/hub/climate.

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Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Hundreds of people opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates rallied Saturday at the Kansas Statehouse and pushed state lawmakers to quickly counter them, while an international labor union disavowed a local leader's comparison of the mandates to the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews.

Kansas state Rep. Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth, speaks during a rally of people opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates outside the Kansas Statehouse, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, in Topeka, Kan. Republican lawmakers are looking for ways to resist the mandates. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Hundreds of people opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates rallied Saturday at the Kansas Statehouse and pushed state lawmakers to quickly counter them, while an international labor union disavowed a local leader's comparison of the mandates to the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews.

The rally kicked off ahead of a rare weekend legislative committee hearing on mandates from President Joe Biden that affect as many as 100 million Americans. The hearing gave dozens of mandate opponents a chance to vent their frustration and anger both with the Democratic presidents administration and Democratic Gov. Laura Kellys handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Many of the speakers during the committees hearing argued that lawmakers should call themselves into special session instead of waiting to reconvene until 2022. Lawmakers can do that without Kelly if two-thirds of them sign a petition, but so far such an effort hasnt gained much traction.

If we allow this to continue, there will be no stopping further government overreach, said Cody Foster, a utility line worker and volunteer firefighter in central Kansas.

Empty chairs sit on the landing of south steps of the Kansas Statehouse during a rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, in Topeka, Kan. Each chair has a paper sign with the last name of a Kansas legislator. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Several critics of the mandates suggested Saturday that they violate international human rights standards enacted in the wake atrocities during World War II. Bryan Luedeke, a Wichita-area aircraft worker, called them reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

His comments followed Friday's comparison of the mandates to the Holocaust by Cornell Beard, president of the Wichita district of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. A committee member, Republican Rep. Brenda Landwehr, of Wichita, appeared to agree with the analogy.

The international union issued a statement Saturday saying it strongly condemns the offensive and inappropriate comparison" to the Holocaust.

Regardless of ones views on divisive political issues, there is never a place for this type of hurtful rhetoric, the statement said.

The legislative panel's name  the joint Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates  signals that Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature already have concluded that the mandates violate peoples liberties. But many are not yet sure what power the state has to resist.

Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, right, follows a rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates with his oldest daughter, 15-year-old Reagan, left, outside the Kansas Statehouse, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, in Topeka, Kan. Kobach is a strong opponent of vaccine mandates and is running for Kansas attorney general after having lost races for governor in 2018 and the U.S. Senate in 2020. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

The committee is supposed to recommend steps for the Legislature to take. In hearings that began Friday, almost everyone testifying strongly opposed vaccine mandates, with some repeating misinformation about vaccine safety.

But with many speakers calling for lawmakers to have a special session, the Senate's top Republican leaders didn't rule it out.

I'm going to look for that kernel of something we can do and see if there's a window there, said Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican.

More than 80 people spoke to the committee Saturday, and only one supported the vaccine mandates, Sheila Sonnenschein, a Kansas City-area resident. She attended the hearing with her psychiatrist-husband Ken and said later, It really hits my heart when I hear these lies and conspiracy theories.

Sonnenschein told the committee: As a Jewish person, it offends me  I mean, I can't even say it  it's so upsetting to hear people compare having the vaccine mandates and the mask mandates to the Holocaust.

Saturday's hearing came after state Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican hoping to unseat Kelly next year, announced that he has brought Kansas into a federal lawsuit against Biden's vaccine mandate for employees of government contractors.

The Biden administration is also requiring vaccinations for all federal workers and certain health care workers. Private employers with 100 or more workers will have to require them to be vaccinated or tested weekly.

The war at hand is the well-being of our nation, the soul of our nation, Republican state Sen. Mark Steffen, a Hutchinson anesthesiologist and pain-management doctor who's promoted discredited COVID-19 conspiracy theories and dubious treatments, said at the start of Saturday's hearing.

Republican activists and consultants across the country contend that opposition to vaccine mandates could create a movement akin to the tea party movement.

Participants in the Statehouse rally brought Gadsden flags  which say show a coiled snake and say, Don't tread on me. Speakers urged attendees to vote for candidates who oppose vaccine and mask mandates in Tuesday's local school board elections.

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Mainers have weighed in on a number of high-profile ballot questions  casinos, universal health care, marijuana legalization, assisted suicide, abortion and same-sex marriage, to name a few.

FILE-Workers connect a section of the first pole of Central Maine Power's controversial hydropower transmission corridor, Feb. 9, 2021, near The Forks, Maine. Mainers will vote on the most expensive referendum campaign in state history on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, file)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Mainers have weighed in on a number of high-profile ballot questions  casinos, universal health care, marijuana legalization, assisted suicide, abortion and same-sex marriage, to name a few.

None of them come close to the level of spending as the battle over a 145-mile (233-kilometer) electricity transmission line.

More than $90 million from utilities has flowed into the fight over the $1 billion project funded by ratepayers in Massachusetts that supporters say would remove carbon from the environment and provide needed electricity.

The high-stakes campaign put environmental and conservation groups at odds, and pitted utilities backing the project against operators of fossil fuel-powered plants that stand to lose money.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who supports the project, made a last-minute pitch this weekend for bold action against climate change. We just cant afford just to do nothing," she said.

A ballot question on Tuesday will let Maine voters have their say.

The project has received all the necessary permits, and construction began 10 months ago. But a court ruling called into question a state lease for a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) section. More litigation is expected regardless of the outcome of the vote.

FILE-A homemade sign is posted on a telephone pole in protest of Central Maine Power's controversial hydropower transmission corridor in Jackman, Maine. Mainers will vote on the most expensive referendum campaign in state history on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, file)

Lewiston Mayor Mark Cayer said he doesnt understand the opposition, noting that the new sections are being built in working forests that have been logged repeatedly over the years.

In Maine and New England, the idea of change can sometimes raise emotions. A lot of people turn to not in my backyard, he said.

Back when it was proposed, Central Maine Power thought it had a winner after New Hampshires Northern Pass project was spiked. Both projects aimed to bring plentiful renewable energy into the region courtesy of Hydro Quebec, which produces an excess of power from its dams.

In rejecting the 192-mile (309-kilometer) New Hampshire project, regulators questioned its promised benefits and worried about the impact it would have on rural communities. Their decision was upheld in court.

The Maine proposal for a transmission line mostly followed existing utility corridors. But a new section needed to be cut through 53 miles (85 kilometers) of woods to reach the border.

The project would supply up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower to the New England power grid.

The arguments against the project are presented as black and white in ads that suggest the project benefits only Massachusetts, that it destroys pristine wilderness, that there was some sort of backroom deal. Even environmentalists dont agree on the environmental benefit.

Supporters say big proposals are needed to combat climate change. They say the project would lower carbon emissions by 3.6 million metric tons, benefiting the region, not just Massachusetts.

CMP offered $258 million in Maine incentives that would boost the number of electric vehicle charging stations, subsidize heat pumps, improve rural high-speed internet and help low-income customers.

The city of Lewiston already received half of its $3 million increase in property taxes thanks to the project. All told, more than 20 communities will share $5.4 million in annual tax increases.

But that pales into comparison to the money pouring into the campaign.

Three opposing utilities that operate fossil fuel-powered plants in the region have contributed more than $27 million to stop the project. Central Maine Power, affiliated utilities and Quebec Hydro have donated more than $64 million in support of the project.

The spending is unprecedented for a referendum in Maine.

By comparison, about $9.2 million was spent on a battle over a York County casino in 2017 and nearly $8 million was spent on an effort to overturn the states same-sex marriage law in 2009, according to a report completed this summer for the Government Oversight Committee.

In Maine, weve never had anything remotely like this for a referendum, said Mark Brewer, political science professor at the University of Maine.

The amount of campaign money is unnerving to Anya Fetcher, director of Environment Maine, which opposes the project.

At the end of the day, I wish that all of this money that was poured into the marketing and campaign could just go to clean energy solutions, she said.
Winnipeg may not be WetsJets most important market but its the Winnipeg Richardson Airports biggest carrier  and the only commercial carrier at the Brandon Municipal Airport  so a number of regional industry and government leaders were on their best behaviour at a virtual roundtable discussion with senior WestJet officials on Friday.

Winnipeg may not be WetsJets most important market but its the Winnipeg Richardson Airports biggest carrier  and the only commercial carrier at the Brandon Municipal Airport  so a number of regional industry and government leaders were on their best behaviour at a virtual roundtable discussion with senior WestJet officials on Friday.

Billed as a discussion about the state of air travel to and from Manitoba, it served as a clarion call for all parties involved to work together to get air travel back up and running.

After experiencing, what Barry Rempel, the CEO of the Winnipeg Airports Authority, said was "truly the worst crisis our industry has ever witnessed," planes are flying again, schedules are slowly being expanded and instead of talking about survival, the industry is talking about growth again.

WestJet officials Andy Gibbons, vice-president, government relations and Charles Duncan, president of Swoop, WestJets ultra low-cost carrier, spoke about the 25-year partnership the airline has had with Winnipeg and its commitment to remain the Winnipeg Richardson Airports number one carrier. The city is also the location where all of the airlines Boeing 737 General Electric engines are overhauled and serviced by StandardAero.

Gibbons said it is WestJets intention to bring passenger counts and investment back to 2019 levels in 2022.

"That is our ambition and commitment to work with everyone to achieve that," he said.

The timing is auspicious for Winnipeg.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Winnipeg airports terminal building and on Monday  the first day of the return to international flights since borders were shut down  Duncan will be in Winnipeg to launch Swoops new Winnipeg-to-Mesa, Ariz., service.

As well, federal vaccine requirements for air travel start on Saturday.

It will mean the aviation industry  arguably the hardest hit sector by the pandemic  will be the first fully-vaccinated industry in the country.

Its fairly well known just how much the industry suffered by the rolling lockdowns across North America.

By WestJets accounting, its demand dropped by 90 per cent and actual passenger count was down by 82 per cent.

Gibbons, Rempel and others on the call made the point that it is not something that can be revived without a lot of care and attention.

WestJet was riding high in 2019 at its healthiest financial state since it launched 25 years ago  Winnipeg was one of five destinations it served then  but the pandemic knocked it back to 2002 levels of revenue.

Since June it has grown, percentage wise, as much as it did the previous 11 years, so there is some optimism.

But as Rempel pointed out the Canadian commercial airline industry is operating with 100 fewer planes than it had in 2019. Swoop is adding a 10th plane back to its fleet on Monday.

Meanwhile, in order to survive, airports such as the one in Winnipeg, had to go even further in debt to survive the shutdowns, something Rempel noted that their peers across the border did not have to do.

Rempel said, "Winnipeg remains a very strong market, primarily origin and destination," meaning passengers flying into or out of Winnipeg are not connecting to or from other flights.

"But candidly we are struggling with very difficult policy choices we have made as a country," he said, referring to, among other things, the ongoing land rental payments the community-owned airports like Winnipegs must pay to the federal government, essentially making airports a profit centre for the federal treasury.

He and others in the industry look to the fact that five million Canadians drove across the border to U.S. airports to take advantage of cheaper flights in 2019, hamstringing the financial health of the Canadian aviation industry even further.

WestJet has direct flights from Winnipeg to Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Ottawa and Toronto. Regularly scheduled winter flights to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, start Monday, with Palm Springs, Calif., on Nov. 8, and Orlando, Fla., and Cancun, Mexico, on Dec. 18.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Talks set to start Monday between Indigenous leaders and the federal government about a possible settlement over court-ordered compensation to First Nations children could signal the clearing of the road to reconciliation, the Assembly of First Nations National chief said Saturday.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald speaks during a news conference in Kamloops, BC., Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. Archibald says any federal compensation paid to Indigenous children removed from their homes would be a recognition of the harms that were caused, but does not represent justice. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Talks set to start Monday between Indigenous leaders and the federal government about a possible settlement over court-ordered compensation to First Nations children could signal the clearing of the road to reconciliation, the Assembly of First Nations National chief said Saturday.

RoseAnne Archibald said the talks are scheduled to last until December and Indigenous leaders are prepared to meet face-to-face with government representatives.

The federal government filed notice it plans to challenge in the Federal Court of Appeal a ruling ordering Ottawa to pay compensation to First Nations children removed from their homes, but also said the parties have agreed to work towards a resolution by December.

"We are closer than we have been previously," said Archibald. "So. that's an important part of why the AFN executive committee, which is all the regional chiefs across Canada, has agreed to enter into these intense negotiations to see if we can get to a settlement that is fair."

In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found Ottawa discriminated against First Nations children by knowingly underfunding child and family services for those living on reserve.

In a joint statement Friday after the appeal was filed, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller and Justice Minister David Lametti said the parties "have agreed to pause litigation" on the tribunal's decision.

Archibald said she could not discuss in-depth details of the impending talks, but supported the human rights tribunal's statement that the children were eligible for $40,000 in federal compensation.

The tribunal said each First Nations child, along with their parents or grandparents, who were separated because of this chronic underfunding were eligible to receive $40,000 in federal compensation, which was the maximum amount it could award.

It has been estimated some 54,000 children and their families could qualify, meaning Ottawa could be in line to pay more than $2 billion.

Archibald said any federal compensation paid to Indigenous children removed from their homes would be a recognition of the harms that were caused, but does not make amends for the damage done in the process.

She said compensation does not equate to justice.

But the national chief said a compensation settlement would signal the government is on the path toward that goal as well as ending discrimination against First Nations children.

"Compensation is a legal recognition that you have been harmed and that you deserve to be compensated from that harm," Archibald said. "If we can get to a settlement, this will signal we are on the right path."

Archibald, elected national chief in July, said she has "reasonable and fair" expectation the federal government and Indigenous nations will walk together toward reconciliation.

"That healing path forward together will be based upon concrete actions, more than it will be on discussions and words," she said.

Indigenous groups have been highly critical of the federal government's decision to appeal, with some welcoming the settlement talks, while others called it a stalling tactic.

"Our First Nations children are our most vital and valuable resource," said Chief Bobby Cameron in a statement from Saskatchewan's Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.

"This federal government has taken them from their homes and communities and then dragged them through years of litigation and court," he said. "Enough is enough."

B.C.'s First Nations Leadership Council, representing the political wing of the province's three major Indigenous organizations, said in a statement the government must fulfill its obligations to the children.

"Nothing changes if nothing changes, and we demand this government put their money where their mouth is," said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. "Stop fighting First Nations kids in court, uphold our rights, and take action that supports meaningful and real reconciliation."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2021.
Two people who were killed on Tuesday in Faro, Yukon, are being remembered by friends for their quick wit and friendly personalities.

Two people who were killed on Tuesday in Faro, Yukon, are being remembered by friends for their quick wit and friendly personalities.

Rachel Rodnunsky said her friend Saenduean Honchaiyaphum, who was known as Sang, brightened the long winters with her colourful disposition and clothing.

Honchaiyaphum was married to Ralph Shaw, who is accused in her death, but the couple separated in August, Rodnunsky said.

Shaw, 61, is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault. The first-degree murder charges relate to the deaths of Honchaiyaphum, 42, and Patrick McCracken, 73, court documents say.

Police say a man was also found critically injured when they responded to reports of gunfire in the remote community.

Rodnunsky, who works at the town post office, described her friend as a devoted mother and a talented artist.

The town has an art society where Honchaiyaphum sold her work.

"She did a lot of hair accessories, like very bright with ribbon, you know, lots of sparkle and everything," Rodnunsky said.

Honchaiyaphum was the youngest of 10 children and grew up on a rice farm in Thailand before coming to Canada.

"If you got her talking about rice, she would have all sorts of stories," said Rodnunsky.

Honchaiyaphum had two daughters, aged 12 and 15.

Rodnunsky's last conversation with her friend was on Monday when she came into the post office.

"She was all excited because she finally got her internet hooked up and, you know, she was very happy," she recalled.

"She was going to order some stuff for her children. She just seemed very animated."

Mayor Leonard Faber, who is leaving office next week, said he knew Honchaiyaphum and McCracken.

He recalled his first meeting McCracken when he moved to Faro about 14 years ago. McCracken was the public works supervisor and he drove by Faber's house to introduce himself.

"He talked to everybody, you know what I mean? Everybody knew Pat," he said.

"If you didn't know Pat, you weren't going outside."

McCracken had recently retired, he said, adding that the former town councillor was one of the most knowledgeable and helpful people who had answers to almost any question.

"He was the go-to guy when you needed to know something about anything."

McCracken had an institutional knowledge about the town, he noted.

"He was still working," Faber said.

"He always had something funny to say ... He was a pleasure to be around."

Faber said he would occasionally give Honchaiyaphum a kokanee fish that he caught. The last time he did that was this summer.

"I don't normally keep my lake trout but I caught about an eight-pound lake trout," Faber said.

Honchaiyaphum said she would get a bowl for it and Faber said when he showed her the large catch: "She had a good laugh. She was a good person."

Faber and McCracken also bonded over fishing.

"The fish are always bigger when you don't show them, right?" he said, laughing.

"He'd tease you, you know. It's like the grumpy old man things  we call each other names. Make fun of our getting old things. He's gonna be so greatly missed."

Faber said people in town are worried about the man who was injured and Honchaiyaphum's daughters.

"Well, the worst thing is somebody lost their mother," he said.

"We lost friends. A wife has lost her husband, which I don't know how I would deal with anything like that. It's just so sad, and yeah, I'm kind of speechless."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2021.
ROME - Canada will donate 10 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to the COVAX vaccine sharing facility and another $15 million to help make mRNA vaccines in Africa, the Prime Minister announced Saturday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes part in a bilateral press conference with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte at parliament in The Hague, Netherlands, on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce additional donations of vaccines for developing countries at the G20 meeting in Rome today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

ROME - Canada will donate 10 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to the COVAX vaccine sharing facility and another $15 million to help make mRNA vaccines in Africa, the Prime Minister announced Saturday.

Justin Trudeau revealed details of the donations in Rome while attending the G20 leaders' summit. Canada would also increase its financial contribution to the global vaccine sharing alliance, he said, with a goal of donating or paying for at least 200 million vaccine doses for low and middle income countries by the end of next year.

Canada has previously promised to donate 40 million doses from its own contracts, and pay for an estimated 87 million more through more than $500 million in cash donations to COVAX.

To date, 3.4 million doses have been delivered from Canada's contracts. The funding has been delivered, but it's not clear how many doses have been purchased with Canada's money.

Securing supplies of vaccine is tricky because wealthy countries snapped up most of the early supplies.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada is one of only six countries that have donated their fair share to what is known as the ACT accelerator, an international program helping fund COVID-19 testing and treatments for countries struggling to afford them.

"We are standing up and doing our share," she said during a news conference in Rome. "And that is absolutely the right thing to do."

Freeland said the timing of dose delivery isn't really up to the government. While Canada has more than 17.5 million shots of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine in federal and provincial freezers, the doses being donated to COVAX will not come from that supply.

Instead, Canada is donating the remainder of doses paid for but not yet received, which means it's up to the suppliers to provide the delivery schedule.

"As we have experienced in the provision of doses to Canada itself, it's hard to be exactly precise," Freeland said. "And maybe particularly hard for Canada since we're not manufacturing this stuff ourselves. But let me just say we expect those Moderna doses to be delivered quickly."

Vaccine inequity is a hot topic of discussion at the G20, as the leaders' of the world's biggest economies grapple with economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Monetary Fund has warned the uneven vaccine program is delaying the economic recovery in the poorest countries.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the host of this year's summit, said in his opening remarks Saturday that the inequitable delivery of vaccines is "startling."

The world's wealthiest countries have vaccinated more than 70 per cent of their citizens, while the poorest have vaccinated fewer than three per cent.

Almost three in four Canadians are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 compared with only one in 20 people in Africa.

"These differences are morally unacceptable and undermine the global recovery," Draghi said.

Stuart Hickox, Canada Director at the anti-poverty organization ONE Campaign, said the number of booster shots administered by the world's wealthiest countries is already twice as high as the number of first doses given out by low and middle-income countries.

"While we are already talking about third doses here, half of the world still awaits a lifesaving first shot. Its great to see the Government take these urgent steps," he said. "The pandemic wont really end here at home until it ends everywhere."

There is alarm over the slow pace of global donations. Wealthy countries pledged to donate 1.3 billion doses to COVAX, but only 150 million have been delivered to date.

World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus asked the G20 leaders on Friday to immediately donate another 550 million doses so that 40 per cent of the world's population can be vaccinated by years end.

Draghi noted that goal is not far off  38 per cent now  but it will take the fulfillment of the WHO's request for more than half a billion more doses to hit 40 per cent.

Freeland said she is optimistic others will also step up with more doses to donate.

"Canada certainly is in a position to say, as we have been saying in these meetings to our international partners, 'it would be good for you guys to all step up as well."

In addition to the new doses, Canada will also donate $15 million to a new technology transfer hub for mRNA vaccines being built in South Africa to help teach African companies to manufacture vaccines like those made by Moderna and Pfizer.

But Freeland did not indicate Canada was yet willing to agree to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines through the World Trade Organization. Ghebreyesus repeated his call for such action on Friday, noting the protective rules are a barrier to increasing vaccine production.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2021.
It has stores in New York City, Montreal and San Francisco. But, when it comes to trying new things, EQ3 prefers to stay close to home  right here in Winnipeg.

It has stores in New York City, Montreal and San Francisco. But, when it comes to trying new things, EQ3 prefers to stay close to home  right here in Winnipeg.

As many close their brick-and-mortar shops, EQ3 has transformed the former Polo Park Sears into its largest retail space.

"This is like a lab," Peter Tielmann, the Winnipeg-based furniture companys founder, said two days before the stores Friday opening.

It will be a place for creativity, he said.

The new flagship EQ3 Polo Park mall store, which is in the former Sears space, opened its doors on Friday. The store is designed as an experience centre to provide consumers with more options and inspiration. (MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Gone are the cosmetics counters and clothing racks of Sears  the department chain vacated in 2017. Now, living space setups (think couches paired with rugs, and dining tables set for dinner) occupy the 43,000-square-foot main floor.

Locally owned restaurant Deer + Almond has a spot, with a full kitchen and seating area, beside a design studio for textile perusal. Flora grows on a nearby live plant wall, while mounted screens flash EQ3 messaging and products.

"We want (this) to be more of an experience centre, showing a larger offering, giving people a lot of inspiration," Tielmann said.

"We want (this) to be more of an experience centre, showing a larger offering, giving people a lot of inspiration." Peter Tielmann, EQ3

EQ3s other 16 locations range between 10,000 and 15,000 square feet. The company worked on a new array of products, including a new concept called Palli Home and Company, kids furniture and a pets line, specifically for the Polo Park launch.

It signed a deal with CF Polo Park around 2018.

"When the pandemic hit, there were some worries," Tielmann said. "Especially opening up a store like this at a time when, even before the pandemic... e-commerce is taking over."

Roughly 30 per cent of EQ3s sales are online, Tielmann said. Customers tend to browse the website, note what they want and visit a store.

"There is still the touch and feel component thats important," he said. "Our strategy now is to open large experience centres where the combination of bricks and clicks... can come together, and you have a seamless experience for the customer."

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS EQ3 CEO and founder Peter Tielmann in the new Polo Park mall store.

Even if visitors dont purchase a thing, they can take ideas, explore products customizable options and maybe spend some money on EQ3s website, Tielmann said.

Customers often bring interior designers, he said. The store employs more than 50 staff; on-site designers, who are ready to help, are in the mix.

"Its an emotional process to get your space done well," Tielmann said. "How you feel in it is very important."

He said the emotional component is a focus for the company  after all, EQ3 stands for "emotional quotient in the third dimension."

"To say were going to go and open up a store this size is kind of crazy," Tielmann said.

When the business began in 2001, it had about six employees and no physical location. It is a spin-off of Palliser Furniture, a furniture manufacturing company based in Winnipeg.

EQ3s offerings are designed to appeal to customers who want quality modern products. (MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Tielmann recognized there were options for consumers wanting cheap furniture or high-end European imports, but there was a gap in the middle.

"The middle were people looking for quality, for more classic, modern products," he said. "We thought (it) was an underserved market."

So, EQ3 was born. Palliser employees poached designers from Europe and the United States for the new company, and soon, they were selling items to other dealers.

EQ3s first store opened on St. James Street in 2002. Within a year or two, the company had relocated to a 10,000-square-foot building on the parking lot of CF Polo Park, near Portage Avenue. EQ3 collaborated with local architecture students to create the space, Tielmann said.

It continued to grow, adding stores across Canada and the United States, including a flagship in New York City in 2019. It boasts furniture that morphs to fit different spaces and comfort needs.

More than 700 people are now employees.

"Winnipeg is where our home is, so the prototypes always go here," Tielmann said, adding its why EQ3s first experiential store is in Polo Park mall.

EQ3 stands for emotional quotient in the third dimension. (MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

He said moving into the mall likely wouldnt have been possible in the past, but now, theres an overabundance of retail space.

Malls were previously too expensive for large furniture retailers, according to Subbu Sivaramakrishnan, associate dean at the University of Manitobas Asper School of Business.

"As department stores have started abandoning malls, thats resulting in a lot of unoccupied spaces," Sivaramakrishnan said. "As a result, malls have actually lowered their rental rates, so having a store in a mall has actually become more affordable."

EQ3 benefits from the new location, Sivaramakrishnan said. First, it will likely get more casual shoppers wandering in; stand-alone furniture stores tend to be a destination rather than a place to browse. Second, some people will travel through EQ3 when trekking from parking lot to mall.

In that sense, they actually get another two sources of customers... who might not be intentional furniture shoppers," Sivaramakrishnan said. "Once they enter into your space, theyre a potential buyer."

The store employs more than 50 staff; on-site designers, who are ready to help, are in the mix. (MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

The belief that in-person shopping is dying is not necessarily true, Sivaramakrishnan said.

"Many people tend to think that online retailing is just replacing brick and mortar," he said. "Theres a long way to go for that."

Pre-pandemic, about 20 per cent of shopping was completed online, he said, adding its likely inflated since.

Brands such as EQ3, where the "see, touch and feel" component is high, need a physical presence, Sivaramakrishnan said. The furnitures price range means folks will want to ensure quality before they buy, he added.

"CF is proud and excited to house EQ3s first flagship location at CF Polo Park given it is a critical time to spark economic activity and accelerate business recovery," Peter Haven, CF Polo Parks general manager, said in a prepared statement.

Furniture has been a "strong retail category" during the pandemic, he noted.

Tielmann said EQ3 aligns with CF Polo Parks vision for the future.

"We believe there will be these long-term surviving and thriving retail and urban living destinations, and Polo Park, theyre committed to turn theirs into one," he said.

EQ3 will open more experiential sites if the Winnipeg location thrives, he said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com
Winnipeg philanthropist Louis Trepel lives by Winston Churchills quote, We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

Winnipeg philanthropist Louis Trepel lives by Winston Churchills quote, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

Since his teenage years and throughout his adult life, volunteering was always part of Trepels off-hours, but now, he dedicates all his time to supporting communities and organizations locally and worldwide.

"It feeds my soul and it makes my heart smile," he said.

"Everybody is able to make a difference, and when we make a life by giving, boy, we get so much back."

As a teenager, Trepel was one of the founding members of Variety, the Childrens Charity of Manitoba, a community-funded organization that helps grant children living with permanent disabilities and those impacted by economic disadvantage opportunities they wouldnt otherwise have had.

The charity has three primary program areas. Its special-needs program helps children gain access to "life-changing" medical equipment and therapy, its dental outreach program works to both provide preventative education and dental screenings and treatment to children, and its Camp Brereton helps send kids to camp who would not have been able to go otherwise, said charity CEO Jeff Liba.

Variety is often a "last resort" for families, Liba said, because when government funding or the health-care or education systems fail to provide necessary resources, Variety is there, and as a result, "we fund solutions, we dont fund hope."

This year, at its annual Gold Heart Gala fundraiser, Variety is handing out its inaugural lifetime achievement award. For Liba, it seemed very fitting that Trepel would be the first honoree.

In addition to lauding Trepels clear dedication to his work, Liba commended the longevity of Trepels commitment to the community, spanning countless charities and more than 40 years.

Trepels passion is helping to give both communities and individuals the opportunities to grow and learn, "and thats exactly who we are as an organization," said Liba.

For Trepel, being presented with the award feels "very humbling."

"There are so many people who are so deserving who do much more than I do," he said.

"When I take something on, I take it on, and I take it to a whole new level, but its not me, its the group of people that help me make it happen.

"Really, theyre all the people who are doing the work. Im just pulling them together and sharing a passion, sharing a vision, talking about impact and how we can help improve quality of life for Manitobans."

One of the greatest sources of enjoyment for Trepel all his life has been creating relationships with others; he said hes always been interested in hearing peoples stories, learning about them and connecting with different groups and organizations.

"Theres so much going on in life today, kindness is so important, and by taking the time with one person, the power that can have on their lives is incredible."

Trepel was the international ambassador for Variety, travelling across the globe, which gave him the opportunity to not only see the impact of the charity, but most of all, "being a part of helping in such a small way to make a difference."

He spent years involved with different local organizations such as Manitoba Harvest, CancerCare Manitoba, the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the St. Boniface Hospital Foundation, sitting on different boards and fundraising committees.

These days, hes working with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to find talent for its gala at the end of November, and planning the upcoming Variety childrens holiday party. Trepel is keeping busy by doing what he loves.

"Now what I do is I move in, help, give a little direction, and move on to the next organization, because I want to help as many people as I can," he said.

In the community, though established philanthropists and volunteers like himself continue to give, Trepel believes strongly that "its time to pass the baton on, to get younger people engaged, to inspire them, and to share your learnings with them."

He advises those wanting to get involved in the community to find something "that really connects with their heart," and from there, find organizations that tie in with those feelings and experiences.

"Get involved at the community level," he said. "Learn the ropes, start connecting with people, which helps you grow as an individual.

"Theres all kinds of gifts that happen along the way and in terms of people you meet."

To support Variety at its Gold Heart Gala this May, tickets are available for purchase as well as tables, sponsorship opportunities and volunteer opportunities.
For two weeks, Walter Beaulieus routine was punctuated by a practice of hauling water.

For two weeks, Walter Beaulieus routine was punctuated by a practice of hauling water.

Several times a day  sometimes late at night  he would load a shopping cart with buckets and bottles, make his way to the laundry room of a nearby building to fill up, and trek back to his wheelchair-bound neighbours apartment to help fill the toilet tank for a flush. Then, he would do it all over again for himself.

"It was just too much for me, I was having anxiety attacks, I was panicking all the time," the 54-year-old tenant of 400 Webb Pl. says on a phone call this week.

"There were nights I would cry because I couldnt do it all. And to see other people suffering like that? It was just like hell for us."

Between Sept. 17 and Oct. 1, many residents of the 21-storey downtown Winnipeg apartment building were responsible for hauling water to and from their suites after a pipe in the building burst. Floors 1 through 16 had cold water only; the top five floors had nothing.

Now those residents are organizing to demand better compensation from the management company that left them out to dry.

"There was nothing we could do, we were just hopeless," Beaulieu says of the weeks he spent tending to elderly, disabled neighbours left without a safe water supply. "Were not supposed to live like that."

When water returned Oct. 1, property manager Cityscape Residence Corp. offered residents a discount of $100 off that month's rent to compensate for their troubles.

Residents, who formed the 400 Webb Tenant Association to advocate for themselves while the water was shut off, are asking instead for $500 per unit in compensation.

"I think almost everyone accepted the $100, but they did so under duress," says Collin Wynter, a resident who helped organize the tenant association. "If you dont pay rent its weighted in the landlords favour  you cant not pay rent."

The group met midway through the month, and decided the $100 discount was meagre compared to the financial and emotional stress of weeks without water. Tenants expressed frustration they were not invited to negotiate fair compensation for their troubles.

"We agreed its not acceptable," says Wynter. "Im carting up buckets of water to fill the toilet tank. That took up a lot of time, energy, not to mention we were still being charged full price  we thought at the time  for rent."

Residents of the building, which forms part of the Place Promenade apartment complex behind Portage Place shopping centre, say they were not notified when the water shut off, and it took several days before the managers created a plan for residents to access water in the laundry room of nearby 410 Webb Pl, or from a rented City of Winnipeg water tank.

Meantime, the company was difficult to get in touch with, says Wynter, and not available to help residents in the first few days without water.

Several tenants in the building are newcomers, he added, while others are on disability or employment assistance and faced physical and financial difficulties securing clean water.

Through the month of September, another resident, who asked not to be named, began living from his car and office, sneaking into his work bathroom an hour before his shift to clean up and brush his teeth. He worked 12-hour days to stay out of his home as late as possible.

"It is inconvenient for all," he says. "It inconvenienced my life."

He adds when the water did come on, it was visibly tainted with rust for several days.

"It was dirty," he says. "The water was contaminated it was very cold also."

There were portable toilets installed on the main floor. Some residents showered in a nearby building; they ordered food from restaurants; they bought potable water.

"(Cityscape Residence Corp.) tried to give us $100 compensation for all of that, and a lot of us are saying, thats not enough," Beaulieu says.

The tenant association says a letter of request was submitted to the rental company Oct. 14, with a demand it respond by Oct. 21. As of Oct. 28, no response had been received.

Cityscape Residence Corp. declined Free Press requests for comment Friday.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers
From going around town while feeling sick, to being uneasy about vaccination mandates, southern Manitobans have a different belief system than people in other regions of the province when it comes to COVID-19.

From going around town while feeling sick, to being uneasy about vaccination mandates, southern Manitobans have a different belief system than people in other regions of the province when it comes to COVID-19.

New Probe Research data shows the area, which has the lowest vaccination rate of any region in the province, has widespread pushback to following public health rules and the firing of unvaccinated front-line workers.

"It's completely different mindsets, like we're not even in the same province," said Brandon University political scientist Kelly Saunders.

Probe polled 1,189 Manitobans last week and tracked whether responses from areas such as Winkler differed from the rest of the province.

"Some of those communities feel they're under a microscope because of the coverage and how people are looking at it," said Curtis Brown, a principal with Probe Research.

"But at the same time, it's important to quantify that and see what that difference is."

A total of 21 per cent of southern respondents who had COVID-19 symptoms admitted to not getting tested. Just 12 per cent of Manitobans overall said they hadnt been tested while symptomatic, compared with nine per cent of Winnipeggers who fell ill.

Brown said that fits with skepticism about COVID-19 in the southern region, but he noted that racialized people were even more likely not to get tested when they have symptoms, at 26 per cent.

"Its not totally being selfish, or choosing not to do that; there might be practical reasons," Brown said. "These might people who are working, and maybe have a sniffle but can't afford to miss a shift."

Regardless of region, 34 per cent of Manitobans who remain unvaccinated, and at one point fell ill, say they never got tested. Southern respondents were slightly more likely to say they never changed their habits when they had COVID-19 symptoms.

Manitoba's south is also a lot more wary of firing front-line workers who refuse to either get vaccinated or do routine rapid testing. Seventy-eight per cent of Manitobans agree people who object to both measures shouldnt be paid, while only 59 per cent of those in the southern health region have that opinion.

Forty-two per cent of southern respondents said Manitobas current restrictions are too excessive, a number that drops to 35 per cent provincewide and just 18 per cent in Winnipeg.

Across Manitoba, 23 per cent of people feel the provinces handling of COVID-19 is worse than that of Alberta or Saskatchewan, which lifted most restrictions only to face extremely high hospitalization rates this fall. In the rural south, that number rises to 35 per cent.

"There is still a sizable number of people who think our province didn't necessarily do anything better than Alberta and Saskatchewan when it came to managing this," Brown said.

He said that could be due to Manitoba having to transfer ICU patients to other jurisdictions months before any other province did, while others might believe it would still be better to lift all restrictions.

However, 48 per cent of southern residents said "the whole COVID-19 issue is overblown," compared with 28 per cent of Manitobans.

Thats risen from a year ago, when 18 per cent of Manitobans said the pandemic was overblown, compared with 36 per cent of respondents in March 2020 as the coronavirus reached Canada.

"A lot of this tracks with the severity of (cases)," Brown said, noting cases are relatively low. "Last year, in the midst of the second wave is when things got scary for people."

Saunders was surprised to see much a higher amount of pushback from one region of the province, suggesting its not a small minority scattered across all regions who are at odds with provincial rules.

"It's not just a matter of one-off individuals; you have entire communities that cling to these beliefs, in the face of all the facts and reality and evidence and data," she said.

"There seems to be some larger, almost sociological divides."

The polling shows 26 per cent of southern respondents dont feel comfortable sharing their vaccine status, double the rate of Winnipeggers, and particularly high among people aged 18 to 24.

Brown suspected that includes both people who arent vaccinated, and immunized people who don't want to rile up their unvaccinated neighbours.

Southern Health has one of the lowest vaccine uptake in Canada. The province has refused to divulge the test positivity rate for the region, but recently excluded some areas with high vaccine uptake  such as Niverville and Headingley  from restrictions that apply to the rest of the region.

In Probes polling, southern residents pushed back on the idea of regional restrictions which limit store capacity in places with higher COVID-19 case counts.

Just 16 per cent of Manitobans oppose the concept, a number that drops to nine per cent among Winnipeggers but soars to 37 per cent in the south.

Saunders was surprised to see such stark differences in communities just an hour's drive away from each other.

She said the new polling suggests policymakers may need to change course from just providing data and getting trusted community members to convince their neighbours to get a shot.

"If you can't simply evidence your way out of this problem, then you're left with coercion and enforcement. Which is only going to get people's backs up against the wall even more, and make them resist even further," Saunders said.

"It certainly presents a larger challenge."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Initial investigation of the crash showed that the vehicle was traveling north on County Road A nearing the intersection with Side Road when the operator of the vehicle lost control. In an attempt to regain control, the operator over corrected causing the vehicle to spin into the ditch and strike a tree on the driver's side of the vehicle. The crash remains under investigation and names of those involved are being withheld pending notification of family.
94 year old Woodward, OK resident passed November 17, 2021. Services Saturday November 27, 2021 at 10:00 am at the Vici Church of the Nazarene and burial following at Sunnyside Cemetery, Vici. Shaw Funeral Home of Vici
Woodward, OK (73801)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 64F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Overcast. Low near 40F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
President Joe Biden, left, talks with Pope Francis as they meet at the Vatican, Friday, October 29. President Joe Biden said Friday that Pope Francis told the President that he should continue receiving communion, and the Pope is happy that Biden is a "good Catholic."
Rhos Community Cafe receives National Lottery funding boost

A community enterprise in Rhos has been able to expand its offer thanks to a grant from the National Lottery.

The Community Cafe already provides a food bank and offer well-being centre.

However with the aid of The National Lottery Community Find theyve recently been able to offer a community wellbeing engagement to improve mental and general health and wellbeing.

The 9,960 grant over one year will also seek to promote a sense of belonging to support community resilience after Covid-19.

In the past, the cafe have benefited from a 9,550 grant to develop an inclusion cafe that offered volunteer opportunities to community members whilst breaking down barriers and proactively building relationships within the multi-cultural community.

Grace Lockhart, cafe founder and manager, commented: We are extremely grateful for the support we are receiving and are delighted to be able to offer support to our community during these difficult times.

The Member of the Senedd for Clwyd South, Ken Skates, recently visited the organisation to find out more about the work its team provides.

Mr Skates said: It was brilliant to visit Rhos Community Cafe.

Id also like to say a huge thank you to Grace and the team for such a warm welcome.

They do a wonderful job, and the comfortable, supportive atmosphere they have created is testament to their vision and a great deal of hard work and passion.

John Rose, Wales director at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: Its incredibly rewarding to see the incredible work that the Community Cafe offer in their community and it has been wonderful to see how they have managed to adapt their services throughout the lockdown period.
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV)  Party bus owners got an early start Friday morning, parading through downtown Nashville protesting the city's alcohol ban.

To the tune of "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "Fight for Your Right," at least a dozen Nashville party buses joined a "Don't Lose the Booze" protest that began 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Hell On Wheels owner Nick Lyon said an all-out drinking ban on open-air vehicles would put them out of business.

"I've had many, many people call me and say, 'Listen, if we can't drink on this truck, we're going to have to cancel our reservation,'" he explained. "This is my livelihood."

Tourists should prep for different experience on party buses NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV)  Changes are coming to the transportainment industry after the Metro Council passed the regulation bill last night.

"They never bring us to the table," Nashville Party Wagon owner Cutis Carney said of the city, adding that he and the rest of the protest participants weren't the problems. Instead, he said they're pro-regulation.

"We've been trying to work with the city for like I said, three years," Carney said.

"It's really scary that they think that they can get away with it," Lyon said. "And I'm really hoping that at the state level they're like, 'Woah, guys. Overreach, overregulation.'"

The ban takes effect on Dec. 1. However, the council member who authored the bill has said another is coming to allow transportainment companies to obtain liquor licenses.
On Friday, a commentary by Zeynep Tufekci appeared in the New York Times upholding the viability of the Wuhan Lab conspiracy theory for the origins of coronavirus.

The claim that COVID-19 is caused by a man-made virus was rejected as extremely unlikely by the World Health Organizations report on the origins of the disease, and it is regarded as a conspiracy theory by the worlds leading experts on the origins of infectious diseases.

This composite image shows text and art from Zeynep Tufekci's article advocating internet censorship and 2018 and the "wuhan lab" conspiracy theory in 2021.

The claim that coronavirus was released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has been promoted by the fascistic former US president Donald Trump, who said this weekend it comes out of the lab. US President Joe Biden has falsely claimed that the lab leak conspiracy theory is as likely as the claim by scientists that coronavirus has emerged naturally, and has called on the US intelligence agencies to determine whether it was released from a laboratory accident.

The publication of Tufekcis report follows the discrediting of two leading advocates of the conspiracy theory.

In a widely cited June 1 article, the World Socialist Web Site brought attention to the fact that Michael R. Gordon, whose Wall Street Journal article led every major US newspaper to declare the lab leak theory credible, was the co-author with Judith Miller of the September 8, 2002, article in the Times falsely asserting that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was seeking to build a nuclear weapon.

On June 6, the World Socialist Web Site drew attention to the fact that Nicholas Wade, cited by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post as an authority on the lab-leak theory, is a serial falsifier and advocate of racist pseudo-science.

Since the publication of these articles, neither Wade nor Gordon has been cited by name in the New York Times, Washington Post, or Wall Street Journal in connection to the Wuhan lab theory.

Now in their place has stepped Zeynep Tufekci, a Techno-sociologist, to attempt to salvage the discredited lab-leak theory pioneered by Trumps fascistic counselor Steve Bannon and a number of Chinese multimillionaire exiles.

Tufekci claims that For the first time, science itself seemed to have caused a pandemic while trying to prepare for it.

Tufekcis column is an example of what in the world of accounting is referred to as money laundering. Tufekci takes Wades arguments and repackages them without citation. She repeatedly makes the same arguments as Wade, and even links the same primary sources, all without attribution to Wade himself.

Two examples will suffice. In his oft-quoted article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Wade sought to give research by two of the worlds leading experts in dangerous infectious diseasesRalph S. Baric and Shi Zhenglia sinister coloration.

Wade writes:

Shi then teamed up with Ralph S. Baric, an eminent coronavirus researcher at the University of North Carolina. Their work focused on enhancing the ability of bat viruses to attack humans so as to examine the emergence potential (that is, the potential to infect humans) of circulating bat CoVs [coronaviruses]. In pursuit of this aim, in November 2015 they created a novel virus by taking the backbone of the SARS1 virus and replacing its spike protein with one from a bat virus (known as SHC014-CoV). This manufactured virus was able to infect the cells of the human airway, at least when tested against a lab culture of such cells. The SHC014-CoV/SARS1 virus is known as a chimera because its genome contains genetic material from two strains of virus.

Tufekci repeats this narrative almost verbatim, even citing the same 2015 Nature article as Wade:

In an article in Nature Medicine in 2015, researchers from two of the major coronavirus laboratories in the worldDr. Shi; Ralph Baric, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and otherswrote that they had bioengineered a coronavirus. The work was carried out in Dr. Barics laboratory at U.N.C. They took a spike protein, the key that coronaviruses use to unlock and infect cells, from a horseshoe bat virus and combined it with a human SARS virus adapted for mice. They reported that this chimeric virus could infect human cells, suggesting some bat viruses may be capable of infecting humans without mutation or adaptation.

In another instance, Wade cites an addendum to an article in Nature by Shi Zhengli, which he argues implies some sort of nefarious cover-up by the researcher.

The bat coronaviruses of the Yunnan caves can infect people directly. In April 2012 six miners clearing bat guano from the Mojiang mine contracted severe pneumonia with COVID-19-like symptoms and three eventually died. A virus isolated from the Mojiang mine, called RaTG13, is still the closest known relative of SARS2. Much mystery surrounds the origin, reporting and strangely low affinity of RaTG13 for bat cells, as well as the nature of 8 similar viruses that Shi reports she collected at the same time but has not yet published despite their great relevance to the ancestry of SARS2.

Tufekci not only borrows Wades narrative, but cites the same obscure two-paragraph addendum published in Nature on November 17, 2020:

Suspicious internet sleuths combed through genomic databases and found that RaTG13 was an exact match for a bat coronavirus called 4991 retrieved from a cave implicated in an unexplained outbreak of pneumonia in 2012 among miners who collected bat guano from a mine in Yunnan. Three of the six miners died.

The article likewise borrowed many arguments by Katherine Eban of Vanity Fair without citation, including comparing some bioresearch facilities to American dentists offices. Tufekci later apologized to Eban on Twitter, claiming unconvincingly that we didnt use your piece, but nevertheless inserted a link to Ebans report.

Although Ebans article is less directly derivative of Wades article than that of Tufekci, it directly cites Wade and links to his writings, also noting his controversial writings on racism.

Why does Tufekci not cite Wade? The central purpose of her article is to launder the pseudo-scientific arguments of Nicholas Wade and make them once again suitable for citation without having to explain away the fact that Wade is a notorious liar and racist. She appropriates the arguments made by Wade, all the while claiming that she, unlike Wade, remains open-minded.

Even as she claims her narrative doesnt fit into camps around the origin question, she constructs a narrative that points every finger at scientists and China. For example:

While the Chinese governments obstruction may keep us from knowing for sure whether the virus, SARS-CoV-2, came from the wild directly or through a lab in Wuhan or if genetic experimentation was involved, what we know already is troubling. Years of research on the dangers of coronaviruses, and the broader history of lab accidents and errors around the world, provided scientists with plenty of reasons to proceed with caution as they investigated this class of pathogens. But troubling safety practices persisted.

The central argument made by Tufekcis piece is that there are two theories of the origins of COVID-19, both of which are approximately equally likely. This is not true. While every pandemic known to man has been shown to have a zoonotic origin, no one has ever been proven to have died from a genetically engineered disease. As Dan Samorodnitsky of Massive Science wrote:

One hypothesis requires a colossal cover-up and the silent, unswerving, leak-proof compliance of a vast network of scientists, civilians, and government officials for over a year. The other requires only for biology to behave as it always has, for a family of viruses that have done this before to do it again. The zoonotic spillover hypothesis is simple and explains everything. Its scientific malpractice to pretend that one idea is equally as meritorious as the other. The lab-leak hypothesis is a scientific deus ex machina, a narrative shortcut that points a finger at a specific set of bad actors. I would be embarrassed to stand up in front of a room of scientists, lay out both hypotheses, and then pretend that one isnt clearly, obviously better than the other.

The condemnation of Nicholas Wades 2014 book in an earlier review in the New York Times applies just as well for Tufekci: he does this sort of thing repeatedly: He constantly gathers up long shots, speculations and spurious claims, then declares they add up to substantiate his case.

For instance, Tufekci categorically declares, The 1977 pandemic was tied to research activities, then links to an article that bluntly states, there is no hard evidence available to substantiate this essentially speculative claim.

In other words, for Tufekci, as for Wade, the fact that something might have happened is a substantive argument for the fact that it did happen.

Like Wade, Tufekci operates by negating the so-called Sagan Standard, that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

She makes an extraordinary claimthat COVID-19 is likely to be the first man-made pandemic in historyand offers up only speculation in lieu of evidencethat a virus could potentially have been made in a lab, that it could have potentially been released, that the release could have been covered up by lab workers, government officials at the local, state and national level, as well as in a conspiracy encompassing the United Nations and every leading expert in infectious diseases.

In other words, Zeynep Tufekci is a conspiracy theorist.

This fact is particularly significant given her background and role as a leading advocate of the censorship of the Internet by technology companies.

In 2016, she repeated critical arguments in the US efforts to prosecute journalist Julian Assange for exposing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan that contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

WikiLeaks Isnt Whistleblowing, she wrote.

She called the Nobel Peace Prizenominated journalist, the recipient of the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, and Amnesty International UK Media Award a hacker, and called his publishing activities a form of censorship, a distortion of Orwellian dimensions.

This is all hogwash. As Nils Melzer, United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, made clear:

Since 2010, when Wikileaks started publishing evidence of war crimes and torture committed by US forces, we have seen a sustained and concerted effort by several States towards getting Mr. Assange extradited to the United States for prosecution, raising serious concern over the criminalisation of investigative journalism in violation of both the US Constitution and international human rights law.

From merely cheering on the persecution of journalists by the US government, Tufekci went on to actively call for censorship. In 2018, concretizing ideas she had been advancing for years, Tufekci wrote a commentary published by the Times on March 10, 2018, headlined YouTube, the Great Radicalizer.

She claimed that by serving us what we want, Google was helping to propagate conspiracy theories.

She demanded that Google stop showing videos of a leftish conspiratorial cast, and condemned it for promoting far-left videos. The solution, Tufekci argued, was for Google to alter its algorithms to stop showing people what we want, and instead show something else.

As with her cheering the persecution of Julian Assange, Tufekci was justifying what was already underway. In April 2017, Google implemented a change to its algorithm, termed Project Owl, that slashed search traffic to left-wing, anti-war and socialist sites.

When the World Socialist Web Site published an open letter to Google demanding that it end its censorship of socialist, progressive and anti-war publications, the company made no response. But in 2020, asked by Republican Senator Mike Lee to name for me one high profile person or entity from a liberal ideology who you have censored, Google CEO Sundar Pichai named the World Socialist Review [sic], which is a left-leaning publication.

Both Tufekcis advocacy of Internet censorship and Googles actions were sold to the public as necessary to combat unsupported conspiracy theories, in the words of Google executive Ben Gomes. Both Tufekci and Google argued that an epidemic of fake news was undermining the ability of expertssuch as scientists and historiansto help the public see and understand the truth.

Tufekcis advocacy of a right-wing conspiracy theory makes clear that this justification for censorship was always a hollow pretext. The censors were concerned not with telling the public the truth, but with ensuring that the public could only know the version of the truth favored by the US government.

In defiance of public health experts, the censorship advocate Tufekci is promoting the right-wing conspiracy theory that research activities have sparked a pandemic. She is, in other words, taking part in an insurrection against scientific authority.

The fact is that censorship against the left never had anything to do with defending historical truth and the influence of scientists or historians. It is about ensuring that war propaganda goes unchallenged.

There is a common thread connecting Tufekcis condemnation of Julian Assange, her calls for Internet censorship against left-wing, socialist and anti-war viewpoints, and her promotion of a right-wing conspiracy theory aimed at providing a pretext for conflict with China.

The story of Zeynep Tufekci shows that propaganda and censorship are two sides of the same coin.
On May 25, US President Joe Biden publicly embraced the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 may have been released from Chinas Wuhan Institute of Virology, ordering the US intelligence agencies to produce a report within 90 days into the potentially man-made origins of the disease.

Three months later, the US intelligence agencies have failed to produce a shred of evidence to substantiate claims by the Trump administration, Biden administration and every major US media outlet that a lab leak is a plausible scenario.

This was despite what was, according to media reports, a giant US effort. On August 5, CNN reported that the US was examining a giant catalog of information [that] contains genetic blueprints drawn from virus samples studied at the lab in Wuhan, China.

To process the massive amount of data in its possession, US intelligence agencies were relying on supercomputers at the Department of Energys National Labs, a collection of 17 elite government research institutions.

In its reporting, CNN strongly indicated that the United States had carried out a cyberattack on medical and scientific institutions, writing the machines involved in creating and processing this kind of genetic data from viruses are typically connected to external cloud-based serversleaving open the possibility they were hacked.

And after all this, what are the findings? The report was, in the massaged words of the New York Times write-up, defined by an absence of conclusions. It did not, in the words of the Wall Street Journal, yield a definitive conclusion. Both newspapers claim to be passing on the statements of senior officials.

The Times and the Journal claim that the intelligence agencies could not come to a conclusion due to Chinas refusal to continue to cooperate with international investigations and Chinas refusal to give access to certain data sets.

However, neither report mentioned CNNs reporting about US access to a giant catalog of secret data, and why, if the US had access to the data being hidden by China, nothing was found.

The reason why the US intelligence agencies failed to find anything is simple: There is no evidence, secret or otherwise, that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) has anything to do with the origins of COVID-19.

More than half a year since the Trump State Department released a fact sheet claiming that researchers at the WIV showed symptoms, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, consistent with common seasonal illnesses, there has not been a single piece of evidencewhether made public or even hinted at--that substantiates the lab leak theory.

In March of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of COVID-19 said in its report that it had seriously considered the lab leak hypothesis but declared it extremely unlikely based on the absence of evidence. The report expressed willingness to follow up on new evidence supplied around possible laboratory leaks, but since then, none has been provided.

The members of the team found no evidence for leads to follow up, and that remains so to this day, they wrote in an article published in Nature on Wednesday, timed to correspond with the submission of the intelligence agencies report.

The scientists warned that the United States single-minded efforts to blame China for the pandemic were seriously undermining the fight to determine the actual origins of the disease. They wrote, The search for the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is at a critical juncture. There is willingness to move forward from both the WHO international team and the Chinese team.

But as time passes, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies wane, while farms that provide wild animals to the public are now closed and the animals have been culled, making any evidence of early coronavirus spillover increasingly difficult to find.

We were getting a little concerned that there really is virtually no debate about the bulk of the recommendations that are not related to the lab hypothesis, and of course theres a lot of discussion of the lab story, particularly coming from the US, Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist and member of the WHO delegation, told the New York Times.

Our concern is that because of that emphasis, the rest doesnt get any more attention.

In the face of the United States failure to provide any evidence to back up its inflammatory conspiracy theory, the US media has turned its focus to accusing China of promoting its own inflammatory conspiracy theories. There is no merit to the claims by figures within China that a lab leak by the US military is responsible for the pandemic. However, everything that the US media now accuses China of doing applies with even more validity to the US media.

In a report placed far higher than the article reporting the US intelligence agencies failure to find evidence of a laboratory origin of the coronavirus, the New York Times wrote yesterday:

When a conspiracy theory started circulating in China suggesting that the coronavirus escaped from an American military lab, it had largely stayed on the fringe. Now, the ruling Communist Party has propelled the idea firmly into the mainstream... Beijing is peddling groundless theories that the United States may be the true source of the coronavirus, as it pushes back against efforts to investigate the pandemics origins in China. The disinformation campaign started last year, but Beijing has raised the volume in recent weeks, reflecting its anxiety about being blamed for the pandemic that has killed millions globally.

These lines would be entirely correct if re-written as follows:

When a conspiracy theory started circulating in the United States suggesting that the coronavirus escaped from a Chinese military lab, it had largely stayed on the fringe. Now, the ruling Democratic Party has propelled the idea firmly into the mainstream... Washington is peddling groundless theories that the Wuhan Institute of Virology may be the true source of the coronavirus, as it pushes back against efforts to investigate the pandemics origins... The disinformation campaign started last year, but Washington has raised the volume in recent weeks, reflecting its anxiety about being blamed for the pandemic that has killed millions globally.

The Wuhan Lab conspiracy theory, which originated in the fascist circles of Chinese expatriates around Steve Bannon and the far-right Epoch Times newspaper, has been promoted by the Biden White House, the New York Times and the Washington Post because it serves a pressing need for American capitalism.

Nearly 650,000 people are dead in the United States from COVID-19, and millions more have been either seriously sickened or lost a loved one. As workers demand an end to the pandemic through the eradication of COVID-19, there will be calls for accountability from the political figures who sacrificed human lives in the name of preserving private profit. Workers must and will draw the conclusion that the responsibility for this disaster lies not with China but with American capitalism.
The trade union-funded Daily Blog, the most significant publication of New Zealands liberal and pseudo-left commentators, last month posted the latest in a long-running series of blogs promoting the lie that the deadly COVID-19 virus originally escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China.

The August 29 post, by editor Martyn Bradbury, contains a breathtaking litany of falsehoods sourced from the US intelligence apparatus and right-wing media. It concludes that former President Donald Trump might have been right all along about the Chinese lab leaking the virus.

A view of the P4 lab inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen after a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China's Hubei province on February 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Bradbury, the blogs founder, has for years acted as a craven mouthpiece for Washingtons escalating propaganda campaign against China and its preparations for war. That he has done so without any criticism from the Daily Blogs self-described stable of leading left/centre-left commentators and progressive opinion shapers, reflects what is in reality the right-wing and pro-imperialist politics of this entire milieu.

The Wuhan lab lie serves a definite political agenda: to divert attention from the failure of governments around the world to prepare for, and deal with, the deadly pandemic which has killed more than 665,000 people in the US and, by some estimates, more than 10 million worldwide. At the same time, Washington is whipping up anti-Chinese chauvinism as it escalates its confrontation with Beijing, which it views as the main threat to its global dominance.

In New Zealand, the Labour Party-Greens coalition government has strengthened its military and intelligence alliance with US imperialism since first coming to power in a coalition with the right-wing nationalist NZ First Party in 2017. It has called for a greater US military presence in the Pacific region to push back against Chinese influence, while at the same time boosting funding for NZs military.

So far, the government has not voiced open support for Washingtons Wuhan lab leak conspiracy theory, but has supported an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. The ruling class remains anxious about causing too much damage to relations with China, which received 33 percent of New Zealands exports in the first half of this year.

The Daily Blog supports the Labour-led government, while pushing for it to adopt a more vocal anti-China position in both trade and foreign policy.

Bradburys latest entry, entitled So Covid could have escaped from the Wuhan Lab after all? proclaims: Well, well, well. So the lab leak is plausible? The deep suspicion of China is legitimate.

The main evidence he provides is a link to a Sydney Morning Herald article, reprinted by New Zealand media outlet Stuff on August 28 with the headline Covid-19: US intelligence report says coronavirus may have emerged from lab leak or animals. The article is based on an unclassified intelligence report commissioned by US President Joe Biden.

A classified version of the report prepared by the office of the US Director of National Intelligence was delivered to the White House earlier that week. While Bradbury uses the briefing to try to give credence to the lab leak theory, he fails to note that the Stuff article concedes that the report was inconclusive and that most US intelligence agencies believe that SARS-CoV-2 was probably not engineered in a lab.

In other words, as the WSWS pointed out, despite a giant effort by the US intelligence agencies, their report failed to produce a shred of evidence to substantiate claims by the Trump and Biden administrations, and every major US media outlet, that a lab leak was a plausible scenario.

After presenting his dishonest misinterpretation of the report, Bradbury links to another tendentious article by the Washington Post dated April 14, 2020: State Department cables warned of safety issues at Wuhan lab studying bat coronaviruses by Josh Rogin.

Already in April 2020 Bradbury had seized on this article to declare the Daily Blog was right to target China over COVID-19. Under the headline Oh look at thatChina DID lie about the virus, he regurgitated false charges that Chinese officials had secretly determined they were likely facing a pandemic. Bradbury fulminated: its time to demand answers from the Chinese, not just ask them.

However, Rogins article was completely undermined by the Post s own reporting. When the diplomatic cable was released in July, the newspaper was forced to concede: The full cable does not strengthen the claim that an accident at the lab caused the virus to escape. The cable says nothing that would support Roginsand Bradburysmisleading slant on it.

The Daily Blog editor is consciously aligning himself with the extreme right. The Wuhan lab conspiracy theory was originally promoted in January 2020 by the fascist Steve Bannon, Trumps former chief White House strategist, and his allies among right-wing Chinese expatriates such as Miles Guo.

The fabrication quickly spread among far-right media mouthpieces before being picked up by top White House figures including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who declared in May 2020 that there was enormous evidence that the virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory.

The corporate media has sought to legitimise the conspiracy theory. In May 2021, Nicholas Wade, writing in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, argued that US and Chinese scientists created SARS-CoV-2 through gain of function experiments at the WIV. Wades story was embraced by editorials and op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.

In May, President Biden sought to ramp up the offensive against Beijing, calling on the intelligence community to further investigate and report whether COVID-19 arose from a laboratory accident.

The claims against the WIV have been totally discredited. The World Health Organization has described the claim that the virus was deliberately created, as well as the possibility of a laboratory leak, as extremely unlikely.

In July, 21 of the world's leading experts on the origins of infectious diseases published a paper demolishing the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was a man-made virus. The Origins of SARS-CoV-2: A Critical Review, written by international biologists and virologists, led by professor Edward Holmes from the University of Sydney and professor Andrew Rambaut from the University of Edinburgh, concluded that SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, is zoonoticthe result of a transfer from an animal source to humans. Our careful and critical analysis of the currently available data provided no evidence for the idea that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a laboratory, Holmes said.

Bradbury ignores the scientific evidence because it does not suit his reactionary political agenda. His blog has for years vented chauvinist filth and xenophobia, ludicrously depicting China as New Zealands economic overlord and portraying Chinese immigrants as a subversive threat. He regularly calls for turning NZ into a fortress with a large scale increase in Navy, Army and Air Force to keep migrants out.

The Daily Blog is backed by the Unite union, the Rail and Maritime Transport Union and the Dairy Workers Union. Its regular contributors include Unite leader Mike Treena former member of the opportunist Socialist Action Leagueformer Unite leader Matt McCarten, liberal columnist Chris Trotter, former Alliance Party MP Liz Gordon, former Greens MP Keith Locke, and John Minto, formerly of the Maori nationalist Mana Party.

These individuals and organisations represent sections of the upper middle class that fully support New Zealand capitalism, which has for decades depended on a strong alliance with US imperialism in order to advance NZs neo-colonial interests in the Pacific region. The blogs relentless promotion of nationalism stems from this layers hostility and fear of any internationally unified movement of the working class against social inequality and war, which would threaten the profit system and the comfortable position of the wealthiest 10 percent of society.
German and European politicians are reacting with a hysterical witch-hunt to the influx of several thousand refugees from Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other war zones who are entering the Schengen area via Belarus.

The mistreatment of the refugees, in violation of international law, is being accompanied by press censorship, the construction of metres-high border walls, fierce threats against Belarus and Russia, and the establishment of a police state within Europe. The scale and intensity of the campaign is reminiscent of former US President Donald Trumps smear campaign against refugees and the construction of a wall on the Mexican border to mobilize fascist forces against the working class.

Since Belarus lifted visa-free travel for several Middle Eastern and African countries in the summer, more refugees have flown from there to Minsk, then travelled overland to the Baltic states or Poland, and from there to Germany.

Polish soldiers erect a fence on the Belarusian border (Photo: Attila Husjenow/Instagram)

Their numbers are manageable. According to the Federal Police, just under 7,000 refugees have arrived in Germany via this route since the beginning of the year. That is only a small fraction of the 890,000 asylum seekers registered at the peak of the mass flight movement in 2015. Although the number has risen significantly in October, it has since stabilized at around 120 a day.

Nevertheless, the propaganda from Warsaw, Berlin and Brussels sounds as if these are not traumatized people in need of protection and urgent help but a horde of barbarians invading Europe.

The Polish government is reacting with merciless brutality. It has stationed 6,000 soldiers at the border who hunt down refugees, mistreat them and send them back to Belarus without allowing them to apply for asylum, even though such pushbacks are strictly forbidden under international law.

The rejected refugees, including families and pregnant women, are forced to languish in the boggy forest area in the damp and freezing cold without food, shelter, clean water and medical assistance. At least seven deaths have now been documented.

To further impede their escape, Poland is building a 2.5-metre-high barbed wire fence along a border more than 400 kilometres long, at an estimated cost of 350 million.

Lithuania has also begun construction of a 508-kilometre fence on its border with Belarus, which in its final stage will be four metres high and be reinforced with barbed wire. The cost is estimated at 152 million. Latvia plans to erect a fence by 2024.

To hide its crimes from the public, the Polish government has imposed a state of emergency along the border. Journalists and refugee workers are strictly forbidden from approaching the border and reporting on the human catastrophe.

Despite the governments censorship and agitation, there is much support and solidarity with the refugees among the Polish population. Last Saturday in Michalowo near the border, mothers, in particular, demonstrated against the mistreatment with chants of Shame and No one is illegal. We cannot stand idly by while children are forced to endure weeks in the cold, wet, dark forests on Polish territory, the organizers declared on Facebook.

In contrast, the Polish government received support for its criminal policy from Germany. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (Christian Social Union, CSU) supports the construction of a wall on the border with Belarus. It is legitimate that we protect the external border [of the EU] in such a way that undetected border crossings are prevented at the green border, he told Bild am Sonntag.

Demonstration in defence of refugees in Michalowo (Image: Kultura Rownosci/Instagram)

Seehofer also wants to tighten controls on the German-Polish border, which is normally open. He has already sent squads totalling 800 police officers to closely control the border area and the green border with Poland, he told BamS.

Saxonys state Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) also defended the walls construction. We need fences, and we probably need walls, he said after talks with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels. The point now, he said, was for the European Union to prove its defensibility. After decades in which the CDU exploited the existence of the Berlin Wall, which the Stalinist regime in East Germany had built, for propaganda purposes, this latest turn has caused irritation even in its own ranks.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (Social Democratic Party, SPD) used the fate of the refugees to launch fierce attacks on Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, publicly accusing him of being the head of a state smuggling ring and of using refugees as an instrument to exert pressure on European states. Maas advocated that the EU impose sanctions on airlines transporting refugees to Belarus.

Brandenburgs state Interior Minister Michael Stubgen (CDU) went even further. He accused the Russian government of being behind the refugee movement. I assume that the whole thing was not worked out in Minsk alone, but together with the Kremlin, he told the FAZ. Its a strategy that can be described as a new part of a hybrid warfare that Moscow is pursuing with the aim of destabilizing the European Union.

Green Party leader Robert Habeck, who is expected to be vice chancellor of the next German government, also spoke of hybrid warfare, accusing Lukashenko of using people to do so. The EU must not give in to this blackmail, Habeck told the FAZ.

Many media commentaries expressed similar sentiments. The Neue Zurcher Zeitung, which has massively increased its presence in Germany, raved about Fortress Europe in the manner of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). As long as it was not possible to control immigration in any other way, a fortress is still better than the alternative: Islamist subcultures, growing violent crime among perspective-less foreigners ...

The FAZ called for support for the affected states on Europes eastern flank in securing their borders. A border fence cannot only separate but also protect.

The weekly magazine Cicero published an article by former Bundeswehr (army) general and long-time Merkel adviser Erich Vad, who linked support for the brutal Polish border regime with calls for massive external and internal rearmament.

In a thinly veiled threat of war against Belarus, Vad compared the country to Libya. We have learned that it is not enough to chase out dictators on human rights groundsas in the case of Libyabut at the same time to shy away from using military means as well to ensure the establishment of a new order and the containment of a mass migration from there.

Now it is Belarus, tomorrow it will again be the Balkans and North African countries, Vad continued. We need to learn anew and understand that the North African coastline and also the Middle East are important regions of our own security and not just allow their foreign and security development to run wild. After the massive reduction of the US presence in Europe, he said, Europeans must not allow a strategic vacuum to develop.

To protect the Schengen area, Vad wants to establish a European Border Guard Force to be deployed on land, sea and air. He cites as models the French Gendarmerie and the Italian Carabinieriboth of which are paramilitary police units notorious for their brutal crackdowns on workers and opposition movements.

Vads contribution makes clear the real purpose of the smear campaign against the refugees: to stir up reactionary sentiments and mobilize right-wing forces to suppress growing opposition to social inequality, mass layoffs, policies of deliberate mass infection and preparation for future wars. The cruel and illegal methods used to seal off Fortress Europe, including in the Mediterranean, against refugees show the brutality the ruling class is capable of in the process. The parties of the current German government and any future coalition agree on these issues.

The defence of refugees is not only an elementary humanitarian imperative, it is also necessary to defend the democratic rights of working people as a whole and to fight the return of militarism and fascism.
Asia

India: Anti-malaria contract workers in Delhi demand permanency

Hundreds of Anti-Malaria Ekta Karamchari Union members from municipal corporations in Delhi walked off the job on Tuesday and demonstrated at the citys Civic Centre to demand permanent jobs.

There are around 3,500 Domestic Breeding Checkers (DBCs) in the national capital, who are employed on contract by the North, South and East Municipal Corporations. They are deployed in the region to control the diseases spread through mosquitoes, such as malaria and dengue.

Protesters threatened to strike again starting on November 25 if their demands are not addressed. Workers alleged that they are paid low wages and do not receive any additional benefits such as Employee State Insurance, Provident Fund or paid leave.

India: Tamil Nadu government hospital workers strike for unpaid wages

Nurses and health workers at the Dharmapuri Government Medical College hospital demonstrated on October 25 to demand unpaid salaries. Over 170 workers allege that two months salaries are outstanding. The hospital has over 300 nursing staff.

Workers have blamed government authorities for delaying the payments. Protesters returned to work after the college dean met them and gave an assurance that arrears would be cleared soon.

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation workers and retirees on hunger protest

Workers and retirees from the Puttur division of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) began an indefinite hunger protest on Monday over the non-payment of salaries and pensions. The KSRTC Mazdoor Sangha have been holding dharna (a sit-down demonstration) in Puttur since October 21. They allege that although they were given full salary slips for August, they were only paid half of the amount.

CSB Bank employees in Kerala hold one-day strike

Thousands of workers from the privately-owned CSB Bank in Kerala, supported by employees from other banks in the state, walked out on October 22 to demand fair wages and job protection for all CSB employees. The CSB Staff Federation said it would campaign against the policies of the new foreign investor of the bank and strike again on December 30, 31 and January 1, 2022.

CSB Bank workers want implementation of the 11th industry-level bipartite wage settlement, effective from November 2017, withdrawal of vindictive action against union office bearers, and for job permanency for over 3,500 contract and casual employees hired on meagre wages. Formerly known as the Catholic Syrian Bank, CSB has a network of over 450 branches and more than 300 ATMs across India.

Pakistan: Karachi police attack sacked government workers

A protest by recently sacked government workers was attacked by Karachi police as they marched to the Karachi Supreme Court on Wednesday. The All-Pakistan Sacked Employees Central Joint Action Committee, which was established after 17,000 were sacked across Pakistan in August, said members were beaten and some arrested.

The workers want reversal of a court order axing the jobs. The protest followed similar demonstrations earlier this month in Peshawar and Lahore.

Workers were originally appointed in 1996 but terminated in 1997 on spurious grounds of administrative inconsistencies. They were reinstated to their positions in 2010. A petition to the court sought their termination again in 2012, but the court had held to its original decision, and they remained in their positions. Despite growing anger among government workers over increasing job losses, stagnant wages and privatisation, the Committee has largely isolated this struggle.

Hong Kong construction workers protest over withheld wages

About 40 construction workers blocked a major road on Tuesday morning in protest over unpaid wages. The Pok Fu Lam Road was blocked for about an hour before police forced an end to the protest. There were no arrests.

According to the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, the workers were terminated when their subcontract employer lost a contract. The union claimed that the workers were owed approximately $HK3 million ($US385,800) in wages and that their personal belongings on site had been thrown away. The subcontractor pledged to pay half a days wages for affected workers as well as the outstanding pay within a week.

Filipino teachers threaten action over unpaid overtime

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) issued a statement this week that it would hold mass leave action if the Philippines Department of Education does not pay 77 days of overtime owed for the 20202021 school year. The department has denied it has any obligation to make the payments.

Australia and New Zealand

Patrick port workers resume strike action in Melbourne

One hundred Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) members resumed suspended strike action at Patrick Stevedores Melbourne terminal on Monday. The action is part of a national campaign by 1,080 dock workers at Patrick terminals in Brisbane, Sydney, Fremantle in Perth and Melbourne in their dispute for a new work agreement.

As well as 12-hour stoppages at Port Melbourne every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, MUA members at Brisbane and Port Botany in Sydney held 12-hour stoppages on Friday and will hold one-hour stoppages three times a day at Sydney and Fremantle on Tuesday.

Patrick responded on Tuesday by applying to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to terminate its existing enterprise agreement, potentially forcing MUA members on to the industry award with minimum pay and loss of most entitlements.

The MUA and Patrick began negotiations for a new agreement about two years ago. The MUA has agreed to forgo its original claim for annual 6 percent pay increases over four years and accepted Patricks 2.5 percent increases, well below the current CPI increase of 3.8 percent.

Workers are opposing Patricks use of casual labour, its current rostering regime and recruitment plans. The union wants a proportion of new hires to be selected from current employees friends and family in consultation with the union. This is similar to a deal the union negotiated with Melbournes fully automated VICT container operator and included a 10-year no-strike agreement.

Fremantle Port Authority workers to strike on November 2

The MUA announced on Monday that it would restart strikes, commencing on November 2, at the government-owned Fremantle Port Authority (FPA) in Perth. The union said members would also impose indefinite work bans on mooring and unmooring ships operated by the Japanese-owned Ocean Network Express (ONE).

The MUA abruptly withdrew the strike threat, however, late on Wednesday following pressure from FPA management and a call from Western Australias construction industry, demanding the state and federal governments intervene and stop the strike. While some work bans will remain, they have little impact on port operations.

It is the second time the MUA has abruptly called off industrial action for a new enterprise agreement. The union called off more than two months of rolling stoppages in July, claiming that there had been a bit of movement in high level negotiations.

Talks for a new agreement began over 20 months ago, during which the MUA accused the FPA of stonewalling, opposing clauses relating to consultation, disciplinary procedures, dispute resolutions and union representation rights.

According to the union, FPA management claims pay rises cannot break the state governments current wage cap limited to $1,000 a year. The company has rejected all demands for improved working conditions.

Last week the MUA abruptly suspended an 11-week struggle by its Qube Port members at Fremantle, forcing them back to work under conditions dictated by the company. The MUA was responding to a threat from the federal Liberal-National government that it would ask the Fair Work Commission to terminate all industrial action at Qube and impose compulsory arbitration.

South Australian public hospital health workers strike

Around 100 allied health professionals from nine major public hospitals across South Australia held one-hour rolling stoppages on October 22 over a wages and conditions dispute with the Marshal Liberal state government.

The Health Services Union (HSU) said the workers, which include physiotherapists, social workers, radiographers and occupational therapists, were opposing the governments insulting, unfair and disrespectful approach to enterprise agreement negotiations.

Workers want the agreement to include safe staffing levels and workloads, an extension of professional development entitlements, and a commitment to revised classification structures, as well as a fair pay increase.

Last month, state government health and emergency workers, including nurses, doctors, ambulance paramedics, fire fighters and other public sector workers, rallied in Adelaide to protest the desperate lack of state government resourcing which has thrown South Australian public hospitals into crisis. They demanded increased resourcing and appropriate staffing levels in all health and emergency services.

Queensland aged care workers protest in Mackay

Nurses and carers from the Glenalla Care Centre in Mackay, north of Brisbane, demonstrated outside the facility on Tuesday over low pay and managements refusal to offer basic and fair working conditions. They held placards saying, Wage rise now and Over worked and under paid.

According to the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union, the Glenalla workers are among the lowest paid nurses and carers in Queensland with wages 20 percent to 30 percent below colleagues in the state. Care centre management arrogantly offered a $0.75 per hour pay rise.

Western Australian public sector workers demonstrate against six-year wage cap

A group of state public sector workers demonstrated in Perth, Western Australias capital, on Tuesday to protest the McGowan Liberal governments six-year wages rise cap imposed on all public sector workers. Organised by the recently formed Public Sector Alliance, comprising nine unions, the workers held placards stating, Scrap the Cap and West Australians need a pay increase.

Under the wage rise cap announced in June 2017, the regular meagre 1.5 percent annual public sector pay increases were limited to $1,000 per year for four years. This was reviewed in October this year and extended for another two years. The cap is predicted to save the state budget $518 million over four years.

The state Labor government policy was extended to include Government Trading Enterprises employees, such as the Fremantle Ports Authority.

New Zealand rail workers to vote on strike action

The New Zealand Maritime and Transport Union (RMTU) has notified members that 2,500 rail workers employed by state-owned KiwiRail are to be balloted for strike action over the 20212023 employment agreement.

The ballot follows what the RMTU describes as an insulting and derisory pay offer by the company and is recommending a yes vote to strike. The action proposed is for single-day strikes on any dates between November 30 and December 24. The RMTU is presenting the range of dates and dragging out the postal ballot until November 12 to give itself plenty of time to reach a deal and call off any action.

The unions claim is for a basic 8 percent pay increase to all wages and allowances, with a 12-month term. The companys counteroffer is for a 2-year term with a 2 percent wage rise across all wage rates and allowances in each year. A lump sum of $750 would be paid to all RMTU members covered by the agreement. The company is also proposing attacks on current Lieu Day entitlements and Medical Retirement changes.

One rail worker told the WSWS that most employees regard the offer as insulting and derisory and are highly likely to approve strike action. KiwiRail reported $NZ63.2 million surplus profit this year, compared to $40m last year, with total revenue of $681.6m.
A Voluntary Severance Scheme (VSS) has been rolled out to tens of thousands of workers across Network Rail and train operating companies with the de facto backing of the rail unions. The VSS is the start of a major restructuring offensive aimed at destroying thousands of jobs and slashing workers terms, conditions and pensions.

A timetable for implementing VSS was set out in the Rail Industry Recovery Groups Enabling Framework Agreement in June. The RIRG was initiated by the Johnson government at the end of last year to claw back billions in government subsidies paid to rail operators during the pandemic. It was formally established in January this year with a confidential memorandum between rail bosses and trade unions. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT), ASLEF, TSSA and Unite union are members.

The severance scheme was launched on October 13 at all rail companies who are members of the RIRG, including Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater Anglia, London North-Eastern Railway, East Midlands Railway, C2C, Great Western Railway, Northern Railway, South Western Railway, Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern Railways, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Railway.

Letter sent to GWR employees advertising the Voluntary Severance Scheme

A similar VSS was launched at Network Rail in August with a view to eliminating 9,000 jobs nationally. Network Rail employs 42,000 staff and ensures track safety and maintenance and signalling systems across the network. The RIRG has remained silent on the number of VSS applications it is seeking. But the RIRG was created to drive through 2 billion worth of cuts, so job losses are likely to run into the thousands.

Virtually the entire rail industry workforce is being encouraged to apply for the VSS, including office staff, control workers, platform dispatchers, ticket office clerks, shunters, cleaners, revenue inspectors, ticket examiners, pay roll, customer ambassadors, and onboard hosts. The scheme is being funded by the Department for Transport (DfT)a further subsidy to the rail companiesand expires on November 2.

Only drivers, train managers, guards, conductors and train maintenance engineers are excluded from the scheme, as are rail workers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for now. These jobs will undoubtedly be targeted in the coming months as the RIRG has indicated plans for an Employer Justified Retirement Age for train drivers.

Rail unions including the RMT and TSSA claim to oppose the VSS but have done nothing to mobilise workers against it. Instead, rail bosses are using the unions participation in the Rail Industry Recovery Group as part of their sales pitch. Letters promoting the VSS have been placed on company notice boards with management seeking to drum up support for the scheme.

Great Western Railways (GWR) wrote to workers on October 13 stating, the scheme forms part of the enabling framework agreement, developed between train operators, Network Rail and Trades Unions in June, which was designed to deliver a program of reforms to drive rail recovery and create a sustainable future for the industry.

The letter made clear the VSS would be applied in a way that matches their business specific needs and generates operating efficiencies.

A GWR worker near Bristol told the WSWS the scheme was 5,000 lower than one offered several years ago. Another said, I wont gain anything as Ive got a few years left before Im eligible to retire and my pension kicks in. What I would be offered would be less than a years wages.

The scheme has been set at two weeks basic pay for every year of service, up to a maximum of 35 years. Any payment above 30,000 will be subject to tax and national insurance contributions. Given the schemes inferior terms, the likelihood of mass adoption is slim. The RIRG has made clear that if too few staff apply, compulsory redundancies will be rolled out in January 2022.

The complicity of the rail unions in the VSS rollout was indicated earlier this month by RMT general secretary Michael Lynch. On October 13, he sent a letter to members announcing the VSS would be rolled out from 12 noon that day. His letter gave the impression the RMT had only just learned of the scheme:

The Union has received a proposal made by the Rail Industry Recovery Group (RIRG) Train Operating Company employers for a Department for Transport Funded 'Industry Special Voluntary Severance Scheme' that will be available to all Train Operating Companies (TOCs) that have signed up to the RIRG.

His letter sounded like a company bulletin, The DfT have confirmed that they have now approved the Special Industry-wide Voluntary Severance Scheme and can be launched to eligible employees across participating TOCs from 1200 today.

It took Lynch eight paragraphs before he stated his unions opposition to the scheme, The union has not agreed or signed up to the (VSS) scheme that is being offered and we are strongly opposed to this scheme being introduced. He described it as, a cut-price deal funded by the DfT in order to strip thousands of jobs from the railway. This will inevitably lead to an unsafe working environment and will adversely impact the safety and accessibility for passengers across the network.

Lynchs letter made clear the RMT has no principled opposition to job destruction, so long as it is voluntary and so long as it is accompanied by agreement or discussion on the future structure of the industry, and so long as the terms of the VSS match those established in previous voluntary packages.

In January, the RMT signed up to the Johnson governments Rail Industry Recovery Group, committing to its terms of reference that declared sustainability would be reached through vicious cost savings including:

an industry-wide transfer and re-deployment scheme

reviewing existing insourcing and outsourcing arrangements

flexible working

a sustainable pension scheme

safety and overall performance that increases value for money

policies and working practices resulting in reduced costs

In June, the RIRGs Enabling Framework Agreement outlined plans for an Industry-wide Special Voluntary Severance Scheme, an Industry-wide Voluntary Redeployment Scheme and a Re-skilling and Re-training Programme. Publicly, the RMT claims they are opposed to compulsory redundancies. And publicly they have claimed to oppose the VSS. In reality, they have worked on the ground to ensure the VSS is not challenged in order to preserve their ongoing collaboration with the rail companies and the Conservative government.

Lynchs October 13 letter ends with the promise, Your Union's National Executive Committee will consider this matter further and will consider the RMT's response to this situation. Not a word has been heard since.

Just as nothing was done to stop the drive for privatisation in the 1990s, no effective defence will be mounted by the corporatist rail unions to halt today's impending jobs massacre. Rail workers must break free from their grip and form rank-and-file committees to organise a genuine fightback.

The Johnson government has shovelled 12 billion into the coffers of the private train operators during the pandemic, the equivalent of 22 million per day. Having nationalised losses for the likes of Abellio and FirstGroup, the Tories are demanding that rail workers and passengers must foot the bill.

As usual, the demands for sacrifice are one-sided. A few days ago, First Group, the UKs largest rail operator, announced a 500 million share buyback programme for investors, The return of value marks the culmination of our portfolio rationalisation strategy, which has refocused the Group on its leading UK public transport business. In doing so, we have created a cash generative company with a well-capitalised balance sheet, a focused strategy and attractive growth prospects for our markets.
The first half term of the UK school year has seen schools hit with a mass of COVID infections. Schools returned in August/September with no mitigations in place.

This has allowed the virus to spread with staggering levels of infections in children, the highest in the world alongside the United States. Office for National Statistics (ONS) data published October 29 found that one in 25 primary age children and one in 11 secondary pupils are currently infected. This is an increase in both age groups, with ONS data from October 8 finding that one in 33 primary age children and one in 12 secondary pupils were infected.

Primary school pupils return to a school in Bournemouth, England on Monday September 6, 2021 (WSWS Media)

On Thursday, a chilling statistic was recorded with the 100th child death from COVID-19 in Britain, with 13 children dying in the seven weeks since schools reopened.

Hundreds of thousands of children have been infected, with the Department of Education reporting that around 252 million school days have been missed nationally in the spring and autumn terms because of COVID-19. This represents 29.4 percent of all school days.

Such is the surge in cases that hundreds of local councils and headteachers have been forced to re-introduce some mitigation measures. Mask wearing, sending home whole year groups, and even organising online study have been implemented in recent weeks. Some schools closed early for half-term where pupils went online due to the virus ripping through the schools population.

The government directive that there must be a a return to normality in classrooms has been exposed as a herd immunity agenda. Many educators have reported that this half term has been the hardest yet. A headteacher of a high school in Wardley, Greater Manchester told the Guardian, People are on their knees Theres never been such a hard half-term as this, during the whole pandemic. Schools have been thrown into this with no measures or restrictions and weve been told to deal with it.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) conducted a survey of its members in mid-October and found that over a third of headteachers said the impact on teaching and learning has been severe. There was scathing criticism of the governments vaccination programme for 1215-year-olds, which has reached only a fraction of pupils. Over 40 percent of schools had not received the single vaccine for their pupils by half term.

Other comments from head teachers reveal the dire state of education in the first half term:

Things are far from normal currently in schools and it does feel like we are being left to do our best to survive.

At times we have really struggled to maintain face-to-face teaching.

Pupil disruption is at an all-time high.

The government have no interest in the education of children. They have sent them back into schools with no defence against the virus. According to Office of National Statistics (ONS) data, education staff are now more likely than other workers to have COVID due to working with the high infection rates among school aged children.

Virtually none of this finds its way into the mainstream media. Only grass roots campaign groups, including SafeEdForAll (Safe Education For All), have continued to report on a half term of chaos for schools nationwide. Utilising social media and trawling through local press, SafeEdForAll co-founder Daniella Modus-Cutter has continued to compile weekly COVID-19 school outbreaks. In the week running up to half term, she compiled a list of known schools with COVID cases. From October 18-25, 209 English primary schools and 150 secondary schools had outbreaks.

The impact is devastating. In Birmingham, the UKs second city, 16 schools reported new cases amongst pupils in the week ending October 19. In the week running up to half term, one school in Devon lost a third of its workforce, a school in Wiltshire had to send two year groups home early for half the term and a Buckinghamshire junior school closed and moved to online learning. In Northamptonshire, one primary school had nearly 50 percent of pupils on leave with COVID-19 between the end of September and October 5.

In just one English county, Hertfordshire, more than 10,000 school children have tested positive for COVID since schools returned in September. In the last week of the half term, public health officials were dealing with outbreaks at 198 of the county's educational settings.

In Bradford, West Yorkshire, some schools have seen over 100 cases in a two-week period.

Dozens of schools in the county of Suffolk have seen COVID case rates in excess of 50 pupils, as 7,500 students have tested positive this term.

In Cornwall, rates are increasing at around 555 per 100,000 people, with half of all cases in school-aged children. Nine Maidens Academy in Cornwall moved to online learning for the last week of half term and Admiral Lord Nelson School in Portsmouth closed early due to a rapid rise in cases.

Local public health advisors have been forced to recommend that schools reintroduce limited mitigation strategies.

In Cambridgeshire, schools have brought back masks in communal spaces, social distancing for staff and online meetings where possible. Walsall council has advised primary schools to reintroduce bubbles and staggered lunch times and move all non-essential events online. Windsor Council has told schools to avoid mixing classes and to cancel assemblies.

Such mitigations cannot stem the spread of this highly infectious disease, yet councils refuse to go further to protect staff and children and close unsafe schools outright. Some schools are going to extraordinary lengths to stay open. In Liverpool, Mab Lane Primary School has applied for permission to build an outdoor classroom.

Allowing COVID to rip through schools is the policy of not just the ruling Conservatives, but is shared by the opposition Labour Party and the trade unions.

The education unions have done nothing but write a joint letter on October 8 to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi calling for token mitigations. There was no call to close schools due to the high level of infection, no mention of the numbers of children dying and no mention of the thousands of children now afflicted with Long COVID.

The main concern of the unions throughout the pandemic, no matter how many children are infected, get seriously ill, and even die, has been to ensure that schools stay open and function as holding pens so that parents can get back to work churning out profits for the corporations.

Earlier this month, Kevin Courtney, joint national secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said, It is evident that more needs to be doneand sooner rather than later to prevent further massive disruption to childrens education, caused either by children contracting COVID-19 or COVID-related staff absence. [Emphasis added].

With pupils already back in school in Scotland and as schools prepare to return in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a fight for the elimination of the virus must by waged by all workers. This requires a struggle against the corporatist trade unions and the formation of independent rank and file committees that will lead the fight to close unsafe schools until they can be made safe and implement properly resourced remote schooling.

Join the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, attend our meetings and receive the regular newsletter.
Environmental and human rights attorney Steven Donziger, who won a $9.5 billion lawsuit against Chevron for polluting the Amazon rainforest in 2011, turned himself in to authorities at the Federal Correctional Facility in Danbury, Connecticut, on Wednesday to begin a six-month prison sentence.

Steven Donzinger. (Image credit: Screenshot/FreeDonzinger.com)

Donziger was compelled to report to federal prison following a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City to deny his request to delay the prison term or grant him bail pending his appeal of a vindictive and trumped-up criminal contempt of court conviction.

Responding to the appeals court decision, Donzigers lawyer Ronald Kuby said, It is sadly typical of the degraded quality of justice in this case that the only way Mr. Donziger could prove he was not a flight risk was to show up and be imprisoned.

Following the appeals court decision on Tuesday, Donziger posted on Twitter, After 100 pages of legal briefing, the appellate court today denied my release in 10 words. This is not due process of law. Nor is it justice. I must report to prison by tomorrow afternoon. We will get through this.

The imprisonment of Donziger is the latest episode in a lengthy series of retaliatory attacks on the attorneys basic rights by Chevron and the US judicial system for his successful lawsuit in the Ecuadorian courts on behalf of 30,000 farmers and indigenous people.

As reported here on the World Socialist Web Site, the activist attorney was sentenced to prison on October 1 after his conviction on six counts of criminal contempt in July by US District Judge Loretta Preska. During the sentencing hearing, Judge Preska expressed directly the bitter hostility of the US ruling establishment toward Donziger, It seems that only the proverbial two-by-four between the eyes will instill in him any respect for the law.

The vendetta of the New York federal courts against Donzigerwhich included more than 800 days of house arrest on the basis that he was a flight riskstems from his steadfast exposure of the criminal practices of among the worlds most powerful oil corporations in the drive for profit.

At the time of his sentencing, Donziger refused to back down, saying, I have been attacked and demonized for years by Chevron in retaliation for helping Indigenous peoples in Ecuador try to do something to save their cultures, their lives, and our planet in the face of massive oil pollution. Thats the context for why we are here today.

Acting transparently on behalf of the oil industry, Judge Preska pathetically parroted the false narrative that the attorney was a scofflaw, Mr. Donziger spent the last seven plus years thumbing his nose at the US judicial system, she said. Its now time to pay the piper.

In 1993, the Harvard Law School graduate Donziger became active in the fight against Texaco (acquired by Chevron in 2001) which had drilled and operated oil wells in an eastern region of the Ecuadorian rainforest from 1972 to 1992. When the company vacated the area, it left behind an environmental disaster with oil-contaminated land, rivers and streams.

Donziger originally brought the case against Chevron in New York City and, following numerous maneuvers by the oil corporation to avoid being compelled to clean up its apocalyptic disaster, it was moved to the Ecuadorian courts in 2003. After the company exhausted all of its appeals, a guilty verdict was returned in 2011 by a provincial court against Chevron and damages of $9.5 billion were awarded.

From that point forward, the US courts collaborated directly with oil industry interests and launched counter-litigation against Donziger, framing him on a raft of charges including bribery of an Ecuadorian judge, coercion, witness tampering, racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud and extortion.

The unprecedented case against Donziger, presided over by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, was based on the perjured testimony by a former disgraced Ecuadorian judge and rendered the judgment against Chevron null and void. It ended with Kaplan awarding $800,000 to Chevron to be paid by Donziger.

The criminal contempt charge against Donziger is the result of the attorneys refusal to hand over his computer, phone and other electronic devices to the court based upon a petition from Chevron to Judge Kaplan. None of the court rulings against Donziger have involved a jury. Meanwhile, the New York state courts have successful disbarred Donziger and made it impossible for him to earn a living as an attorney.
The Australian government is trying to ram through another blatantly anti-democratic measurea voter ID bill, intended to disenfranchise large numbers of working-class voters.

Voters cast their ballots at the Town Hall in Sydney, Australia, in a federal election, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

With virtually no notice, the Liberal-National Coalition governments cynically misnamed Electoral Legislation Amendment (Voter Integrity) Bill 2021 was suddenly tabled in the House of Representatives on Thursday. The government plans to push it through both houses of parliament before December 2, in time for the looming federal election.

If successful, the bill would, for the first time, force voters to produce official identification, such as a drivers licenceand be subjected to questioning by election officials about itbefore being permitted to cast a valid ballot.

This is a desperate attempt to discourage or block the votes of thousands of disaffected voters, especially those most likely to have difficulty producing the required ID documentsfirst-time young voters, the elderly, the jobless and homeless, itinerant workers and indigenous people.

This anti-democratic measure follows new electoral laws designed to deregister parties without seats in parliament that were rammed through parliament in August with the backing of the opposition Labor Party. These bills suddenly trebled to 1,500 the number of names and details of members that non-parliamentary parties must submit to the electoral authorities in order to exercise the basic democratic right to have their party names on ballot papers, alongside those of their candidates.

This is taking place under conditions of a deepening political and social crisis, intensified by the profit-driven and criminally premature reopening of schools and workplaces in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling class and its political servants are taking unprecedented steps to silence working class opposition and prevent it from finding any expression in federal elections.

The fact that the party deregistration laws have been surrounded by a wall of media silence and elicited no campaign in opposition by other political parties, except for the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), has encouraged the government to bring forward the voter ID bill.

The SEP is holding a public meeting tomorrow to step up this campaign. We appeal to all our readers and supporters to participate in this meeting and to become electoral members of the SEP to help us defeat these laws and ensure that a genuine socialist program can be advanced in elections.

There is no valid reason for the voter ID bill. Even by official estimates, the rate of multiple voting in Australia is infinitesimally small and has never compromised an election result in a single seat, let alone a general election.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) calculated that during the last federal election in 2019 the rate of multiple voting was 0.03 percent. It told an inquiry into the election that multiple voting is by and large a very small problem and usually involves mental health issues rather than deliberate fraud.

However, significant layers of the working class are already discouraged from voting, even though it is compulsory, and ID measures will likely compound this disenfranchisement. According to the AEC, only 78 percent of indigenous voters were enrolled to vote in 2020, for example. A 2014 inquiry by the New South Wales Electoral Commission reported that about 44 percent of Aboriginal adults living in the states urban areas have never held a drivers licence.

Prime Minister Scott Morrisons unstable government is obviously seeking to use these electoral laws to try to cling to office at the next election, which is due before May. Opinion polls indicate that it faces a landslide loss, driven by popular hostility to its record of widening social inequality, rush to force people to live with the deadly pandemic, escalating line-up behind US preparations for a catastrophic war against China, and opposition to any effective measures to halt the climate change disaster.

The laws are in line with similar profoundly anti-democratic moves in the US and UK to effectively strip millions of working class, poor and vulnerable people of the right to vote. Without any evidence of multiple voting or voter impersonation, such laws also lay the basis for Trump-style efforts to overturn election results on the back of cooked-up allegations of working-class voter fraud.

Shortly before flying out of the country for the G20 meeting in Rome and the climate change gathering in Glasgow, Morrison told reporters that voter ID was not an earth-shattering proposal. It was standard practice in liberal democracies and not one vote will be lost as a result.

This is a fraud on both counts. First, although the bill allows for a variety of ID documents, such as bank cards and utility bills, and for those whose ID is challenged to cast an interim declaration vote that can be vetted by officials later, many people may not have such documents when they go to vote. The clear intent is to discriminate against such voters.

Second, it is the far right in the supposed liberal democracies that are moving in the same direction to restrict voting. Most notoriously, nearly 30 US states have this year introduced legislation restricting voting hours, early voting and the ability of voters to utilise absentee ballots, in response to Trumps big lie about widespread mail-in vote fraud.

Even before that, 34 of the 50 US states had imposed voter ID laws, especially since a reactionary 2013 Supreme Court ruling gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which had struck down arbitrary voting restrictions at the state and local levels. This offensive against voting rights has been aided by the abandonment by the Biden administration and the Democrats of a proposed federal ban on voter ID laws.

Boris Johnsons Tory government in Britain is on the same path, with an Electoral Integrity Bill making photo ID mandatory for voting in elections. Roughly 11 million UK voters, or 24 percent of the electorate, do not own the passport or photographic drivers license that will be required to cast a vote.

The regressive character of the Morrison governments bill is further demonstrated by the fact that it was initially proposed by the far-right One Nation party of Senator Pauline Hanson. She is currently protesting that she has had a gutful of the Morrison government taking credit for her ideas.

While the Labor Party and the Greens have objected to the bill, Labor has only called for it to be delayed until after the scheduled election. Moreover, Labor created the political conditions for the bill by spearheading the passage of the other electoral laws in August.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters issued two media releases criticising the bill. She also raised objections when the earlier electoral laws were passed but the Greens have kept their mouths shut ever since, effectively lining up behind Labor, with whom they want to form a coalition government.

It is not accidental that it is the socialists, that is the SEP and its members and supporters, who are fighting the assault on fundamental democratic rights. As we have explained, the fight to defendand extendbasic democratic rights is part and parcel of the struggle for socialism, that is, a genuinely democratic and egalitarian society based on the informed, active and articulate participation of all working people.
The drive for government regulation and control of Facebook content intensified last weekend following the publication of details about the social media companys internal response to the right-wing coup attempt of January 6 in Washington D.C.

Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Facebook, speaks at the CEO summit during the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Lima, Peru, Nov. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Through a series of media reportsbased on company documents disclosed by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and provided in redacted form to the US Congress and a consortium of news organizationsa campaign is being mounted that says the social media company enabled the fascist assault on the US Capitol and, therefore, must be reined in.

While the growing campaign to regulate Facebook is being framed as a necessary response to far-right extremism and those who plotted the January 6 coup attempt, the reality is that online censorship has consistently been used to throttle and ban the circulation of left-wing and socialist political views online.

The origins of the present campaign go back to early 2017 when a program of internet censorship was rolled out targeting progressive and socialist websites and publishers, on the basis of unproven assertions by the US intelligence community that Russia had meddled in the 2016 presidential elections by spreading divisive views online.

In the course of this censorship campaign, for example, Google admitted to demoting content from the WSWS.org in search results, Facebook banned the accounts of writers and editors of the World Socialist Web Site and censored pages of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality. In February, Facebook blocked its users from sharing the WSWS Perspective Washington Posts Wuhan Lab conspiracy theory stands exposed.

Last Friday, in an article entitled Inside Facebook, Jan. 6 violence fueled anger, regret over missed warning signs, the Washington Post made the claim that the trove of leaked Facebook documents provides new details of the social media platforms role in fomenting the storming of the US Capitol.

The Post articlepart of a series entitled Facebook Under Fire said that the documents from Haugen along with others independently obtained and interviews with current and former Facebook employees, show that the social media platform helped fuel that days mayhem.

A similar article in the New York Times on Friday said, The disclosures from Ms. Haugen  have resurfaced questions about what role Facebook played in the events leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Another report on NPR claimed, Facebook failed to curb the proliferation of the Stop the Steal movement.  In its internal report, Facebook acknowledged something striking: It helped incite the Capitol Insurrection on Jan. 6.

The assertions by media outlets affiliated with the Democratic Party that Facebook fomented or incited the events of January 6 has nothing to do with bringing to justice Donald Trump, his advisers and collaborators in the Republican Party, along with the far-right and fascist groups associated with them, for their attempt to violently overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The diversionary nature of the accusations against Facebooka social media platform with nearly 3 billion active users worldwide that is not responsible for monitoring the activity of the right wingis exposed as soon as one asks the question: What were the Democrats and their media representatives doing before, during and after January 6? What warnings were they issuing to the public about the obvious plotting of a right-wing coup by the Trump White House and what have they done about it since?

It is now more than nine months since the insurrection in Washington D.C. and, despite the publication of substantial detailed evidence about who was involved, the Democrats have not prosecuted a single leading official for their criminal actions. In reality, the campaign for government intervention and regulation of Facebook is part of the ongoing effort to cover up the full implications of the assault on democratic institutions in the US on January 6.

For example, Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat from Mississippi and chair of the special House committee investigating the January 6 coup attempt, said on CBS News Face the Nation that Facebooks role is being investigated. Its clear that the Jan. 6 organization per se used them as an organizing tool to the extent that we can identify what really happened, Thompson said.

The Facebook documents do reveal that some employees raised concerns about Trumps use of social media. For example, an unnamed Facebook staff person posted on the day of the January 6 insurrection, This is not a new problem. We have been watching this behavior from politicians like Trump, and the, at best, wishy washy actions of company leadership, for years now. We have been reading the [farewell] posts from trusted, experienced and loved colleagues who write that they simply cannot conscience working for a company that does not do more to mitigate the negative effects on its platform.

But the Post evaluation of the documents says that they provide ample evidence that Facebooks internal research had identified ways to diminish the spread of political polarization, conspiracy theories and incitements to violence but that in many instances, executives had declined to implement those steps.

Facebook employees expressed their horror in internal messages as they watched thousands of Trump supporters shouting, stop the steal and bearing the symbols of QAnona violent ideology that had spread widely on Facebook before an eventual crackdownthronged the US Capitol. The report goes on to say that online mayhem surged alarmingly on Facebook with reports of false news hitting nearly 40,000 per hour according to an internal report from the day of the insurrection.

The leaked documents show that Facebook began lifting many of the restrictions imposed on toxic speech and misinformation that had been in place prior to the November 2020 elections. Measures such as outright bans and removals and other soft actions to suppress problematic content as well as reducing the spread of posts within groups advocating violence and hateful content were rolled back within a few weeks of the elections.

The documents have also revealed that an internal Facebook organization called the Civic Integrity group, set up specifically for combatting dangerous political content, was dismantled shortly after the 2020 elections. The Post report quotes an anonymous company employee who said, The leadership was not happy with how loud the Civic Integrity team was. They wanted to decentralize the team and the power they had.

The Post report says that among the removed measures included those aimed at groups and pages that, like the ones touting Stop the Steal, sought to delegitimize the 2020 election, according to a company document detailing such measures. One barred them from Facebooks recommendation engine. Another prevented existing groups from changing their names to terms that undermined the elections legitimacy. They blocked the algorithms ability to recommend live video on political topics.

It is clear from the information revealed in the internal Facebook documents that supporters of Donald Trumps Stop the Steal campaign and participants in the fascist riot at the Capitol used Facebook to communicate their aims and report and coordinate their actions on that day. However, responsibility for the attempt to overthrow the US government lies with those who plotted and attempted to carry it out and not with the social media platforms.

Nowhere in the analysis of the Post or the presentation from the whistleblower Haugen is there any reference to the politics of those who organized the January 6 coup attempt nor, for that matter, is there any direct reference to the fact that the assault on the US Capitol was coordinated and continues to be defended by leading members of the Republican Party including those who remain in office.

There is a bipartisan consensus being developed to rein in Facebook for entirely different reasons than those being provided to the public. There are numerous bills being introduced in Congress that are aimed at combatting harmful content, extremism and disinformation, around which both Democrats and Republicans are developing the legislative framework for government control of content on Facebook and the other mass social media platforms.

The latest bill, introduced in the House of Representatives by Democrats Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ), Mike Doyle (Pa.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.) and Anna Eshoo (Calif.), is purportedly aimed at halting tech company malicious algorithms by restructuring the Section 230 constitutional protections for online service providers from prosecution for content on their platforms.

The Justice Against Malicious Algorithms Act (JAMA Act) would open up digital service providers to prosecution if they knowingly or recklessly make a personalized recommendation that materially contributed to a physical or severe emotional injury to any person.

Behind all of the discussion of stopping harmful and malicious technologies is the unstated aim by all political factions of the ruling eliteas well as their media spokesmen at the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and the New York Timesto suppress left-wing and socialist political ideas on the social media platforms.

The thing that the ruling establishment fears and wants to stop more than anything else is the integration of the growing movement of the working class against the deadly government pandemic response and the strike struggles for jobs, wages and benefits with the mass communication and organizational potential of social media.
Despite exploding case numbers in Germany and across Europe, the German government is effectively declaring the pandemic over. Earlier this week, Health Minister Jens Spahn (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) repeated his call for the currently declared epidemic situation of national scope to expire on November 25. This would eliminate most remaining protective measures.

Medical staff, in light blue, and funeral house employees close a coffin with a COVID-19 victim from the University Hospital in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, Oct. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexandru Dobre)

Since the first wave of the pandemic in March 2020, the Bundestag had regularly extended this epidemic situation. Under the terms of the Infection Protection Act, this forms the legal basis for nationwide regulations such as mask requirements and distance and contact restrictions.

Spahns call, which essentially follows the line of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, is supported by all the parties in the Bundestag (German parliament). Representatives of the Left Party welcomed it just as much as the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens, who are currently forming the next federal government. A paper these three parties published on Wednesday on ending the epidemic situation makes clear that they plan to continue the profits before lives policy unabated when they take office.

The epidemic situation of national scope ends at the end of November 24, 2021. It will not be extended. Because its preconditions no longer exist, it says, adding, The intervention-intensive catalog of measures will no longer be applicable after the epidemic situation in the federal territory has ended. We will also remove the possibility, currently still provided for in the law of state parliaments declaring this catalog applicable at the state level in accordance with the epidemic situation in individual states.

That is black on white. Although the pandemic is once again rampant, the SPD, FDP and Greens have agreed in their coalition talks, which are taking place in secret, that there will be virtually no measures to contain the virus in future. In doing so, they are provoking a situation like that of last winter, when the health care system almost collapsed due to rapidly rising case numbers, and tens of thousands died under terrible conditions in Germany alone.

Already, the situation is catastrophic. The nationwide seven-day incidence of new COVID-19 infections is rising steeply every day. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), this figure increased on Friday to 139.2 per 100,000 inhabitants. The previous day it had been at 130.2, a week ago at 95.1. The death toll is also shooting up again. In the past four days, 489 people have died. That brought the official COVID-19 death toll in Germany to 95,606.

Hospitals are on the verge of overload. We are in a critical pandemic situation, the chief executive of the German Hospital Association, Gerald Gass, told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. He said the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infections has risen sharply within a week. If this trend continues, we will have 3,000 patients in intensive care again in just two weeks, he warned. Currently, more than 1,800 people are in intensive care, and nearly 4,300 COVID-19 patients are in normal care, according to the DIVI intensive care registry.

The official justification given for ending the measures is the vaccination rate. In fact, only about two-thirds of the German population are fully vaccinated. Almost 30 million people, including all children under the age of 12, are completely defenceless against the virus. In addition, there is the danger of coronavirus infections breaking through the vaccine. From February until the end of last week, the RKI registered 117,763 probable vaccination breakthroughs. Nevertheless, according to the RKI, only 1.9 million people have received a third booster vaccination in Germany.

Despite vaccinations, the situation in Europe is worse than it was the same time last year as a result of the reckless reopening policy. Last week, 1.4 million COVID-19 cases were registered across Europe, 18 percent more than the previous week. Over the same period, 20,503 deaths were recorded, a 17 percent increase. This means that almost 1.3 million people have officially died from COVID-19 in Europe. And, as in the US and India, the actual death toll is almost certainly far higher.

The situation is currently most dramatic in Eastern Europe. Russia and Ukraine are setting new record levels of infection and death almost daily. In Russia, 1,163 people died of COVID-19 on Friday, and 648 in Ukraine. The three Baltic states are among the countries with the highest incidences worldwide. In Latvia, the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in a week stood at 934.5 yesterday (Friday), in Estonia at 847.8 and in Lithuania at 747.

The situation is also out of control in Romania and Bulgaria, with incidences of around 500. In Romania, which has a population of around 19 million, more than 15,000 new infections were recorded on Saturday. Some 30 patients had to be transferred to neighbouring Hungary because of the overload of the health care system. The situation is so dramatic that the government in Bucharest has had to take some limited measures. As of Monday, masks will be compulsory throughout Romania, and larger events such as weddings and conferences will be banned in November.

The fact that the SPD-FDP-Green coalition is preparing to end all COVID-19 protections in such a situation exposes the class character of the incoming federal government. It is moving to implement the profits before lives policy even more aggressively than the SPD-CDU grand coalition it is replacing. Already, in their exploratory paper, the SPD, FDP and Greens pledged to respect the constitutional balanced-budget amendment and to increase the competitiveness of Germany as a business location.

The message is clear: The new government sees it as its job to squeeze the gigantic sums that flowed to the big banks and corporations under last springs COVID-19 emergency bailouts out of the working class. Scientifically necessary measures to contain the pandemicfirst and foremost, the closure of schools and nonessential businessesare incompatible with this agenda.

Behind this ruthless policy of mass infection stand the geostrategic and economic interests of German imperialism, which is positioning itself against its international rivals and massively rearming. The exploratory paper states that the aim is to ensure that Europe emerges economically strong from the pandemic on the basis of sound and sustainable public finances. To this end, increased cooperation between the national European armies is declared essential, as is improving the German armys equipment.

The World Socialist Web Site and the International Committee of the Fourth International (IFCI) have stressed from the outset that the struggle against the pandemic is not merely a medical question. Like the struggle against social inequality, war and dictatorship, it requires the independent political intervention of the working class on the basis of a socialist program.

In its election appeal for the federal elections, the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei ( Socialist Equality Party of Germany) stated: The fight to contain the pandemic is developing into a class struggle, which is showing ever more clearly that the two major classes in society, the capitalist class and the working class, have irreconcilable interests. The official pandemic policy puts profits before human lives. We demand:

The immediate shutdown of all nonessential businesses until the pandemic is under control! Full payments of wages for all workers affected, as well as real assistance for the self-employed and comprehensive support for poor households! A globally coordinated vaccine campaign instead of vaccine nationalism and profiteering!

The murderous policies of the ruling class in Germany and around the world, which threaten tens of millions more lives, underscore the urgency of a struggle based on this program.
Mexican officials scrambled Thursday to deal with a statement by the American ambassador that the Biden administration and the government of President Andres Lopez Obrador (AMLO) have an agreement to deport back to their countries Central American and other immigrants blocked from crossing the US southern border.

A caravan of migrants, mostly from Central America, head north along a coastal highway just outside of Huehuetan, Chiapas State, Mexico, on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The controversy erupted as some 4,000 immigrants, many of them women and children, are marching in a caravan through the southern Mexican state of Chiapas en route to Mexico City to demand their rights, which have been trampled by the AMLO government.

Ambassador Ken Salazar, a former right-wing Democratic Senator from Colorado, made his remarks while touring border cities and praising the US Border Patrol. Everybody should understand that the US-Mexico border is closed to unlawful entry, Salazar said. Persons attempting to enter the United States unlawfully will be detained. The United States and Mexico are committed to returning migrants who unlawfully enter to their country of origin.

Senior Mexican Foreign Ministry officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to the daily La Jornada, claimed that Salazars statement was ambiguous and that there was no bilateral agreement on deportations.

Whatever agreements between Biden and AMLO have been put in writing, in practice, the Mexican government is collaborating fully in a brutal system in which refugees and migrants reaching the Mexican border are summarily expelled. Both the Trump and the Biden administrations have invoked Title 42, an obscure part of the US health code, to cloak their violations of the right to asylum and due process under the phony mantle of combatting COVID-19. There is no scientific evidence whatsoever that migrants crossing the US southern border are a significant vector for transmission of the virus.

Under Biden, who sanctimoniously promised to pursue a more humane immigration policy, these Title 42 expulsions have reached roughly 100,000 a month, a 50 percent increase over those carried out during the last three months of the Trump administration.

Immigrants kicked out in this manner have been forced onto airplanes, without being told where they are going, and flown to the southern Mexico cities of Villahermosa and Tapachula. There they are loaded into convoys of buses controlled by Mexicos National Guard and immigration agency, INM, and driven to the Guatemalan border to be dumped in the middle of the night into what are among the most dangerous areas of Central Americas Northern Triangle.

Thousands of others have remained trapped, without means of obtaining any livelihood, in Mexicos southern border cities of Tapachula and Ceibo, which are ringed by National Guard checkpoints.

It was in Tapachula, on the border with Guatemala, where the latest caravan began last week. Migrants have described the town as a prison, while even legislators of AMLOs Morena party have called it a concentration camp. Many migrants have languished there for a year or more waiting for Mexican authorities to either grant them asylum or regularize their immigration status.

Chanting We are not criminals, we are workers, we are immigrants and Libertad, Libertad, at least 2,000 migrants marched out of Tapachula on October 23. Confronting a checkpoint north of the town, the marchers forced their way through columns of helmeted, shield-bearing members of AMLOs National Guard. At least one three-year-old boy suffered injuries to his head in the failed attempt to turn back the marchers. Two previous caravans from Tapachula earlier this year were violently broken up.

The caravan has progressed relatively slowly, marching with temperatures reaching over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and under heavy downpours, forced in some cases to sleep on the side of the road. The Mexican government has forbidden the marchers from using any type of vehicles.

Leaders of the caravan have reported that a census showed that 1,200 of those on the march are children, and 70 percent of them are under the age of seven. Many workers are pushing baby carriages down the highway or walking with children on their shoulders. There are also reportedly 68 pregnant women on the march, as well as a number of disabled adults and children.

Some estimates have put the size of the caravan at 4,000 or 5,000, considerably smaller than those of 2018 and 2019, but the largest since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Republican Party and its media outlets, such as Fox News, have attempted to portray the caravan as an existential threat to the United States. Donald Trump fulminated: I hope everyone is watching the MASSIVE Caravan pouring through Mexico and headed to our Country. This must be stopped before they reach our Border.

It is apparently the number of marchers and the presence of so many women and children which has led to the Mexican government to adopt what Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard described as a policy of prudence toward the latest caravan, i.e., refraining, at least for now, from unleashing the National Guard to violently disperse it.

The caravan, launched in the name of dignity, freedom and peace, is a march against the illegal policies of both the Biden and AMLO governments in abrogating the right to asylum and the right of immigrants to protection and due process.

Luis Rey Villagran, a Mexican immigrant rights advocates and one of the organizers of the caravan said that upon reaching Mexico City, the marchers would demand permanent residence cards on humanitarian grounds for each and every one of those who is walking on this march.

A coalition of civil liberties and pro-immigrant organizations from Mexico and Central America joined under the slogan #ProteccionNoContencion (Protection Not Containment) appeared on October 26 before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) to present charges of grave violations of human rights against immigrants on the part of the Lopez Obrador government in Mexico. These include its collaboration in the Title 42 expulsions by the United States and the summary deportations from Mexico itself without providing migrants the right to appeal for asylum. The indictment also included the charge that the AMLO government has militarized Mexican immigration policy, treating migrants as criminals.

Since June 2019, when the Trump administration threatened Mexico with trade sanctions if it failed to contain the flow of immigrants to the US border, the AMLO government has adopted a policy of containment in league with Washington. With US logistical aid, it has deployed 28,000 members of the National Guard to Mexicos southern and northern borders, a force larger than the entire US Border Patrol.

In March 2020, the Lopez Obrador government agreed to accept Central Americans summarily expelled from the US on the Title 42 pretext, and in August 2021, it agreed to their airborne expulsions to southern Mexico. Meanwhile, within Mexico the National Guard has brutalized and killed migrants, while federal and local authorities have engaged in systematic repression.

In the latest incident, police in Tijuana Thursday surrounded an encampment of migrants expelled from the US, destroyed tents and confiscated belongings of those who were not present and then encircled the entire camp with a six-foot chain-link fence. A local official claimed that the raid was for the migrants protection.

The overwhelming majority of those marching in the latest caravan are from Central America, fleeing conditions of endemic poverty, violence and political repression which all have their roots in the horrific crimes committed by US imperialism to secure the profit interests of American banks and corporations across the region for over a century. This has included support for bloody dictatorships like that of the Somozas in Nicaragua, CIA-orchestrated coups as in Guatemala in 1954 and the genocidal counterinsurgency wars in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras in the 1980s.

The refusal of those marching to accept the conditions created by imperialism and its corrupt servants in the national bourgeois governments of Central America and their defiance of anti-immigrant repression is part of a worldwide resurgence of the class struggle. Like workers everywhere, they are refusing to accept the conditions create by a failed economic systemcapitalismthat threatens workers jobs, living standards and very lives, under conditions of a global pandemic.

The determination of the marchers also stands as a devastating exposure of those in the pseudo-left like Jacobin magazine and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the Democratic Socialist of America, who have, respectively, lauded AMLO as a left and a progressive, and denounced those attacking Bidens immigration policies from the left as bad faith actors.

Workers in the United States must defend working people from Central and South America, Haiti and Mexico itself, who are risking their lives in an attempt to reach the US. The victory of the struggles of American workers against the transnational corporations that have reaped massive profits amid the mass death and sickness of the COVID-19 pandemic depends upon workers uniting across national borders. This can be achieved only through an unconditional rejection of the anti-immigrant xenophobia and nationalism peddled by the capitalist parties and the corporatist unions and the defense of the democratic right of immigrant workers to live and work in the country of their choice.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered an address to the nation on October 22 to mark the countrys 1 billionth COVID-19 vaccination shot.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking in Houston in 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

By making a spectacle of this historic achievement, Modi sought to cover up and divert attention from his governments responsibility for the tsunami of COVID-19 infections and deaths that have ravaged the country. He also seized on the occasion to promote the lie that the worst of the pandemic is over, thereby bolstering the ruling classs campaign to reopen India.

Modi began his speech by boasting that the administration of 1 billion vaccine doses means that, on one hand, our country performed (its) duty, and, on the other hand, it got great success. The reality is that the vast majority of Indias 1.39 billion people are either totally unvaccinated or have received just one dose, providing them only partial protection against COVID-19. According to Our World in Data, as of October 23, India had fully vaccinated just 21.5 percent of its population and 29.75 percent partially.

In both his speech and an op-ed article published in the Hindu the same day, Modi blithely ignored the victims of his governments criminal policy of prioritizing corporate profit over human lives. He neither mentioned the 500 people who had lost their lives to COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours nor the 450,000 Indians who have died, according to the governments notorious undercount, since the pandemic began.

The true number of Indian deaths attributable to COVID-19 dwarfs that of any other country. Scientific studies place it at more than 4 million and most likely over 5 million.

Modi also used his address and Hindu column for some nationalist tub-thumping, in the hope that some of the glory would fall on him and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. He declared that the administration of 1 billion vaccine doses was an unequalled achievement. This is a new chapter in the history of the country, a country that knows how to achieve huge targets. In his Hindu opinion piece, the prime minister boasted about Made in India vaccines, saying India is among the few countries in the world truly Aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) when it comes to vaccines. Imagine the situation if India did not have its own vaccine, he wrote. In a subsequent tweet, he claimed that the figure of 1 billion vaccine doses marks a triumph of Indian science.

In fact, the Covishield vaccine used for about 88 percent of all vaccine shots administered in India was developed by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical concern Astra Zeneca. As for the number of vaccines given to the population, India has achieved less than half of the 2.2 billion doses administered in neighbouring China, which has successfully pursued an elimination strategy and kept total deaths from the pandemic below 5,000.

The cynicism of Modis invocation of Indian science cannot be allowed to pass without comment. This comes from the leader of a far-right, Hindu supremacist party that promotes astrology and has trumpeted all sorts of unscientific nonsense throughout the pandemic. This includes claims that COVID-19 could be combatted with thalis (kitchen items), and Modis appeals, as the virus began to spread across the country in 2020, for Indians to switch their lights off for nine minutes to fight the darkness of the coronavirus pandemic.

By rights Modi should be chargedas his Brazilian counterpart, the fascist Jair Bolsonaro, has beenfor promoting quackery and presiding over crimes against humanity. However, Indias Congress Party and the rest of the opposition parties are so fully on board with the BJPs herd immunity policy and so fearful that mass anger over the coronavirus catastrophe will further fuel working-class opposition to grinding poverty, ever deepening social inequality and super-exploitation that they make only the most timid criticism of the BJP governments ruinous response to the pandemic.

Desperate to reverse a plunge in the governments popular support, Modi and his BJP cronies have shamelessly sought to take credit for the vaccine campaign, which has been driven by and dependent on the efforts of millions of poorly paid health care workers, many of whom have been denied proper PPE (personal protective equipment).

A large picture of Modi with a quote from him in English and Hindi is featured on all government-issued vaccination certificates. Earlier this month a man from the southern state of Kerala, Peter M., went to court to demand that the Indian Health Ministry issue him a certificate without Modis picture. He accused Modi of using the vaccination programme as a propaganda tool and noted he had had to personally cover the cost of his vaccination at a private hospital due to long queues for the free vaccines offered by the government.

The right-wing Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banergee has aptly pointed out that if Modi insists on having his face appear on every vaccine certificate, it should also rightly be on COVID-19 death certificates too.

Like the governments of North America and Europe, Modi has used Indias vaccine campaign, not to bolster efforts to eliminate the virus but to justify accelerating the criminal reopening of the economy to meet the demands of Indian big business. In his October 22 address, Modi declared that the world now considers India to be much safer on the corona front. He made this self-serving statement to further his drive to reopen India, including resuming in-person schooling, amid the mounting threats of a third wave of the pandemic in the country.

India has not even begun inoculating children aged 2 to 18 years old. Despite this, a number of states and the Delhi National Capital Territory began reopening schools with limited public health restrictions in late August. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the top government body for the formation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, has advised Indias states to reopen schools in a phased manner (beginning with primary school), claiming severe disease and mortality in (COVID-infected) children is less. However, numerous scientific studies and the bitter experience of school reopening campaigns elsewhere have shown schools are important vectors of transmission and that children can and do die from coronavirus.

Behind the BJPs hype, the reality is that Indias vaccine rollout has been a fiasco. Earlier this year, Modi proclaimed that the country would not only vaccinate its entire adult population by years end but also supply vaccine doses to much of the developing world, and this would enhance Indias global influence.

These plans were derailed, however, first by the Bidens imposition of a ban on the export of raw materials essential for vaccine production, and then by Indias devastating second wave of the pandemic. At its peak in early May, COVID-19 was killing over 4,000 people per day, according to official figures. The overwhelming of the countrys hospitals by the surge of infections led to horrific scenes of desperation as dead bodies piled up in the streets, and crematoriums worked around the clock to keep up.

Unable to produce even a fraction of the vaccines desperately needed by its own people, India stopped vaccine exports last April and only resumed some token shipments this month.

Underscoring the Modi governments callous class character, it long opposed providing free vaccinations. Throughout much of the deadly second wave, it continued to charge Indians for every vaccine dose. Only in early June, when the surge of infections and deaths was slowly subsiding, did the BJP government agree to provide vaccines free of charge through the public health care system. Even then, it still reserved 25 percent of all vaccine doses for private providers, ensuring that access to the potentially life-saving jab remained much easier for those with the financial resources to pay for it.

Indias ramshackle health care system, the product of decades of underfunding by the entire political establishment, has proven ill-equipped to roll out a successful vaccine program across wide swaths of the country. Many rural areas have adult populations with vaccination rates only a fraction of those in urban centres. According to an article in the Conversation website published on July 30, By late May, 114 of Indias least developed districts had administered just 23 million doses to its 176 million residents, while Indias nine major cities received the same number of doses, despite having half as many people.

Even in rural areas where vaccinations have been offered, there is a huge gap in the number who have full protection and those who have received just one dose. This is largely due to the fact that rural dwellers often have to travel several hours, at their own cost, to reach the nearest health care facility. Because many states have made the first dose of the vaccine a condition for accessing critical social welfare programs, many poor rural toilers have borne the expense of getting a first shot. But they are reluctant to make a similar expenditure in time and money to get the second.

Professor R. Ramakumar, from the School of Development Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Science, pointed out on Twitter that India will miss its target of vaccinating every adult by the end of the year by about 5-6 months. To reach that target India should produce 870 million additional doses in two months November and December 2021, or 15 million doses per day, he observed. But India, he continued, gave only 5.5 million doses in the first 20 days of October 2021.

Rijo John, a health economist and adjunct professor at Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, has noted that huge swaths of older, more vulnerable Indians remain at high risk of getting COVID-19. Just 80 percent of the 45+ population have had one dose, and only 43 percent of them have had both the doses.

Under these conditions, the threat of a deadly third pandemic wave hangs menacingly over the country. This danger is made all the greater by the BJP governments demand for a return to normalcy, which is supported by the opposition parties at the state level. Earlier this month, the Modi government reopened India to international tourism, despite the continuing rapid spread of the virus in the US and Europe and the emergence of new variants.

The decrepit health care system, which collapsed earlier this year amid the second wave, is in no condition to handle a third. Any additional funds provided to hospitals and other facilities have remained derisory, with hundreds of millions of Indians effectively having no access to adequate health care. Millions lack even running water to meet basic hygiene needs.

The Times of India reported on October 25, Some hospitals have already started reporting an uptick in the number of cases after the onset of the ongoing festival season. According to the newspaper, many hospitals which had shut down their COVID-19 wards earlier have reopened them with some seeing 20-25 percent more patients compared to the previous week. The following states recorded double-digit increases in new COVID-19 cases on a weekly basis: Chhattisgarh (60 percent), Assam (42 percent) and West Bengal (41 percent). Meanwhile, the southern Indian state of Kerala, which continues to lead the country in the number of new cases, experienced 61,010 cases in the last week against 59,521 cases the week before.
Death row prisoner John Marion Grant was put to death Thursday by the state of Oklahoma in a gruesome lethal injection, during which he vomited and convulsed on the execution gurney, to the horror of witnesses.

John Marion Grant

Grant, 60, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1998 stabbing death of prison cafeteria worker Gay Carter. He was already serving a 130-year sentence for several armed robberies at the time.

The execution proceeded after the US Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision, with the courts three liberal judges dissenting, lifted stays of execution that were put in place on Wednesday for Grant and another death row inmate by the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The states Pardon and Parole Board twice denied Grants request for clemency.

Grant was the first condemned prisoner to meet his death at the Oklahoma State Penitentiarys new state of the art execution chamber, built expressly to facilitate the resumption of executions after a series of botched executions in 2014-2015.

Grant was injected with a toxic cocktail of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Dan Snyder, an anchor at the local Fox 25 TV channel, who witnessed the execution, said that the procedure went drastically awry as soon as the first drug, midazolam, a sedative, was injected.

Almost immediately after the drug was administered, Grant began convulsing, so much so that his entire upper back repeatedly lifted off the gurney, Snyder reported. As the convulsions continued, Grant then began to vomit. Multiple times over the course of the next few minutes medical staff entered the death chamber to wipe away and remove vomit from the still-breathing Grant.

It took 15 minutes, according to Snyder, for Grant to be declared unconscious by medical staff. Then he was injected with vecuronium bromide, which paralyzes the body, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart. He was pronounced dead at 4:21 p.m. The Associated Press (AP) quoted an email by Corrections spokesman Justin Wolf, who said the execution was carried out in accordance with Oklahoma Department of Corrections protocols and without complication.

Snyder countered the states claim, writing on Twitter, As a witness to the execution who was in the room, Ill say this: repeated convulsions and extensive vomiting for nearly 15 minutes would not seem to be without complication. Michael Cracsyk, a retired AP reporter who still covers executions as a freelancer, told CBS News he has witnessed about 450 executions and could only remember one time when a prisoner vomited during an execution.

Oklahoma has carried out 112 executions since 1976, when the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment. From witness accounts, it appears that Grants execution was in line with the gruesome executions in Oklahoma that directly proceeded the six-year moratorium.

On April 29, 2014, Clayton Lockett writhed and groaned on the execution gurney as Oklahoma injected midazolam for the first time in an execution. Locketts lawyer reported that his whole upper body was lifting off the table. It was later determined that the doctor and paramedic had made numerous attempts to inject midazolam. The prison director halted the execution, but Lockett died 43 minutes later, apparently from a heart attack.

The execution of Charles Warner, scheduled for the same day, was postponed and eventually rescheduled for January 15, 2015. According to AP reporter Sean Murphy, who witnessed the execution, once the midazolam was injected, Warner called out, My body is on fire. No one should go through this. Warners last words were, They poked me five times. It feels like acid. The Oklahoman reported on October 8, 2015 that the state had used potassium acetate, not potassium chloride, to execute Warner.

The US Supreme Court, which sanctioned the execution of John Grant, ruled 5-4 in June 2015 in Glossip v. Gross that midazolam could be used in executions. Attorneys for three Oklahoma inmates had argued that midazolam could not achieve the level of unconsciousness required in executions to proceed with the other two drugs, leading to prolonged and excruciating pain contrary to the Eighth Amendments ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

In March 2018, Oklahoma officials announced plans to develop protocols to use nitrogen gas to execute prisoners, but they eventually chose the three-drug protocol, including midazolam, in lethal injection as the first choice.

The Supreme Court ruling that allowed Grants execution to proceed also lifted the stay of execution for Julius Jones, 41. Joness execution is scheduled for November 18. Jones was convicted of a murder that occurred when he was a teenager. He has consistently maintained his innocence and his case has gained national notoriety. Oklahoma has six more executions scheduled for 2021 and 2022.
Heads of state, government ministers and thousands of other delegates from all corners of the globe are converging on Glasgow, Scotland for two weeks of climate change talks beginning this weekend.

Firefighters work at the scene of forest fire near Kyuyorelyakh village at Gorny Ulus area, west of Yakutsk, in Russia Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Ivan Nikiforov)

This year marks the 26th round of negotiations following the ratification by more than 190 countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was agreed to in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. In the subsequent 29 years of international talks, capitalist governments have produced one failure after another, leaving the world on a trajectory towards catastrophe. This years session in Glasgow promises more of the same.

Much, however, has changed since the last negotiating session in 2019. The past two years have seen a series of escalating climate disasters in all regions of the globe, including massive wildfires from the Australian bush to the American west, devastating flooding in Europe, Asia and the Americas, and deadly heatwaves the world over.

Scientific advances have further strengthened our knowledge of climate change and its impact on humanity. The International Panel on Climate Changes latest comprehensive report released in August confirmed that effects are widespread, rapid and intensifying, and some trends are now irreversible. The world has already warmed by 1.2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels. The climate systems inertia has effectively locked in a global temperature increase of 1.5 C within the next two decades, if not sooner.

Neither the dire warnings of scientists nor the consequences of extreme weather have fundamentally altered the pathetic global response to climate change. The international paralysis in the face of the climate crisis is compounded by the absence of any global response to the pandemic. The Glasgow summit itself was postponed for a year in the hopes that the delay would allow for a collective response to end the mass death. Those hopes have given way to an even more disastrous year, with the global death toll more than doubling in 2021.

The main item on the Glasgow agenda is to revise the greenhouse gas emissions targets each nation committed to after the Paris agreement six years ago. These commitments are entirely voluntary and have no enforcement mechanism. Despite its toothlessness, the collective aspirations from Paris bring the world nowhere near the stated goal of limiting temperature increase to 2.0 C, let alone the target urged by scientists of 1.5 C.

An analysis by the United Nations Environment Programme released this week found that if countries manage to fulfill their current commitments, temperatures are still likely to rise 2.7 C this century. The reality is even worse, however. Most nations have done far too little to transition to renewable energy, increase efficiency, and implement other measures required to achieve their insufficient goals. If the current policies continue apace, the world will likely eclipse 3 C of warming by 2100, a magnitude of change that calls into question the future of civilization.

The solution offered at Glasgow is for governments to conjure up new, more aggressive targets in line with less catastrophic warming trajectories. These targets remain entirely voluntary, however, and are open to cynical accounting tricks. Brazil, for instance, revised its estimate of 2005 emissions upwards so that on a percentage basis, it remains on track to achieve its commitment.

The stark contrast between the promises to rapidly reduce carbon pollution and the reality of policies that retain the fossil fuel-powered status quo is exemplified by the United States, responsible for more carbon dioxide currently in the atmosphere than any other nation. President Biden arrived in Glasgow Friday with promises to reduce greenhouse gas releases to half of 2005 levels by the end of the decade and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Meanwhile, he is in the midst of negotiations with his own party to gut his infrastructure and social spending proposals. The remaining funding to address climate change amounts to just $550 billion over 10 years, a fraction of what the country spends preparing for war in a single year. The bulk of this climate funding is devoted to tax giveaways to businesses.

Behind the false promises and posturing over national commitments are explosive national rivalries that permeate the Glasgow summit. For US imperialism, the shift in policy from the Trump administration, which withdrew from the Paris agreement, to the Biden administration, which rejoined it, does not reflect a turn towards international coordination to resolve a catastrophic issue facing humanity. Instead, it reopens a diplomatic front in the fight for economic and geopolitical dominance, aimed above all at countering the rise of China.

Biden made this clear in a speech Thursday, which he began by stating his aim to turn the climate crisis into an opportunity to put us on a path not only to compete but to win the economic competition of the 21st century against China and every other country in the world.

His comments followed the recent release of a suite of White House-ordered reports on the national security implications of climate change. The first ever National Intelligence Estimate of climate change summed up what is at stake in Glasgow. Geopolitical tensions are likely to grow as countries increasingly argue about how to accelerate the reductions in net greenhouse gas emissions that will be needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals, the report noted. Debate will center on who bears more responsibility to act and to payand how quicklyand countries will compete to control resources and dominate new technologies needed for the clean energy transition.

Similar calculations are pursued by all the imperialist governments, which are driven above all by an attempt to gain economic advantage for their native industries and to strengthen their geopolitical standing.

Meanwhile, the chasm between the actions of governments scheming in Glasgow and what is needed to save humanity continues to grow.

This spring, the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental advisory agency, released a roadmap to achieving a net-zero global energy sector by 2050. The energy sector accounts for three-quarters of global carbon emissions. Such a trajectory is needed to limit warming to 1.5 C.

The report lays out the fact that large number of unparalleled changes across all parts of the energy sector would need to be realised simultaneously, at a time when the world is trying to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Just in the next nine years, the following are needed:

immediately ceasing approvals of all new oil and gas fields and coal mines;

more than doubling the share of renewables in electricity to 60 percent;

tripling the annual investment in the power sector;

retrofitting half of the existing buildings in advanced economies and one-third in developing countries;

doubling global battery manufacturing every two years;

increasing solar installations five-fold; and

transitioning to 50 percent of new passenger cars powered by electricity, up from 2.5 percent in 2019.

Does anyone think that capitalist governments the world over are capable of this? The parties at the Glasgow summit cant even agree to abide by their grossly inadequate promises, let alone implement a systemic transformation.

The pandemic has demonstrated the real priorities of the ruling class, even when faced with mass death. The abysmal measures to address public health were accompanied by a massive intervention of central banks in the crisis that erupted in the financial system in March of 2020, unleashing virtually unlimited funds to shore up the banks and finance houses. With the markets temporarily stabilized, the priority shifted to reopening the economy in most areas of the globe. The virus was allowed to spread and mutate. Millions are dead as a result, with no end in sight. At the same time, social inequality has reached obscene new heights.

The fundamental challenges posed by the pandemic are the same as those posed by climate change. Just as the coronavirus knows no borders, neither does carbon dioxide. An effective response to the basic problems of our time must similarly break through the national boundaries set up under capitalism.

They require a massive reallocation of resources, directing social resources to meet social needs, not private profit.

The enormous investments needed for a rapid transition to a renewable-powered economy are impossible so long as the key levers of the economy are controlled privately and operated in the interest of profit.

The failure to address climate change is not caused by humans in the abstract. It is caused by a particular social system, capitalism. The inherent contradictions in capitalism(1) the division of an economically integrated world into rival countries and (2) socialized production alongside private ownership of the means of productionpresent an obstacle that we must overthrow if we are to stave off the catastrophic implications of climate change. It requires a rational economic plan coordinated on a global level. It requires the struggle for socialism.

At its root, climate change is fundamentally a class question. In whose interests does society operate? Capitalism, operating on behalf of a tiny but fabulously wealthy ruling elite, has proven itself utterly bankrupt. The urgent task is to turn to the working class, the social force whose fundamental interests align with reconstructing society so as to fulfill social needs, not generate private profit.
The state Labor Party government in Victoria has instructed schools to cease closing for full quarantine periods when positive COVID-19 infections are detected among students or school staff. Under new guidelines, the Department of Education may instruct the school to close for an initial period of up to 24 hours to allow for identification and notification of primary close contacts (emphasis added).

These guidelines, issued on October 22, form part of the governments push to condition the population to accept widespread COVID infections, including among children and young people.

Prior to Premier Daniel Andrews announcement on September 1, that his government was not aiming to eliminate community transmission, and that it was necessary to live with the virus, affected schools were closed for two weeks. Students and staff within those schools were advised to self-isolate over this time to avoid spreading infections. This mostly affected a limited number of students, whose parents were emergency workers and who were supervised at schools by a skeleton staff.

Department of Education (Victoria) instructions on the determination of close contacts within schools

Now every effort is being made to block school closures and limit the number of student and staff close contacts required to self-isolate, regardless of the risk this creates for further infection spread. According to the Department of Educations policy, when a case is detected in a school, those required to quarantine as close contacts are only those who spent at least two hours in the same room as the infected person. This disregards scientific knowledge of the Delta variant, which can spread through aerosol transmission with only fleeting contact, in a matter of seconds.

The state government reopened the schools on a staggered basis this term, beginning with senior high school students, from October 4. Other year levels have since returned to face-to-face learning for part of the school week, while every year level returns on a full-time basis from this Monday.

Even before the full resumption of in-person teaching, the school reopening drive has triggered numerous mass infection threats.

These were both entirely predictable, and preventable consequences, of opening up schools amid record daily infections, still nearly 2,000 every day in Victoria. The Committee for Public Education (CFPE) has been the sole organisation that has collated and made public the daily tallies of schools affected by COVID outbreaks. The state government and the teacher unions have deliberately concealed this information.

Committee for Public Education social media update on schools closures in Victoria

The CFPE has tallied a total of 328 schools closed in Victoria over the past four weeks, since the beginning of term. This is not an exhaustive list, because it primarily consists of difficult-to-access data from the Department of Education, as well as information from social media and other sources, including teacher and parent reports to the CFPE. No official data is available for COVID-affected private schools. Given that nearly 40 percent of students attend private schools, the total number of affected schools is undoubtedly much higher.

In neighbouring New South Wales (NSW), where the Liberal-National state government has adopted a similar let it rip COVID agenda, the CFPE has tallied at least 154 schools closed, because of coronavirus outbreaks in Term 4. This follows at least 216 school closures in Term 3.

Refusal by public authorities to publish comprehensive accounts of COVID-related school closures is just one expression of the extraordinary censorship that has accompanied the reopening drive. Basic public health data is being kept secretincluding the number of infected teachers and school workers, and the source of those infections.

Both epidemiological science and international experience with the pandemic underscore the criminal recklessness of the bipartisan drive to keep schools open, amid ongoing transmission of the virus.

Throughout Australia, governments are acting at the behest of big business and finance capital. Like their international counterparts, the corporate elite is determined to eliminate all health restrictions that impinge on profit accumulation. The campaign to return children to classrooms, regardless of the danger, is necessary to dragoon all workers back into their workplaces.

Numerous studies have exposed the lie that children and young adults are not at risk from the virus. In Britain, where the Tory government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson spearheaded the homicidal herd immunity strategy of encouraging unchecked infections, COVID is spreading among children at staggering levels. One in 33 primary age children and one in 12 secondary pupils are currently infected.

The UK this week recorded its 100th child death from the virus, with 13 of these recorded in the seven weeks since schools reopened. Each death represents a terrible tragedy for the affected families and communities. Countless thousands more families confront the largely unknown, potentially lifelong, health dangers of long COVID, with children at risk of debilitating respiratory and neurological issues.

Widespread concern over the situation among parents, students, teachers and school workers, in Victoria and NSW, has seen the CFPEs daily tallies of school closures viewed online this month by tens of thousands of people. The circulation of this material has cut across a media blackout on the issue, which formed part of an ongoing ideological campaign to portray the junking of lockdowns and related health restrictions, including online learning for school students, as a joyous occasion.

Numerous teachers and parents have contacted the CFPE expressing their opposition to the reopening drive.

One parent wrote: Ive been following your school closure posts which have been extremely helpful, thanks so much for providing. I am exceedingly alarmed however that schools are now in many instances not closing in Victoria in response to positive COVID cases and that we now have no idea which schools are affected. As a parent of unvaccinated under 12s attending school in regional Vic, this greatly concerns me, as I have no way of attempting to judge how prevalent COVID is in our local schools, which is vital information that I use in assisting me to decide whether or not to permit my children to attend school each day Our school has no CO2 detectors, no air filtration systems, no classes conducted outdoors, and the only external door to my childs classroom is currently broken and the windows do not open, so there is no external ventilation.

Only last week did outlets, including the Age, Guardian and Herald Sun, report on the number of school closures, utilising the CFPEs figures, although the latter publication alone acknowledged this.

Supposed mitigation efforts in the schools amount to little more than ineffective fig leaves.

In NSW, as one person wrote to the CFPE: Education Minister Sarah Mitchell contemptuously told teachers to take their students outside, sit them under a tree and read them a book. Teachers responded by saying their school had no trees, no grass and were often over-crowded. Another posted [that] my school grounds were designed for 400 students, and now has 1,300 enrolled.

In Victoria, government boasts about a COVID-safe return to school have likewise been exposed. Education Minister James Merlino announced last month that 51,000 air purifiers would be purchased for schools. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported this week that just 3,600 of these, or 7 percent, are currently operational. Numerous schools, including those in the working-class suburbs worst affected by COVID, have reopened without a single purifier.

Air circulation in many public schools is abysmal. Some feature only a limited number of windows able to be opened, and some of these only by a small crack. Many classrooms also have no overhead fans. Others rely on air conditioning systems that recycle air within rooms. Teachers have been advised that these cannot be used due to the danger of aerosol spread. This will create intolerable conditions within classrooms, on the numerous hot days that will come with summer.

State and federal governments are only able to proceed with their reopening drive because of the active collaboration and support they receive from the trade unions.

The teacher unions modus operandi is consistent across the states: say as little publicly as possible and post nothing on social media, in order to block teachers from discussing their thoughts and experiences. They present COVID safety as a matter for individual schools and teachers, and attempt to silence people opposing the reopenings, above all teacher-members of the CFPE. Behind the scenes, the Australian Education Union and NSW Teachers Federation are actively working with governments to enforce the reopening drive.

The CFPE is urging teachers and school staff to form rank-and-file safety committees in every school, independent of the unions. These committees need to develop the widest public discussion on the situation in schools, based on the most accurate scientific research and the full release of all relevant public health data, including the number of school infections. On this basis, the committees can collectively develop the necessary measures to protect the health and safety of teachers, school workers and students, potentially including industrial action and strikes.

The CFPE urges all working people to contact and join usreport on the situation in your schools, alert others to the dangers confronting students and staff, and join the discussion on the necessary collective response.

Contact us here:

Email: cfpe.aus@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/commforpubliceducation

Twitter: @CFPE_Australia
President Gotabhaya Rajapakses government, which claims that COVID-19 has been brought under control nationally, is rapidly abandoning public health measures to limit the spread of the virus. Medical experts have warned, however, that the governments actions are paving the way for a resurgence of infections.

People lining up for buses in Colombo suburb without social distancing [WSWS Media]

While Colombo reluctantly imposed a lockdown on August 21 in response the rapid spread of the Delta variant across the island, it quickly lifted this basic measure after six weeks, on October 1.

Some restrictions were kept in place, such as night curfews from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., limiting the number of attendees at weddings and funerals, and imposing restrictions on dining at restaurants. These measures were removed, however, on Monday, 25 October and inter-district travel restrictions will be lifted on Sunday, 31 October.

Primary education sections at about half of Sri Lankas schools were reopened on October 21.

Yesterday, President Rajapakse told a meeting of the Committee for COVID-19 Prevention that school principals should be made aware that the process of reopening schools [had] to be implemented expeditiously.

As in other countries, the Rajapakse government is implementing the murderous herd immunity policy and calling on the population to live with the coronavirus as the new normal. As a result, the Delta variant has spread rapidly across the country and taken thousands of lives.

In the last week of August, the number of daily cases rose to 5,000 and the daily death toll climbed to over 200. The government, however, ended the lockdown and began scaling back health safety restrictions as soon as daily cases dropped to 1,000 and the daily death toll to 100.

On Wednesday, Sri Lankan health authorities reported 540 cases and 22 deaths, increasing the overall total of cases in Sri Lanka since the pandemic began to 538,860 and deaths to 13,696.

On Tuesday, Sri Lanka Medical Association chairperson Dr. Padma Gunaratne sent a letter to President Rajapakse warning him about the dangerous situation.

Lessons learnt from the recent outbreaks in countries such as the UK, Singapore and Israel, she said, compel Sri Lanka to believe that another wave is imminent, particularly in a situation where the restriction of movement has been lifted,

Gunaratne warned: Another wave of infections will be extremely deleterious to the health and the economy of the country.

In order to justify its relaxation of COVID-19 health security measures, Colombo is seeking to artificially engineer lower official statistics of infections and deaths.

In June, about 20,000 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests were being carried out per day. Daily tests have now been reduced to 5,000. The government has consistently ignored calls from medical experts for systematic PCR testing of 40,000 people per day.

Village officers have also been granted the power to release the bodies of those who die at home without doing a PCR test. In other words, official daily COVID-19 death counts may not include many of those who have died at home.

Yesterday, R.S.D Bandara, Sri Lanka Epidemiology Units expert for Anuradhapura district, told the media that about 2,500 cases have been reported in that area since October 1. The Padaviya Konketioyava school, which is in the district, also reported yesterday that four students had tested positive with the infection.

At the Ruhuna University of Technology Faculty in the islands south, 30 students were discovered to be infected after 170 were given antigen tests. Dozens of cases have also been identified this week in Badulla, Passara, Minuwangoda and Kuliyapitiya. These reports indicate that the virus is present in many areas across the country and expose the governments fraudulent claims echoed in the media that the pandemic is under control.

Sri Lankan health authorities are attempting to blame the rising number of infections on irresponsible actions by the population. Director General of Health Services Asela Gunawardena told the media on Tuesday that the behaviour of people was sad.

These statements are utterly hypocritical. The uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka is the direct responsibility of the government which has dangerously reopened the country without proper health security measures on public transport, factories, schools, and other busy places.

The governments reopening of schools and other facilities is driven by big business demands that nothing be allowed to hinder profit-making. The ruling class regards school closures and children protected at home as a barrier to getting workers back into workplaces.

The reckless reopening of schools underway internationally is producing disastrous results. In the US alone, over 100,000 students are being infected each week from this policy.

Sri Lankan Family Health Bureau specialist Kapila Jayaratne told the media on October 8 that there had been a total of 59,000 children infected since the pandemic began, with 67 deaths so far including 13 at home.

On October 13, consulting physician Dr. Waruna Gunatilleka said long-COVID infections would generate a public health crisis in Sri Lanka and that between 10 and 30 percent of those infected would suffer from long-term debilitating effects from the virus.

A recent report on long-COVID by Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, director of the Department of Cell Biology at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura also revealed that 15 percent of coronavirus patients would suffer mental stress, 1.5 percent muscle pain and 7 percent other symptoms.

The living with COVID policies of the Rajapakse government, and its international counterparts, will ensure that this human tragedy continues, resulting in many more deaths. As medical specialists throughout the world have shown what is required is a scientific strategy to eliminate COVID-19.

World-renowned health experts participated in the October 24 webinar organised by the World Socialist Web Site and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC). They told the international audience that the fight to eliminate the pandemic had to involve vaccination of the worlds population combined with nationwide lockdowns and strict public healthcare measures.

WSWS editorial board chairperson David North explained in his opening remarks: The only effective strategy is one based on a globally coordinated campaign aimed at the elimination of the virus on every continent, in every region, and in every country. There is no effective national solution to this pandemic. Humanitypeople of all races, ethnicities, and nationalitiesmust confront and overcome this challenge through a vast collective and truly selfless global effort.
Speaking via video link at the East Asia Forum this week, US President Biden again condemned China over a series of issues, with Taiwan at the top of the list. The East Asian Forum, which is part of the annual meetings of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), was also attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the leaders of South Korea and Japan.

President Joe Biden in a CNN town hall at the Baltimore Center Stage Pearlstone Theater, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden declared that the US was deeply concerned by Chinas coercive and proactive actions across the Taiwan Strait, saying that such actions threaten regional peace and stability. The remarks are the latest in a rising drumbeat of inflammatory statements from Washington that undermine the diplomatic and strategic status quo.

Earlier in the week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on members of the United Nations to support Taiwans robust participation in UN bodies. Monday marked 50 years since the UN adopted a resolution recognising Beijing as the legitimate representative of China in 1971 and ending the claim by the Kuomintang (KMT) dictatorship in Taipei to Chinas UN seat.

The following year, US President Nixon visited Beijing to forge an anti-Soviet partnership with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime and lay the basis for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and China in 1979. Washington tacitly accepted the One China policy that Beijing was the legitimate government of all China, including Taiwan, and ended diplomatic and military relations with Taipei.

Now the Biden administration is ramping up tensions with China over Taiwan by step-by-step undermining the One China policy and in doing so encouraging the Democratic Progressive Party administration in Taipei to declare independence. Beijing has repeatedly declared that it would resort to force if Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, formally declared independence.

The media in the US and its allies parrots the White House propaganda, accusing China of aggressive intentions toward Taiwan and endlessly citing breaches of Taiwans Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) by Chinese warplanes. Taiwans ADIZ, which has no standing in international law, covers large swathes not only of international air space but also of air space over the Chinese mainland.

While accusing China of coercive actions, the US continues its provocative air and naval exercises close to the Chinese mainland, including through the Taiwan Strait. Some of Chinas largest incursions into Taiwans ADIZ at the beginning of the month took place as the US mounted major naval war games in waters near Taiwan, along with warships from Japan, Britain, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

In a CNN interview on Thursday, Taiwans president Tsai Ing-wen confirmed what the Wall Street Journal revealed earlier this monththat US Special Forces troops have been on Taiwan for more than a year training their Taiwanese counterparts. The US military presence on Taiwan is a particularly provocative breach of undertakings made to Beijing as part of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979.

Declaring that Taiwan was a beacon of democracy, Tsai appealed to US democratic allies within the region, including Japan, South Korea and Australia, to support the island. When authoritarian regimes demonstrate expansionist tendencies, democratic countries should come together to stand against them. Taiwan is on the front lines, she said.

Tsais remarks are in line with Bidens calls for US allies to forge closer ties with democratic Taiwan. Washingtons claims to be defending democracy against autocracy are a sham. For decades, the US, along with its allies such as Japan and Australia, backed the KMT dictatorship of Chiang Kai-Shek diplomatically and militarily until Washington forged ties with China in 1979 to further its economic and strategic interests.

Likewise, Washingtons current shift toward Taipei has nothing to do with defending the limited democratic rights on Taiwan, but is bound up with the accelerating US preparations for war with China over the past decade under Obama then Trump. US imperialism is determined to use all means, including military ones, to counter the threat to its global hegemony posed by Chinas economic rise.

Biden exploited the East Asian Summit to attack China over its maritime claims, declaring that the US was fully committed to the freedom of the seas, open waterways, and unimpeded flow of commerce, including in the South China Sea. Biden was vice president in the Obama administration which seized on longstanding territorial disputes in the South China Sea to try to drive a wedge between China and its South East Asian neighbours.

Having largely ignored the rival claims in the South China Sea, the US suddenly declared that it had a national interest in the disputes, siding with Vietnam and the Philippines in particular against China. On the bogus pretext of assuring freedom of navigation, the US provocatively sent warships into or near waters claimed by China around islets it occupies in the South China Sea. These misnamed freedom of navigation operations increased under Trump and have been maintained by Biden.

Biden also utilised the opportunity to strengthen a strategic partnership with ASEAN through the provision of limited funds on the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. His claim that the US is leading the fight against the virus is absurd given the continuing high numbers of daily cases and deaths. Moreover, amid concerns among American corporations over supply chain disruptions, Washington has been pressuring ASEAN members to adopt the same criminal live with the virus policy and open up their economies.

Biden also backed the decision by ASEAN to bar Myanmar general Min Aung Hlaing from attending for failing to implement a reconciliation plan with detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD). The military seized power in February after its party was defeated in national elections, provoking widespread protests that were met with a brutal crackdown.

Biden expressed support for ASEAN efforts to hold the military regime accountable, declaring that he had grave concerns about the military coup and horrific violence. These hypocritical statements have nothing to do with concern for democratic rights in Myanmar but are aimed at undermining its strengthening ties with China.

The Obama administration hailed Myanmar as a budding democracy when the junta released Suu Kyi, held sham elections and shifted its orientation away from Beijing and toward Washington. Even as Suu Kyi functioned as an apologist for the militarys murderous assault on the Muslim Rohingya minority, US criticisms were limited. Now, however, as the junta has increasingly relied on Beijings support, Biden is once again cynically posturing on human rights.

Bidens involvement in the East Asian Summitthe first by a US president since 2017underscores the remark by Vice President Kamala Harris during her trip to Singapore and Vietnam in August that America is back in the critically important region in the world. Bidens aggressive comments against Beijing at the summit, particularly over Taiwan, are another sign of his administrations preparations for conflict with China.
Transformative change is in motion in our nation's capital; but the work is not done yet.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden took to the airwaves to share the key components of his current Build Back Better budget reconciliation framework, which included tremendous gains for families, including child care, home- and community-based services, the Child Tax Credit, expansion of affordable health care, addressing racial disparities by improving equity through investments in maternal health and immigration reform.

Notably missing: The high-polling and urgently-needed policy of paid family/medical leave.

The policy is on life support due to a couple of holdout senators, primarily Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia, and intransigent Republicans. This is despite the fact concurrent proposed tax reform could more than pay for a larger package -- and despite the fact that moms, dads, and caregivers across the political spectrum have been calling on Congress to pass this policy.

Pushback on the pushout was immediate in both the House and Senate (and from parents across the nation). "There are some things that aren't in that I frankly haven't given up on. Being a mother of 5 children in 6 years, I've changed more diapers than anybody in Congress. I still would like to see paid leave," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday. And Democratic Sen. Patty Murray from Washington, remarked: "We are not going to allow one or two men to tell women, millions of them in this country, that they can't have paid leave."

I couldn't agree more.

We are in the midst of a deadly pandemic, in a jobs and care crisis, as the only industrialized nation in the world without some form of national paid family/medical leave. We need it badly. This life-saving and economy-boosting policy should not be delayed.

Paid family/medical leave is a policy that makes it possible for people to recover from childbirth to bond with a new child, or to take care of themselves or a close loved one if a serious health crisis strikes. The fact that right now, in a pandemic which has taken more than 730,000 lives in the US, paid leave is on a political ventilator is outrageous, unconscionable, indefensible and wrong. It's a measure of how broken our political system is right now.

The situation is critical. Going into the pandemic, while a small percentage of people had this policy through their work or due to state law, our nation guaranteed zero weeks of paid family/medical leave, while all other countries on average have 26 weeks of paid leave. That -- combined with our failure as yet to build a care infrastructure with quality, affordable childcare, living wages for care workers, a commitment to continue the Child Tax Credit expansion and home- and community-based services for people with disabilities and the aging -- has had devastating consequences.

What does the devastation look like? Millions of moms and caregivers have been disproportionately pushed out of the labor force, with Black, brown and Indigenous moms experiencing compounded health and economic harms. And lives that could have been saved are being lost, in part due to our failure to guarantee paid family/medical leave.

The United States has one of the highest Covid-19 mortality rates of industrialized nations, with the sixth-worst overall mortality rate of 36 industrialized nations, even as studies show access to paid leave helps flatten the curve. And we also have the dubious distinction of being the only industrialized country where maternal mortality is increasing, with Black women three to four times more likely to die in childbirth than White women.

That's not all. The cost of child care is now higher than public college, even as most care workers are paid sub-living wages -- and these child care costs are particularly hard to meet without paid leave as a bridge to going back to work after a new baby arrives. Businesses are faltering because our care infrastructure is nearly non-existent, pushing the employees they need to keep their doors open out of the labor force.

The fact that most of the care infrastructure policies -- including childcare and home- and community-based services -- are moving forward, as they should, in the reconciliation package is a reason to celebrate. These are historic, much-needed investments that will create jobs in a big way. The fact that paid family/medical leave is falling behind is harmful and disgraceful to our nation's families and economy.

One in four women are pushed back to work within two weeks of giving birth or welcoming a new child simply because they have no access to paid leave, according to the advocacy group Paid Leave US. Too often it means parents are forced back to work before they can fully heal and sometimes before babies are even out of the newborn intensive care unit. It can also mean parents are pushed out of much-needed jobs altogether.

In addition, a lack of paid leave means too many people face devastating economic consequences if a serious health crisis strikes them, or if they are forced to choose between work and being there for family when a loved one suffers critical illness.

We are not okay. I believe the best policy for families, businesses, and our country is for everyone to have access to at least 12 weeks of paid family/medical leave. But according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just 20% of private sector workers in our nation, including only 8% of the lowest wage earners, have access to some form of paid family/medical leave when a new baby arrives or a serious health crisis strikes.

It's unconscionable only people who win the boss lottery, or live in one of the nine states or the District of Columbia with paid leave mandated by law, have access to this.

Yet even with overwhelming data showing how paid family/medical leave saves lives, saves dollars and helps businesses, as well as countless caregiver stories, the original Build Back Better proposal to mandate 12 weeks of leave is in question.

To be specific, as proposed, the Biden American Families Plan would create a national comprehensive paid family/medical leave to "guarantee twelve weeks of paid parental, family, and personal illness/safe leave by year 10 of the program, and also ensure workers get three days of bereavement leave per year starting in year one. The program will provide workers up to $4,000 a month, with a minimum of two-thirds of average weekly wages replaced, rising to 80 percent for the lowest-wage workers." Importantly, this wage replacement would come through a national program not from the employer.

It's shameful paid family/medical leave is stuck in limbo. It doesn't have to be this way. We can become a healthier, more economically secure nation by taking this policy off the political ventilator and passing it. We need all holdout lawmakers to read the room: Paid family/medical leave is hugely popular among Republican and Democratic voters alike.

We also shouldn't overlook that passing the policy -- especially in ways that include progressive wage replacement, job protection, non-discrimination protections and morewill help address systemic inequalities. Importantly, research shows passing paid family/medical leave for people of all genders and advancing childcare together could help stop the extreme wage and hiring discrimination moms face, and moms of color face in a compounded way due to structural racism.

Pay parity would add $512.6 billion to our national economy since women make the majority of consumer purchasing decisions in our consumer-fueled economy. In fact, a recent study found finally building a care infrastructure -- including paid family/medical leave, childcare, home- and community-based services, and living wages and a path to citizenship for care workers -- would boost our nation's long-term GDP growth by 1 to 1.5 percentage points, according to Moody's.

Businesses are helped too, because with paid family/medical leave, they would no longer need to carry the cost alone when an employee must go on paid leave. Further, having the policy in place reduces recruitment and retraining costs while raising employee productivity. Taxpayers benefit as well: Studies in California, which adopted paid family/medical leave years ago, show a 40% lower need for food stamps when paid family/medical leave is available.

So, what are we waiting for? It's a no-brainer.

Moms and caregivers fight every day for our families to thrive, and we beat expectations again and again. The reason we are so close to passing paid family/medical leave in the first place is because moms, dads, and caregivers have been turning out to vote and raising their voices for years. And while the headlines show we have some powerful elected leaders still fighting for paid family/medical leave right now, we all also still clearly need to do some more political CPR for this crucial policy to back them up.

The message people should give to their representatives in Congress: Don't delay on passing paid family/medical leave. Tell them to bring it to life by passing it immediately. The fight is still on!

The-CNN-Wire

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KNOX COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - A woman is facing charges in Knox County after police said a woman was busted speeding in a stolen car.

It all started on Friday around 9 P.M. when Indiana State Police said they pulled over a Dodge Charger on U.S. 41 after it was going 107 mph.

Police said the driver of the speeding car was 41-year-old Peggy Gallegos, of Lenoir City, TN.

Gallegos allegedly appeared to show signs of impairment and failed a field sobriety test. Police ultimately believe she was under the influence of amphetamines.

The Charger Gallegos was driving was reported stolen out of Tennessee.

Gallegos is in the Knox County Jail facing charges of:
The pandemic has made problems for countless industries, but cannabis isn't one of them. Sales are expected to top $26 billion this year and will probably keep growing from there.

Here's what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

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1. Congress

Congress has headed out for the week without officially coming to an agreement about either the Democratic spending bill or the bipartisan infrastructure bill despite enormous pressure to seal some deals before President Biden's European trip. Before leaving, Biden tried to make a case for his significantly scaled-back economic bill, with a new price tag of $1.75 trillion. (Here's exactly what's in the bill.) Progressives signaled they support the framework but want the two bills to move together. That can't happen yet because the spending bill isn't fully written out. This resistance resulted in a delay of a House vote on the Senate-passed infrastructure bill. However, the House did pass an extension on transportation funding that was due to run out Sunday. They now have until December to vote before the funding lapses again, but Democratic leaders hope to have the larger bill done by then.

2. Facebook

Facebook is changing its company name to ... Meta. Facebook will still exist, of course, but only as one product under the larger company umbrella. The rebranding signals the company's growing interest in the "metaverse," which would combine virtual and augmented reality into a new kind of online realm. It could also help distract from growing criticism about the impact of its social media platforms. CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement during, appropriately, a virtual reality and augmented reality conference. He also teased new social, gaming and workplace concepts for the metaverse, illustrating what the concept may offer. Still, the release of internal documents and discussions about regulation loom large over the social media giant. In response to the Facebook Papers, Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert has called for companies to join an ad boycott to pressure Facebook to fix its platforms.

3. Capitol riot

Members of the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot are losing patience with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and may resort to charges of criminal contempt to get him to appear. Meadows was first subpoenaed more than a month ago and has since tried to negotiate the terms of his turning over documents and appearing for a deposition. Members could extend the deadline for him to appear before the committee, but at some point, his noncompliance could undermine their efforts. They could vote to hold him in contempt, like they did with former President Trump ally Stephen Bannon. The committee is interested in Meadows' testimony because of how close he was to Trump and his insight into how much Trump knew before the attack.

4. Coronavirus

New cases of Covid-19 are down 60% in the US since the peak of the Delta variant-driven wave in September. They're even farther down from the country's worst pandemic phase in mid-January. Experts are cautious about saying the worst is over, especially since similar optimism over the summer was quashed by another surge. The biggest challenge right now, besides lagging vaccination rates, is upcoming colder weather and annual holiday travel and gatherings. Meanwhile, vaccine mandates are still getting a lot of pushback. Members of the New York City Fire Department gathered yesterday to protest the city's looming vaccine mandate as officials brace for possible mass staffing shortages.

5. Israel

Israel's plan to green-light thousands of new Israeli housing units in the West Bank is drawing international criticism. Such settlements are illegal under international law because both the West Bank and East Jerusalem are considered occupied territory -- which Israel disputes. Twelve European countries yesterday urged Israel to "reverse its decision." The US and the UK also issued strong disagreements with the plan. The US State Department said the plan to build new West Bank housing goes against efforts to lower tensions in the politically fraught area. This disagreement could further fray relations between the Biden administration and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. However, the Israeli government is expected to attempt to smooth over the situation by also announcing new settlements for Palestinians in the same area.

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THIS JUST IN ...

Biden has arrived at the Vatican for his meeting with Pope Francis ahead of this weekend's G20 Summit in Rome. Biden is the United States' second Catholic president, so the meeting will be laden with meaning.

QUIZ TIME

"Lycanthrope" is another word for what familiar fantasy figure?

A. a vampire

B. a ghost

C. a demon

D. a werewolf

Take CNN's new Halloween quiz to see if you're correct!

TODAY'S QUOTE

"The camera doesn't lie."

Sherri Belton Hardeman, a juror in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the ex-officer convicted of the murder of George Floyd. Jurors have been sharing their experiences, including what it was like having to watch videos of Floyd's last moments.

TODAY'S WEATHER

Check your local forecast here>>>

AND FINALLY

Trick or treat!

Let's kick off a great Halloweekend with some zoo animals going to town on spooky treats. (Click here to view.)

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Coming from a law enforcement family, I never had issues with police in my life  not even a traffic ticket. As the first Hispanic woman elected to the City Council of Castle Hills, Texas, and having lived here for 20 years, my campaign issue was fair treatment for everyone, not just the well-connected.

I was so happy when I won in 2019. Little did I know that soon after, crooked politicians and their friends would use the power of the government to violate my constitutional rights by removing me from office, and even throwing me in jail, because city officials didnt like being criticized for doing bad work.

That's not the end of my story, however. Because of the obscure and immoral judge-created doctrine of qualified immunity, my efforts to enforce my First and 14th Amendment rights have been thwarted by excessive delays.

Sylvia Gonzalez was harassed by local government officials for raising concerns about a city manager. She may not even be able to get her day in court because of the obscure doctrine of qualified immunity. The Institute for Justice is representing her on November 3, 2021, at the United States Court of Appeals in New Orleans. (Photo: Institute for Justice)

My story: They didn't like what I was saying.

During my campaign in 2019, I visited and spoke with residents in more than 500 households and listened to their frustrations and complaints about City Manager Ryan Rapelye.

After the election, a few people who were unhappy with the results circulated an online petition supporting Rapelye and got about 150 signatures. This upset people who had voted for me, and they began to ask us to circulate a petition to reflect their concerns.

At my first council meeting, the petition was turned in to the mayor, who didn't distribute the petition to the city secretary, as required, so copies could be made for all council members.

As the meeting was about to start, the city attorney told me I was no longer on the council because the sheriff, who had read me my oath at the council meeting, was not qualified to swear me in.

Qualified immunity: Supreme Court just doubled down on flawed qualified immunity rule. Why that matters.

No one had voiced a problem at the time of the swearing-in ceremony, which was attended by the city attorney, the mayor and the entire City Council. A previous sheriff had also sworn in other council members with no issue.

Story continues

It was clear I was being harassed for doing my job on the council to report on the community's frustrations with the city manager, who was obviously well-connected.

The harassment continued, and worsened.

In the July-August city newsletter, The Castle Hills Reporter, which is mailed to all residents and businesses in the city, Councilman Skip McCormick wrote an article describing how a City Council member could be removed from office. He said they could be convicted of a crime or by filing of a lawsuit against the council member, which sets up a jury trial  a blueprint for what ended up happening to me.

With the help of friends, I hired an attorney and filed with the county court to get my City Council seat back. On July 18, a neighbor called early in the morning and told my husband that the sheriff's deputies were about to serve me with an arrest warrant. After turning myself in at the detention center (where I spent the day in handcuffs), I discovered that the crime I was accused of  by the mayor  was "tampering with governmental record."

Qualified immunity: He was asleep in his car. Police woke him up and created a reason to kill him.

Sylvia Gonzalez's criminal report from Bexar County Pretrial Services

The elaborate setup by cronies of the city manager was all over the news. I did nothing criminal, and the district attorney dismissed the charge that had been brought against me.

I had to spend my own money to locate and hire a criminal defense attorney. Meanwhile, a Castle Hills police officer visited the homes of the people who had signed the petition.

I dropped the civil case because I couldn't afford it. My attorney sued for compensation of all the money I had to spend, and to be paid back for what they put me through. The matter was dismissed Sept. 29 by the 4th Court of Appeals.

USA TODAY Opinion Series: Faces, victims, issues of qualified immunity

The Institute for Justice agreed to file a federal lawsuit against the city of Castle Hills and had a hearing before U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra. The individual defendants requested that the suit be dismissed on the basis of qualified immunity, a doctrine that was intended to keep police and other government officials from being punished for reasonable acts while on the job, but which has ended up precluding plaintiffs from money damages to which they are legally entitled.

Judge Ezra denied the individual defendants qualified immunity, allowing my case to move forward. The city appealed this ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans, where we will meet Wednesday.

The mayor and his allies broke the law, violated the U.S. Constitution, ignored the people who voted for me and nowpleadqualified immunity to avoid responsibility. My civil rights were denied because I did not receive equal treatment under the law and my right to freedom of speech was violated. I was arrested and thrown in jail because the city officials who didnt like the criticism against them decided their best move was to silence me. The right to disagree with the government is the very essence of our democracy, and I was punished for exercising my right to do so.

Despite the extreme stress, I believe it is my duty to stand up to try to ensure that others are not silenced the way I was.

Qualified immunity must end. We must strive to hold government accountable, no matter how big or how small, and no matter whose rights have been violated.

Sylvia Gonzalez is a former city councilwoman of Castle Hills, Texas. She was the city's first Hispanic councilwoman and is the daughter of a retired police officer.

This column is part of a series by the USA TODAY Opinion team examining the issue of qualified immunity. The project is made possible in part by a grant from Stand Together. Stand Together does not provide editorial input.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas put me in jail to keep me quiet. Qualified immunity is immoral.
Jim Bob Duggar is pursuing a career in politics.

The 19 Kids and Counting alum announced he will run for Arkansas State Senate District 7 on Friday, Oct. 29, writing on the family's Facebook profile that they are "excited to share this big announcement with you!"

In Jim Bob's formal statement, the reality star stated in part that he's running out of the belief that "it's important to us to give back and to help others in every way we can."

"Now more than ever, we need a bold voice that is pro-family, pro-business, pro-gun and pro-life," the 56-year-old father of 20 continued. "It's time for conservatives to demand courageous leadership that puts Arkansas families, jobs, and our constitutional liberties first. I look forward to being your voice in the Arkansas State Senate."

Jim Bob previously served in the Arkansas House of Representatives for four years before he lost in the 2002 election to Bill Pritchard.

The Complete Duggar Family Tree

KNWA News shared the announcement in an Instagram post, where Derick Dillard, Jill Duggar's husband, commented with a mysterious thinking emoji.

E! News reached out to Derick's rep for comment.

Peter Kramer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Jill and Derick quietly began distancing themselves from the rest of the Duggar family in 2017, telling People last year that they realized, "Our control to choose what jobs we were allowed to accept and even where we were allowed to live was taken away from us."

At the time, Jill and Derick expressed that they didn't "expect this to happen," nor did they want to be estranged from the family. "But I'm realizing I can't put a timeline on healing," she added.

D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra

Then, in April, Josh Duggar was arrested by the FBI on charges of receiving and possessing material that depicted children being sexually abused. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bail with conditions in May.

"We intend to defend this case aggressively and thoroughly," Josh's attorneys said in May. "In this country, no one can stop prosecutors from charging a crime. But when you're accused, you can fight back in the courtroomand that is exactly what Josh intends to do."

Story continues

Following the April arrest, Jill and Derick described the accusations as "very sad" to E! News.

Jill was named as one of Josh's alleged molestation victims, along with sister Jessa, during a family sit-down with Megyn Kelly in 2015.

Washington County AR Sheriff department

Once Josh was arrested, their other sister Jinger wrote in a separate statement, "We are disturbed to hear of the charges against Josh. While the case must go through the legal system, we want to make it clear that we absolutely condemn any form of child abuse and fully support the authorities and judicial process in their pursuit of justice."

Jim Bob and wife Michelle also spoke out in the wake of their son's arrest. "The accusations brought against Joshua today are very serious," they said in part. "It is our prayer that the truth, no matter what it is, will come to light, and that this will all be resolved in a timely manner. We love Josh and Anna and continue to pray for their family."

TLC went on to cancel the show Counting On in June, explaining in a statement, "TLC feels it is important to give the Duggar family the opportunity to address their situation privately."

For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
owl

Zoo Zurich/Facebook

Owls absent from the skies and trees of Austria for decades could be making a comeback.

Three rare Ural owls recently arrived at the Zurich Zoo in Switzerland. The nocturnal birds once plentiful in Austria have been considered extinct in the European country since the mid-20th century, according to Zenger News.

For the past ten years, the Zurich Zoo has been working to reintroduce the Ural owl to Austria. Their three new Ural owl residents are a way for the facility to step up "its commitment to protecting the species" and helping the birds return to one of their native habitats.

According to the Zurich Zoo's Facebook page, their three Ural owls consist of one male and two females. In a post, the Swiss zoo shared that they are optimistic that the owls will have offspring, which "will hopefully contribute to conservation" of the species.

RELATED: Tiny Owl Found Stuck in the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Released Back into the Wild

Ural owls are known for being silent hunters, per Zenger News. The birds can stealthily sneak up on prey without being heard thanks to their velvety, frayed-edge feathers and slow flight.

According to the IUCN Red List, while there are currently no wild Ural owls in Austria, the birds can be found throughout Russia and in numerous European countries, including Finland, Sweden, and Poland. It is estimated that over 350,000 Ural owls are living in the wild.
Ah, Thanksgiving. Is there any other meal during the year so freighted with expectations and so fraught with potential pitfalls? Nope. Not even close.

Think unruly children, extended day drinking, high-handed dietary restrictions, compulsory nostalgia, and relatives who love the stir created by divisive political topics, like a cat among the pigeons. And never mind the generalized turkey terror of shopping, cooking and hosting.

We can't help you with your family (or their drinking habits), but we can make planning and preparing the meal easier. We consulted the Associated Press, Food Network, the USDA and other sources to prepare this guide to Thanksgiving math: how much food to buy, how long to cook it, how to store it properly.

It's Thanksgiving by the numbers.

Plan for 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of turkey per person on Thanksgiving.

BIG BIRD

The rule of Thanksgiving thumb is to allow 1 pound of turkey meat per person. Want leftovers (or serving big appetites)? Allow 1 1/2 pounds. The following guide accounts for meat and bone weight:

For 8 people, buy a 12-pound turkey

For 10 people, buy a 15-pound turkey

For 12 people, buy an 18-pound turkey

For 14 people, buy a 20-pound turkey

LITTLE BIRD

If you're not cooking for a crowd, make a bone-in turkey breast. A 5- to 7-pound breast feeds about 4.

The USDA recommends thawing a frozen turkey in the refrigerator over several days.

THAWING OUT

To thaw a frozen turkey in the refrigerator, the USDA-recommended method, allow about 24 hours for each 4 to 5 pounds of turkey. You also can submerge the bird in a sink of cold water to thaw, changing the water every 30 minutes and thawing at the rate of 30 minutes per pound.

THE BRINE

A brine uses kosher salt and sugar in a 1-to-1 ratio, usually no more than 1 cup each. Feel free to add other seasonings. Brines typically are made by heating the salt, sugar and seasonings with a bit of water until dissolved.

This mixture then is diluted with additional cold water (volume will vary depending on the size of your bird) and ice. The brine must be completely cooled before adding the turkey.

Turkeys should be brined for at least 8 to 10 hours, up to 72 hours. The longer you plan to brine the bird, the weaker you should make the brine. So, for a 10-hour soak, use 1 cup each of salt and sugar. For longer, consider reducing to 3/4 cup each.

Story continues

Always keep the bird refrigerated during brining. If the turkey is too big, an ice-filled cooler works, too.

SALTY RUB

Don't have the time or patience to brine? Try salting instead. In fact, plenty of folks say salting a turkey produces meat with far better flavor than brining.

Set the turkey on a platter, then rub a generous amount of kosher salt on all surfaces. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. When you're ready to roast, rinse the salt from the turkey, pat it dry and place it in the oven.

ROASTING

Roasting times and temperatures vary widely by recipe. For instance, this recipe starts the bird at high heat and finishes it at a lower temperature.

However you roast, it's essential the meat is cooked to a minimum safe internal temperature of 165 F. To measure, insert a digital instant-read thermometer in the inner portion of a turkey thigh without touching bone.

Always use a digital instant-read food thermometer, not a pop-up thermometer, to determine if turkey has reached a safe internal temperature.

Never rely on the pop-up thermometers that come with some turkeys. Their readings are inaccurate.

The following guide is for an unstuffed bird cooked at 325 F in a standard oven.

8- to 12-pound turkey: 2 3/4 to 3 hours

12- to 14-pound turkey: 3 to 3/4 hours

14- to 18-pound turkey: 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 hours

18- to 20-pound turkey: 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 hours

20- to 24-pound turkey: 4 1/2 to 5 hours

Convections ovens require some heating and timing adjustments. Either reduce the recipe temperature by 25 F and cook as directed, or roast at the recipe temperature and cut cooking time by 25 percent.

LET IT REST

After the turkey emerges from the oven, it needs to rest 20 to 30 minutes before carving so the juices redistribute. To keep the bird warm, tent it with foil, then layer on some kitchen towels.

A 9-inch Thanksgivine pie will serve 6 to 8 people.

ON THE SIDE

Carrots: A 1-pound bag makes 4 to 5 servings

Cheese: Serve 2 ounces per person as a pre-meal nibble

Cranberry sauce: Make about 1/3 to 1/2 cup cranberry sauce per person

Gravy: Plan for 1/3 cup gravy per person, with 1 extra cup for every 6 people

Green beans: 1 1/2 pounds of beans makes 6 to 8 servings

Mashed potatoes: Make at least 3/4 cup per person

Rolls: Figure on about 2 rolls (or cornbread slices) per person

Pie: A 9-inch pie feeds about 6 to 8

Stuffing: Prepare at least 3/4 cup stuffing per person, plus an extra batch

LEFTOVERS

Refrigerate leftovers within two hours to prevent bacteria growth. Store leftovers in shallow containers to decrease cooling time, thus reducing the time food spends in the unsafe range (40 F to 140 F).

Stuffing and other Thanksgiving leftovers should be stored only three or four days in the refrigerator.

Don't eat leftovers that have been refrigerated longer than 3 to 4 days. Freeze food to store it longer.

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Thanksgiving dinner guide: When to start thawing, how to brine, more
The Day of the Dead is an ancient tradition. It extends throughout Mexico and various Latin American countries. Its a festivity listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage with different influencesincluding European ones that has one purpose: During one or several days, we remember those who are no longer with us.

Photographed by Enrique Leyva

The origin of the Day of the Dead cannot be located in a single place in Mexico. The consensus among historians is that the traditions dedicated to the deceased date back to pre-Hispanic times. More than two thousand years ago, various cultures ranging from the Mexica to the Zapotec worshipped death, sending off those who passed to Mictlan, the Aztec underworld containing the nine circles of Hell that souls must go through until they reach peace.

Photographed by Enrique Leyva

The pre-Hispanic ritual of sending off the dead included sacrifices and offerings for them to carry during their journey. Specialists have also discovered that in Europe tributes were offered to anonymous martyrs as well. The Conquest of Mexico generated an interesting cultural fusion: Catholic images mixed with pre-Hispanic elements, such as skulls, copal, marigold flowers, or traditional food that varies based on the region where the altar is placed.

Photographed by Enrique Leyva

Among the elements that distinguish the Day of the Dead is the classic bread of the dead, which highlights the ancestral gastronomic knowledge of countless regions, with the flavor and style of a piece varying according to the place where its made. The traditional design, with sugary bones and a circular shape at the center, also has a colonial originit symbolizes the human sacrifices that were made in pre-Hispanic cultures. The bone-like figures represent the extremities, and the circumference represents the head or heart, depending on the legend.

Why is death celebrated with folklore in Mexico? It is the end of one cycle and, within the ancestral worldview, the beginning of another. Those who leave want to be remembered with joy, as a traditional song from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, La Martiniana, says, Dont cry, no. Because if you cry, I suffer. Whereas, if you sing to me, I always live and never die. Mexican homes receive their departed loved ones every year with marigold flowers, papel picado, the scent of copal and traditional food such as mole, fruits and bread.

Story continues

Photographed by Enrique Leyva

How is the Day of the Dead celebrated in Oaxaca?

Cuul, mam, guquin yuvituu te cop niss wuvadauu naa rivees yubitu con dunuun, says Viviana Alavez in her native Zapotec language. It means Grandfather, grandmother, have a glass of mezcal now that you are with us. The copal resins, which have already been fused with the incandescent coal, cause a smoky and aromatic effect that announces the arrival of those who have left, but who return every November 1st and 2nd to the homes of those who remember them. Viviana, along with her daughters-in-law, Petra and Guillermina, line up the chairs where relatives and acquaintances will sit and visit the altar built in the main room for worshipping saints, which is located in their house/workshop in Teotitlan del Valle, in the state of Oaxaca, southeast of Mexico. Itzel Bibiana, her granddaughter, sets out the mats on which the souls will rest in order to enjoy the banquet that has been prepared in their honor. Yellow tamales wrapped in corn husks, the traditional bread of the dead, fruits, chocolate-atole, and livers with egg are just some of the foods that are specifically cooked to rejoice the souls that return. Now, on November 1st, we just have to wait for the church bells to chime at 3:00 p.m., for the fireworks, and for that slightly cold wind that announces that it is time to open the doors of the house to let them in.

In Santa Maria Atzompa, Valles Centrales, the Ruiz Lopez sisters orchestrate a parade of flowers that soon illuminate the family altar with color: Yellow marigold flowers and lush rooster combs in fiery red, give light to the deceased, illuminating their path, explains Rufina, a teacher. The white Calla Lilies signifies the purification of the soul and the purple flowers emphasize mournings. Underneath the staircase-shaped structure and behind the yellow petals, there is a rug that captures the deadly image of the feathered dancers face, a character from one of the main Oaxacan folk dances. It is outlined by rice seeds and decorated with red corn kernels, beans, lentils, and pumpkin seeds, which also offer a tribute to Mother Earth, who feeds us. Under the pottery tradition that surrounds the Ruiz Lopez space, there are two clay skulls illuminated with candles that join the light and invite the contemplation of life beyond death.

Inside her house, Esperanza Deyanira Aquino Pineda, La Teca, opens her old trunk. From it she extracts a cap embroidered with white flowers that stand out on her deep black huipil and skirt. The striking outfit is adorned with earrings and a gold necklace worked in the traditional Isthmian filigree technique. She places the last details on the altara majestic installation of seven steps, the phases of life that guide all human beings, says Deyanirawhich is crowned with the Virgin of Guadalupe under an arch of banana leaves. The traditional Isthmian jicalpextles overflow with chips, cheese, and dried shrimp, and rival in color the marquesote decorated with fretwork motifs and the names of the deceased. There, the conversation between the living and the dead is tinted with rich colors and a complexity of aromas and flavors, but always foregrounds worship and devotion, since it is a moment of reflection for those of us who remain alive, responds the La Teca.

Photographed by Enrique Leyva

Photographed by Enrique Leyva

Uveira Cruz Soriano is the matriarch of the Ortiz Cruz family, a lineage that comes from the high and low Mixtec region of Oaxaca. In this family, the setting of the altar of the dead strengthens generational ties. Grandparents, children, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren make communion in a tradition as deeply embedded as the roots of the Mixtec maguey, and agave plant. Curiously enough, the roots of the maguey are the material in which the image of the Virgin of Juquila (standing out from the family altar honoring Mrs. Uverias brother, her daughters-in-laws aunts and grandmothers, and her parents-in-law) is carved. Her husbands family is responsible for providing the main dish of the offering: A light stew made of olives, served with a piece of chicken and white rice. This dish starts the party, like in any Oaxacan home, which reflects who we are in an authentic way, emphasizes Mrs. Uveira, who uses the memories of her father-in-law to bring back conversations and to give them music with melodies that the honored deceased enjoyed, while awaiting their arrival on November 1st.

Long braids, high-flying skirts, and flower baskets are carried as banners of pride on their heads, which are some of the characteristics that distinguish the Chinas Oaxaquenas. The particularities of the aesthetics of these hurdlers wouldnt have been possible without the inspiration of their founder, Dona Genoveva Medina, who dedicated most of her life to carrying on this traditional dance, and the identity of her beloved Chinas. Within the framework of the Day of the Dead festivities, the rainbow of hues in the flowers is replaced by the majestic yellow of the marigold flowers. Simultaneously, the color of the skirts of the Chinas Oaxaquenas is changed to black, to represent mourning and respect for those who have already left but who continue to enjoyalong with usthe traditional sounds with which the beautiful dancers start off the festivities in the city of Oaxaca de Juarez: The wish that Dona Genoveva, undoubtedly, would have wanted to never be forgotten.

Photographed by Enrique Leyva

Photographed by Enrique Leyva

The temperature of the oven provides a warm environment for the preparation of various doughs and ingredients that produce breads of popular tradition. However, during the Day of the Dead there is one that stands out for its deep meaning on Oaxacan tables and altars: the bread of the dead. Dona Dionicia Aldeco Alejandrez, born in San Juan Tonaltepec, Oaxaca, learned the art of breadmaking through her husband. In her mastery acquired through decades of breadmaking, she keeps that recipe not written in her mind, but actually always present in this holiday through the making. Talking about the bread of the dead in Oaxaca implies a diversity as extensive as its communities, since each one of them makes the bread in different ways according to their traditions. However, for Dona Dioni the recipe translates into a know-how that implies respect for those who buy it and those who prepare it for the family. The elements that are mixed in this baking alchemy are eggs, wheat flour, water, butter, sugar, salt, anise, butter, and her favorite ingredient, cinnamon. The next step is to sprinkle them with sesame seedsA lot of sesame, as they like it here in the valley! blurts out Dona Dionicrown them with the colorful faces of saints in crumbs, and then put them into the oven, remove them carefully, and enjoy them by dipping them by chunks in hot chocolate, a pleasure that delights both the living and the dead.

Photographed by Enrique Leyva

Photographed by Enrique Leyva

DP: Arturo Lavariega Creative Director: Enrique Torres Meixueiro Vogue Editors: Atenea Morales, Cristina Chamorro

Translated by Paulina Carvajal y Thalia Henao. Edited by Alejandra Cuevas, Chloe Schama.

Originally Appeared on Vogue
A mother from Florida says she was told she could no longer volunteer at her children's elementary school due to having an OnlyFans page.

During a press conference this week, mom Victoria Triece told reporters that a parent at her children's school alerted staff to her account on OnlyFans, the subscription service that has become popular thanks to its user-generated adult content.

Triece  whose children are ages 5 and 10  said she regularly helps organize activities at the school but claims she was banned after the unidentified parent sent images from her subscription-only page to administrators.

"Nobody has the right to judge what other people do for a living," 30-year-old Triece said, according to WESH. "I feel judged, and so isolated."

Triece was accompanied by her attorney, Mark NeJame, who said they plan to sue the school district for at least $1 million.

Neither NeJames nor the district, Orange County Public Schools, immediately responded to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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RELATED: Husband and Wife OnlyFans Team Make $500K a Month as App Announces Porn Ban: 'We Want to Stay'

"I was humiliated, and I should not, and no one else should be concerned about what another parent does," Triece explained. "I just love spending time with my kids and I have a great relationship with other parents and students."

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Triece alleges school officials told her she could no longer volunteer with the children on Oct. 13. However, she says she was never given a formal letter stating the decision.

Triece, who has been a member of OnlyFans for two years, said she has since received support from other parents at the school.

RELATED VIDEO: Mom Who Makes $150K a Month from OnlyFans Says Catholic School Expelled Her 3 Sons Because of Her Page

"One minute of my job a day is not my whole life, it's not my life of being a mom or being a parent," she told reporters.

Story continues

"I think everybody's just floored," she added, "because they're like, 'We know you, we know who you are.'"

RELATED: OnlyFans Reverses Pornography Ban After Intense Backlash: Platform 'Stands for Inclusion'

OnlyFans has been a source of controversy for other mothers with children in grade school. Mom Crystal Jackson of California told PEOPLE earlier this year that her three sons were kicked out of their Catholic school when administrators found out about her OnlyFans account.

Along with her husband, Jackson said she makes $500,000 a month from the subscription page.

According to WFLA, Triece claims school officials contacted her after they heard of the lawsuit and told her she could join field trips, but could only chaperone her children.
caitriona-balfe.jpg

Venturelli/WireImage

Caitriona Balfe's life is now imitating her art.

The actress, 42, discussed her upcoming coming-of-age dramedy Belfast during an interview with Variety, including how her role influenced her decision to become a mom. In the film, Balfe plays the mother of a young boy amid the unrest in Northern Ireland in the 1960s.

She said it was "not long after" she wrapped shooting the movie that she found out she was going to become a mother in real life, too.

"I decided I was having so much fun playing a mother, I would just go for it," she joked, adding that she thoroughly enjoyed spending time with some of the child actors on set  including Jude Hill, Lewis McAskie, and Lara McDonnell.

She continued, "They're just the most amazing kids, their mums were so cool, I was in a bubble with them and I think it sort of gives you a kick just to be like 'I'll do it. Why not?' "

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Balfe announced in August that she and her husband, music producer Tony McGill, had welcomed their first child together.

"I've been off socials for a while as I was taking some time to enjoy cooking up this little human . We are so grateful for this little soul .that he chose us as his parents," she wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the infant's hand holding her finger. "I'm in awe of him already and can't help stare and wonder at all the possibilities of who he will become, where he will go and what he'll do on the big adventure of his life."

RELATED: Caitriona Balfe Reveals Exactly Who Is Keeping Her from Falling in Love with Outlander Costar Sam Heughan

Balfe and McGill tied the knot in 2019 at St. Mary's Church in Bruton, Somerset, in the United Kingdom.

The Irish actress revealed exclusively to PEOPLE during the 2018 Golden Globes  where she was nominated for best performance by an actress for Outlander  that McGill had popped the question after two years of dating.

"It happened over the break. I'm very happy," she told PEOPLE as she showed off her new sparkler at the awards show.
A Santa Fe County Sheriff's deputy briefly talks with a security guard at the entrance to the Bonanza Creek Ranch  where

More than a week after the shooting on the Rust film set in New Mexico, details continue to trickle out explaining how actor Alec Baldwin wound up with a loaded gun in his hand.

Police have yet to conclude the investigation, but one element has become clear: Several people repeatedly mishandled the firearm that killed director of photography Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.

A small set of simple rules dictates how to handle firearms safely: Always know if the gun is loaded. Keep the barrel pointed in a safe direction. Never point a gun at anything youre not willing to destroy. Know your target and what lies beyond it.

Those rules exist because humans are prone to error, but guns reliably fire when the operator pulls the trigger. With a swipe of his arm, Baldwin broke all four. And the people charged with handling guns on the set broke several more, all but ensuring that the weapon would morph from a prop into a dangerous liability.

You had to have more than one safety measure fail for that to happen, Doug McQuarrie, a former NAVY Seal whos helped bring firearm scenes to life on several film sets, told HuffPost.

If Baldwin were anyone other than an actor, the shooting on the set of Rust would be an obvious case of negligence. But he wasnt alone in mishandling the weapon.

The inexperienced armorer in charge of the weapon, the assistant director who grabbed the gun and shouted cold, and crew members who reportedly took it for a round of target shooting all played some part in a long chain of compounding irresponsibility that led to a negligent discharge in an industry that portrays gun battles as a matter of routine  usually without incident.

HuffPost spoke with firearms experts, including three with wide experience working on film sets, and reviewed public documents to understand what went wrong. While the investigation has yet to conclude and many details remain unknown, all agreed that several overlapping problems led to the fatal shot. And some suspect that Baldwin himself may own a share of the blame for mishandling a loaded weapon during rehearsal.

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The rules are there, Bill Davis, a former police officer and armorer with two decades of experience, told HuffPost. You follow them, you wont have a problem. If you dont follow them, you will. The safety protocols are only as good as the people observing them.

Baldwin Should Not Have Handled A Real Gun

The confusion around the shooting revolves partly around the distinction between a gun and a prop gun. Prop guns are typically modified to fire only blanks, often through a plugged barrel. Baldwin didnt fire a prop gun in anything but a euphemistic sense. He pulled the trigger on a .45 revolver and it fired a projectile, almost certainly a bullet. It wasnt just a prop. It was a gun.

That shouldnt have happened for at least two reasons. First, live rounds  cartridges that fire a bullet  arent typically allowed on movie sets. But among the 500 rounds confiscated from the set, police found fake cartridges, blanks and live ammo. No one consulted by HuffPost could imagine a scenario where that made sense.

I was absolutely shocked to hear that there were live rounds, McQuarrie said. Ive never seen that on a set.

Alec Baldwin speaks on the phone in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office on Oct. 21 after he was questioned about the shooting. (Photo: via Associated Press)

And in the situation Baldwin was handling the revolver, prop masters said he shouldnt have used a real gun. The filmmakers werent shooting a scene at the time. Instead, Baldwin was rehearsing the movement that would eventually make it into the scene, a practice known in the industry as blocking.

Blocking rehearsals typically require neither a hot gun loaded with blanks nor an unloaded cold gun, but a dummy gun  usually made of rubber or plastic and incapable of holding cartridges or firing bullets.

Police recovered three different revolvers from the shooting scene, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Wednesday: a fully functioning .45 revolver, a gun with modification to the cylinder likely making it capable of firing only blanks, and a plastic gun.

Live Rounds Shouldnt Have Made It Into The Gun

Even if there were live rounds on the set, they shouldnt have made it into the gun. Blanks are easy to tell from live rounds, because no bullet pokes out from the casing.

Film sets dont appear to have universal standards for loading guns with blanks or demonstrating that they are unloaded. But most agreed that the armorer holds supreme authority of firearms used in movies, followed by other prop masters and technical consultants. That makes the chain of custody simple: Only the armorer or actor touches it.

Ive never seen any crew allowed to touch any gun, McQuarrie said. Not ever.

On the set of Rust, however, those charged with monitoring the gun that fired the fatal shot left it out in the open. Instead of the armorer securing it, crew members used it to target shoot during off hours, according to news reports.

And assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun and handed it to Baldwin, when that job should have fallen to Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

Baldwin Mishandled The Gun

The chain of mishaps ended with Baldwin himself. Despite the assistant directors call that the gun was cold (meaning unloaded), police affidavits indicate it held a single live round in the cylinder.

Prop masters consulted by HuffPost disagree over whether Baldwin should have known. His reliance on the assistant directors word that the gun was unloaded flies in the face of safe firearms handling, which dictates that the first thing anyone handling a gun should do is check whether its loaded, according to Mike Cargill, a firearms instructor and owner of Central Texas Gun Works in Austin.

This is definitely negligent, Cargill told HuffPost. In the end, if youre the person holding the firearm, youre the person whos going to be held responsible.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza speaks during a press conference on Oct. 27. That day, he shared that a bullet

had been removed from director Joel Souza's shoulder and sent away for testing. (Photo: Sam Wasson via Getty Images)" data-caption="Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza speaks during a press conference on Oct. 27. That day, he shared that a bullet had been removed from director Joel Souza's shoulder and sent away for testing. (Photo: Sam Wasson via Getty Images)" data-rich-caption="Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza speaks during a press conference on Oct. 27. That day, he shared that a bullet had been removed from director Joel Souza's shoulder and sent away for testing. (Photo: Sam Wasson via Getty Images)" data-credit="Sam Wasson via Getty Images" data-credit-link-back="" />

But Hollywood appears to lack a universal standard dictating whether the actors should understand the status of the guns they handle. One said actors, by design, should rely on the expertise of the armorer. Checking the magazine or inspecting the cylinder runs the risk of disturbing the armorers work, introducing an unwelcome element of uncertainty.

I dont see any way, shape or form to blame Alec Baldwin, McQuarrie said. Hes in another world, acting. And all the other variables are being controlled by everybody else.

But at least in New York, according to prop master Lucien Charles, its standard for armorers to load firearms that will contain blanks or demonstrate that a gun is unloaded in front of at least one other person, usually the assistant director, and often with the actor who will handle the gun present.

Obviously, Mr. Baldwin should have done that with the armorer, with the assistant director standing there, Charles said. As long as everyone has an eye on it, they can make sure its safe. And the AD will know its a cold gun. Its unfortunate someone lost their life over someone not doing a safety check.

And even if the gun was unloaded, Baldwin appeared to handle it irresponsibly, some said. No one should point a gun, even if unloaded, at another person.

The cardinal rule that he broke is he pointed a the gun at a human, Davis said. Hes handled guns in a lot of movies. He should know better.

Its unclear whether Baldwin, Hannah-Gutierrez, Halls or anyone else will face criminal charges in the Rust shooting. Prosecutors are leaving all options on the table, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said this week. The 1993 shooting that killed actor Brandon Lee on the set of the film The Crow, the most similar case in an industry where firearm deaths are rare, did not result in criminal charges.

Both the Lee and Hutchins shootings appear unintentional, which helps determine prosecutors understanding.

But the strict rules governing firearm safety leave virtually no room to pardon an unintentional shot as an accident. A gun fires when a human pulls the trigger, the logic goes, making someone responsible for 100% of the rounds that fly out of the barrel.

Its culpable negligence, Davis said. Theres nothing accidental about it.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Dormzilla. A ship on land. An experiment. These are some of the labels being levied on Munger Hall, a planned dormitory at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The massive 11-story, 1.68 million-square-foot building, which billionaire investor Charlie Munger has pledged $200 million toward, would house more than 4,500 students in a structure with few windows and two entrances.

As a vice chairman at Berkshire Hathaway, Munger is well-respected for his business acumen.

But he's getting some pushback on his prowess as an amateur architect. Munger is not an architect himself, but he worked with architects on the UCSB project, he told The New York Times.

Los Angeles architect Dennis McFadden, a consultant to the university for 15 years, resigned on Oct. 5 over the project, calling the building "destructive" and "unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent and a human being," in a letter to the university's design review committee.

McFadden's resignation and letter were also covered by the Santa Barbara Independent.

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Munger Hall, an 11-story, 1.68 million-square-foot building, which billionaire investor Charlie Munger has pledged $200 million toward, would house more than 4,500 students in a structure with few windows and two entrances.

Students would live in 8-person living units that "are sealed environments with no exterior windows in the shared space or in 94% of the bedrooms," McFadden wrote. "The spaces are wholly dependent on artificial light and mechanical ventilation."

The $1.5 billion project "is a social and psychological experiment with an unknown impact on the lives and personal development of" students, he said in the letter.

Describing the planned building as a "deathtrap," news site Gizmodo imagined students living "like rats. Its unclear how accessible any emergency exits are or how robust the ventilation system is."

Munger compares the dormitory design to that of cruise ships, our version of ship architecture on land, with efficient use of space and all needed amenities, according to a project update on the university's website.

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Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger answers a question in Omaha, Neb., Monday, May 2, 2016.

The building's first floor will have classrooms and a lobby entrance. Also included: a fitness center, cafe, market, music practice space and lecture hall. The top floor will have a courtyard with a translucent roof.

Most bedrooms lacked windows in another dormitory Munger supported with a $110 million donation to the University of Michigan. Students would rather have single rooms than bedroom windows, Munger told The Wall Street Journal two years ago.

Im not a bit surprised that someone looked at it and said, What the hell is going on here? Munger told The New York Times on Friday. Whats going on here is that its going to work better than any other practical alternative.

Bedrooms will have "virtual windows that simulate daylight," said Navy Banvard, the architect on the project, said during the Oct. 5 meeting, reported the Daily Nexus, the university's newspaper.

The Munger Hall project, expected to be complete in 2025, will move forward, UCSB spokesperson Andrea Estrada told the Santa Barbara Independent, which has referred to the building as "mega-dorm" and "dormzilla."

We are delighted to be moving forward with this transformational project, Estrada said in the statement.

McFadden has not been alone in his opposition to the project, despite the university's need for more student housing. There has been additional opposition voiced about the Munger Hall project, according to a transcript of a July 2021 public hearing. One parent described the building as a warehouse for students.

"I am against this project due to its height and also the fact there are no windows to allow fresh air in for students," said UCSB student Michael McConnell. "Young people do not alway smell good. Fresh air is UNBELIEVABLY important for college students."

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Billionaire Charlie Munger criticized over massive UCSB dorm plan
Oct. 29Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, announced Friday that he is experiencing mild symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated.

He is the latest prominent state politician to contract a so-called breakthrough case of COVID-19. The top two Democrats in the Maine Senate  Senate President Troy Jackson of Allagash and Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli of Arrowsic  tested positive last month and U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent, contracted the virus in August.

In a statement, Fecteau said he got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine earlier this year and that his office is getting in touch with close contacts. He said he will work from home and does not plan to return to the State House until he has fully recovered.

The rise of the more contagious delta COVID-19 variant has led to an increase in breakthrough cases, although they are still relatively rare. Roughly 13 percent of all Maine cases since people could be fully vaccinated have been breakthrough cases, according to Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention data. There were only 716 such cases before Aug. 6.
WASHINGTON  You might have heard about President Joe Biden's plans for subsidized child care, universal pre-kindergarten and extended child tax credits.

The same goes for his proposed $555 billion to address climate change, $150 billion to boost affordable housing and the billions more for home caregiving.

Each is among the most expensive and most-discussed components of Biden's package of social services programs he proposed Thursday. But tucked inside the president's new scaled-back $1.85 trillion framework  the House bill is still 1,684 pages despite major cuts  are several lesser-known items. These range from significant funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and high-speed rail, to an emphasis on improved nutrition for school lunches.

What's in Biden's bill?: What's in Biden's latest budget offer: Climate programs and universal preschool, but no paid leave

Here are some other proposals in Biden's proposed package, which he is pushing for Democratic lawmakers to unite behind.

Big boost for HBCUs

Biden's revamped framework includes $10 billion for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving institutions  one of the few funding increases over what was proposed in the president's original $3.5 trillion reconciliation package.

The bill sets aside $3 billion for grants to support research and development infrastructure at such institutions. There's also $6 billion in Title III and Title V federal aid for HBCUs, TCUs and minority-serving institutions over the next five years, which would be five times the amount these schools currently receive from these funding streams, according to the White House.

The significant boost for HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions comes as Biden faces sharp criticism from leaders of Black colleges and universities after proposing about $2 billion for HBCUs in his initial plan.

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More: Democrats said they were all in on Black colleges. So why doesn't Biden's bill do more for HBCUs?

The campus of Fisk University, an HBCU in Nashville.

Harry Williams, president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, called the HBCU expansion "a testament" to the advocacy, the importance of HBCU institutions and the relationships with the Biden administration and Congress.

Other HBCU funding includes $1 billion proposed for improvements of agricultural facilities at HBCUs that were established by 1890 land grants and $100 million for scholarships for students pursuing agricultural careers at these schools.

$10 billion for high-speed rail

Biden's scaled-back plan would aim to accelerate the development of high-speed rail corridors around the country by providing $10 billion in grant funding to states.

The money would have to be used on projects connecting passenger trains between cities (think Los Angeles to San Francisco or Dallas to Houston).

More: Las Vegas, Nashville, Phoenix and more: Amtrak would expand, connect new cities under Joe Biden's infrastructure plan

Former President Barack Obama made intercity, high-speed passenger rail a top priority during his administration, but the effort generally languished as states (which determine and oversee such projects) faced various obstacles such as funding shortfalls and construction delays.

Biden, who as a senator routinely rode Amtrak between his home state of Delaware and Capitol Hill, has touted the expansion of passenger rail as a way to reduce carbon emissions from cars.

School lunches and nutrition

Biden's bill would expand free meals at public schools to an additional 8.7 million low-income students during the school year under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.

More than 30 million students currently qualify for the program.

It would also provide a benefit of $65 per child per month for low-income families to purchase meals during the summer. The White House estimated the summer benefit would apply to 29 million children.

More: The pandemic changed American education overnight. Some changes are here to stay.

The bill proposes $250 million for grants and incentives to states that improve the nutritional quality of school meals and reduce the availability of unhealthy foods during the school year. There's also $30 million for grants to support "scratch cooking" in which schools prepare their own meals rather than pre-assembled or processed foods. This includes funds for training, assistance and equipment. Both pools of funds were reduced significantly from Biden's original $3.5 trillion spending plan.

Federal aid to DACA students

Biden's bill would expand eligibility of federal student aid to undocumented students who were brought to the U.S. as minors.

As part of the Biden administration's push to expand Pell grants, eligibility would extend to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Biden also wants to increase the maximum size of Pell grants, which help low-income students pay for school.

Nov 12, 2019; Washington, DC, U.S.A; The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on whether the 2017 Trump administration decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is lawful. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY ORIG FILE ID: 20191112_ajw_usa_033.jpg

The federal DACA program, created in 2012 under Obama, allows nearly 650,000 young, undocumented children to live and work without fear of deportation. The children are often referred to as "Dreamers," based on the DREAM Act, legislation proposed but never passed in Congress.

"The package further unlocks the door to opportunity by expanding Pell Grant eligibility to students with DACA and Temporary Protected Status," said Sameer Gadkaree, president and CEO of the Institute for College Access & Success.

More: Biden administration takes steps to 'preserve and fortify' DACA program

However, caving to pushback from Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Biden eliminated tuition-free community college from his bill. The president also did not include a pathway to citizen for undocumented immigrants in his framework, like many advocates wanted, instead proposing $100 billion for immigration enhancements.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his proposed "Build Back Better" social spending bill in the East Room of the White House on October 28, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Money for NASA to track climate change

The bill reaffirms NASAs role as the nations lead institution tracking the effect of climate change on the planet.

The proposal includes:

$115 million to measure the planets warming, including $85 million for research and development of instruments and $30 million to analyze data.

$25 million to improve ways of fighting wildfires that have grown larger and more intense  especially in the West  as climate change has expanded.

$225 million in aeronautics research to develop sustainable aviation, which aims to reduce the carbon footprint air travel contributes to the atmosphere.

More: Urgency pervades COP26 climate change summit as US grapples with environmental justice

Firefighters watch on their fire engine as smoke rises from a wildfire Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, in Goleta, Calif. A wildfire raging through Southern California coastal mountains threatened ranches and rural homes and kept a major highway shut down Wednesday as the fire-scarred state faced a new round of dry winds that raise risk of flames. The Alisal Fire covered more than 22 square miles in the Santa Ynez Mountains west of Santa Barbara.

More IRS agents

One of the ways Biden wants to pay for his proposal is to beef up IRS enforcement, especially on the richest Americans. The plan would include nearly $45 billion over 10 years to hire thousands of agents to go after tax cheats, particularly wealthy ones.

By adding more agents, especially those trained to pursue wealthy evaders, the president believes the government can recoup as much as $400 billion in unpaid taxes.

Budget cuts over the past decade has forced the IRS to cut back audits by 60% on people making more than $1 million a year, according to the White House.

More: Can the true cost of Biden's budget plan really be 'nothing'? We take a closer look.

The result of a gutted IRS is a two-tiered tax system, where wage earners pay all the taxes they owe, but the top 1 percent evades over $160 billion per year in taxes, according to a release from the White House.

Republicans, who helped winnow the agency when they ran Congress, oppose any plan that adds thousands more agents, whom they say will end up going after middle-class taxpayers.

Democrats want to hire 80,000 new IRS agents so they can go through all your personal financial information  what you spend your money on, and what income you take in, Sen. Thom Tillis R-N.C., said on the Senate floor Thursday. Using that information, the IRS will then try to squeeze out any additional money they can from you.

Stopping drilling in ANWR

Oil and gas drilling leases for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would be canceled under the House bill.

The issue of drilling in the pristine reserve has been a battle line between environmentalists who view ANWR as one of the planets last frontiers for Polar Bears and other endangered wildlife, and energy firms who want to drill into its untapped resources. Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski had pushed for the leases which had been granted under former President Donald Trump.

ANWR spans 19.3 million acres, an area of land roughly equal in size to South Carolina, in northeast Alaska. In 1980, Congress designated more than 8 million acres within ANWR as federal wilderness while also setting aside the 1.57-million acre Coastal Plain for petroleum exploration and potential future development.

The House bill based off Biden's plan would go even further by preventing the Interior Department from issuing any oil or gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf. That would reverse a Trump plan announced in 2018 to open up 90% of the areas off the U.S. coast to oil and gas exploration in what would have been the largest single expansion of off-shore drilling activity ever proposed.

Environmentalists denounced Trumps proposal at the time, saying it would not only disturb maritime ecosystems but also increase the supply and use of fossil fuels that contribute to climate change while the president said it would help the country become energy independent.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: IRS, school lunch, HBCUs: Under-the-radar proposals in Biden's budget
Author to visit in March

As part of the Filipino Community Halls 70th anniversary celebration, the co-author of a childrens book on the life of Filipino American farmworker and labor organizer Larry Itliong will visit the Yakima Valley.

Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong was written by Dawn B. Mabalon and Gayle Romasanta in 2018. Mabalon died in a snorkeling accident shortly after the book was finished.

Romasanta went on a national tour to promote the book, but an earlier appearance in Central Washington was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her work focuses on the Filipino American experience.

Her March 2022 appearance is made possible by a sponsorship grant from the Yakima Valley Community Foundation, which hosted Fridays press conference announcing the Community Hall anniversary activities.
Yankton, SD (57078)

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Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Low near 30F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
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The investigating officer says in his affidavit filed with the court that upon arrival, he heard a woman screaming.

Since I heard the screaming, I walked into the residence through the unlocked front door, the officer wrote, noting that the screaming directed him to the front bedroom.

He says in the affidavit that when he walked through the bedroom doorway (which only had a curtain), he could see Reyes on top of the female victim with one hand around her neck and one hand around her wrist. I could see blood everywhere. The York Rescue unit also came in at that time. We determined that Mario (Reyes) was not helping (her), it appeared as if he was strangling her. Mario moved his hand from her wrist and had both hands around her neck. When this happened, she stopped screaming.

The officer pulled Reyes off the victim, according to the affidavit. When asked what happened, Reyes allegedly said, I hurt (her).

The affidavit says the officer saw a bloody knife lying on the ground next to Reyes right foot and extremely severe injuries to the womans neck. The officer said it appeared she had been stabbed multiple times. There was also blood splatter all over the room, the document says.

The victim was transported to York General Hospital and then taken by helicopter to another hospital. At the time of her transport, York Police Chief Ed Tjaden said her injuries were considered life threatening. No further information about the womans condition then or since has been released.
New Delhi: Three years after their National Award-winning film, Badhaai Ho, Junglee Pictures is all set to release its sequel Badhaai Do. The movie directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni is one of the most eagerly awaited family entertainers releasing next year.

Ever since the makers have announced the on-screen couple Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar, it has piqued curiosity among the movie buffs. The family entertainer also boasts of an ensemble cast featuring seasoned actors like Seema Pahwa, Sheeba Chadha, Lovleen Mishra, Nitish Pandey, Shashi Bhushan amongst others essaying pivotal roles taking the narrative ahead.

Building the anticipation further, the makers have now officially announced the theatrical release date of Badhaai Do on Republic Day Weekend, 2022.

Sharing the screen space for the first time, Rajkummar and Bhumi will be seen portraying interesting characters they have never played on screen before. While Raj will be essaying the role of a cop in a mahila police thana, Bhumi plays the role of a PT Teacher in the film.

Director Harshavardhan Kulkarni said, When it comes to family entertainers especially comedy films, cinema is the ideal platform as they can be enjoyed with the entire family. We are super excited to bring Badhaai Do in cinema halls on the Republic Day weekend. Its a wholesome entertainer and I really hope the audiences would enjoy watching the movie as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Amrita Pandey of Junglee Pictures echoes the same sentiment. Bringing powerhouse talents like Raj, Bhumi, Harsh and Akshat-Suman together on this movie has been truly phenomenal. We cant wait to bring this very special movie to the theatres.

Junglee Pictures Badhaai Do is directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni, written by Akshat Ghildial and Suman Adhikary. The movie is scheduled to release on Republic Day weekend.
New Delhi: The auspicious and much-loved Indian festival of lights - Diwali is knocking at the door. This year, it will be celebrated on November 4. On this special festival, Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha are prayed to, and devotees seek their blessings of abundance, prosperity, good health and wealth for the family.

It is believed that goddess Lakshmi, bestows her devotees with wealth and prosperity on this day if prayed to with utmost faith and sincerity.

Pradosh Kaal Muhurat and Lakshmi Puja Timings 2021:

Lakshmi Puja on Thursday, November 4, 2021

Lakshmi Puja Muhurat - 06:09 PM to 08:04 PM

Duration - 01 Hour 56 Mins

Pradosh Kaal - 05:34 PM to 08:10 PM

Vrishabha Kaal - 06:09 PM to 08:04 PM

Amavasya Tithi Begins - 06:03 AM on Nov 04, 2021

Amavasya Tithi Ends - 02:44 AM on Nov 05, 2021

LAKSHMI PUJA MUHURAT IN MAJOR CITIES:

06:39 PM to 08:32 PM - Pune

06:09 PM to 08:04 PM - New Delhi

06:21 PM to 08:10 PM - Chennai

06:17 PM to 08:14 PM - Jaipur

06:22 PM to 08:14 PM - Hyderabad

06:10 PM to 08:05 PM - Gurgaon

06:07 PM to 08:01 PM - Chandigarh

05:34 PM to 07:31 PM - Kolkata

06:42 PM to 08:35 PM - Mumbai

06:32 PM to 08:21 PM - Bengaluru

06:37 PM to 08:33 PM - Ahmedabad

06:08 PM to 08:04 PM - Noida

(according to drikpanchang.com)

Diwali is one of the major festivals celebrated in the country. Neighbourhoods are beautifully lit-up with lamps, hanging lights and other decorative items. Rangoli designs can be seen outside houses, flower decorations and abundant sweets are stacked up for guests.

This year precautions will be taken due to the deadly novel coronavirus pandemic. Social distancing, wearing masks, gloves add up to the routine for keeping the COVID-19 outbreak at bay.

People buy new clothes and get dressed to their ethnic best on Diwali, welcoming the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha respectively.

In the evening, Lakshmi and Ganpati Puja is performed. Moreover, the gates of the house are kept open for abundant blessings of the almighty as part of the tradition of Diwali.

LAKSHMI PUJA VIDHI AT HOME:

Finalise a spot at your home where you would like to perform the Pujan. The Mandir area in your home can also be used for performing Lakshmi Pujan.

Clean the spot with Ganga Jal (water) or plain water. Put a piece of Yellow or red cloth on a wooden platform. Put a small Rangoli made of rice flour.

Respectfully place the idol or photo of Goddess Lakshmi on the platform. Put a handful of grains on the platform rather towards the right or left of the idol or photo.

The next step will be to prepare a 'Kalash'. Fill the 'Kalash' with water, one supari, a marigold flower, coin, and rice. You also need to keep five mango leaves, which will be used in the 'Kalash'. Place an uncut coconut with is fiber protruding upward in such a manner that the mango leaves remain partly inside and partially outside-facing upward.

The next step is to prepare a traditional 'puja ki thali', comprising rice grains, which will have to be placed in a heap (not too high). Then, with the help of turmeric powder (also known as 'Haldi'), draw a lotus flower over it. Once your drawing is completed, gracefully place your beautiful Lakshmi idol over it. As is known to all, goddess Lakshmi is our supreme source of livelihood, kindly place some coins before the idol (Maa will feel happy).

According to Hindu beliefs, Lord Ganesha is invoked before any god or goddess when performing a puja or Havan. Therefore, you will also have to place a Ganpati idol on the right side of the 'Kalash' (making sure that it is the South-West direction). As per rituals in our Hindu religion, welcome the lord with putting a Haldi-Kumkum tilak on the forehead. Offer some rice grains to the Ganpati idol.

Once the Lakshmi-Ganesha idols are strategically placed, you can also seek the blessings of the god and goddess by keeping your books, pen or any such personal belonging (you feel is related to your profession). With all this done, now is the time to light the lamp.

Light a special Diwali Diya, and place it on the 'puja ki thali'. Also, with it put some more rice grains kumkum and flowers. You will also have to remember to keep aside a glass of water that will be used during the puja. Now, as you proceed to perform the pujastart with putting a 'tilak' on the 'Kalash', also apply it on a glass of water which you kept it aside for puja. Offer some flowers also.

Now starts the process of invoking the goddess. If you know how to correctly chant the Vedic mantras of Lakshmi Maasing it, if you can'tworry not. Take some flowers and rice grains in your hand, close your eyes with full devotion bow your head down before the goddess and chant her holy name. Afterward, offer the flowers and rice in your hand to the goddess.

Once the goddess is invoked, take the Lakshmi idol and put in a plate, while bathing it with water. Put the 'Panchamrit', and clean the idol again with pure water. Now, carefully clean the idol, wipe out the water and place it on the 'Kalash'.

Now is your turn to apply Haldi-Kumkum tilak to the mother goddess, and yes don't forget the rice grains. Welcome the goddess with a freshly-made garland of flowers. You can also offer some marigold and Bel. To get that aromatic feel, light up some incense sticks before the goddess.

You will then have to please the goddess offering her some sweets, as it is the festival of wonderful mithais. Place the coconut in front of the goddess. You will also have to place the supari on a supari leafagain beautifying it with some Haldi-Kumkum and rice grains. Also add some puffed rice, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds. What follows is, offering the Mother goddess your favourite Diwali mithai, fruits, money, or any precious jewellery item.

Lastly, the entire puja culminates with a Lakshmi Aarti, where everyone joins in the celebratory mood and prays to the Mother goddess together. With folded hands, we immerse ourselves before the goddess Lakshmi and in our honest askings pray for prosperity and well-being.

Close your eyes, fold your hands and immerse yourself in the bhakti of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha.

Happy Diwali everyone!
It's a Sunday and it's Halloween. The nip is in the air in most parts of the country, and even where it's not, well it's surely pleasant. If you are not into costumes and parties, today (October 31) can be a perfect day to cuddle up on your sofa or your bed, and binge watch on some good horror movies. Here are some of the films we think you can check out!

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

This film may not have been a great commercial success at the time of release but the lack of gore, a 'realistic' probability and the fact that it's loosely based on a 'true story' just makes it all the more creepy. A young happy girl's life turns to hell when it is believed that she is possessed by demons, and one Reverend Moore performs an exorcism. When the girl dies, it turns into a courtroom drama where the prosecutor argues that the girl suffered from schizophrenia, and Moore was responsible for the medical negligence. But Moore's defence lawyer has a different opinion - and what unfolds is scary as hell, given the circumstances and the happenings! Watch it.

Shutter (2008)

Based on the Thai film of the same name, this film is sure to give you the creeps. Newlywed couple Ben and Jane have just moved to Japan for a promising job opportunity. A tragic car accident and the death of a young girl lead to several horrifying revelations that might shake the very foundation of their marriage. Why does Ben have a persistent shoulder ache and what does the camera - the shutter - reveal?

Insidious (2010)

While there are three films in the franchise, and each pretty good in its own right, the scare element in the first film goes beyond a notch. The story focuses on a young boy, who enters a comatose state, not out of the free will, and becomes the vessel through which evil spirits from the realm, The Further, enters our world and cause all kinds of malevolent stuff to take place! Saying more will only spoil the fun.

Also read: Giant spider crawls out of man's mouth, freaks out internet - Watch

But who said it's only Hollywood films that you have to turn to when it comes horror films. There are some pretty good desi films too.

Raat (1992)

The critically-acclaimed Hindi-Telugu bilingual film directed by Ram Gopal Verma, this film has Revathi in the lead role and is considered one of the scariest Indian films. A family, the Sharmas, move into a new house. The death of a cat and series of incidents lead to the possession of the daughter, when the family decides to seek a priest's help. Scary as hell, indeed!

Bhoot (2003)

This is a film where Ram Gopal Verma really gets it right, again! Starring Ajay Devgn and Urmila Matondkar, the film follows a couple who have moved into a new flat, which is haunted by the spirit of its previous tenant. Soon the husband notices the wife's change in behaviour and things really start to get creepy!

Stree (2018)

This is a film that has elements of scare and its spooky moments, but it also has a strong message about feminism, without being preachy. In Chanderi town, people live under the fear of Stree, a woman's spirit who attacks the men of the area. Vicky, played by Rajkummar Rao, goes on to find out the truth behind it all. Shraddha Kapoor plays the female lead.

We can go on and on about horror films, but here are just a few of them that you can enjoy from the thousands of frightening films from the genre. We have left out several classics knowingly, as there's only that much of space. So enjoy getting spooked out and happy Halloween!

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New Delhi: Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd (Ujjivan) on Saturday said its board has approved amalgamation of the company with its subsidiary Ujjivan Small Finance Bank in order to comply with Sebi's minimum public shareholding norms.

The decision was taken based on the recommendation of the audit committee and committee of independent directors in a meeting held on Saturday, Ujjivan said in a regulatory filing.

As per the scheme of amalgamation, Ujjivan Financial Services (transferor company) will be merged with Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (transferee company), and the dissolution is to be without the winding-up of the transferor company.

The amalgamation is subject to approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), capital markets regulator Sebi, public shareholders of the companies involved, as well as the NCLT.

Ujjivan is the holding company and promoter of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB).

Ujjivan presently holds 83.32 per cent of the equity shareholding and 100 per cent of preference shareholding of Ujjivan SFB.

As per the minimum shareholding norms, the promoter's minimum initial contribution in the SFB arm should be at least 40 per cent.

If the promoter's initial shareholding in the SFB is in excess of 40 per cent, then it is to be brought down to 40 per cent within a period of five years from the date of commencement of operations of SFB.

"The aforesaid period of five years is expiring on January 31, 2022 for the transferee company (being SFB), and the proposed amalgamation among other business objectives and benefits would enable the transferee company to ensure the aforesaid compliance," Ujjivan said.

Once the scheme comes to effect, Ujjivan SFB would issue and allot to the shareholders of Ujjivan Financial Services 115 equity shares of the bank for every 10 equity shares of Ujjivan. Also Read: Aadhaar Card Update: Heres how to check if someone is misusing your Aadhaar

Ujjivan said the amalgamation would result in formation of a larger and stronger entity having greater capacity for conducting its operations more efficiently and competitively.

It will also lead to better administration and cost reduction, it added. Also Read: Big bank, LPG, WhatsApp changes to come into effect from November 1, check how youll be impacted
Mumbai: Advocate Ashutosh Dubey, legal advisor of BJP-Maharashtra Palghar district on Saturday issued a legal notice to the fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee for using "semi-naked models" for a Mangalsutra collection advertisement and hurting religious sentiments.

Dubey in his notice stated that the advertisement is totally outrageous to the entire Hindu community as well as Hindu Marriage and asked to take off the advertisement within 15 days.

"I say that in your promotional social media posts featuring models posing solo or in intimate positions with others. In one picture, a female model is seen wearing a black brassiere and Sabyasachi's mangalsutra as her head rests on a shirtless male model is totally outrageous to the entire Hindu community as well as Hindu Marriage," the read Dubey's notice.

The legal advisor to BJP further in the notice said, "The Mangalsutra symbolises that the bride and groom will be mates for life until death separates them and you are exhibiting the "Mangalsutra" in an obscene way is outrageous and baseless."

"I say that as you used "semi-naked models for a Mangalsutra ad" is outrageous it's sentiments of Hindu Marriage because the term Mangalsutra is a combination of two words mangal and sutra. The word mangal means auspicious and sutra means thread - together mangalsutra means an auspicious thread uniting the souls and the groom ties the auspicious thread around the bride`s neck on the day of their holy nuptial as the significance that their relationship would be as auspicious as the thread. It symbolises that they will be mates for life until death separates them and you are exhibiting the "Mangalsutra" in an obscene way is outrageous and baseless," he said.

He further said that a 'mangalsutra' is a symbol of marriage and the wife is meant to wear it all her life indicating the love and commitment the husband and wife have towards each other while adding that in ad campaign it has displayed semi-naked couple for a Mangalsutra ad which is outraging Hindu Marriage.

"I say that in India majority of people associate mangalsutra with a religious custom, there is also a sound scientific justification behind it. Hindu culture emphasises on wearing a mangalsutra made of pure gold and it is often advised that the mangalsutra should be hidden behind the inners and your promotional advertisement features heterosexual and same-sex couples posing for pictures wearing The Royal Bengal Mangalsutra, which is a part of the designer's intimate jewellery collection. These photos also feature models dressed in intimate apparel wearing a mangalsutra is outrageous and it is hurting religious sentiments," he added.

He further asked fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee to take back the advertisement posted on social media and to apologise to people.

"I, therefore, call upon you through this Notice that, on this holy relationship of "Hindu Marriage" by making such obscene as on "Mangalsutra" should be taken out and apologized to the public, under intimation within the period of 15 days, failing I am giving you clear instructions to publish the public statement and remove the semi-naked models for a Mangalsutra ad" or anything obscene related to holy Hindu Marriage "Mangalsutra" and apologies to public otherwise you will be fully responsible for all costs, risks, responsibilities, expenses, and consequences thereof. Please note well," he said in the notice.

Earlier, Consumer Goods Company Dabur India Limited has withdrawn an advertisement featuring a lesbian couple celebrating the Hindu festival of Karwa Chauth, hours after Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra criticised it for showing "objectionable content" and said that legal steps would be taken if the advertisement was not withdrawn.

Also, an advertisement by Ceat Ltd in which Bollywood actor Aamir Khan is shown advising people not to burst firecrackers on the streets received criticism from Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ananthkumar Hegde.

Recently, clothing brand Fabindia facing backlash withdrew its advertisement for its latest collection which it had called 'Jashn-e-Riwaaz'.
Gandhidham: Six members of a Dalit family were allegedly attacked by around 20 men for visiting a temple in their village near Gandhidham town of Gujarat's Kutch district, police said on Friday.

While the alleged incident took place on Tuesday (October 26) at Ner village under Bhachau police station, no arrests have been made so far, deputy superintendent of police Kishorsinh Zala said.

"Two FIRs were registered in this regard, one by Govind Vaghela and another by his father Jagabhai. The duo claimed that around 20 persons attacked them. We have formed eight teams to nab the culprits," Zala said.

The case has been registered against a mob of 20 persons, including Kana Ahir, Rajesh Maharaj, Kesra Rabai, Paba Rabari and Kana Koli, on the charges of attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery, assault, and under relevant sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, it was stated.

As per the FIR, the accused were angry that Govind Vaghela and his family had visited the Ram temple at Ner village on October 20 to offer prayers when a Prana Pratishtha ritual was underway.

On October 26, Vaghela was at his shop, when he learnt that some persons had destroyed his standing crop by sending cattle into his field, the complaint stated.

When the complainant and his uncle Ganesh Vaghela reached the spot, the accused attacked them with pipes, sticks and sharp weapons for visiting the temple, the police said.

As per the FIR, the accused had also allegedly stolen a mobile phone and damaged the complainant's rickshaw.

The complainant has also alleged that the accused had attacked his mother Badhiben, father Jagabhai and two other relatives, and the six victims were treated at a general hospital in Bhuj.
New Delhi: Ahead of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit the state today (October 30).

At 11.20 AM today, Shah will launch `Ghasiyari Kalyan Yojana` in Dehradun. After this event, he will address the Shantikunj Golden Jubilee Year lecture series in Haridwar at 4 PM today.

On October 28, Uttarakhand minister Dhansingh Rawat informed about Shah`s visit to the state. Addressing a press conference, Rawat had said, "On October 30, Amit Shah will launch the state government`s ambitious `Mukhyamantri Ghasiyari Kalyan Yojana` at Bannu School in Dehradun."

"Instructions have been given to the officials of the district administration, police and cooperative departments regarding the preparations for the programs of the Home Minister, Rawat said.

Rawat had added, "The objective of `Mukhyamantri Ghasiyari Kalyan Yojana` is to eliminate the burden of more than three lakh rural women of the state living in mountainous regions. Under this scheme, packaged silage (safe green fodder) and complete mixed animal feed are to be provided at their homes."

State minister further had said that in the first phase, the Chief Minister Ghasiyari Kalyan Yojana would be implemented in four hilly districts of Pauri, Rudraprayag, Almora and Champawat, after which the scheme would be started in other districts also. Polls for the 70 member Uttarakhand Assembly are scheduled to take place in early 2022. In the 2017 elections, BJP secured 57 assembly seats, Congress won 11 seats and the rest of the seats were won by others.

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Jammu: Two Army personnel were killed in an explosion on Saturday (October 30) near a forward post along the Line of Control in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. The blast took place in Kalal area of Nowshera sector during routine patrolling.

The area where the explosion took place is dotted with landmines planted by the army as part of the counter-infiltration arrangement. The two army personnel, including a lieutenant were evacuated to a nearby military hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.

In a statement to media the PRO at Jammu said : On Oct 30, 2021, during an area domination patrol in Naushera Sector, District Rajouri(J&K), a mine blast occurred, wherein, two Indian Army soldiers suffered critical injuries and later succumbed to their injuries. Another soldier who received injuries was evacuated and is under treatment.

Lt Rishi Kumar and Sepoy Manjit were brave and extremely committed to the profession of soldiering and have made the supreme sacrifice for the nation in the line of active duty.

The desecased soldiers are; Lt Rishi kumar is resident of Begusarai, Bihar and Sepoy Manjit Singh is resident of - Sirvewala, Bhatinda, Punjab

The nation and Indian Army shall forever remain indebted to the bravehearts for there supreme sacrifice.

Notably, Nowshera sector in Rajouri district is part of the Pirpanjal region in Jammu where an Army operation is underway for the last three weeks.

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Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh): Thousands of fish were found floating dead in Kameng river in Arunachal Pradesh's East Kameng district after the water of the river suddenly turned black, triggering panic, officials said on Saturday (October 30). The water of the river turned black due to high content of total dissolved substances (TDS), a district fisheries official said. Thousands of fish were found dead in the river on Friday at Seppa, the district headquarters, District Fisheries Development Officer (DFDO) Hali Tajo said.

According to preliminary findings, the cause of the deaths is large presence of TDS, which creates low visibility and breathing issues for aquatic species, in the water, he added. "As the river water contains high TDS, the fish were unable to inhale oxygen," Tajo said. The TDS in the river was 6,800 mg per liter, much higher than the normal range of 300-1,200 mg per liter, he said, quoting a report. Tajo appealed to the people not to consume the fish as it may cause serious health issues.

The East Kameng district administration issued an advisory, asking people to avoid venturing near the Kameng river to catch fish, and not to consume and sell the dead fish till further order. Residents of Seppa blamed China for the rise in the TDS in the river, alleging that the colour of the water turned black due to construction activities by the neighbouring country.

Seppa East MLA Tapuk Taku appealed to the state government to immediately constitute a committee of experts to ascertain the cause behind the abrupt change in the colour of the Kameng river's water and the death of a large quantity of fish. Expressing concern, Taku said this incident never happened in the Kameng river. "If it continues for more than a few days, the aquatic life from the river will be totally eliminated," he said, adding that the sudden change in the colour of the water might be due to a huge landslide in the upper belt of the district.

"There may be other reasons as well. The state government should immediately constitute a fact-finding committee to study the situation at the earliest," he said. The Siang river at Pasighat in East Siang district turned black in November 2017.

The then Congress MP from Arunachal East Ninong Ering wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention, claiming that it was the result of the construction of a 10,000-km-long tunnel in China, which diverted water from Siang to Xinjiang province in the Taklamakan desert.

China had denied the allegation

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Rome: Pope Francis on Saturday (October 30) expressed happiness at Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s invitation to visit India and said that it was the "greatest gift" that the Indian leader could give him. Sharing details of the meeting between PM Modi and the Pope, foreign secretary Harsh V Shringla said that the meeting was characterised by warmth and many issues were discussed between the two.

PM Modi, who is in Rome for G20 Summit, met Pope Francis earlier in the day. It was the first- meeting between PM Modi and Pope Francis.

"The significance of the visit can be gauged from the fact that the last papal visit to India was in 1999 when Pope John Paul II visited India. The Pope has graciously accepted the invitation of PM Modi. And in his own words and I am paraphrasing it, he said you have given me the greatest gift. I am looking forward to visiting India," Shringla said," when asked about the details of the meeting.

The Foreign Secretary said the Prime Minister urged the Pope to visit India at the earliest as per his convenience. "Actual details will be worked out through diplomatic channels," he added. He said the two leaders discussed several issues during the "personal" meeting.

"They spoke on a number of issues that are topical like dealing with COVID pandemic and what were best practices adopted by India. Other issues like climate change, environment, and unique steps taken by us to help people in distress all over the world whether it was strategic evacuation in Yemen or Iraq or Afghanistan were touched upon," he said.

Shringla said the Pope took a lot of time to explain facts about the Vatican to the PM and artifacts and memorabilia in the Vatican.

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New Delhi: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican City on Saturday, the Christian community in India are elated. This was a first such meeting by PM Modi with the head of the Catholic Church in nearly 20 years. PM Modi invited the Pontiff to visit India at an early date which would be the first papal visit to India since 1999.

Here are some of PM Modi's speeches addressing the Christian Community in India.

PM Modi's speeches:

In February 2015, PM addressed the National Celebration of the Elevation to Sainthood of Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Blessed Mother Euphrasia.

PM attended the 90th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma on 27th June 2020.

Also read: PM Modi gifts silver candelabra and a book to Pope Francis during Vatican visit

Mentions during Mann Ki Baat programme:

Mention about Georgia and relics in Mann Ki Baat - July 2021:

A few days back a very interesting and very emotional event occurred, which imparted new strength to India-Georgia friendship. In this ceremony, India handed over the Holy Relic or icon of Saint Queen Ketevan to the Government of Georgia and the people there, for this mission our Foreign Minister himself went there. The ceremony, which took place in a very emotionally charged atmosphere, was attended by the President of Georgia, the Prime Minister, many religious leaders, and a large number of Georgians.

The words that were said in praise of India in this ceremony are indeed very memorable. This single ceremony has not only strengthened the relations between the two nations but as well as between Goa and Georgia. This is because these holy relics of Saint Queen Ketevan were found in 2005 from Saint Augustine Church in Goa.

Friends, the question arising in your mind must bewhat is this matter all about and when and how did this happen? Actually, this is an incident about four to five hundred years ago. Queen Ketevan was the daughter of the royal family of Georgia. In 1624 after ten years of imprisonment she was martyred. According to an ancient Portuguese document, the mortal remains of Saint Queen Ketevan were kept in the Saint Augustine Convent of Old Goa. But, for a long time it was believed that her remains buried in Goa were lost in the earthquake of 1930.

After decades of tireless efforts by the Indian government and Georgia's historians, researchers, archaeologists and the Georgian Church, the relics were successfully discovered in 2005. This is an extremely emotional topic for the people of Georgia. That is why keeping in mind their historical, religious and spiritual sentiments, the Government of India decided to gift a part of these relics to the people of Georgia. Today, I would like to thank the people of Goa for preserving this unique side of the shared history of India and Georgia. Goa has been the land of many a great spiritual heritage. Saint Augustine Church is a UNESCO's World Heritage Site  a part of the Churches and Convents of Goa.

Read: PM Narendra Modi meets Pope Francis at Vatican City, discusses poverty alleviation, climate crisis

Mention about Sister Mariam Thresia - September 29, 2019:

My dear brothers and sisters, it is a matter of great providence that our India has been the birthplace and work-place of extraordinary denizens, who spent all their lives, not for themselves, but for the good of the society.

Our Mother India, our country is a bountiful land! Many gems of human beings took birth here. India has not only been the birthplace of such extraordinary people, but also the land of their karma. And these are the people who have spent themselves in service of others. One such illustrious Indian is being honoured in Vatican City on 13th October. It is a matter of pride for every Indian that, on the coming 13thOctober, His Holiness Pope Francis will declare Sister MariamThresia a saint. Sister Mariam Thresia, in her short lifespan of 50 years, worked for the good of humanity becoming a noble example for the entire world. Whatever task Sister Mariam Thresia undertook and accomplished, she did so with utmost dedication and devotion.She rendered service in the fields of education and social service. She had built many schools, hostels and orphanages, and throughout her life, remained devoted to this cause.

She founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family which is still continuing on the path of her lifes philosophy and mission. I once again pay heartfelt tributes to Sister MariamThresia and congratulate the citizens of India, and especially our Christian brothers and sisters, for this achievement.

Special homage to Lord Jesus Christ - December 31, 2017:

Over the last few days, the festival of Christmas was celebrated across the world with gaiety and fervor. People in India too celebrated Christmas with warmth and cheer. The pious occasion of Christmas reminds us of the great teachings of Jesus Christ who laid much emphasis on the spirit of service, Sewa bhaav. The essence of the spirit of service can be felt in the Bible too.

The Son of Man has come, not to be served

But to serve

And to give his life, as blessing

To all humankind.

This conveys the immense significance attached to the sanctity of service.

Special tribute about Jesus Christ - December 2016:

My fellow countrymen, Namaskar, many felicitations and seasons greetings to you on the occasion of Christmas. Today is the day to give importance in our lives to service, sacrifice and compassion. Jesus had said - The poor do not need our favours but our acceptance with affection.

In the Gospel According to Saint Luke, it is written that  Jesus not only served the poor but also praised the service done by the poor, and this is what real empowerment is. A tale associated with this incident is also very popular. It has been mentioned in that story that Jesus was standing near the treasury of a temple; many rich people came and donated bountifully; then a poor widow came and parted with only two copper coins. Now just two copper coins really do not amount to much. Thus it was natural that there was a lot of curiosity in the minds of the disciples gathered there. Then, Jesus declared that the widow was the greatest of those donors because while the others had donated substantially, that widow had given away all she possessed.

On Sainthood of Mother Teresa in Mann Ki Baat - Aug 2016:

Though she was born in Albania and her mother tongue was not English, yet she transformed her life and did everything to be able to serve the poor.

When Mother Teresa, who served the poor in India all through her life, is accorded Sainthood, it is quite natural for we Indians to feel proud. Indian government will send an official delegation under the leadership of our External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to represent 125 crore Indians at the canonization ceremony to be held on 4th September.

We keep learning something or the other from great men and women, saints, sages, holy people. We shall continue to receive something, learn something from them and keep on doing some good things.

Humanity First:

Rescue efforts of nurses: 46 Indian nurses rescued from war-torn Iraq in 2014.

Father Alexis Prem Kumar rescued (2015)

In 2015, Father Alexis Prem Kumar, who returned to India eight months after his abduction in Afghanistan, gave the credit of his return to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that it was because of him that he was here.

From the Indian Express (23rd February 2015)-

When Prem Kumars father Anthony picked up the phone, the Prime Minister himself was on the line.

My father cannot speak English. So my sister Elizabeth took the call. Mr Modi said that your brother is alive, safe, and is returning to India. Are you happy, he asked, to which my sister said yes, John Joseph, the brother of Father Prem Kumar said, as he waited along with his father and sister at Chennai airport to board a flight to Delhi on Sunday evening.

He will be back in India, you continue to pray, he (Modi) said, John said. This was the call we have been waiting for every day. So when it actually happened, we could not believe it. I am thankful to God that my brother is safe, and is returning.

Father Tom meets PM Modi after he was rescued (28 Sept 2017):

Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who spent 18 months in the captivity of Islamic State, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, shortly after his return to India.

PM Modi's interaction with Cardinals:

On January 19, 2021, PM interacted with Mar George Cardinal Alencherry (Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church), Cardinal Oswald Gracias, (Archbishop of Bombay and President of CBCI), and His Beatitude Baselios Cardinal Cleemis (Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church).

Special Visit to Church in Colombo in 2019:

In 2019, PM Narendra Modi began his Sri Lanka visit by paying his respects at one of the sites of the horrific Easter Sunday Attack, St. Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade.

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New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at Congress and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become more powerful as the grand old party is not serious about politics.

Addressing mediapersons in Panaji on the last day of her three-day visit to Goa, Banerjee also claimed that the country is suffering because of Congresss indecisiveness.

Congress could not take decisions. I cannot say everything right now because they didn't take politics seriously. Modiji is going to be more powerful because of the Congress...If one cannot take decision, why the country should suffer for that?" PTI quoted the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo as saying.

She added, "They (Congress) got opportunity (in the past). Instead of fighting against BJP, they contested against me in my state."

When asked about what decisions Congress should have taken, the TMC chief refused to elaborate. "I am not going to discuss about the Congress because this is not my party. I have set up my regional party and without any support of anybody, we formed three times government, she told the reporters.

"Let them decide. That is my system also, I don't interfere into any other political party's business, I can say about my political party and our fight will continue. We are not going to bow down our head to BJP," she emphasised.

TMC will be contesting all 40 seats in the upcoming Goa elections next year. Banerjees strong attack at Congress comes during her maiden visit to the poll-bound state. "I want that the regional parties should be strong. We want that the federal structure should be strong. We should make states strong, if states are strong, then the Centre will be strong. Delhi ka dadagiri amka naka (We don't want Delhi's bullying), enough is enough," the West Bengal CM said.

Earlier today, Mamata Banerjee met Goa Forward Party president Vijai Sardesai in Goa to fight BJP together. The TMC chief said that her party wants to avoid division of votes."We discussed the matter that let`s walk together to fight against BJP. So it`s their decision to decide. We want to avoid division of votes. So want regional parties that can walk together to fight against BJP," Banerjee said.

Banerjee in her maiden visit to the state on Friday had said like Bengal, Goa is also her motherland and she is not there to capture power.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is also in Goa on Saturday where he will address party workers and meet the fishermen community.

(With agency inputs)

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Rome: Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a "fruitful meeting" with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong here on Saturday during which they reviewed the full range of the friendly ties between the two countries and discussed issues related to trade and efforts to contain the pandemic.

Modi, who is here at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi, met Prime Minister Lee on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

"A fruitful meeting between Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @leehsienloong in Rome. The two leaders reviewed the full range of the friendly ties between India and Singapore," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

Had an excellent meeting with PM @leehsienloong on ways to further scale-up the friendship between India and Singapore. Our talks focused on trade, culture and other subjects. pic.twitter.com/9lRue5dBfx  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 30, 2021

In a tweet, Modi said he had an "excellent meeting" with Prime Minister Lee on ways to further scale-up the friendship between India and Singapore. "Our talks focused on trade, culture and other subjects," he added.

Briefing the media, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that Prime Minister Modi met his Singapore counterpart on a number of occasions but this is their first meeting in the post-pandemic period.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi discussed global efforts to combat climate change and the forthcoming COP26, Shringla said.

"They discussed efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic through expedited vaccination efforts and ensuring supply of critical medicines. In that context, Prime Minister Modi thanked the Prime Minister of Singapore for his assistance and that of the government and people of Singapore during our second wave of the crisis," he said.

Shringla recalled that India was able to source a very large number of requirements in terms of ISO Cryogenic tankers, concentrators, oxygen equipment from Singapore during the second wave of pandemic early this year.

"Prime Minister Lee congratulated our prime minister on the rapid vaccination drive in India. They discussed ways to enhance people-to-people ties, in particular resumption of early travel between both countries," he said.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Prime Minister Modi also exchanged pleasantries with several world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and South Korean President Moon Jae-in among others.

Italy has been holding the presidency of the G20 since December last year.

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Rome: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G20 summit here and the two leaders had "productive discussions" on the strategic bilateral ties and on a range of issues of mutual and global interests including the Indo-Pacific.

Prime Minister Modi, who is here at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi, was accompanied by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his meeting with Macron.

"Delighted to meet my friend, President @EmmanuelMacron in Rome. Our talks revolved around enhancing cooperation in diverse areas and boosting people-to-people relations,? Modi tweeted after the meeting.

The Prime Minister's Office said that the two leaders had ?productive discussions? on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.

"India and France are cooperating extensively in various sectors. Today's talks will add momentum to the bilateral ties between the two nations," it added.

The two leaders "discussed India-France cooperation on various subjects and reaffirmed their commitment to the Strategic Partnership,? Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

They also discussed global and regional developments, he added.

Briefing the media, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that Prime Minister Modi has invited French President Macron to visit India.

The meeting comes more than a month after the two leaders held a telephonic conversation, amidst Paris' strong criticism of the AUKUS (Australia-UK-US) security partnership.

Shringla said that the issue of the AUKUS came up during the meeting but it was not the major subject.

There was no discussion on the Quad, he added, referring to a bloc comprising India, Japan, the US and Australia formed to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the resource-rich Indo-Pacific free of any influence.

"Prime Minister Modi welcomed the European Union's Indo-Pacific strategy,? Shringla said, noting that during his meeting with the EU leaders on Friday, the prime minister highlighted that France had played an important role in facilitating EU Indo-Pacific strategy and he thanked the French President for his leadership role in developing this strategy.

"The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate in the Indo-Pacific, to find new and innovative ways to cooperate to further the objective of free, open and inclusive rules-based order in the region. There was also discussion on the forthcoming COP26 and Climate change related issues and the need to focus on climate finance,? Shringla added.

India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region.

During the telephonic conversation last month, Modi and Macron had agreed to "act jointly" in the Indo-Pacific to keep the region stable, rules-based and free from any hegemony.

At the time, the two had reviewed the increasing bilateral collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region and the important role that the India-France partnership plays in promoting stability and security in the region.

They had vowed to maintain regular discussions to coordinate ahead of upcoming events, in particular the G20 and the COP26 on climate change, and continue with their joint actions against the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (October 30) will call on Pope Francis at the Vatican City on the second day of his Italy and UK trip.

Ahead of delegation-level talks where the duo can discuss a range of issues, the PM will pay a courtesy call to the Pope. "The Prime Minister will have a separate call. He will be meeting his Holiness on a one-on-one basis. And that could, after a certain period of time, be followed up by delegation-level talks, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters on Friday (October 29) laying out the itinerary of the PMs visit.

Shringla said no agenda has been laid out for the talks. I believe tradition is not to have an agenda when you discuss issues with His Holiness. And I think we respect that. I'm sure the issues that will be covered would cover a range of areas of interests in terms of the general global perspectives and issues that are important to all of us, he said.

The Foreign Secretary added, "COVID-19, health issues, how we can work together...And this is something that, I think would be the general trend in the discussions.

After meeting the Pope, PM Modi will depart to attend the 16th G20 summit where a host of issues including global economic situation, COVID-19 pandemic, sustainable development and climate change will be discussed. The PM will join other G20 leaders in discussions on global economic and health recovery from the pandemic, sustainable development and climate change among other issues, ANI quoted Shringla as saying.

Following the G20 summit, PM Modi will participate in bilateral meetings with President of France Emmanuel Macron, President of Indonesia Joko Widodo and Singapore counterpart Lee Hosein Loong.

On day 1 of his visit to Italy, after reaching Rome on Friday he had met presidents of European Council and European Commission. Modi also paid floral tribute at the bust of Mahatma Gandhi and interacted with the Indian diaspora. Later in the day, PM Modi held bilateral talks with Italian counterpart Mario Draghi.

(With agency inputs)

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Rome (Italy): Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to meet Francis since he became the Pope in 2013. On Saturday (October 30), Modi called on the Pope at the Vatican - a city-state surrounded by Rome and the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church - and discussed with him issues covering a range of areas of interest, including COVID-19, general global perspectives, fighting poverty and making the planet a better place. It is the first-ever one-to-one meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church.

At the Vatican, Modi was accompanied by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The Prime Minister also met Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Vatican City State. Check the pictures here:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis at the Vatican today "Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India," says PM. pic.twitter.com/CBiopLlFEV  ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2021

According to PTI, sources said that the meeting between PM Modi and Pope Francis that was scheduled only for 20 minutes went on for an hour. The PM also invited the Pope to the country.

Ahead of the historic meeting, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Friday said that the Prime Minister will have a separate meeting with the Pope. "He will be meeting his holiness on a one-to-one basis," he said during a press conference in Rome.

"Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will pay a call on His Holiness, Pope Francis at the Vatican City, and thereafter, he will attend G20 sessions, where he will also hold more bilateral meetings and we will continue to keep you informed," Shringla said. The meeting could, after a certain period of time, be followed up by delegation-level talks, he said. "The Vatican has not set an agenda. I believe, tradition is not to have an agenda when you discuss issues with His Holiness. And I think we would respect that. I am sure the issues would cover a range of areas of interest in terms of the general global perspectives and issues that are important to all of us, COVID-19, health issues, how we can work together to maintain peace and tranquility and this is something that, I think would be the general trend in the discussions," the Foreign Secretary had added.

After the meeting with the Pope, the Prime Minister departed from the Vatican City ahead of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit. The PM arrived in Italy on Friday (October 29) to participate in the two-day G20 Summit. This summit will be the eighth G20 Summit attended by Modi.

(With Agency inputs)

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Mumbai: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik has taken potshots over a meeting between family members of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede and BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, saying "the genie is out of the bottle."

Malik, who has levelled a slew of allegations against Wankhede in context of the drugs-on-cruise case, accused the BJP of misusing central agencies to defame Maharashtra and the Hindi film industry based in Mumbai.

Aryan Khan, son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, is one of the accused in the drugs case.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Friday, Malik said, "The wife of Sameer Wankhede had written a letter to chief minister yesterday seeking his support by playing the Marathi card, but in the evening the whole family met BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. It means the genie is out of the bottle."

Addressing the press conference.https://t.co/IDU9bvNjAH  Nawab Malik     (@nawabmalikncp) October 29, 2021

"I had already raised questions about BJP's uneasiness when I was targeting an NCB official for his alleged involvement in fraud," the NCP leader added.

Kranti Redkar, the wife of Wankhede, has written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, seeking justice in the wake of the "attack on her family and her personal life".

Redkar, Wankhede's father and sister on Thursday afternoon had met Somaiya, who later tweeted his photo with the family members and claimed they are disturbed because of 'slanderous attacks by Nawab Malik'.

#SameerWankhede 's Family Wife #KrantiRedkar

Sister #YasmeenWankhede &

Father Dnyandev Wankhede met Me today late afternoon. They are disturbed by the Slanderous / Dirty Propaganda by the Minister against their Family Members I strongly condemn such efforts by #NawabMalik pic.twitter.com/ijlKwFz9Ne  Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) October 28, 2021

The state minister, who has dubbed the cruise drugs case as "bogus", has accused Wankhede of forging documents to get government job and lying about his religion, among other things.

The IRS officer and his family have denied all allegations.

Elaborating on his claims over the BJP's alleged involvement in the episode surrounding the cruise drugs bust, the Maharashtra minister said, "Kiran Gosavi, who is a witness (of the NCB) in Aryan Khan's arrest, has a partnership with a BJP leader in some firm."

Malik added, "He is already facing allegations of extortion, corruption and kidnapping. Gosavi (arrested by Pune police in a fraud case) alone will expose many things about the BJP. I have more explosive information which I will reveal in the winter session of the state legislature."

"The BJP has misused central agencies to defame Maharashtra and the Hindi film industry," Malik claimed.

"Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also tried to woo the Hindi film industry appealing them to shift to his state. By shifting Bollywood there, is Yogi Aadityanath trying to set up UPHood there?. It will not work," he added.

"The film industry here generates jobs for millions of people. You can not harass them for not shifting to UP," said the minister.

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New Delhi: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan will walk free today from Mumbai's Arthur Road jail after officials on Saturday morning opened the bail box outside the jail to collect his papers.

Aryan Khan is expected to be released from Mumbai's Arthur Road prison around 10 am today: Jail official told PTI.

"The bail order box outside the prison was opened around 5:30 am and the officials collected six to seven bail orders, including those of Aryan. He is expected to be released within an hour," a jail source said.

While granting Aryan bail on Thursday in the drugs-on-cruise case, the Bombay High Court imposed 14 bail conditions on him, paving the way for his release from jail. In the five-page order, the high court said that Aryan Khan and his two co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, who were also granted bail, shall be released on a personal bond of Rs one lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount.

As per the conditions set by the high court, the trio will have to surrender their passports before the special NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court and that they will have to attend the NCB office each Friday to mark their presence.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to his son Aryan Khan and 2 others in the cruise party drugs case. Along with the star son, his friend Arbaaz Merchant and model Munmun Dhamecha were also given bail.

Soon after the news broke, an ocean of fan following reached Mannat - SRK's residence and celebrated with firecrackers, posters etc among other things, hailing the verdict. Also, many of their celebrity friends thronged social media congratulating the Khan clan, sharing their views.

Meanwhile, Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan's residence Mannat has been beautifully adorned with Diwali lights ahead of Aryan's homecoming today.

(Pic Courtesy: PTI photo)

Below are the pictures of Shah Rukh Khan leaving Mannat this morning to get son back home from jail:

(Pic Courtesy: Viral Bhayani)

Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3, 2021, by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) along with his friend Arbaaz Merchant (26) and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha (28). The trio is presently in judicial custody. While Aryan Khan and Merchant are lodged at the Arthur Road prison in central Mumbai, Dhamecha is at the Byculla women's prison.

A special court, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), refused to grant them bail noting that "they were part of the conspiracy".

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: Bollywood's generation-next star, Ananya Panday celebrates her birthday today and to make her day special, rumoured beau Ishaan Khatter took to social media and dropped her a sweet wish.

Ishaan posted a smiling picture of Ananya Panday and wrote: Happy cake day Annie Panini May the truth, strength and love always be with you

A few days back, Ananya Panday was grilled by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) at their office in Mumbai for two days. The actress was probed after some WhatsApp chats between her and Aryan Khan surfaced.

The anti-drug agency raided her Bandra residence and as many as 7 electronic gadgets belonging to Ananya Panday were seized and sent to the Forensics Department for investigation. This includes her mobile phones, laptops etc.

After her visit to the NCB, rumoured boyfriend Ishaan Khatter visited the actress on October 23, 2021, with a bouquet of flowers at her residence as she was going through a tough time amid Aryan Khan probe.

Ishaan and Ananya worked together in the film Khaali Peeli which was released last year. The two were earlier rumoured to have vacationed together in the Maldives. However, they have never really spoken about dating each other in public as yet.

On the work front, Ananya has Liger opposite Vijay Deverakonda, Zoya Akhtars Kho Gaye Hum Kahan with Adarsh Gourav and Siddhant Chaturvedi and Shakun Batra's untitled next with Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi in her kitty.

Ishaan, on the other hand, will be seen in Phone Bhoot along with Katrina Kaif and Siddhant Chaturvedi and Pippa opposite Mrunal Thakur.
New Delhi: Come November 2021 and get ready to witness a slew of changes. From banking getting expensive to hike in LPG prices, brace yourself to loosen your purse strings. The impact of such changes is expected to impact your budget directly.

Heres the list of all the major changes that can come into effect starting from November 1, 2021:

1. Bank Changes from November 1

From November 1, the Bank of Baroda is all set to charge a small fee on depositing and withdrawing money from the bank account. This means that customers will have to pay a small fee even for depositing money in their own bank accounts.

2. Timetable of trains to change

From November 1, Indian Railways is going to change the timetable of several trains across the country. Previously, the Railways was planning to change the timetable of the trains from October 1, but later postponed the plan to October 31, and finally agreed to bring the change into effect starting from November 1. Overall, the Indian Railways is going to change the timings of 13,000 passenger trains and 7,000 goods trains.

3. LPG Cylinder Price

On the 1st of every month, oil marketing companies that are also into the business of LPG change the prices of cooking gas. On November 1, the price of LPG cylinders is expected to increase again, making a dent in the wallets of the common man.

4. Change in gas cylinders booking process

From November 1, the entire process of delivery of LPG cylinders is expected to change. After booking the gas cylinder, an OTP will be sent to the registered mobile number of the customers.

Customers will have to share the OTP with the delivery partner to authenticate the sale of the cooking gas cylinder. The change in the process is being introduced to make buying cylinders safer than ever. Also Read: Diwali Gift: Maharashtra announces highest ever bonus for employees, check if youre eligible

5. WhatsApp wont work on select devices

Starting from November 1, WhatsApp will stop working on some iPhone and Android phones. According to the latest update by the social media major, the Facebook-owned platform will not support Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, iOS 9, and KaiOS 2.5.0. Also Read: Aadhaar Card Update: Heres how to check if someone is misusing your Aadhaar
New Delhi: Maharashtra state government has announced a Diwali bonus for its employees ahead of the festival. According to the latest announcement, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) employees will receive the highest ever Diwali bonus from the state government.

The decision to provide the highest-ever bonus to BMC and BEST employees was taken in a meeting that was attended by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Several other government officials including Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, Deputy Mayor Suhas Wadkar, BEST Committee Chairman Ashish Chemburkar, and top BMC officials and staff union leaders, among others were present in the meeting.

According to the latest announcement, the Maharashtra government will pay BMC and BEST officials a Diwali bonus of Rs 20,000. Last year, the state government had provided a bonus of Rs 15,500 to the employees.

Recently, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) increased the dearness allowance (DA) of its employees to 17 per cent from the existing 12 per cent ahead of Diwali.

Meanwhile, government-appointed staff in secondary schools will receive Rs 10,00 as a Diwali bonus while health workers employed with the Maharashtra government will receive a Rs 5,300 bonus. Also Read: SBI Customers Alert! Heres how to identify fake SBI messages

Besides the announced bonus, BMC school teachers and employees had recently received a bonus of Rs 7750. On the other hand, BMC appointed teachers on contracts were awarded Rs 4700 bonus. Also Read: Elon Musk achieves another feat, becomes first person ever to be worth over $300 billion

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Mumbai: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has paid a tribute to Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar, saying that his sudden death following a heart attack was shocking.

Puneeth, the 46-year-old power star known for films such as 'Appu', 'Veera Kannadiga' and 'Maurya', died in a hospital in Bengaluru following a massive heart attack.

He was the son of matinee idol the late Rajkumar and Parvathamma.

Bachchan took to his blog post late Friday evening and wrote he was saddened by two deaths of close ones -- Puneeth and that of a family friend.

"There have been two deaths of the near and dear since the morning and there is a grief that cannot be put in words. One of them, the news has been shocking. Puneet Rajkumar, the younger son of the legendary icon of Kannada cinema, Raj Kumar and a star in his own right, passed away today. He was just 46 years, and this has put all of us in great shock. The family of late Raj Kumar have ever been extremely close. My prayers condolences," Bachchan wrote.

The 79-year-old blogged that the other person who died was the mother of a family friend.

Puneeth, who was known to be a fitness enthusiast, was rushed to Vikram Hospital after he complained of chest pain following a two-hour workout in the gym, doctors treating him said. He died shortly after.

His death was mourned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, among others.

A cruel twist of fate has snatched away from us a prolific and talented actor, Puneeth Rajkumar. This was no age to go. The coming generations will remember him fondly for his works and wonderful personality. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti. pic.twitter.com/ofcNpnMmW3  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 29, 2021

Several big names from the South film industry, including veteran actor Chiranjeevi, Mahesh Babu, Siddharth, as well as names from Bollywood like Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt, also paid tributes to the actor.

Puneeth began his career as a child artist appearing in movies like "Thayige Thakka Maga", "Vasantha Geetha" and "Bhagyavantha".

He made his debut as a leading man with the 2002 movie "Appu" and followed it up with movies like "Abhi", "Veera Kannadiga" and "Maurya", "Ajay" and "Arasu".
New Delhi: Scammers never seem to stop coming up with new ways to deceive unsuspecting clients. They're out hunting again, but this time it's in the name of Airtel. Under the pretext of Airtel KYC service, a new scam has been circulating that requests all bank details as a remedy to a fictitious problem. The swindle has already claimed the lives of a few unsuspecting users who have fallen victim to the con artists.

Gopal Vittal, the CEO of Airtel, has contacted his customers to alert them about an issue that has purportedly victimised a few innocent people. He emphasises that neither Airtel nor any of its bank partners will ever contact a consumer and ask for personal information, particularly over the phone.

Airtel CEO warns about KYC fraud

The customers can get calls or messages from the fraudster claiming to be from a bank or financial institution and ask for account details or an OTP to unblock or renew the existing bank account. The details are then used to withdraw money from the customers bank account. I urge you therefore to pay heed and proceed with care and do not share any financial or personal information like customer ID, MPIN, OTP, etc over the phone, said Vittal in an email to his customers

Vittal also cautioned customers against being duped by scammers who provide links to download a bogus bank app or anything similar. These con artists frequently impersonate Airtel personnel in order to trick you into providing your credentials.

If a customer downloads one of these, he will be asked to enter all his bank details as well as his MPIN thereby granting the fraudster in question complete access to your bank details. Please avoid such suspicious websites and apps and avoid sharing any confidential information via email or through a click on any suspicious link in the email, even if the request seems to be from authorities like the Income Tax Department, Visa, or MasterCard, etc, Vittal elaborated.

Here's how to stay safe from scamsters:

- Do not give out your bank account information over the phone. Net banking passwords, net banking IDs, any unconfirmed OTPs, and IFSC codes are all examples of this.

Do not click on any caller's shared links. Malware can be found in links.

- Make no payments to any customer service agent for a telecom firm, bank, or other institution using UPI.

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New Delhi: Indian smartphone brand Lava is launching the companys first-ever 5G smartphone in India on November 9. Named Lava Agni 5G, the smartphone is expected to pack a slew of features at an affordable price range.

Lava has published a video on Youtube revealing the details and features of its upcoming smartphone, Lava Agni 5G. According to the video, the launch event will begin at 12 pm on November 9, 2021.

While Lava Agni 5G is yet to hit markets, most of the smartphones specs and features are already out. According to lava, the device will pack a 5,000mAh battery that will provide a days juice.

The smartphone will also pack a bright display that will offer a 90Hz refresh rate. Lava Agni 5G will also feature a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera. The smartphone is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 810 5G chipset and sport a USB Type-C port for connectivity.

As of now, the company hasnt revealed the operating system of the Lava Agni 5G. However, its expected that the smartphone will run on Android 11, and feature a Gaming Mode for an improved gaming experience.

At the back, there will be a 64-megapixel primary camera that will be supported by three other shooters and an LED flash, according to the teaser video recently revealed by Lava.

The teaser also shows the smartphone will be offered in a single blue colour option named Fiery Blue. However, the device could arrive in more colour variants to cater to the different requirements of the customers. Also Read: Bank fraud alert! Indian Bank reports frauds worth over Rs 266 crore in three accounts

As far as the pricing is concerned, Lavas official website reveals that Lava Agni 5G will be launched at a starting price of Rs 19,999 in India. More details will follow at the time of launch on November 9. Also Read: Defence Ministry changes family pension rules, dependents can now get up to Rs 2.5 lakh pension
New Delhi: Starting Monday, November 1, WhatsApp will no longer support a number of Android devices. If users have not yet backed up and exported their chats, they will be lost as a result of the change. In order to continue using WhatsApp's instant messaging service, users should switch to a compatible device. Android 4.1 and later smartphones are included in the app's list of supported devices. WhatsApp also works with the latest iOS and KaiOS running systems.

WhatsApp has declared that as of Monday, it would no longer support phones running Android 4.0.4 and previous versions, according to an updated FAQ website. Before the deadline, affected users should switch to a compatible device and store their chat history.

Here's how to check if WhatsApp is ending support for your Android device

WhatsApp has yet to specify which devices would no longer be supported by the app. However, you can see if WhatsApp support for your Android device is ending by following the instructions below.

Visit Settings > About phone.

Scroll down to see which Android version your device is running.

If it's Android 4.0.4 or lower, you should consider upgrading to a device that runs a newer version of Android.

If you are one of the impacted users, you can export your conversation history by creating a backup of your chats or exporting individual or group chats separately.

From the WhatsApp settings, click to Settings > Chats > Chat backup > Back up to make a backup. You may also export a group or individual conversation by opening it and using the three-dot option in the top-right corner of your screen. You'll have to go to More > Export Chat now. WhatsApp will also allow you to choose whether you want to export your chat with or without the media items you've received in it, such as audio, photos, and videos.

Alongside Android 4.1 and later versions, WhatsApp currently supports iPhone running on iOS 10 (supported by iPhone 5 and later models) and newer versions and feature phones such as the Jio Phone and Jio Phone 2 running KaiOS 2.5.0 and later.

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New Delhi: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has appealed to the international community to support Afghanistan by unfreezing nearly $10 billion assets of the Afghan people and resuming the development aid and projects pledged to Afghanistan by the international community at the Geneva Conference 2020.

In a release issued to the media, Permanent Representative-designate to United Nation, Mohammad Suhail Shaheen said, "Winter is around the corner, so the immediate need for the International Community to disburse on an urgent basis the recently announced nearly one-billion-euro (some $1.2-billion) aid package pledged at a virtual G20 summit for Afghanistan, to all poor, vulnerable and displaced people of Afghanistan".

After the Taliban took over the control of Afghanistan on August 15, many countries have called back their ambassadors from Afghanistan and closed their embassies. With the exit of the United States from Afghanistan, various countries including India fear an increasingly hostile region.

Shaheen assured that the IEA Government is ready to fully cooperate through the channelled agencies and other NGOs on the ground.

India evacuated its Afghanistan-based diplomats and shut down its embassy and other consulates before August 17.

Reports say that the minorities including women and children in Afghanistan are living under fear.

"We are very worried about the status of women and children," Henrietta Fore, executive director of UNICEF, told the media.

"The humanitarian assistance will not end our shared and mutual responsibility towards impending migration, famine and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan," said Shaheen.

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Rome: U.S. President Joe Biden said his government's handling of a security agreement with Australia and Britain had been "clumsy" and sought to turn the page during his first meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron since a diplomatic crisis last month between Washington and its oldest ally.

The two leaders shared warm words, and friendly body language, but Macron said later that France`s trust needed to be regained by deeds, not words.

The relationship came under strain over the U.S.-Australia security alliance, known as AUKUS, which also includes the United Kingdom. It included a submarine sale agreement with Australia that effectively canceled a 2016 Australian-French submarine deal.

The U.S. decision to secretly negotiate drew outrage from Paris. France temporarily recalled its ambassador from Washington, canceled a gala in the U.S. capital and officials accused Biden of acting like former President Donald Trump.

"I think what happened was, to use an English phrase, what we did was clumsy. It was not done with a lot of grace," Biden said. "I was under the impression certain things had happened that hadn't happened. And - but I want to make it clear: France is an extremely, extremely valued partner - extremely - and a power in and of itself."

Biden also noted the United States does not have an older and more loyal ally than France and said there is no place where the two nations cannot cooperate.

"I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not going through. I, honest to God, did not know you had not been," Biden told Macron.

Macron said his meeting with Biden was "important" and that it was essential to "look to the future" as his country and the United States work to mend fences.

Biden and Macron showed warm body language, with clasped hands and arms on each other`s backs when they greeted one another. They shook hands a few times while journalists watched the beginning of their meeting.

"What really matters now is what we will do together in the coming weeks, the coming months, the coming years," Macron said.

`PROOF IS BETTER`

Macron told reporters afterward that the meeting with Biden had been helpful, with a "strong" U.S. commitment about European defense, but what happened next was important.

"Trust is like love: Declarations are good, but proof is better," Macron said.

A senior U.S. administration official said after the meeting that the two sides were "moving forward" in their relationship and, after difficult conversations in September and October, talks were now more engaging.

Biden and Macron had a discussion about the rise of China and the questions that poses for democracies and market economies, the official said. They also discussed Iran, supply chains, steel and aluminum tariffs and trade.

The two nations issued a lengthy joint statement after the meeting painting themselves as global democratic partners in the fight against a range of challenges, including the coronavirus pandemic, the climate crisis and ensuring the "indivisible security" of the NATO alliance.

Washington has taken several steps to fix the relationship with Paris since the rift last month.

Biden and Macron spoke to each other last week. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also visited Paris, where he acknowledged the United States could have "communicated better." Vice President Kamala Harris also announced that she would travel to Paris in November and meet with Macron.

Biden and Macron met at the Villa Bonaparte, the French embassy to the Vatican, which a French diplomat said was a significant mark of goodwill from Biden.

"It`s an important gesture," the French diplomat said, adding that the United States recognized that it had underestimated the impact of its actions.

France now wants to see if Biden follows his words with actions. "Trust is being rebuilt. This is one step. Tokens of goodwill were given, we`ll see whether they follow through over the long term," the diplomat said.

Biden and Macron are in Rome for the Group of 20 summit of world leaders, which opens on Saturday.

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London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping and discussed several issues, including action to address the climate crisis, global trade and Afghanistan.

During their phone conversation, Johnson raised concerns about the "erosion of democracy" in Hong Kong and the human rights situation in Xinjiang province.

"The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) spoke to China's President Xi Jinping this morning in an extensive conversation. They discussed a range of issues, including action to address the climate crisis ahead of COP26, global trade and economic cooperation, and security and human rights," Downing Street said in a statement.

They also discussed wider international security issues, including the situation in Afghanistan. "The leaders recognised that there were areas of disagreement and difficulty in the bilateral relationship. The Prime Minister raised the United Kingdom`s concerns about the erosion of democracy in Hong Kong and human rights in Xinjiang," the statement.

Johnson acknowledged China`s new Nationally Determined Contribution and welcomed their work on the COP15 Biodiversity Summit, noting how critical protecting nature is to our overall climate objectives.

He emphasised the importance of all countries stepping up their ambition on climate change at COP26 and taking concrete action to cut emissions and expedite the transition to renewable energy, including phasing out coal. Both leaders agreed to cooperate on areas of shared interest, such as developing clean and green technology and supporting the sustainable recovery of the global economy.

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Paris: The leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the US reiterated on Saturday (October) their commitment to ensure that Iran can never develop nuclear weapons. Earlier in the day, the leaders held a meeting in Rome to discuss the risks posed to international security by Iran`s escalating nuclear program.

"We expressed our determination to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon and shared our grave and growing concern that, while Iran halted negotiations on a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) since June, it has accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps, such as the production of highly enriched uranium and enriched uranium metal. Iran has no credible civilian need for either measure, but both are important to nuclear weapons programs," the leaders said in a joint statement.

The sides also pointed to the importance of a negotiated solution to the current situation "that provides for the return of Iran and the US to full compliance with the JCPOA and provides the basis for continued diplomatic engagement to resolve remaining points of contention."

"We are convinced that it is possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on return to full compliance and to ensure for the long term that Iran`s nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes," the statement read.

The leaders also called on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to seize this opportunity and "return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency," noting it is the only way to avoid a dangerous escalation.

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